Chapter 907: This Is a Trick

It was now confirmed that the Soul Annihilation Sword was indeed not a single-use treasure. If its power wasn't replenished by pouring divine sense into it, then Lu Ye could only think of one other possibility!

After a quick tidy-up, Lu Ye left his residence with Amber. He found someone on the street to ask for directions and headed straight for the nearest Heavenly Secret Palace.

Within the vast Haotian City, there wasn't just one Heavenly Secret Palace; there were about seven or eight of them, scattered across various locations to make it convenient for passing cultivators to use the Heavenly Secret Pillars.

Currently, there weren't many cultivators in Haotian City. When Lu Ye arrived, only a few people were inside this particular Heavenly Secret Palace, each occupying a different position around a Heavenly Secret Pillar.

Lu Ye waited for a moment until a spot became available.

He stepped forward, placed his hand on the Heavenly Secret Pillar, and mentally connected to the Military Merit Pavilion.

The next moment, his mental projection appeared before the ancient gate. The two flood dragons immediately came to life, overjoyed at the sight of fresh beast meat Lu Ye threw to them. Lu Ye pushed open the door and entered, leaving them to feast.

He walked directly to the stone platform where he had previously exchanged for the Soul Annihilation Sword. Lu Ye looked up, but the platform was empty.

This made him frown slightly.

He had initially thought that there was more than one Soul Annihilation Sword, similar to the battlefield imprints in Ten Thousand Demon Ridge, which could be exchanged repeatedly. This was why his senior brother had been able to use the Soul Annihilation Sword multiple times back then, giving others the illusion that it wasn't a single-use treasure.

However, it now appeared that things were not quite as he had imagined. There wasn't a second Soul Annihilation Sword on the platform.

After a brief contemplation, he considered another possibility. Although it seemed unlikely, he knew he had to try it to confirm.

He picked up the now powerless Soul Annihilation Sword and placed it on the stone platform in front of him.

The next instant, a message exploded in his mind: "Do you wish to replenish the power of the Soul Annihilation Sword? Cost: 30,000 military merits."

Lu Ye's eye twitched. So, this was indeed the case. The Soul Annihilation Sword's power could be replenished, but not by human means. It was replenished by the Heavenly Secret, simply by bringing the used sword back here and placing it on the platform where it was exchanged.

Of course, the corresponding price was 30,000 military merits! Lu Ye almost laughed in exasperation. "30,000 military merits... why don't they just rob me?" He did have enough military merits remaining to replenish the sword's power, but the amount was simply too exorbitant.

He recalled that he had only spent 26,000 military merits to exchange for the Soul Annihilation Sword originally, thinking at the time that it was truly a good deal.

After all, a tracking disk cost 30,000 military merits. The Soul Annihilation Sword, a treasure capable of threatening a Soul Sea Realm grand cultivator, undoubtedly had a high cost-performance ratio.

Only now did he realize this was a complete trick! The Soul Annihilation Sword's initial price wasn't expensive, even giving Lu Ye the illusion of a great bargain, but the cost of using it was considerable.

The lofty Heavenly Secret now felt like a cunning merchant to Lu Ye.

But on second thought, an expensive price often had its reasons. Take this incident, for example: without the Soul Annihilation Sword's surprise attack to break Ning Hu's divine sense, Squad Jia-3 wouldn't have been able to defeat him and would have suffered heavy casualties.

Given that a tracking disk cost 30,000 military merits, there was no reason for a treasure capable of threatening a Soul Sea Realm grand cultivator to be cheaper.

While military merits were valuable, they paled in comparison to a life-saving treasure in a critical moment.

Hadn't Lu Ye spent over 180,000 military merits on the Soul Suppression Pagoda precisely to protect his life against Soul Sea Realm grand cultivators?

He had encountered Ning Hu this time; who knew what other Soul Sea Realm cultivators he might encounter next?

Therefore, no matter the cost, the Soul Annihilation Sword's power had to be replenished.

Gritting his teeth, he chose to replenish it.

The next moment, the stone platform glowed brightly, engulfing the Soul Annihilation Sword. After about ten breaths, as the light receded, Lu Ye reached out and retrieved the sword. He noticed a new glimmer of spiritual light within its transparent blade.

The Soul Annihilation Sword's power had been restored!

His heart ached, bleeding military merits. Having no desire to linger, he put away the Soul Annihilation Sword and, with the earnest farewells of the two flood dragons, left the Military Merit Pavilion.

As Lu Ye exited the Heavenly Secret Palace and looked up at the sky, preparing to immediately return to Blazefire Mountain Pass, a streak of light suddenly landed in front of him. The person cupped their fist and asked, "Are you Fellow Daoist Lu Yiye?"

"That's right," Lu Ye nodded. "And you are...?"

"I am an envoy from the Law Enforcement Office. The Chief has ordered me to request Fellow Daoist Lu to see him immediately."

"Chief Qian Wudang?" Lu Ye was surprised, wondering why that person wanted to see him.

The envoy nodded. "If Fellow Daoist Lu has no other pressing matters, please come with me now."

"Lead the way," Lu Ye said.

Although he didn't know why Qian Wudang wanted to see him, it was certainly related to his recent mission. It seemed he wouldn't be able to depart for Blazefire Mountain Pass today.

Following the envoy, Lu Ye quickly arrived at the Law Enforcement Office. It was a complex of interconnected buildings, with cultivators constantly hurrying in and out, many of them appearing to be injured.

