Chương 174: Experimenting with the Heaven's Descent Bowl
Seeing the sheer amount of work that was waiting for them, the trio did not delay further and got to work immediately.
Yet despite the complexity of Zhao Yunxiao's blueprint, the group was still able to proceed rather smoothly with their work.
This was largely because Zhao Yunxiao took responsibility for the more difficult parts, leaving the other two with tasks that did not require nearly as much understanding of the complete system.
But even when things flowed smoothly, it still took them hours to complete everything.
"So, why did we do this again?" Gu Qiansi asked while looking at the completed product.
Then again, since these were traps and alerts that they were talking about, there were barely any traces of their work left at the point of completion.
Visible ones, at least.
"I want to test out something," Zhao Yunxiao finally decided to let them in on his plan.
With a flick of his wrist, the Heaven's Descent Bowl appeared in Zhao Yunxiao's hands.
The white ceramic bowl with blue water and cloud prints looked lovely under the light. However, there did not seem to be anything special about it apart from that.
"This is what you wanted to test today, Senior Martial Brother Zhao? What is it actually?" Lu Zhiying asked curiously.
Gu Qiansi felt the same as she waited for an explanation.
Back when Zhao Yunxiao first returned from the Origin Lake Sect, he had only shown them the spatial pouch and Blue Jade Lotus roots that he had obtained from the trip, leaving out the Heaven's Descent Bowl entirely.
Therefore, this was the first time that either of them had seen it.
"Can you keep a secret?" Zhao Yunxiao asked in response.
"Yes, yes! We can!" Lu Zhiying nodded profusely.
"Stop acting all mysterious and just spit it out already," Gu Qiansi snapped impatiently.
She knew that if Zhao Yunxiao did not trust them, he would not have taken the item out in the first place.
"Since you are so curious, then let me satiate your curiosity. But this is a secret, so make sure you don't let anyone else know about this," Zhao Yunxiao answered with a smug smile on his face. "This is the Heaven's Descent Bowl – a treasure gifted to me by the guardian spirit of the Origin Lake Sect. Apparently, it is supposed to be a treasure on par with those used by the elders of our Black Tortoise Sect!"
"...You said that this bowl is a treasure on par with those used by the elders?" Lu Zhiying tried to confirm.
Even though she held her Senior Martial Brother Zhao in high regard, she was no longer as clueless as when she first joined, and knew just how untouchable the elders truly were.
The treasures that they used must be extremely amazing items, so it was incredible to have a treasure on par with those.
Not to mention an outer disciple like Zhao Yunxiao, she would even doubt any inner disciple who dared to make such a claim!
"Again with that guardian spirit nonsense?" Gu Qiansi rolled her eyes. "Why would their guardian spirit care about you when you aren't even their disciple?"
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
Would they believe him if he said that, because of a stupid oath that the guardian spirit had made in the past, it was not able to talk to anyone except for him?
And because of its boredom, it decided to bet on a game with him and ended up losing this extremely precious treasure to him as a result?
If not because he now had the Heaven's Descent Bowl in his possession, even he would have thought that perhaps it was just an illogical dream that he had made up in his head!
"So, what is your supreme treasure capable of doing?" Gu Qiansi probed sarcastically after seeing that Zhao Yunxiao had no answers.
"I'm not too sure either..." Zhao Yunxiao confessed. "That is what I am intending to find out today."
Gu Qiansi: "..."
"Did you get scammed into buying this bowl, Senior Martial Brother Zhao?" Lu Zhiying asked. "You can be honest with us."
"...In any case, let's start," Zhao Yunxiao decided to change the topic. "First, let's do some hunting."
"Hunting? With this bowl?" Gu Qiansi raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to knock them unconscious with it?"
"Does it breathe fire? Or perhaps shoot lightning? Or is it something else?" Lu Zhiying asked as well.
"Why don't we stop focusing on the bowl?" Zhao Yunxiao hid it behind his back. "We will hunt some creatures in a regular manner."
"I thought the objective was to test the bowl?" Gu Qiansi raised an eyebrow.
"Your questions are making me uncomfortable, so I will stop explaining," Zhao Yunxiao said with a sulk while keeping away the Heaven's Descent Bowl once more. "Let's just start hunting."
"Okay, okay, we won't keep asking then," Lu Zhiying said. "But let me have another look!"
"Maybe later," Zhao Yunxiao said. "I want to test its response while in the spatial pouch as well."
"Its response while in the spatial pouch?" Gu Qiansi revealed a look of surprise. "Are you saying that it is sentient?"
Most items would not have any reaction to the outside world once they had been kept away in a spatial pouch. That was because it was equivalent to being sent to a separate space altogether, isolating them from any stimulants in the main world.
For an item to be able to respond to anything in the main world without its user's interference, it was almost mandatory for it to first possess sentience of its own.
"That's a good question," Zhao Yunxiao rubbed his chin in contemplation. "I suspect that to be the case, but I'm not too sure, either. That's what today's experiment is for."
If the Heaven's Descent Bowl truly possessed its own sentience, that would make it a treasure at the mythical tier.
A treasure on the elders' level that was also at the mythical tier... just thinking about it made Zhao Yunxiao's heart beat faster.
Even the elders might not possess something as valuable as this!
"What are we hunting then?" Lu Zhiying asked.
"Anything," Zhao Yunxiao said, much to the two's surprise.
