Shi Chun and his companions readily obliged, stopping and turning to look at Wu Shanshan as though they had no idea what she meant.
Wu Shanshan explained, "I have another treasure. Brother Chun, why not see whether it's worth taking as collateral?"
Shi Chun and the others exchanged wordless looks.
Their silence was an answer in itself.
Wu Shanshan pressed a hand against the Heaven-and-Earth Bag at her waist, then waved out a black lotus platform. It gradually expanded, and she flashed over to sit cross-legged on it. Ripples of ethereal energy suddenly burst from the lotus beneath her, sending lotus petals the size of book pages flying.
The petals flipped swiftly up and down before fixing themselves in the air, as though outlining a human figure in dotted lines. A body of rippling ethereal energy held those armored petals in place.
The outlined figure stood roughly thirty feet tall, with Wu Shanshan floating at its dantian, seated on the lotus platform.
A streak of light flashed from one side of the platform and coursed through the figure as though traveling along its meridians, rushing straight toward its right hand.
The figure closed its right hand, and a longsword appeared in its grasp.
Yuan Yao sucked in a breath, his eyes filled with shock and uncertainty. "They refined a person into an artifact spirit?"
What did that mean? Shi Chun turned to Xiao Sheng. He came from Spirit Gathering Valley, whose specialty was refining artifact spirits.
Xiao Sheng looked equally startled. Seemingly sensing Shi Chun's reaction, he turned and found Shi Chun looking at him questioningly. He immediately explained, "People can also be refined into artifact spirits. Just as with demonic creatures, it has to be done while they're alive. Most of their consciousness is preserved, while part of it