Magical Artifact

Upon the cliff, Hu Li devoured the assorted pastries and snacks Zhou Ping had prepared, his fluffy tail swaying involuntarily.

"Mmm, human food truly is this delicious."

Zhou Ping stood respectfully to the side, not daring to make a single sound.

After finishing the treats, Hu Li licked his beastly claws with lingering satisfaction and cast a sidelong glance at Zhou Ping.

Zhou Ping's entire body trembled, feeling as though he had been plunged into an icy abyss.

"You did very well. I shall bestow these things upon you."

Hu Li opened his mouth and spat out a pile of broken swords, spears, and halberds. They were completely covered in rust, looking as if they would shatter at the slightest touch.

He had scavenged these from certain realms within Darong Mountain. They were relics left behind by the human race during the great war between humans and demons centuries ago. Since they were useless to him, he figured he might as well pick them up to reward this human.

Zhou Ping stared blankly. He had assumed that even if this fox demon granted him a reward, it would merely be some ordinary herbs. He never expected weapons. Judging by their appearance, even though they were dilapidated, they had not fully decayed-they might very well be Dharma Artifacts!

But how could he know that Hu Li would never be willing to part with spirit herbs?

After all, these low-grade, broken blades were entirely useless to demonic creatures. Herbs and spirit fruits, however, were entirely different-they could enhance one's cultivation. Even an ordinary wild ginseng was something the fox would hoard.

"Thank you, Senior." Zhou Ping bowed deeply.

Magical Artifacts! These were treasures Zhou Ping had never dared to dream of possessing. A single piece would casually cost dozens or even hundreds of Spirit Stones. Furthermore, activating them consumed a tremendous amount of Spiritual Qi. Even a cultivator at the peak of the Spirit Awakening Realm, pooling together all their Spiritual Qi, might not be able to activate one even a single time.

He never expected that while the human realm was filled with nothing but deceit and treachery, the demon race could be so delightfully simple. If even one or two of these weapons were still usable, they could unleash extraordinary might. When that time came, he could suppress the Wang and Sun families entirely, ending his days of hiding in the deep mountains and old forests.

"Mm, prepare some more delicious food next time, and I will naturally have things to reward you with." Seeing Zhou Ping's delighted expression, Hu Li could not help but feel a bit smug.

He actually had no idea what these playthings were used for. He had only heard from the clan elders that humans used them, but that they were exceedingly weak and could be destroyed with a flick of the hand.

When he first brought them along, he had been somewhat uneasy. After all, to him, they were just a pile of useless scrap. What if his reward was rejected? How could he maintain his status then?

Hu Li was somewhat of an oddity among the fox clan. Unlike other demons who were bloodthirsty and violent, his noble bloodline gave him a highly intelligent and gentle nature, earning him the favor of the Celestial Fox. Rather than a wild beast that had gained sentience, he was more like a spiritually enlightened entity.

Zhou Ping was truly fortunate. If he had encountered any other great demon at the Qi Condensation Realm, his bones would likely have been chewed clean by now.

Of course, only someone like Hu Li would idle his time away by coming to the outer mountains where Spiritual Qi was so thin. Other demonic creatures would rather hole up deep inside Darong Mountain and never emerge.

"This junior will certainly do so," Zhou Ping said with a deep bow.

When he raised his head, he caught Hu Li staring intently at him, causing a flicker of panic in his chest.

"Do not be afraid. I do not eat human flesh. The mortal body harbors too many impurities and foul auras; eating it would only harm my cultivation," Hu Li said, his fur rippling with a lustrous sheen. "Take a look at these playthings and see if they suit you."

As he spoke, Hu Li pretended to lick and groom his fur, acting as though he was not paying Zhou Ping any attention.

Zhou Ping finally let out a breath of relief and stepped forward to carefully inspect the blades.

Hu Li watched Zhou Ping out of the corner of his eye. He simply wanted to figure out how exactly these human trinkets were utilized.

Zhou Ping sifted through the pile and finally found three items that still retained the imposing aura of Magical Artifacts. The rest could only be considered useless scrap.

Or rather, all these weapons were originally Magical Artifacts, perhaps even more powerful Dharma Treasures. But centuries of wear and tear had completely eroded the inscribed formations within them, reducing them to mortal objects.

The three surviving Magical Artifacts were a small sword, a palm-sized shield, and a bronze formation plate.

Moreover, the only piece that was relatively intact was that formation plate. Although he had not yet tested its specific effects, no matter what kind of array it held, it would provide immense assistance to the current Zhou family.

The damage to the shield and the small sword was much more severe. As Zhou Ping injected a tiny sliver of Spiritual Qi into the small sword, he immediately felt the weapon erupt with a formidable presence-a biting, tangible sharpness bursting forth!

However, he also sensed the already-damaged inscribed formations within the blade instantly fracturing even further. Startled, he hurriedly withdrew his Spiritual Qi.

Even an amateur like him could estimate that this small sword had at most three to five uses left before it would completely shatter.

That shield fared slightly better than the sword, but it could withstand at most one or two additional uses.

Yet, it was precisely because these two weapons were so heavily damaged and their inscribed formations mostly broken that he could activate them with his meager, shallow reserves of Spiritual Qi.

But even so, Zhou Ping had to drain all of his Spiritual Qi to unleash their might. If they were intact Magical Artifacts, every single activation would likely require several times that amount of Spiritual Qi.

