The Grey Rat's Demon Path

Yet, it was this very banner that compelled every Demon King in the venue to join the bidding.

A Middle-Grade Magical Treasure, the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner!

Magical Treasures, like Magical Artifacts, are divided into Lower Grade, Middle Grade, Upper Grade, and Top Grade.

Generally speaking, Quasi-Demon Kings use Quasi-Magical Treasures.

Only a Quasi-Demon King with substantial resources and a deep foundation would possess a true Magical Treasure.

And typically, an Early-stage Core Formation Demon King would also own a Magical Treasure.

A more experienced Early-stage Core Formation Demon King, or one at the Mid-stage Core Formation Realm, might possess two Magical Treasures.

As for a Middle-Grade Magical Treasure, typically only a top-tier Late-stage Core Formation Demon King would own one!

Some veteran Mid-stage Core Formation Demon Kings with exceptionally deep foundations might also have one!

When it came to Upper-Grade Magical Treasures, even an Unparalleled Demon King in the Nascent Soul Realm could use one as a standard weapon.

In the Core Formation Realm, only the strongest, most resourceful top-tier Demon Kings could possibly own one.

As for Top-Grade Magical Treasures, those were entirely in the domain of Unparalleled Demon Kings in the Nascent Soul Realm.

Even if a Core Formation Demon King had one, the immense energy it consumed would make it impossible to use as a regular weapon!

Above Magical Treasures, there are Spiritual Treasures!

This kind of treasure has already given birth to an Artifact Spirit.

The Artifact Spirits of some extremely high-grade Spiritual Treasures possessed enough Spiritual Wisdom to communicate normally with their masters.

They could even fight enemies autonomously!

Such a Heavy Treasure was something even Xu Chang’an of his past life had never seen, let alone possessed!

In the end, this Middle-Grade Magical Treasure, the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner, was bought by a Demon King from Celestial Pool Cave for an enormous sum of Demon Stones.

Celestial Pool Cave belongs to the top powers of the Thundering Mountain Range!

But with the appearance of an Unparalleled Demon King within Celestial Pool Cave, they were faintly showing signs of rivaling Thundering Mountain.

Throughout the bidding, the various Demon Kings had exchanged many words, be it threats or coercive pressure.

Therefore, Xu Chang’an knew that the Demon King who ultimately won the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner was from Celestial Pool Cave!

With the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner sold, the auction officially came to an end.

In the seven straight days of the auction, among the several thousand auctioned items, there were no Spiritual Items suitable for improving Xu Chang’an’s bloodline aptitude.

As soon as the auction ended, Xu Chang’an left the venue directly.

"Looks like I can only try the Celestial Thunder Stone!"

Xu Chang’an’s eyes flickered as he considered his options.

’The Celestial Thunder Stone has a certain stimulating effect on bloodline aptitude! It can induce a positive mutation!’

’To a certain extent, it’s true that it can improve bloodline aptitude!’

However, the Celestial Thunder Stone improves bloodline aptitude by stimulating the bloodline and inducing a certain degree of mutation.

For Xu Chang’an to advance from a Middle-class Bloodline to an Upper-class Bloodline, he would need at least twenty to thirty pieces the size of the one the Leopard Spirit had.

Every time he used a Celestial Thunder Stone, it would be another stimulation of his bloodline!

Repeated stimulations would cause bloodline mutations. If the number of stimulations became too high, the result could not be guaranteed!

It might, as planned, improve to an Upper-class Bloodline.

But it could also trigger a negative mutation, or even cause it to regress to a Lower-class Bloodline!

’Should I use the Celestial Thunder Stone to stimulate my bloodline? I’ll have to think more on it. For now, I can focus on uncovering the secret hidden within the Broken Sword.’

Xu Chang’an, in his incarnation as Silver Fang the wolf, made his way out of Thunder Demon City.

He activated a Magical Artifact and traveled for over a thousand miles straight!

After finding a mountain peak, he used his Magical Artifact to carve a cave into the mountainside.

After setting up two Tier Two Arrays for concealment and isolation, Xu Chang’an entered the cave.

BOOM!

A huge sound echoed inside the cave, but after being buffered by the Isolation Array, the sound that reached the outside was minuscule.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The massive sounds rang out one after another.

Inside the cave,

’This Longsword Magical Treasure was already heavily damaged, its Spirit Patterns shattered and its Spirituality dim. My claws are as strong as a Magical Treasure. Without the protection of a Spiritual Treasure Light, this hilt can’t possibly withstand my repeated attacks, no matter how sturdy its material is!’

Looking at the already cracked sword hilt, Xu Chang’an sighed slightly.

BOOM!

Another violent strike landed.

The cracks on the hilt grew worse.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

After several more strikes, the hilt shattered, revealing the object within.

"This is!"

Xu Chang’an’s face showed his astonishment.

