Artifact

As Ziyu nibbled on the grilled fish, Augustus couldn't help but admire her cute expression. "Do you want some more?" he asked as he was about to catch more fish.

"No, I'm very full now," Ziyu politely declined.

'If I continue to eat, I might break through again,' she thought to herself, feeling the Qi inside her body raging. The next breakthrough might be uncontrollable.

"Great to hear that, It's getting dark now, you should get going," Augustus suggested, concern etched on his face.

'A girl wandering alone in this forest is dangerous. I wished I could send her home, but I can't leave this place,' he lamented inwardly. Augustus wanted to build friendly relationship with a noblewoman of this dimension.

"Mhm, thank you for everything," Ziyu said, feeling relieved that Augustus was letting her leave.

'Maybe I misunderstood his attention?' she thought, unsure of his intentions.

'Now that I think about it, Elder Bai has been very good to me, making tea, preparing food, asking for my wellness. I'm the one that misunderstood his attention,' Ziyu realized, feeling a twinge of regret.

'Maybe, Senior has taken a liking to me?' Ziyu had grown used to men trying to covet her beauty, giving her gifts and spouting nothing but lies.

'There's no way an immortal like him could take a liking to me. I must be dreaming.' Ziyu blushed as she thought about it.

Augustus watched Ziyu's face turn redder and how she was holding her stomach. She must be in pain. 'Should I get stomachache medicine for her? If I did that, I would probably offend her. I should just pretend I didn't notice anything.'

"I'm taking my leave now, but before I do, please take this," Ziyu said, handing over a bracelet from her wrist. "It's a keepsake from my mother, an old artifact. I never really found a use for it. Maybe Senior knows how to use it?"

[Phoenix Feather Bracelet, Grade 8 Artifact]

[Stats Increase: Fire Qi + 20]

[Passive Effects: Increase Fire Elemental Damage by 500%]

[Requirement: Tribulation Transcendence Realm]

'What the heck? There's no way I can accept this from her,' Augustus thought, his eyes widening in disbelief as he inspected the bracelet with the system.

"It requires you to reach the Transcendence Realm before you can use this," Augustus said to Ziyu, still in shock but he's hiding his expression.

"Transcendence Realm? No wonder I can't use it yet. I'm only at Void Amalgamation Realm," Ziyu looked at her bracelet in amazement.

'What!? A young girl like her is at Void Amalgamation Realm?'

Gulp*

'Thankfully, she's not typical noblewoman,' Augustus thought, feeling a sense of relief.

"Anyway, I can't accept this," Augustus said, his expression solemn. "It's a keepsake from your mother, and it holds immense sentimental value. How about some low-grade equipment? That's enough for me."

Augustus couldn't bear to accept the bracelet from Ziyu, especially since it was a precious artifact that he can't use.

He had only provided her with some humble hospitality by offering her some grilled fish and tea that he made from flowers he gathered around the area. It wouldn't be right to take such an expensive item from her.

Ziyu's eyes lit up as she remembered something. "Hm? I don't have any low-grade equipment on me at the moment, but I do have a peculiar artifact, it has consciousness and it chooses its owner, maybe Senior Bai can subdue it," she suggested. She swiftly pulled out the artifact from her dimensional bag and handed it to Augustus with a hopeful expression.

Augustus, curious about the artifact, inspected it with the system. "It looks like a worn-out sword, let's see," he murmured.

The system displayed the following information:

[Dawnblade, Grade 1 Artifact (Growth-Type)]

[Stats Increases: Locked]

[Active Effects: Locked]

[Passive Effects: Locked]

[Requirement: Qi Refinement Realm]

[This equipment will be bound to you if you use it]

"This looks like a good sword," Augustus exclaimed, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "I'll take this then."

As the system completed the binding, the sword glowed brightly and renewed itself into a sharp blade.

Ziyu looked at the sword with a smile, pleased that Augustus liked her humble gift. "Looks like the sword accepted Senior Bai as the owner. Congratulations," she said.

