Chapter 104: Electrolux Is More Important; Liu Yuan Begins to Have Ideas
Inside the Starlight Auction House, the atmosphere had reached a fever pitch under the auctioneer's near-hoarse incitement.
The Snow Empress Embryo, sealed within the Spirit Tool barrier, emitted a deep, captivating blue halo. Every gentle pulse of its icy light tugged at the heartstrings of the countless experts gathered in the venue.
Vina turned her head. Her beautiful eyes sparkled as she stared at Liu Yuan's profile.
Her current mindset was incredibly simple. As the beloved princess of the Heavenly Soul Empire, she possessed the absolute authority to mobilize vast royal wealth. Right now, her greatest desire was to heap the best resources in the entire world directly at Liu Yuan's feet. As long as she could see him nod, or hear a single word of praise slip from his lips, that pure sense of satisfaction would keep her happy for a very long time.
"Liu Yuan, you still haven't answered me." Vina leaned in closer, her voice soft but eager. "Are we going to bid on this hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast Embryo?" Her slender finger was already hovering over the bidding device, ready to input an astronomical sum.
To her surprise, Liu Yuan merely stared at that mass of ice-blue light. He watched it in silence for a long time. Any initial flicker of desire in his eyes gradually cooled, rapidly replaced by an extremely rational, calculating indifference.
Regarding the so-called Snow Empress Embryo, he truly held very little interest at this exact moment.
He knew the reality of the situation perfectly well. Even if the Heavenly Soul royal family emptied their treasuries, sparing absolutely no cost to buy this supreme treasure and present it to him, it would be practically useless in the short term.
In the traditional understanding of the Douluo Continent's Spirit Masters, the optimal way to use an embryo was to wait until one's cultivation reached a critical bottleneck. Only then would they kill the sealed beast, absorbing its hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring and the accompanying Spirit Bone to force a breakthrough.
But Liu Yuan was almost pedantically selective about his Spirit Abilities. He refused to settle for anything less than absolute perfection. Every single one of his Spirit Ring slots had to possess a flawless fit, creating a perfect cooperation with his Double Pupils Martial Soul.
The Snow Empress's Ultimate Ice attribute was exceptionally powerful, capable of freezing the heavens themselves. Yet, when compared to the deep, world-rending nature of his Double Pupils Origin, the degree of attribute overlap was simply too low. Even if he forcibly pushed his cultivation to a breakthrough at rank fifty right now, he would never waste his fifth Spirit Ring slot on an imperfect match.
Beyond that, his knowledge of the future gave him a distinct advantage. Liu Yuan knew very well that killing the goose to get the golden egg by merely absorbing the embryo was a massive waste of its true potential. To truly unleash the Snow Empress's supreme value, one had to convert her into a 'Soul Spirit', or help her recover her prime strength through specialized nourishment.
And to achieve that heaven-defying goal, there was one specific entity who was absolutely unavoidable.
The Holy Necromancer, Slumbering Calamity, Electrolux.
Only Electrolux, an existence whose attainments in Divine Sense completely transcended the mortal limits of the Douluo Continent plane, possessed the heaven-defying means to strip away souls and safely convert them into Soul Spirits.
But the harsh reality of the present timeline was that Electrolux was currently residing deep within Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Sea. The ancient remnant soul had absolutely no connection to Liu Yuan. For now.
Liu Yuan leaned back in his plush chair. His fingers gently stroked the cold, metallic surface of the Spirit-Devouring Engraving Knife he had just acquired. The dark metal felt heavy, thrumming with a faint, sinister energy that he easily suppressed.
Compared to the Snow Empress Embryo on the auction stage, which was currently commanding bids well over one hundred million gold coins, he was far more interested in the aged, fragmented soul hiding inside Huo Yuhao's body.
He had already used his overwhelming financial power to ruthlessly intercept the Life Gold from Huo Yuhao. That single, calculated move meant Huo Yuhao had permanently lost the most critical carrier needed to nourish Electrolux's Divine Sense.
In the current timeline, Electrolux's Divine Sense fragments were in an extremely unstable, dangerous state. Without a massive influx of pure life force to stabilize his crumbling existence, the Holy Necromancer could completely dissipate into nothingness at any given moment.
'Since the Life Gold is in my hands...'Liu Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly, his mind working at lightning speed.'Can I use this as the ultimate bargaining chip to poach Electrolux directly from Huo Yuhao?'
He calculated the variables continuously in his heart. The time since Electrolux's initial awakening was not long at all. At this early stage, the bond between the ancient necromancer and Huo Yuhao was incredibly fragile, far from being inseparable.
Electrolux desperately needed pure life force to survive. He needed a stable foundation to reshape his shattered divine soul. Huo Yuhao, weak and utterly broke, could not provide any of these things right now.
But Liu Yuan could.
