Chapter 267: It Was All Your Doing!

"Qiushui, how is the situation on your end?"

Hearing the low call, Li Qiushui shifted his gaze from Ren Yidao, who was standing with his eyes closed, and looked toward Shi Xue as she walked over.

Li Qiushui nodded, lifted the Sword Embryo that had been resting across his lap, and handed it to Shi Xue.

"I have already refined more than half of it. Although it is not yet completely refined, it should now be possible to store it in my Consciousness Sea for nourishment."

The Sword Embryo, which had originally looked like an Iron Rod, had completely changed its appearance.

The pitch-black outer shell had fallen away, revealing the silvery-white core inside, and its length had shrunk by more than half, reaching three feet and seven inches.

The entire body was streamlined, and while the original shape was still vaguely discernible, the unsharpened prototype of the blade held a faint, piercing quality.

Weighing the Sword Embryo in her hand, Shi Xue blinked, carefully handed it back to Li Qiushui, and pouted, saying:

"It feels pretty good. It seems that although that guy's character isn't great, his eye for things is still decent."

Li Qiushui looked at Shi Xue strangely, wondering where such great resentment on her part was coming from.

Weren't they friends?

If Shi Xue heard this, she would surely snort in anger.

Damn it, I am not close to him!

Not close at all!

Instinctively feeling that this shouldn't be said aloud, Li Qiushui changed the subject and asked:

"Uh... what about your situation? Have you connected with any treasure?"

Hearing this, Shi Xue's face lit up, and she proudly patted the new rope hanging at her waist.

"Look! I got this."

"Binding Demon Rope, this is an Earth Grade peak-tier treasure! It can bind an enemy one minor realm higher than me, leaving them unable to move! If used on a demon, it can bridge an entire major realm... Tsk!"

As she spoke, Shi Xue thought of something, her expression changed, and she muttered in a very unwilling tone:

"Damn it, isn't this just another favor owed to him?"

The others were not staring at Ren Yidao and assumed the current changes in the Treasury were due to other reasons.

But Shi Xue, who had been keeping an eye on Ren Yidao with her peripheral vision, had seen it all clearly.

Although she didn't know exactly what he had done, this disturbance was definitely his doing!

It was definitely him!

Although her mouth was full of complaints about Ren Yidao, the expression on her face betrayed her true inner feelings.

Her face was beaming with sunshine, and she couldn't suppress the corners of her mouth; it was clear she was very satisfied with the treasure she had obtained.

Realizing her lack of composure, Shi Xue coughed twice to cover it up:

"Cough... but, if it weren't for him, I probably wouldn't have had the chance to get this treasure."

An Earth Grade peak-tier treasure is comparable to a Heaven Grade heavy treasure, and in some aspects even exceeds it, with lower requirements for the user.

Although the grade of a Heaven Grade heavy treasure is high enough and rare enough, it is not necessarily suitable for everyone.

For something as vital as a weapon, suitability is the best advantage.

After touching the rope affectionately for a while, Shi Xue remembered something and whispered into Li Qiushui's ear:

"Qiushui, have you noticed? It's not just us; everyone else seems to have obtained good treasures."

Yes.

Except for Li Lingling and Li Fengyao, whose expressions remained calm, the remaining people had faces full of joy, wishing for everyone to see that they had obtained something good.

Apart from one or two who were hiding it, the treasures obtained by the rest were all above Mysterious Grade high-tier, and a few even reached Earth Grade low-tier!

This trip to the Treasury was definitely the most spectacular event in the history of the Li Family.

"Once the news of this spreads, I wonder how many people will regard our group as the heaven-gifted talents of this generation..."

Her lips moved, and Shi Xue restrained herself, but in the end, she couldn't hold it back and chuckled uncontrollably:

"Speaking of which, if he knew about this situation, Heir Qi Yang would surely regret leaving so early, right?"

From an outsider's perspective, Li Lang seemed to have taken advantage of the situation, forcibly snatching the treasure Ren Yidao had picked out.

But, knowing Ren Yidao as Shi Xue did, this seemingly kind and approachable Daoist was never one to suffer a loss.

Want to make him suffer a loss?

If that were possible, I would really like to know.

Shi Xue guessed with full malice:

"That Broom must have a problem that Li Lang hasn't discovered!"

"Even if there is no problem, that damn Ren Yidao will definitely mess with it to create one!"

However, Shi Xue didn't like the loud-mouthed idiot Li Lang either, so naturally, she had no intention of reminding him, and was even prepared to watch the show.

