Chapter 165: Provocation

“How are there so many people with an eye for treasure?”

After checking the situation out, Wang Baole felt incredulous, especially upon discovering that some people were posting messages on the Spirit Intranet to purchase Crossed Dharmic Artifacts.

“Crossed Dharmic Artifacts?” Wang Baole instantly realized that they were talking about the Dharmic Artifacts that he was selling upon hearing the term. He did not continue listing the remainder of his trashy Dharmic Artifacts on the Spirit Intranet as he was still suspicious of what was happening. He planned to observe the situation for a few more days, as he felt that it was ridiculous that the popularity of the Crossed Dharmic Artifacts has grown so quickly.

However, upon observation, the results were completely not what Wang Baole had expected. In the days that followed, the term ‘Crossed Dharmic Artifact’ was increasingly mentioned by users of Upper Academy Island’s Spirit Intranet.

At the same time, the number of people who wanted to purchase the items visibly grew. Most of them had never heard of the term ‘Crossed Dharma Artifact’ prior to this, but curiosity got the better of them, which led them to find out more about it. Very quickly, they became aware of the items’ origin and inevitably grew surprised. They had strong desires to purchase one for themselves but were unable to buy them anywhere…

This made the Crossed Dharmic Artifact even more mysterious.

If that was the case, the commotion would have died down quickly without causing much fanfare. However, very soon, a recorded video of Shi Nan and Li Fei’s battle was put up on the Spirit Intranet by someone, which immediately created shock waves among many the moment it was published.

“This Dharmic Artifact is so unbelievably hardy!”

“This is obviously not a flying sword but a shield! An extremely strong and resistant shield!”

The effect of the video was akin to the ripples in the water created when one tossed a small rock into the pond. If more time passed, everything would have returned to normalcy. However, even before this ripple was attenuated, a disciple who was quick to purchase one of the Crossed Dharmic Artifacts put up another video.

“Look here, everyone! This is the flying sword that I have just bought! Don’t be fooled by how tattered it seems, for you would never expect how shockingly fast it is!”

In one of the videos, a disciple from the Combat Pavilion agitatedly threw out a flying sword that looked as if it was about to disintegrate. As the sword flew out, it instantly vanished, creating a sonic boom but did not leave behind any visible tracks. However, even by looking at it in action through the video, one could still feel that at the instant the flying sword flew out, its speed was already out of the world!

In the short time needed to take a few breaths, the sword returned in a flash. The sonic boom was even louder, creating a strong gust of wind swept around the disciple. As the dust settled, the disciple stood there agitatedly, holding the sword that had just flown out.

However, from the video, one could clearly see that the sword had become more damaged than before.

“Did you see that? The speed of this sword instantly trumps all the other Dharmic Artifacts. What do you think? What’s more, this sword only cost me seven hundred Spirit Stones!” The disciple laughed heartily, with an extremely happy look on his face as he had picked up a treasure for cheap.

The video immediately created a bigger commotion around the Crossed Dharmic Artifacts, which made those who already had their attention on the Crossed Dharmic Artifacts even more tempted. Even those who originally had not been following the trend began to curiously find out more about it after watching the video. In the days that followed, similar videos also emerged one after another!

Every Dharmic Artifact that appeared in the videos had some astonishing and wondrous features. The way to go about using it depended on the user. What was more iconic was that every Dharmic Artifact of this type was marked with a cross!

The Crossed Dharmic Artifacts became an instant hit, creating a huge commotion among the masses.

However, Wang Baole did not continue selling the Dharmic Artifacts during this critical period. That made the first batch of the Crossed Dharmic Artifacts limited products. No matter how much one desired it, they could not buy it.

The concept of ‘that which is rare is dear’ immediately boosted people’s attention on the Crossed Dharmic Artifacts. At the same time, resale transactions of the Crossed Dharma Artifacts were also taking place. The prices involved were all shockingly exorbitant.

Everything that happened shocked Wang Baole himself. Looking at all the posts on the Spirit Intranet requesting for purchase of the Crossed Dharmic Artifacts, he lowered his head and looked at all the trashy Dharmic Artifacts in his storage bag, and his eyes slowly lit up.

Perhaps all these… are not trash after all?

Wang Baole thought about it and listed the second batch of trashy Dharmic Artifacts in order to ride the rising popularity of the items. Just as that happened, another post suddenly appeared on the Spirit Intranet!

That post was a video, where an arrogant-looking disciple from the Dharmic Armament Pavilion slowly peeled open the flying sword before him, as if he was carrying out a dissection.

“My fellow Daoists, I have heard about these Crossed Dharmic Artifacts from others, and many people have come forward to ask me about my thoughts on them. Therefore, I bought one of them at a high price out of curiosity. Initially, I was filled with excitement, but after checking them out, heh…” The Armament Soldier laughed condescendingly, as he was seen to swiftly disassembled the flying sword in the video.

Before long, all that was left of the flying sword was the Spirit Kernel. Looking at the inscriptions on the Spirit Kernel, the Armament Soldier shook his head disappointingly.

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“Based on my analysis, this Dharmic Artifact is a piece of trash! Almost all of its functions are being sacrificed, with only a few of them being specifically strengthened. What’s the point of that? This is simply a dishonest practice that is out to cheat people of their money.

