Chapter 192: Artifact of Town Luck

Three hundred li outside Jinhua City, on the official road.

An old Daoist and a young Daoist were walking along quite leisurely, looking up to survey their surroundings from time to time, admiring the mountains and watching the water, feeling perfectly at ease.

"Master, where are we going?"

A look of confusion appeared on the young Daoist's youthful face. Some time ago, his master had suddenly brought him out of the mountain gate with a very worried expression, yet refused to tell him the purpose of their journey.

"Soon, soon, you will know very soon."

The old Daoist revealed a long-absent smile.

"Can you really not tell me now?" the young Daoist persisted.

"You little brat, even if I told you, you wouldn't understand. I am taking you to find a Town Luck Artifact. Do you even know what a Town Luck Artifact is? If you don't know, then keep it to yourself; you'll know soon enough."

The old Daoist sighed inwardly.

If he had known, he wouldn't have made that bet with that bald donkey back then, losing his own mountain gate's Town Luck Artifact and leaving his disciple, who possessed Heaven and Earth Luck, with nothing to use.

Originally, this wouldn't have been much of an issue.

But lately, Heaven and Earth had been acting up, with Luck changing drastically—sometimes good, sometimes bad. Without a Town Luck Artifact to suppress oneself, one's own luck might turn into one's own disaster.

For this disciple of his who possessed Heaven and Earth Luck...

It was nothing short of a catastrophe!

It was a pity that those fellows from "Heaven's Mandate" had already vanished without a trace; otherwise, he might have been able to ask what exactly was happening so he could prepare... He looked at his disciple with a complex expression.

One who possesses Heaven and Earth Luck might perhaps be able to bear the Heaven's Mandate.

But now... even he could no longer say for sure.

"Ding-dong-dong...!"

A bell toll, a vast bell toll!

It rang out from within Jinhua City, rippling through the surrounding mountains and wilderness, sweeping away Evil Demons in all directions, slaying Weird and evil spirits. Even the two of them, three hundred li away, could hear it clearly, as if it were ringing right beside them.

This bell toll... the old Daoist's expression changed abruptly.

It shouldn't have been rung at a time like this!

In the center of Jinhua City, atop the Bell Tower.

Ma Xingkong and Ma Qiushui watched everything before them in shock. The continuously ringing bell was deafening, each toll higher than the last, seemingly transforming into endless waves of sound that shook the soul.

Especially Ma Qiushui.

She had originally wanted to stop this man, who appeared to be a spoiled playboy, from ringing the Jinhua Bell. After all, the risk for someone who was not a Bell Ringer to ring the Jinhua Bell was far too great; it was easy to be shaken to death. Besides, even if one were seeking justice, there was no need to choose to ring the Jinhua Bell; it was a waste of effort.

Ringing the bell once could leave a person exhausted.

How many times would you have to ring it for the officials in the city to hear?

Better to go to the Prefecture Governor's Mansion and beat the moss-covered drum for seeking justice.

That was what Ma Qiushui had intended to say.

But now, she realized she had been superficial.

This man had only given it a light tap, without using any strength at all, and the Jinhua Bell had rung. Moreover, the volume of this bell toll could not be compared to the usual tolls at all!

It was like a great explosion, as if it were the very first sound at the creation of Heaven and Earth!

Her own soul and bloodline trembled along with the vibrations of the bell!

The vast bell toll far surpassed any in the past, shaking the entire city.

Its power to break demons and slay evil also began to manifest.

Inside a brothel in the city, at the Heavenly Immortal Pavilion.

The most beautiful and popular courtesan, Xiang Niangzi, fainted on the spot in front of everyone, revealing her true form: a massive fox.

The meat-selling butcher turned into a fat pig, the beggar who was secretly begging turned into a skeleton, and the supposedly haunted courtyard was directly collapsed by the bell toll, kicking up clouds of dust.

Whether in the corners of gutters or out in the open.

