It Chose for Itself

After Han Song was taken away, the matter at the Royal Hunting Grounds came to a temporary end.

He did not know much. He only confessed that he had been responsible for opening the western transfer gate the previous night, letting in the Rift-Toothed Tiger, and watching for anyone who appeared around Xue Qinghe at the other party's request. As for who had truly provided the money or where that old approval document had come from, he could never give a useful answer.

Xue Qinghe did not waste any more time on him. He merely had the royal family take over the subsequent interrogation while ordering a renewed inspection of the entire Royal Hunting Grounds. With something like this happening during the assessment, it naturally could not continue. After confirming that no one was missing, the remaining participating teams left one after another with members of their respective academies and factions.

Before leaving, Cheng Lan took another look at the old approval document but said nothing.

Lu Yuan did not keep dwelling on that lead either. The royal family would continue investigating the rest. He had first fought fiercely with the Rift-Toothed Tiger the previous night, then forcibly held off Han Song that morning. Though his injuries were not serious, his Soul Power and stamina were nearly depleted.

On the way back to Spirit Hall, Lu Yuan leaned against the carriage wall with his eyes closed, recovering. By the time the carriage entered the city, his complexion had improved slightly.

After returning, Deacon Zhao first had a healing-type Spirit Master examine his injuries again. The wound on his palm was rebandaged, and the injuries beneath his ribs, on his shoulders, and across his back were treated once more. It was not until evening that he returned to his room and circulated his Soul Power to recover.

Lu Yuan sat cross-legged in his room, circulating his Soul Power, when a familiar golden gleam suddenly flashed through his eyes. The Eye of Destiny had opened on its own without being actively invoked.

[Qian Renxue]

[Identity: Xue Qinghe]

[Fate Node: Latent]

Originally, there had only been those lines of information. A moment later, another line of text appeared at the bottom.

[Fate has shifted]

As the words appeared, a familiar strand of power merged into his body. Lu Yuan quickly recognized it as Origin of Destiny, though there was far less of it than what he had received when he first saved Qian Renxue.

He did not use it immediately, merely keeping the power within his body for the time being. Then he put away the Eye of Destiny and continued recovering his Soul Power.

The next afternoon, people from the royal family arrived.

Since Xue Qinghe had already announced the Royal Treasury reward in front of everyone, he naturally would not delay it just because the investigation at the hunting grounds was ongoing. Lu Yuan followed the visitors into the palace, with Deacon Zhao accompanying him all the way before stopping outside the Royal Treasury.

The person guarding the treasury was an elderly man with graying hair. He seemed to have heard about what Lu Yuan had done the previous night. He looked at him twice after they met but did not ask any questions, merely turning to lead him inside.

"His Highness instructed us to open one area for you. You may take one material from it. Only one. Once you choose, you cannot change it."

Lu Yuan nodded. "Understood."

The Royal Treasury was even larger than he had imagined, though only a portion of it was truly available for him to choose from. The items here were not arranged in any uniform fashion. There were intact Spirit Beast horns and bones, as well as all kinds of ores and metals. Lu Yuan had never even heard the names of many of the materials.

The elderly man did not introduce everything along the way, only occasionally explaining something when Lu Yuan stopped to inspect it.

When they reached a completely black piece of metal, the old man casually said, "Black Pattern Iron. It has good hardness. Many blacksmiths in Heaven Dou City like using it to forge weapons."

Lu Yuan merely glanced at it. The Piercing Spear inside his body showed no reaction.

Further ahead, a dark-red beast horn as thick as an arm rested alone on a wooden rack. A faint scorching heat still lingered on its surface.

"This came from a fire-element Spirit Beast that was several thousand years old. It has been preserved fairly well."

Lu Yuan did not stop there either.

For an ordinary two-ring Spirit Master, many of the items in this area would be worth a great deal if taken out casually. But Lu Yuan had not entered the Royal Treasury merely to choose the most valuable item.

The Black Fragment from Spirit Hall's Outer Treasury had already proven that if he truly encountered something the Piercing Spear needed, the Martial Soul itself would react.

Lu Yuan continued deeper inside. After passing through more than half the area, he was about to turn toward another row of wooden racks when a faint vibration suddenly came from his right palm.

His footsteps stopped.

The Piercing Spear had not been summoned, but the Martial Soul within his body had clearly grown restless.

The old man noticed the change. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

Lu Yuan turned to look to his right.

There was only an unremarkable row of wooden racks there. Compared with the materials displayed separately earlier, the items here were clearly much more ordinary. Yet the moment he took a step in that direction, the Piercing Spear within him vibrated again, even more distinctly than before.

Following the sensation, Lu Yuan walked all the way to the innermost section and finally stopped before a palm-sized wooden box.

The old man glanced at it. "This one?"

Lu Yuan nodded.

After the wooden box was opened, there was only a fist-sized piece of gray-silver metal inside. Its surface was uneven, with many fine natural patterns visible across it. Judging by its appearance alone, it was even less eye-catching than the ores and Spirit Beast materials from earlier.

But the moment Lu Yuan brought his hand close to the box, the Soul Power within his body suddenly flowed toward his right hand on its own. The next instant, the Piercing Spear appeared directly in his palm without being actively summoned.

The old man was visibly stunned.

Lu Yuan lowered his head and looked at the spear himself.

The normally quiet Dark Gold Patterns were gradually lighting up. Although the Second Spirit Ring had not truly been released, a deep hum already sounded from within the spear, and even the gray-silver metal inside the box began trembling faintly.

It was as though the two shared some natural resonance.

The old man's expression finally turned serious. "Your Martial Soul is reacting to this?"

"Very clearly."

Lu Yuan reached out and picked up the piece of gray-silver metal. Only after holding it did he realize that such a large piece was far heavier than expected. At the same time, the vibration from the Piercing Spear became even more obvious, and the hand gripping it felt faintly numb.

"What kind of metal is this?"

The old man looked at the old record on the wooden box. "It was delivered along with a batch of ore years ago. It was only recorded as Gray Silver Ore, and no one could identify the exact metal. Later, people tried working with it several times. It is extremely difficult to forge, and after taking an impact, the vibrations remain inside it for a long time. They do not dissipate as easily as they would in ordinary metal."

Hearing that, Lu Yuan understood why the Piercing Spear had reacted so strongly. The characteristics of this Gray Silver Ore were almost perfectly suited to Shock Edge.

The old man looked again at the materials beside them. "Are you sure you want this? A few items here are worth far more than it."

Lu Yuan looked down at the Gray Silver Ore in his hand. The Piercing Spear had yet to completely settle down, and the answer could not have been clearer.

"This one."

The old man did not try to persuade him further and simply handed him the wooden box.

After Lu Yuan placed the Gray Silver Ore back inside, the vibration from the Piercing Spear slowly weakened. Yet the Dark Gold Patterns on the spear remained much brighter than usual. Even after the Martial Soul was withdrawn into his body, that faint restlessness did not completely disappear.

When he walked out of the Royal Treasury, Deacon Zhao was still waiting outside. Seeing the wooden box in Lu Yuan's hand, he asked, "Chosen already?"

"Chosen."

"What did you pick?"

Lu Yuan glanced down at the wooden box. "A piece of gray-silver metal. No one knows exactly what it is, but the Piercing Spear reacted strongly to it."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Piercing Spear, which had been quiet for a while, gave another faint tremble within his body.