"Thank you for the sword, I'll be using it from now on," Augustus expressed his gratitude. The sword was even better than he expected, and he couldn't wait to test it out.

The system displayed the renewed information about the sword:

[Dawnblade, Grade 1 Artifact (Growth-Type)]

[Stats Increases: All Stats + 5]

[Active Effects: Blinding Light Lvl 1]

[Passive Effects: Have 1% chance to trigger Blinding Light on attack]

[Requirement: Qi Refinement Realm]

[Blinding Light Lvl 1]

Blinds enemies within a 100-meter radius for two seconds. The user will not be affected by the blind and will be healed instead when exposed to the light.

[Cooldown: 5 Minutes]

Augustus was amazed as he inspected the sword's effects. "How is this only a grade 1 artifact? It even has passive and active skills!" he exclaimed in surprise.

"It even increases all of my stats, including my Qi, which alone is overpowered by itself. This means that, in terms of Qi, I'm almost equivalent to the 9th level of Foundation Establishment." Augustus felt that the increase of five stats was overpowered.

"I'll be going now. See you later, Senior Bai," Ziyu said as she ripped the teleportation talisman on her hand and disappeared into thin air.

"She's gone," Augustus muttered to himself as he found himself alone in the mansion once again.

"Well, now I know that other people exist in this dimension, even though I haven't unlocked the guest features. The people here seem kind too. At least that noblewoman was very kind."

"Ahem... I still have Laura. Even though we are no longer married in the original world, I should still be faithful," Augustus reminded himself of his wife.

"Back to cultivating. I need to get ready to meet the Wang Family later on."

-----

As Ziyu returned to her palace, a group of woman attendants greeted her with respectful bows. "Welcome back, Princess," they said in unison.

Ziyu quickly made her way to her room, feeling the excess Qi in her dantian causing discomfort in her stomach.

A woman attendant approached her politely, "Should I prepare a bath, Your Highness?"

Ziyu commanded her people in a cold demeanor, "Yes, prepare it but I'll go to my room and cultivate first. Do not let anyone in!"

"Noted, I'll prepare the bath right away," the woman attendant replied, bowing again.

After cultivating for a while in her room, Ziyu breathed a sigh of relief. "I can't believe I managed to break through two levels in a single day, just by eating," she thought to herself.

Ziyu reminisced about the grilled fish that she had just eaten a few hours ago, unconsciously drooling at the thought.

She realized that she had turned into a fool because of Senior Bai and slapped herself to snap out of it.

Gulp*

"I should go check out my strength," Ziyu thought, heading to her personal backyard where she usually trained.

There she executed a few moves, converting her Qi into flames. She was then covered by her own flames, unharmed by them.

"My flame feels even stronger now after I drank the tea prepared by Senior," Ziyu noticed.

Even the ground was burnt due to her flames, previously the ground would be perfectly fine, indicating her newfound strength.

She retracted her flames to prevent anything from burning further in her backyard, not wanting to ruin her own property.

After testing her newfound strength, Ziyu luxuriated in a bath before donning fresh clothes.

Stepping out of the bathhouse, she was immediately embraced by her father, who stroked his beard against her face while fawning over her beauty.

"Ziyu, you're back! You've become even more beautiful. You must have suffered a lot. Let me hug you for a bit," he cooed.

Ziyu pushed him away, irritated. "Stop it, Father!"

"I just wanted to hug my daughter," he pouted as she pushed him away.

"Father, I met an immortal - no, a being even greater than that," Ziyu finally spoke up, trying to shift the conversation away from her father's antics.

"Who is this immortal you speak of? Immortals can't reside in the mortal realm," he asked, confused.

Ziyu responded, "Like I said, he's different. He's probably a being even higher than an immortal."

"Then how would you know he's greater than an immortal?" he inquired.

"Remember Mom's bracelet? He just glanced at it and knew exactly how to use it and what was required. He told me that I need to reach the Transcendence Realm to use it," she explained.

"What?! He knew that? I never told anyone before," he exclaimed, stroking his beard in disbelief.

