Soul Emperor Awakening

If Lin Xuan was insistent on choosing for himself, there was nothing Zi Yi could do. It was his decision, after all, and saying any more would be pointless.

"Please go inside and choose for yourself, Young Master Lin. You may only select one," Zi Yi said to Lin Xuan before turning to Lü De. "You may go and choose as well, Young Master Lü. You are also limited to one."

Lü De sneered. ’I’ve seen idiots, but never one this foolish. He really chose to pick for himself. Now, what could have been a Half-Spiritual Artifact will just be a Treasure Artifact.’ He desperately wanted to shout and offer a trade—give Lin Xuan his chance to choose and take the Half-Spiritual Artifact for himself.

’Wouldn’t that be the perfect solution?’ Of course, there was no way he would actually say that out loud.

Lin Xuan started walking inside, slowly browsing along the way rather than heading straight for the weapons that possessed souls. There was no rush.

As he scanned the racks, he saw that the variety of weapons was truly staggering. There was practically every type imaginable. You wouldn’t have trouble finding a weapon that suited you, only trouble finding a *good* one.

He then arrived at the first weapon that contained a soul: a sword. He carefully examined the wisp of soul within. It was slightly different from the ones he had seen before—the color was different, and the feel of its energy was different. This confirmed that it wasn’t a human soul, but the soul of a Spiritual Artifact.

The soul of a Spiritual Artifact was still a soul, but most were created using a Demon Beast as a catalyst. A drop of Essence Blood would be added during the forging process to create a fusion, embedding a sliver of a soul within. On top of that, the materials had to be of the highest quality; otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to contain the soul at all.

A look at Mortal Iron and Treasure Artifacts made it clear. It wasn’t that smiths didn’t want to imbue them with souls; it was simply impossible for such materials to hold one.

’Absorb!’ Without hesitation, Lin Xuan absorbed the wisp of soul. A torrent of memories flooded his mind. He discovered the soul belonged to a Black Celestial Tiger, a fairly tyrannical Demon Beast.

However, the memories were few, pathetically so. This was mainly because only its Essence Blood had been added during forging, not the Demon Beast’s entire soul. The difference between the two was immense, so naturally, there were hardly any memories to speak of.

After he absorbed the soul, the sword trembled slightly. Lin Xuan could feel that the weapon had lost some of its Spirituality. In fact, it hadn’t just lost its Spirituality; its power had also been drastically reduced. Without a soul inhabiting it, it couldn’t be considered a complete weapon.

To put it bluntly, this was more or less the definition of a Half-Spiritual Artifact. A weapon that lacked a soul was called a Half-Spiritual Artifact. Because it possessed some of a Spiritual Artifact’s effects, it earned that name.

Thus, after he absorbed its soul, the weapon became a Half-Spiritual Artifact... Not that Lin Xuan felt the slightest bit of guilt. ’I absorbed it, so what? It’s not like I’m the one who’ll be taking it anyway.’

’Huh. If I can absorb souls, does that mean I can also put them back into things?’

The idea suddenly popped into Lin Xuan’s head, but he didn’t act on it immediately. He couldn’t use these weapons yet, and this wasn’t the place to experiment. If anyone noticed what he was doing, he’d be in serious trouble.

After a moment’s thought, he quickened his pace toward the next weapon. He picked up one after another, pretending to inspect them while shamelessly absorbing their souls along the way. He continued this until he came to a long, rust-covered staff. He picked it up and feigned an inspection just as before, but this time, he did not absorb its soul.

Meanwhile, Lü De had already made his choice. He had selected a longsword, a fairly common type of weapon.

"Miss Zi Yi, I’ve made my selection." Lü De walked over, longsword in hand, a satisfied expression on his face. He clearly thought his weapon was quite good. As for whether it was a Spiritual Artifact, the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.

"I’ve chosen as well," Lin Xuan said, picking up the long staff and walking over. He had absorbed a few more souls on his way back. ’Can never have too many.’

They had both finished selecting at the same time. Lü De glanced at the weapon in Lin Xuan’s hand and couldn’t resist a sneer. "That must be a Spiritual Artifact, I take it? Why else would you have passed on the Half-Spiritual Artifact?"

Since Lin Xuan had chosen to forgo the Half-Spiritual Artifact, he must have been confident he could find a genuine Spiritual Artifact. Lü De seized on this to mock him.

"Yes, I have a feeling this weapon is a Spiritual Artifact. Do you have a problem with that?" Lin Xuan said nonchalantly.

