Chapter 416: Selection

Ten stone pillars stood in the hall, their tops glowing with brilliant light, each drawing in celestial energy to condense into diverse energy spectacles around them.

Li Luo's burning gaze swept over each one; within the ten orbs, light flickered unpredictably, faintly revealing their contents—swords, armor, or various strange objects—each radiating an extremely potent energy fluctuation.

"So this is the true Golden-Eye Artifact."

Li Luo murmured to himself; the energy fluctuations emitted by these ten Golden-Eye Artifacts far surpassed those of his previously acquired "Light Falcon Bow," and he could faintly sense that these artifacts possessed a kind of sentience—as if they had some degree of autonomous awareness, drawing in celestial energy on their own to refine themselves, their energy ebbing and flowing like breath.

In a certain sense, Golden-Eye Artifacts were already living things.

Among those present, only Princess and Gong Gong Shenjun remained perfectly calm, for their status was the most exalted, backed by the royal family; though Golden-Eye Artifacts were rare, they did not react like Li Luo, a poor child.

Even Jiang Jiang Qinge was not entirely unmoved; though her "Golden Gate Sword" was already a Golden-Eye Artifact, she possessed only this one, and if she could acquire another type of Golden-Eye Artifact, she would gladly do so.

Others stared hungrily, yet only Zhu Zhu Xuan and Ye Ye Qiuding wore gloomy expressions, for they had no right to choose Golden-Eye Artifacts—they could only wait until Li Luo and the others had chosen, then receive a Gold-Thread White-Eye Artifact from the academy.

Though obtaining a Gold-Thread White-Eye Artifact was still a decent outcome, the contrast with the Golden-Eye Artifacts before them inevitably left them feeling unbalanced.

But feeling unbalanced did no good; they knew full well that if the final tickets hadn't ended up in the academy's hands, their two defeats would have barred them from even entering the treasure vault.

They had been allowed in here merely to claim a Gold-Thread White-Eye Artifact because of Li Luo's last-minute rescue.

Of course, given their personalities, it was clearly impossible to expect them to feel any gratitude for it.

But whether these two felt gratitude or not, Li Luo had zero interest—he had already scanned all ten Golden-Eye Artifacts, his goal clear: a matched pair of dual-blade Golden-Eye Artifacts. Unfortunately, none existed among the ten.

This was normal; dual blades were two weapons, equivalent to two Golden-Eye Artifacts, and if forged as a matched set from the start, their price and rarity would multiply exponentially.

Previously, Li Luo's dual blades had been mere ordinary phase tools, not even White-Eye level, so they were easy to find; now that the level had risen to Golden-Eye, expecting to find one so easily was pure fantasy.

Thus, upon seeing no matched dual-blade Golden-Eye Artifact, Li Luo immediately abandoned his wish and settled for seeking a single-blade one instead.

This was much easier to find.

Among the ten Golden-Eye Artifacts, two were blade-shaped.

On the stone pillars, faint glowing light formed text describing the two blade artifacts.

"Cold Nether Blade, Golden-Eye Artifact, forged from ten-thousand-year frozen stone; its blade qi is bitterly cold, and when activated by Ice Phase power, the two reinforce each other—wherever the blade's light passes, all turns to ice shards." This was a long blade of deep blue, its blade surface radiating chilling cold, silently suspended within the orb, the surrounding air continuously crystallizing into ice.

"Ink-Scale Blade, Golden-Eye Artifact: In the deep seas of the East, there exists a fish called Ink-Scale, about a foot long, entirely pitch-black, shaped like a blade, covered in black scales. Ink-Scale fish prefer to gather in schools—numbering at least hundreds, up to a thousand—and when they swim, it appears as if a towering blade-light surges with the water; wherever they pass, even Marquis-level experts must retreat." The Ink-Scale Blade was a short, black blade, its blade slightly thin, its edge pitch-black, radiating an extremely sharp aura; occasionally, a shimmering streak flowed slowly along the edge, and as the light refracted, faint tears appeared in the empty space before it.

Li Luo glanced at the two blade artifacts; he passed over the Cold Nether Blade without interest, for it did not suit him—he possessed multiple phase powers but none of Ice Phase, so this blade could not unleash its full power in his hands. Yet the Ink-Scale Blade stirred his desire.

The black light swirling along the blade's edge made his eyes ache slightly just by looking at it.

