Zhu Mingyan looked confused.
She reached out, caught the paper figure, and poured spiritual energy into it.
A gentle voice immediately sounded:
“Junior Sister Zhu, please come to the Artifact Hall on Chengying Peak. The Sect Master left something for you.”
The voice belonged to Gu Zicheng, the managing disciple of the Artifact Hall.
After Zhu Mingyan lost her cultivation, her spiritual energy became too weak to support many techniques. She often visited the Artifact Hall to borrow spiritual tools, and over time she became familiar with Gu Zicheng.
“What is it?” she asked suspiciously.
“Why didn’t Master give it to me himself?”
Gu Zicheng sounded awkward.
“…He probably felt it wasn’t convenient.”
Zhu Mingyan: ?
Suppressing the urge to curse him for speaking in riddles, she replied patiently,
“I understand.”
Then she cut off the communication.
The paper figure turned to dust and disappeared.
Beside her, Fuchuan watched her stand up.
Although confused, he also got to his feet, clearly intending to follow her.
Mingxi Forest was protected by a barrier set by her master.
If they left the forest…
Zhu Mingyan thought about Fuchuan’s combat strength and compared it to her own cultivation.
In the end, she decided to leave him behind.
Turning around, she lightly kicked toward him.
“You stay here and wait for me.”
Fuchuan was obviously unhappy.
He stubbornly followed her from several steps behind all the way to the edge of the forest.
There, a red barrier suddenly appeared and blocked his path.
Watching Zhu Mingyan walk away, Fuchuan became extremely irritated.
Again and again, he slammed into the barrier.
He even released several powerful wind blades to attack the glowing red wall.
Unfortunately, the barrier was completely unshakable.
After failing several times, he could only pace in circles while barking angrily.
Huai’an Peak was not far from Chengying Peak.
Zhu Mingyan boarded one of the sect’s flying spiritual tools.
In less than fifteen minutes, she arrived.
After returning the flying tool to the welcoming disciple, she headed toward the Artifact Hall along a familiar route.
The Artifact Hall was responsible for supplying spiritual tools to the entire sect.
Disciples from various peaks frequently came to collect items for their masters.
As Zhu Mingyan walked, she passed several disciples leaving the hall.
She overheard bits of their conversation.
“I wonder who ordered that…”
“That’s really shameless…”
“It’s completely inappropriate…”
The comments made her even more curious about what her master had left for her.
When she entered the Artifact Hall, there were no other disciples collecting items.
She immediately spotted Gu Zicheng behind the counter.
He was organizing boxes of spiritual tools while muttering to himself.
“It’s been sitting here for three days, and nobody’s picked it up…”
“I told them to handle it gently. Why are they always so rough?”
“When is the elder going to recruit more people for this hall…”
Zhu Mingyan coughed lightly and approached the counter.
The moment Gu Zicheng saw her, he looked as if he had been saved.
“Junior Sister Zhu, you’re finally here!”
“What exactly did you call me here to collect?”
She had no interest in guessing games.
As her eyes swept across the boxes on the counter, she suddenly froze.
…
Disciples of the Broken Blade Sect could use their identity tokens to receive a certain number of spiritual tools every month.
Since the Artifact Hall was always short-staffed, the tools waiting to be claimed were usually stored together in large boxes.
Normally, these boxes contained common items such as swords, blades, or alchemy furnaces.
Occasionally there would be strange mirrors or dolls.
No one found that unusual.
But today was different.
Mixed among the ordinary white and green spiritual tools were several collars.
Not ordinary collars.
These collars were so elaborately designed that they seemed absurd.
Soft pink lights floated around them.
No matter how she looked at them, they did not resemble serious spiritual tools.
The corner of Zhu Mingyan’s mouth twitched.
Pointing at the glowing collars, she asked in disbelief,
“What are those?”
Gu Zicheng gave an awkward smile.
“Junior Sister Zhu… those are… um… the things your master left for you.”
He quickly began explaining.
“The Sect Master came to the Artifact Hall and said you wanted to tame a powerful spirit beast.”
“He asked if we had any spiritual tools capable of suppressing spirit beasts.”
“You know how it is. Beast tamers are extremely rare in the cultivation world.”
“Besides you, there are barely any in our sect.”
“To be honest, most beast tamers…”
He hesitated and glanced nervously at her expression.
“Most beast tamers rely on their own spiritual power,” Zhu Mingyan finished for him.
“If they depend too much on spiritual tools, it can become dangerous.”
“Exactly!” Gu Zicheng said excitedly.
“The problem is that our sect really doesn’t have many specialized beast-control tools.”
“If we wanted one, it would usually have to be custom-made months in advance.”
“I showed the Sect Master several beast-binding ropes, but he wasn’t satisfied.”
“I genuinely couldn’t find anything suitable.”
“At the time, I was so busy that I could barely think straight…”
He looked embarrassed but continued anyway.
“Then I remembered one of our elders cultivates the Path of Harmony.”
“She often orders collars, ropes, and similar items from the Artifact Hall.”
“I assumed the Sect Master would reject the idea immediately because it seemed improper.”
“But although he looked unhappy, after thinking for a long time he actually told me to leave those collars behind.”
He paused.
“Cultivators of the Path of Harmony are often chased by angry lovers and romantic partners.”
“They place great importance on self-defense.”
“So the spiritual tools she ordered were designed with that in mind.”
“They can bind people very securely.”
“And if absolutely necessary, they can even be removed and used as defensive weapons.”
Zhu Mingyan was speechless.
So she was supposed to use human restraint equipment on a spirit beast?
She looked again at the collars.
Every single one was outrageously flashy.
Pink streams of light wrapped around them.
They looked suspicious no matter how she held them.
Seeing her expression, Gu Zicheng hurriedly added:
“Junior Sister Zhu, I understand your concerns.”
“They really don’t look respectable.”
“But the appearance can be modified!”
Zhu Mingyan immediately asked,
“Then why didn’t you modify them before giving them to me?”
Gu Zicheng almost cried.
“Junior Sister Zhu, we’re desperately short of people!”
“The spiritual tools for hundreds of sect members all come through us.”
“We simply don’t have time!”
“You can take them home and modify them yourself.”
As he spoke, he pulled a manual from a drawer and stuffed it into her arms.
“This is Ten Methods for Reforging Spiritual Tool Appearances.”
“Keep it.”
Just then, several more disciples entered to collect spiritual tools.
Gu Zicheng immediately became anxious.
He pushed Zhu Mingyan toward the door while lowering his voice.
“Junior Sister Zhu, just take them and leave quickly.”
“If these things stay in the box much longer, more people will see them.”
Then don’t suggest something this ridiculous in the first place!!!
Zhu Mingyan was practically chased out of the hall.
After walking a while, she finally processed everything Gu Zicheng had said.
Then she carefully examined the collars again.
Holding her breath, she selected the most normal-looking one.
It was made of dark red leather.
Although the color was a little bright, the design was relatively simple.
The only problem was the enormous pink heart-shaped crystal hanging proudly in the center.
She imagined Fuchuan wearing it.
Immediately, she shook her head in horror.
Too shameless.
Far too shameless.
As she walked, she hurriedly opened Ten Methods for Reforging Spiritual Tool Appearances and began reading.
At the same time, in a pavilion across from the Artifact Hall, a young man leaned against a red pillar.
He withdrew his gaze from the hall.
Looking at Zhu Mingyan’s departing figure, his expression darkened.
His thoughts were impossible to read.