"Huh, what is this thing?"
Just as Lin Shan was about to search around for Ancient rhymes, he found a dark object left on the altar. Before he could examine it closely after picking it up, the enhancement panel automatically appeared:
[Soul Wooden Fish] (Damaged)
Quality: High-Grade Magical Artifact
Description: Crafted from two-hundred-year-old soul wood, it is a supporting Magical Artifact that gathers Yin energy, collects souls, and assists in combat.
Enhancement: 32 points (Cannot be enhanced in damaged state)
...
"!!!"
Lin Shan turned the broken wooden fish over and over in his hands. Although it was charred black, the overall surface was still smooth. Only half of its body remained, and some lightning sparks still crackled on the broken surface, feeling like a short circuit.
The 'damaged state' mentioned in the enhancement panel's description probably flatters it a bit.
Lin Shan guessed that the wooden fish in his hand was the Magical Artifact the old man from the Black Lotus Sect was just using, which was directly destroyed by that brute, Lei Zhenzi.
He still vividly remembered the effect at the time: the Yin energy from around the square converged like a vortex and knocking it made one's mind instantly hazy. At that time, he was still outside the battlefield.
Putting himself in that position, if he had been inside the battlefield and that demonic sound had targeted him, his head would probably have exploded directly!
Even such a High-Grade Magical Artifact was directly split apart by Lei Zhenzi's lightning technique. Just how strong is Lei Zhenzi!
Lin Shan was secretly startled. This old man in black should be the Black Lotus Sect Envoy the villagers in Peach Garden Village down the mountain spoke of. Possessing even a Corpse King and a High-Grade Magical Artifact, he should not have been an ordinary individual.
But he was still directly captured alive by Lei Zhenzi.
Lei Zhenzi is probably a formidable expert among immortal cultivators!
Even if this treasure is scrapped, it's still an extraordinary piece of junk.
Lin Shan happily put it into his bag. What if it can't be enhanced? He can just find a way to repair it later, right? If he can't repair it, can't he sell it for money?
He immediately thought again, a High-Grade Magical Artifact requires 32 points to enhance.
Lin Shan immediately started calculating in his mind. A normal enhancement to Postnatal requires 2 points, from Postnatal to Innate is 4 points, and he remembered that further enhancing Eternal Spring Skill requires 8 points.
Calculating this way, Eternal Spring Skill is equivalent to two levels lower than a High-Grade Magical Artifact.
A Low-Grade Magical Artifact!
If he were to enhance the ring-pommel saber in his hand twice, reaching the Innate level like Eternal Spring Skill, it would be a Low-Grade Magical Artifact!
Lin Shan's heart pounded. This was a Magical Artifact used by immortal cultivators!
But he wasn't sure if he, not being an immortal cultivator, could use a Magical Artifact. After all, he had tried using his True Qi on the wooden fish just now, and there was no reaction at all.
He didn't know if it was because the wooden fish was broken, or if Eternal Spring Skill's True Qi and immortal cultivators' spiritual power were not the same kind of energy.
But according to his previous calculation, if Eternal Spring Skill's Innate level is equivalent to a Low-Grade Magical Artifact, then isn't Eternal Spring Skill equivalent to a Low-Grade immortal Cultivation Technique?
However, Eternal Spring Skill does not possess the supernatural abilities of immortal Cultivation Techniques, nor has he heard rumors of Innate Experts in the Jianghu being immortal cultivators.
Lin Shan frowned and thought for a long time. Perhaps the Innate Realm is like a buffer, sandwiched between Postnatal Martial Artists and immortal cultivators, an independent yet transitional Realm?
"If I enhance Eternal Spring Skill again, will the resulting technique allow for immortal cultivation?"
Lin Shan's mind was now filled with various speculations.
Ever since witnessing immortal cultivators fighting, Lin Shan instantly felt that practicing martial arts was no longer appealing.
'Why practice martial arts when you can cultivate immortality?'
His vision and scope were not broad enough before, but now that he has seen something higher, he naturally wants to find a way to strive for it!
