Buying the Case and Returning the Pearl

Ian Song waved his hand, and the broken sword fell into his grasp.

The sword body was incredibly heavy—just this fragment alone weighed at least a thousand jin.

Meanwhile, the Azure Lotus Sword inside his sea of consciousness grew even more restless.

This broken sword still retained its hilt, with an ordinary design, and only a third of the blade remained.

With a thought, Ian activated the Omniversal God-Eye and focused on the broken sword. Instantly, a stream of information surfaced in his mind: Damaged divine sword, mainly forged from Outer-Heaven Meteor Iron, mixed with Heaven-Sea Star-Sand and Ten-Millennia Ironwood Heart.

Ian had heard of Outer-Heaven Meteor Iron before, but Heaven-Sea Star-Sand and Ten-Millennia Ironwood Heart were completely new to him.

"Temple Spirit, you've traveled through countless worlds—have you ever heard of Heaven-Sea Star-Sand or Ten-Millennia Ironwood Heart?" Ian asked.

The Temple Spirit explained, "Heaven-Sea Star-Sand is a refining material. If added to an artifact, it greatly increases its toughness. As for Ten-Millennia Ironwood Heart, it's also a top-tier refining material—when fused into an artifact, it massively boosts the item's spirituality."

Ian nodded, then asked again, "Ever since my Azure Lotus Sword saw this broken sword, it's been extremely agitated. Do you know why?"

The Temple Spirit patiently explained, "Your Azure Lotus Sword is probably sensing the Ten-Millennia Ironwood Heart inside the fragment, which is why it's so restless. Just release your sword—it will naturally absorb the essence from the broken blade."

"What will happen after it absorbs it?" Ian asked, a little worried.

"At the very least, your Azure Lotus Sword will advance by a full tier!"

Ian's eyes lit up and he stopped suppressing his Azure Lotus Sword.

Whoosh!

A flash of green light—his Azure Lotus Sword shot out from his sea of consciousness, unable to wait any longer. It burst forth with emerald radiance, enveloping the broken sword. One by one, pale green motes of light drifted out from the fragment and sank into the Azure Lotus Sword.

The process lasted a full half an hour before the Azure Lotus Sword finished absorbing the Ten-Millennia Ironwood Heart from the broken sword. Bereft of its core, the fragment instantly collapsed into scrap metal.

Whoosh!

The Azure Lotus Sword flew back into Ian's sea of consciousness. Faintly, Ian heard a note of satisfied joy from the blade. Examining it, he found that the sword had changed noticeably—its body looked clearer, almost crystalline.

Just as Ian was about to leave the Divine Temple to test the Azure Lotus Sword's new power, the Temple Spirit suddenly called out to stop him.

"Senior Temple Spirit, is there something else?"

The other party smiled and pointed at the iron cabinet: "Have you heard of the idiom 'buying the case and returning the pearl'?"

With the Temple Spirit's reminder, Ian suddenly realized, exclaiming, "Could this iron cabinet be a treasure too?"

Suddenly, he remembered an issue he had overlooked. Logically, with his Clairvoyant Vision, he could have checked the contents of the iron cabinet directly, but somehow he hadn't done so.

Did he forget? Or just overlook it?

Thinking of this, he looked at the iron cabinet with a new sense of gravity.

"Senior, please advise!" Ian bowed to the Temple Spirit.

The Temple Spirit looked at the iron cabinet and slowly said, "This is a piece of divine iron with illusion attributes."

"What does it do?"

The Temple Spirit said, "For example, if someone practices illusion or charm techniques, carrying this divine iron will greatly amplify their power. Conversely, if you carry a piece, even the strongest illusion or charm can't easily affect you. Long-term use also strengthens mental power. If used in formations, it will greatly boost the confusing power of illusion arrays—even a small array would be at least ten times more effective!"

Hearing the Temple Spirit's explanation, Ian's eyes lit up. Previously, by not using Clairvoyant Vision to check the cabinet, had he unknowingly been influenced by it?

But then he grew worried again.

The iron cabinet was so hard that it couldn't be split or divided at all.

The Temple Spirit seemed to see through his worries; with a casual wave, the cabinet was split into thousands of pieces, floating in the starry sky.

Ian reached out and grabbed a piece, sensing carefully. Sure enough, he found his spiritual power had become much more lively.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior!"

Ian bowed to the Temple Spirit again, then left the Divine Temple. He didn't notice that, deep in the starry sky, a pair of eyes was watching him with quiet resentment.

As soon as he left the Divine Temple, Ian used the Art of Great Teleportation to jump hundreds of li away into the wilderness.

His gaze shifted to a small forest nearby.

"Go!"

With a thought, the Azure Lotus Sword in his sea of consciousness shot out like a streak of emerald lightning.

A breath later, the Azure Lotus Sword flew back into his sea of consciousness. In that instant, a night wind swept through, and over a thousand trees in the forest toppled—cut cleanly by the sword.

Ian was very satisfied—the Azure Lotus Sword's speed and sharpness had clearly advanced by a full tier.

The next morning.

Ian got up early and arranged a small illusion formation in the courtyard.

Then, he personally brewed a cup of tea and sat down to wait for his lab rat to arrive.

Snow Yue spent all of yesterday thinking about the plan Ian had given her.

She was still undecided, but yesterday afternoon, William Nangong came to her again, warning her not to get too close to Ian.

She immediately snapped back.

But William retorted confidently, "He already sent word to his master Elder Nian, asking him to propose marriage to her master!"

Hearing this, Snow Yue panicked. Her master already wanted to match her with William, and if Elder Nian came to propose, she could imagine her master would definitely agree—would even be delighted.

If the Heavenly Sound Sect got connected with Elder Nian, its hidden strength would at least multiply several times.

It was like a small business suddenly hooking up with a Fortune 500 company.

After learning this, Snow Yue hurried off to find Ian.

Unfortunately, Ian had gone off yesterday with Fiona Li and the others to trouble the Bull Devil Clan, so every time she came by, she missed him.

So, early this morning, she rushed to Ian's courtyard again.

She was so anxious she didn't even knock, just pushed the door open and went in.

But as soon as she stepped into the courtyard, her vision blurred—and she found herself back at the Heavenly Sound Sect.

"Snow Yue, kneel!"

The scene shifted again—her master was staring at her sternly.

Snow Yue was stunned, then realized she had fallen into an illusion array. She thought bitterly, this must be Huang Liang's work—when I break his array, I'll make him pay.

So she drew her sword and slashed at her master.

As her sword came out, she saw her master's face fill with confusion, then rage. She thought, this illusion array is impressive—it even makes her master's expressions look so real.

But in the next moment, her expression froze—her eyes filled with deep confusion and shock.