Douluo Continent II: The Dragon King Suppresses the World!

Chapter 53 Snow Empress Embryo

After Wang Yan led them to the Starlight Auction House, Ye Qi'an and Gu Yuena disguised themselves and, carrying invitations from the Starlight Auction House, teleported out of the Star Luo Hotel.

Di Tian, ​​who had transformed into human form, had clearly been waiting in the alley for a long time. Upon seeing the two of them come out, he respectfully greeted them, "My lord, Lord Golden Dragon King."

"Di Tian, ​​how is that Title Douluo doing?" Ye Qi'an nodded and asked.

Di Tian said respectfully in a deep voice, "My lord, Lord Golden Dragon King, that Title Douluo is now breathing less and exhaling more. He should be able to hold on for a few more days."

Ye Qi'an frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and then said, "After the competition ends, dump the corpse of that Title Douluo at the gate of the Star Luo Empire's palace."

Di Tian nodded slightly and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty, Golden Dragon King."

Gu Yuena's gaze was cold as she slowly spoke, "This matter requires caution; do not leave any traces to avoid unnecessary trouble."

Ye Qi'an nodded in agreement: "That's right, Di Tian, ​​you must make sure everything is arranged properly."

Di Tian cupped his hands again: "Your Majesty, Lord Golden Dragon King, rest assured, I will act with caution."

After a moment of silence, Ye Qi'an asked again, "Was there anything unusual about the auction?"

After a moment's thought, Di Tian replied, "No obvious abnormalities have been found so far, but I have a feeling that quite a few forces are secretly stirring up trouble."

Gu Yuena narrowed her eyes slightly: "It seems that this Starlight Auction is not simple. We need to be more careful."

Ye Qi'an looked into the distance, his expression solemn: "Let's go, let's go take a look." After saying that, the three of them disappeared into the alley in a flash, leaving only silence behind.

The three arrived at the auction house, where the receptionist was waiting for them. Dressed in a long black dress, she appeared even more elegant and graceful under the night lights, her pretty face radiating gentleness.

Ye Qi'an nodded slightly: "Hello, we're here to attend the auction." He then took out two invitation cards.

Upon seeing that there were three people, the receptionist quickly understood what was going on. She then took the invitation and respectfully said to the three, "Welcome, distinguished guests." After saying this, she walked ahead to lead the way for them.

The auction hall was the same as the previous day, with no publicity for today's top-level auction. Led by the receptionist, they walked inside and soon passed the venue where they had participated in the auction last time.

As they walked to the end, two girls in long golden dresses came forward. They bowed slightly to the three of them, and then one of the girls turned to the wall, raised her right hand and pressed it against the wall. Water-like light patterns appeared on the wall. The girl placed her palm on it, and a horizontal light pattern swept down from top to bottom. The wall slowly opened to both sides, revealing a passage.

The receptionist explained softly, "This is our No. 1 auction room, where we hold our most prestigious auctions. Only the most distinguished guests are invited to enter here to participate in the bidding."

As she spoke, she slowly led the way. Two more girls, dressed in long gold dresses and appearing to be only eighteen or nineteen years old, came to greet them. They walked a short distance inside, and small doors began to appear on both sides. They entered through door number eight.

Ye Qi'an and his two companions sat on the sofa, while the receptionist and two girls in long gold dresses stayed behind.

The receptionist stood to the side of the sofa and smiled, "Let me explain the rules of our top-tier auction to our three distinguished guests." As she spoke, she gestured to the two young women in long gold dresses.

One of the girls walked up to the smooth wall and gently pressed it. A soft halo of light shone across the entire wall, gradually transforming into a huge screen. The light guide screen gradually became clearer, with some patterns appearing on both sides, while an auction stage-like area appeared in the center.

"To protect the privacy of all VIPs participating in this top-tier auction, each guest will have their own private room. Bidding and viewing of the auction items will take place in this room. I will be responsible for providing detailed explanations of the items to each guest. During the bidding, these two female attendants will assist you with the bidding; you simply need to state your price. After the bidding, the items will be delivered to your room immediately. You will only need to settle the bill at the end. Our auction is about to begin."

Ye Qian said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you for your trouble."

Just then, the entire room was suddenly bathed in a golden light, and the three of them turned their gaze to the Soul Guidance Screen opposite the sofa.

"Distinguished guests, our auction is about to begin."

The golden light on the Soul Guidance Screen gradually faded, and a melodious voice rang out: "Welcome, distinguished guests, to the Starlight Auction House's premier auction. Today, we will be presenting nine precious items for your enjoyment, displayed in ascending order of value. We hope you will enjoy them."

The Soul Guidance Screen became clear again, and the previous platform was now covered with a faint white layer. In the center of the platform stood a girl wearing a red dress.

