Douluo: The Glory of the Peerless Angel

Chapter 106 You Said, Princess, Please Appraise (4K)

To celebrate the opening of the Soul Master Competition, Xingluo City was draped in red, as if covered by a curtain.

The streets and alleys were bustling with activity, filled with participating Soul Masters from various academies as well as ordinary spectators. Men were dashing and spirited, while women covered their faces and chuckled softly. The atmosphere was lively and vibrant.

After the little episode of Laughing at the World, Ling Bai held Xue Di's hand and weaved through the crowd. The night wind blew, and a few strands of snow-white hair would occasionally playfully hit his face. He could smell a faint fragrance, like the scent of some kind of flower, faint yet real.

Breaking through the crowd, the two found themselves in a bright and open space ahead, where dazzling lights soared into the night sky.

Ling Bai recognized them and smiled, "The traditional sky lanterns of the Star Luo Empire. During festivals, people light sky lanterns to pray for blessings. Before lighting the lanterns, they write their wishes on them and let them rise slowly into the sky, praying that the gods in the heavens will protect them year after year."

The Star Luo Empire only holds a Soul Master Tournament once every twenty years. For the people of Star Luo City, the Soul Master Tournament is an even more important day than the New Year.

"Thank you for explaining, but..."

Xue Di turned her head to look at the innocent-looking person involved, then forcefully pulled her hand back. "I'll tolerate you holding my hand for a while, but why are you still so reluctant to let go!"

Ling Bai acted as if nothing had just happened. It can only be said that the Snow Empress is indeed worthy of being a 700,000-year-old Ice and Snow Maiden. Her energy body, formed from her soul power, felt almost identical to that of a real person. It was cool and smooth to the touch, like the finest white jade, making it hard to let go.

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do. How about we set one off too?" Ling Bai changed the subject.

"it is good."

Xue Di was too lazy to argue with Ling Bai. She nodded gently as she looked at the star-like sky lanterns and casually tossed him an ice pop she had just bought.

The Star Luo Empire's sky lanterns are made by gluing together a thin sheet of paper into a large paper bag shaped like a lantern. Pulling open the metal wire at the bottom turns it into a sky lantern. The price is very cheap and reasonable; you can buy one for five copper soul coins.

Ling Bai and Xue Di stood on either side of the sky lantern, their faces reflected in the thin paper. The soft rustling of their pens against the paper echoed in their ears. They were unusually serious as they wrote down their wishes, stroke by stroke.

Light the candle at the bottom, hold the soft top with both hands, and the heat will fill the interior of the sky lantern, which will rise into the air. At first, it looks very large, like a house floating in mid-air, emitting an orange-red light. It will gradually become smaller and smaller until it becomes a star.

Lights drifted across the dark night sky. Ling Bai and Xue Di stood side by side, their hearts soaring into the night sky as they quietly watched their hopes drift away.

Xue Di raised her head, her sky-blue pupils gradually blurring, as if she saw sky lanterns shining in the distant sky, illuminating everyone who released them, sending them warm love.

She was somewhat happy. Even a saint would get tired of living the same unchanging life for seven hundred thousand years. However, she had never left the far north, because it was her homeland that she had loved for seven hundred thousand years.

For Xue Di, life was simply about passing the time, bearing the responsibility of being the ruler of ice and snow to protect the far north, without any concern for happiness or unhappiness.

Before deciding to rebuild her cultivation and become human again, Xue Di had a fleeting fantasy about the unfamiliar human world. If she was fortunate enough to successfully rebuild her cultivation and become human again, she hoped to experience a different life, to leave the pure white of the far north and see the colorful world of Douluo Continent.

Seeing the smile that unconsciously bloomed on Xue Di's beautiful face, Ling Bai's lips curled up silently. At this moment, Xue Di finally relaxed, and her body and mind were no longer heavy and indifferent.

Ling Bai sometimes felt that he and Xue Di were just like a couple who met through a blind date and got married in a flash. One wanted the faith of the far north and the soul ring and soul bone, while the other wanted to make sure the future of the far north was secure.

One day, the two suddenly discovered that the other's conditions met their expectations, so they naturally started walking together without any emotional foundation or understanding of each other's past and experiences.

They became a respectful, whirlwind marriage couple. Although they tried their best to plan for each other, it was all for their common interests. Despite being so close, they felt as far apart as if separated by an ocean.

In Ling Bai's eyes, the sea can be filled in little by little, and marriage before love doesn't necessarily mean you can't find happiness. The process of solving the problem is to leave a shallow imprint of your shadow in the other person's heart and deepen it over time. In other words, they need to experience something beautiful together.

"Could you tell me what you wished for?"

