A Broken Spear Sealed for Twenty-Six Years

The Treasury Guard Elder did not touch the black fragment again. He placed the item back into the wooden box, closed it up, and turned to walk out of the outer treasury. "Wait here." He left only those two words. Lu Yuan looked at the wooden box. The Piercing Spear had already quieted down, yet as long as someone came within three feet of the wooden box, the dark gold patterns on the spear body would glow a little brighter than usual. Qian Renxue noticed it as well. "Same as that door yesterday?" "Pretty much." "Which side had a stronger reaction?" Lu Yuan thought about it. "Here is closer." Yesterday, separated by a black iron door, the Piercing Spear merely vibrated. Just now, after approaching the fragment, even the dark gold edge line on the spear tip lit up. Qian Renxue looked toward the wooden box. "Could this thing be related to that door?" Lu Yuan was pondering this question too. Brought into the treasury twenty-six years ago. The thing inside the black door had also been sealed for over twenty years. The timing was indeed very close. Not long after, the stone door of the outer treasury opened once more. This time, the person entering was not just the Treasury Guard Elder. Qian Daoliu had come as well. "Grand Pontiff." The Treasury Guard Elder placed the wooden box onto the table. "This is it." Qian Daoliu lifted the box lid. Upon seeing the fragment inside, his gaze paused for a split second. "So it is still here." Qian Renxue immediately heard something amiss. "Grandfather, you recognize it?" "I have seen it." Qian Daoliu reached out and picked up the fragment. "Left behind twenty-six years ago." Lu Yuan looked at him. "Where did it come from?" Qian Daoliu did not answer immediately, instead looking at the Piercing Spear first. "Try again." Lu Yuan brought the spear closer. The distance was still two feet. Hum. The Piercing Spear had already begun to vibrate. Continuing closer. The dark gold patterns on the spear shaft lit up one after another. Until the spear tip was only half a foot away from the fragment, the entire spear body emitted a low humming sound. The Treasury Guard Elder furrowed his brows deeper and deeper. "In the past, we tried with the instrument martial souls of Spirit Kings and Spirit Emperors." "This kind of situation never appeared." Qian Daoliu passed the fragment slightly forward. "Hold it." The Treasury Guard Elder was startled. "Grand Pontiff, just now I did not let him touch it." "I am here." Qian Daoliu uttered only four words. Lu Yuan did not hesitate. His left hand reached out and grasped the edge of the fragment. The touch was colder than imagined. Not the chill of ordinary metal, but rather feeling as though some extremely fine object pricked his palm. The next moment. The Piercing Spear violently vibrated. Clang! The black fragment actually bounced up from his palm. With a smack, it adhered to the spear shaft. Lu Yuan immediately gripped his long spear tightly. The fragment did not merge into the spear body. Nor did any obvious changes occur. It merely firmly attached itself to the location where the dark gold patterns were densest. A wisp of extremely faint black light flashed across the surface of the fragment. The vibration of the Piercing Spear grew faster and faster. Qian Renxue took a step forward. "Lu Yuan?" "I am fine." Lu Yuan could clearly feel the feedback transmitted by the Piercing Spear. It was as though it was craving something. Yet that feeling lasted only a few breaths. The humming abruptly began to weaken. Clack. The black fragment fell back down into his palm. The Piercing Spear also returned to calmness. No evolution. Not even the external form underwent any new changes. Before Lu Yuan's eyes, those few lines of gray text surfaced once again.

[Piercing Spear]
[Evolutionary Opportunity Manifested]
[Unknown Spear Blank Fragment]