This made Lu Ye further appreciate the hardships faced by Law Enforcement Office cultivators when enforcing laws outside.

The envoy led Lu Ye to a side hall, and without announcing him, gestured inside, saying, "Please enter, the Chief is waiting for you!"

Lu Ye nodded in acknowledgment, stepped inside, and immediately spotted a familiar figure.

Every time Lu Ye saw the Chief of the Law Enforcement Office, he recalled the taste of the Reverse Dragon Thorn, and a faint ache would appear in his back.

He stepped forward and bowed. "Lu Ye from Blazefire Mountain Pass greets Chief Qian Wudang!"

"Have a seat for a moment," Qian Wudang said without looking up from the documents he was reviewing at his desk, waving a hand.

Lu Ye then walked to a side and sat down.

A moment later, a woman with bright eyes, white teeth, and a beautiful face served him tea. Lu Ye thanked her and took the cup. The woman smiled at him, her lovely eyes holding a scrutinizing gaze.

After serving the tea, the woman didn't leave. Instead, she walked behind Qian Wudang, began massaging his shoulders, and then leaned in to whisper something to him intimately.

Lu Ye watched speechless, unsure of the woman's relationship with Qian Wudang, but it was clear their connection was unusual.

However, this was still the official premises of the Law Enforcement Office. For a Chief to be so intimate with a woman in public was simply improper.

Nevertheless, it wasn't his business. He turned his gaze outwards and waited quietly.

"I have more matters to attend to; you may leave," Qian Wudang finally said. The woman stomped her foot, pouted, let out a soft hmph, and departed with a displeased expression.

"Lu Yiye!" Qian Wudang called out again.

"Your subordinate is here!" Lu Ye immediately stood up and walked over to Qian Wudang.

"During this mission, the intelligence agency's information contained errors, which led to you encountering danger. Fortunately, the final outcome was satisfactory. I have ordered everyone involved to keep silent, so no one else will know about this mission. You can rest assured."

Lu Ye was puzzled, unsure what he was supposed to be relieved about. "Furthermore, I'm quite interested in something," Qian Wudang continued. "Are you referring to...?" Lu Ye prompted.

Lu Ye thought to himself, 'Could he be interested in the Soul Annihilation Sword? But the Soul Annihilation Sword requires its power to be replenished at the Military Merit Pavilion, so it's not very useful for anyone else besides me.'

Although the Soul Annihilation Sword's power was now fully restored, it could still only be activated once. After that, it would just be an object made of a special material.

"Exploding Fire Spirit Stone!" Qian Wudang, naturally unaware of Lu Ye's thoughts, didn't beat around the bush and directly stated what was on his mind. "I heard you used a type of exploding fire spirit stone during this mission, and its destructive power is quite impressive."

Lu Ye nodded. "Yes, there is such a thing."

"May I see it?" Qian Wudang extended his hand with a smile.

'You've already extended your hand; how could I refuse to show you? If I dared to utter a 'no,' this hand would probably turn into a slap.'

Besides, there was nothing secretive about it.

Lu Ye then took out a fire spirit stone, casually imprinted an exploding spirit pattern into it, and handed it over.

Qian Wudang took it, examined it carefully for a moment, and then subtly began to exert force with his hand.

"Chief, please be careful, this thing..."

Lu Ye had intended to warn Qian Wudang not to use too much force, lest he trigger the exploding spirit pattern within. But before he could finish his sentence, a rumble was heard, and the fire spirit stone in Qian Wudang's hand directly exploded.

Yet, there was no widespread explosion. The dazzling fiery light was concentrated solely within Qian Wudang's five fingers, so compressed that it resembled a small sun.

As the residual energy slowly dissipated, Qian Wudang looked up, smiling at Lu Ye. "What's wrong with this thing?"

"Nothing."

What else could he say? A grand cultivator of the Soul Sea Realm possessed immense power; how could a mere exploding fire spirit stone harm him? He had even contained the residual energy within his five fingers.

"Did you refine this yourself?" Qian Wudang asked. Lu Ye's motion of inscribing the exploding spirit pattern just now had been too swift, even for Qian Wudang to discern.

"Yes!"

"Impressive!" Qian Wudang praised. "To tell you the truth, many years ago, spirit pattern masters discovered the ingenious use of combining fire spirit stones with exploding spirit patterns. This item even appeared on the front lines during confrontations between the two factions."

"'Appeared'?" Lu Ye caught the keyword.

He wasn't surprised that such a method had already been discovered. It wasn't some ingenious creation, but merely a simple combination of spirit stones and spirit patterns. With so many spirit pattern masters throughout history, it was only natural that someone would have discovered it before him.

"Precisely. Unfortunately, the casualties were too great, so no one refined them afterward."

"Casualties among spirit pattern masters were too great?" Lu Ye instantly grasped the key point.

Qian Wudang nodded. "Fire spirit stones are inherently unstable, and there's always a risk of failure when constructing spirit patterns. Even the most skilled spirit pattern master cannot guarantee success. My information indicates you are a spirit pattern master, so you should know what happens if someone fails to construct an exploding spirit pattern within a fire spirit stone."

"Once a spirit pattern fails to form, the surging spiritual power will inevitably trigger a riot of the fire spiritual power within the fire spirit stone!"

And then an explosion.