Obtaining a Law Artifact and a Trump Card

Shen Ge hurried forward to examine it. The bead was pure white, round and lustrous, looking just like an oversized pearl.

But Shen Ge did not believe it was a pearl. This thing was a demon core!

Still, the demon core was somewhat lacking. It had probably been formed by a minor demon that had only recently taken shape.

Even so, the demon core was a fine thing, useful for both refining medicine and drawing talismans.

He glanced at the price. It was marked at five thousand taels of silver, an outrageously high price.

For an instant, the thought of robbing it actually crossed Shen Ge's mind.

But he quickly dismissed the thought. After all, he had grown up under the red flag and still had some conscience.

After estimating how much silver he had on him, Shen Ge turned to the girl. "Bid twenty thousand taels of silver on this."

The girl was delighted and immediately stepped forward to write down the price.

After looking at that, Shen Ge turned to the sword tip beside it. The label described it as an immortal's possession, and the price was even more outrageous: a full hundred thousand taels, with no upper limit on the bidding.

The label was not wrong, though. The sword tip really had belonged to an immortal. It was a fragment of a Law Treasure.

After a moment's thought, Shen Ge said, "Put me down for a hundred and fifty thousand taels on this sword tip."

Once the girl had finished, the two returned to the private room.

Then came a long wait. From time to time, the girl went out to see whether anyone had outbid Shen Ge on the items he had bid on earlier.

It was Shen Ge's first time seeing this kind of bidding. Without an auctioneer to stir up the atmosphere, it was difficult for these things to sell above their value.

But it was not without benefits. Although the auction brought in less profit, it protected the customers' safety.

After all, those who attended the auction were all high officials, nobles, wealthy merchants, and tycoons. Only by ensuring their safety could the auction house earn greater profits.

The owner was an extraordinary person, trading short-term profit for long-term gain. He was a business genius.

They waited until evening. In the meantime, Shen Ge raised his bids on a few items he liked and gave up the rest.

But he could only sell two items, since there were not many people attending the auction and not every item caught someone's eye. Shen Ge would have to pay for the ones he could not sell himself.

After the day's auction ended, the girl led Shen Ge to a room where a white-haired old man sat. He did not look feeble with age, though; on the contrary, he looked full of vigor.

"Young master, the total is two hundred and thirty-three thousand eight hundred taels of silver. Please make your payment."

Shen Ge took out silver notes worth two hundred and thirty thousand taels and placed them on the table, then produced several small bottles.

"Here are two hundred and thirty thousand taels. Let these pills cover the remaining three thousand and change."

"Second-grade Detoxification Pills, capable of curing a hundred poisons, and second-grade hemostatic pills. No matter how large or deep the wound, just sprinkle them on and the bleeding will stop immediately."

The old man wasted no words. He summoned a servant, cut his hand, and sprinkled hemostatic powder on the wound. Within a few breaths, the bleeding stopped.

The old man nodded in satisfaction and turned to speak. "Two bottles of hemostatic powder can cover one thousand taels."

Then the old man had someone bring a bottle of poison and made the servant drink it.

When the servant was on the verge of dying from the poison, the old man took out a Detoxification Pill and fed it to him. In less than half the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the servant was lively as a dragon and vigorous as a tiger again.

"Two bottles of Detoxification Pills can cover the entire remainder."

After putting a check mark in the ledger, the old man clapped his hands. Several guards soon entered, carrying boxes.

"Young master, these are your auction items. Please inspect them."

Shen Ge opened them one by one and took a look. Once he had confirmed that the auction house had not passed off fakes, he nodded. "No problem. These are what I wanted."

"But I don't intend to keep these. Buy them back," Shen Ge said, taking out three boxes and pointing to the rest.

The old man nodded. "We can buy them back, but only at the minimum price-the prices you saw earlier, young master."

"No problem."

Seeing that Shen Ge still insisted, the old man had the guards carry the items away, then took out thirty silver notes and handed them over.

"Three thousand taels in total. Please count them, young master."

After a cursory glance, Shen Ge casually drew one out and handed it to the girl beside him. "Thank you for your work today. You've earned this."

"Thank you for your generous reward, young master." The girl was overjoyed. Shen Ge had bought so many things that her reward was already very generous, and now she had received another thousand taels. It was a windfall straight from heaven.

After putting his things away, Shen Ge left the auction house and returned to the inn. He then took out the sword and began studying it.

Only after fiddling with it and testing it for a while did Shen Ge figure out what it was made of. The sword was mostly iron, but it contained a tiny amount of iron essence. No wonder it carried a faint trace of Spiritual Qi.

Strictly speaking, the sword was already a nascent Law Artifact. Although it was a Law Artifact of the lowest grade, it could still become a middle-grade Law Artifact if its formation patterns were inscribed properly.

Having figured that out, Shen Ge tossed the sword aside, took out the Law Treasure sword tip, and began refining it.

Although it was only a fragment and lacked the might of a Law Treasure, ordinary Law Artifacts could not compare to it.

It was called a Law Treasure, after all, with "treasure" in its name, so it had to be a treasure from end to end.

The next day, Shen Ge finished refining it. The sword tip now bore his imprint. He could not quite wield it as freely as his own arm, but it struck wherever he directed it.

He lifted a hand and curled a finger, and the sword tip moved as softly as silk around his finger, circling him. After playing with it for a while, Shen Ge put it away and picked up the longsword beside him.

"I have a trump card now. It's time to make an ordinary weapon."

Shen Ge spent a day inscribing the formation patterns. The sword now gave a very different impression.

Compared with its formerly exquisite appearance, the sword had become downright ugly.

Failed formations were carved all over it, looking like random chicken scratches.

Shen Ge's face was as black as ink. He was loath to admit that he had made the ugly sword. Failing so many times while drawing a simple Spirit Gathering Formation was a disgrace.

The sword was ugly, but Shen Ge refined it anyway. Law Artifacts were scarce, and this was the only one he had, so he had no choice but to make do with it.

As for its ugliness, that mattered even less. Ugly was better than unusable, wasn't it? He would treat it as experience. After all, everything was difficult at the start.

After spending half a month in Linhai City, Shen Ge set out once more.

This time, his destination was Sunset Valley, north of Kaohai Commandery. Now that he had a Law Artifact and a trump card, it would be hard to justify not meeting these fellow cultivators.

Shen Ge planned to familiarize himself with the world of cultivators before going to the Spirit Moon Sect. Although the sect could offer a better cultivation environment, he would have to gain experience step by step on his own.