Chapter 147: Magic Artifact?

"Alright then! I'm going to choose my weapon!"

Su Ye responded with a deep voice to Jiang Ziyang, deciding not to press further about the phrase "the tide is coming."

When he first entered Thunder City, he already knew it was an ownerless city. Since it had no owner, it naturally meant everything inside belonged to whoever was fated to find it.

Just like the strange ring he had acquired earlier, the spiritual buds, and even the earth lightning—he had claimed those for himself, so these legendary weapons were no different.

"Dad, I'm going to pick one too!" Jiang Liuying could no longer hold back. Earlier, because the Jiang family needed to demonstrate their absolute selflessness, they had let their subordinates and allies choose first. Now that most of them had finished, it was naturally the Jiang family's turn.

Knowing Jiang Liuying's temperament, Jiang Ziyang understood that even if he refused, she would go anyway, so he could only nod and agree.

Jiang Liuying quickly rushed to Su Ye's side, her smile as bright as spring flowers, stunningly beautiful, and whispered with a laugh, "Hey, smelly Su Ye, don't you have that storage conch? Later, when I take a couple of extra pieces, remember to put them away for me. Don't forget!"

"Aren't you pushing your luck a bit? Even after everyone else is done, won't whatever is left be split between the Jiang family and the Martial Alliance? It's all your family's anyway," Su Ye said.

"You worry too much, just keep them for me later. Worst case, I'll give that twenty-million-dollar card back to you and tell you the password, deal?" Jiang Liuying pouted and cut straight to the front of the line.

The other martial artists, seeing that she was the young mistress and also a breathtakingly lovely beauty, began to ingratiate themselves, and naturally, no one tried to stop her.

Su Ye slowly moved along with the queue until it was finally his turn to reach the entrance.

Inside, the space was much larger than it had appeared from the outside. The inner walls were lined with divine weapons and legendary arms, while others were thrust directly into the ground, already covered in rust.

After entering, Su Ye skimmed through them like a tourist viewing flowers on horseback, unsure of what kind of weapon suited him best.

During the acupoint-opening stage, he had focused purely on foundational cultivation, and not long had passed since his breakthrough to the Qi-gathering realm. Normally, the Qi-gathering stage was the phase for learning "combat techniques," but he hadn't even had the time to practice any.

Only upon reaching the late stage of the Qi-gathering realm would one gradually begin selecting a weapon suitable for themselves.

In this era of spiritual qi revival and nationwide cultivation, the vast majority of people remained stuck at the acupoint-opening and Qi-gathering stages, so choosing a weapon suited to one's level was standard practice.

According to the classification of cultivation realms: Acupoint-opening realm, Qi-gathering realm, True-essence realm, Foundation-establishment realm...

By the time one reached the True-essence realm, the vast majority were already using weapons. However, due to the constraints of special forces, very few individuals of the True-essence realm revealed their identities within the sight of the common people of Huaxia; even if they did, they would never strike rashly.

"Su Ye... come here quickly! Look at this!" Jiang Liuying suddenly waved at Su Ye from deeper inside, signaling him to come over.

"Found a suitable one?" Su Ye saw that Jiang Liuying was holding a pair of bizarre divine weapons, seeming to have harvested a generous haul.

"Shh... hurry up and store these for me!" Jiang Liuying handed the pile of weapons to Su Ye and dragged him behind a weapon rack to shield him from the view of the other martial artists.

Su Ye had no choice but to take out the conch and sweep the entire pile of items inside.

"Su Ye, look at this section ahead, doesn't it look a bit special?" Jiang Liuying pointed to a wall further in, where eight divine statues were actually carved, all gazing toward the center.

In the exact middle was a small pedestal, which originally should have held a weapon, but now it was completely empty.

"Hmm, guarded by eight stone statues—what's kept here must be good! But you're too late! No fate with it!" Su Ye shrugged.

"I know who took it, that big brute with the steel bars! Who would have thought he actually has an eye for things..." Jiang Liuying said with a hint of regret, then lowered her voice and said, "That's not what I'm talking about, though. Look at this picture, this strange mural—I have a feeling it's a dharma artifact. Stare at the pedestal in the middle for a moment, do you get any unusual feelings?"

Su Ye hadn't expected this young miss to have such discernment. He slowly walked over and noticed a peculiar round hole on the central pedestal. The moment his gaze peered inside, his head instantly buzzed.