It was no wonder that Magical Artifacts could only be wielded by those at the Qi Condensation Realm and above. It was not merely their staggering price; the sheer drain on Spiritual Qi meant that a Spirit Awakening Realm cultivator simply could not drive them.

Even those Sect geniuses at the Spirit Awakening Realm possessed no more than a few dozen strands of Spiritual Qi. At most, they could take an intact Magical Artifact and unleash its power once or twice before running completely dry. If those two strikes failed to fell the enemy, they would be plunging themselves straight into a desperate dead end.

Comparatively, it was much more sensible for Spirit Awakening Realm cultivators to rely on mortal weapons or talismans to fend off enemies.

But the Zhou family's current situation was different. They were not dealing with cultivators, but with ordinary village rustics. What they desperately needed was overwhelming martial might to suppress the restless clans.

"Thank you, Senior. For today's grace, my Zhou family shall surely repay you a hundredfold in the future!" Zhou Ping bowed excitedly, his voice trembling with emotion.

Hu Li's gift of weapons was like delivering charcoal in a freezing winter for the current Zhou family. Zhou Ping would no longer have to hide away in the deep mountains just to avoid the Wang and Sun families.

Hu Li, however, found the whole ordeal utterly dull. Just a moment ago, he had sensed the power erupting from that weapon. At best, it barely matched a full-force strike from an early-stage Qi Condensation cultivator. It would struggle to even scratch his fur.

No wonder the clan elders always said these human contraptions were weak. They truly were this pitiful.

"Prepare more delicious food for me. I have plenty of these things. As long as you keep me satisfied, I will reward them all to you."

Although Hu Li was a demonic creature, he lacked worldly experience. His mind was as pure as a ten-year-old human child's. Naturally, he assumed trading this useless scrap for delicious human pastries was a wonderful deal.

Zhou Ping nodded in eager agreement. As long as he could exchange for even one or two useful weapons, preparing mountains of pastries and dim sum would be entirely worth the cost.

"Then, every month, this junior shall wait for Senior at this cliff. Does Senior find that acceptable?" Zhou Ping asked respectfully.

Hu Li pondered for a moment before shaking his head. Running here so often would not be ideal; it might easily draw the suspicion of the clan elders. Furthermore, his clan lands were hundreds of li away, and he was too lazy to make the trek so frequently.

"Wait for me here once every three months. If I do not show up, leave the offerings in your cave, and I will come to collect them myself."

Zhou Ping hastily replied, "Senior, these pastries cannot be stored for long. I hope Senior will not be angered if they spoil by then."

He was genuinely terrified that if he left the food there and it went bad before Hu Li arrived, the great demon would vent his fury upon him, or even upon Baixi Village.

Hu Li spoke with complete unconcern, "If they spoil, I will just send my clansmen down to that village to find you, and you can prepare a fresh batch then."

He naturally would not order demonic beasts to storm the village, but the fox clan was inherently attuned to spirits. Surely an ordinary fox could track him down easily enough.

"This junior obeys," Zhou Ping said, cupping his hands in salute.

Immediately after, Hu Li rose to his paws and plunged into the mountain forest without looking back, sprinting toward the towering, majestic expanse of Darong Mountain.

"This human's aura is so incredibly weak. Won't he just drop dead of old age one of these days?"

Halfway along the path, Hu Li suddenly glanced back toward the cliff. He did not actually care about Zhou Ping, but since Zhou Ping was the first human he had ever interacted with, he harbored a unique sentiment toward him. It was much like a child's fondness for their very first toy.

Watching Hu Li's fading silhouette, Zhou Ping was filled with profound envy. If only he possessed a Qi Condensation cultivation base! Not only would he live to see one hundred and twenty years, but he could also sit securely in his estate, suppressing all those petty villains, getting his family recorded into the Immortal Registration, and becoming a mighty, dominant Immortal Clan!

His heart full of yearning ultimately dissolved into a heavy sigh, unable to voice the deep-seated bitterness within.

Zhou Ping was in no rush to return home. He intended to stay here and thoroughly study the functions of the shield and the formation plate. Only by fully grasping their effects could he make the proper preparations for their current plight.

After several tests, he finally unraveled the secrets behind the three Magical Artifacts.

Every activation of the small sword required over eight strands of Spiritual Qi. It would then transform into a streak of flying sword spiritual light, guided by the user's will, with a maximum range of ten zhang. Furthermore, the greater the distance, the more violently it drained Spiritual Qi.

Most importantly, it only had four uses left. Every single strike was immensely precious.

The shield, meanwhile, was a Magical Artifact capable of both offense and defense. Triggered with six or more strands of Spiritual Qi, it would expand into a massive shield one zhang in diameter. It could be used to defend oneself, or simply to crush enemies beneath its weight.

It only had five uses remaining. Since it consumed less Spiritual Qi, Zhou Ping planned to hand it over to Minghu for safekeeping. Minghu spent most of his time guarding the estate; if external enemies dared to intrude, he could catch them completely off guard.

As for the final bronze formation plate, Zhou Ping was no formation master, so he naturally could not decipher its workings. He also knew that formations required formation flags as auxiliary artifacts; otherwise, they could not exert their true power.

Now, possessing only the formation plate, even if he did somehow uncover its effects, he had no way to use it in the immediate future.

He stood up, neatly packed away the clothes scattered in the cave, completely concealed the entrance, and began his trek back in the direction of Baixi Village.

This time, he wanted to see if the Wang and Sun families still dared to scheme in the shadows!

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