Chapter 3374: A Change in Attitude
The artifact spirit, who was particularly emotional earlier, immediately calmed down. Its gaze became fixed on Jian Chen’s hand, or more accurately, the powder that remained on his hands. Its eyes gradually reddened and misted over.
The illusionary mountain over Jian Chen had already vanished, but he was still immobilised. He was frozen in place by an invisible force.
The artifact spirit appeared before Jian Chen silently. It stared straight at his hands as tears rolled out uncontrollably.
“Master… master…” the artifact spirit murmured, choking on sobs. It was extremely heartbroken.
Meanwhile, the way the nine experts of the Wood Spirits looked at Jian Chen also changed. They were filled with shock and disbelief.
Earlier, they had always believed it was due to their sacrifice that the spirit of the ancestral artifact had awakened. They had never thought that the person who truly awakened the spirit of the ancestral artifact was not them but Jian Chen.
All of them found that difficult to accept.
“Don’t tell me the first ancestor was lying to us?” At this moment, someone put forth a question, growing rather doubtful over what the first ancestor had said.
“No, the first ancestor wasn’t lying to us. We were the ones who misinterpreted her. The spirit of the ancestral artifact has indeed awakened with our generation, except we were not the ones to awaken it,” the Mayhemless Heavenly King said with a mixed expression.
“What’s even more surprising to us is not only is the Peace Ruler from the Saints’ World, he just happens to possess the remains of the ancestor too. Fellows, don’t you think the Peace Ruler is a little too well-prepared?” At this moment, a voice rang out with some coldness.
It came from one of the new rulers. He was the strongest ancestor of the Guan family, one of the peak clans in the Wood Spirits World, Guan Wuchi.
In response to what Guan Wuchi said, many people fell quiet, including the Heaven Fighting Ruler.
The people of the Saints’ World were enemies to the Wood Spirits!
Everyone wanted the ancestral god artifact!
Jian Chen happened to be from the Saints’ World while he was so well-prepared, even bringing the remains of their ancestor in with him.
When they connected the dots between these pieces of information, it was very easy for them to come up with their own theories.
“Don’t tell me the Peace Ruler has actually come for the ancestral god artifact by mingling among us?” The ancestor of the Yongxi clan, Yong Yenan, spoke up. At this moment, his respect towards Jian Chen began to waver.
The rulers of the Wood Spirits looked at one another. Their expressions all changed.
Even the Heaven Fighting Ruler became uncertain. His eyes flickered with thoughts.
The Jade Heaven Ruler also became hesitant.
It was also at this moment that the artifact spirit’s gaze suddenly turned cold again, glaring at Jian Chen sharply and asking frigidly, “Why are master’s remains in your hands? Where did you obtain master’s remains?”
Jian Chen was completely calm as if he had been anticipating this the entire time. “Do you know about the Darkstar race?”
“The Darkstar race? What are you mentioning that wretched race for?” The artifact spirit began grinding its teeth again when the Darkstar race was mentioned.
“In the past, your master engaged the sovereign of the Darkstar race in a battle to the death. A part of her body ended up in the hands of the Darkstar race, while I just happened to have visited the Darkstar World. I also had some unpleasant incidents with the Darkstar race, and I even faced off against their emperor.”
“During that battle, the Darkstar race was unable to do anything to me, while I possessed enough strength to exterminate their entire race. In the end, the Darkstar Emperor compromised to protect his clansmen, giving me many precious items to avert the threat of extinction.”
“That was how I obtained your master’s spine from the Darkstar Emperor,” said Jian Chen.
“You’ve entered the Darkstar World? That’s impossible. My master and the Grand Exalt of the Darkstar race set down two layers of restrictions there. Only those under a thousand years old can enter that world, while no one under a thousand years old stands a chance against the entire Darkstar World.” The spirit of the ancestral artifact was clearly unconvinced.
“I’ve only just turned a thousand recently. I already possess the battle prowess of a Chaotic Prime before I turned a thousand.” Jian Chen smiled crookedly.
“What? You already possessed the battle prowess of a Chaotic Prime before you turned a thousand years old?” The artifact spirit was clearly quite shocked, leaving it dazed, but it was still rather suspicious. “Since you’re so powerful, why didn’t you kill the leader of the Darkstar race? If he died, wouldn’t all of his resources be yours to take?”
“Don’t tell me you’re from the Darkstar race?” The artifact spirit’s voice was filled with killing intent.
“I also wanted to kill him, but I only managed to destroy his body, not his soul. His soul was protected by a bronze lamp, so I couldn’t harm it at all,” said Jian Chen.
“A bronze lamp?” The artifact spirit’s eyes narrowed and stared straight at Jian Chen. “What does the lamp look like?”
“Remove your power. I’ll conjure the lamp’s appearance.” As soon as he said that, Jian Chen’s entire body loosened up, regaining his freedom.
Shortly afterwards, he used energy to conjure the appearance of the lamp that he saw.
When it saw the lamp, the artifact spirit’s eyes immediately lit up. It was overjoyed, laughing away loudly. “Divine Lamp of World Stability, it really is you. Hahaha, you were so mighty and unstoppable back then, but look at you now. You’ve actually ended up in such a sorry state. Hahahaha!”
The artifact spirit was put into an extremely good mood when it saw the bronze lamp, taking great delight from the lamp’s fate.
“The Divine Lamp of World Stability? Don’t tell me this lamp is from the same era as senior?” Jian Chen was surprised.
The artifact spirit nodded. “The Divine Lamp of World Stability was the strongest god artifact in the sovereign of the Darkstar race’s possession. Let alone me who isn’t skilled in battle, even master’s Sceptre of Life that specialised in fighting was not the Divine Lamp of World Stability’s opponent.”
“However, I was heavily damaged by the Divine Lamp of World Stability, so I did not know what happened to it afterwards. By the time I awakened again, the Spirits’ World had already shattered and I was in the Saints’ World already. As for the Darkstar race, they had already become a relic of history. All I knew was they had been sealed up in a small world by master.”
“Only now have I found out the Divine Lamp of World Stability has already shattered, as the Divine Lamp of World Stability that you saw was no longer complete. It’s missing a part.”
“However, since that great enemy from the Darkstar race is protected by the Divine Lamp of World Stability, you are indeed incapable of killing him given your strength.”
The artifact spirit’s eyes twinkled. It stared at Jian Chen and continued to ask, “Kid, keep going. Tell me what else you did in the Darkstar World.”
“I also destroyed twenty of their cities with countless lives of the Darkstar race lost at my hands,” Jian Chen said with a rather strange expression.
“Really? Use your soul to conjure that. I want to see.” The artifact spirit licked its lips. It was very intrigued.
Without any hesitation, Jian Chen conjured what had happened in the past.
Immediately, the scenes when he destroyed twenty major cities of the Darkstar race and slaughtered countless people of the Darkstar race replayed before them like a movie.
With his current cultivation and comprehension, he could achieve that with ease.
“Hahahahaha, good, good, good. How satisfying! How satisfying!”
The artifact spirit’s mood became great when it saw the people of the Darkstar race perish in swathes, dyeing the ground red. It was filled with satisfaction, laughing out loud uncontrollably.
“Kid, nicely done. The Darkstar race deserved that. They’re a damned existence.” In the blink of an eye, the artifact spirit’s attitude towards Jian Chen changed drastically. It no longer seemed to hate Jian Chen very much as someone from the Saints’ World due to what had happened to the Darkstar race.
The spirit of the ancestral artifact continued, “I hate the Darkstar race the most. The people of the Saints’ World come second. Kid, in consideration of the fact that you killed so many people of the Darkstar race in the past, I’ve decided that I’ll spare your life. I won’t kill you.”
“However, before the Wood Spirits truly grow in strength, you’ll have to stay here forever without leaving.”