By the time Xiao Yun returned to the manor, night had already fallen.
He did not take a detour. He went straight through the Front Courtyard and pushed open the Study Room door. Liu Erlong was sitting by the table, flipping through an account book.
Hearing the footsteps, she looked up. Her gaze first fell on Xiao Yun's face, then shifted to the dark-blue pyramidal cube in his hand.
She set down the account book, but her eyes remained fixed on the pyramidal cube, as though it possessed some strange magic. "What is that?"
Xiao Yun placed the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud on the table. "I took it from the imperial treasury. It's a divine artifact."
Liu Erlong reached out to touch it, then stopped just before her hand made contact, as if first confirming that her hand was dry enough. Only then did she gently press her fingertips against the edge of its surface. "What does it do?"
Xiao Yun did not answer immediately. He had Liu Erlong close the Study Room door, casually set up a soundproof barrier, then raised a hand over the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud. With a slight gesture, he summoned the Sea God's Divine Sense, which had been controlled by Puppet Thread, from within the shroud once more.
After shrinking, that wisp of Divine Sense was only the size of a palm. Its outline was faint as it hovered above the table, swaying slightly as though awaiting orders.
Liu Erlong looked at the pale golden phantom without saying a word.
When the Sea God's Divine Sense spoke, its voice was soft, as if it came from somewhere far away. It spoke at an unhurried pace, roughly explaining the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud's uses—as the core of the Sea God Inheritance trials, it also possessed