Xie Yu Might Establish His Own Sect

Magic Hat Road in the second option was the road where Kaiming Clinic stood. It was named after the largest magic hat store in the city.

After weighing the value of the three options, Xie Yu chose the third: Friend of the Wooden House.

More than the reward, Xie Yu wanted to know what had happened at the wooden house.

[Sealed Artifact 3-2152 said expectantly:]

[I called you master. What next?]

Xie Yu was just about to shape some more Void Twists for it, hoping to quickly raise its Affection.

He had to ask Yize what had happened at Kaiming's clinic... or find a chance to go near the wooden house and ask it directly.

But just as Xie Yu was about to exert himself, the Fate-Substitution Talisman Doll interrupted him.

[Sealed Artifact 3-0771 said disdainfully:]

[Look at yourself. You're as greedy as ever. You called him master once and immediately expected something in return. You're still stuck in the primitive mindset of "only working after you've eaten." How can you call yourself sincere like that? You haven't broken free of your instincts and desires at all. You're still a long way from true sincerity!]

[Look at me. I never ask Master for anything. I carry out his orders without fail. Wherever Master looks, that's the direction I fight in. Master told me not to eat people, so I stopped eating them...]

As 3-0771 spoke, it grew proud.

It practically felt proud of itself. It had found a way in which it was better than other Sealed Artifacts, and it thought the Chapter of Teleportation really was inferior.

[Like a pilgrim, Sealed Artifact 3-0771 grew increasingly fervent:]

[And my sincerity moved Master to forgive my sins and grant me life. These weren't rewards I received. I never asked for anything from beginning to end, nor should I! All I know is giving without expecting anything in return. All I know is that Master decides everything.]

[Have you truly become sincere?]

[Sealed Artifact 3-2152 actually began to reflect.]

[The word "greedy" stung it. It recalled its past and thought that perhaps greed really had been its companion. It only worked for humans after eating its fill, secretly devouring the void formations in the Sealed Artifact repository and treating them as the price humans paid to use it. But looking back now, it all suddenly seemed strange and ridiculous. It was as though the whole thing had been a monologue in its own mind. No one had promised it that payment, and no one cared whether it had eaten its fill...]

[It could just as easily have eaten its fill and refused to work, or stopped eating indiscriminately and kept working. No one forced it to follow those rules. This so-called fairness, this so-called transaction, was merely it talking to itself.]

[Its secret eating was a manifestation of the greed in its heart; its work was a veil it used to comfort itself, unwilling to acknowledge its own greed.]

[It was wrong to expect a reward from Master after calling him master once.]

[It felt ashamed of its greed (Affection increased to 95.5).]

Even Xie Yu was stunned. Though he already had considerable experience winning things over, was thick-skinned, and had mastered tactics such as flattery, coercion, and training, using them with ease...

He really hadn't expected the Fate-Substitution Talisman Doll to twist logic this way.

If Xie Yu had to say those things himself, even with how thick-skinned he was, he doubted he could bring himself to voice that logic. It was a little too shameless.

And if he praised himself and tried to force the other Sealed Artifacts to obey him, it might even backfire.

But coming from the Fate-Substitution Talisman Doll as a third party, it all suddenly seemed different.

Claiming to be a god himself would be hard to make people believe, but having the Fate-Substitution Talisman Doll call him a god worked much better.

Xie Yu silently kept his mouth shut, feeling that speaking now would only be unnecessary.

He might as well be a silent statue of a god.

Perhaps he didn't need to do something at every moment, or personally move things along at every stage...

Choosing not to speak or act, staying out of sight, and waiting for things to develop on their own at the right moment was also part of winning them over.

[I understand. I understand completely... You're called the Fate-Substitution Talisman Doll, right? I'd call you my mentor, my guide... I think I want to stay by Master's side. (Affection increased to 100)]

Though Xie Yu didn't know what it had understood, this development was good too.

Xie Yu nodded and smiled, indicating that he accepted it.

[Congratulations! You have won over Sealed Artifact 3-2512.]

[You may choose one of three rewards:]

[1. Lifelong Entrustment][Permanently activate Sealed Artifact 3-2512 through Permanent Animation, and its Affection will never decrease.]

[2. Full Disclosure][Some unknown magical knowledge, as well as more information about the Sealed Artifacts it knows of.]

[3. Friend of Low-Grade Sealed Artifacts][The initial Affection of all Sealed Artifacts encountered from now on increases by 0.5. This effect can stack.]

The Permanent Animation option had appeared for the second time. He could conclude that this should be a general characteristic of Sealed Artifacts.

Sealed Artifacts had a certain state of animation, which was why it could be called Permanent Animation. Once permanently animated, the spirituality they carried could be converted into magic through incantations.

They could become "spellcasters" nearly equivalent to humans, rather than merely things made up of magical Abnormal State power.

With his experience with Sealed Artifact 3-0771, Xie Yu chose the first option without hesitation.

A faint white light spread across the Chapter of Teleportation's metallic body.

[Sealed Artifact 3-2512 seemed to notice some strange change taking place within its body. It could sense and feel it, but couldn't quite describe it. All of this was quite unfamiliar to it...]

[Sealed Artifact 3-0771 found this familiar:]

[It seems you've understood true sincerity, wholehearted sincerity. I was the same back then.]

[I think that once you stopped expecting it to come, you had already received everything you wanted. We're companions now.]

[Sealed Artifact 3-2512 asked in confusion:]

[What? What did I receive?]

It had actually somewhat forgotten why it had called Xie Yu master and why it had made that attempt. Only now, when the Fate-Substitution Talisman Doll reminded it, did it remember what had happened earlier.

[I can use magic now?]

[Sealed Artifact 3-2512 seemed to remember what made it happiest (Faith soared to 40):]

[If I want to eat void, I can shape it myself!]

[I'm no longer greedy for food, so I've been given an endless supply of it.]

It was clearly happy too soon. Since it had never used magic before, its spellcasting was worse than the Fate-Substitution Talisman Doll's. It even remembered the incantation incorrectly. After trying several times on its own, it still hadn't reached the level Xie Yu had achieved when he first encountered void magic the previous night. It could be called utterly untalented, roughly on par with an extremely dull apprentice among human mages.

[Ah, it tastes awful! Making my own food seems to have failed.]

The Chapter of Teleportation wasn't disappointed. Instead, it exclaimed, [Master is amazing.]

[Come to think of it, I should feel remorse. I ate that beautiful Void Twist. I didn't know it was so hard to make... Sorry, Master; sorry, Dali.]

The Void Twist [Dali] didn't understand what it was saying. It floated by Xie Yu's shoulder, turning leisurely, very clingy.

Seeing that he had finished winning it over, Xie Yu put on the Chapter of Teleportation and walked toward the door.

"I'm ready," he said to Yize and the others. "It's very docile and likes me a lot."