Previously, the great battle with Dong Shuyeh made him feel powerless. Facing the overwhelming pressure from a high-level cultivator, a low-level cultivator found it hard to survive.
However, if he had a defensive spirit artifact at that time, he might not have suffered so much. The defensive spirit patterns were good, but they consumed too much spirit energy.
This small bell spirit artifact was undoubtedly a good defensive spirit artifact, so Lu Ye wanted to claim it for himself. However, after obtaining the small bell, he tried to activate its power, but unfortunately, this thing was very difficult to accept external spirit energy. When Lu Ye tried to channel his spirit energy into it, he clearly felt a force rejecting it.
That feeling was like trying to open a storage bag that didn't belong to him.
So Lu Ye guessed that this thing might also have a restriction lock.
He didn't dare to continue trying blindly because when he was at Qingyun Mountain, he had tried to open a storage bag, which triggered a restriction, and the storage bag was completely destroyed.
The destruction of a low-level cultivator's storage bag wasn't a big loss, but if this small bell spirit artifact were destroyed, it would be a huge loss.
The old cultivator looked at Lu Ye with a strange expression, took the small bell spirit artifact, briefly examined it, and then handed it back.
Lu Ye looked at him in confusion.
The old cultivator picked up the teapot beside him, took a sip, and then said slowly, "You are a wandering cultivator, right?"
How did he figure that out?
Following his words, Lu Ye replied, "Yes."
The old cultivator nodded, "Being a wandering cultivator is not easy. Well, since you are quite straightforward, let me give you some advice. Spirit artifacts are different from storage bags. Each restriction in a spirit artifact is extremely important, as it relates to the quality of the spirit artifact. Therefore, under normal circumstances, spirit artifacts do not have self-destructive restrictions, as that would reduce the power of the spirit artifact, especially when the quality of the spirit artifact is not high. Your spirit artifact, although not yet of medium quality, is a top-tier low-quality spirit artifact. The restrictions in it are mostly protective. Do you understand what I mean?"
Lu Ye carefully considered his words and vaguely realized, "Sir, do you mean that this spirit artifact doesn't have a restriction lock?"
The old cultivator chuckled, "The term 'restriction lock' is just a name. Restrictions themselves are a form of invisible lock. However, if some restrictions are not skillfully removed, they can cause unpredictable consequences, such as breaking or self-immolation. But most restrictions do not have such characteristics. For example, with the spirit artifact in your hand, you just need to slowly immerse your spirit energy into the restrictions, nourishing them, and it will naturally become as obedient as your own limb. The reason you can't use it now is that it still has traces left by the previous owner."
Lu Ye was taken aback, finally understanding his mistake.
After obtaining the small bell spirit artifact, he had only tried it briefly and then gave up, mainly out of fear of repeating the same mistake. But now it seemed he had given up too soon.
This spirit artifact originally belonged to the young master of the Nine Stars Sect, who had nurtured it with his own spirit energy. The various restrictions inside retained his traces, which is why Lu Ye couldn't activate it.
However, if he could erase those traces and then nourish it with his own spirit energy, he could make it his own.
If the restrictions inside the spirit artifact were compared to a lock, then the cultivator's spirit energy would be the key. The young master of the Nine Stars Sect was dead, and the key was lost, so Lu Ye had to use his own spirit energy to create a new key for the spirit artifact.
Suddenly, everything became clear...
"Thank you, sir." Lu Ye stood up and thanked him.
The old cultivator just waved his hand and continued to drink his tea slowly.
After leaving the Tianji Merchant Alliance, Lu Ye checked the young master's storage bag, finding over thirty Spirit Nourishing Pills, more than twenty spirit stones, and several bottles of pills he couldn't identify, as well as some miscellaneous items, such as women's clothing...
The clothing was extremely thin and made with minimal material. Lu Ye could only marvel at how the young master really knew how to have fun.
The items he obtained weren't many, but they weren't a loss.
Now he had over 350 Spirit Nourishing Pills, but unfortunately, he only had the last six largest pieces of the Yuan Magnetic Ore left. Lu Ye couldn't help but feel a bit melancholic, as he had initially thought that his Yuan Magnetic Ore would be enough to cultivate to the ninth level of the Spirit Stream Realm. Now it seemed he had been overly optimistic.
After walking through several messy streets, he arrived at a corner of the market.
Immediately, a scream reached his ears. Lu Ye looked over and saw a makeshift tent with several beds inside. On one of the beds, the burly Kong Niu was holding down a male cultivator who was struggling fiercely. Hu Ci, wearing a headscarf, was striking the male cultivator's abdomen at a dizzying speed. Each strike elicited a scream, and occasionally, a jet of blood, which was not the normal bright red but rather black, would spurt from the wound.
It seemed this guy was poisoned...
This was Hu Ci's designated treatment area in the Liusu Market. Many severely injured Haotian Alliance cultivators would come to her for treatment. Today, it was clearly a busy day, as several injured people were lying on the beds waiting for treatment, each looking pitiful, and it was unclear what they had encountered.
The male cultivator being treated screamed with each strike, inevitably calling out, "Mother!"
Hu Ci's medical skills were undoubtedly excellent, but it couldn't be denied that her treatment methods were rather brutal. Lu Ye confirmed again that she was the kind of woman who spoke the gentlest words while dealing the harshest blows.
Hearing the male cultivator's screams, Lu Ye couldn't help but recall Hu Ci's joke about medical cultivators. It seemed she wasn't kidding; someone was really calling her "mother."
"Didn't I tell you not to move, not to move!" Kong Niu pressed down on the guy to prevent him from escaping.
The male cultivator, with tears and snot streaming down his face, shouted, "Kill me, kill me!" The screams were so terrifying that anyone who didn't know what was happening might think they were witnessing some inhumane torture.
After a while, Hu Ci stopped and immediately saw Lu Ye standing nearby watching. She said bluntly, "You over there, come and help."
Lu Ye pointed to himself.
"Yes, you!" Hu Ci wiped the blood from her hands with a piece of cotton.
Lu Ye reluctantly stepped forward. Hu Ci picked up a bowl of green medicine and gestured to the side, "Feed it to him."
Lu Ye took the medicine, and many unpleasant memories immediately surfaced in his mind. He smiled and walked step by step toward the cultivator being treated.
Kong Niu was still holding down the male cultivator, who, upon seeing Lu Ye approaching, suddenly felt an intense sense of foreboding and struggled even more fiercely, "Let me go, let me go!"
Lu Ye walked up to the man, standing in front of him with an innocent smile, "Brother, it's time to take your medicine..."
"I don't want to!" The male cultivator's sense of danger grew stronger, and he shook his head from side to side.
Lu Ye gave a nod to Kong Niu, who immediately pinched the man's mouth shut. Lu Ye then poured the medicine into his mouth.