After defeating Zhengtian Academy, Shrek Academy's fourth round-robin match was against Chang Ning Academy. However, Chang Ning Academy chose to forfeit, allowing Shrek to advance directly into the elimination rounds.
Their next opponent would have been the Dou Ling Royal Academy. The Dou Ling Empire and the Heavenly Soul Empire had once both been part of the Heaven Dou Empire before it split apart.
The Heavenly Soul Empire adhered to tradition, firmly believing that Spirit Masters and Martial Souls were supreme above all else. The Dou Ling Empire, on the other hand, was more flexible. Its royal academy was not only the strongest Spirit Master academy in the empire, but also its top soul engineer academy.
In the previous tournament, Dou Ling Royal Academy had reached the top four and was extremely powerful. This year, they had five Spirit Kings and two Spirit Elders in their lineup.
However, it seemed they had encountered a dark horse team and chose to avoid them by forfeiting.
Unlike the round-robin stage, the elimination rounds were divided into two days—one for team battles, and the other for individual matches.
Fortunately, Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Ling Luochen had all fully recovered. Along with Chen Zifeng and Su Yunlin, the team now had two Spirit Emperors and three Spirit Kings—a very formidable lineup.
Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi could both unleash Spirit King-level combat power, while Jiang Nannan's Spirit Abilities and experience made her exceptionally valuable in team coordination.
When Wang Dong and Su Yunlin fought together, their combined strength was even more terrifying. On top of that, they still had their Martial Soul Fusion Skill as a trump card.
While they were discussing tactics, Qing Ya, the auctioneer from the Starlight Auction House, personally came to invite the Shrek team to attend a top-tier auction.
Su Yunlin remembered that at this very auction, the Snow Empress—the foremost of the Three Great Kings of the Extreme North—would be put up for sale.
Unfortunately, the Snow Empress wasn't suited for him. His cultivation focused on darkness and evil attributes, which didn't align with ice. If he had even the slightest affinity with water, he might have considered acquiring her.
Moreover, the Snow Empress was too dangerous and uncontrollable. While she would later follow Huo Yuhao obediently, she had originally been extremely violent. Su Yunlin had no intention of carrying around a ticking time bomb.
That's right—he was afraid of death.
And why shouldn't he be? He already had a girlfriend, his family was safe and sound, and even a god had cast its gaze upon him. His life was already fulfilling. All he needed to do was cultivate steadily—why risk his life unnecessarily?
...
At the top-tier auction venue—
Su Yunlin spotted his parents' backs as they entered another VIP room. Every distinguished guest at the auction had their own private chamber.
As Titled Douluo, his parents naturally qualified to attend.
Once the auction began, the very first item shocked the audience: an eighth-rank close-combat soul tool—the Tyrant Tiger Soul Refining Blade. Soul tools produced by the Sun Moon Empire's Mingde Hall were always of the highest quality.
Su Yunlin himself possessed two eighth-rank soul tools—one defensive and one designed for escape—both crafted personally by his father.
After receiving soul tool blueprints from Mu En, Su Jinming's mastery had improved once again. It likely wouldn't be long before he became a ninth-rank soul engineer.
In the end, the Tyrant Tiger Soul Refining Blade was purchased by Dai Yueheng.
The second item was even more impressive—twelve fixed-installed soul cannon shells.
These were extremely valuable. Even Su Yunlin was tempted. Simply put, they were artillery shells infused with Spirit Power—far more powerful than ordinary explosives.
The Sun Moon Empire strictly controlled the technology behind these shells, making them nearly impossible to obtain. Even Su Yunlin's father couldn't manufacture such precise soul tools.
Without hesitation, Su Yunlin instructed Wang Yan to bid for them. These were too valuable to pass up. After intense bidding, Shrek Academy successfully acquired the set.
In another VIP room—
"Damn it, which bastard is competing with me for those fixed-installed soul cannon shells? Do they even know how to research them?!"
