Chapter 385: Joy Here Now, No Thoughts of Chen!
[You picked the one disciple among these ten who was still somewhat intact and made him lead the way.]
[The rest you left to fend for themselves and die on their own.]
[Anyway, three had already run off, so finishing off the rest or not didn't make much difference.]
[This Daoist temple disciple led you down the mountain, then back up another, arriving at a halfway point on a hillside.]
[Here, a protective formation and an illusion formation guarded an important location—the Spirit Nurturing Pool the Myriad Treasures Child Goddess used to nourish her artifacts.]
["Nourish artifacts? You mean magical tools and spiritual treasures benefit from being here?"]
["Exactly, Master said it can improve an artifact's quality, even allowing it to develop an Artifact Spirit."]
[Your brow twitched.]
[You'd thought your brothers had been snatched by some villain and were living a life of misery, but it turned out they were enjoying a comfortable, retired life here!]
[Thinking about how you'd been struggling and scrapping outside, barely getting by...]
["Open the formation!"]
[That disciple said he couldn't open these protective formations—the Old Hag had hired a renowned Formation Master to set them up, and this place was her most precious treasure.]
[Can't open it?]
[No problem!]
[You charged straight into the formation with your physical body, enduring all kinds of damage and illusions. Thanks to «Wolverine», as long as you weren't afraid of pain, it was practically a damage-free speedrun!]
[The final barrier blocking you was a massive protective formation.]
[This formation was as high as Second Grade. Even a Transcendent Realm expert could only sigh in despair at it. No brute force could tear it down, and the more you attacked it, the thicker the protective shield became.]
[Unfortunately for it, this formation had a hidden door built in.]
[Probably the Old Hag worried that one day she might lose the method to activate the formation's controls, so she kept a way in.]
[Theoretically, an outsider could never discover this hidden door.]
[But you were a Formation Master yourself, and with «Reverse Engineering», naturally you saw right through it.]
[Opening the hidden door was very simple—just recite a single incantation.]
["All the world's treasures go into my pocket! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"]
[A cramped entrance appeared.]
[You were certain this was a custom-made entrance for the Old Hag herself, only letting someone as small as her through.]
[You were strong and tall, a meter eighty in height. Your head could get through, but your shoulders couldn't.]
["Hey... I think I'm stuck..."]
[At this moment, your head was inside the formation, but your ass was still outside.]
[Luckily, the Daoist temple disciple who'd led you here was outside the layers of illusion and death formations, completely unable to see your current predicament. Otherwise, you'd feel a little exposed.]
[Inside this final formation, you saw a small pool steaming with warmth.]
[Several things were soaking in the pool—all old acquaintances.]
[Ten Thousand Souls Banner, Demon Refining Pot, Lightning-Chasing Thunder-Racing Boots, Heavenly Dragon Blade, Immortal-Binding Rope, Primordial Chaos Armor, Nine Crows Divine Bow.]
[You were stunned to discover that after entering the Real Realm, artifacts like the Demon Refining Pot, whose Artifact Spirits had vanished, now had their spirits back—because you heard them chatting.]
[Ten Thousand Souls Banner: "Brothers, you're up early today. It's only noon, and you're already awake. Don't tell me last night wasn't a good dream?"]
[Immortal-Binding Rope: "In this Spirit Nurturing Pool, the moment you rest, you automatically drift into a beautiful dreamland. How could there be no sweet dreams?"]
[Heavenly Dragon Blade: "Last night, I dreamed I transformed into a heaven-and-earth-spanning giant blade! I could slice the sky and split the earth! Unstoppable! All artifacts bowed before me! Above the heavens and below the earth, I alone reigned supreme! So satisfying!"]
[Primordial Chaos Armor: "I dreamed I got married. Heh heh, to over a hundred wives!"]
[Nine Crows Divine Bow: "Caw caw wants out! Caw caw wants to fight!"]
[Demon Refining Pot: "Oh my, little Crow, would you just calm down! We've got no wind, no rain, no disasters here, and we can nurture our Spirit Bodies. Isn't that great?"]
