Chapter 242 - Heart of the Ocean
Following Liu Huo’s lead, An Lin and Xu Xiaolan arrived at a place called Divine Altar of Heavenly Artifacts.
Above this ancient rock altar, there hovered many artifacts which were enveloped in a white glow.
Currently, there were a few luxuriously dressed cultivators standing atop this rock altar. They were either deep in thought or looking on probingly as they gazed at the artifacts.
“Golden Pagoda has a history of several thousand years,” Liu Huo explained with a smile on his face. “Up till now, we’ve only managed to collect thirty-five ancient artifacts. Every artifact here is priceless, and they’re all waiting for the person who is fated to be their owner.”
An Lin was quite excited as he looked at the artifacts which hovered in mid-air, and he started to walk toward the altar.
Right at this moment, a beautiful girl of elegant disposition and dressed in red Daoist robes suddenly said, “Mr. Zhong, I want to refine this ancient artifact!”
An elderly man on the rock altar nodded. He used a special technique to tap open the white glow, then handed the ancient artifact inside to that red-robed female.
“That elderly man is called Mr. Zhong,” Liu Huo introduced. “He’s the guardian of the ancient artifacts. That female there is the second princess of Heavenly River State’s Flaming River Imperial Family.”
An Lin was a bit surprised. The Flaming River Imperial Family was one of the Nine Imperials. Who would’ve thought that a member of the imperial family would also come here to try out their luck…
The ancient artifact chosen by Yan Meng, the red-robed female, was a golden weaving shuttle.
She drew upon all her powers in an attempt to refine this golden weaving shuttle, yet she elicited absolutely no reaction from it.
Only the ancient energy contained within the shuttle continued to ripple faintly.
“Items which can be referred to as ancient artifacts all have a spirit,” Liu Huo chuckled and said. “They’ll only choose owners who truly understand them. Using brute force to refine them will only bring about the opposite effect of what one desires. If the artifact spirit is erased, then the artifact will become junk. In short, it’s all dependent on fate…”
“Humph! What’s this lousy piece of trash!” Yan Meng was in an extremely bad mood as she placed the golden weaving shuttle down. Then, she retrieved a vital stone from her storage ring and handed it to Mr. Zhong before continuing to examine the remaining ancient artifacts…
Seeing this, Liu Huo shook his head. Then, he turned toward An Lin and said, “Mr. An Lin, do you want to try? As long as you pay one vital stone, you’ll be able to freely pick and refine any ancient artifact you want.”
An Lin nodded. With the wealth that he possessed right now, ten thousand spirit stones for one attempt wasn’t all that expensive. The most important thing was the success rate…
Liu Huo wore a calm expression as he looked toward An Lin. However, his mind was chortling with glee. How much money is this big fish going to spend…
Only true tycoons could enter this place. At the same time, this place also acted as a slaughter ground for tycoons. It would be best if this An Lin was a filthy rich idiot who would attempt to refine each of the thirty-five ancient artifacts. If he did so, then the Golden Pagoda would generate a revenue of three hundred and fifty thousand spirit stones. In addition, he would also be able to receive a commission of thirty-five thousand spirit stones. He felt elated just thinking about this.
“An Lin, just try once or twice. Don’t waste your money.” Xu Xiaolan was afraid that An Lin wouldn’t be able to control himself. Thus, she transmitted a warning to him.
“Don’t worry. I’ll feel out the difficulty first.” An Lin nodded and handed a vital stone to Mr. Zhong. Then, he started walking toward the hovering ancient artifacts.
Including An Lin, there were only three people picking out ancient artifacts on the rock altar.
Apart from Yan Meng, there was another middle-aged male who was dressed in a purple beast hide. He was also carefully scrutinizing the ancient artifacts hovering in mid-air.
An Lin looked through the white glow toward the ancient artifact inside. The first artifact was an ancient book.
He thought for a moment. Although knowledge could be life-changing, it would be pointless if he couldn’t understand and decipher the ancient text inside. Thus, he ignored this artifact.
He looked toward the second object. This was an ancient sword.
M-hm, he already had a sword. Next.
He looked toward the third object, fourth object…
One after another, he looked toward them. Then, one after another, he skipped over them. He had to start with an ancient artifact which had him palpitating with excitement. Love at first sight would make for a perfect beginning, no?
Just like that, he saw a jade pendant.
This jade pendant was sky blue in color. Even though it had gone through tens-of-thousands of years, it still reflected dazzling and dreamy colors.
Seeing this pendant made one feel as if they had seen the vast ocean.