"That's what you get for having no filter; you deserve to suffer."

While everyone was rejoicing, although Li Fengyao's expression looked calm, there were other emotions hidden deep in her eyes.

There was annoyance, and also shyness.

The reason was simple: she had successfully refined that Armor, and... had put it directly on her body.

!!!

The most fatal part was that when the Armor automatically merged with her body, Li Fengyao's disguise had slipped for an instant!

Feeling the comfortable, snug fit of the Armor against her, Li Fengyao was rarely panicked and almost screamed out loud.

Fortunately, she returned to normal after an instant, and with the strange changes happening at the time, no one noticed the small episode on her end.

Relying on her strong mental fortitude, Li Fengyao barely managed to cover up the anomaly on her body.

"It's all your fault! If you hadn't insisted that I choose the Armor, how could I have almost been exposed!"

Glaring at Ren Yidao with some annoyance again, she then pretended that nothing had happened and walked leisurely toward Li Lingling, who was not far away, to strike up a conversation:

"Lingling, have you successfully refined it? Is there anything uncomfortable?"

Startled by being spoken to, and by the Second Prince whom she wasn't very familiar with, Li Lingling's shoulders twitched instinctively.

However, she was not the type of person who feared social interaction by nature, and having just been "counseled" by Ren Yidao, her personality was now much more cheerful.

"Things are going quite smoothly on my end."

Li Lingling waved the quiet Blood Fiend Blade and nodded with satisfaction:

"It is much quieter than I imagined; it doesn't have any rebellious emotions at all."

Li Fengyao: "..."

The usually eloquent Second Prince narrowed her eyes at this moment, not knowing what to say.

Do you really think your blade has been obedient from the very beginning?

That business of you smashing it just now, wasn't that your doing? Have you forgotten it all?

However, the reaction of the Blood Fiend Blade was indeed much smaller than Li Fengyao had anticipated.

That level of tossing and turning could never cause any damage to a heavy treasure that was extremely rigid and yang-aligned.

Regarding the Heaven Grade heavy treasures in the Treasury, Li Fengyao had long since made preparations and was clear about the abilities and origins of these treasures.

This blade harms others, and even more so, it harms its wielder.

The negative effects of this Blood Fiend Blade could rank in the top three among all Heaven Grade heavy treasures.

The nine blade-wielders who had once held this blade, without exception, met tragic ends in their later years.

Originally, she had been somewhat worried, but seeing Li Lingling's relaxed expression, she had an epiphany in her heart.

"You insisted on letting her choose it; you truly had your reasons."

Based on what Li Fengyao knew of Ren Yidao's character, he certainly would not harm his own Junior Sister.

And now, the reactions of Li Lingling and the Blood Fiend Blade proved that his arrangements were correct.

Then, does this rely on Li Lingling's own unique traits, or on the secrets Ren Yidao carries?

"Just how many secrets do you have on you that I don't know about?"

The more mysterious Ren Yidao appeared, the more he attracted Li Fengyao, making her want to bind him to her side even more.

If possible, it would be best to lock him in a secret chamber...

Not noticing the eager gaze the Second Prince was casting toward the Senior Brother, Li Lingling looked around and asked curiously:

"Second Prince, what about the treasure you refined?"

"... Heh, the treasure I refined has already automatically entered my Consciousness Sea to be nurtured."

"Oh~ I see!"

Li Fengyao kept a straight face while fooling the not-so-bright Twelfth Princess, then glared fiercely at Ren Yidao's back.

This is all your doing!

It is just a pity that she had not yet reached the level of killing with a gaze.

The joys and sorrows of humans are not the same; Ren Yidao could not receive her resentment.

While others were either joyful or embarrassed, Ren Yidao, the culprit, was oblivious to the outside world.

Finally, as the others were about to quiet down, Ren Yidao slowly opened his eyes.

He first stared blankly at his surroundings for a while, then turned his wrist to see the black markings gradually fading on his left forearm.

Those textures, filled with a wild and ancient aura, covered his entire left arm and even extended onto his left chest.

The markings were not complex; they depicted a fox with countless tails, its ferocious fox head resting on his shoulder, as if it wanted to bite off his arm.

Lowering his sleeve to cover the markings, Ren Yidao nodded and sighed with emotion:

"Good, now I can finally say that there is something sealed inside my left hand..."

Chuunibyou, activate!

"Also, since it is a ghost, can I call this hand of mine a Ghost Hand?"

And if I use a sword, can I become a Ghost Swordsman? Can I change my class to... *cough*!

