Chapter 1535: The Power of Silver Money

Lu Ye's long saber was unmatched among those of the same cultivation level. However, traversing the starry sky, he encountered opponents who weren't always at his level. Even among his peers, the power of some protective spirit treasures couldn't be easily breached.

A dozen or so Armadillo Beasts scurried and leaped, showing little coordination. They merely charged and bit wildly. For Lu Ye, in his soul-attached state, dispatching them wasn't particularly difficult, but it would require some time.

One by one, the Armadillo Beasts fell, their blood dyeing the ground red. As Lu Ye fought fiercely, Li Shang's voice suddenly echoed in his mind: "Be careful!"

Simultaneously, Lu Ye spun and slashed his saber to his side. In that direction, an Armadillo Beast had, at some point, leaped out of the fray, opened its mouth, and shot a beam of bronze light at him!

Lu Ye had no idea what this bronze light was. From start to finish, the other Armadillo Beasts hadn't displayed any special abilities, so he wondered why this particular one was unique.

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

As his long saber descended, Lu Ye frowned. The Panshan Saber felt no impact at all, and the bronze light passed straight through it, heading for his body.

Lu Ye swiftly constructed Sacred Guardian spiritual runes on his body, intending to block the attack.

Strangely, even the Sacred Guardian couldn't block this bronze light. The copper-colored beam passed directly through the Sacred Guardian spiritual runes and impacted his body.

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

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

The surviving Armadillo Beasts lunged from all directions. Lu Ye attempted to dodge, but his body felt incredibly heavy, and for a moment, he couldn't evade.

Hissing sounds filled the air, accompanied by Lu Ye's muffled grunts. Several new wounds appeared on his body, leaving him utterly disheveled.

He crashed to the ground, sending dust flying. The Armadillo Beasts swarmed him like maggots clinging to bone, each displaying ferocious fangs and malevolent expressions, ready to tear Lu Ye to shreds at the first opportunity.

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

Regardless of the bronze light's nature, since it was an foreign substance that had invaded his body, he knew he could burn it away by activating his Talent Tree's power, thus freeing himself from its confinement.

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

Hearing this, Li Shang immediately attempted to release the soul-attachment secret art. To her astonishment, she couldn't. Under the bronze light's oppressive shroud, she felt completely merged with Lu Ye.

During this brief delay, the Armadillo Beasts had already lunged, inflicting several more deep wounds on Lu Ye.

Lu Ye couldn't wait any longer. He was thankful he had made some prior arrangements in this area; otherwise, this encounter would have been truly problematic.

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

The Armadillo Beasts charged, but this time they inflicted no further damage on Lu Ye. A visible, transparent light barrier had appeared around him, blocking all incoming Armadillo Beasts.

A defensive formation!

Lu Ye had previously set up this formation to counter Moon Core-level star beasts. Of course, a formation hastily deployed wouldn't pose a significant threat to such powerful creatures; he had only intended to buy himself enough time to escape.

However, since it was a group of Constellation-level beasts rather than Moon Core ones, the formation could now prove quite effective.

Protected by the barrier, he no longer feared attacks. Under the control of the jade token, streams of sword energy began to rage within the formation!

To ensure the formation had sufficient lethality, Lu Ye had even placed his Sword Gourd at its core, as it was the only treasure he possessed capable of serving that function.

The sword energy crisscrossed, forming a long river that swept each Armadillo Beast into its currents.

The Armadillo Beasts' scales were indeed tough, but they couldn't withstand such an endless onslaught. Before long, signs of life began to vanish within the river of sword energy.

Lu Ye focused on one specific Armadillo Beast, directing the river of sword energy to sweep towards it.

This Armadillo Beast was the one that had previously emitted the bronze light. No other Armadillo Beast possessed this ability, yet this one did. However, Lu Ye examined it repeatedly but found nothing physically special about it.

This Armadillo Beast truly wasn't special. Its size was no larger than its peers, and its strength was ordinary. Moreover, after emitting that single beam of bronze light, Lu Ye hadn't seen it use any similar technique again.

The river of sword energy eventually swept it in and killed it on the spot. All the attacking Armadillo Beasts were completely eradicated.

The chaotic battlefield gradually quieted. Lu Ye stood still, frowning deeply. It wasn't that he didn't want to move; his body felt incredibly heavy, and every step required immense effort.

