Douluo Continent: The Eye of Truth

Chapter 54 Purifying the Soul-Devouring Blade

After the second day of the round-robin tournament, Wang Yan led the reserve team members out of the Star Emperor Hotel that night.

"The competition these past few days has put everyone on edge, so I'm taking you out today to relax. It will be good for the upcoming matches."

Wang Yan wore a smile on his face while uttering somewhat ambiguous words.

Hearing this, the others were somewhat puzzled, while Xu Sanshi winked and seemed to want to say something outrageous, but Bei Bei stopped him.

After walking for a while, passing through several streets that were crowded with people since the start of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament, Wang Yan led everyone to a building with an auction house sign.

"Oh, so it's an auction house." Xu Sanshi sighed and made a disappointed face, which made Bei Bei's fists harden again.

Wang Yan nodded: "That's right, it's the auction house. Xu Sanshi should have experienced the convenience of soul tools during the previous competition."

"And you should also have noticed that in the past few days of competition, almost all the participating students from the Soul Master Academy were equipped with Soul Guidance Devices."

"Even for some Soul Master students who are not primarily Soul Masters, the same is true. Ordinary Soul Masters do not have the same level of skill in manipulating Soul Tools as professional Soul Masters."

"However, the existence of soul tools is enough to greatly enhance their combat power, and the fusion between soul masters and soul guides is an inevitable trend in the future."

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement. Even those who were proud of the Soul Master profession, instilled with the ideals of Shrek Academy from the moment they enrolled, had to admit this.

Only Wang Dong had a furrowed brow, seemingly feeling unwell, while Huo Yuhao said to him, "If you're not feeling well, you should go back to the hotel and rest."

At the same time, Huo Yuhao secretly activated the mental suggestion soul power circuit that he had prepared beforehand, enveloping the other Shrek Academy students in front of him, except for Wang Dong behind him.

Because of the soul tool provided by Ning Tian, ​​and the fact that the reserve team members had mastered the soul tools distributed to them in recent days.

The reserve team also understood that with the help of soul tools, soul masters who originally needed to rely on teamwork could unleash combat power far exceeding their usual level by relying on themselves and the soul tools.

Depending on the specific effects of using a soul tool, it is even possible for a soul master to engage in combat that overcomes elemental weaknesses.

"The atmosphere of the competition was not like this decades ago. Most academies, like us now, believed that using soul tools lowered the status of soul masters."

"However, in recent years, more and more Soul Master academies have accepted and integrated Soul Tools. In the current year, even 80% of the academies have been equipped with Soul Tools."

Listening to Wang Yan's reflections, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan nodded with mixed feelings. Compared to the other four second-year students, their aversion to soul tools was actually greater due to the academy's education.

It must be said, however, that soul tools are indeed very useful. If you don't touch them, that's fine, but once you've actually used them, it's extremely difficult to avoid touching them altogether.

If a Soul Master truly rejects Soul Tools from the bottom of their heart, then not only offensive and defensive Soul Tools, but also storage and flying Soul Tools, are they not Soul Tools?

Thinking about it this way, the group's aversion to soul tools gradually diminished. Only Wang Dong couldn't resist any longer. After saying goodbye to Wang Yan, he left and returned to the Star Emperor Hotel alone.

Wang Yan then gave everyone another lecture, convincing them of his ideas and teaching abilities before leading them into the auction house.

After calculating the time, Huo Yuhao felt it was about time. After Wang Yan's long speech, during the rest of the auction, the consciousness and spirit of Wang Yan and the other members of the reserve team would be affected by his will.

All the mental energy that Huo Yuhao would have to expend would be supplied by the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm. Although the improved mental suggestion consumes more mental energy than the original version, the effect will be better.

Upon entering the auction hall, one first encounters a 20-meter-long, winding staircase leading downwards. The auction hall itself is not large, but the actual auction venue is located underground.

After arriving at the registration desk, Wang Yan distributed a number plate to each person, clearly indicating that he had already made preparations.

Immediately afterwards, a maid in a long red dress led the group inside, through a magnificent golden corridor, stepping on precious white jade bricks, surrounded by luxurious furnishings meticulously crafted by top artisans, highlighting an air of extravagance.