Such sharp, dominant blade qi far surpassed his previous dual blades.

Li Luo was deeply tempted.

"Do you want these two blades?" Jiang Jiang Qinge's voice suddenly came from beside him.

"If you do, we can each take one." Jiang Jiang Qinge blinked at Li Luo with her golden eyes, inquiry in them, making his heart thump hard twice.

Li Luo froze, then quickly shook his head: "No, there are other Golden-Eye Artifacts here you need—no need to waste these two blades on me."

"Aren't you more fond of dual blades?" Jiang Jiang Qinge said.

Li Luo's heart warmed slightly as he explained: "With my current strength, unless it's a matched set born of the same origin, even if I had two Golden-Eye Artifact weapons, I couldn't fully unleash their power. Better to focus on one for now."

Jiang Jiang Qinge thought for a moment, then nodded; Li Luo was right—Golden-Eye Artifacts were powerful, but they consumed immense phase energy. Li Luo was still at the Phase Transformation stage; he couldn't recklessly activate Golden-Eye Artifacts, so having more didn't necessarily mean being stronger.

"Alright. I've always wanted to get you a Golden-Eye Artifact, since this one at home was crafted for me by my master and mistress—you don't have one yet." Jiang Jiang Qinge smiled faintly, lips pressed together.

"Why do I feel like you're showing off?" Li Luo looked at the girl's exquisite face, his expression slightly odd.

"Am I?"

Jiang Jiang Qinge widened her clear golden eyes, revealing an innocence utterly unlike her usual calm composure.

Li Luo rolled his eyes—you heartless white goose.

"Have you found anything you like?" Li Luo changed the subject.

Jiang Jiang Qinge nodded, extending her slender finger toward one stone pillar. Li Luo followed her gaze and saw, within the orb atop it, a triangular stone disc embedded with three golden beads, each bearing a fine vertical line at its center—like three closed eyes.

Li Luo looked at the text on the pillar.

"Three-Eye Golden Beads, Golden-Eye Artifact: Activated by phase energy, it unleashes Annihilation Light—this light dissolves phase energy. Once it enters the body, the victim's phase energy rapidly dissolves. The Annihilation Light has three colors—one color per eye; when all three colors blaze forth, the target becomes nearly useless for a short time."

Li Luo's eyes filled with awe; the Golden-Eye Artifact Jiang Jiang Qinge favored was clearly extraordinary—its dominant Annihilation Light would make even many powerful enemies wary.

Clearly, the academy's reward carried substantial weight, not given lightly—and all of this was clearly to prepare for the upcoming Holy Grail War.

As Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge each found something they desired, Vice-Dean Su Xin turned to Gong Gong Shenjun and the Princess and smiled: "Though you two lack no Golden-Eye Artifacts, this is still the academy's reward—please choose one item here at will."

Upon hearing this, Gong Gong Shenjun suddenly wore a strange smile: "Vice-Dean Su Xin, can we choose anything here?"

The Princess raised her phoenix eyes slightly but said nothing.

Vice-Dean Su Xin paused, then smiled: "Anything."

Gong Gong Shenjun laughed, his heroic face now more vivid: "Since the Vice-Dean has said so, don't blame your student for being greedy."

Vice-Dean Su Xin's gaze flickered slightly, as if understanding something, yet still nodded.

Their conversation was not concealed, so Li Luo, Jiang Jiang Qinge, Zuo Duze Honglian, and others all turned puzzled glances their way—they couldn't fathom what Gong Gong Shenjun meant; though the ten Golden-Eye Artifacts were rare, surely they weren't enough to make the Crown Prince's son speak of greed?

Under their confused stares, Gong Gong Shenjun strode forward—but to their surprise, he did not head toward the ten stone pillars, but walked straight to the rear wall of the hall. Li Luo and the others followed his gaze and saw a protrusion on the wall.

It appeared to be a long handle, dull gray, nearly impossible to notice—had Gong Gong Shenjun not deliberately walked toward it, Li Luo and the others would have missed it entirely.

And Gong Gong Shenjun was clearly headed for it.

Li Luo frowned at the handle, and after several seconds, his heart suddenly stirred.

That handle… seemed to be a sword hilt—or a knife hilt…

Li Luo turned and met Jiang Jiang Qinge's gaze; both saw a flash of realization in the other's eyes.

It was a knife or sword embedded in the wall.