"Did you say 'anything', Senior Martial Brother Zhao?" Lu Zhiying tried to confirm.
"That's right, anything," Zhao Yunxiao nodded. "For starters, let's just get going. We'll take whatever we see."
This time, it was Lu Zhiying's turn to exchange glances with Gu Qiansi.
Nevertheless, they decided to go along with Zhao Yunxiao's plan without complaints, curious to see just what he was up to.
Prior to this, they had set up an extensive network of alerts covering a large perimeter within the forest, and they were determined not to wander out of this area.
After securing their horses to a tree and setting up defensive arrays around them, the group commenced the hunt.
Zhao Yunxiao was not joking when he said that they were hunting anything.
The first creature that they came across was just a harmless fox, but he did not intend to let it go either.
Whoosh-!
A dagger flew out without warning, striking the fox squarely in the forehead.
The fox had no chance to even feel the pain as it fell limply to the ground, fated to never walk again.
Zhao Yunxiao dashed over to stand above the motionless fox, and what he felt next brought a smile to his face.
His spatial pouch was trembling once more.
Zhao Yunxiao's spiritual sense quickly scanned the contents of the spatial pouch. As expected, the Heaven's Descent Bowl was flying around without control.
Thankfully, its movements were relatively muted this time, no longer repeatedly slamming itself against the borders of the space without restraint.
Otherwise, Zhao Yunxiao would really start to worry about how long his spatial pouch could last!
"Here you go," Zhao Yunxiao muttered while retrieving the Heaven's Descent Bowl, ignoring the strange looks that Gu Qiansi and Lu Zhiying were giving him after hearing him speak to the bowl.
At the same time, he did not neglect to observe the surroundings with his spiritual sense.
Just like in the case of the monkey monsters back during the demon subduing mission, a trace of invisible matter could be spotted flowing out from the fox and disappearing into the Heaven's Descent Bowl.
But compared to the one from the monkey monsters, this trace of invisible matter was significantly lighter in both density and amount.
It seemed like there were differences from creature to creature.
Did it have something to do with the spiritual energy within?
Or was it the creature's innate vitality?
Or was it as simple as the size of the creature? No, that would not make sense since the monkey monsters were smaller than the fox.
It could even be something entirely different, such as the lifespan of the creature.
Unfortunately, the only way to find out for sure was to stain his hands with more blood.
Zhao Yunxiao took out an empty scroll and an inked brush, meticulously noting down his observations, including the various characteristics of the creature and the circumstances surrounding the kill.
"Do you have to go that far? It's just a fox," Gu Qiansi asked after seeing that he was even recording details such as the size and gender of the fox.
"You know nothing about research," Zhao Yunxiao berated. "That aside, did you sense anything just now?"
"What am I supposed to feel?" Gu Qiansi responded with another question.
"Gu Qiansi is not capable of sensing anything in the process..." Zhao Yunxiao verbalised what he was writing before finally putting away the scroll and brush.
Gu Qiansi: "..."
That might be the truth, but why did she feel so offended?
Actually, was that line even necessary in the first place?
"Let me do the next one!" Lu Zhiying volunteered. "Anything works, am I right?"
After training on the mountain for a month, Lu Zhiying was eager to try out the techniques that she had learnt.
She might not be capable of taking down spiritual beasts and monsters just yet, but regular animals shouldn't be a problem for her, including predators such as bears or tigers!
"That's right. In that case, I will leave the next one to you," Zhao Yunxiao said with a smile. "Do you have a weapon with you?"
"Yes!" Lu Zhiying nodded before opening up the cloth pouch that she had been carrying on her back.
Apart from some food and water supplies, the cloth pouch also contained two swords that had been tied together with a thin rope.
There was nothing special about the two swords, looking just like any other swords that could be bought from a regular smith.
However, they were also more than enough to do the job.
"You have been carrying that in your cloth pouch? Isn't that bulky and troublesome?" Zhao Yunxiao asked. "I happen to have a bamboo backpack that I don't use anymore. Would you like to have it?"
"The one that you used to carry around?" Lu Zhiying blinked blankly. "It's ugly so... no, thank you!"
Zhao Yunxiao: "..."
All you had to do was turn me down politely.
Did you really have to say that it was ugly?
"Wait, on second thought, do you have no need for the backpack anymore?" Lu Zhiying suddenly changed her tune after thinking about it. "If that's the case, can I have it?"
"What do you want it for?" Zhao Yunxiao narrowed his eyes at Lu Zhiying.
Considering what she said earlier, he highly suspected that she had some strange designs on his reliable bamboo backpack.
Even though he had no need for it anymore, he had grown somewhat attached to it after using it for so many years.
He did not intend to knowingly send it to its death!
"What else can a bamboo backpack be used for?" Lu Zhiying tilted her head in confusion.
"Why are you acting all suspicious when you are the one who offered it in the first place?" Gu Qiansi rolled her eyes. "Or were you merely saying it earlier, so you are regretting now that Junior Martial Sister Lu is actually interested in it?"
"Tch! How's that possible?" Zhao Yunxiao clicked his tongue in irritation. "You can have it if you want, Junior Martial Sister Lu. I will pass it to you when we return to the mountain."
"All right!" Lu Zhiying cheered while drawing her two swords. "In return, I will work for it now!"
"Go for it," Zhao Yunxiao said with a smile.
And when they came across their next target, Lu Zhiying truly did as she said she would, charging straight for the tiger without a moment's hesitation.
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