Chapter 1525: Copper Coin

Lu Ye's longblade was unmatched among peers of the same cultivation level. However, traveling through space, he didn't only encounter opponents at his level. Even against those at his level, some protective spirit treasures couldn't be easily cut through.

Over a dozen Armored Armadillos leaped and darted around, showing little coordination, merely engaging in savage lunges and bites. In his soul-attached state, it wasn't overly difficult for Lu Ye to deal with them, though it would take some time.

As Armored Armadillos fell one by one, their blood staining the ground, Lu Ye was in the midst of a fierce battle when a voice suddenly echoed in his mind: "Watch out!" It was Li Shang.

At the same moment, Lu Ye spun and slashed his blade to the side. In that direction, an Armored Armadillo had somehow leaped out of the fray, opening its mouth and spewing a beam of bronze light at him!

Lu Ye had no idea what this bronze light was. Throughout the fight, none of the other Armored Armadillos had displayed any special abilities, so he wondered why this particular one was different.

Regardless of its nature, the bronze light was merely a technique unleashed by a Constellation-level star beast, so Lu Ye wasn't afraid.

As his longblade descended, Lu Ye frowned. The bronze light showed no sign of being affected by the Pan Mountain Blade; it passed straight through it and headed directly for his body.

Lu Ye hastily formed Sacred Guardian spirit runes on his skin, intending to block it.

Strangely, even the Sacred Guardian couldn't stop the bronze light. The copper-colored beam penetrated directly through the spirit runes and struck him.

Lu Ye's expression shifted slightly. The next instant, he felt his body suddenly become heavy, as if a great mountain had been pressed onto his shoulders, causing him to stiffen abruptly.

He had been in mid-air, but now his body plummeted uncontrollably. Looking down, he saw himself enveloped in a faint bronze glow, identical to the light spewed by the Armored Armadillo.

The surviving Armored Armadillos charged from all directions. Lu Ye tried to dodge, but his body felt incredibly heavy, and he couldn't evade them in time.

Hissing sounds filled the air, accompanied by Lu Ye's muffled groans. Several new wounds appeared on his body, leaving him in a sorry state.

He crashed to the ground, kicking up dust, as the Armored Armadillos swarmed him like maggots on bone. Their fangs were bared and ferocious, clearly intending to tear Lu Ye limb from limb at this opportune moment.

"Come out!" In this critical situation, Lu Ye quickly called out to Li Shang. He couldn't grasp the true nature of the bronze light, which possessed such mysterious power. However, he sensed it was somewhat similar to Chu Shen's Body-Solidifying Mirror, though its effects were stronger and more bizarre.

Regardless of the bronze light's essence, since it was an foreign object that had invaded his body, he could simply activate the power of the Talent Tree to burn it away and free himself from its effects.

Li Shang was currently soul-attached to him. If she didn't leave first, activating the Talent Tree's power might incinerate her as well.

Hearing this, Li Shang immediately tried to release her Soul Attachment Secret Art. To her surprise, she couldn't. Under the suppressing shroud of the bronze light, she felt as if she had completely merged with Lu Ye.

In that brief delay, the Armored Armadillos had already pounced, leaving several more deep wounds on Lu Ye.

Lu Ye could no longer wait. He was only thankful that he had made some preparations here earlier, otherwise, he would truly be in trouble this time.

With a thought, a large formation jade token appeared in his hand. As he channeled spiritual power into it, a buzzing sound arose, and streams of light emerged from all directions.

The Armored Armadillos charged forward, but this time they inflicted no damage on Lu Ye. A visible transparent light screen had appeared around him, blocking all incoming attacks from the Armored Armadillos.

A defensive formation!

Lu Ye had set up this formation earlier to deal with Moon Bloom star beasts. Of course, a formation constructed in such a short time wouldn't pose much threat to Moon Bloom star beasts; he merely intended to buy himself enough time to escape.

However, instead of Moon Blooms, a group of Constellation-level beasts had arrived, and this grand formation proved quite effective against them.

With himself enveloped in protection and no longer fearing attacks, Lu Ye manipulated the jade token, and streams of sword energy began to rampage within the formation!

To ensure the formation had sufficient lethality, Lu Ye had even placed his Sword Gourd at the formation's core, the only treasure he possessed that could serve as such.

Sword energy surged and crisscrossed, forming a long river of sword qi that swept each Armored Armadillo into its current.

The Armored Armadillos' scales were indeed tough, but they couldn't withstand such an endless onslaught. Before long, signs of life began to disappear within the river of sword qi.

Lu Ye focused on one particular Armored Armadillo, urging the river of sword qi to engulf it.

This Armored Armadillo was the one that had previously spewed the bronze light. No other Armored Armadillos possessed such an ability, only this one. Yet, Lu Ye scrutinized it from every angle but couldn't find anything special about it.

Indeed, this Armored Armadillo was nothing special. It wasn't larger than its kin, its strength was ordinary, and since it had unleashed that single beam of bronze light, Lu Ye hadn't seen it use a similar technique again.

