Chapter 333 : Soul Gem
Chapter 333: Soul Gem
“Fifty thousand Source Crystal Coins.”
Before Luo You could even announce the starting price, a Transcendent Expert from one of the VIP rooms immediately bid.
Faced with this situation, Luo You did not attempt to stop it. Instead, he proactively stepped back.
Seeing this scene, the others also joined the bidding one after another.
“Fifty-two thousand.”
“I bid fifty-five thousand Source Crystal Coins.”
“Sixty thousand.”
……
Within the auction hall, the many Professional Beast Tamers serving merely as spectators instantly felt waves of jealousy when they heard the bids coming from the VIP rooms above.
The Source Crystal Coins they risked their lives to earn were not even equal to the spare change casually called out by those people.
Regarding this situation, Zhou Ming understood it very well.
Whether it was the Heart of Lava Potion or fifth-tier Spiritual Materials like Seaheart Liquid, they were not without substitutes.
As long as one possessed enough Source Crystal Coins, such precious resources were not completely impossible to obtain.
However, the Puppet Substitution Tribulation Technique before them was different.
Compared to ordinary spells and battle techniques, secret techniques were already exceptionally rare, let alone one capable of preserving one’s life.
If they missed this opportunity, encountering such a thing again would likely depend entirely on luck.
“Hong Luan, go ask the auction house what exchange ratio they offer between High-grade Source Crystals and Source Crystal Coins.”
Hong Luan, who had been standing guard nearby, instantly revealed a trace of surprise upon hearing Zhou Ming’s order.
After all, based on what she knew, High-grade Source Crystals were also relatively rare resources for Transcendent Experts.
However, she did not dare ask further questions and immediately accepted the order before leaving the VIP room.
A short while later, Hong Luan returned at the fastest speed possible.
“Reporting to Lord Ten Thousand Snakes, the auction house is willing to accept an exchange ratio of one to twenty.”
After receiving Hong Luan’s reply, Zhou Ming silently calculated inwardly.
He still possessed over two hundred kilograms of High-grade Source Crystals. Based on the exchange ratio provided by the auction house, they were worth at least over four hundred thousand Source Crystal Coins.
This exchange rate was obviously somewhat low, but since the auction house existed to earn Source Crystal Coins, Zhou Ming was not surprised by such conduct.
At the same time, the bidding war for the Puppet Substitution Tribulation Technique became increasingly intense, with the price already surpassing eighty thousand Source Crystal Coins.
Even at such a terrifying price, people still continued raising the bids, though the increments had clearly become much smaller.
“Ninety thousand Source Crystal Coins.”
At the auction, after Zhou Ming directly raised the bid by seven thousand Source Crystal Coins, most of the Transcendent Experts immediately chose to give up.
Although the Puppet Substitution Tribulation Technique was excellent, it only revealed its true value in situations of extreme danger, much like purchasing insurance for oneself.
However, using the Puppet Substitution Tribulation Technique did not guarantee survival.
Rather than spending so many Source Crystal Coins on it, it would be better to use them to purchase resources to increase one’s strength, thereby reducing the chances of encountering danger in the first place.
Furthermore, the auction was not even halfway over yet. If they wasted their Source Crystal Coins on the Puppet Substitution Tribulation Technique now, they might miss out on treasures appearing later.
However, even while everyone weighed the pros and cons, there were still people continuing to bid.
“Ninety-one thousand.”
“Ninety-three thousand.”
Hearing someone continue raising the price, Zhou Ming directly increased the bid again.
To him, the value of the Puppet Substitution Tribulation Technique was enough to justify exhausting all the Source Crystals on his person.
The Molting Snake Swarm he controlled numbered a full one thousand and eight serpents. Even if they suffered losses, he could quickly nurture replacements through his own bloodline.
With the Puppet Substitution Tribulation Technique, even if he could not defeat High-level Transcendent Experts, he still had confidence in preserving his life.
In other words, as long as he did not encounter Legendary existences in the future, he could wander anywhere beneath the heavens.
In the end, after Zhou Ming raised the bid to ninety-seven thousand Source Crystal Coins, no one was able to continue competing.
Upon seeing this outcome, Luo You on the auction stage announced with satisfaction that Zhou Ming had obtained the Puppet Substitution Tribulation Technique.
