Chapter 541: Filthy Rich

The Soultrait Symbol Auction continued. The first Soultrait Symbol for the Berserker race, Ferocious Beast, was presented and sold for a small fortune. The Berserkers didn't hesitate to outbid each other, throwing more treasures into the bidding field one after another. It was as if the Berserkers returned onto a bloody battlefield in the middle of a fierce bidding war.

Michael loved their bids. They seemed reckless at first, but there were precise calculations behind their actions. At first, they wanted to outbid each other to push their foes into a tricky position. Their intention was simple: Everyone wanted to find out each other's bidding limit.

It was not uncommon for families to restrain themselves during auctions. They determined a specific limit before the auction started and wouldn't go above the limit.

The Berserker were the same. There was only one problem; they didn't want to lose. An auction was a war for the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs. The only difference was that they had to bid their valuable treasures instead of fighting with their life on the line.

The Berserkers' bidding for the first Soultrait ended in a massacre. Michael gained mountains of resources, 35 Silver Tokens of Transportation, and 10 Vouchers to create customized Epic Tier-3 Artifacts. The Berserker race was not only known for their love for war, but also for their crazy obsession with weapons. Almost all Berserkers were Master Blacksmiths with enough qualifications as Enchanters to create Ordinary Tier-1 and Tier-2 Artifacts. Customized Epic Tier-3 Artifacts, however, were on a whole different level.

Grandmaster Blacksmiths with unique Soultraits could create Epic Tier-3 Artifacts, but it was difficult for them to create customized ones. Nonetheless, it was possible. All they had to do was spend enough time and effort to fulfill their job.

Other than the Vouchers for Customized Epic Tier-3 Artifacts, Michael was also granted access to special blueprints, ores and other resources that could only be found in the territories of the Berserkers. The Berserkers were even willing to give their Racial Summoning Cores. That was a little bit unexpected, but Michael was happy about that as all Berserkers, even Starless Summons, were capable fighters. Every Berserker and Warlock Centaur had the innate potential to become a great Warrior.

Michael presumed that Starless Berserkers were as powerful as 1-Star Warriors. However, he was not sure how strong Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs could grow after Immortal Knight taught them. What if they became Blessed Squires, or Holy Knights? Their tremendous physical strength and high combat awareness would turn Berserkers and Warlock Centaur Summons into the core members of his territory's military power.

That didn't sound too bad.

Michael retrieved a notebook and began to write down a few things. He didn't want to lose count of the items he obtained and how to use them properly. Kraft Viton would probably give him an inventory list of the items he'd procured in today's special event, but there were certain things Michael wanted to do with specific items so he quickly began scribbling, lest he forgot them later.

The remaining Soultrait Symbols were sold in the following two hours. The Zeus family purchased the Elemental Soultrait, Aquarius, the Seraph Family managed to win the bid for the Healing-type Soultrait, Healing Surge, the Berserkers succeeded in bidding for the Soultraits Ferocious Beast and Scale Amore, whereas the Warlock Centaurs purchased Stompede and Rider of Hell.

Each Soultrait was powerful in its own way. It all depended on the User's race, understanding, and mastery.

One way or another, Michael gained a lot. He procured 205 Silver Tokens of Transportation - more than enough to hire a second and third batch of subordinates - 162 Intermediate Blueprints of Exotic and Extraordinary rarity, 75 Advanced Blueprints with core structures like a Hunter's Academy, and Recipes for various sought-after potions and elixirs.

Other than that, there was the Bloodline Upgrade Token, 10 Vouchers for Customized Epic Tier-3 Artifacts, a Legendary Artifact called Domain of Natura, an Orb of Resurrection, a Sacred Charm of Detection, and a Pillar of Territorial Awareness.

Michael would probably use two Vouchers for Customized Epic Tier-3 Items for himself before offering the remaining Vouchers to his subordinates. They could purchase the Vouchers using Jungle Points. It was an attractive offer.

Domain of Natura was a unique Legendary Artifact that did not possess a Tier. It was installed in the center of a Lord's territory, usually in the wooden manor, and created a domain that would nourish the surrounding flora and fauna, further accelerating the growth of all living beings, whether Summons, Monsters, or plants. All beings maturing in the Domain of Natura would be more attuned to their Lord, creating a stronger Link of Loyalty, and a connection toward their territory. Even if their Lord wouldn't order his subjects to protect their territory, every member of his territory would instinctively feel the need to do something to strengthen Michael's territory against unwanted visitors and potential dangers.

