Chapter 8
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Chapter 8: Twelve Layers of Spirit Talisman Artifacts
Copper Coin Swords, golden nets, silver nets, bronze mirrors, jade seals, iron swords…
The first floor of the Artifact Pavilion has been contaminated. As Li Hui continuously swatted and fled, the low-level artifacts accumulated by the Jade Symbol Sect over many years suffered terrible damage.
Collapse!
Disintegration!
Breakage!
Dissipation!
Nearly eight hundred low-level artifacts became history, turning into scraps.
When Li Hui finally gasped for breath and the scene before him returned to normal, he looked around in disbelief, feeling a chill in his hands and feet, wishing he could crumble and dissipate alongside those low-level artifacts.
“It’s over, it’s all over. Did I really cause this?” Li Hui inhaled sharply, shaking his head in disbelief.
After a while, he finally calmed down and noticed that all the spirit talismans remained floating in the air, untouched by the silver snake bracelet.
“How foolish of me! I was only thinking of getting the artifact and didn’t even consider grabbing a spirit talisman to leave.” Li Hui regretted it, but now his remorse was futile.
He reached into the air and easily pulled down a yellow talisman, which bore faint symbols.
The green light that had always hovered above his head suddenly made a soft sound and dissipated by one-third.
“Does selecting talismans come with a bonus, allowing me to take a few more? No, the back of the talisman has two marks; it’s merely the ordinary Cloud Pattern Talisman, not a bonus.” Li Hui didn’t care; he felt like a grasshopper in the autumn, unsure how much longer he could jump. He casually grabbed two spirit talismans, which were the Pine Tree Talisman and the Quick Sand Talisman, both with two marks, and in terms of value, they couldn’t be compared to artifacts.
Feeling uneasy, he thought of Brother Cheng. As he stepped out of the Artifact Pavilion, he couldn’t even remember which leg he used to exit.
After inquiring, he found out that Brother Cheng had long since immersed himself in the artifact crafting room and had no intention of waiting for him at the entrance.
“This is for the best; this matter is too strange. Perhaps it won’t involve Brother Cheng!” Li Hui could only comfort himself as he hurriedly sped toward the building next to the lecture hall.
At noon, just after arriving at the public housing, he saw over a dozen pieces of talisman paper with unique markings shoot toward him like arrows, crashing against the building and creating ripples, with voices ringing out non-stop.
“Alert! All low-level artifacts below three marks in the Artifact Pavilion have been destroyed.”
“Goodness, who did this? All the artifacts I painstakingly crafted in my youth have shattered. Future generations won’t be able to learn from them anymore.”
“There’s a traitor in the sect; find this person and peel their skin!”
“The crime is unforgivable; death…”
Li Hui almost fainted, thinking, “They found out so quickly? If only I had half an hour more! No, I can’t just sit and wait for death. This matter has nothing to do with me; it really has nothing to do with me. Maybe I was used; the culprit must be formidable foes of the sect, deliberately trying to disrupt the harmony of our sect.”
Thinking this, he quickly stepped through the door.
The whole public housing was in chaos, issuing orders to investigate and catch the culprit.
Li Hui felt heart-stopping fear, fully aware that he had made a huge mess. If he were to be targeted for investigation, he wouldn’t be able to clear himself even if he jumped into the Yellow River. The only thing that gave him some comfort was hearing the enforcement disciples complain that the management of the Artifact Pavilion from the first to the fifth floor was lax and that it operated on its own, with no detailed records.
“I need to wrap up my duties quickly.”
To leave the sect and head to the markets at the White Sea, he had to return his seal and settle his accounts. This was a necessary procedure. Li Hui walked into the small accounts room, where he used to keep false records—ah, no, where he recorded his accounts.
He hurriedly sorted a few outstanding payments and then classified yesterday’s accounts like they were normally done, but today he worked at an unbelievable speed compared to his usual laid-back attitude.
After finishing everything, he quickly organized the account book, took out a fist-sized black stone large seal from the drawer, and pulled out a piece of talisman that looked like gold leaf, attaching it to the large seal. He then stood up, opened the door, and headed to the main accounts room.
Jin Buduan had a total of six accountants, and Li Hui was just one of them. Without needing to report, he bypassed the screen and directly entered, as the Chief Steward rarely came to the accounts room; everyone had their way of operating.
He placed the account book and seal on the counter, leaving a note explaining the reason. Just as Li Hui turned around, his gaze suddenly fell upon the ancient bronze bell beside the screen, causing him to freeze.
It was impossible not to be stunned. Though he may not have thought much of it before, he felt his heart leap now.
Li Hui’s mind raced, as he recalled that Jin Buduan accepted bribes and kept the embezzled procurement funds without taking a single penny out of the main accounts room. So where did he stash the money?
This guy was extremely stingy and cautious. Unless you were very close, outsiders would think he was loyal and reliable, maybe just making a little petty cash on purchases, but in truth, he was a major rat of the Jade Symbol Sect.
“An opportunity! Jin Buduan cares about this bronze bell; his eyes have often lingered on it. I have to give it a try!”
“After all, I have committed an enormous crime. If I don’t take advantage of this, what about the kids and elders on Chuxia Mountain if something happens to me?”
“Let’s gamble. If this bronze bell is an artifact, then maybe…” Li Hui’s mind flashed with various thoughts as he took a few steps to the bronze bell, took a deep breath, and reached out his hand.
“Artifact! It must be an artifact!”
“And it’s hiding the money Jin Buduan swallowed.”
The bronze bell, seemingly from a deep mountain treasure temple, stood over a person high and was covered in copper rust, looking quite worn out, making it difficult to associate it with an artifact.
“Buzz…” With a humming sound, the silver snake seemed to lift its head!
Li Hui saw a glow springing from his fingertips, and naturally made a grabbing motion, suddenly pulling out hundreds of glowing points from the ancient bronze bell towering before him.
“So much? Last time when I selected the three-mark iron sword, I only extracted five or six points of glow, and the color wasn’t as brilliant. If I calculate based on the number of glow points and their intensity, could this bronze bell be thousands of times greater than the three-mark iron sword?”
He was deeply astonished…
“Artifacts and spirit talismans naturally grow artifact patterns, with nine patterns being the most, corresponding to the nine layers of Spirit Motion stage. Above nine patterns, there can be three transformations, corresponding to the early, mid, and late stages of Gather Spirit, equal to twelve layers of power. I wonder what layer this bronze bell belongs to.”
Li Hui had little experience with artifacts, and without a specific concept in mind, he didn’t understand what pulling out hundreds of glowing points signified.
After the silver snake bracelet absorbed several hundred glowing points from the bronze bell, faint patterns appeared on it, resembling tiny symbols or tadpole markings, which were quite peculiar.
Li Hui didn’t notice these changes, as all his focus was on the bronze bell before him.
The body of the bell was fracturing, with copper rust and cracks rapidly spreading.
Suddenly, a multitude of swirling patterns appeared near the cracks, seemingly attempting to repair the damage. However, it ultimately lost too much, and in an instant, it accelerated its collapse, turning into copper powder scattered on the ground.
“There really is something inside.”
“Quick, six-link chain.” Li Hui hastily pressed the black stone on the six-link chain, and the stone suddenly revealed silver symbols, pulling out a blue wrapping skin from the hand chain.
“The wrapping skin is only three feet square! Looks like Brother Cheng’s craftsmanship needs improvement; the ideal wrapping skin should be five feet square.” Without caring what the bronze bell might have hidden, Li Hui filled four wraps in a rush and hurriedly left.