The Life Gold rested securely in his palm. Above all else, his Double Pupils Origin was countless times more deep and stable than Huo Yuhao's unformed, fledgling Spirit Eyes. It was a far superior, infinitely more perfect sanctuary for a fragmented god to reside.
Therefore, whether or not he bought this Snow Empress Embryo tonight was completely irrelevant.
As long as he could successfully secure Electrolux, the embryo could easily be left for later. After all, the Star Luo Emperor would eventually invite the Body Sect to launch a massive raid on the Sun Moon Empire's Mingde Hall. In the original trajectory of fate, that chaotic battle was exactly when Huo Yuhao managed to steal the Snow Empress. Liu Yuan could simply step in and take the Snow Empress away for himself when that time came.
Seeing that Liu Yuan hadn't spoken for a long while, his expression shifting through a series of unpredictable, calculating micro-expressions, Vina reached out. She waved her pale hand gently in front of his face, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"Liu Yuan? What's wrong?" she asked softly. "Were you scared by the price? It's okay. As long as you want it, I can afford to drop five hundred million gold coins right now."
Liu Yuan snapped back to reality. Looking at Vina's delicate face, which was currently filled with genuine concern mixed with an adorably domineering aura, the cold calculation in his eyes melted away. He gently shook his head and offered her a warm smile.
"Vina, let's not get this thing. Although its attributes are incredibly rare, it doesn't perfectly fit my Martial Soul."
"In our current situation, spending hundreds of millions of gold coins to buy something that I can't even use for the time being has terrible cost-effectiveness. Let's save this money. We can use it to procure more practical defensive resources and Spirit Tools for our team."
Seeing that Liu Yuan's attitude was completely firm, Vina let out a small, quiet sigh. Although she felt a little regretful about not being able to present him with such a massive gift, she had always firmly believed in Liu Yuan's absolute judgment.
"Alright. Since you say so, I won't bid." Vina obediently lowered the bidding paddle, resting her hands in her lap.
With Liu Yuan officially giving up on the item, the competition in the venue quickly escalated to a fever pitch. The numbers flashing on the screen grew increasingly absurd.
In the end, after a stunning and tense contest, the Snow Empress Embryo—due to its astronomical starting price and the huge risks associated with it—was successfully auctioned off by a mysterious buyer at an extremely high cost.
The grand auction officially concluded with the drop of the hammer on this grand finale.
At the main exit of the Starlight Auction House, the massive crowd surged out into the cool night air.
Elder Xuan's face was terrifyingly gloomy. The deep wrinkles on his face seemed carved from dark stone. Although he had led the Shrek Academy team to purchase a few decent items during the auction, the intense frustration of missing out on the Spirit-Devouring Engraving Knife gnawed at his insides. Worse still, the lingering, suffocating fear of witnessing Liu Yuan's impossible three-level consecutive breakthrough earlier had pushed his mental state to the brink, making the usually arrogant Super Douluo appear somewhat neurotic and unhinged.
Huo Yuhao followed closely behind him, his head lowered and his expression completely dazed. His footsteps were heavy and dragging. Clearly, failing to secure the Life Gold had dealt him a massive, almost unbearable psychological blow. He looked like a puppet with its strings cut.
The group from the Shrek Academy team did not linger to chat. They practically fled the venue, departing first and disappearing into the shadows of the bustling night streets.
Du Busi also stood up from his VIP seat. He stretched his massive muscles and bones, producing a series of loud, popping cracks that echoed in the corridor. He looked down at Liu Yuan with a deeply satisfied grin.
"Let's go, Liu Yuan. We've got the item, we've watched the excitement, so let's head back to the hotel. I will personally act as your protector tonight and help you study the method to dispel the evil curse from this Life Gold."
But Liu Yuan stopped in his tracks. He didn't move toward the exit. Instead, he looked intently in the direction where the Shrek group had just disappeared. A deep, calculating light flashed deep within his Double Pupils.
"Master, you go back with Senior Brother Long Aotian and Vina first." Liu Yuan turned his head. His tone was perfectly calm, yet carried an unnegotiable weight. "I suddenly remembered something very important. I need to go to the Shrek side to have a little chat with Huo Yuhao. I think some things must be resolved tonight."
Du Busi was stunned for a moment, his thick brows furrowing slightly. "Looking for the Shrek people? That old dog Elder Xuan is holding back a stomach full of explosive anger right now. If you go over there by yourself, what if he completely discards his old face and shamelessly attacks you?"
"Don't worry, Master. Out in public, he doesn't have the guts to make a move against me," Liu Yuan answered, a faint, chilling smile touching his lips. "Besides, I'm only looking for Huo Yuhao. What does that have to do with him?"
Du Busi thought it over repeatedly, his protective instincts flaring up. "How about this. You go talk to that Huo Yuhao kid, and I'll hide in the shadows and watch them. How about that?" He crossed his massive arms. "This way, it won't affect your private conversation, and at the same time, I can ensure your absolute safety..."
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