Magical Artifact

"So this Bronze Cauldron was actually an alchemy furnace?"

Chen Shaojun wore an expression of utter disbelief.

This was the first time he had appraised a treasure connected to the world of cultivation.

And it was even an alchemy furnace capable of refining spirit pills.

Even if its rank was not high, what treasure associated with the cultivation world was not precious?

This Bronze Cauldron was absolutely worth a fortune.

What a pity.

He knew nothing of alchemy, and the Bronze Cauldron was not his property.

Afterward, the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror determined its rank and grade.

Green-Copper Alchemy Cauldron, Mid-Grade Dharma Rank. It could gather fire, stabilize medicinal properties, and increase the pill formation rate by half a tenth...

"Mid-Grade Dharma Rank—not bad at all."

Just as he was feeling pleased, an ocean of information flooded into his mind.

The appraisal reward had arrived.

Hui Neng's Alchemy Manual.

"Hui Neng's Alchemy Manual?

"I remember that the first owner of this Bronze Cauldron, that old monk, was called Hui Neng.

"Could this be the alchemy manual he wrote?

"I never expected the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror's reward to be this?"

Chen Shaojun was slightly taken aback. He had just been muttering that he knew nothing of alchemy, only for the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror to immediately reward him with one. It truly caught him off guard.

As he absorbed the information contained within Hui Neng's Alchemy Manual, he quickly understood.

This was a complete inheritance of alchemy.

Of course, it was not necessarily anything extraordinary, but it was certainly an extremely foundational method of alchemy.

It not only explained in detail the matters requiring attention during pill refinement, but also included methods for controlling fire, as well as the hand seals for dividing and collecting pills.

In short, with this alchemy manual, Chen Shaojun could already consider changing professions and becoming an alchemist.

The only thing that left him helpless was that it did not record any formidable pill formulas. There was only one prescription for strengthening qi and nourishing the spirit, called the Dragon-Tiger Vitality Pill.

"The ingredients for this Dragon-Tiger Vitality Pill are not difficult to find, but there is one frustrating problem.

"Expensive.

"Far too expensive.

"Tiger penis, scarlet-chain snake gallbladder, fifty-year mountain ginseng... A single set of ingredients would cost at least a thousand taels of silver."

Chen Shaojun had initially been eager to give it a try, but now he could only abandon the thought.

There was no helping it.

He was too poor.

Even if the pawnshop paid him a hundred copper coins for each appraisal, and he appraised five items a day, he would only earn seven and a half taels of silver in a month. That was still worlds apart from a thousand taels.

"But this formula is definitely good stuff.

"With Dragon and Tiger in its name, could it be some fierce medicine for men and women? That would have quite a market."

Chen Shaojun decided that once he had money in the future, he would definitely prepare some.

For personal use? Well, he generally had no need for it... But if he sold it outside, it would surely be welcomed by those high officials and nobles.

Chen Shaojun then began appraising the second treasure.

The second treasure was a metal Buddha statue. Judging from its surface, it looked somewhat like brass, but its weight was off. It probably contained pig iron.

He did not think too much about it.

He lit a candle and burned incense.

Then he used the Divine Gaze Technique to appraise it.

After going through the full process,

the appraisal was complete.

The Buddha statue's past causes and later results, along with countless scenes, all surfaced in his mind.

This Buddha statue had experienced roughly the same history as the Bronze Cauldron. The difference was that the statue was three hundred years old and had almost witnessed the rise and fall of the temple where Monk Hui Neng had lived.

Only then did Chen Shaojun learn that the temple was called Fangyuan Temple. It had originally been founded by an old monk named Fangyuan and could be considered a temple that cultivated both Buddhist teachings and martial arts.

It possessed inheritances of martial arts and Buddhist cultivation methods.

Unfortunately, after declining all the way from its prosperity three hundred years ago, it had ultimately been destroyed at the hands of a group of red-clothed men.

The Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror determined its rank and grade.