None could escape the Jinhua Bell's toll.

Take, for example, the courtyard of a certain noble family.

A spoiled playboy was holding an unbridled party there with seven or eight women, and for a time, lewd sounds were constant. But as the bell toll passed, the seven or eight women instantly burst apart, turning into scraps of paper drifting on the ground.

This provoked the spoiled playboy into a fit of impotent rage.

Which bastard had ruined his fun!

The bell rang continuously, one toll stronger than the last, one wave higher than the next, shaking the common people. Finally, after nine tolls, a tenth was struck; ordinary people could not hear it, but those with powerful cultivation all could.

And those who could hear it felt as if their hearts had been struck by a heavy hammer.

Truly, the greatest sound is silent!

With this, the entire city was shaken!

From many noble mansions, such as the Wang Family, the Ye Family, the Ma Family, the Bai Family, and even the Prefecture Governor's Mansion and the Demon Suppression Division, terrifying rays of light shot out, casting their gaze toward the Jinhua Bell, all of them shocked.

This bell toll... who is it!

Powerful auras surged into the sky, churning the clouds and winds above; from time to time, thunder flashed and exploded with a "Boom—", seemingly trying to outdo the bell.

Atop the Bell Tower, Li Heng stopped ringing the bell, having already sensed that many auras were gathering in his direction, and then he smiled and said, "This Jinhua Bell is quite interesting; it's very easy to ring."

Ma Qiushui and Ma Xingkong swallowed hard upon hearing this.

What kind of strength did this man before them possess?

The Jinhua Bell is easy to ring? What a joke! Rumor had it that even Innate experts had tried to ring the Jinhua Bell, yet it was still very difficult to make it sound, and the toll was not as vast as this one.

Even a fool would know by now.

This man is not simple!

"You should have been awakened by now; how about you follow me?"

Li Heng looked at the Jinhua Bell again and smiled.

Ma Qiushui and Ma Xingkong were stunned upon hearing this. Was he talking to the Jinhua Bell? What was going on? But before they could remain puzzled for long, the scene in the next moment made their pupils shrink even further.

The massive Jinhua Bell actually moved without being struck; the mottled rust on its body gradually fell away, blooming with a sacred golden light, and then it gradually shrank, detached from the beam, and flew into Li Heng's palm.

This...! Ma Xingkong and Ma Qiushui were dumbfounded.

What on earth had just happened?

The Jinhua Bell had actually shrunk and flown directly into this man's hand; could it be that this was a divine object choosing its master? A monstrous storm surged in their hearts, and they found it completely unbelievable.

After all, the Jinhua Bell had stood here for a long time, and there was a saying that the Jinhua Bell was a divine object, quietly waiting for its owner. But for so many years, the Jinhua Bell had been struck repeatedly, yet showed no signs of acknowledging a master, so this saying had gradually faded away.

But in this current situation.

It forced them to consider this possibility!

But why was this?

Over the past thousand years, many people had struck the Jinhua Bell, including Second Heaven experts and some of their own elders, but in the end, the Jinhua Bell remained exactly as it was.

It would not shrink like it was now and fly into someone's palm.

Could he be even stronger than their elders?

"Your choice is not bad."

Li Heng was not surprised, his expression calm.

Previously, he had used his Heavenly Eye to observe this Jinhua Ancient Bell in detail and discovered that the divine light at the source of this bell was restrained and had not yet bloomed, nor were there any marks from others; he figured it was a masterless divine object.

Since it was masterless, he naturally took it with ease.

As for why others struck the Jinhua Bell and it didn't react, yet when he struck it, it acknowledged him as its master? Hmm, perhaps it was because he was powerful and skilled, and the Jinhua Bell was very satisfied?

At this moment, the various Second Heaven experts in the city also arrived.

