Chapter 02: Golden Orb

The sphere, which was not that big, floated on a wooden table. The golden light surrounding the object radiated a sacred aura, and a sense of invisible oppression hovered over Liu Yang. Although he had never had the opportunity to come into contact with a similar object before, he could tell at a glance that this sphere was highly ancient.

His hands itched with anticipation. It was a treasure, and he knew it. Unfortunately, it was stripped of its cultivation, so any treasure he got his hands on was just another scrap in a pile.

This was because any treasure sought by cultivators contained the energy of heaven and earth—also known as — and since Liu Yang's body no longer had such energy, it resulted in an inability to wield the .

Worst of all, there were no or that could repair his condition. Even those heaven-defying treasures proved unable to restore a cultivator's and broken .

He could only sigh at his misfortune. A tinge of hatred shone deep in his eyes, but the desire for revenge in his heart was useless if he did not possess the strength to carry out such an action.

"I must calm myself. I am only a mortal; if I defy the heavens in my current state, it will be no different than digging my own grave."

He looked at the white fox, expecting it to give him instructions as it had done so far, but there was, leaning on its paws as its beautiful eyes stared at him.

'What am I to do now? Since this fox brought me here, I guess catching this thing won't make me scratch myself with those claws, will it?'

His logic was simple. Although he didn't know why the white fox had brought him here, he knew it wasn't to cause him trouble. If the white fox had the power to heal his mortal wounds in the blink of an eye, it would also have the power to pulverize him in a heartbeat. That was his conclusion about this strange beast that, though it looked cute, exuded a deadly danger that was carved into its bones.

However, if he could, he wanted to observe everything before going to the principal source, as one never knew if he would have the opportunity to set foot in this room again.

Liu Yang decided to concentrate on the surroundings while momentarily ignoring the floating object. There were two doors, and the place he was in seemed to be a living room. Simple but comfortable, there was hardly any furniture in the room.

Although clean, at a glance, it was noticeable that it had been a long time since the objects had moved for lack of physical contact.

Soon, however, his eyes could not help but light up when he saw a wooden box under the table containing an incense that, although muted, manifested a fragrance that, upon inhaling, calmed his agitated, confused and angry mind.

He approached and, with his hands, lightly pushed the metal lock, and with the sound accompanied by a —Click—, the wooden lid lifted.

Liu Yang expected to find some treasure or some technique, but he never thought that the first thing that would come out of the wooden box would be a golden flash that would cover the whole room.

'My eyes! Shit!'

He unconsciously closed his eyes as he took a few steps back. Only when the burning pain in his pupils subsided did he open his eyes.

After his brain grasped the object hidden inside the box that who knows how many years had been closed, his lips half-opened.

"Damn it!" He cursed with slightly widened eyes, "Everything in this house are made of gold!"

Like the golden sphere, the object resting in the chest was golden. The thing was made up of a succession of golden metal pieces linked and joined together, forming a thick coiled chain.

His eyes read the label behind it.

"Soul Weapon, I've heard that name in books before."

According to ancient records, were a particular type of equipment that one refined by using their Qi to fuse it with their soul. These treasures were extremely rare, and only a few of the prominent nobles could afford to obtain them; it should also be noted that this was largely due to the legacies of their ancestors.

Even Liu Yang, who was the grandson of Liu Feng, one of the six leading elders of the , did not have the opportunity to meet the bearer of such a treasure. It was not as if he had had such a privilege in the first place.

Liu Yang soon lost all the excitement bubbling in his heart. He had found so many good things, but he was a mere mortal. It was as if he had found a room full of gold but did not have the key that would open the door.

What an injustice! He felt the need to curse heaven for its blindness.

He tried to lift the chains that were as thick as his arm; however, his eyes widened in surprise. He could not lift them! Liu Yang positioned himself and pulled upward forcefully but soon realized that no matter how much force he exerted, the chain wouldn't move an inch.

'What's the matter with this weight? Even if I am an uncultivated human, I refuse to believe that I can't lift a three-meter-long chain!'

Pushed by his anger, the muscles in Liu Yang's arms and the veins in his neck burst with their veins visible under his milky skin. He bit his teeth, brazenly holding on, and with a relentless sweat reminding him that it was impossible to remove the chain, he stopped.

Liu Yang collapsed on the ground, breathing agitatedly, his chest rising and falling before he clicked his tongue in annoyance. After recovering from his exhaustion, he got up and went to explore the other rooms. The first contained piles of books, but he didn't understand any of the strange languages.

Apparently, he would leave empty-handed, for in the other room, there was only an ancient cauldron decorated with a dragon's head. It was a known fact that master alchemists almost always sold or used all of their created or , and this time was no exception; no matter how much he rummaged around the room, apart from the faint smell of medicines wafting in the air there was no trace of what he really needed.

Liu Yang returned to the starting point with slumped shoulders. He clicked his tongue at the white fox, who had a seemingly innocent look on its face.

Since there was nothing else to do here, he approached the golden ball, and the moment one of his fingers touched it, a hard-to-bear pressure fell from the heavens.

—Rumble!

The heavens roared with fury, and the ground began to crack as if a colossal volcano was erupting. Soon, however, as if acting on a mighty will, everything calmed down.

Liu Yang could not help but retract his hand; however, the glowing golden-colored ball did not give him such an opportunity as, without warning, it entered his body!

"What happened-?! Arggg!"

A terrifying roar of pain escaped his lips as he fell to the ground with no strength in his legs. The pain was so scary that he didn't know where to start squeezing.

Sweat beaded on his nearly naked body; Liu Yang felt his bones being crushed only for them to regenerate again. The same was true of his tendons and flesh, which bubbled under his skin, seemingly on the verge of bursting.

His tendons, organs, and bones were expanding and contracting, sometimes rupturing, which intensified the pain as time went on.

While this was happening, what was most essential and crucial to forging his future path was happening inside him.