He felt as though he could see the eight divine statue carvings on the wall beginning to rotate.

"There is something strange about it!"

As Su Ye spoke, he reached out and grabbed into the round hole. Suddenly, with a sharp screech, a force inside seemed to drag his hand inward, and moreover, it began directly absorbing his true qi.

"Su Ye, what are you doing? Oh no, someone come quick!" Seeing half of Su Ye's arm sucked into the round hole, Jiang Liuying turned pale with fright and hurriedly grabbed Su Ye's arm, pulling desperately outward.

Panic gripped Su Ye's heart. He couldn't figure out what kind of entity was inside, but in this short span of time, it had already devoured half the true qi in his entire body—and this was under the condition that he had broken through to the sixth layer of the Qi-gathering realm and kept his entire body charged with true qi.

Had he still been at the third layer of the Qi-gathering realm, he likely would have collapsed from sheer exhaustion right then and there.

"What is this thing? Come out!"

Su Ye let out a furious roar, channeling the *Three Thousand Flame and Yellow Tribulations* and giving a violent pull. Instantly, cracks spread across the entire front wall with a series of clicks, and the eight divine statues suddenly came to life.

They were as thin as cicada wings, and all at once surged back into the round hole!

Following that, Su Ye gave a fierce yank!

With a hum, an antique oiled-paper umbrella was actually pulled out from the round hole!

"Su Ye, what happened?"

"Is that an umbrella? Are you alright?" A crowd of martial artists had already rushed over, and even Jiang Ziyang and Ouyang Fengming hurried in upon hearing the commotion.

If any accident occurred, it could be a matter of life and death.

Before everyone could finish voicing their concerns, however, they suddenly caught sight of the oiled-paper umbrella in Su Ye's hand. Its appearance resembled the rain umbrellas used by noble ancient families, though the handle was somewhat longer than usual.

At first glance, the eight divine statues from the wall were actually carved onto the umbrella, emitting a faint starlight.

"It's a dharma artifact!" Jiang Ziyang's gaze darkened as the words slipped past his lips.

"A treasure—ha-ha! Su Ye, you actually found a treasure! This is definitely the best treasure here!" Ouyang Fengming raised his voice a notch, joy flashing in his eyes.

Su Ye held the oiled-paper umbrella in his hand, feeling a heavy weight to it. The umbrella also gave off an icy, bone-chilling coldness, and a glance at the embedded ornaments revealed they contained ancient power.

This was undeniably a fine item!

"Hey, hey, hey, let me see, let me see!" Jiang Liuying reached out to grab it.

"Liuying!" Jiang Ziyang's tone suddenly turned stern, pulling Jiang Liuying back as he said, "All divine weapons in this world have a spirit of their own; what is meant to be yours will be yours! This is a treasure found by Su Ye, so don't be greedy."

Anxious, Jiang Liuying protested, "But I found it first!"

"You found it, but Su Ye was the one who obtained it in the end! That means you lack the affinity for it, and the will of heaven cannot be defied!" Jiang Ziyang said in a deep voice. He knew very well that his daughter fancied this umbrella, but this dharma artifact should be far more important to Su Ye, and he couldn't let his daughter throw a willful tantrum.

Wu Yan chimed in from the side, saying, "That's right, true dharma artifacts all possess spirituality! Some even have artifact souls, and they cannot be forced! If I remember correctly, this should be the Myriad Flower Umbrella recorded in the ancient texts of Thunder City!

There is also a legend in those fragments: long ago, an extraordinary woman came here. She was mute her entire life and could not speak a single word. Later, the lover she loved died, so she built a grave for him. But every time the grave was built, it would be washed away by rain and scattered by strong winds. Day and night, that mute woman guarded the gravesite, holding an umbrella over the grave... until the extraordinary woman herself passed away."

When Wu Yan finished speaking, the entire place fell somewhat silent. This group of martial artists, who lived on the edge of a blade, unexpectedly felt an indescribable sorrow.

Jiang Liuying let out a cold snort, crossing her arms and standing there with a petulant look. "If you won't let me look, then don't! Making up stories as well!"

At that moment, however, Su Ye smiled indifferently, stepped forward, and handed the Myriad Flower Umbrella directly in front of her. Looking into Jiang Liuying's fair, astonished delicate face, he said, "A story is just a story after all. The ancients gave precious sabers to heroes, so I shall give an umbrella to a beauty! This Myriad Flower Umbrella is for you!"