What the hell is a 100,000-year spirit ring?

Chapter 21: A 100,000-Year Spirit Ring, Are You Kidding Me?

Black patterns emerged from the runes on the carving, spreading across the entire sculpture.

A pair of crimson eyes flickered slightly, and the hoarse voice of Shendu echoed through the dim secret chamber.

"Divine Throne, appear!"

Unable to conceal his excitement, he entered the mental space within his mind.

The mental space was a vast expanse of white, save for a single golden river flowing through it. Here, Shendu could maintain his original form and move about freely.

Above the golden river, the formless Divine Throne gradually took shape, manifesting in his mind like a royal seat.

"The World God's throne?"

Shendu exclaimed in surprise.

At the same time, a stream of information flooded his mind—the reward for obtaining his first talisman.

"Successfully collected the Tiger Talisman. Reward: 100,000-year God-Bestowed Spirit Ring."

What?

Shendu stood there, dumbfounded. He could never have imagined that his reward would be a 100,000-year spirit ring.

He wasn't even a Spirit Master; what use was this thing to him?

Before him, the crimson spirit ring descended slowly, radiating an oppressive and majestic aura. It was undeniably a 100,000-year spirit ring.

Yet, he felt not a shred of joy.

"I am the great Shendu, leader of the Eight Demons. Even Zhou Lan would have to offer me a cigarette if he saw me. Do I really need a measly 100,000-year spirit ring?"

"Hmph!"

With a gust of wind, Shendu waved his hand and shattered the spirit ring with a single strike.

Crack—

The broken ring emitted a blinding red light.

Amidst the dense spirit power, a trace of familiar divine power suddenly dissipated.

"It's actually the divine power of the World God?"

Shendu looked at the red light, pleasantly surprised, though he quickly realized the reason.

"So that's it. The God-Bestowed Spirit Ring contains divine power. Although the ring itself is useless, the divine power is at least some form of reward."

"Sigh! Still feels like a loss."

Shendu shook his head in disappointment. He had expected so much, only to be met with such an outcome.

Just as he was feeling let down, a message echoed in his mind once more; the Divine Throne's rewards were not yet finished.

"Congratulations on obtaining 5% affinity with the World God."

Shendu didn't pay much mind to this. According to the original lore, affinity was only granted after completing the divine trials.

However, he hadn't even finished the first trial yet. If the very first talisman of the first trial rewarded him with 5% affinity, wouldn't he reach 60% once he completed the entire first trial?

"That's it?"

Just as he thought it was over, the ethereal throne began to glow with golden light once again.

Hum—

The dazzling golden light shone upon Shendu, and he received his third reward: Han Zhongli's Fan!

"Isn't this the divine artifact used to seal Xiao Feng?"

He was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected this to be his reward. It shouldn't have been part of the standard divine trial rewards. It must have fallen into this world after the two worlds merged, and the Divine Throne had simply picked it up.

Just like his mask and the Chronicle of Ages.

If that was the case, he couldn't be sure how many items his Divine Throne had already collected. Would every divine trial reward him with something from the Demon world?

"I need to get the next talisman quickly."

"Dai Xieyue!"

Returning to the secret chamber, Shendu impatiently summoned his subordinate.

"Shendu!" Dai Xieyue bowed respectfully.

"Go to Heaven Dou City immediately and bring me the Sheep talisman currently in Qian Renxue's possession! Then, hurry up and find the other talismans! I didn't give you the Sacred Dragon Carving for you to play with!"

"Yes, Shendu!"

Dai Xieyue bowed deeply before sinking into the shadows of the corner and vanishing.

With the matter settled and confirming that all his divine trial rewards had been distributed, Shendu finally relaxed, preparing to contemplate his next moves.

On the other side, after leaving Spirit Hall, Dai Xieyue headed straight for Heaven Dou City.

By now, night had fallen.

Whoosh!

A black figure stepped onto the rooftops, bounding forward through the night.

Suddenly, he came to a halt. Even with half his face masked, the joy on his features was unmistakable.

He looked down to see the Sacred Dragon Carving in his hand glowing; the eyes of the dragon head on the left emitted a piercing red light, flickering as if to signal something.

To think he had discovered traces of a Talisman here!

Dai Xieyue was overjoyed, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

It was a pity the distance was a bit far. He had to complete the mission for Shendu, and taking a detour would waste too much time; otherwise, he would have gone over immediately.

"Hmph! Just wait a little longer, I'll be there soon enough!"

He cast a cold sneer toward the left before continuing his sprint across the rooftops.

In the darkness, a blue-haired girl picked up a Talisman in surprise, holding a ferocious-looking mask in her other hand.

As she curiously donned the mask, it suddenly stuck to her face as if glued, impossible to remove.

"What is happening?" The girl was struck with panic.

She only stopped struggling once the mask had completely fused with her skin, emitting a sinister, eerie laugh.

At the same time, the aura of the Talisman in her hand vanished, completely masked by the mask.

At Shrek, everyone packed their luggage in the dead of night, leaving the academy in a state of fear.

Ever since returning from the soul fighting arena, they had been mired in arguments.

Although Flender was worried about retaliation, he did not agree to relocate the academy.

However, Yu Xiaogang used the excuse that the academy's facilities were too crude to provide the students with better cultivation conditions, forcibly using moral pressure to force Flender to move to a place more suitable for Tang San and the others to train.

It was called relocation, but Flender knew full well that it was actually joining another academy to pave the way for others.

He had spent twenty years painstakingly building this academy. He treated Shrek Academy like his own flesh and blood, and under normal circumstances, he would never have agreed, but for the sake of his sworn brother Yu Xiaogang, he had to grit his teeth and acquiesce.

On the road, Tang San was still thinking about that silhouette.

Was it really Father? He remained doubtful.

Heaven Dou City.

Dai Xieyue stepped through the city gates, locked his eyes on the imperial palace, and charged straight in.

"How bold!"

The guards rushed forward to intercept him, but dozens of black shadows suddenly appeared to hold them back.

"Hahaha, this is power!"

With the mask, Dai Xieyue relished the feeling of destruction; breaking into the imperial palace was merely the beginning.