Huo Yuhao couldn't help but sigh inwardly: 'Ugh, so poor. If I could rob this place, it would probably be enough to support my cultivation all the way to becoming a Title Douluo.'

Unfortunately, he can only dream about it for now. With Huo Yuhao's strength, he is not qualified to take action against an empire-level power. He still needs to develop slowly and accumulate strength. When the war between the four empires is about to break out, that will be the time for Huo Yuhao to show his skills.

Led by the maid, the group arrived at Auction Hall No. 12. This auction was for soul tools below level six, which were perfect for Shrek Academy members. Since they were not high-end, the auction hall was located relatively late in the auction list.

After receiving masks that were more decorative than concealing, everyone was seated in the first row.

Although Wang Yan's participation in this auction was not endorsed by Dai Yueheng, the son of the White Tiger Duke, the Starlight Auction House, which is directly under the Star Luo Royal Family, could not possibly be unaware of his identity.

After everyone was seated, the auction proceeded smoothly.

As expected, the first few auction items were just some level three to five soul tools, although Wang Yan bought quite a few of them.

For Huo Yuhao, these auction items were not his target this time.

Even the second-to-last item to appear, the level-four charging soul tool jokingly called a milk bottle, was useless to him, given that he had the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm to assist his cultivation and his soul power was perfectly integrated and circulated within his body.

Moreover, after being acquired by Wang Yan, Huo Yuhao will have the opportunity to use the Eye of Truth to imprint the structure and core array of these soul tools and make them his own.

Finally, the last item was placed under the red cloth and pushed onto the stage on a trolley. This was Huo Yuhao's most important goal in coming to Xingluo City: the Soul-Devouring Blade.

After the auctioneer's introduction, the emotions of the participants in the auction fluctuated.

At first, I wondered what this mysterious item was.

Then there was the excitement of learning that its original form was listed among the engraving tools.

After the auctioneer told them the origin of the carving knife, the atmosphere at the scene, which had been lively, immediately plummeted.

Some even whispered discontentedly below: "The Soul-Devouring Blade? How did such a malevolent object end up at an auction? It seems that this Soul-Devouring Blade originated from the Sun Moon Empire. I heard that even a level nine Soul Master has perished because of it."

Huo Yuhao communicated with the being residing in his spiritual sea through mental power, but there was a period of time when they were no longer in contact.

"Elder Yi, what do you think of this Soul-Devouring Blade? Does its material, the 'Life-Generating Metal,' meet the requirements for repairing your divine consciousness?"

Electrolux did not answer Huo Yuhao's words immediately. After a brief silence, his aged voice rang out again.

"The Gold of Life, I never expected to find it here, and such a large piece at that. What surprises me even more is that you, Yuhao, recognize it."

"Did you already know about its existence? After all, your soul power circulation was prepared several days ago, and you activated it before the auction even started."

"I was wondering why you would do this, wasting the giant insect's mental energy. If it's for its sake, then it certainly deserves our attention."

"Since you've made up your mind, Elder Yi, then shall we entrust the remnant soul of that evil spirit master to you?"

"For me, it was just a small favor, nothing more."

"Elder Yi, as for why I knew of its existence beforehand, I will explain everything to you in detail after we have captured it and returned."

The auctioneer on the stage still wore a charming smile on her beautiful face: "The Soul-Devouring Carving Knife, starting price 100,000 gold soul coins, each bid must be at least 5,000 gold soul coins. Distinguished guests, you may begin the bidding."

However, she couldn't help but sigh slightly. After all, the ferocity of the Soul-Devouring Blade was too well-known. Even if it was just collected and not used with soul power, it would not cause any real harm. But very few people were willing to pay 100,000 gold soul coins to try it.

If things continue like this, the Soul-Devouring Blade will probably go unsold again. After a brief silence, Huo Yuhao knew that the time had come.

The Shrek group continued their conversation, completely ignoring Huo Yuhao's actions and subconsciously justifying them. Huo Yuhao then raised his bidding paddle and announced, "100,000 gold soul coins."

