Douluo: The True Eye

After the second day of the round-robin tournament, Wang Yan led the reserve team away from the Star Emperor Hotel at night.

"These past few days of competition have made everyone a little tense. Today, I'm taking you out to relax, which will also be beneficial for the upcoming matches."

Wang Yan had a smile on his face, and his words were somewhat ambiguous.

Upon hearing this, the others were a little puzzled, while Xu Sanshi wiggled his eyebrows as if he wanted to say something lewd, but he was stopped by Bei Bei.

After walking for a while, passing through several streets crowded with people due to the start of the Pan-Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, Wang Yan led everyone to a building with an auction house sign.

"Oh, it's an auction house." Xu Sanshi sighed and pretended to be disappointed, which made Bei Bei's fists clench again.

Wang Yan nodded and said, "That's right, it's an auction house. Xu Sanshi should have experienced the convenience of soul tools in the previous matches."

"And you should also have noticed that in the past few days of competition, almost all participating students from some Soul Master Academies are equipped with soul tools."

"Even some Soul Master students who are not primarily Soul Tool Masters are like this. For ordinary Soul Masters, they don't control soul tools as skillfully as professional Soul Tool Masters."

"However, the existence of soul tools is enough to greatly enhance their combat power, and the integration between Soul Masters and Soul Tool Masters is an inevitable trend in the future."

Hearing this, everyone nodded repeatedly. Even those who were proud of the Soul Master profession due to the philosophy instilled by Shrek Academy from the beginning of their enrollment had to admit this.

Only Wang Dong frowned, looking a little uncomfortable, while Huo Yuhao said to Wang Dong, "If you're not feeling well, you can go back to the hotel to rest."

At the same time, Huo Yuhao quietly activated the Mental Hint soul power circuit that he had prepared, covering the other members of Shrek Academy in front of him, except for Wang Dong behind him.

Because of Ning Tian's provided soul tools, coupled with the reserve team's mastery of the soul tools distributed to them these days.

The reserve team understood that with the help of soul tools, Soul Masters, who originally needed to rely on team cooperation, could rely on themselves, plus soul tools, to unleash combat power far exceeding their usual level.

Even depending on the special effects of using soul tools, it was possible for Soul Masters to overcome type disadvantages in combat.

"The atmosphere of the competition decades ago was not like this. The vast majority of academies, like us now, believed that using soul tools lowered the status of Soul Masters."

Thinking like this, the few people's hearts of rejection towards soul tools gradually dissipated. Only Wang Dong, in the end, couldn't help but say goodbye to Wang Yan and left, returning to the Star Emperor Hotel alone.

Wang Yan gave another lecture. After convincing everyone of his philosophy and teaching abilities, he led everyone into the auction house.

Huo Yuhao calculated the time and felt that it was almost time. After Wang Yan's long speech, during the upcoming auction, Wang Yan and the other members of the reserve team's consciousness and spirit would be influenced by his will.

The mental energy consumption that Huo Yuhao had to pay would be output by the Ice Silkworm of the Heavenly Dream, although the improved Mental Hint consumed more mental energy than the original version, the effect would be better.

Walking into the auction house, first there was a twenty-meter, winding downward staircase. The exterior of this auction house was not large, but its actual auction venue was located underground.

After arriving at the registration desk, Wang Yan distributed a number plate to everyone, obviously having already made preparations.

Immediately afterward, a maid in a red dress led everyone inside, passing through a magnificent passageway, stepping on precious white jade bricks, surrounded by luxurious furnishings carefully crafted by top craftsmen, highlighting a sense of extravagance.

Huo Yuhao couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart: 'Alas, so poor. If I were to rob this place, it would probably support my cultivation all the way to Titled Douluo without any problems.'

It's a pity that he can only think about it now. With Huo Yuhao's current strength, he is not qualified to attack an empire-level force. He still has to slowly develop and accumulate background. When the wars of the four great empires are about to begin, that will be the time for Huo Yuhao to show his skills.