An Lin pointed at this jade pendant and said loudly, “Mr. Zhong, I want to refine this artifact.”
“Mr. Zhong, I want to refine this artifact.” At almost exactly the same time, a seductive voice sounded.
An Lin was slightly dazed. He looked to his side and saw the equally dazed Yan Meng.
An Lin’s good manners and ladies-first attitude allowed him to react quickly. He hurriedly shouted, “Mr. Zhong, I said it first!”
“Mr. Zhong, I said it first!” The female’s voice sounded at almost exactly the same moment.
Mr. Zhong: “…”
The two of them were dazed once again. They exchanged a glance, and sparks crackled in their eyes.
Seeing the two of them face off against each other, Liu Huo and Hei Mu were both given a fright. Never would they have imagined that there would be a day when people fought to gift them money!
Yan Meng puffed out her fulsome chest and sneered, “Who are you? Don’t you understand the principle of ‘first come, first serve’? How long have I been choosing here already? You’ve just arrived here, don’t you know how to show a bit of respect and allow me to go first?”
“Heh, suit yourself. I’ll let you go first. Anyhow, it’ll all be in vain anyway.” After some consideration, An Lin decided that it would be meaningless to clash with a princess of the imperial family. He would show great benevolence and exercise forbearance just this once.
“You…!” Yan Meng’s voluptuous chest shook in anger. “I’ll definitely obtain this jade pendant and make you wallow in regret!”
Yan Meng huffed angrily as she accepted the blue pendant from Mr. Zhong.
In order to refine this jade pendant, she tried a gentle approach, forceful approach, sacrificial approach, spell formation approach… She tried everything she had at her disposal. An Lin exclaimed in wonderment.
This is truly eye-opening. However, her attempts were all f*cking useless.
After a long time, the blue jade pendant remained unchanged. There was absolutely no reaction from it at all.
Yan Meng fell into despair and handed the jade pendant back in dejection.
“Haha, it’s my turn.” An Lin eagerly picked up the jade pendant.
Yan Meng glanced at An Lin and snickered, “Why are you so excited? Even I wasn’t able to refine it, how are you going to refine it? You must be dreaming.”
An Lin ignored this nutjob. He held the jade pendant in his hands and started studying it carefully.
He first tried the traditional refinement approach. Sure enough, there was no reaction at all.
Seeing this, Yan Meng laughed.
She didn’t continue to look through the ancient artifacts. Instead, she stayed here to watch An Lin struggle with all his might.
Divine Inspection Technique!
An Lin’s eyes turned snowy white. As his finger touched the jade pendant, an avalanche of information started surging into his mind.
“Heart of the Ocean. Refined from the heart of the West Sea’s Priest Ai Ye. This has the power to command the beasts of the West Sea. Its flaw is that it has already lost its spiritual nature over time. Its energy circulation has also become clogged and dried up. Refinement requires one’s blood essence. One has to activate a water element spirit nurturing cultivation method in order to repair its flaws…”
The information is so detailed! An Lin was startled by this.
Is this still the same f*cking Divine Inspection Technique which could only determine if something was delicious or disgusting?
Since when was the Divine Inspection Technique so reliable?!
Suppressing his surprise, he bit his finger and let a drop of his blood essence onto the jade pendant. At the same time, he activated a water element spirit nurturing cultivation method.
Seeing An Lin’s actions, Yan Meng was slightly dazed. Then, she scoffed, “Haha, using blood essence to refine it? Do you think you’re signing a beast pet contract? What a brainless attempt. Don’t you feel any shame?”
However, just as Yan Meng said this, the jade pendant in An Lin’s hand suddenly radiated with a brilliant blue glow.
Bringing with it an ancient charm, a vast aura alike that of the boundless ocean suffused through the air.
An Lin found that the jade pendant in his hand had already developed some kind of mystical connection with him. This was a link which connected them on a sentient level. The jade pendant had chosen its owner!
Yan Meng’s eyes widened in shock. Her mocking mouth hung agape, and an entire apple could probably be stuffed inside.
Hei Mu, Liu Huo, and Huang Shi were also stunned to the spot. They stared intently at the jade pendant in An Lin’s hands.
“What just happened?!” Mr. Zhong cried. Witnessing this scene, his body started trembling.
Ding Ling! The jade pendant tinkled crisply. This was a carefree and joyful expression.
Immediately afterward, it started circling around An Lin merrily, eventually nestling up tightly above his heart.
Seeing this, even an idiot would be able to tell that this jade pendant had chosen its owner…