Chapter 78: Armament of Spiritual Artifacts

Xue Lin had once left the Great Qin Empire, so she understood better than anyone the rarity of high-grade spiritual artifacts. Even in the Sun and Moon Empire, high-grade spiritual artifacts were prized treasures, not something that could be measured by mere money. Yet Gu Feng was willing to offer them high-grade spiritual artifacts for such a modest pile of spirit stones, making the deal exceptionally favorable.

With the Elder's decree, Xue Wuwei had no choice but to open the treasure chest. Instantly, a faint white radiance spilled forth from within. Staring at the spirit stones—thirty-eight in total, all low-grade—Gu Feng couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. These were what he called experience stones.

The system estimated that over thirty low-grade spirit stones would be enough for Gu Feng to advance two levels. The system absorbed the stones at a full rate, so nothing would be wasted. Gu Feng also noticed that spirit stones could be exchanged for points in the system: one low-grade spirit stone equaled one point.

After gathering the spirit stones, Gu Feng immediately initiated a level-up. His rank was restored to Level Seven Spirit Practitioner.

The system’s upgrades were imperceptible to others; no one knew Gu Feng had already used all the spirit stones.

Having tasted the sweetness of spirit stones, Gu Feng looked toward Xue Lin, recalling that she had left the Great Qin Empire and might still possess more stones. He asked, "Elder, you must have more spirit stones, right? Would you sell them to me?"

Xue Lin shot Gu Feng a sharp look. "Give me the high-grade artifact first. If you can't produce it, I'll break all three of your legs."

Gu Feng replied helplessly, "Why so fierce? It's just a high-grade artifact. Wait, I'll get it for you right away."

He then used the system, pretending to wave his hand toward the gold coins, sweeping them all up. Over twelve billion gold coins converted to system coins amounted to more than four billion; Gu Feng realized he had instantly become a wealthy man.

Xue Wuwei looked at the now empty vault with discomfort, his gaze dark as he stared at Gu Feng. If Gu Feng failed to provide him with an artifact, he’d fight him to the death.

Gu Feng opened the system shop, searching for high-grade bows. Dozens appeared!

He asked Xue Lin, "What is your attribute?"

Xue Lin stared at him, replying, "Ice."

Gu Feng noticed that ice-attribute bows were half again as expensive as ordinary ones. He cried out, "Damn!"

Xue Lin, dissatisfied, said, "What, is there none? Trying to back out?"

Gu Feng replied, "Do I seem the type to renege?" He immediately exchanged for a bow named 'Frost Reprisal,' which had its own skill: 'Frost Freeze.'

High-grade artifacts, except for the most extraordinary, always came with at least one skill.

With some doubting, others expectant, and Xue Lin growing impatient, Gu Feng produced the Frost Reprisal. The moment it appeared, silver light dazzled, and the temperature in the vault plummeted.

Everyone was stunned.

Xue Lin stared fixedly at Frost Reprisal, her body trembling with excitement, and tears eventually welled in her eyes. She murmured, "I never imagined that in my lifetime I would see a high-grade artifact, and a bow at that."

Gu Feng glanced at her, approaching. "What do you mean, 'see a high-grade artifact'? This bow is called Frost Reprisal, and it's yours."

As he spoke, he handed the bow to her.

Xue Lin took Frost Reprisal with trembling hands, hardly believing it was real.

She infused spiritual energy into the bow, and it instantly radiated a brilliant blue light—the glow of the ice attribute—causing the vault’s temperature to drop again.

Gu Feng shivered. "Put it away! It's freezing."

Xue Lin immediately dripped her blood to recognize it as her own. She felt a connection to Frost Reprisal, and with a thought, stored it within her dantian.

Artifacts of high grade or above must be recognized by their master to truly unleash their power.

Feeling the presence of Frost Reprisal in her dantian, Xue Lin turned to Gu Feng, grabbing his hand in excitement. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Gu Feng was startled, quickly extricating himself and retreating two steps. "No need for such gratitude; just give me the spirit stones."

His antics drew smiles from the others.

Xue Lin wasn’t angry. She tossed him a ring. "Inside are over a thousand low-grade spirit stones. I was saving them for when I broke through to Grand Spirit Master, but unfortunately, my talent is lacking. I’m only at Spirit Master level seven. I fear I’ll never reach Grand Spirit Master in this life."

Her tone held melancholy, disappointment, and unwillingness.

Gu Feng caught the spatial ring and checked inside: indeed, there were over thirteen hundred low-grade spirit stones.

He handed them all to the system, which calculated that four hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones were needed to reach the peak of Spirit Master.

Gu Feng immediately upgraded to Spirit Master peak.

What annoyed him was that to advance to Spirit Master, he needed not only a thousand spirit stones but also had to complete a task. The task could be simple or difficult: he had to experience more than ten death encounters.

Gu Feng had died seven times so far; to break through, he needed three more death encounters.

Staring absent-mindedly, Gu Feng left the others uncertain of what he was doing, but none dared interrupt.

When he came to, Gu Feng asked Xue Wuwei, "Tell me, what kind of weapon do you need?"

Seeing Gu Feng hadn’t forgotten him, Xue Wuwei stated his requirements.

Gu Feng, having so many gold coins, spent over eight hundred million on the Frost Reprisal, but still had tens of billions left. Lesser-grade artifacts were cheap. He exchanged for a superior-grade spiritual weapon for Xue Wuwei, thrilling him.

He then traded two superior-grade artifacts, three mid-grade artifacts, five low-grade artifacts, and ten lesser-grade artifacts for Xue Wuwei.

Seeing the pile of artifacts, Xue Wuwei was dumbfounded. The others were equally stunned. Even Xue Lin looked at Gu Feng as if he were a monster.

Gu Feng, seeing Xue Lin’s gaze, rubbed his nose. "This set’s for you too!"

It was a suit—one of the ten exclusive suits available for coins—the Gale Suit, a customized set for archers worth a billion coins.

After this spree, Gu Feng had less than two billion coins left.

Seeing the fiery looks from the three women, Gu Feng said, "You’ll have yours in time."

With Gu Feng’s assurance, they nodded.

Mother-in-law Dou Ying looked at Gu Feng. "Son-in-law, what about mine?"

Gu Feng replied, troubled, "I don’t have anything too good, but take this set." Then he turned to Xue Wuwei. "Father-in-law, this set is for you!"

Gu Feng then upgraded all three women’s weapons to superior grade, set their suits to a higher level—though not top-tier, they were much better than before.

Just then, Second Brother Xue Wusheng rushed in, startled by the pile of artifacts.

He swallowed hard, unable to believe it. "Big brother, is this real?"

Xue Wuwei shot him a look. "This sword is yours. Why so flustered? What happened?"

As he spoke, Xue Wuwei put away the remaining artifacts.

Xue Wusheng took the superior-grade artifact, delighted, then remembered the urgent matter. He said seriously, "Big brother, the Feng family from White Spirit City has arrived outside the city. At this rate, they’ll soon reach our Xue family."