Ji Yuan froze when he heard the voice. For a moment, he even thought he had misheard.
But when he looked again at the open mouth of the Purple-Gold Gourd, he knew he had heard correctly. Someone really was speaking from inside it!
An artifact spirit?!
If that's true, haven't all my secrets been exposed?!
A thought sprang up in Ji Yuan's mind: I can't let her remain. No matter what, I have to destroy this thing!
The Four-Color Spirit Egg had come from the [Chicken Coop], and those buildings were tied to Ji Yuan's greatest secret. No one could be allowed to learn of them.
"What? Now that I've found out, you're afraid? Never mind. Fear is only natural. Hee-hee."
As the woman spoke, she seemed to cover her mouth and laugh softly, a string of silvery chimes spilling out.
Ji Yuan was on guard, but years of life-and-death ordeals also let him remain utterly calm.
There was danger, certainly. The thing was still inside his Dantian, after all. But if the Purple-Gold Gourd truly meant to kill him, it could have struck in secret.
It could have done so while he cultivated, for instance, or simply waited until a crucial moment in a breakthrough, rather than revealing itself now.
He could not let her lead him by the nose. He had to seize the initiative.
And the key to that was not to follow her lead in conversation.
After a brief silence, Ji Yuan spoke first. "What do you need?"
That single question silenced the voice inside the Purple-Gold Gourd.
To Ji Yuan, it was simple: an exchange of interests. The Purple-Gold Gourd had chosen to reveal itself now because it saw value in him.
His Violet Core, for example.
Where there was value, there was room for