[The Ten Thousand Souls Banner floated half out of the pool, using its banner fabric to form a hand and point at the Demon Refining Pot.]
["The old butler's actually talking sense today! What's so good about fighting and killing out there? Here, we can do whatever we want in our dreams every day. Isn't that wonderful?"]
[At that moment, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner heard a voice beside its ear.]
["Old Wan, do you miss Chen at all?"]
[Without turning its head, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner waved its fabric.]
["Joy here now, no thoughts of Chen!"]
[Only after saying that did it suddenly realize.]
["Wait... why does that voice sound so familiar..."]
[The Ten Thousand Souls Banner turned around and saw a scene straight out of a horror movie, like a ghost suddenly appearing in your face.]
[Your half-stuck body was grimacing and cursing at the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.]
[Ten Thousand Souls Banner: "Brothers... I think I just saw an old friend."]
[Demon Refining Pot: "Hey! No way! We crossed planets with that old hag! Boss Chen was just a nobody in the Real Realm. How could he have followed us here?"]
[Heavenly Dragon Blade: "Are we still not awake?"]
[Ten Thousand Souls Banner: "Dreaming of this old friend isn't a sweet dream... it's a nightmare..."]
[The Ten Thousand Souls Banner had indeed just welcomed a nightmare.]
[In your desperation, you dislocated your shoulder, twisted your body, and squeezed in forcibly as your bones cracked and snapped.]
[To the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, this scene was no less terrifying than Sadako crawling out of a TV.]
[Then you slowly stood up as your body, powered by «Wolverine», healed itself with a series of cracking sounds, looking ninety percent like a zombie rising from the dead.]
[First, you beat the hell out of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.]
[Then, with tears welling in your eyes, you opened your arms wide.]
["Brothers! I've come to take you home!"]
[Jokes and games aside, when they truly saw you, this old friend, the Artifact Spirits couldn't hide their joy at the reunion.]
[Especially the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, which was so moved it was crying, babbling something incomprehensible.]
["Did you all pledge loyalty to that old hag?"]
[The Demon Refining Pot's spout flicked dismissively.]
["As if! We're the human world's Immortal Artifact squad! We'll follow you, Lord Martial God Chen, forever!"]
[The Ten Thousand Souls Banner roared back.]
["Bullshit! When your Artifact Spirit recovered, you clearly threw yourself at that old hag's feet to polish her shoes! The only reason we didn't pledge loyalty is because once we had Artifact Spirits, we became half-step Primordial Spiritual Treasures and couldn't be bound anymore!"]
[The Demon Refining Pot pretended it didn't hear.]
["My liege, we should go quickly! That old hag could show up any minute!"]
[You crouched down and scooped up a bit of the spiritual liquid from the pool.]
["No rush. First, tell me exactly what happened."]
[Actually, it wasn't that complicated.]
[The Myriad Treasures Child Goddess had a mountain of treasures—why would she set her sights on a bunch of items that, by Real Realm standards, were just advanced magical tools?]
[Well, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner was an exception.]
[In truth, the Myriad Treasures Child Goddess had sharp eyes. The moment she spotted you on Fortune Star, she knew the items you carried weren't ordinary.]
[She didn't think about the Void Realm, because it had been too many years since she'd heard of any humans ascending from there (the Ancient Wasteland Survivors might have hidden their origins after coming up the Path to Immortality).]
[So she got the idea to take them.]
[After bringing them back, she studied them and discovered that Immortal Artifacts like the Demon Refining Pot already had Artifact Spirits inside, but they were all suppressed to the point of nearly disappearing.]
[Given that the Ten Thousand Souls Banner's Artifact Spirit was normal, she figured that by improving the quality of the other artifacts, she could awaken their Artifact Spirits.]
[So she soaked them all in her precious Spirit Nurturing Liquid.]
[The Spirit Nurturing Liquid was refined using her exclusive secret technique, rich in artifact-forging resources—the culmination of her lifetime's savings.]