Chapter 213: The Correct Way to Use Artifacts

The Wind Rises in Kyushu

Lu Ye wasn't buying from the Heavenly Secret Treasury for the first time, so he naturally knew how to quickly find what he needed.

Moments later, he stood in the Heavenly Secret Treasury, surrounded by shelves filled with Spirit Artifacts, searching through them one by one.

There was a wide variety of Spirit Artifacts here, enough to meet any cultivator's needs.

According to his Second Senior Sister, there was a difference between Spirit Artifacts used for ranged control and those used for direct combat. The former required at least three enchantments: Spirit Storage, Foundation Reinforcement, and Sharpness.

The Spirit Storage enchantment ensured the artifact's sustained use, as a cultivator's spiritual power would be stored within this enchantment and gradually depleted during use.

Without this enchantment, Lu Ye would encounter the situation he experienced before, where he had to recall the artifact after only a few breaths of use.

As for Foundation Reinforcement and Sharpness, these were present in every Spirit Artifact. The former strengthened the artifact itself, making it less prone to damage, while the latter enhanced its lethality.

After looking around, Lu Ye found it difficult to choose. The prices of Spirit Artifacts here were generally higher than normal. For example, his Pan Mountain Saber, with its nine enchantments, was considered the limit for a low-grade Spirit Artifact and only cost 135功勋 (Merit Points). However, a nine-enchantment Spirit Artifact suitable for ranged control could cost close to 200 Merit Points.

Considering this, his Pan Mountain Saber seemed quite cheap at the time.

Just as he was about to buy one, he suddenly remembered that he didn't need to purchase from the Heavenly Secret Hall at all; Hua Ci should have many Spirit Artifacts.

She hadn't killed many people in the Chess Sea, but with her help, the cultivators of the Haotian Alliance had slain countless enemies. In appreciation of her efforts, Hua Ci received spoils of war every time the battlefield was cleared.

When she returned, her mechanical wolf was laden with storage bags. This was even after some items from the storage bags had been consolidated; otherwise, the number of storage bags would have been even greater.

Exiting the Heavenly Secret Treasury, Lu Ye messaged Hua Ci, and she soon walked over from the cultivation room.

"You're at the Seventh Layer now?" Hua Ci looked at Lu Ye in surprise. Since returning from the Chess Sea, everyone had been diligently cultivating and rarely met. If Lu Ye hadn't messaged her, she wouldn't have known he had reached the Seventh Layer.

"Yes. Do you have any Spirit Artifacts suitable for ranged control?"

"I do, I've kept them all, but they're not on me right now." Hua Ci turned and walked away, calling out, "Come with me."

She headed straight towards the cultivation room.

Shortly after, the two entered Hua Ci's private cultivation room side by side. Lu Ye looked around and saw a large pile of storage bags stacked in one corner of the room, all brought back from the Chess Sea.

"You haven't dealt with them yet."

Hua Ci replied, "I saved them for you."

"Why for me?"

"Second Senior Sister said that you're progressing quickly in the art of Spirit Runes, and you might need these storage bags soon."

Lu Ye was puzzled. What did his rapid progress in Spirit Runes have to do with these storage bags? After thinking for a moment, he suddenly understood and said, "That's thoughtful of you."

Hua Ci found three storage bags from the pile and handed them to Lu Ye. "The Spirit Artifacts are all inside. Find what you want; I don't know what type you're looking for."

Lu Ye took them, sat down cross-legged, and began searching.

Hua Ci left him to it and began cultivating by herself.

The Spirit Artifacts obtained from the Chess Sea were diverse and numerous. Mainly, by the end, Hua Ci simply couldn't carry any more storage bags, so the cultivators of the Haotian Alliance gathered all the Spirit Artifacts left behind by the fallen cultivators of the Myriad Demon Ridge, put them into one storage bag, and gave them all to Hua Ci.

Among them, there were many suitable for ranged control.

The Spirit Artifacts in these three storage bags numbered several hundred, of every type. If Hua Ci sold all these Spirit Artifacts to the Heavenly Secret Treasury, the Merit Points she would receive would undoubtedly be an enormous sum.

However, she wasn't short on Merit Points right now, so she kept these Spirit Artifacts, perhaps to use as rewards for disciples in the future.

She was now the Deputy Guardian of the Blood Sect, and had become accustomed to and accepted her new identity. Second Senior Sister treated her exceptionally well; being a fellow healer, Second Senior Sister's guidance helped her avoid many detours, so she was naturally willing to contribute to the Blood Sect.

After searching for a while, Lu Ye selected a short knife about a foot long from the many Spirit Artifacts.

This short knife was of suitable weight and length, and it was clearly designed specifically for ranged control, as it had no handle, only a blade with sharp ends.

This Spirit Artifact, left behind by some cultivator from the Myriad Demon Ridge, had nine enchantments. Such an artifact would cost at least 180 Merit Points, or even more, in the Heavenly Secret Treasury.

Among the nine enchantments, two were for Spirit Storage, three for strengthening the blade, two for enhancing the artifact's lethality, and the remaining two, Lu Ye couldn't discern their purpose, but they certainly boosted the power of ranged control.

"Choose a few more. I heard that if you have enough control over your spiritual power, you can control several artifacts simultaneously," Hua Ci reminded him when she saw his selection.

"I'll practice with this first. I'll come back to you if I need more."

"Alright, it's not like I'm going anywhere."