Under the guidance of the maid, everyone arrived at Auction Hall No. 12. This auction was for soul tools below level six, which happened to be suitable for the Shrek team to use. The specifications were not high, so the auction hall's ranking was also relatively low.

After receiving masks that had more of a decorative effect than a concealing effect, everyone was arranged to sit in the first row.

Although Dai Yueheng, the son of the White Tiger Duke, was not endorsing this auction, the Starlight Auction House, which was directly under the Star Luo Imperial Family, would naturally know Wang Yan's identity.

After being seated, the auction began in an orderly manner.

As expected, the first few auction items were just some level three to five soul tools. Although Wang Yan bid on quite a few.

For Huo Yuhao, these auction items were not his target this time.

Even the penultimate item, the level four charging soul tool jokingly called a "bottle," he didn't need it, as he had the assistance of the Ice Silkworm of the Heavenly Dream to cultivate, and his soul power was integrated and circulated smoothly.

Moreover, after Wang Yan bid on it, Huo Yuhao would have the opportunity to use the Eye of Truth to imprint the structure and soul guiding core array of these soul tools and turn them into his own.

Finally, the last auction item was placed under a red cloth and pushed onto the stage on a trolley. This was also Huo Yuhao's most important goal in coming to Star Luo City, the Spirit Devouring Evil Blade.

After the auctioneer's introduction, the mood of the people participating in the auction fluctuated.

First, they were puzzled as to what this mysterious auction item was.

Then, they were excited to learn that its true form was a carving knife on the list.

Immediately afterward, after the auctioneer told them the origin of this carving knife, the atmosphere that had originally become lively directly sank into a low point.

Some people even whispered dissatisfiedly below: "Spirit Devouring Evil Blade? How could this ominous thing be put up for auction? It seems that this Spirit Devouring Evil Blade was circulated from the Sun Moon Empire. I heard that even level nine Soul Tool Masters have died because of it."

Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao was communicating mentally with an existence residing within his spiritual sea, one he hadn't contacted in a while.

‘Elder Yi, would you take a look? What do you think of this Soul-Devouring Vicious Blade? Does its core, the Gold of Life, meet the conditions for you to repair your spiritual consciousness?’

Iliex didn't immediately answer Huo Yuhao's words. After a brief silence, his aged voice resonated once more.

‘Gold of Life… I never expected to encounter it here, and such a large piece at that. What surprises me even more is that you, Yuhao, actually recognize it.’

‘Did you already know of its existence? After all, your soul power circuit was prepared several days ago, and you activated it before the auction even began.’

‘I was wondering why you would do such a thing, wasting the Great Worm's spiritual power. If it was for this, then it truly deserves such importance.’

‘Since Elder Yi is certain, then the residual soul of the evil soul master within it is yours to handle?’

‘For me, it's just a matter of lifting a finger, but…’

‘Elder Yi, as for why I knew of its existence beforehand, I'll explain it to you slowly after we acquire it and return.’

On the stage, the auctioneer still wore a captivating smile on her beautiful face: “Soul-Devouring Carving Knife, starting price is 100,000 gold soul coins, with each bid increasing by no less than 5,000 gold soul coins. Distinguished guests, you may begin bidding.”

However, she couldn't help but sigh slightly. After all, the Soul-Devouring Vicious Blade had a fearsome reputation. Even if one only collected it and didn't inject soul power into it for use, posing no real harm, few were willing to spend 100,000 gold soul coins to try.

At this rate, this Soul-Devouring Vicious Blade might be withdrawn from auction again. Following a brief silence, Huo Yuhao knew the time had come.

The Shrek group was still conversing amongst themselves, completely oblivious to Huo Yuhao's actions. They subconsciously rationalized Huo Yuhao's behavior, while Huo Yuhao raised his bidding paddle and announced: “100,000 gold soul coins.”

Upon seeing this, the auctioneer quickly responded: “Distinguished guest number 333 has bid 100,000 gold soul coins. Is there any other distinguished guest who wishes to bid?”

