Within the spiritual sea, things had already turned upside down.
The Snow Empress was absolutely furious.
"This is a soul bone of the Ice Jade Scorpion clan. These despicable humans…" In her eyes, all soul beasts of the Far North were her children, so her current anger was not a single bit less than the Ice Empress's in the original work.
"This soul bone is roughly seventy thousand years old. It's a left arm bone from the Ice Jade Scorpion, one of the most powerful clans in the Far North. Although you already have that hundred thousand-year-old soul bone gifted by the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School, still…"
The Snow Empress paused.
"You mean… soul bone synthesis?"
Lu Cheng's eyes narrowed slightly.
In the original work, with the help of the Snow Empress, the Ice Empress, and others, Huo Yuhao had actually accomplished this by accident. For instance, when fusing with the Ice Empress's torso bone, he had used a secret technique, soul bone. It was only because the energy of the Ice Empress's torso bone was too formidable and under her own control that there was no risk of failure.
As for soul bone synthesis, just as the name implied, it meant synthesizing several soul bones through a special method to turn them into a brand-new soul bone, though there was a certain chance of wear and tear.
But with Xiao Huo's hundred thousand-year torso bone controlling his body's core lifeblood and the Snow Empress's seven hundred thousand-plus-year left leg bone suppressing it, this Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone would surely not dare to act up.
The success rate of the Fusion was still very high.
After all, the Snow Empress was the head of the three rulers of the Far North, its true sovereign. She certainly had enough suppressing power over a tens-of-thousands-of-years-old ice jade scorpion.
"Alright."
Lu Cheng nodded slightly. He didn't speak up to warn Princess Xu Jiujiu about this as in the original work but instead sat quietly in his place, waiting for the auction to begin.
"A Cheng, aren't you going to warn the auction house? This Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone can only be used by those with an Ice Jade Scorpion martial soul or Ultimate Ice," the Snow Empress asked in confusion.
"Haha, why bother? I prefer a fair and square auction," Lu Cheng replied within his spiritual sea.
The Snow Empress smiled and shook her head. Knowing the youth's intentions, she stopped speaking and sank back into the spiritual sea.
"I assume everyone has finished examining it. Let us begin now—the starting price is eight million five hundred thousand gold coins!"
Ten minutes passed in a flash.
On the screen, Princess Xu Jiujiu also spoke with a blooming smile.
This was a massive deal. Although the starting price was only over eight million, the final transaction price was heading straight toward fifteen million.
Just the mention of Ultimate Ice alone was enough to make countless ice-attribute soul masters drool.
"Nine million!"
"Ten million!"
"Eleven million…"
Sure enough, as expected, the numbers on the screen rolled frantically without any sign of stopping.
"Over twelve million, and it's still rising," Teacher Wang Yan lamented.
"Are we buying it?" Ma Xiaotao looked at Lu Cheng with some curiosity.
"Of course we are," Lu Cheng said with a light smile.
"But… the price to buy this soul bone is simply too astronomical. We should still focus on the tournament," Teacher Wang Yan said hesitantly.
He was clearly the leading teacher, yet he was so humble.
It was really because after Zhang Lexuan arrived, he was almost completely sidelined. The official team captain Ma Xiaotao, and even Zhang Lexuan, all took Lu Cheng's lead. This situation was simply too bizarre. If he didn't need to rely on Lu Cheng to win, he would have considered reporting this to the academy.
After all, he was the official leading teacher, and he still had to return to Shrek to make a living there.
For some reason now, Lu Cheng gave off a feeling of wanting to reap all the benefits and then leave.
Teacher Wang Yan felt faintly uneasy.
"Teacher Wang Yan, how many years have you been teaching in the Outer Academy?" Lu Cheng didn't answer directly but asked softly.
"Seven years."
Teacher Wang Yan's face turned bitter. "I graduated a bit late. I was already in my thirties when I barely advanced to Soul King and graduated. Now I've just passed forty."
"What do you think of Zhou Yi from the Outer Academy?" Lu Cheng continued to ask.
Teacher Wang Yan originally wanted to say she was a useless person who was all show and relied on her husband to get her position, but he hesitated and held it back…
"Teacher Zhou Yi is very outstanding."
"For someone like Zhou to occupy a position as an Outer Academy teacher and even seemingly receive an advanced title, while you have only been an elementary teacher after so many years of hard work, Shrek Academy… has already rotted to the core."
Lu Cheng said in a leisurely tone.
Teacher Wang Yan frowned slightly, wanting to speak but stopping himself.
Gongyang Mo and Ling Luochen both had calm expressions. After all, Lu Cheng had already said these words once in front of Xuan Zi before coming. Although they were somewhat surprised, they didn't think too much of it when Lu Cheng spoke to them again now.
"Fifteen million gold coins."
Seeing that the number had already risen to fourteen million, Lu Cheng spoke calmly, directly adding one million gold coins.
The scene fell silent, and the numbers instantly stopped rolling.
Fifteen million was by no means a small sum.
On the screen, Princess Xu Jiujiu also finally spoke with a smile, "Congratulations to Room 3—"
"It's actually more expensive than my Golden Earth Dragon King soul bone…" Wang Dong'er muttered in astonishment.
"This is the Ice Jade Scorpion, Ultimate Ice," Ling Luochen murmured from the side.
"Sister Luochen, it's not that I'm unwilling to give it to you, but if one wants to refine and fuse with this Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone, their own martial soul must also be of the Ultimate Ice attribute. Otherwise, they will explode and die," Lu Cheng turned to look at Ling Luochen and said sincerely.
"…" Ling Luochen's face turned pale, and she broke out in a cold sweat. "There is actually such a rule?"
In that case, the method she had previously read in books about evolving into an Ultimate Ice martial soul also seemed unfeasible.
Now, if she wanted to evolve into Ultimate Ice, it seemed only one method remained: dual…
Ling Luochen took a deep breath. "Xiao Cheng, you absorb it. Of course I believe you…"
Lu Cheng raised an eyebrow. Why did he always feel that there was a hint of flirting in this icy beauty's light blue eyes, as if she wanted to swallow him whole?
Shaking his head, he cast aside this bizarre thought.
Now that he had acquired Ice Explosion, next… would be the grand finale of this auction.
"Then, the next auction item will surely satisfy all our esteemed guests."
Princess Xu Jiujiu clapped her hands, gesturing for an attendant to bring up a small tray. It was covered with a red cloth and looked almost completely flat, like an empty tray.
"Please do not be impatient, everyone. Although there is only a tiny bit of this treasure, it is priceless—"
As she spoke, she elegantly lifted the red cloth. The screen also zoomed in on the item on the tray. It was a small piece of pale green crystal, crystal clear, and not even the size of a fingernail.
However, the extremely dense life aura radiating from it left even Lu Cheng dumbfounded and astonished.
Life Gold!!!
Although this small piece wasn't very large and couldn't compare to the soul-devouring engraving knife, it was still extremely substantial.
"Indeed, I am sure some of our esteemed guests have already guessed the origin of this item. It is condensed from the vast life force of a forest, the essence of an entire forest that typically only exists in the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest."