Chapter 102: Sentient Mystic Artifacts

Chapter 102: Sentient Mystic Artifacts

The Seven Stars Treasure Cave was left behind by the ancestors of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House and has a history spanning over a thousand years. Since ancient times, the ancestors of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House campaigned north and south, slaying enemies and bandits, and after annihilating many hostile forces, they stored the spoils of war within the Seven Stars Treasure Cave. Over time, no one knows exactly how many weapons lie within the cave. Among them are priceless Ancient Mystic Artifacts, as well as Ordinary Items forged from mundane iron.

Only truly outstanding talents and heroes who have rendered meritorious service to the Jian Pavilion Marquis House are qualified to enter the Seven Stars Treasure Cave in search of treasures. What level of treasure one might find depends entirely on luck and discernment.

At this moment, Ning Qiancheng led Ning Xiaochuan, Ning Xin'er, and Ning Meier to the entrance of the Seven Stars Treasure Cave. Outside the cave, beneath an ancient parasol tree, stood two stone platforms where two elderly men in plain cloth robes sat cross-legged.

These two elders were both over a hundred years old, their hair white as snow, faces deeply wrinkled, and their clothes covered in a thick layer of dust. Spiderwebs clung to their necks, ears, and collars. It was unclear how long they had been sitting beneath the tree—likely months without moving—their eyes tightly shut, as motionless as ancient boulders.

Ning Qiancheng bowed respectfully to the two elders before turning to Ning Xiaochuan and the others. "You may now enter the Seven Stars Treasure Cave. Remember, the cave is not without danger. Some powerful Mystic Artifacts have gained sentience and may even attack on their own."

The highest-grade Mystic Artifact Ning Xiaochuan had ever seen was a Fourth-Grade Mystic Artifact, though that was in the Mystic Artifacts Hall of the Golden Roc Heart Nurturing Hall, where he hadn’t even been allowed to touch it. However, Ning Xiaochuan was certain that a Fourth-Grade Mystic Artifact had not yet reached the level of sentience.

Just how high must the grade of a Mystic Artifact be to gain sentience and attack on its own?

With curiosity in his heart, Ning Xiaochuan stepped into the Seven Stars Treasure Cave. Inside, he was met with seven doors. The three of them each chose a door to enter, with Ning Xiaochuan selecting the one on the far left.

Beyond the door, the surroundings were pitch black. His fingers could only feel the cold stone walls, and the echoes of his footsteps reverberated in his ears. Taking a deep breath, Ning Xiaochuan caught the pungent stench of decay in the air. The atmosphere was eerie, making it feel less like a treasure cave and more like a centuries-old burial pit.

After walking forward about 30 meters, he indeed spotted half a corpse lying on the ground, its flesh withered and dry. A battle sword was embedded in the body.

The sword was about 1.3 meters long, pitch-black in color, with nine Mystic Stone Particles embedded in its hilt, emitting a faint glow.

Clang!

Ning Xiaochuan pulled the sword from the corpse and gripped the hilt, feeling a faint warmth. Despite having been stored in the cave for who knows how many years, the blade remained pristine, without a trace of rust.

"A fine sword. But it’s still just an Ordinary Item, not yet at the level of a Mystic Artifact."

He returned the sword to the corpse and continued onward.

Along the way, several more corpses were seen, each with a weapon on them. Among them was a broad-backed ringed sword that had reached the level of a Mystic Artifact. However, it was only a first-grade Mystic Artifact, so Ning Xiaochuan did not choose it.

Ning Xiaochuan felt the corpse energy in the cave growing increasingly dense. He stopped in his tracks, gazing at the densely packed bones before him, a chill running down his spine.

A vast number of skeletal remains appeared before him, so many that they could not be counted, practically forming a mountain of corpses.

Some of these remains had died centuries ago, leaving only skeletons behind, while others had perished mere months prior, their bodies still emitting a foul stench.

Just like the previous scene, each skeleton had one or two weapons on them.

Looking at the dense piles of bones and weapons before him, Ning Xiaochuan felt as though he were standing in an abandoned battlefield—or more accurately, a mass burial ground.

He sighed inwardly, "The predecessors of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House were truly lazy. It’s one thing to store weapons in the Seven Stars Treasure Cave, but to actually bring the corpses inside as well? Was it really so difficult to just remove the weapons from the bodies?"

"No, I understand now."

"The corpses lying in this cave must have once been the owners of these weapons. The ancestors of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House did this to warn their descendants who enter the Seven Stars Treasure Cave: if you are not strong enough, you will be killed, and your weapons will be taken by others."

Only by growing stronger can one protect what is theirs.

The weak will only be plundered.

Amidst the chaotic piles of corpses, several weapons emitted streams of energy from their surfaces, as if breathing, capable of producing eerie sounds.

The Profound Qi essence dispersed from the weapons condensed in the cave, forming bridges of energy, patterns, ghostly flames, and even humanoid shapes.

These were the innate essence and Profound Qi power of the weapons themselves.

Ning Xiaochuan walked up to a long spear.

The spear was as thick as an arm, measuring five meters in length, forged from silver-white electrum. Its surface was engraved with patterns of pine, bamboo, and plum blossoms.

A line of small characters was inscribed: "Electric Light Poison Dragon Spear."

Before Ning Xiaochuan’s fingers even touched the spear, tiny currents of electricity flowed from its surface, connecting to his fingertips from a distance of one centimeter.

