The Balance of All Things

Pei Lizhou is just an unremarkable dismantler in the ruined city of Tiexi, but he is born with the ability to hear the 'old echoes' of ownerless artifacts. After an accident, he is drawn into the secret experiments behind the empire's contract registration system and thrust into the center of the struggle over artifact control. While the world fights over 'who deserves to own all things,' he must do more than grow stronger—he must find a third order between 'sole sovereignty' and 'absolute ownerlessness.' — Description from novelcodex.org