Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife, Secret Chamber Outside the City

Upon hearing the servant's words, Jiang Ci'an's movements paused, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes.

He said a few words to Xiao Xiao in the distance, then rose to follow the servant.

A short while later.

The guest reception room.

A middle-aged man in green robes sat there, sipping tea in a leisurely manner. Seeing Jiang Ci'an enter, he quickly set down his cup, stood up, and smiled.

"Boss Jiang."

"Mr. Ning."

Jiang Ci'an smiled and cupped his hands in a salute, though his gaze had already drifted involuntarily toward the jade box sealed in layers at the man's side.

Ning Zhicheng noticed Jiang Ci'an's eagerness and, without beating around the bush, reached out to gently pat the jade box.

"Boss Jiang, this is the item you wanted."

As he spoke, he channeled his soul power, carefully undoing the layers of seals on the jade box.

The moment the lid was lifted, a strong, chilling resentment surged from within, like a long-imprisoned beast struggling to break its bonds.

Fortunately, the surface of the jade box was covered in engraved soul-guiding arrays, trapping the resentment firmly inside.

Even so, the mere wisps of resentment that leaked out were enough to make the air in the room turn cold.

Jiang Ci'an's gaze fell into the jade box, resting on the carving knife that was no longer than a palm, primitive and pitch-black, glowing with an ominous dark red luster and carrying an inexplicable malevolence.

"Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife."

Jiang Ci'an took a deep breath. Without hesitation, he took a pre-prepared soul coin card from his soul-guiding device and pushed it toward Ning Zhicheng.

"Mr. Ning, please check the amount."

Ning Zhicheng took it, sensed the balance, and confirmed that the amount was correct—even slightly exceeding the price. He then sealed the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife back up without hesitation and pushed it over along with the jade box.

However, Ning Zhicheng paused for a moment, unable to stop himself from offering a final reminder:

"Although it is not my place to say, this thing is inherently evil. Boss Jiang, you must handle it with care."

Jiang Ci'an took the jade box and nodded solemnly: "Thank you, Mr. Ning. I know my limits."

After a few more words of polite conversation, Ning Zhicheng rose to take his leave.

Jiang Ci'an saw his guest out, then turned and hurried to the backyard. He instructed his servants to prepare a carriage and then gave instructions to Xiao Xiao, who was currently meditating:

"Xiao Xiao, I have an urgent matter to attend to and will likely be back tomorrow. Don't wait for me for dinner."

Xiao Xiao stopped her cultivation involuntarily, her eyes filled with confusion. But seeing Jiang Ci'an's serious expression, she didn't ask further and simply nodded.

The carriage was soon ready.

Jiang Ci'an boarded the carriage, left Shrek City, and traveled at high speed toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

About an hour later, the carriage stopped in front of a small lake.

The lake was not large, its water clear and reflecting the blue sky and white clouds.

Along the lakeshore, neat rows of medicinal fields had been cultivated. Various herbs stretched their leaves under the sunlight, and a faint herbal fragrance filled the air.

This was one of Jiang Ci'an's properties, a herb plantation—one of the few assets he hadn't sold off after his parents passed away.

Jiang Ci'an stepped off the carriage, casually told the manager who came to greet him that he was "just looking around," and walked alone toward the dense forest by the lake.

Once he confirmed he was out of the manager's sight, Jiang Ci'an raised his hand and cast "Indifference" upon himself.

His physical form remained, but his presence was quietly erased.

Ensuring everything was foolproof, Jiang Ci'an moved quickly through the dense forest with light, practiced steps, soon arriving beneath a seemingly ordinary large tree.

The trunk was thick and the canopy dense, appearing no different from the surrounding trees.

Jiang Ci'an crouched down, pushed aside a cluster of shrubs near the roots, lifted an entrance covered by wooden planks, and jumped directly into the secret passage that extended downward.

The passage was narrow, barely wide enough for one person. The earthen walls on both sides were embedded with several first-grade soul-guiding devices for illumination, emitting a faint, steady light.

Jiang Ci'an did not stop, and with the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife in hand, he soon reached a small secret chamber at the end of the passage.

Entering the chamber, the space opened up.

Thick stone walls surrounded the room, and a bright soul-guiding lamp hung overhead, illuminating the chamber as if it were daylight.

There wasn't much in the room, save for a massive, iron-gray cylindrical object standing in the center, occupying most of the space.

It was a cylindrical furnace, about three meters high, cast from alloy and covered in cooling fins and dense, intricate soul-guiding engravings.

On one side of the furnace was a sealable lid, and its sides were connected to several thick pipes leading to an energy core not far away.

Beside the furnace was a control console.

The surface was lined with various buttons, knobs, and dials, each marked with dense numbers and symbols, looking incredibly complex.

Jiang Ci'an looked at this behemoth, the corresponding information flashing through his mind.

"Sun Furnace," an eighth-grade soul-guiding device.

It is said that this item was developed based on the "Sun" martial soul, one of the royal inherited martial souls of the Sun Moon Empire. It is capable of generating extremely high temperatures and was once used as the core equipment for processing high-grade metals in the Sun Moon Empire.

Of course, that was over a decade ago.

Today, the Sun Furnace has been phased out by the Sun Moon Empire, but it has flowed into the Douluo Three Kingdoms through various channels, becoming a hot commodity in major forging workshops across the region.

Currently, most of the Douluo Three Kingdoms use this model of equipment to smelt high-grade metals, and each unit carries a hefty price tag.

Jiang Ci'an watched the Sun Furnace quietly, then lowered his gaze to the jade box in his hand that sealed the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife, his eyes filled with a hint of anticipation.

Before obtaining the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife, he had already been considering whether there was a way to purify it without the help of Electrolux.

After some thought, he discovered that there were quite a few methods.

For instance, someone nearby: Mu En, the level 99 Bright Sacred Dragon residing beneath the Shrek Academy freshman dormitory building. Purifying the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife would not be difficult for him.

Further away, he could travel to the Sun Moon Empire to find Ye Guyi. Her Sacred Angel martial soul also had a special effect against the resentment and curses on the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife, making it easy for her to handle.

As for the final option, he thought of the simplest method.

That is, to melt the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife directly.

Extreme high temperature, without a doubt, is also the nemesis of resentment and curses.

Burned under high heat, the resentment would dissipate and the curse would disintegrate; naturally, it would be purified.

Of course, if purified by high heat, the carving knife's form would likely change, and it probably could not be used as a carving knife anymore after purification.

But he did not care.

He had no intention of learning soul tool crafting for the time being, so he did not care about the function of the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife itself.

What he cared about was the Gold of Life.

As for whether high-temperature purification would damage the Gold of Life...

Not to mention that the Gold of Life itself is of extremely high quality and the effect of high heat on it would likely be limited.

Even if the Gold of Life were to be damaged under high-temperature purification, Jiang Ci'an was certain that the resentment and the curse would definitely be destroyed first.

As long as the duration of the high heat was controlled and it was not over-burned, the feasibility was very high.

And this was only one of his plans.

He had another plan as well.

That is, to attract Electrolux.