A human pregnancy lasts ten months, and it takes at least twelve years for a child to reach working age, which the territory simply cannot afford at this stage.
Unless one can obtain time-accelerating props, the price of all time-related items remains far beyond Toji Hisami’s current financial reach.
After delineating what was strictly necessary for the development of the territory at this stage, Toji Hisami began to browse for items to improve his personal strength.
This time, the options were overwhelming; no matter how he filtered the results, he was met with a dense, endless mass of listings.
Among them, equipment appeared in vast quantities, followed closely by skill books and scrolls, and he even spotted a knowledge inheritance seal.
The Seal of Knowledge Inheritance was something Toji Hisami had only seen once before back in the academy; it represented the absolute highest reward obtainable strictly from a regional main campus.
Now that Toji Hisami had visited the Palace of Knowledge, he understood the exact principles behind condensing a knowledge inheritance seal himself.
When he thoroughly analyzed a discipline of knowledge and achieved fundamental mastery over it, he could condense the corresponding knowledge seal from his own foundation.
This seal could be used by anyone, granting the recipient direct access to the corresponding knowledge base upon activation.
The exact amount of knowledge inherited ranged from 1% to 50%, depending entirely on the recipient’s innate talent.
Toji Hisami mastered nine major knowledge disciplines, meaning that in the future, he could condense nine separate knowledge inheritance seals. At this auction, a single seal carried a market value of three thousand points.
In addition to equipment and skill books, there were also items designed to enhance physical attributes, such as dragon blood essence.
Toji Hisami still possessed a few drops in his own collection, but he intended to save them for his own inner circle rather than submitting them for appraisal.
"Huh?"
Toji Hisami’s hand suddenly paused, his gaze locking onto one particular item.
[World Hall Illusion Stone]
[Upon activation, the illusion of a small world will unfold. The user gains a set amount of growth experience and a small chance to obtain a ticket to the World Hall.]
[Value: 1000 points]
The so-called growth experience referred to standard levelling experience, which was currently useless to Toji Hisami.
His level was hard-capped at level 50; if he wanted to break through further, he needed to collect multiple level unblocking books.
Level unblocking books were nowhere to be found in the trade catalog.
His stored experience energy had already overflowed significantly, holding enough accumulated energy to push him straight to level 60 the moment his cap was lifted.
However, the final line of the description caught his interest: a small chance to obtain a ticket to the World Hall.
The three major legendary halls, Knowledge, World, and Time, each possessed distinct, incomprehensible magical powers.
Anyone who managed to step inside, provided they were not an incompetent spendthrift like Boris, would undeniably derive massive lifelong benefits.
The primary reason Toji Hisami had been able to rise so rapidly was fundamentally linked to his transformative experience within the Palace of Knowledge.
If he could enter the World Hall even once, his overall power would undeniably undergo another monumental leap!
Furthermore, that sort of foundation enhancement yielded permanent, lifelong advantages rather than a temporary competitive edge.
Yet this item was priced at only one thousand points, indicating that the probability of pulling the ticket was exceptionally low.
Purchasing it was an absolute gamble, essentially opening a blind box.
It was the precise type of blind box where the success rate was measured in fractions of a percent.
Toji Hisami felt a surge of temptation and ultimately circled the item on his list.
"If I still have remaining funds at the end, it won’t hurt to buy it and test my luck."
After marking the item, Toji Hisami closed the transaction catalog.
Exposing oneself to an overload of high-tier items at his current stage could easily foster wild ambition, which was far from ideal.
Being able to participate in a high-level auction of this scale so early was already more than enough to broaden his horizons.
Toji Hisami possessed exceptional self-control, always maintaining a clear understanding of his own boundaries.
After stowing the list away, he sat quietly in place and entered a deep meditation to settle his mind.
On the floating gold card, the chubby, round face suddenly flickered with animated life, as if a powerful entity had linked to the card across dimensions.
The round face observed Toji Hisami with a deep, contemplative expression.
Time ticked away silently, minute by minute.
Day quickly faded into night.
Just ten minutes before the auction was set to officially commence, Toji Hisami opened his eyes and lifted his hands slightly.
Floating above his palms were four radiant, luminous seals.
Mystery, magic, science, and evolution.
Seals of knowledge inheritance!
Unexpectedly, after processing the excitement of the auction, settling his mind allowed Toji Hisami to fully integrate the four earliest analytical disciplines he had mastered.
The manifestation of these knowledge inheritance seals signified that Toji Hisami had completely mastered the core foundations of those four disciplines.
Even within the Human Alliance of the main world, his mastery would qualify him as a profound scholar.
If he were at the Holy Academy, he would easily hold a director-level position, far transcending ordinary instructors.
A calm smile appeared on Toji Hisami’s face as he reabsorbed the four seals into his body and turned his attention to the gold card floating before him.
"Senior, does the auction permit temporary, last-minute item additions?"
The gold card vibrated softly, and a bright smile materialized across its fat face.
[Yes.]
A simple line of text surfaced.
The round face then returned to its standard state as the powerful entity connected remotely withdrew its presence.
Toji Hisami had long realized someone was observing him, but he had offered no resistance, allowing the entity to monitor him for the past day.
He understood that anyone capable of projecting their awareness into a trial world like this had to be an exceptionally powerful figure.
In many circumstances, securing the favor of an influential figure was invaluable.
It appeared that this powerful entity held a favorable impression of him.
Tick. Tock.
As the countdown hit the final second, a spatial vortex bloomed from the gold card, unleashing a surge of majestic energy into the room.
Lyra instantly entered Toji Hisami’s chamber; seeing the spatial vortex, a look of realization crossed her eyes.
"I will be participating in the auction remotely. Please keep watch over the surrounding area."
"Understood."
Lyra stepped outside the house, spreading her perception to envelop the entire estate.
She allowed the spatial vortex’s aura to remain unshielded; while tentatively rated as an S-level Heroic Spirit, her tactical awareness spanned far beyond raw combat prowess.
The vortex expanded until it formed a massive, shimmering bubble, completely enclosing Toji Hisami.
At that moment, Toji Hisami felt as though he had been transported into an entirely different realm, the surrounding scenery shifting at dizzying speeds.
He had expected a basic projection screen; he had not anticipated such a deeply immersive medium.
The spatial bubble represented an exceptionally advanced application of spatial manipulation designed for full sensory immersion.
Inside the bubble, everything Toji Hisami observed was entirely real, while his own presence remained purely intangible.
As the hazy, distant scenery began to solidify, he knew the auction had officially begun.
A wave of bustling noise washed over him as a colossal structure resembling an grand opera house materialized.
At the center of the theater stood a massive circular stage with a raised pedestal at its heart, the main platform for the upcoming bids.
Surrounding the stage were tiered rows of seats rising at least a hundred levels high.
At the very top, private VIP suites lined the upper perimeter, their internal atmospheres completely isolated to hide the identity of their occupants.
Toji Hisami was placed directly in a first-tier seat near the central ring, as soon as he sat down, a sleek control tablet materialized beside him.
Looking closely at the screen, he saw the transaction list already updating in real time, with several items greying out as they were purchased on the spot.
The main stage had not even introduced the host, yet the trading volume was already moving rapidly behind the scenes.
"This Dimension Trading Auction is certainly interesting," Toji Hisami murmured softly, casting his eyes across the myriad of figures manifesting around him.