The river of sword qi finally swept it in, crushing it on the spot. All the attacking Armored Armadillos were utterly annihilated.

The chaotic battlefield gradually quieted down. Lu Ye stood rooted to the spot, his brows furrowed. It wasn't that he didn't want to move; it was simply that his body felt incredibly heavy, and every step required immense effort.

This sense of weight wasn't a physical reality but a personal sensation. If he were truly that heavy, his feet would have left deep imprints where he stood, yet his footprints were actually quite shallow.

"Still no way to dispel it?" Lu Ye asked.

Li Shang's voice came through, filled with helplessness: "No!"

"That's odd!"

Logically, the bronze light was a technique unleashed by the Armored Armadillo. Now that it was dead, the technique should have lost its effect. Yet, the bronze light continued to envelop Lu Ye, making him appear as if cast from molten copper.

Under the shroud of this bronze light, Li Shang was completely unable to release her soul attachment.

His clone was still tens of thousands of miles away, ready for rendezvous, but Lu Ye wasn't in a hurry to get there. He still needed to retrieve his Sword Gourd, and he wanted to examine the special Armored Armadillo to see what made it different.

It made no sense that all were Armored Armadillos, yet only this one could unleash such bronze light. What was even stranger was that it had only done so once.

Lu Ye had long warned himself not to underestimate anyone, regardless of their apparent strength, because the world contained too many strange and wondrous techniques and treasures. One never knew when an unexpected setback might occur.

He had always adhered to this principle, yet he hadn't expected to suffer such a loss at the hands of a Constellation-level star beast this time.

Days passed, and it wasn't until several days later that the bronze light enveloping Lu Ye's body suddenly trembled slightly, then abruptly dissipated.

The moment she was free, Li Shang released her Soul Attachment Secret Art and materialized beside him, her face reflecting lingering trepidation.

She had genuinely feared having to remain soul-attached to Lu Ye indefinitely. If that had been the case, the two of them would never have been able to separate again.

Lu Ye stretched his somewhat stiff body, first retrieving his Sword Gourd, then heading towards the corpse of the unique Armored Armadillo.

After being swept by the river of sword qi, the Armored Armadillo's corpse was tattered.

Lu Ye examined it carefully and found nothing particularly special about the corpse. Under his divine sense, he detected no anomalies whatsoever.

Examining the other Armored Armadillo corpses, they all seemed identical.

This was truly strange. If these Armored Armadillos were indistinguishable, why could only one of them unleash such a mysterious technique? Even he, a seasoned veteran, had suffered greatly. Had it not been for the pre-arranged formation, he would have truly had to rely on his clone for refuge this time.

Unwilling to give up, Lu Ye began dissecting the Armored Armadillo corpses, and indeed, he found something peculiar.

It was extracted from the body of the special Armored Armadillo.

Wiping the blood from the object, Lu Ye concentrated on examining what he held.

It resembled a copper coin, round on the outside with a square hole in the middle. Both sides of the coin featured extremely intricate patterns, which looked like spirit runes but not quite.

"What is this?" Li Shang asked, looking over curiously.

Lu Ye shook his head, indicating he didn't know, but he had a faint feeling that the Armored Armadillo's ability to spew bronze light was inextricably linked to this object.

From this perspective, the bronze light wasn't an inherent ability of the Armored Armadillo itself, but rather the power of this copper coin. This explained why only this particular Armored Armadillo could emit the bronze light, while the others couldn't.

This was undoubtedly a treasure!

Lu Ye felt a surge of delight. He had personally experienced the bronze light's power; it had stiffened his body and made him incredibly heavy. Imagine what it would do to other Constellation-level cultivators.

Even a Moon Bloom cultivator would likely have their strength severely reduced if struck by that bronze light!

Lu Ye attempted to channel power into it, but there was no reaction. He then tried permeating it with his divine sense, also to no avail.

He thought for a moment, then handed the copper coin to Li Shang. "You try!"

Li Shang took it and tried, but no matter what method she used, she couldn't elicit any reaction from the coin. She then returned it to Lu Ye, saying, "This might be a one-time use exotic treasure!"

Lu Ye thought the same.

It made no sense for the Armored Armadillo to be able to activate its power, only for it to be ineffective in his or Li Shang's hands.

There was only one possibility: this item was a single-use exotic treasure that lost its effect after being used once.

Considering that the Armored Armadillo had only spewed bronze light once, this possibility was very high.

Lu Ye couldn't help but feel a bit down. To find such a rare and good treasure, only for it to be a single-use exotic item, instantly soured his mood. He couldn't help but sigh.

However, what puzzled Lu Ye was that if this truly was a one-time use exotic treasure, why hadn't it been destroyed?

Normally, such single-use exotic treasures would be destroyed after their power was expended, but this copper coin remained perfectly intact.

Although it no longer held any power, Lu Ye decided to keep it. The coin's two sides featured many complex patterns, which might prove helpful for his study of spirit runes. He could research it when he had time later.