Douluo Continent, my martial soul is a mushroom.

Chapter 68 Slaves, Recruitment

The world is not black and white, but a delicate shade of gray.

……

The auction of soul tools from the Royal Soul Guidance Workshop takes place at the auction center.

The auction center is a large auditorium with a circular stage in the center, surrounded by concentric circles of seats.

It is divided into five parts. The three rows of seats closest to the stage are red, and then black, purple, yellow and white are arranged outwards.

The red seats are the so-called million-dollar VIP area, accessible only to those with status and wealth. The black seats are the regular million-dollar VIP area, open to anyone with money. The purple seats are for 500,000-dollar VIPs, the yellow seats are for 100,000-dollar regular VIPs, and the outermost, largest white seats are for the most ordinary VIPs.

If it were just Master Liu Wenzhi with Chi Ping, they should be in the purple seating area, but they are sitting in the red trading area now because Xue Qinghe heard that Chi Ping was coming to the auction and came along as well.

"How come you have time to come over?" Chi Ping, a nine-foot-tall man, asked curiously as he sat next to Xue Qinghe.

Xue Qinghe said mysteriously, "To prevent some great philanthropist from causing trouble."

"What do you mean?"

You'll find out soon enough.

Liu Wenzhi watched Chi Ping and Xue Qinghe's conversation with curiosity, feeling a strange feeling in his heart.

—Is this kid really that talented? How could he gain the Crown Prince's favor so much?

Soon it was the workshop's turn to auction off its soul tools.

Thanks to the host's excellent salesmanship, Liu Wenzhi's two high-level soul tools (equivalent to level three soul tools), seven mid-level soul tools, and 15 low-level soul tools were all sold out at prices of 10,000, 500, and 150 per piece, respectively.

Chi Ping calculated that a piece of blue jade should be worth around 50 gold soul coins. The outer shell is worthless, at most 3 gold soul coins. He can earn 97 gold soul coins by making a basic defensive soul guide staff.

Chi Ping smiled.

He was happy that his skills were recognized.

The auction continues.

As a cart was pushed onto the platform, Xue Qinghe immediately felt a bone-chilling cold around him.

He pressed down on Chi Ping's shoulder, but found that Chi Ping was not exerting any force.

"Now you know why I'm here."

Perhaps because his face was made of fungal hyphae, Chi Ping had little expression, but his eyes revealed a chilling glint.

"Slave trade!" Chi Ping spat out four words as cold as ice.

A slave auction is taking place on the platform. The item for auction is a young girl who has been deliberately dressed up in a highly erotic manner.

Xue Qinghe knew that Chi Ping was a good person.

He is a wonderful person who can say "all people are equal"!

He absolutely could not tolerate this kind of transaction that treated people as commodities.

"You know that such transactions take place here?"

Xue Qinghe nodded and said frankly, "I know, and it's more than that."

Xue Qinghe pointed to the waiters inside the venue.

Looking around, Chi Ping noticed that all the waitresses in the room were hot, scantily clad young women.

"These waitresses are all common women who were bought at auction when they were very young. They are not only the service staff here, but also part of the auction. If someone is willing to pay, they can be bought and sold."

Chi Ping stared intently at the waiter closest to him, unconsciously entering a state of intuition.

She was beautiful, with a delicate face and gorgeous clothes... but she had no "spirit," like an exquisite puppet.

Her personality was artificially "castrated," turning her from a human into livestock.

"I am not... a son of man!"

Xue Qinghe nodded, "Indeed, he is not a human being."

Chi Ping suddenly said in a cold voice, "The Heavenly Dou Empire explicitly prohibits the buying and selling of slaves."

Xue Qinghe: "But they aren't slaves; they're 'employees' with contracts with the auction house. The 'employees' violated the contract by terminating it, the buyer paid a 'penalty,' and the 'employees,' grateful, voluntarily followed the buyer away. It makes perfect sense, doesn't it?"

Or, to put it another way, the "employee" and the "customer" are mutually attracted and want to terminate their contract early so the employee can elope with the "customer." The "customer" pays the "employee's" penalty for breach of contract, and the two live happily ever after. Not only is it reasonable, it's also quite romantic.

Or perhaps…

Chi Ping took Xue Qinghe's hand.

"Stop talking."

Xue Qinghe didn't stop, and said in a low voice, "They always have various reasons to evade the Empire's sanctions. Completely reasonable, legal, and compliant!"

Having said that, Xue Qinghe fell silent.

The two watched in silence as the auction on the platform continued.

The bid for the caged girl had reached 300,000 yuan. The bidder was an elderly man in fine clothes from the red VIP area who bore a resemblance to Xue Qinghe.

"From the royal family?"

"Prince Xuexing, my uncle."

"He's no good."

"I know. But I am only the crown prince, not the emperor. I cannot speak disrespectfully to my uncle."

They stopped talking and watched silently as the slave auction ended.

They didn't make a bid because they knew that sometimes silence is the most powerful form of opposition.

Offering to buy the girl is the worst possible tactic. Any buying and selling only fuels the slave trade, because slave traders make money and gain profits.

"Let's go," Xue Qinghe said.

"it is good."

So Xue Qinghe left the auction house with Chi Ping and Liu Wenzhi. Xue Qinghe temporarily left halfway through, and soon returned with the girl that Prince Xue Xing had won the bid for.

Chi Ping was breathing rapidly.

Liu Wenzhi seemed to sense that something was wrong and excused himself before leaving.

Chi Ping gathered mycelium and draped a garment over the girl, concealing her exceptionally beautiful face, while Xue Qinghe took back his own coat.

The two men took the girl back to the Crown Prince's residence.

Xue Qinghe asked the housekeeper to take her to learn how to do chores.

"Did you arrange what happened today?" Chi Ping asked.

"There was both planning and coincidence," Xue Qinghe replied.

Chi Ping watched the girl's departing figure and said, "You still haven't given up on recruiting me."

"You are the most promising person I have ever seen, and you even threatened the Pope as a Soul King."

How could I give up so easily?

Being the crown prince is no easy task. Too many people are eyeing my position, and I need helpers and allies.

"There are countless shady businesses like auction houses within the Heavenly Dou Empire. Chi Ping, I promise you, if you help me, I will do everything in my power to crush them all!"

How to recruit a good person?

Reveal the dark side of the world to him, and then declare your determination to change it. Don't be secretive; openly state your purpose and resolve—it will have a remarkable effect.

Chi Ping said with a headache, "I swore that I would not get involved in the conflicts on the mainland."

Xue Qinghe suddenly laughed, a laugh like a fox, or perhaps a cunning wolf.

He could tell that Chi Ping was beginning to waver.

Xue Qinghe knew the importance of knowing when to stop, so he changed the subject, saying, "How's your cultivation going? I see you've been so busy learning about soul tools, don't let it affect your cultivation."

"I'm level 52. I know my own limits."

Xue Qinghe nodded, feeling a sense of emotion.

Xue Qinghe was Ning Fengzhi's disciple, and under his influence, Xue Qinghe should have resisted slavery.

(End of this chapter)