As for the other Transcendent Experts present, aside from sighing in regret over missing the opportunity to obtain the technique, none harbored any additional thoughts.
The reason was simple.
Which Transcendent Expert had not encountered their own opportunities and fortunes?
No one dared guarantee that the other party did not possess some trump card capable of reversing the situation.
To risk one’s life over a single secret technique was simply brainless behavior.
After obtaining the Puppet Substitution Tribulation Technique, Zhou Ming did not wait until the auction ended to complete the transaction. Instead, he had Hong Luan directly bring the Source Crystal Coins to the auction house backstage and retrieve this extremely important secret technique for him.
“Lord Ten Thousand Snakes, this is the Puppet Substitution Tribulation Technique you purchased.”
After returning to the VIP room, Hong Luan respectfully presented a fist-sized crystal.
“This is…”
Seeing that it was not a common inheritance scroll, Zhou Ming felt somewhat puzzled.
“Reporting to Lord Ten Thousand Snakes, according to the auction house, this is a memory crystal used by the Foreign Races, similar to the inheritance scrolls used by Beast Tamers.”
Zhou Ming immediately guessed that the Puppet Substitution Tribulation Technique likely originated from Tamu World and had somehow ended up in White Bone City’s possession.
However, whether it was a crystal or a scroll did not matter to Zhou Ming.
As long as the secret technique recorded within was correct, that was enough.
Without continuing to pay attention to the ongoing auction, Zhou Ming accepted the memory crystal Hong Luan handed him and directly examined it using Spiritual Power.
A short while later, Zhou Ming’s consciousness finally withdrew from the memory crystal.
“To think the materials required to create the substitute puppet actually include Soul Gems.”
There was no problem with the Puppet Substitution Tribulation Technique recorded within the memory crystal, but truly using this technique was something ordinary Transcendent Experts could practically never fulfill the conditions for.
Resources like Soul Gems were extraordinarily precious even to Legendary existences.
Within Tamu World, Soul Gems could be used to create the tower spirits of Mage Towers or Wizard Towers, the ship spirits of Legendary warships, grant life consciousness to golem puppets, or strengthen the souls of Legends.
Their value was so high that they were completely unattainable for ordinary Transcendent Experts.
According to the knowledge recorded within the inheritance of the Hydra Rune School, there were two methods for the birth of Soul Gems.
The first was using the souls of a large number of living beings as materials to refine Soul Gems.
However, this method was extraordinarily difficult, because one had to ensure the Soul Gems contained no impurities such as resentment, fragmented consciousness, or lingering will.
The second method was through the condensed overflow of soul power released when an extremely powerful existence died and its soul dissipated.
Fortunately, the Puppet Substitution Tribulation Technique could still be used through alternative methods.
However, just as the auctioneer Luo You had explained, the effects would be far inferior.
Still, given Zhou Ming’s circumstances, the value of this secret technique remained far greater than the Source Crystal Coins he had spent.
Seeing that the auction was still ongoing, Zhou Ming could only temporarily put away the secret technique.
At the same time, the treasures appearing at the auction grew increasingly valuable.
Outstanding-grade Transcendent Equipment, Super-tier Potions, fifth-tier Spiritual Materials, High-tier Meditation Methods, High-tier spells and battle techniques, as well as all kinds of extremely precious Transcendent Materials.
The further the auction progressed, the more frequently precious auction items appeared, to the point that the Professional Beast Tamers in the auction hall had completely become spectators.
During this period, Zhou Ming made two more purchases.
The first was an Outstanding-grade weapon called the Extreme Shadow Sword, which possessed powerful shadow energy particle enhancement, along with abilities such as High-level Sharpness, High-level Durability, and Form Transformation.
The second auction item was a gemstone containing shadow energy, classified as a fifth-tier Spiritual Material.
He planned to use it to nurture Aina, allowing her to break through into the Transcendent level as soon as possible.
Relying on the special bloodline connection between them, Zhou Ming remained confident he could maintain control over Aina even after she advanced into the Transcendent realm.
This could also be considered one of the advantages Zhou Ming obtained from the bloodline changes between them.
After several hundred auction items had been sold, the final grand finale segment finally arrived.