The golden gong was right before his eyes.
He steadied himself, temporarily suppressed his distracting thoughts, and focused once more on the little golden gong before him.
The fluctuations of spiritual awareness from the Golden Gong were indeed distinct. Clearly, generations of the nun's sect had refined it day and night, giving it the first signs of developing into a Magical Treasure.
That day, he had seen the flames rising from the Golden Gong actively surround and evaporate the water weapons Little White Dragon spat out. That was certainly beyond the abilities of an ordinary magic implement, and was precisely a manifestation of its spiritual awareness.
Even with these first stirrings of spiritual awareness, however, nurturing a true spirit and becoming a magic treasure would probably require several hundred, or even a thousand, more years of sustained refinement and nourishment.
But Cui Jiuyang did not consider that too slow. He possessed the legacy of The Eight Extremes, whose unique refinement methods would certainly greatly shorten the time the Golden Gong needed to become a Magical Treasure.
He studied the Golden Gong for a while, his little black, bean-like snake eyes full of appreciation for the magic implement. Only after a long time did he reluctantly look away from it and turn his attention to the nun.
Tampering rashly with the gong could easily wake her.
Although Cui Jiuyang was not afraid of her, if their fight woke the entire camp, he certainly would not be able to get his hands on the Golden Gong.
He would have to subdue the nun first.
Cui Jiuyang slowly circulated his spiritual power, casually set up a soundproofing restriction, and assumed human form. A pretty young girl appeared beside the bed, holding an Apotropaic Coin.
He aimed the Apotropaic Coin at the nun's forehead