No, I can't keep thinking about this; the more I think, the more my liver hurts.

Ren Yidao probed his divine sense into his left hand and called out:

("Hey, hey, hey, is anyone home? Can you hear me?")

There was no response from the left hand; Ren Yidao seemed to be wasting his effort.

But he was not discouraged; instead, he persistently sent his friendly greetings inside:

("Have you eaten? Did you eat yet? What did you eat?")

("Are you still alive? Alive? Alive?")

("Is anyone there? Anyone there? Anyone there?")

Just like that, in the span of a few breaths, Ren Yidao sent over a thousand harassing messages to his left hand.

Finally, when he sent the one-thousand-three-hundredth message, a voice, extremely weak, finally gave a response from inside the left hand:

【"Shut up..."】

That was the only sentence; then, no matter how Ren Yidao continued to harass it, it gave no further reaction.

After waiting for a while, Ren Yidao finally stopped the harassment with regret, having gained a rough understanding of this fellow's situation.

"Old timer, your constitution is very weak."

"That makes sense; after all, coming out from that place almost caused it to lose both body and soul."

Under Ren Yidao's coercion and inducement, the monster in the Mirror chose to compromise after struggling for a long time.

The other party was ill-intentioned to begin with, so Ren Yidao did not go easy on it, throwing all sorts of outrageous conditions into its face.

The black-hearted Ren Yidao stated: "If you want to do it, do it; if you don't, forget it! If you don't do it, there are plenty of others who will!"

In the end, the demon in the Mirror had no choice but to sign what could only be called a humiliating, unequal treaty with him.

At the cost of sacrificing ninety-nine percent of the souls remaining here, it successfully escaped from the Mirror into Ren Yidao's left arm.

It was already a remnant soul within this place, and its current state was even more exhausted, so being able to give a reaction was already the limit of what it could do.

"Work hard on recovering; you still have to work for me properly."

"This... um, big brother who calls himself the Demon God."

Whenever he thought of the name the other party had proudly mentioned while signing the contract, Ren Yidao wanted to complain.

What Demon God?

I'm the Medicine God, for all I care!

Never heard of it.

That is the one bad thing about this world: there is no organization like the Heavenly Court to confer titles upon and restrain spirits, which leads to all sorts of messy things daring to call themselves gods.

Of course, if there really were a Heavenly Court, the Divine Path Sect would probably be the first target to be shut down...

A private spirit-manufacturing agency!

A literal black-hearted, three-no factory.

Following his awakening, the trembling of the treasure gradually subsided, and the anomaly finally returned to calm.

Casting the matter of the Demon God aside, Ren Yidao looked toward the others.

His gaze swept over Li Qiushui's side profile as she deliberately looked away, Li Fengyao's insincere expression, Li Lingling's chuunibyou aura, and Shi Xue's suspicious gaze... finally landing on Wang Xuesong's slightly strange-looking face.

Ren Yidao still held a tiny bit of respect for this old man who had accompanied him for a day and a night, so he walked up to him, cupped his hands, and smiled:

"Many thanks to you, Lord Wang, for your all-out assistance; Ren is deeply grateful."

If Wang Xuesong hadn't been here to accompany him, there surely would have been quite a bit of trouble, wasting even more time.

"Your Highness Ren is too polite; this old man merely wanted to see just how far you could go."

Wang Xuesong did not take credit, cupped his hands in return, and smiled:

"I must congratulate Your Highness for finally choosing your desired treasure."

Prime Minister Wang was truly happy.

Nothing else.

It was finally over, and he could go home to rest...

This day off was far more tiring than usual.

"I must squeeze a reward out of His Majesty; otherwise, this old man will never do this kind of thing again."

Other matters are at most taxing on the mind, but this time it was taxing on his life!

Wang Xuesong felt that he had originally only had half his body in the grave, but now the yellow earth might already be buried up to his neck.

Of course, although it was very tiring, he had also gained many unexpected harvests.

Regarding Ren Yidao, Wang Xuesong would no longer treat him as just a favorite in His Majesty's inner circle.

This was a heaven-gifted talent who truly had the opportunity to influence the future of Beigan and was a pivotal figure.

He must be treated with importance!

If possible, it would be best to win him over to the greatest extent possible.

Even if it meant agreeing to His Majesty's plan to confer a kingship, or arranging for a certain Princess to marry into his family...

However, as for the specific plan, it would still require long-term deliberation...

For example, regarding this candidate, who exactly would be the best choice?