Soul Emperor Awakening

Zi Yi suddenly stepped in his way, forcing Fang Feng to retract his hand. He didn’t dare take another step forward. His face was ashen as he said, "Miss Zi Yi, my apologies. I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to ask this brat a few questions!"

He was practically gritting his teeth as he glared at Lin Xuan, utterly furious. He never imagined Zi Yi would interfere.

’Lin Xuan, for his part, was rather surprised by Zi Yi’s status. He hadn’t expected Fang Feng to show her so much deference. Clearly, her identity was far from ordinary. It made sense, though. If she were just anyone, how could she be the acting vice-president?’

"Clan Leader Fang, what business could you have with me?" Lin Xuan stepped out from behind Zi Yi. He refused to hide behind a woman; ever since his eyes had recovered, he had resolved not to.

"What business do I have with you!" Fang Feng demanded angrily. "Fang Qingyu and Fang Shi—where are they?!"

"Fang Qingyu?" Lin Xuan sneered. "What do I care where your son went? I’m not his father, how should I know!"

Lin Xuan’s words made the surrounding guests gasp. ’To speak to the Fang Family’s Clan Leader that way... he has some serious nerve.’

"You!" Fury flared in Fang Feng’s chest, but he didn’t dare to act here. Suppressing his rage, he said in a low voice, "I sent those two to see you off, but they still haven’t returned. Can you explain that?"

A chill went through Lin Xuan. ’What a "see me off." He probably didn’t mean see me off, but send me to my grave! What a transparent lie. To think he had the gall to say it out loud.’

Lin Xuan’s words were shockingly blunt. Everyone turned to look at Fang Feng. Even Zi Yi frowned. If what he said was true, then the Fang Family’s actions were a grave matter.

’Come to think of it, I haven’t told Qing Piaoyun about this,’ Lin Xuan thought. ’And I don’t plan to. In my current state, telling him would be pointless. It wouldn’t let me do anything to the Fang Family; at most, he’d just assign someone to protect me. I don’t need a protector right now. Having someone follow me around everywhere would be a huge hassle.’

’Besides, if I told them I was the one who killed two members of the Fang Family, who would believe me? Forget Fang Qingyu—just look at Fang Shi. How could I possibly kill someone at the Essence Pill Stage?’

’And if I tried to explain that the Phoenix killed them, my statue would be exposed. I have no idea what would happen after that.’

"Don’t you spout such slander!" Fang Feng said coldly. "So, do you know where they went or not?"

"How would I know? I never saw them," Lin Xuan flatly denied. "Telling me you can’t find them is useless. If that’s all, I have other business to attend to."

’Is he kidding? Of course I’m not going to admit I saw them. If I did, I’d be directly implicated. The whole thing would become a massive headache. And since the dead can’t testify, there’s no proof either way!’

Zi Yi said nothing more and simply led Lin Xuan upstairs, leaving a perplexed Fang Feng in her wake.

Fang Feng’s face was grim. ’Could it really have nothing to do with him? The Fang Family has enemies, but none of them would dare to kill our people so openly.’

’That’s why he’s my only suspect. But with Lin Xuan’s power, how could he possibly have killed Fang Shi? From my own senses, he’s still only at the Spirit Refining Stage. And if Qingcheng Mansion had gotten involved, our Fang Family would have been wiped out long ago.’

His expression shifted uncertainly, no longer sure of his own judgment. He had no choice but to turn and leave, resolving to send more men to investigate what had truly become of the pair.

Back on the fifth floor, Zi Yi smiled faintly. "Go pick out the Spiritual Artifacts. You need to find at least two, and you can’t make a single mistake!"

If mistakes were allowed, he could just grab all of them to be reforged, and what would be the point of that? The job of an Appraiser was to see the truth, not to rely on guesswork.

Lin Xuan walked over and picked up the nearest Spiritual Artifact. Only, its soul was gone—he had already absorbed it. ’Does this even count as a Spiritual Artifact anymore?’ he wondered.

’I wonder if I can put the soul back?’ Lin Xuan thought. He tried to return the original soul to the weapon. Instantly, a ball of soul manifested, and he was thrilled. ’It really works!’

Normally, for a weapon to gain a soul, one had to either infuse it with Essence Blood during the initial forging or during a reforging process. But now, he could insert a soul without any reforging at all. This was a truly terrifying ability.

On top of that, he could even swap in different souls. For instance, he could replace a grizzly bear’s soul with that of a White Tiger! The weapon’s effects would become completely different, and it would radiate the domineering aura of another type of Demon Beast.

Lin Xuan’s eyes narrowed. ’Could I use a human soul?’ He’d never seen a human soul inside a Spiritual Artifact. It wasn’t that it couldn’t be done, but the practice was considered demonic. Anyone discovered doing so would be hunted down and executed.

He immediately took the soul of the Flame Heart Sect disciple and pushed it into the weapon. The soul entered without any resistance, and the weapon began to hum. It seemed to have gained even greater Spirituality!

’It works!’ Lin Xuan was inwardly shaken. ’Even this is possible. But what about Treasure Level artifacts?’

He had never attempted this before. Thinking of this, he retrieved the Meteor Sword from his Storage Space. It was a Middle Grade Treasure Artifact, hardly a High Grade weapon. Now that he had the White Pupil Rod, he no longer had any use for the Meteor Sword.

Zi Yi watched as Lin Xuan’s expression shifted repeatedly, unsure of what was going on. When he suddenly produced a Middle Grade Treasure Artifact, she was even more baffled. Still, she didn’t step forward to ask questions. She simply stood there quietly, waiting for him to finish his selection. She didn’t need to see the process—only the result!

"It’s no use..." Lin Xuan sighed. When he tried to infuse the soul into the weapon, he found it had no effect whatsoever. It simply wouldn’t go in.

’It must be an issue with the vessel itself,’ Lin Xuan thought with a frown. ’The materials must determine whether a soul can be attached. If they could hold souls, Treasure Artifacts would have had them long ago.’

Besides, his own Dragon Cloud Rod contained Dragon Blood, yet it had never generated a soul. That was the clearest proof.

’Come to think of it, this is similar to the statue, but the weapons can’t undergo Transformation. As for how much their power is enhanced, I’ll only know once I test them outside. It seems that while low-grade weapons can’t be imbued with beast souls, a human soul can be attached, though it doesn’t grant any special abilities.’

After a moment, he remembered he was supposed to be picking out weapons for Zi Yi. He quickly identified the remaining Spiritual Artifacts in the room—all of them. There were five in total. Including his own White Pupil Rod, that meant there were only six Spiritual Artifacts among the hundreds of weapons present. The odds were, to say the least, incredibly low.

Of course, that was just the six Spiritual Artifacts. He had no idea how many Half-Spiritual Artifacts there might be, as he was unable to identify items that lacked a soul.

"I’ve picked them out. Five in total," Lin Xuan said, presenting the weapons.

"Five? That many!" Zi Yi’s beautiful eyes widened in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to find so many. She met his gaze and said, "Are you certain it’s these five? If even one is incorrect, I will not recognize you as an Appraiser for the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion."

Lin Xuan grinned, flashing a smile. "If I didn’t have at least this much skill, I could hardly call myself the Chief Appraiser. And that’s *Chief* Appraiser, not just a regular Appraiser!"

Zi Yi looked at him intently for a moment, then broke into a radiant smile. "I hope you don’t disappoint me."