"Distinguished guests, I am your auctioneer for today, Jiu Jiu. It is my honor to preside over this top-tier auction. Your time is precious, so let's begin the auction. Now, please appreciate our first item." As she spoke, she smiled sweetly and performed a complex yet elegant curtsy, gesturing with her right hand to invite you to proceed.

The scene shifted, and an item was displayed on the entire wall's soul guide screen, immediately drawing everyone's attention to the number one auction item.

Princess Jiujiu's voice followed: "The Tyrant Tiger Soul Refining Blade, an eighth-level close-combat soul tool. Its materials are extremely precious, including a right arm bone from a ten-thousand-year-old Tyrant Tiger soul beast, which solidifies its soul bone skill, Tyrant Blade Slash. It can also amplify the attack power of similar soul skills by fifty percent..."

This is a bombshell thrown right off the bat. Normally, it wouldn't be a problem, but the three people in room number eight aren't human. Even Ye Qian himself isn't sure if he can still be considered human. This soul tool is made from the soul bones of soul beasts, which shows how many soul beasts have been hunted down.

Di Tian's expression instantly darkened, and a flash of anger appeared in his eyes. Ye Qi'an frowned slightly. He could understand Di Tian's anger, after all, they were on the side of the soul beasts. Gu Yuena's expression remained cold, but there was a hint of solemnity in her eyes.

Ye Qi'an said in a hoarse voice, "Let's assess the situation first and not act rashly."

Di Tian suppressed his anger and nodded slightly.

The auctioneer continued to describe the other features and advantages of the soul tool for a long time, but the atmosphere in the room became somewhat oppressive.

Ye Qi'an was clearly not interested in this thing at all; what he was interested in was the Snow Emperor's embryo. The reason why the Star Luo Empire's royal family put it up for auction was because they couldn't control it. As soon as the information leaked out, they would be attacked by the masses.

As expected, Dai Yueheng bought the Tyrant Tiger Soul Refining Blade in full for 1.56 million gold soul coins. Dai Yueheng felt a pang of heartache, but fortunately, this was the Star Luo Empire, so raising money was not difficult.

Wang Yan successfully traded the next twelve fixed-position soul-guided cannon shells at the last second, paying 5,000 gold soul coins more than the original price. However, Shrek Academy did not bid on the next few items.

The five items up for auction were a left arm bone, a right arm bone, a left leg bone, an extremely rare metal, and a level eight ranged soul tool.

Ye Qi'an only looked up when he heard about the rare metal. The rare metal was of decent weight, so he simply took it down.

Gu Yuena watched Ye Qi'an purchase rare metals with a thoughtful expression, then turned to Di Tian and asked telepathically, "How's the rare metal collection going?"

Di Tian bowed slightly and replied, "My lord, the collection of rare metals is progressing well, but it is still some distance from meeting our needs. I have been working hard to arrange manpower to find more sources of rare metals."

Gu Yuena nodded slightly, a thoughtful look in her cool gaze. "Continue to intensify the collection efforts."

Ye Qi'an then said, "That's right. Rare metals play an important role in many aspects, and the production of battle armor is inseparable from rare metals. The higher the quality of the metal, the higher the level of battle armor I can produce."

Di Tian nodded and replied, "Your Majesty, Lord Golden Dragon King, rest assured, I will do my utmost."

At this moment, the auctioneer's voice rang out again: "Next, we will present the eighth item of this auction, which is still a soul bone, but it is different from others. Please take a look."

With a flash of light, a soul bone, magnified many times over, appeared on the soul guidance screen. This soul bone was entirely emerald green, with an emerald green halo flowing and undulating on it, as if it contained emerald green liquid.

Judging from its appearance, this is a left arm soul bone. Its emerald green body is emitting a faint white mist. On the emerald green surface of this arm bone, there seem to be small crystals, crystal clear, just like they are carved from gemstones.

The moment the Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone appeared, the first thing to explode was the Ice Emperor within Huo Yuhao's body. However, upon hearing about the effects of the soul bone, they had to admit it was incredibly appealing. Huo Yuhao and Ling Luochen both coveted this soul bone. However, there was only one soul bone available, and because Huo Yuhao's martial soul was the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, this soul bone was also acquired by Shrek Academy.

"Next up is today's grand finale, and to be honest, this is the only piece I've ever seen in my life. In my opinion, its value is beyond measure in monetary terms."

"I won't reveal the name of this item yet; instead, I'd like to introduce its significance to our distinguished guests. The previous ice-jade scorpion left arm bone was already extremely rare. But I dare say that this last item is absolutely unique. Its value shouldn't even be measured in monetary terms."

