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Chapter 15: The Grand Auction at Vast Sea City
🕑 Added 2025-07-22 09:34:04 +0000 UTCIgnaz packed up his things and headed toward the auction hall in Vast Sea City. Ever since he had gathered enough Gold Soul Coins, he had been on the lookout for soul devices and special items.
Just as Dean Shui had said, having a millennium-level second soul ring was an extremely eye-catching trait. Although he could choose not to reveal the soul ring during battles when participating in soul combat competitions with others, he had no choice but to show it.
If it wasn’t carefully concealed and got noticed, he’d either have to join some faction or be eliminated early by those factions.
Though Dean Shui greatly admired him and wouldn’t casually reveal the secret of his millennium-second ring, there was no way Ignaz could just stay secluded, training alone in some quiet place until he reached the rank of Soul King or even Soul Emperor before stepping out.
On the path of a soul master, the most important thing was to fight against others and soul beasts to identify and fill in your weaknesses to the fullest.
“I hope this once-every-three-years grand auction in Vast Sea City won’t disappoint me!” Ignaz thought, staring at the blue, ring-shaped building that spanned over 3,000 square meters. His obsession with battle only deepened.
Just as he took out his gold card for the gatekeeper to verify his funds, Ignaz turned around and was surprised to see Dean Shui.
“No way... Could the auction house in this key coastal city of the Tiandou Empire also be a Shui family business?”
While pondering this, Dean Shui—who was chatting with someone nearby—spotted him as well and immediately walked forward.
Before he could say a word, Ignaz spoke first: “Dean, what are you doing here? Don’t tell me the Shui family has a stake in the profits from this Vast Sea City auction?”
“No, I’m here to bid on a few things myself,” Dean Shui replied.
Seeing Ignaz after a month, Dean Shui was quite nostalgic. Now that Ignaz was also attending the auction, things would be much easier going forward.
“Come on, the auction is about to start. If anything catches your eye, I can help you bid.”
“I’ve got plenty of money,” Ignaz said, taking back his gold card after verification and walking inside. Dean Shui followed closely behind. At a corner, they picked up masks and put them on. Guided by the attendants, they entered the opulent auction area.
As more participants filled the venue—
Boom!
The auction doors shut, signaling the official start of this massive event held only once every three years. A graceful woman in a stunning blue dress stepped onto the stage.
“Distinguished guests, welcome to Vast Sea City’s grand auction held once every three years. May you find the items you desire.”
Before her words even faded, the first lot was brought out. As the red cloth was lifted, ten blocks of whale resin, glowing yellow with a hint of red, were displayed to the crowd.
“Esteemed guests, this whale resin comes from the millennia-old soul beast—the Deep Sea Unicorn Whale. Its wonders speak for themselves. Today’s bidding won’t be by weight but by the block. Each block of this millennia whale resin starts at 1,000 Gold Soul Coins. Let the bidding begin.”
“I’ll take one block—1,100 Gold Soul Coins.”
“1,200 from me.”
...
Bidding was relatively light. Even though everyone wore masks, none wanted to be seen as weak for losing out on whale resin.
Ignaz eyed the ten blocks on stage, swallowing hard with growing desire. Although whale resin aged a few hundred years no longer helped much with body forging for him, the millennia whale resin was in a league of its own.
But his funds were limited, so he had to be cautious. Just then, Dean Shui raised his paddle and shouted,
“Ten blocks for 10,000 Gold Soul Coins!”
The auction hall fell dead silent. Then many eyes turned toward Dean Shui, some sneering:
“Buying that many at once? Maybe your constitution’s extremely weak.”
Dean Shui ignored the chatter, glanced at Ignaz, and waited for the auctioneer’s gavel.
“10,000 Gold Soul Coins once, twice, three times sold.”
After securing the lot and paying, Dean Shui handed two blocks to Ignaz.
“Little Iggy, these are for you. If you take this millennia whale resin inland to sell, it’ll fetch several times this price. Consider it an investment from me. And if you achieve great things in the future, don’t forget me.”
Before Dean Shui finished speaking, the whale resin was already in Ignaz’s hands. He had no choice but to accept.
Dean Shui then turned his attention to the next lot. Time ticked on, and various auction items—including one or two storage soul devices—were sold one by one.
When an unusual item—neither a weapon nor a soul bone—was brought out, the auctioneer announced:
“This is a special soul device with the power to conceal others’ aura. Whether hunting soul beasts or escaping their gaze, having this makes danger a non-issue.”
The auctioneer glanced meaningfully at the curious guests in the VIP seats and pointed to the special soul device on display.
“However, it was found in the Deep Sea Ruins and was already damaged in several places, having suffered years of seawater erosion. Though it still works for concealment, it’s very unstable. The starting bid is 1,000 Gold Soul Coins. Let the bidding begin.”
The VIPs watched cautiously. While very practical, the device’s flaws were glaring.
Ignaz, however, was extremely interested. This auction had something he wanted. If he could repair this soul device with its concealment power...
He wouldn’t have to go to great lengths hunting phantom sea beasts or travel to the far north hunting ice silkworms for their soul's bones!
“1,300 Gold Soul Coins!”
A well-dressed, plump noble’s son bid. Though the device was useless to him, he just liked collecting rare soul devices.
Ignaz had no time to bargain with him and raised his paddle with a much higher offer.
“I bid 4,000 Gold Soul Coins!”
Dean Shui, standing nearby, was the first to react with surprise.
“Little Iggy, you’re crazy! This broken soul device is worth at most 3,000. Even if you buy it, it’s mostly for collection, with no real use. Besides, the methods to repair soul devices have long been lost.”
“Dean, you know I’ve been buying soul devices everywhere lately. I want to try seeing if I can replicate or repair one or two.”
As a coastal city, soul devices appeared quite often. Although it might be a bit early to study them now, he truly had no better options.
He couldn’t just fake a simulated soul ring or a century-old soul bone to hide his power!
Besides, he had already collected over twenty complete soul devices. Reverse-engineering their crafting processes and core soul power conduction arrays was worth a shot.