The Domain of Natura was a wonderful Artifact. Michael loved it, and he hoped that it would be as useful as promised. The same applied to the Orb of Resurrection, the Sacred Charm of Detection, and the Pillar of Territorial Awareness. The Orb of Resurrection could resurrect a deceased, whether Summon or Awakened, within five minutes of their death. It worked only one time and would shatter right after, but that was certainly worth it.

It would have been great to possess the Orb of Resurrection during the time he spent in the Lord Rift with Tiara and Danny...

The Sacred Charm of Detection was a great item that worked even better with the Pillar of Territorial Awareness. The Pillar of Territorial Awareness was installed in the center of the territory. It created a map of the surrounding regions using the memories of those who touched the pillar. Everyone could share their memories to create a large map of the surrounding regions.

The Pillar of Territorial Awareness would then create districts to determine the location of their enemies, unknown forces, their allies, potential allies, and their territory. Everything would be organized via the Pillar of Territorial Awareness, making it easier to plan war tactics and hunts.

The Sacred Charm of Detection was embedded in the Pillar of Territorial Awareness, upgrading the Pillar to detect mana frequencies and the essence of their intentions. That meant Michael and everyone else in his territory could pinpoint potential enemies with ill intentions and predators using the Sacred Charm of Detection.

Of course, neither of the items were cheap to maintain, but Michael was glad to have obtained them. It was not like he lacked the resources to empower them, either way. He obtained enough resources to empower all of his items for decades just from today's auction.

The resources he'd obtained were more than enough to start the construction of the Intermediate Sacred Knight Temple. Michael was only missing a few major materials required for the Advanced upgrade of the Sacred Knight Temple as well. It was only a matter of time before the Sacred Knight Temple would be fully restored and its full prospects unraveled.

Michael procured various unique methods as well. Many families auctioned a wide variety of Superior-grade Breathing Techniques, Core Techniques, Soul Refinement Techniques, Body Refinement Techniques, and Mind Refinement Techniques.

Michael was already in possession of various techniques, but there was no harm in getting further as the saying goes: The more the merrier!

Furthermore, there were certain methods Michael never possessed. It was the first time he procured a Soul Refinement Technique and a Core Technique. Other than that, Michael's Breathing Technique was old and certainly outdated. He even forgot that he had been using the Sun Soldier's Breathing Technique as he reached perfect mastery of the technique a long time ago.

Michael was quite happy about the earnings he made from his first auction. He was also pretty sure that the next auction wouldn't be this crazy. At least, he didn't think so. It was always worth hoping that his gut feeling was wrong when it came to things like this, but it didn't matter much. Michael knew that he could always obtain a fortune by selling Soultrait Symbols and his service to upgrade Soultraits for an exorbitant price.

He had a monopoly, and he sincerely doubted that anyone could take it away from him. Even if that were to happen in the future...was it really important? By the time someone else with a similar Soultrait as Extraction appeared on the horizon, Michael would already be a powerhouse that towered above the High Society. Was it really necessary for him to fear losing his monopoly over the Soultrait Symbols and Soul Techniques?

Michael glanced at the eight Basic Summoning Cores he'd procured and smiled brightly. Two bidders had been too invested in the auctioning process to notice that they ended up bidding for four Basic Summoning Cores respectively. That was how Michael got hold of four Basic Summoning Cores for the Berserker and the Warlock Centaur clan each.

The quality of the Summoning Cores was quite bad with large amounts of impurities damaging the most basic effects of the Summoning Cores, but that was no problem for Michael.

He could extract the impurities within the eight Summoning Cores and install them in his Summoning Gate, expanding the number of his daily summons significantly. However, that had to wait for a while. Michael had other things to do first.

He was waiting for his prizes to arrive before he could proceed with the next step on his to-do list.

Interestingly enough, the bidders didn't waste any time and handed over the goods they bid on shortly after the main event of the auction ended. They sent their goods to the branches of the Bartholomew Corporation that transferred everything to the headquarters in the Origin Expanse, where Kraft Viton collected uttered goods.

In return, Kraft Viton was supposed to send the 1-Star Soultraits to those who returned to claim the goods they'd won in their bids. However, none of the bidders asked for the Soultraits immediately.

All of them were hoping that Michael could upgrade the Soultraits. After all, they wanted to fuse with powerful Soultraits...not with lousy 1-Star Soultraits.