This heaviness wasn't literal, but rather a profound self-perception. If he were truly that heavy, his feet would have left deep imprints where he stood, yet his actual footprints were quite shallow.

"Still no way to detach?" Lu Ye asked.

Li Shang's voice sounded, tinged with helplessness: "No!"

"That's peculiar!"

Logically, since the bronze light was a technique unleashed by the Armadillo Beast, and the beast was now dead, the technique should have ceased to function. Yet, the bronze light continued to envelop Lu Ye, making him appear as if he had been cast from molten bronze.

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

His clone was still tens of thousands of miles away, ready to assist. Lu Ye wasn't in a hurry to leave, as he still needed to retrieve his Sword Gourd and wanted to examine that particular Armadillo Beast more closely.

It made no sense that among all the Armadillo Beasts, only this one could unleash such bronze light. Even stranger, it had only done so once...

Lu Ye had long cautioned himself against underestimating anyone, regardless of their apparent strength. The world contained too many strange techniques and peculiar treasures, and one never knew when they might face an unexpected setback.

He had always adhered to this principle, yet unexpectedly, he had suffered a loss this time at the hands of a Constellation-level beast.

Days passed. Several days later, the bronze light enveloping Lu Ye's body suddenly trembled slightly, then abruptly dissipated.

The moment he regained his freedom, Li Shang released the soul-attachment secret art and flashed out, a look of lingering fear on her face.

She genuinely feared she would have to remain soul-attached to Lu Ye indefinitely. If so, they would never be able to separate.

Lu Ye stretched his somewhat stiff body. He first retrieved his Sword Gourd, then walked towards the carcass of the special Armadillo Beast.

The Armadillo Beast's carcass was badly tattered from the previous onslaught of sword energy.

Lu Ye examined it closely, finding nothing special about the carcass. Under the perception of his divine sense, he detected no abnormalities whatsoever.

He then examined the carcasses of the other Armadillo Beasts, which all appeared identical.

This was truly peculiar. If all these Armadillo Beasts were identical, why could one of them unleash such a mysterious technique? Even he, a seasoned veteran, suffered a significant setback. If not for the pre-arranged grand formation, he truly would have had to rely on his clone's assistance to escape.

Unwilling to give up, he began dissecting the Armadillo Beast carcasses. Indeed, Lu Ye found something peculiar.

It was discovered inside the special Armadillo Beast.

Wiping the blood from the object, Lu Ye intently examined what he held in his hand.

It resembled a copper coin, circular on the outside and square on the inside, with a small central hole. Both sides of the coin featured extremely intricate patterns that looked somewhat like spiritual runes but not quite.

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

Lu Ye shook his head, indicating he didn't know. However, he had a strong hunch that the Armadillo Beast's ability to emit bronze light was linked to this object.

From this perspective, the bronze light wasn't an innate ability of the Armadillo Beast itself, but rather the power of this copper coin. This explained why only this particular Armadillo Beast could emit the bronze light while the others couldn't—it was due to this object.

This was undoubtedly a treasure!

Lu Ye felt a surge of delight. He had personally experienced the bronze light's power; even he, after being struck by it, had become stiff and incredibly heavy. For other Constellation-level cultivators, the effect would be even more profound.

Even a Moon Core-level cultivator, if struck by such bronze light, would likely see their strength significantly diminished!

Lu Ye attempted to channel his power into it, but it yielded 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 attempted to activate it, only to find that no matter what method she used, the copper coin remained completely unresponsive. She then returned it to Lu Ye: "This is likely a unique treasure!"

Lu Ye had also reached the same conclusion.

It made no sense that the Armadillo Beast could activate this treasure's power, but it had no effect in his or Li Shang's hands.

Only one possibility remained: the object was a one-time-use unique treasure, losing its power after a single activation.

Given that the Armadillo Beast had only emitted the bronze light once, this possibility seemed highly probable.

Lu Ye couldn't help but feel a little disheartened. To find such a remarkable treasure, only for it to be a single-use item, instantly dampened his mood, and he couldn't help but sigh.

However, what puzzled Lu Ye was that if this was truly a unique treasure, why hadn't it been destroyed?

Normally, one-time-use unique treasures are destroyed after their power is expended, yet this copper coin remained perfectly intact.

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