"Why do you say that as if someone has tied you down?"

"Who knows?"

Leaving Hua Ci's cultivation room, Lu Ye entered his own, activating his spiritual power and infusing it into the short knife.

This handleless short knife was different from the Pan Mountain Saber. The Pan Mountain Saber was bought by Lu Ye from the Heavenly Secret Treasury; it was ownerless, and he could use it immediately upon acquisition.

However, this handleless short knife originally belonged to a cultivator from the Myriad Demon Ridge. Even though that cultivator was dead, he had left many traces of himself in the knife. Simply put, the knife had already adapted to its previous owner's spiritual power. If another person were to rashly activate it, it might not unleash its full power.

What Lu Ye needed to do now was to nurture it with his own spiritual power, allowing it to adapt to his spiritual energy. Only then could the knife's full power be unleashed.

The small bell Spirit Artifact Lu Ye previously obtained from the young master of the Nine Star Sect was like this. Initially, he couldn't activate its power at all. Later, guided by a locksmith from the Heavenly Secret Merchant Alliance, he gradually understood how.

Therefore, in combat, casually picking up someone else's Spirit Artifact was useless; only what belonged to you was truly the best.

With his current Seventh Layer cultivation and such pure spiritual power, nurturing a Spirit Artifact wouldn't take too long. After only half a day, the handleless short knife, under Lu Ye's control, transformed into a stream of light, darting flexibly around the cultivation room.

Lu Ye was moved to tears...

After some fumbling, he finally found the correct way to control the artifact.

The cultivation room was too small to fully practice, so Lu Ye went outside. Soon, the whistling sound of air being cut filled the area outside the cultivation room.

Lu Ye discovered that his control range was about thirty-five zhang, which pleasantly surprised him. Generally, a Seventh Layer cultivator's control range wouldn't exceed thirty zhang.

Don't underestimate these five zhang. If engaging an enemy with controlled artifacts, Lu Ye would have an additional five zhang of attack range compared to cultivators of the same level, allowing him to strike first and control the rhythm of the battle.

Moreover, the speed of his controlled artifact seemed much faster than that of a typical Seventh Layer cultivator. In the Chess Sea, he had seen too many Seventh Layer cultivators control artifacts to kill enemies. By comparing the two, he quickly discovered his own advantage.

His control range was further, his speed was faster, and even his power was stronger than others. As a result, when fighting cultivators of the same level, Lu Ye could even kill enemies without moving his hands.

Many disciples were attracted by the commotion and came to watch, cheering loudly with envy as they saw the stream of light flying about.

A rumbling sound suddenly came from the horizon. The sky was covered with dark clouds, and lightning flashed.

Lu Ye retracted the stream of light, waved his hand, and said, "It's thundering and raining. Disperse."

He turned and walked back into the cultivation room.

His artifact control was now somewhat accomplished, but this method of killing enemies still needed to be tested in real combat. No matter how flashy his artifact control seemed during practice, it would be meaningless if it couldn't be effectively used in actual combat.

Lu Ye prepared to enter the Mirage.

He took out a Breath Fruit core and entered the small room. Spending fifty Merit Points, he pushed open the door and stepped into the mist.

As soon as he stood still, the mist began to swirl, and then a large bug, comparable to Lu Ye's cultivation level, charged out from it.

However, just as it appeared, a stream of light pierced through its body without obstruction, bringing forth a gush of green blood.

The menacing bug collapsed to the ground as soon as it appeared.

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow. The Path of Artifact Control was indeed effective. This was much easier than him going in with the Pan Mountain Saber and hacking away.

The mist on both sides swirled again, and two more bugs charged out. One of them, like the previous one, was killed as soon as it emerged, and the other only managed to take two steps.

Streams of light darted, killing bugs one after another. By the fourth stage, relying solely on artifact control was no longer enough. Even with its speed, artifact control had its limits, and these bugs were not slow. Lu Ye supplemented his efforts with the power of the Pan Mountain Saber, slaying the bugs that rushed towards him.

By the fifth stage, the spiritual power in the short knife was exhausted. Lu Ye recalled it before it ran out, and fought fiercely with his Pan Mountain Saber.

Moments later, in the cultivation room, Lu Ye opened his eyes with a pale face. He had only reached the eighth stage before being slaughtered by the bugs.

Seventh Layer bugs were significantly different from Sixth Layer ones; their strength increased very noticeably. This was also true for cultivators; besides other things, the addition of artifact control greatly boosted a cultivator's overall strength.

Although he hadn't even reached the ninth stage, Lu Ye was not dissatisfied. He had only recently advanced to the Seventh Layer, and his artifact control technique had just been cultivated. Before this, he had only reached the fifth stage. With the addition of a controlled artifact, he could now reach the eighth stage, which was a very significant improvement.

If he had two or even three controlled artifacts, Lu Ye felt he might be able to clear the ninth stage. Then he could face the cultivators in the mist.

He still needed to go to Hua Ci's place and get a few more Spirit Artifacts suitable for ranged control. When he was controlling the artifact just now, he felt he had plenty of leeway and could probably control one more Spirit Artifact. This was the benefit of having sufficient control over his spiritual power.

Outside, the thunder continued to rumble, as if a heavy rain was about to fall.

Lu Ye's battlefield imprint suddenly stirred. He checked it; it was a message from his Fourth Senior Brother, with a simple line: "Junior Brother, be careful! The insect tide is coming!"