Chapter 37: The Artifact Spirit Awakens

Yang Tong returned home without any trouble. His parents didn’t ask many questions; they thought it was good for him to go out for a walk after dinner.

Yang Tong went back to his room and took out the Earth Soul Crystal. Looking at the beautiful crystal in his hand, he marveled privately. This thing was a treasure used by Void Ninth-level experts to break through and become Saint Domain Experts. From Void to Saint Domain, besides the fundamental increase in strength and cultivation, the most obvious benefit was the increase in lifespan. A Void Rank expert could only live for 5,000 to 6,000 years, while a Sanctuary Rank expert could easily live for 10,000 to 20,000 years!

That was a terrifying piece of data. What did 10,000 to 20,000 years mean? From the dawn of civilization to the 21st century, Earthlings had only existed for less than 10,000 years, right? Living that long would make someone practically an old monster.

For Void Rank experts whose lifespans were nearing their end, a treasure like the Earth Soul Crystal would absolutely drive them mad. They would do anything to obtain it, even if it meant losing all their wealth or risking their lives.

Yang Tong had dug up two pieces at once. If word got out, it was certain that Yang Tong would either be treated like a rare treasure or be dissected like a lab rat. The latter was more likely because Yang Tong was too weak.

Yang Tong didn’t dare take this Earth Soul Crystal out again. He simply sent an intention to the Copper Coin: “Absorb!”

The Copper Coin jumped straight out from his sea of consciousness, happily wrapped itself around the Earth Soul Crystal, and turned into a stream of gleaming light that rushed back into Yang Tong’s sea of consciousness. Not long after, the Earth Soul Crystal was completely absorbed.

A stream of energy returned from the Copper Coin. The Copper Coin’s second, shallower crack began to repair itself. Yang Tong himself fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke up, Yang Tong suddenly felt the whole world was different. No, it would be more accurate to say the world hadn’t changed, but Yang Tong himself had undergone a shocking transformation. Yang Tong felt his hearing was clearer, his vision was sharper, and his senses were more acute.

“What… what’s going on?” Yang Tong said to himself. Actually, he guessed it must be related to the Copper Coin absorbing the soul crystal last night.

“Master, congratulations. Your soul has solidified.” A stiff, child-like voice rang out. Oh, to be exact, it rang out in Yang Tong’s mind.

“Who… who is that? Who’s speaking?” Yang Tong was startled.

“Master, I am the Artifact Spirit of an Innate Spiritual Treasure, just awakened from a long slumber. I am in your sea of consciousness, communicating directly through it, not through speech. You just need to think about speaking to me and silently transmit your thoughts to communicate with me,” the Artifact Spirit replied.

“Are you Zhen Hun?” Yang Tong asked.

“Yes and no. My name is Luo Bao. I am the primary Artifact Spirit of the Innate Spiritual Treasure. The others—Zhen Hun, Qing Feng, Fang Yuan, Luo Po—are all my split spiritual consciousnesses, not Artifact Spirits. I am an Innate Spiritual Treasure forged from the supreme Origin of the Great Dao before the separation of primordial chaos. My true form is like a coin. Named after me, it is called: Luo Bao Money! During the War of Immortal Extinction, my master fell in battle. I was broken apart, my split forms fell into slumber, leaving only four spiritual consciousnesses to be found later. The primary spirit slept deep within the Zhen Hun Purple Coin. The moment I awoke, I learned that through endless cycles of time, only this Purple Coin had never recognized a master, which is why I never awoke before,” Luo Bao answered.

Yang Tong listened in a daze. This matter was truly too mysterious and profound. Out of the four coins, the very one he picked up was the Purple Coin where the primary spirit slept. His luck was simply too good.

After listening to Luo Bao’s explanation, Yang Tong understood. It turned out that the Earth he was from, and the universe where the Milky Way was located, was a low-dimensional universe of a lower existence. That’s why the Purple Coin had been buried all along. The moment he accidentally recognized it as his master, the Purple Coin activated the residual energy within itself and came to this world—a world of higher dimensionality than the universe Earth was in—in order to find the other split parts of the Luo Bao Money. That’s how it brought his soul across to the Fengxuan Continent.

Originally, under normal circumstances, for the Artifact Spirit hidden deep within the Purple Coin to awaken, at the very least, Yang Tong’s cultivation would have needed to reach the Void Rank so that his own soul power could achieve the result of awakening the Artifact Spirit.

However, one Earth Soul Crystal caused the Artifact Spirit to awaken early. For Yang Tong, this was absolutely a huge stroke of luck, like a pie falling from the sky.

“Hmm, this world is quite suitable for cultivation. The Purple Coin is quite damaged. Master, you need to take out some more spirit stones—oh, Standard Crystals—to replenish energy and completely repair the second crack,” Luo Bao suggested.

Yang Tong wasn’t the super-poor guy he used to be anymore. Now, Yang Tong was well-off. Without hesitation, he took out several Standard Crystals.

The Copper Coin gave a light inhale. In less than half a minute, the vast energy within the several crystals was sucked dry.

“Not enough!”

Yang Tong took out three more for the Copper Coin to absorb. After another half minute, he took out three more. He used a total of ten, instantly using up half of the Standard Crystals he had bought.

“The Copper Coin’s second crack is repaired. The Heavenly Eye function is unlocked. It has the effect of seeing through illusions and can more directly observe the evolution of the Law of Dao. However, Master, you have not yet achieved Transcending Mortality, so the function is temporarily sealed and cannot be used,” Luo Bao announced.

Yang Tong felt a bit frustrated upon hearing this and asked, “Do you have a way for me to awaken as soon as possible? Self-awakening is too uncertain, and Artificial Awakening is too expensive.”

“I have analyzed the civilization of the world you are in. The cultivation process is somewhat different, but generally speaking, it can still be said that different paths lead to the same destination. Judging from various Spirit Tools, the humans of this world received part of the heritage of the Immortal Civilization and then developed along a different path. I cannot yet assess the entire level of civilization, but from these so-called Spirit Tools, one can see clear traces of Immortal Treasure refinement methods. Awakening, Earthly, Sky, Void, Saint Domain, Demi-God, True God. These correspond to the seven stages of immortal cultivation: Transcending Mortality, Foundation Building, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Divine Transformation, Unity, and Ascension to Immortality,” Luo Bao said, then thought for a moment and continued, “Although I don’t yet understand the differences between constructing a Divine Kingdom, igniting a divine flame, and the final transformation into an immortal, I think the levels shouldn’t be too far apart.”

Yang Tong listened, fascinated. So, the immortals spoken of in legends on Earth truly existed. People really could cultivate to become immortals. It’s just that the Immortal Civilization had vanished. The Human Civilization he was in now could be considered an alternative continuation of the Immortal Civilization.

“However, the cultivation system of this world is still not systematic enough. Moreover, in terms of Spirit Tool development, it relies too much on external objects. In our era, the path of cultivation was passed down from the Immortal Sages and spread throughout the civilized world. From Transcending Mortality to Ascension to Immortality, there were extremely systematic cultivation methods. Especially the step of Transcending Mortality; at least five or six out of ten ordinary people who cultivated could achieve it. But now? The Awakening step traps many ordinary people. The awakening rate is only one in ten thousand. It’s too backward,” Luo Bao pointed out bluntly.