Lower Dharma Grade.

Although this Buddha statue held greater historical significance than the Bronze Cauldron, it had merely absorbed some Buddhist aura and thus gained a trace of Buddha-nature. Naturally, it was precious to those who believed in Buddhism, but ordinary people would not value it too highly.

Thus, its rank was not high, one grade lower than the Bronze Cauldron.

The reward then appeared.

Diamond Sutra.

"A Buddhist scripture? Is this telling me to cultivate myself, enter the Dao, and become a Buddha?"

Chen Shaojun was somewhat unwilling to accept it.

By rights, the reward for a Law Rank treasure should not have been weak.

But after receiving the information, Chen Shaojun quickly put away his dissatisfaction.

Unlike ordinary scriptures, once the Diamond Sutra was recited, it could immediately sever distracting thoughts, suppress agitation, calm the mind, quiet one's breath, and focus the spirit... It was a classic Buddhist scripture for cutting away thoughts and granting blessings.

It absolutely counted as something good.

The third treasure was likewise a Buddha statue.

After going through the appraisal process, its rank was determined to be Mid-Grade Dharma Rank, one level higher than the previous Buddha statue.

The reward was the Mighty Vajra Palm.

One Diamond Sutra and one Mighty Vajra Palm—both were things of the Buddhist School.

Chen Shaojun silently accepted them, only hoping that when he used them in the future, others would not mistake him for a monk.

Naturally, if he encountered monks, he would also need to keep them hidden as much as possible.

The Diamond Sutra was fine, since it was generally used in private to calm his mind. But the Mighty Vajra Palm was one of the Buddhist School's ultimate arts and was not lightly passed on. Without a proper reason, it could easily bring disaster upon him.

Yet even with such misgivings, Chen Shaojun was still extremely excited.

Because by now, he finally possessed an offensive martial art.

And he could finally fully bring out the strength of his Body Tempering Realm, Eighth Layer.

He would no longer be like before, possessing a body brimming with qi and blood yet only able to rely on brute force.

Next, Chen Shaojun took out the final treasure.

A lacquered gold alms bowl.

This should have been the gold bowl used by monks when begging for alms. It had likely been frequently polished with sand, leaving its surface exceptionally smooth. Yet at the bottom of the bowl, there was a faint crack, as though it could shatter at any moment.

However, despite the poor appearance of this gold bowl, it contained the greatest amount of Killing Intent.

Even after the Baleful Intent Cleansing three years ago, there were still more than seventy strands of Killing Intent inside it, which showed how extraordinary it was.

He lit a candle and burned incense.

Chen Shaojun used the Divine Gaze Technique.

The continuous appraisals from before had ultimately consumed a great deal of his mental energy. After cleansing the Killing Intent for only a short while, Chen Shaojun felt as though his strength was failing him.

This was because his mental power had been overconsumed and had not had time to recover.

If he continued, although Chen Shaojun's mental strength would keep the Killing Intent from entering his body, he would certainly not have an easy time of it.

Yet he was not panicked in the slightest.

He stretched out his hand, grabbed a ruler, and struck forward.

Puff!

The connection between the Killing Intent and Chen Shaojun's spiritual will was instantly severed and cut apart.

This ruler

was the Baleful Severing Ruler.

It could interrupt Killing Intent and rescue any appraiser in the midst of an appraisal from danger.

After resting for a while, Chen Shaojun felt that his spirit had recovered considerably, so he began appraising again.

This time, the Divine Gaze Technique proceeded very smoothly.

At the instant the final strand of Killing Intent was cleansed away, the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror appeared in his mind.

The Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror appraised treasures, tracing them back to their roots.

"This was actually a magical artifact?

"A magical artifact that could truly unleash special powers?

"Was it the weapon Old Monk Fangyuan had wielded skillfully three hundred years ago?"

Scenes of information regarding the gold bowl surfaced in Chen Shaojun's mind, and he could not help but be shocked.