No further content. Lu Yuan lowered his head and glanced at the item in his palm. "It looks like it wants it." Qian Daoliu asked: "And then?" Lu Yuan thought about it. "But it cannot swallow it." The Treasury Guard Elder glanced at him. Although the phrasing was strange, what had happened just now was indeed pretty much that. Qian Daoliu, however, did not smile. He took the fragment back from Lu Yuan's hand. "Because this is not a complete item." Lu Yuan looked up. Qian Renxue also asked immediately: "Grandfather, what was it originally?" Qian Daoliu put the fragment back into the wooden box. "A fragment that fell off a broken weapon." "What broken weapon?" "A spear." Lu Yuan's hand gripping the Piercing Spear tightened slightly. Qian Daoliu saw his reaction. "Twenty-six years ago, people from Spirit Hall brought it back from an abandoned forging ruin." "That spear no longer had a spear tip, leaving only the greater part of the spear shaft and a portion of the inner spear blank." "When it was brought back, this fragment had already detached from it." "Later, the main piece was sealed away, while the fragment was kept to perform various tests." The Treasury Guard Elder's expression stirred. "That thing in the black corridor?" Qian Daoliu nodded. Lu Yuan immediately thought of the door from yesterday. "So what is sealed inside the door..." "Is the remaining spear blank." Qian Daoliu took over his words. Qian Renxue furrowed her brows. "Since it is only a broken weapon, why seal it up?" "Because it is unruly." Qian Daoliu turned around. "Follow me." Several people left the outer treasury. Before long, Lu Yuan arrived once again at the long, narrow stone corridor he had passed through yesterday. At the right-hand end. The black iron door remained tightly shut. The golden lock seal on the door showed not the slightest change. Qian Daoliu stopped at a position five steps away from the iron door. "Twenty-six years ago, when this thing was first sent back, the Elder Hall tried many methods." "Fire could not melt it." "Forging could not crack it." "Soul power poured into it, yet there was no reaction." "Yet spirit masters below level thirty would have a portion of their soul power forcibly extracted upon direct contact." Lu Yuan finally understood why the golden-robed elder yesterday had said touching it was forbidden without reaching level thirty. It was not about clearance. It was about danger. Qian Daoliu looked toward him. "Your Piercing Spear had a reaction here yesterday?" "Yes." "Take it out." Lu Yuan's Piercing Spear had already been gripped in his hand the entire time. He took two steps forward. Hum. The spear body began to vibrate. Qian Daoliu's gaze narrowed slightly. "Continue." Lu Yuan took another step forward. Streaks of dark gold patterns lit up accordingly. The reaction was clearly stronger than when facing that fragment just now. Qian Renxue noticed it as well.

"This time is different."

Lu Yuan nodded.

Three steps left.

He did not step any closer.

Qian Daoliu had made it very clear.

Anyone under rank thirty would have their soul power forcibly drained upon touching it.

There was no need to test it on himself.

Yet just as Lu Yuan prepared to back away—

A sound suddenly came from behind the black gate.

Clang.

Very soft.

Like some metal tapping against a stone surface.

The stone corridor fell instantly silent.

The treasury guard elder abruptly turned his head.

"Grand Pontiff..."

Qian Daoliu did not reply.

His gaze was fixed entirely on the black gate.

The Piercing Spear in Lu Yuan's hand vibrated once more.

Hum—

Almost at the same time.

Another sound rang out from behind the door.

Clang!

This time it was much clearer.

Qian Renxue heard it as well.

She looked at Lu Yuan.

"Is the spear inside responding to your martial soul?"

Lu Yuan did not answer.

The Piercing Spear had already emitted a third low hum.

Hum.

Behind the black gate.

Clang!

One inside, one outside.

The two sounds almost blended together.

It was as if, separated by that iron door which had been sealed for twenty-six years, there was finally some form of response.

Qian Daoliu stood in place and watched for a long time.

The treasury guard elder also seemed somewhat incredulous.

"Has this... ever happened before?"

"No."

Qian Daoliu spoke.

"Twenty-six years."

"This thing was brought into the Elder Hall twenty-six years ago."

His gaze shifted from the black gate to the Piercing Spear in Lu Yuan's hand.

"This is the first time it has actively responded to an outside instrument martial soul."

Lu Yuan looked back at the black gate.

The Piercing Spear in his hand was still gently vibrating.

Yet Qian Daoliu had already raised his hand.

"Stop there."

Lu Yuan turned his head.

"Can't I go in?"

"No."

"Rank thirty?"

"Talk to me when you reach rank thirty."

Qian Daoliu's tone left no room for negotiation.

"Until then, you cannot even touch this door."

Lu Yuan did not argue.

That fragment from earlier was already enough to cause such a massive reaction in the Piercing Spear.

No one knew what would happen with the much more complete spear embryo inside.

Going in now might not be an opportunity.

It might also truly drain him dry.

Seeing that he was not going to force the issue, Qian Daoliu turned and walked outward.

After a few steps, he paused again.

"The fragment in the outer treasury will not be cleared away anymore."

"You may continue to interact with it in the future."

Lu Yuan asked:

"Can it be taken out?"

"No."

Qian Daoliu turned back to look at him.

"The day you can truly make use of it, come and ask me for it."

Lu Yuan did not haggle any further either.

At least the item would not disappear.

Qian Daoliu resumed his steps.

"As for this door..."

Lu Yuan looked up.

Qian Daoliu did not turn around.

"If you want to know why the spear inside is responding to you—"

"First raise your soul power to rank thirty."