Xue Di suddenly spoke softly. She had countless worries in her heart: the future of the Northern Soul Beasts, the tribulations of the three ferocious beasts, whether the path to godhood would be smooth... Even so, Ling Bai took longer to finish writing than she did.

"Let's switch, you go first," Ling Bai said with a smile.

"You can guess, it's nothing more than those kinds of things."

Snow Empress sighed. Having witnessed the prosperity of the human world, she had to believe that one day the soul beasts would face annihilation. If she wanted to protect the far north, becoming a god was the only option.

"now you."

"I thought about it for a long time, and in the end I only wrote seven words," Ling Bai frankly told him.

Upon hearing this, Xue Di frowned slightly. She had initially thought Ling Bai had written an essay, and pressed him for details:

"Which seven characters?"

May my heart be like a sword, cutting through sorrow and worry.

Xue Di lowered her eyes and pondered the words carefully. She realized that these words were actually spoken by Ling Bai to her.

The dim lighting made people forget the passage of time until the pedestrians on the long street gradually thinned out, and only then did they realize that the night had deepened.

Ling Bai gazed unabashedly at the ice and snow maiden born from the extreme north. In another time and space, the Snow Emperor became a spirit and inherited the emotion of sorrow. Since their fates were intertwined in this life, Ling Bai hoped even more that she would never grieve again.

"You humans are truly blessed by the heavens. Twelve years is but a fleeting moment for a soul beast, yet it has been able to create someone like you."

After a long while, Xue Di slowly spoke, her sky-blue eyes fixed on Ling Bai. Ling Bai saw that her gaze was clear and unobstructed. The bright moonlight shone on Xue Di's exquisitely beautiful face, and her long eyelashes cast two shadows on her face.

Before Ling Bai could speak, Xue Di continued, "I'm very happy. Let's call it a day. I owe you two promises. You can tell me anytime you've made up your mind."

Having said that, she transformed into countless snowflakes and surged into Ling Bai's spiritual sea.

"I'm back."

When Electrolux saw Xue Di return, he greeted her politely. Xue Di was in a state of confusion and didn't care about anything else. She simply nodded in response and turned back into the igloo.

……

Outside, Ling Bai, who was alone, did not care about where the road ahead led. He walked alone along the wide road of Xingluo City and unknowingly came to a domed building. Above the building stood a magnificent plaque with five large, elegant characters.

Starlight Auction House.

Similar in scale to the Heavenly Soul Auction House and Shrek Academy's Treasure Pavilion, the Starlight Auction House, backed by the Star Luo Royal Family, was exceptionally eye-catching. Even late at night, it was still brightly lit, and six welcoming girls in long dresses stood in front of the gate.

These girls were rigorously selected by the auction house. They were all around 1.7 meters tall, with slender and well-proportioned figures. Their youthful and beautiful appearance attracted passersby to enter the Starlight Auction House and spend lavishly.

Seeing Ling Bai approaching from afar, a young girl immediately hurried over to greet him with a smile, saying, "Hello, distinguished guest. Are you here to attend the auction? Today's auction is a purple-level event and will begin in three hours. Starlight Auction House has prepared a lounge for distinguished guests, where you can rest for a while."

"I have something I'd like to auction. Could you please take me to the appraisal room?" Ling Bai said bluntly.

To raise the 60 million gold soul coins needed to buy the Radiant Splendor, Ling Bai sold everything he owned, putting away all the savings he had accumulated over the years. He even had to borrow money from Ling Luochen to buy the Ten Thousand Year Whale Glue. Although he made a profit by reselling the Ten Thousand Year Whale Glue to Chu Qingtian at 80% of the market price, his wallet was still empty. Since he happened to have some extra items on hand, he decided to auction them off to recoup some of the losses.

Major auction houses employ numerous appraisers who specialize in assessing the quality of treasures, which are then assigned to different auction sessions. The young woman, accustomed to this, showed no surprise as she led Ling Bai into the Starlight Auction House.

The interior of the auction house was not as opulent as its exterior. The floor was made of milky white marble, and the walls were decorated with various elegant reliefs. The display cases built against the walls showed ancient artifacts such as porcelain and armor. The overall style was clean and bright.

The girl was well-trained and attentive, pausing every ten steps to gesture for him to enter and providing accurate directions until she led Ling Bai to a room next to the lobby with a sign that read "Appraisal".

A row of tables was set up in the room, where ten appraisers of different ages, dressed in purple and black robes, were busy working. At the time when the Soul Master Competition was in full swing in Xingluo City, the number of people coming for appraisal had increased tenfold. They worked in three shifts around the clock, appraising items non-stop.

"Appraiser No. 1, this VIP wishes to have this item appraised and participate in the auction as soon as possible."

Number One was the only Black-level appraiser in the room at the moment, and also a small old man with gray hair. He put down the item in his hand, rotated his aching shoulders, and said:

"Oh my sea god, good heavens, I've been so tired these past few days. Hurry up, young man, what good stuff do you have to show me?"