Some came by using escape arts; fire was born from the Void above the Bell Tower, and a figure stepped out from the flames. Some came by riding the wind through the air, their figures ethereal, their posture in harmony with nature, drifting onto the Bell Tower; others used spatial movement, tearing open a space with their hands, and stepped out from the Rift.

Before long, over a dozen Second Heaven experts appeared on the Bell Tower.

"Xingkong, Qiushui, what happened here?"

Ma Xingkong and Ma Qiushui's eyes lit up when they heard this, and they looked toward the direction the voice came from and ran straight over. "Grandfather, you actually came?"

"Could I not come? Such a huge commotion occurred."

Ma Zonghua, the person in charge of the Ma Family in Jinhua City, said helplessly.

"Where did the Jinhua Bell go?"

A Second Heaven expert looked at the empty space before him and said in a deep voice.

"Bai Yan, you'll have to ask these two in front of us."

A young Second Heaven expert, dressed in the robes of a Demon Exorcist, suspended in mid-air with his hands behind his back, looking somewhat handsome and dashing, smiled slightly.

"Hmm? Xuan Dao, you, the First Division Chief, actually came out of seclusion? Weren't you supposed to be in seclusion to break through to the Dharma Aspect realm?" Bai Yan looked at this Demon Suppression Division Second Heaven named Xuan Dao, slightly surprised.

"I did think so, but you heard the bell toll just now; it felt like a hammer strike directly to the heart. How could I possibly stay in seclusion?" Xuan Dao waved his hand and looked at Li Heng and Kong Que with some helplessness.

He felt vaguely shocked in his heart.

The woman before him had somewhat shallow cultivation, not even reaching the Second Heaven realm, merely at the True Qi Realm. But the man beside her—it was one thing that he was more handsome than him, but he couldn't even see through his background?

He was already at Second Heaven Peak, having broken through to the Dharma Aspect realm.

Yet he still couldn't see through this man!

"Who is your Excellency?"

"What was that bell toll just now? Where is the Jinhua Bell?"

The other Second Heaven experts were naturally not fools; a Second Heaven expert from the Ye Family suddenly spoke up, asking on behalf of the others.

Li Heng smiled upon hearing this, his mind stirring.

The Jinhua Bell, which had already turned to the size of a toy, grew a few sizes larger, becoming a small bell, which he held in his hand and shook gently, emitting a "ding-dong-dong" sound.

This is... the sound of the Jinhua Bell!

The pupils of the Second Heaven experts shrank, and they felt it was somewhat unbelievable.

Could the small bell, the little toy, that this person was holding be the Jinhua Bell that had hung here for a thousand years?

They knew what this meant.

The Jinhua Bell had acknowledged this person as its master!?

A monstrous storm surged in everyone's hearts.

Why was Jinhua City called Jinhua City? The reason was that there was a Jinhua Bell within Jinhua City. Now that the Jinhua Bell had acknowledged another as its master, could Jinhua City still be called Jinhua City?

This was not a simple matter of changing a name.

It concerned Luck and destiny.

Furthermore, the Jinhua Bell was a divine object; although it had always hidden its nature, they had harbored designs on it before, only to end in failure, but they also did not want to see someone else get their hands on it.

Xuan Dao felt some regret in his heart; he had been a step too late.

He had once harbored designs on it before; the Jinhua Bell had swayed faintly, but in the end, it failed for various reasons, which made him reflect painfully and decide to go into seclusion to promote to the Dharma Aspect realm before coming back to try again.

He hadn't expected that he wouldn't have broken through to the Dharma Aspect realm.

And the Jinhua Bell had been snatched by someone else first?

"May I ask your Excellency's name, background, and master?"

Most of the Second Heaven experts had ugly expressions and asked in unison. It was obvious that this person was not from Jinhua City; he was an outsider. They could not accept that the meat in their own pot had been eaten by an outsider.

They were wondering whether they should snatch the Jinhua Bell back.

"My name is not worth mentioning, and my background is not worth proving."

Li Heng smiled slightly.

"I am here to seek justice."