"So confident? Then let’s see if the weapon you picked is really a Spiritual Artifact!" Lü De retorted, refusing to let the matter drop. He clearly wasn’t going to let Lin Xuan off the hook.

Zi Yi glanced at them both, then took their weapons. She turned to head downstairs. "If you would both follow me, Young Masters. I’ll have a master restore these for you now."

Zi Yi led them down to the first floor and then deeper into the building. A moment later, she brought them to a staircase that descended underground. Lin Xuan hadn’t expected the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion to have a basement level. As they walked down the stairs, a wave of intense heat washed over them, and he knew at once that they were headed to a forge.

Sure enough, at the bottom of the stairs, they saw blazing Forging Furnaces. Several bare-chested blacksmiths were hammering away at metal with furious intensity. The heavy, rhythmic pounding echoed through the chamber, each strike landing with a weight that seemed to press on one’s very chest.

These were no ordinary blacksmiths; every single one of them possessed an Essence Pill Stage Cultivation. Forging high-grade weapons was impossible without formidable cultivation. An ordinary person could only ever create Mortal Iron; only a powerful cultivator could temper the metal to perfection.

"Reforge these and remove the rust," Zi Yi said, handing the weapons to one of the blacksmiths. Without a word, the blacksmith tossed them into a Forging Furnace and poured in various molten materials to begin the restoration process.

The entire process wasn’t long, but the materials required were expensive—their cost was nearly equivalent to that of a Treasure Level artifact itself. If the result was just another Treasure Artifact, it would be a losing proposition for the pavilion. This was why they put all the weapons that looked like they might just be Treasure Artifacts on the fifth floor for customers to choose from.

The fee for this service was the price of an Upper Grade Treasure Artifact. However, since Lin Xuan had a letter of recommendation, he didn’t have to pay a single coin. Without a letter, one would have to pay the fee, which was essentially a way for the pavilion to sell off these un-restored weapons. The profit from this was surely substantial.

A moment later, a commotion came from one of the Forging Furnaces. The furnace, which stood over two men tall, began to shake violently, drawing everyone’s attention.

"Congratulations! We’ve got a Spiritual Artifact!" one of the blacksmiths exclaimed in delight.

Lü De’s heart leaped with joy. "Is it my sword?!" he asked hurriedly. His heart was about to pound out of his chest. If it was really a Spiritual Artifact, he would have struck gold.

"We’ll only know for sure when it comes out," the blacksmith said.

Lin Xuan’s expression remained calm, betraying no excitement. ’Why get excited over something I already know?’

Standing to the side, Zi Yi glanced at Lin Xuan’s face, a thoughtful expression in her eyes.

A moment later, the thrilling moment finally arrived. The Forging Furnace shook more and more violently. Before opening it, the blacksmith shouted, "Everyone, watch out! The Spiritual Artifact is about to fly out! Get ready to catch it!"

Because Spiritual Artifacts possess Spirituality, they tend to fly out of the Forging Furnace on their own. If one wasn’t careful, there was no telling where it might crash. Breaking something would be a huge problem. The main floors of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion were right above them; if anything went wrong, they would be held responsible.

SWOOSH!

The instant the Forging Furnace was opened, a weapon shot out. Lü De scrambled to catch it, but then he saw a plume of azure energy flare up. Lin Xuan’s clothes billowed, his long hair streamed behind him, and he reached out to snatch the flying weapon from the air.

"That’s mine!" Lü De roared, stomping his foot on the ground and leaping into the air after him.

But Lin Xuan had already caught the weapon, holding it firmly in his grasp. A cold glint flashed in his eyes. With a flick of his wrist, he swung his free hand. "Get lost!" he snorted.

A wave of energy erupted from his palm, blasting Lü De away. He tumbled through the air several times before landing, stumbling backward rapidly and nearly falling flat on the ground.

Lin Xuan then descended from the air. In his hand was not a longsword, but a long staff. Its body was pitch-black, entwined with white patterns that looked like a coiled white dragon. The stark black and white staff was incredibly eye-catching, and it emanated an oppressive power that made many of those present feel a palpable pressure.

As Lin Xuan held the two-meter-long staff at an angle, it seemed to merge with him, as if they were one and the same. It gave everyone the distinct illusion that the staff had been tailor-made specifically for him.

"No... it’s not mine..." Lü De stared, dumbfounded, after he got a clear look at it.

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