Ling Bai took out an oval-shaped piece of light purple metal, about the size of his palm, and handed it to the Black-level appraiser.

The old man picked up a magnifying glass to examine it, and the next second he suddenly jumped three meters high, exclaiming in shock:

"Oh my God, my goodness, this is simply unbelievable! An eighth-level soul tool, produced by Mingde Hall! Hello, esteemed guest! Look at my damned memory, I actually forgot to properly entertain you. Please forgive this foolish groundhog for the sake of the God of the Sea and His Majesty the Star Luo Emperor!"

If you don't mind, I'd like to invite you to sit in the VIP lounge next door for a while. We will make up for our previous neglect with the highest level of courtesy, and have a red-level appraiser from Starlight Auction House appraise the value of this level eight soul tool for you!"

"..."

He kept calling the old man "Lord Sea God," and Ling Bai really wanted to put on his big leather shoes and kick the old man's butt hard.

He was selling an eighth-level soul tool aura barrier, one of the spoils of the black market in the far north. It came with the skill of concealment, which could cover the scent, soul power fluctuations and all other auras within a fifty-meter radius around the user. Title Douluo or a spirit-type soul master above the seventh-ring Soul Saint level could break the concealment effect with their spiritual power.

The aura barrier isn't entirely useless. As an auxiliary soul tool, it far surpasses offensive soul tools in special circumstances, and can save lives in times of crisis. However, Ling Bai already has the disguise of the Thousand Enchantress, which allows him to disguise himself as various things such as birds, beasts, fish, insects, trees, soil, and rocks, so he doesn't need the aura barrier.

Moreover, the aura barrier had a self-destruct device set up by Xu Cong in its core array, so its research value was not high. Therefore, Ling Bai decided to sell it at the Starlight Auction House to replenish his savings. It seemed a bit embarrassing to always ask Ning Fengya for money.

"This way, please!"

The welcoming girl's expression immediately became much more enthusiastic. The Sun Moon Empire was not a monolithic entity, and the high-level soul masters of Mingde Hall would also secretly earn some extra money. However, the head of Mingde Hall, Jing Hongchen, had set two unspoken rules.

First, the large-scale sale of soul tools is prohibited. Second, the three original empires of Douluo Continent absolutely forbid the existence of level nine soul tools. Violators will be subject to dual sanctions from the Mingde Hall and the Sun Moon Royal Family.

Level 8 soul tools are the highest level soul tools in Douluo Continent. Black-level appraisers are not qualified to appraise aura barriers. The old man himself is a level 6 soul tool master. He touched it for a long time with great affection before rushing to find a red-level appraiser.

About fifteen minutes later, the door to the VIP lounge was pushed open, and three figures slowly walked in. The old man was bowing and brought up the rear, while two women, one old and one young, walked in front of him with an air of authority.

The young woman possessed a delicate and graceful appearance, her elegant red palace dress perfectly complementing her refined and noble air. The moment she looked at Ling Bai, the calm in her eyes shattered, and she couldn't help but gasp in surprise:

"Ning Bai, it's you?"

Ling Bai raised an eyebrow, marveling at how small the world was, and then asked with a smile, "Miss Xu Jiu'er, why can't it be me?"

After a long time?

Beside Xu Jiujiu was an old woman who looked at least eighty years old. She had white hair and beard and was wearing a long gold dress. Upon hearing this address, she immediately narrowed her eyes and scrutinized Ling Bai.

Having narrowly escaped death in the Youyao Forest, the two hadn't seen each other for some time. A hint of joy appeared on their pretty faces as one of them exclaimed, "So you're the one who sold the Mingde Hall's level-eight soul tools? You went to the Sun Moon Empire's Mingde Hall to rob those soul masters?"

"Hmm...more or less."

"You're so honest..."

In Xu Jiujiu's memory, the moral bottom line of evil soul masters has always been ridiculously low. No matter how shameless he is, Xu Jiujiu will always think that he is already an evil soul master, so why bother to care so much!

Long live understanding!

"Let's get down to business first. Are you really going to auction off an eighth-level soul tool?" Xu Jiujiu, who was both an auctioneer and appraiser at the Starlight Auction House, confirmed with Ling Bai again and again.

"I won't sell, will this old man let me go?" Ling Bai teased, pointing at the little old man whose eyes were glued to the aura barrier.

"I would like to trouble Miss Xu to appraise it and give an estimate."

"It's a small matter, but you need to tell me first..."

The princess's long-cherished plan to rise to power suddenly flashed into her mind. She gazed at the oblivious Ling Bai for a long time, then smiled slyly like a little fox:

"Princess, please authenticate!"

(End of this chapter)