“No one wants to make Dharmic Artifacts like these, which is why it garnered all your attention. In reality, if I put my heart into it, I could refine tens of them in a day. Trash like this is useless!”

The Armament Soldier spoke calmly. As the inscriptions on the Spirit Kernel were equipped with additional protection, he was unable to erase them. However, he did not care much and simply tossed them aside.

“Lastly, I would like to encourage everyone to be rational in their purchases. I would also want to take the opportunity to warn the black sheep who is making all these trashy Dharmic Artifacts to not taint the reputation of the Dharmic Armament Pavilion!”

The moment the video was published, a huge commotion erupted on the Spirit Intranet. It was important to note that the Armament Soldier in the video was a high-ranking figure. He was the leader of the Dharmic Armament Pavilion’s audit department. It was in charge of the auditing tasks in all the departments within the Dharmic Armament Pavilion, and no one dared to provoke them for no reason.

His video naturally garnered a lot of attention. As the number of people who viewed it increased, discussions began to emerge among the masses.

“I see… Isn’t this fraud, selling trash to us?”

“Who is this? Such a lousy object. I still thought that it was some kind of treasure, but it’s actually far from it!”

Those who made those comments were people who did not manage to purchase the Crossed Dharmic Artifacts. However, despite people who had successfully bought the Dharmic Artifacts defending the Crossed Dharmic Artifacts by posting about their efficacy as proof, it was of little use in dispelling the unnecessary discussion among people.

Wang Baole instantly grew furious when he noticed the situation. The video extinguished the interest that people had in his Dharmic Artifacts, severely impacting his original sales plan.

Even though his Dharmic Artifacts were nothing to shout about, they were definitely not as bad as the other party claimed. Furthermore, the boastful claim that the Armament Soldier could refine tens of them in a single day was an impossible task in Wang Baole’s eyes. Even if he did manage to do so, it would never be as hardy as Wang Baole’s flying sword.

Therefore, Wang Baole laughed coldly and immediately retrieved another flying sword from his storage bag. He anonymously listed it and specifically put up a post directed to the Armament Soldier.

“Hey, Armament Soldier from the audit department, if you have the ability to successfully understand this, I will concede defeat to you!”

Even Wang Baole was troubled over the flying sword that he had just listed. That was the reason he had not listed it on the Spirit Intranet previously, for the sword behaved like a lunatic. After being activated, it would often malfunction, unable to differentiate between friend and foe. There was a possibility that it would charge toward the enemy but also an equal possibility that it would charge toward the owner and even the passers-by.

Therefore, Wang Baole had not originally planned to sell it. It was only now that Wang Baole was angered that he decided to list this dangerous weapon.

Zhao Hailin, the Armament Soldier from the audit department, laughed coldly upon hearing about the sword. He did not pay much attention to it initially, but the commotion on the Spirit Intranet was growing stronger by the minute. In reality, Zhao Hailin was not the first to buy the sword. Rather, someone else bought it first, but after trying it out, they could only gasp in disbelief. That person also put up a video about it.

In that video, the sword was like a lunatic, hacking anyone it encountered. That shocked everyone, and more of such videos appeared after being resold between several people.

Eventually, the commotion that rose like waves was further boosted, transforming into a form of hurricane as it garnered more attention.

With all that attention, calls for Zhao Hailin to dissect the mechanisms of the flying sword grew louder. Eventually, tempted by the opportunity to boost his fame, Zhao Hailin got someone to buy the sword for him and began trying to understand it.

However, his eyes widened in shock as he tried to dissect it. His breathing suddenly grew rapid, as not only were the inscriptions on the Spirit Kernel secured with added protection, the structure and arrangement of the inscriptions were also immensely complex. It was something that he had rarely seen, even on third-grade Numinous Treasures.

This made understanding the reason behind the sword’s malfunction even more challenging.

However, news that he had bought the sword to understand its mechanisms had already spread far and wide, drawing the attention of the masses. Zhao Hailin cursed under his breath as he was trapped in a position from which he could not escape.

“Which lunatic refined this Dharmic Artifact?”

Left without a choice, Zhao Hailin could only seek help from his friends. He engaged the help of three other Armament Soldiers like him to understand the sword. After the three of them saw the inscriptions on the flying sword’s Spirit Kernel, they reacted with shock. Therefore, all of them sacrificed their sleep and finally managed to understand the flying sword’s mechanism after seven tiring days that fully exhausted their mental capacity.

“Thank you, everyone!” After sending the trio away gratefully, Zhao Hailin returned to his cave abode with an awful expression on his face. He grew wary of the person who had refined the Dharmic Artifact, as he felt that someone who had the ability to refine the object had to be an Armament Soldier like him at the very least.

However, he did not want to make an enemy without reason. Therefore, through his personal connections, he communicated with the department in charge of the Spirit Intranet to find out more about the refiner’s identity.

Even though the department in charge of the Spirit Intranet was not able to reveal all the information due to the regulations set, they mentioned that the refiner was an Armament Disciple. Upon hearing that, Zhao Hailin heaved a sigh of relief, but a cold look soon flashed across his eyes.

“You’re only an Armament Disciple, and you dare to challenge me?”