My Artifacts Can Upgrade Infinitely

"The Spirit Treasure Pavilion never dabbles in murder. You’ve broken the rules, so naturally, you are no longer under the Spirit Treasure Pavilion’s protection."

The meaning behind Zhou Qingning’s words was simple... No rescue!

Zhou Wushuang’s composure shattered in an instant. She could tell Chen Xiaorong was injured, but so what? Even weakened, she was still no match for her. Only a monster could defeat a monster.

"You killed a disciple of my Moyun Sect. You deserve to die."

Chen Xiaorong waved a hand, and the longsword Suwen at her feet flew into her grasp. She had declared Zhou Wushuang’s doom, her light-blue dress billowing in the fierce wind like a slowly blooming flower.

"You can’t kill me! I am a core member of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion’s Zhou Family! And since you’ve reached Foundation Establishment, according to the pact signed between the Righteous and Demonic Paths, you can’t make a move against me!" Zhou Wushuang didn’t try to resist, instead playing her two trump cards.

The first was her family background.

The second was the peace treaty previously signed by the Righteous and Demonic Paths.

This was the source of her confidence in accepting the mission to cause chaos in the Moyun Workshop. As long as the Moyun Sect didn’t deploy anyone at the Foundation Establishment level, she was practically invincible.

Chen Xiaorong’s expression didn’t change at her words. She simply attacked.

She had never been one for wasting words.

Her figure vanished from the sky, reappearing in front of Zhou Wushuang an instant later. Her speed was so ghostly, it was like she had teleported.

"How dare you!" Zhou Wushuang shrieked.

Zhou Wushuang’s hands formed a hand seal, commanding the Ghosts around her to rapidly merge into the black barrier before her, reinforcing it. At the same time, she pulled a golden Sword Talisman from her Storage Bag, ready to activate it at any moment. This was her life-saving trump card.

Zhao Zuo, meanwhile, seized the opportunity. He stored his Hidden Blade Giant Sword in his Storage Bag and... edged closer to the nearby night patrol. Then, he took out his Identity Token, showing he was an Inner Sect Disciple.

"One of your own! One of your own!"

On the battlefield, the silver blade suddenly ignited with golden flames. Terrifying heat radiated outwards, forming what looked like golden wings unfurling behind Chen Xiaorong.

"Summer’s Arrogant Sun."

Like a blazing sun radiating terrifying heat, this attack of pure, unyielding Supreme Yang was the natural bane of those Ghosts. Before the blade even fell... the Ghosts on the surface of the black barrier shrieked, their Soul Bodies growing ever weaker. The weakest among them were instantly melted by the fearsome temperature.

"SWISH."

Chen Xiaorong advanced and swung her sword. It was a simple Slash, yet it was like a hot knife through butter. The brilliant Sword Aura sliced the black barrier completely in two as if it had met no resistance at all. And to think... Zhao Zuo had thrown all his Talismans without so much as scratching it.

"Die!"

At the critical moment, Zhou Wushuang crushed the golden Sword Talisman in her hand. It contained a single strike from a powerhouse at the Late Period of Foundation Establishment. She believed the Talisman’s power would be enough to severely wound Chen Xiaorong, giving her a chance to escape.

A golden Sword Aura emerged from the void, in an instant coalescing into a two-meter-long golden Sword Gang. It was a pure Gold Attribute attack, carrying an all-destroying sharpness that instinctively filled Zhao Zuo with boundless fear.

At the same time, he felt a wave of relief that he hadn’t turned back for a desperate last stand. If he had, facing this Sword Talisman, death would have been his only fate.

Faced with the attack, Chen Xiaorong paused for a fraction of a second. The flames on Suwen’s blade vanished, replaced by clear streams of water that coiled and surged around the steel.

With a flick of her wrist, the streams of water converged, forming a Water Tornado.

"Spring Rain."

The golden Sword Gang pierced the Water Tornado, instantly scattering and churning the outer currents. Golden Sword Qi erupted outwards, carving gashes up to a meter deep into the earth for dozens of meters around.

"FWOOSH."

Zhou Qingning moved to stand before the others. With a casual swing of her sword, a three-meter-high wall of ice materialized. The barrier blocked the stray fragments of the golden Sword Gang, shielding them from the battle’s aftershocks.

"Thank you, Steward." Zhao Zuo suspected Zhou Qingning had arrived much earlier, only choosing to act after he passed between the two black stone pillars. ’Still,’ he thought, ’she did save my life in the end.’

"There’s no need for thanks. As per the rules, I must deduct three hundred of your Contribution Points for this intervention," Zhou Qingning said.

"...I still thank you for saving my life."