"Zzzzt—"

Ning Xiaochuan lifted the spear, feeling its weight—approximately 400 kilograms.

The spearhead was extremely sharp, automatically releasing electric serpents.

"This is a fine spear. If paired with my divine ability, 'Lightning Divine Beast,' it should unleash considerable power. However, this spear is only a third-grade Mystic Artifact, which doesn’t meet my requirements. I’ll keep looking." Ning Xiaochuan placed the spear back where it was.

A third-grade Mystic Artifact was already quite impressive—expensive, powerful, and a very handy weapon.

But this was the Seven Stars Treasure Cave, housing the weapons collected by the Jian Pavilion Marquis House over the past millennium. If he left with just a third-grade Mystic Artifact, Ning Xiaochuan would feel somewhat unsatisfied.

He continued searching through the cave.

Ning Xiaochuan approached a skeleton that had been dead for at least three hundred years, killed by a white jade dagger. The dagger had been driven down from the top of the skull, shattering the cranium.

On the dagger, a series of profound halos flowed, condensing into a lotus-shaped radiance, appearing breathtakingly beautiful.

Ning Xiaochuan’s finger touched the dagger, and it immediately trembled slightly, emitting sharp, piercing sounds as a surge of Cold Qi rushed out.

"Whoosh!"

The Cold Qi enveloped Ning Xiaochuan’s arm, forming a layer of white frost on his skin. His bones grew numb from the cold, and his blood seemed on the verge of freezing.

Ning Xiaochuan swiftly circulated his Martial Arts Profound Qi, increasing his blood flow speed by more than tenfold. A scorching power automatically radiated from his blood, expelling the invading Cold Qi.

"Whoosh!"

The white jade dagger flew out from the skull on its own, hovering in mid-air like a blooming Luminous Lotus Platform. It let out a shrill shriek before darting straight toward Ning Xiaochuan.

A true Sentient Mystic Artifact!

Mystic Artifacts that had developed faint intelligence could actively attack humans.

"Lightning!"

Ning Xiaochuan stretched out his arm, and from afar, the Electric Light Poison Dragon Spear flew into his grasp. A dense burst of Lightning radiance erupted, forming dozens of electric serpents.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Ning Xiaochuan brandished the spear with ferocious momentum, clashing fiercely with the white jade dagger.

Drawn by the power of Lightning, all the Sentient Mystic Artifacts in the cave let out shrieks, trembling violently before rising from the skeletal remains.

An ancient sword, a bronze mirror, and an iron hand—three Sentient Mystic Artifacts in total—erupted with radiant Mystic Artifact light, joining the assault against Ning Xiaochuan.

Ning Xiaochuan hurled his spear, striking the bronze mirror and sending it flying.

However, the mirror emitted a golden halo, repelling the Electric Light Poison Dragon Spear. A beam of light shot from its surface, aiming straight for Ning Xiaochuan.

Ning Xiaochuan sensed immense danger. Dying in this cave, besieged by several Mystic Artifacts, would be too humiliating.

"Heavenly Thunder Bell!"

With a long roar, Ning Xiaochuan spat out a massive bell from his mouth, shattering the incoming beam of light.

"Annihilation Sword Dao!"

A torrential Sword Intent erupted from Ning Xiaochuan’s body, instantly transforming his aura. He resembled a Sword God descending upon the world, exuding the Majestic Aura of a Ruler.

"Clatter—"

Within the cave, the swords embedded in the corpses all flew up, gathering above Ning Xiaochuan’s head.

A total of eighty-one ancient swords—some dazzlingly radiant, others ancient and solemn, some slender as fish intestines—all answered his call.

Ning Xiaochuan mobilized all eighty-one swords, launching them toward the four Sentient Mystic Artifacts.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

The battle grew extraordinarily intense. Waves of Martial Arts Profound Qi surged through the cave, shredding many corpses into pieces.

Corpse after corpse was flung aside, revealing those buried beneath.

These corpses had been pressed under layers for hundreds, even thousands of years, all decayed into skeletal remains—nothing but pale, bleached bones.

No— Among the bleached bones, one corpse remained completely intact. Not even its skin had rotted, looking as though it were a living person sitting amidst the skeletons.

Yet, it had clearly been dead for over a thousand years.

How could a corpse that had been dead for over a thousand years remain so perfectly preserved?

Ning Xiaochuan naturally noticed this as well. He unleashed the Annihilation Sword Intent within him, causing a halo to envelop the surfaces of all eighty-one ancient swords. They formed a sword array, thrust into the ground, forcefully suppressing the four sentient mystic artifacts.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Ning Xiaochuan moved swiftly to the side of the corpse.

The corpse’s head was smooth and hairless, adorned with nine ordination marks. It wore a red kasaya, with hands clasped together in prayer and a serene smile on its face, exuding an aura of solemn dignity.

At a glance, it was clearly a monk.

Since arriving in this world, Ning Xiaochuan had never encountered a monk or seen a temple. He had assumed that no one in this world practiced Buddhism—yet here lay the corpse of a monk who had died over a millennium ago.

"No one in the Yulan Empire follows Buddhism. Everyone cultivates martial arts. How could there be a monk’s corpse here? Could it be… he’s also from Earth?" Ning Xiaochuan stared at the skeletal remains of the monk on the ground, his mind swirling with these thoughts.