"First, let's find Ancient rhyme."
...
Amidst the ruins of the square, Lin Shan used the remaining ghost fire to meticulously search inch by inch.
After about fifteen minutes, he found an incense burner under a fallen rock, and the enhancement panel indeed popped up:
[Incense Burner]
Ancient rhyme: 1 point
Absorb?
...
Lin Shan excitedly chose 'Yes'. After the Ancient rhyme was absorbed, the incense burner turned into a pile of shattered sand.
This was the first time he had absorbed Ancient rhyme again since the Nightingale Token. Now he had two points, enough to at least enhance a divine weapon!
Putting aside his excitement, Lin Shan continued searching.
Not long after, he found another one:
[Cushion]
Ancient rhyme: 1 point
Absorb?
"Absorb!"
...
Not long after again,
[Spittoon]
Ancient rhyme: 1 point
Absorb?
"Ugh, disgusting... Absorb."
For the sake of Ancient rhyme, I'll endure it!
...
[Chamber Pot]
Ancient rhyme: 1 point
Absorb?
"???"
...
Lin Shan finally understood why Wu Yuanwai's five subordinates were unharmed when they entered the Ancient Tomb and the Corpse King ignored them, but were chased when they came out.
You stole the spittoon and chamber pot they used when they were alive, who could tolerate that? That's too damn much!
Even the Corpse King couldn't help but lift the lid of its coffin to find trouble with them!
He truly didn't know how those five lads managed to escape later. The Corpse King, having nowhere to vent its anger, naturally directed its wrath towards the three subsequent groups of people.
Then, because those five people outside spread the news everywhere, it attracted Lei Zhenzi, who was tracking the Black Lotus Sect, and thus the Corpse King's master, the Black Lotus Sect Envoy, suffered great misfortune.
Lin Shan had perfectly visualized the entire scene and mourned for the Black Lotus Sect Envoy. He was hiding peacefully in the deep mountains and old forest, only to be inexplicably screwed over by five tomb robbers!
...
After thoroughly searching the entire square, Lin Shan obtained a total of over thirty ancient items. Excluding the useless ones, he got a total of 15 points of Ancient rhyme. Adding the 1 point previously obtained from the Nightingale Token, he now had a full 16 points of Ancient rhyme!
Besides those that turned to sand after absorbing the Ancient rhyme, there were still over a dozen ancient items left. These were all money!
"I'm rich, I'm rich! As expected, wealth is found in danger!"
...
After grinning foolishly for a while, Lin Shan also found a few tomb chambers around the square, but it was clear that everything inside had already been looted long ago.
However, there wasn't a single black lotus buddha statue, which Lin Shan had been paying attention to.
"The Peach Garden Village villagers said that the Black Lotus Envoy collects a batch of buddha statues every 20 years, so why aren't there any?"
Lin Shan couldn't help but feel a wave of disappointment. Were those things taken away by Lei Zhenzi? Or perhaps the Black Lotus Sect Envoy handed them over to a higher level? After all, just hearing the title 'Envoy', there might be bigger leaders above him.
But Lin Shan was almost 100% certain that the giant, ten-foot-tall black lotus buddha statue bought by the noble in Kyoto back then contained Ancient rhyme, and a huge amount of it!
"I must recover it when I have the strength." Lin Shan secretly made a note.
That's right, in his mind, that thing had long been something Lin Shan must obtain.
...
"But why would daily necessities like spittoons and chamber pots also have Ancient rhyme?"
How could these things be related to humanistic Luck, or faith and incense? Was my previous deduction wrong?
Lin Shan pondered deeply for a while and could only attribute the reason to these items having been in contact with the black lotus buddha statue for hundreds of years, thus being tainted with a bit of incense.
That's why they only had one or two points of Ancient rhyme.
"Actually, it's easy to prove this. After I get out, I just need to find an ancient temple and verify it."
Lin Shan now felt that he seemed to be gradually grasping the pattern of Ancient rhyme.