Su Jinming cursed under his breath. He had wanted to bring those twelve shells back for study—there was a chance he could decipher the method to manufacture them.
"Pisses me off… whoever's bidding against me, you %#&@…!"
…
"Ah-choo! Who's cursing me?" Su Yunlin rubbed his nose.
Shrek Academy didn't make any further moves on the next few items—just some lower-grade Spirit Bones. Su Yunlin, however, purchased a batch of rare metals. Later, an eighth-rank long-range soul tool—the Heaven-Splitting Cannon—was sold for 7.5 million gold soul coins.
After that came the Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone, which carried the Ice Explosion technique.
Then Huo Yuhao approached the auctioneer, Princess Jiujiu, pointing out issues with the Spirit Bone, which drove its price up to thirty million gold soul coins.
"The next item is the second-to-last lot. It is also a Spirit Bone, but of even higher age than the Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone. This is an eighty-five-thousand-year right arm bone—the Dark Nether Hell Right Arm Bone!"
Su Yunlin, who had been lounging lazily, suddenly perked up. "What did they just say?"
The Shrek team all turned their attention toward the item. A high-age dark-attribute Spirit Bone—this looked suspiciously like a tool for imperial recruitment.
Wang Yan glanced at Su Yunlin. From his perspective, this Spirit Bone was perfectly suited for him.
"Tch… now that's tempting."
Wang Dong looked at him. "Tempted? Then I'll buy it for you."
"…Forget it, not worth it." Su Yunlin waved his hand. The Spirit Bone was indeed excellent, but it wasn't safe. There were likely too many hidden complications behind it.
Meanwhile, in Su Jinming's VIP room—
"Dear, take it! This is perfect for Lin'er!" Xu Yunyue grabbed Su Jinming by the collar and shook him vigorously.
"Alright, alright, I know! But I didn't bring enough money. I already spent too much on that Heaven-Splitting Cannon earlier. We probably can't afford this one," Su Jinming said, somewhat frustrated. He hadn't expected something like this to appear.
"Jinming, I'll just go snatch it," Su Tianxuan said as he stood up. "I'll find Elder Xuan—we'll do it together. That'll make things easier."
"Father… is that really okay?"
Su Tianxuan nodded. "As long as it benefits Lin'er, anything is fine. Elder Xuan already told me—prioritizing Lin'er's growth is the will of that Dragon God Douluo. He rarely leaves Lin'er's side now."
"Stay with Lin'er later. I'll go with Elder Xuan and take that Spirit Bone."
"Alright!"
Titled Douluo naturally possessed their pride—but when the benefits were great enough, they could still do outrageous things. After all, very few could resist temptation.
In the end, the right arm bone was bid up to an astronomical price—far exceeding that of the Ice Jade Scorpion bone.
Wang Yan wanted it as well, but he simply couldn't afford it.
"Next is the final item—the grand finale! Its value surpasses even the previous two Spirit Bones. It cannot be measured by money alone!"
Soon, Princess Jiujiu presented the final item—
A "hundred-thousand-year soul beast embryo"!
Of course, Su Yunlin knew what it truly was—the Snow Empress, ambushed during her transformation and sealed within this divine containment device.
He wasn't interested. No matter how good something was, if it didn't suit him, it was useless. Besides, he remembered that this item would ultimately fall into Huo Yuhao's hands. It seemed only Huo Yuhao could truly obtain the Snow Empress.
Su Yunlin and Wang Dong remained the calmest. As twin Martial Soul users—technically even triple—they had no interest in a second Martial Soul like this.
Ma Xiaotao glanced at them and chuckled. "You little monsters all have twin Martial Souls, so of course you're not interested in gaining another one. How many twin Martial Souls even exist on the continent? You could count them on your fingers."
"Our academy hasn't seen a twin Martial Soul in hundreds of years. And now, four have appeared all at once—and all in the same class."
...
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