Soul-Eating Dagger, Gold of Life

Yan Shaozhe said there was a problem with this Soul Bone, but it was not an issue with the Soul Bone's quality. The Golden Radiance was a genuine Soul Bone produced by the Golden Earth Dragon King, condensing a trace of its original body's pure Radiant Dragon Clan bloodline. There was no problem with that.

The problem with this Soul Bone lay in its price—nearly ten million Gold Soul Coins!

Nor was that price fabricated. When Shrek's Treasure Pavilion had acquired this Soul Bone, its professional appraiser had valued it at 9.5 million Gold Soul Coins.

But that did not mean Yan Shaozhe had actually spent that much money to buy it.

It was possible for him to pay out of his own pocket for his precious disciple, Ma Xiaotao. But asking him to fork over nearly ten million Gold Soul Coins for Lu Yuan in one go? With Yan Shaozhe's stingy nature, it would be more satisfying to kill him outright!

He had obtained this Soul Bone under Lu Yuan's name.

A few months ago, Lu Yuan becoming Mu En's disciple was no longer a secret among the Sea God's Pavilion elders. This Golden Radiance Left Arm Bone was what Yan Shaozhe had obtained from Lin Huiqun, the elder in charge of the Treasure Pavilion, under the pretext of "an elder brother preparing a meeting gift for his junior brother."

After learning that Yan Shaozhe had selected it as a meeting gift for a junior like Lu Yuan, and considering Yan Shaozhe's status as dean of the Martial Soul Department, Lin Huiqun had practically sold the Soul Bone to Yan Shaozhe at a half-gift price.

So, while this Soul Bone was indeed valuable, it was nowhere near as expensive as Yan Shaozhe had boasted.

Secretly studying Lu Yuan's expression, Yan Shaozhe decided to bring out something else to divert Lu Yuan's attention and keep him from dwelling on the matter.

"Junior brother," Yan Shaozhe said with an awkward laugh, taking another box out of his Storage Soul Tool. "This is the thing you asked me to help you find last time. Your senior brother found it for you!"

Oh?

Lu Yuan's eyes lit up at those words. After all, compared to the Golden Radiance Left Arm Bone, the item he had asked his cheap senior brother to find was the real main event!

The Soul-Eating Dagger!

Yan Shaozhe took out a sealed Soul Tool. Within it was sealed an ancient-looking carving knife.

It was precisely the Soul-Eating Dagger Lu Yuan had long wanted!

Even through the seal, Lu Yuan could sense the vicious aura of this Ranked Engraving Knife. Blue-black currents swirled around the dagger, continuously battering against the sealed Soul Tool and producing a series of hums!

Yet Yan Shaozhe did not immediately hand the dagger over. Instead, he looked serious as he asked, "Junior brother, tell me honestly. You don't really want this Ranked Engraving Knife so you can go study Soul Tools, do you?!"

When Lu Yuan had first asked him to help find this Ranked Engraving Knife, Yan Shaozhe had been thoroughly startled. He was terrified that one day Lu Yuan would clap him on the shoulder and say, "Senior brother, I've decided to take my talent to the Soul Tool Department!"

It was precisely because he feared Lu Yuan might get upset one day and transfer to the Soul Tool Department that Yan Shaozhe had swallowed his pride and gone to Lin Huiqun for the Golden Radiance Soul Bone. Otherwise, given Yan Shaozhe's nature, who knew what cheap inferior goods he might have passed off to Lu Yuan!

Taking a step back, even if Lu Yuan truly wanted to transfer to the Soul Tool Department, Yan Shaozhe could only—of course, forgive him!

With the talent Lu Yuan had displayed, if he truly had a gift for making Soul Tools and genuinely wanted to study them, Yan Shaozhe would grit his teeth and support him. There were still two more Ranked Engraving Knives stored in the academy treasury; which one of them did not have better attributes than this vicious dagger that devoured its owner?

If his junior brother really lost his mind and went to study Soul Tools, only to be cursed to death by this dagger while learning, and it was eventually traced back to Yan Shaozhe having gotten the dagger for him, wouldn't their teacher whip him to death like a spinning top?

Seeing Yan Shaozhe so nervous, Lu Yuan understood. So this old bastard had been waiting for me here!

No wonder he had rambled on with so many stories and kind words when giving him the Golden Radiance. He had been afraid Lu Yuan would not fight alongside him as a brother in the Martial Soul Department and would instead take his talent to the Soul Tool Department!

Of course, Lu Yuan would never join the Soul Tool Department. With his own top-tier talent, Elder Yi at his side, and an absurdly powerful existence like the Great Tortoise Shell Technique, becoming a god was only a matter of time. There was absolutely no need to waste time and effort learning Soul Tools, where the returns were completely disproportionate to the investment. At most, he only needed to learn how to use a few common Soul Tools!

"Senior brother, you know this," Lu Yuan said solemnly as he looked at Yan Shaozhe. "The Martial Soul Department is my home. Becoming a core disciple in the Soul Tool Department might be nice, but staying in the Martial Soul Department gives me far broader horizons."

"Besides, senior brother, didn't I tell you before? I wanted this dagger for the cultivation of my Light-Breaking Right Arm Bone!"

With that, Lu Yuan immediately had Yan Shaozhe loosen a trace of the seal and release a wisp of the Soul-Eating Dagger's resentful aura.

Screee!

The moment it escaped the seal, the resentful aura let out a piercing shriek and tried to choose someone to devour. But when Lu Yuan activated the Holy Light of Light-Breaking Demon, it vanished at once like butter beneath a hot knife.

Whew—

After seeing that Lu Yuan truly had the ability to deal with the Soul-Eating Dagger's curse, Yan Shaozhe let out a long breath. It seemed his junior brother really did intend to use the curse on this dagger for cultivation.

Only after Lu Yuan repeatedly promised that he would not defect to the Soul Tool Department did Yan Shaozhe finally hand the Soul-Eating Dagger over with peace of mind.

Having obtained the dagger, the old and young foxes, each believing he had seen through the other's thoughts, exchanged smiles. After a round of mutual flattery, they went their separate ways.

In his dormitory, Lu Yuan sat cross-legged, the Soul-Eating Dagger floating silently before him.

"Gold of Life—it truly is Gold of Life! What a waste, what a terrible waste!" Electrolux's divine sense was drawn out as well, and he spoke in a daze.

Though Lu Yuan had long told Electrolux about the Gold of Life, Electrolux had never expected him to find such a large piece. On the Holy Demon Continent, even a grain-sized piece of Gold of Life would have been enough to ignite a struggle among several major factions!

Yet the former owner of this Gold of Life had not only failed to make use of its wondrous effects, but had instead infused it with evil thoughts and curses. It was truly like entering a treasure mountain without recognizing it!

With this piece of Gold of Life, Electrolux was confident that he could not only help Lu Yuan withstand the side effects of the Great Tortoise Shell Technique, but even help him open a second sea of consciousness and reach another level!

At that moment, Lu Yuan said nothing. He simply kept urging the Holy Fire onward, its glazed flames enveloping the ancient dagger and continuously scorching the swirling blue-black currents.

Aah—!!! Screee—!!!

The dagger being scorched by the Holy Fire continuously released miserable shrieks, yet the barrier Elder Yi had set down held it firmly in place, preventing even the slightest sound from escaping.