Zhao Zuo thanked her again, a hint of genuine sincerity now on his face. In the past few months, he had earned just over three hundred Contribution Points in total. This single event had just wiped out months of hard work.

’But since she saved my life,’ he thought, ’I can’t say it was a bad trade.’

"Mm," Zhou Qingning said flatly, turning her blank expression back to the battle nearby.

In the heart of the battle, the churned water didn’t disperse. Instead, it reformed into streams that coiled around the blade and merged back into the ever-expanding Water Tornado. Her Sword Move, Rain, seemed to possess a self-regenerating quality. On the surface, it looked as though the golden Sword Gang was constantly grinding down the Water Tornado.

But in truth, it was the one being consumed.

After only about three seconds, the seemingly beleaguered Water Tornado had swelled to several times its original size, pulling the golden Sword Gang completely inside to be extinguished.

"The Golden Gang Divine Sword is formidable, but it’s ultimately just a single Sword Aura. Factor in the power lost when it was sealed and its degradation over time... it could certainly kill someone at Qi Cultivation Perfection with a single strike, but hoping to severely wound a Foundation Establishment Powerhouse with it is wishful thinking."

A familiar voice spoke beside him. Zhao Zuo turned and was surprised to see it was Old Li, a man he often saw around the Market.

"Senior, what are you doing here?" Zhao Zuo asked, a little curious.

"BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG...!"

Streams of scattered golden Gang Qi continuously slammed against the surface of the ice barrier. Shards of ice and motes of Golden Light filled the air. In front of the wall, the earth had been carved into an unrecognizable mess, crisscrossed by gullies a meter deep.

"To watch the show, of course," Elder Li said, his eyes soft and a slight smile playing on his lips, clearly in a good mood. "This little lass created all of these Sword Moves herself. That means as her strength grows, so do her techniques. This Rain move is not bad at all."

At that moment, the battle was decided. The golden Sword Gang had been torn to shreds by the Water Tornado, and Chen Xiaorong closed the distance, thrusting her silver blade directly at Zhou Wushuang’s chest.

In a blur, a golden barrier flared into existence, its light dazzling. A Second Tier Golden Light Body Protection Talisman!

Chen Xiaorong didn’t break her stride. With a single strike, she shattered the barrier from the Talisman. No defense could withstand the power of her blade.

"SWISH, SWISH, SWISH..."

Golden barriers flared to life one after another as Zhou Wushuang attempted to fight back, but her offense couldn’t even break Chen Xiaorong’s rhythm. She was like a lamb to the slaughter.

"You must know the consequences you’ll face if I die here!" Zhou Wushuang cried out again. She truly couldn’t understand why Chen Xiaorong dared to try and kill her. ’Golden Core-level experts... the Spirit Treasure Pavilion has three of them! Is she not afraid of retaliation at all?’

But her words had no effect on Chen Xiaorong, who continued to slash through the golden barriers one after another.

"The Spirit Treasure Pavilion’s Zhou Family certainly is loaded. She’s tossing out Second Tier Talismans like they’re worthless, when others would treat them as their ultimate trump card," Elder Li said with a laugh, stroking his snow-white beard.

"You will die by my hand," Chen Xiaorong said, speaking for only the second time.

"’A certainty?’" A flash of confusion crossed Zhou Wushuang’s eyes. But Chen Xiaorong’s word was a spark, and suddenly, everything clicked into place. ’The Demon Path sees Chen Xiaorong as a prodigy, a thorn in their side. But they can’t just assassinate her willy-nilly. Every major power has its successors... random assassinations would just descend into chaos.’

’So... the Demon Path needed a just cause. And I’m the cause, delivered right to their doorstep.’

’The mission to cause chaos in the Moyun Workshop was, in essence, a lure to draw Chen Xiaorong out and make her kill a Demon Path disciple. The core of the plan was to have Chen Xiaorong kill *me*.’

’Only the death of a True Disciple at Qi Cultivation Perfection... could give the Demon Path justification for revenge. That would be the perfect conclusion to this plan, and the beginning of a new storm.’

’The Moyun Sect must have seen through the Demon Path’s plot, and that’s why they sent Chen Xiaorong deep into the Yunlan Mountain Range to "test her sword"...’

"So, I was just a pawn?" Zhou Wushuang murmured. ’The Demon Path would never dare use a member of the Zhou Family as a pawn without permission... which means the Zhou Family elders must have tacitly approved this.’

Zhou Wushuang suddenly found herself laughable. A fierce resentment for the entire world welled up inside her.

A flash of silver light, and the final golden barrier shattered.

Chen Xiaorong took one more step and thrust her blade into Zhou Wushuang’s heart.

.......