Inside the hilt was an extremely tiny, pocket-sized sword!

"A sword within a sword!"

Xu Chang’an picked up the small sword and examined it closely.

He held nothing back, sweeping his Demon Sense over the small sword’s entire body, inspecting every detail.

The small sword was only the size of an ordinary human’s finger and was golden yellow all over.

At this moment, its Spirituality was not apparent, making it seem like a common trinket.

The material of the Broken Sword’s hilt actually had the effect of blocking Demon Sense to some extent.

Previously, Xu Chang’an’s Demon Sense scan had revealed nothing unusual.

But now, with the hilt broken, his Demon Sense scanned the small sword directly.

His Demon Sense entered the small sword without any obstruction and found that it contained a sharp, murderous intent.

Even with the strength of Xu Chang’an’s Demon Sense, he felt extremely uncomfortable, with a faint sensation of being torn apart.

With no Demon driving it, no Demon Power attached to it, and no Spiritual Treasure Light, the small sword alone possessed such sharp, murderous power!

In an instant, Xu Chang’an understood the small sword’s secret.

"This small sword actually contains a Sword Soul!"

Xu Chang’an was overcome with surprise and joy.

A Sword Soul can also be called an Artifact Soul!

The appearance of an Artifact Soul within a Magical Treasure is the prerequisite for gaining Spirituality!

The conditions for producing an Artifact Soul are extremely harsh. Generally, not even a Top-Grade Magical Treasure is guaranteed to be able to nurture one!

In his past life, Xu Chang’an had heard of a Human Race Demonic Cultivator who slaughtered a million people, set up an Array, and used a Secret Technique, all just to nurture a single Artifact Soul.

If a Top-Grade Magical Treasure successfully produced an Artifact Soul, and it was carefully nurtured and supplemented with some special items, there was a high probability it would develop Spirituality and form an Artifact Spirit.

Thus, a Top-Grade Magical Treasure could transcend its grade and be promoted to a Spiritual Treasure!

It could be said that any Artifact Soul was a treasure one could only hope to encounter by chance!

"This is a tremendous surprise!"

Xu Chang’an’s face was full of joy.

’If I can get my hands on a Top-Grade Magical Treasure, I could transfer this Artifact Soul into it and nurture it carefully. If I then find some special items, I might be able to create a Spiritual Treasure!’

’Even if the promotion fails, it would still be a Quasi-Spiritual Treasure!’

A Quasi-Spiritual Treasure! Not even an Unparalleled Demon King in the Nascent Soul Realm is guaranteed to have one!

As for a Spiritual Treasure, that goes without saying.

To possess a Spiritual Treasure would be an immense stroke of luck, even for an Unparalleled Demon King!

In other words, this Sword Soul represented the potential for a future Spiritual Treasure!

’It’s just a shame... this is a Sword Soul! To transfer it successfully, I’d have to find a Top-Grade Magical Treasure that’s a Magic Sword! That’s incredibly difficult!’

’And for me right now, that’s a bit too far out of reach!’

After a moment of joy, Xu Chang’an gradually calmed down and sighed.

Even a Top-Grade Magical Treasure was not something a mere Demon King could hope to obtain!

’Besides, my Demon Body and Spirit are powerful. With the help of the panel, I can walk the path of the Ancient Demon Race. My need for external items isn’t that great!’

’Furthermore, by the time I’m actually able to obtain a Top-Grade Magical Treasure, my Demon Body and Spirit alone will probably be no weaker than one!’

’Add to that the energy needed to transfer the Sword Soul, the careful nurturing, and the search for special items... only then is there a chance of promoting it to a Spiritual Treasure!’

’Normally, if I had that kind of energy to spare, I could just search for the right resources and accumulate Energy for the panel!’

’Using a Sword Soul to create a Spiritual Treasure is a perfectly normal path for the Demon Race or Human Race Cultivators. For me, however, it’s not very cost-effective!’

’In that case, this Sword Soul could be...’

A sharp light flashed in Xu Chang’an’s eyes as he thought continuously.

Besides being used to upgrade Top-Grade Magical Treasures, a Sword Soul has other uses depending on its characteristics.

This Sword Soul inside the small sword, for example, was fiercely murderous and incomparably sharp.

If he could guide out its murderous intent, he could use that power as an extremely rare trump card!

Furthermore, if...

...he were to fully activate the murderous intent within the Sword Soul and release it all in an instant...

...then, based on the sharp murderousness Xu Chang’an sensed with his Demon Sense, its power would be terrifying!

Activated instantaneously, its destructive power would far exceed the limits of the Core Formation Realm, and could possibly even heavily injure an Early-stage Nascent Soul being!

A technique like this could absolutely serve as a true last-resort, life-saving measure!

The only pity was that if he used this method, after unleashing that single blow, the Sword Soul would likely be unable to sustain itself and would be completely destroyed, dissipating entirely.