"You knew? Why didn't you tell me? I wasted so much money getting it appraised," Ziyu scolded him.

"It looked good on you, so it didn't matter," he replied.

"Whatever. Besides that, he helped me break through two levels in just one day," she said, elated.

"What?! You engaged in dual cultivation with him? Where is he? I'll kill him right now!" he roared, his anger flaring.

"No! It's not like that! We just ate the fish he grilled. Why are you even saying that?" Ziyu hit her father, mortified.

The emperor gazed at his daughter, Ziyu, with a mischievous glint in his eye. He loved to tease her, knowing she would never get close to a man.

But to his surprise, her reaction was not what he expected. Ziyu was squirming like a cute little child - a side of her that rarely showed to anyone.

"This is dangerous. My daughter has never acted like this before," he thought to himself. He knew he had to investigate further.

"Tell me more about him," the emperor said, his playful tone replaced by seriousness as he learned that a mysterious man had captured his daughter's heart.

"I don't know much about him," Ziyu replied. "He looks like someone barely in his twenties, with silver hair and golden eyes. His name is Yin Bai."

"In his twenties? Silver hair and golden eyes? I have no idea who this person could be, even though silver hair is an extremely rare trait."

The emperor raised an eyebrow. "You said he grilled you some fish and you broke through just by eating it?" he asked incredulously.

Ziyu nodded. "Yes, it might sound unbelievable, but it's true. The fish he grilled was probably not a normal fish. I don't know what it's called, but it had a crown. It was golden before it was cooked."

The emperor's eyes widened in shock. "What?!" he exclaimed. "The color of the fish..."

"It's golden-colored," Ziyu confirmed.

The emperor was bewildered. "Golden? It's the Heavenly King Fish! When I heard that it has a crown, I knew it was at least a thousand years old. My daughter wouldn't lie to me, so it must be true. Heavenly King Fish alone would be hard to find, but at least a thousand years old? That's even rarer."

"Did he give you a piece of the fish, or did he give you the whole thing?" the emperor asked.

"I ate five fish, and I have a stomachache," Ziyu admitted. "That's why I stopped eating."

"Five?!" the emperor exclaimed, dropping to his knees. "That's why she looked a lot younger. It's been a while since I saw my precious Ziyu. It turned out my daughter is enjoying her life while I'm trapped in the palace, forced to do paperwork."

Ziyu looked at her father in confusion. "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with the fish? I got a stomachache because the heavenly qi is too much for me."

"That's the problem, my dear," the emperor said gravely. "The fish is the Heavenly King Fish, at least over a thousand years old, and you ate five of them. Of course, you feel bloated after eating five. I'm even surprised you could eat five."

"The Heavenly King Fish? The fish that we ate every year? But it isn't supposed to be white-colored," Ziyu said, realization dawning on her.

"It's white-colored because it's still growing. The Zhang family has been trying to make the fish grow older for generations but failed to do so. The fishes will always keep dying after reaching ten years old and lose all the good properties. Thus, the Zhang Family decided to just harvest the fish when it's five years old," the emperor explained.

"So, I just ate five thousand years worth of treasures?" Ziyu asked, stunned.

The emperor nodded solemnly. "Yes, my dear. That's why I'm so jealous of you," he said, biting his golden robe and grinding his teeth with it as tears poured out.

Ziyu couldn't believe it. "I feel like I shouldn't tell him about the tea I drank too, or that I gave away our ancestor's sword for free. Let's just keep quiet for now.'

---

With bated breath, Augustus stood before his destination. "Is this the Wang Estate?" he thought to himself. "They say they've yet to make a name for themselves, yet their establishment is decent."

As he stepped inside, he was met with the sight of countless wooden shelves lined with rows upon rows of neatly arranged jars and bottles of medicine. Ancient scrolls adorned the walls, while exotic plants added a touch of mystery and magic to the atmosphere.

Approaching the receptionist with purpose, Augustus declared, "I am here on business. Please inform him that I am Ian Chen's boss."