"It's a single-use consumable. Or rather, it's a medicine. And there's only one. Please take a look, esteemed guests." As he spoke, a white tray appeared on the screen, on which sat a wooden stand inlaid with at least a hundred gemstones of various colors. On this small wooden stand, a wisp of air rippled slightly.

This mass of air was white, yet it remained condensed and did not disperse, subtly surging left and right as if trying to break free of the encirclement. The wooden support beneath it, however, continuously emitted a pale golden light that enveloped it during its struggle, preventing it from breaking through.

"This is... the Ice and Snow Emperor? How could the Snow Emperor have become like this?" Di Tian murmured to himself.

"Is this what you wanted?" Gu Yuena asked, looking at Ye Qi'an on the other side.

"I sensed its presence the first time I came here, but it was ethereal and clearly restricted by the soul tool below." Ye Qi'an nodded and communicated with Gu Yuena telepathically.

"We now grant our distinguished guests a thirty-minute break to enjoy the auction. In thirty minutes, our final and most important auction will begin..."

The Conferred God Platform in the image rapidly magnified, and the faint golden light shield became more apparent. Upon closer inspection, one could discover that the wisp of air sealed within the Conferred God Platform indeed vaguely resembled a human infant.

"How much money do we have?" Ye Qi'an asked.

"I have over 300 million here," Gu Yuena said, glancing at the gold soul coins in her soul guide ring.

"Lord Golden Dragon King, my lord, before coming here, I took about 300 million gold soul coins, so our funds are more than sufficient," Di Tian said with a nod.

Thirty minutes is long enough for many people to handle many things. The starting price for the 100,000-year-old soul beast embryo is as high as 100 million gold soul coins. Princess Jiujiu said that this starting price has set a record for the Starlight Auction House.

The ensuing bidding was nothing short of brutal. Initially, four parties were competing, and the price continued to rise, quickly reaching 130 million gold soul coins. After that, the bidding speed began to slow down, as this amount of money was not something that ordinary forces could afford.

Just then, the numbers suddenly changed: "One hundred and fifty million!" One side had added as much as twenty million.

In VIP Room No. 2, a young man stood in front of the Soul Guidance Screen, his fists clenched: "Let's see who dares to compete with me this time."

Ye Qi'an sneered and gestured for the woman to raise the price, "I bid two hundred million."

The moment the bid was announced in VIP Room 8, the entire room erupted in uproar. The atmosphere in the auction room instantly became tense, and all eyes were focused on VIP Rooms 8 and 2.

The young man in VIP room number two had a gloomy face and snorted angrily: "Hmph, you want to compete with me? Three hundred million!" He was obviously determined to win and directly raised the price significantly.

Ye Qi'an narrowed his eyes slightly, exchanged a glance with Gu Yuena, and then signaled to raise the price again.

The waitress's clear voice rang out: "Three hundred and fifty million."

Prices continued to climb, and the competition intensified. Other bidders hesitated, as the high prices were beyond their means.

Princess Jiujiu was also full of excitement on the auction stage; the intensity of the bidding far exceeded her expectations.

"VIP Room Number Eight has offered 350 million. Any higher bids?"

The young man in VIP room number two gritted his teeth and bid again: "Four hundred million!"

Ye Qi'an was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Four hundred and fifty million." He knew in his heart how important the Snow Emperor's embryo was to them, and they had to obtain it no matter what.

At this moment, the young man in VIP room number two was caught in a dilemma. Although he had a powerful background and wealth, the price also put him under immense pressure. In the end, he shook his head helplessly and gave up bidding.

Princess Jiujiu excitedly announced: "Four hundred and fifty million! VIP Room No. 8 has successfully bid for the grand finale item of this auction—a 100,000-year-old soul beast embryo! Congratulations to the VIPs of VIP Room No. 8!"

After the auction, Ye Qi'an and the others waited in the room for the items to be delivered. Soon after, the staff delivered the Snow Emperor embryo and the rare metals and other items that had been auctioned earlier.

After carefully checking and confirming that everything was in order, Ye Qi'an, Gu Yuena, and Di Tian walked out of the auction house under everyone's watchful eyes. Before leaving, Di Tian released a burst of pressure belonging to a Limit Douluo, instantly intimidating those restless forces. For a moment, the area around the auction house was completely silent, and no one dared to make any rash moves.

Robbing? What are you going to rob? To rob someone in front of a Limit Douluo is just plain suicide. Di Tian's words of shock also served as a warning to the Star Luo Empire. At this moment, neither the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy nor the Body Sect dared to utter a sound as they watched the three leave. They really wanted the 100,000-year-old soul beast embryo, but their lives were more important than the embryo.

After returning to the Star Luo Hotel, Di Tian left. Back in their room, Ye Qi'an and Gu Yuena began their cultivation as usual. With the amplification of the Dragon God's power, they quickly entered a meditative state.

……

(End of this chapter)