Seeing this, the auctioneer quickly responded, "VIP number 333 has bid 100,000 gold soul coins. Is there any other VIP who would like to place a bid?"

After that, no one else bid. After the final three bids, the auction gavel fell, and the Soul-Devouring Blade, forged from the Gold of Life, fell into Huo Yuhao's hands.

After the auction ended, Huo Yuhao followed Wang Yan to collect the Soul-Devouring Blade. After all, it's better to have it in hand and not want anything to go wrong at this final moment.

Back at the Star Emperor Hotel, in his room, Huo Yuhao took out the Soul Devouring Blade that he had stored in his storage soul tool.

At this moment, the Soul-Devouring Blade lay peacefully on the table, its ancient patterns radiating a chilling light, but apart from that, there seemed to be no other supernatural presence.

However, through the Eye of Truth, Huo Yuhao was able to clearly perceive the ferocious aura and the broken soul within.

Huo Yuhao didn't rashly touch it. Instead, he used his mental power to send a message to the small gray sphere in his sea of ​​consciousness: "I'll leave the rest to Elder Yi."

Because he didn't take action as many times as in the original story, Electrox's mental state was quite good at this moment, and he didn't fall into a deep sleep from time to time.

The gray current swirled in Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea. After obtaining Huo Yuhao's consent, Huo Yuhao's originally bright eyes turned gray, and his temperament became deathly still, yet also carried an indescribable holiness.

At this moment, Huo Yuhao was observing from the sidelines, watching his spiritual power, which, after being enveloped by the gray aura and tinged with a faint gray light, compressed into a tangible form and then shot out from his eyes.

A pale gray spiritual light enveloped the Soul-Devouring Blade, causing it to tremble violently. This was followed by a series of shrill screams, which were then blocked and suppressed by Elex's mental power.

Huo Yuhao carefully observed Electrox's every move. Although Electrox had previously taught him the method of controlling mental power, his skill was still far inferior to that of Electrox, who had once been a demigod.

Each move Electrolux made greatly enhanced Huo Yuhao's understanding of mental power.

After the gray spiritual energy suppressed the Soul-Devouring Blade, it immediately transformed into pure white purifying light, and a cyan ghostly shadow emerged from the Soul-Devouring Blade.

Its face was ferocious, and it seemed to want to fight to the death when it looked at Huo Yuhao's body, but in the hands of Ilex, how could this little evil soul master have any chance to struggle?

The light of purification may seem weak, but the malevolent energy and remnant souls of the evil spirit masters contained in the Soul Devouring Blade were quickly purified and disappeared, and then the original appearance of the Gold of Life was restored.

At this moment, the Soul-Devouring Carving Knife felt warm to the touch, its entire body like a piece of pure crystal, and no longer emitted any aura.

Electrolux didn't take any further action. Instead, he communicated with Huo Yuhao through mental energy: "Little Yuhao, since you know about the existence of the Life Gold, you should also know that once you obtain it, this wisp of my divine consciousness will be unrestrained."

Similarly, having it, I no longer need a 'host' like you.

Why did you wake me up, and even willingly hand over your body to me to control? Aren't you afraid I'll completely take over this body?

Huo Yuhao's voice followed: "Because I understand you, that's why I'm willing to trust you, even if my methods might not be to your liking."

"But I believe in you, Necromancer Saint, Elex, you are not one to repay kindness with enmity, or to go back on your word."

"I'm also gambling, betting on the future. The gold of living beings is priceless, but compared to you, it's nothing."

"I am willing to give you my whole heart, and I believe you will not betray my trust."

"There are some things I can't tell you all right now, but I want to say that I'm under a lot of pressure, which is why I hope to get your help even more."

"Although I know you can forcibly control my body without my permission, you still asked for my opinion beforehand because of my previous request. I don't believe an elder like you would do something like taking over my body."

After speaking, Huo Yuhao felt his control over his body gradually return. At the same time, the gray energy that Electrolux had transformed into reverted to a small sphere and shrank back into Huo Yuhao's sea of ​​consciousness.

"Having used the power of purification, I need to rest for a while. Place this Life Gold close to your body and allow your own energy to merge with it to facilitate the subsequent fusion."

(End of this chapter)