After that, no one else bid. Following the final three calls, with the fall of the auctioneer's hammer, the deal was sealed. This Soul-Devouring Vicious Blade, crafted from the Gold of Life, fell into Huo Yuhao's hands.

After the auction ended, Huo Yuhao followed Wang Yan to collect the Soul-Devouring Vicious Blade. After all, it was best to secure it, and he didn't want any mishaps at this final moment.

Back in his room at the Star Emperor Hotel, Huo Yuhao retrieved the Soul-Devouring Vicious Blade from his storage soul tool.

The Soul-Devouring Vicious Blade now lay quietly on the table, its patterns ancient and emitting a chilling light, but otherwise seemingly unremarkable.

However, through the Eye of Truth, Huo Yuhao could clearly perceive the contained murderous aura and a fragmented soul.

Huo Yuhao didn't rashly touch it, but instead, he sent a mental message to the gray sphere within his spiritual sea: ‘Elder Yi, I'll leave the rest to you.’

Because Iliex hadn't taken action multiple times as in the original story, his spiritual consciousness was in a rather good state and didn't fall into slumber frequently.

The gray airflow swirled within Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea. After obtaining Huo Yuhao's consent, Huo Yuhao's bright eyes turned gray, and his temperament became deathly still while possessing an indescribable sacredness.

Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao was in an observer's perspective, watching his spiritual power, under the envelopment of the gray airflow and tinged with a faint gray light, compress into substance and shoot out from his eyes.

The faint gray spiritual light enveloped the Soul-Devouring Vicious Blade, causing it to tremble violently, followed by a series of shrill screams, but they were isolated and suppressed by Iliex's controlled spiritual power.

Huo Yuhao carefully observed Iliex's every move. Although Iliex had previously taught him methods for controlling spiritual power, his skill was far inferior to Iliex, who was once a demigod.

Each of Iliex's actions allowed Huo Yuhao to further enhance his understanding of spiritual power.

After the gray spiritual power suppressed the Soul-Devouring Vicious Blade, it immediately transformed into pure white light of purification. A cyan ghost emerged from the Soul-Devouring Vicious Blade.

Its face was ferocious, and it seemed to want to fight to the death against Huo Yuhao's body, but in Iliex's hands, where could this small evil soul master possibly struggle?

The light of purification seemed weak, but the baleful aura and the evil soul master's remnant soul contained within the Soul-Devouring Vicious Blade were quickly purified and vanished, restoring the original appearance of the Gold of Life.

The Soul-Devouring Carving Knife now felt warm to the touch, like a pure crystal, and no longer emitted any aura.

Iliex didn't proceed to the next step but communicated with Huo Yuhao through spiritual power: ‘Little Yuhao, since you know of the existence of the Gold of Life, you should also know that by obtaining it, my wisp of spiritual consciousness will no longer be bound.’

‘Similarly, by possessing it, I will no longer need a ‘host’ like you.’

‘Why did you still awaken me, even willing to let me control your body? Aren't you afraid that I will completely seize this body?’

Huo Yuhao's voice then sounded: ‘Because I understand you, that's why I'm willing to trust you, even if my style might not be to your liking.’

‘But I believe in you, Deathly Holy Magic God, Iliex, is not someone who would repay kindness with enmity or go back on his word.’

‘I'm also taking a gamble. I'm betting on a future. The Gold of Life is certainly priceless, but it's nothing compared to you.’

‘I'm willing to treat you with sincerity, and I believe you won't betray my trust.’

‘There are some things I can't fully reveal to you yet, but what I want to say is that I'm under a lot of pressure, so I hope to be able to borrow your strength even more.’

‘Although I know that you can forcibly control my body without my permission, you still asked for my opinion beforehand because of my previous request. I don't think such an elder would do something like seizing my body.’

After speaking, Huo Yuhao felt the control of his body gradually returning, and the gray airflow that Iliex had transformed into also turned back into a small sphere, shrinking back into Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea.

‘Having used the power of purification, I need to rest for a while. Place the Gold of Life close to your body, allowing your own aura to merge with it first, in order to prepare for the subsequent fusion.’