Oh shii...

Adults became silent. Make a new one? It was not a joke to create a such powerful artifact. Girls looked on amusedly at the rapid changes of expressions on their fathers' faces.

Both of the girls acted more confident nowadays. Was it the result of their current cultivation rise, their dangerous adventures, or their restored friendship, their fathers' had no idea. But they liked that they have outgrown their shyness.

"So what about that Kong Ming's throne?" Ye Ziyun asked. Xiao Ning'er also looked on with interest.

Ye Zong described the function of the throne artifact. It was no joke. No one could create such a powerful artifact willy-nilly. Even Nie Li's mysterious master. All of the artifacts nowadays are remnants from the ancient ages.

But the girls didn't look impressed. As if an artifact, that could allow someone to reach the Legend rank guaranteedly, was something they saw every day.

"Was there somewhere on it a writing saying something like 'Those who follow me will be honored, those who oppose me will perish…'? " Ye Ziyun asked.

Ye Zong was surprised. The writing on top of the throne was written in the Sacred Empire era language and the expert they brought could only partially translate it. So the meaning wasn't entirely clear. But his daughter's words made complete sense. "So you have seen it?" he said half questioningly.

Girls looked even more amused now.

"That rascal. He has no shame," said Ye Ziyun smiling fondly.

"He is not that bad, just crafty" Xiao Ning'er replied defending Nie Li's position, also smiling gently.

Ye Zong and Xiao Yunfeng looked at each other meaningfully.

"What do you mean by that?" Ye Zong asked.

"We have been to Kong Ming's Underground Palace with him in the Ancient Orchid City Ruins. There was nothing like that throne there. But that words were written in several locations. Most likely they were Kong Ming's signature words," Ye Ziyun replied. "That's why we think that Nie Li made the throne himself."

"Are you saying the throne is fake?" Xiao Yunfeng asked. It was a dangerous endeavor to offer a fake artifact to the auction. Also, how the City Lord and other experts could have missed the forgery?

"No," Xiao Ning'er replied. "The artifact is most likely real. But it never belonged to an ancient expert."

"I doubt that Kong Ming would have been interested in such an artifact anyway." Ye Ziyun added.

"Why do you think so?" Ye Zong asked. He and Xiao Yunfeng were feeling as if they were ignorant youth getting lectured on worldly matters.

Girls looked at each other silently conversing. Then as if coming to some conclusion both nodded. They slowly revealed similar necklaces they were wearing. Only colors were different.

"Nie Li made these necklaces from the abstruse gemstone he found in Kong Ming's tomb." Ye Ziyun replied. "They can accelerate the cultivation speed by 2 times. And, unlike that throne, will not lose its effectiveness even for a Legend rank."

Girls passed the necklaces to their fathers. After getting into contact with their aura, abstruse gemstones began actively working. Adults could feel that their soul force start to flow through their meridians at an accelerated pace and their souls being nourished as if they were heavily meditating.

Both of them were astonished. Especially, Ye Zong, who had tested the throne artifact recently. He could clearly say that the throne was nothing compared to these necklaces.

"And your classmate made these?" asked Xiao Yunfeng incredulously passing the necklace back.

"Yes," said Xiao Ning'er proudly smiling at the necklace in her hands.

"Granted, he had done so using the abstruse gemstone necklace he found, but it must not be easy to divide one artifact into three," Ye Ziyun added.

Only now that girls wore the necklaces Ye Zong and Xiao Yunfeng noticed that the color of the gemstones matched the colors of the girls' hair.

Ye Zong was even more frustrated. The kid can make artifacts also!? It was considered a lost art. In the current age, no one knew how to create artifacts. Even the ancient books didn't have any records of how to create them. The value of Nie Li was rising up quickly.

"What's his current cultivation level?" he asked the girls.

"We don't know. But higher than ours in any case." Ye Ziyun replied.

Ye Zong contemplated all of the information he heard trying to create a full picture. But it was not easy. Facts and inconsistencies were all over the place. How did Nie Li's master teach so many things in such a short time? Why did he choose him? Did that master exist or was it fake as the girls claimed? If the master didn't exist where did Nie Li get all of that knowledge?

He had a couple of suspicions about how it could be done. For example, the Spiritual Constellation Technique could allow someone to be reborn into a new body. But his investigation of the kid's background indicated a normal childhood until recently and he doesn't show any negative side effects of that technique.

Still, he couldn't simply forget about it, especially considering his close contact with his daughter. Nie Li even predicted his actions with the throne artifact and told his daughter to warn him.

"When did he ask you to tell me about the artifact?" he asked his daughter.

"In the morning." Ye Ziyun replied. That means he did after delivering the artifact to the Alchemy Association.

"I heard that you haven't left the mansion today. How was he able to contact you here?" Was he able to enter and leave his mansion undetected?

Now girls looked uncomfortable, making Ye Zong's and Xiao Yunfeng's worries grow. What were their daughters hiding? The more girls stayed silent, the fiercer the protective instincts of the fathers became.

Looking at their faces girls understood that keeping it secret was impossible.

"Well, we have another artifact." Ye Ziyun and Xiao Ning'er showed matching bracelets in their hands. "They are long-distance communication devices."

"Long-distance communication? How does that work?" Xiao Yunfeng asked the question that was in Ye Zong's mind.

"We will show you." girls walked a bit distance from each other and started doing something in the air above the bracelets. Then suddenly glowing half-transparent heads of the girls appeared above each other's bracelets surprising their fathers.

"Hello," Xiao Ning'er voice was heard from two sources: herself and Ye Ziyuns bracelet.

"How does it work?" Ye Zong walked up to his daughter and started to inspect the bracelet.

"It's based on some mineral called sympathetic stones. They allow the information to pass between the phones. Inscriptions, Nie Li tried to explain to me, but it went above my head." Ye Ziyun sighed. Her current knowledge of inscriptions was still low.

"What's the longest distance they can contact each other?" Xiao Yunfeng asked.

"According to Nie Li, there are no limits. It should get connected anywhere in the world, even to subsidiary worlds."

Ye Zong was impressed. Such a useful artifact. The fact that kids knew about the subsidiary worlds didn't surprise him. The kids had already shown him that they knew more than most adults in the city.

"And he made them himself?" Ye Zong asked. If he could buy a couple of these it would have solved some very pressing problems the city had. For example, long-distance scouts would be more effective, and he wouldn't have to wait for months to get news from his father.

"Yes," Ye Ziyun answered.

"How many did he make? Are you the only ones who have them?"

"No our friends have their own too." Ye Ziyun replied. "But Nie Li is keeping its existence secret, so only our close friends have them." She could understand why his father was so interested in cell phones. It was impossible to underestimate the strategic importance of such an artifact, but she didn't want her father pressuring Nie Li about that. She could imagine how Nie Li would respond to that.

Ye Zong also understood the meaning of his daughter's words, so he didn't ask if Nie Li would be willing to sell some.

"I think we need to have a face-to-face meeting with him." Ye Zong returned to his seat. "There are some matters we must discuss personally. Can you contact him and call him here? I think it would be more discreet that sending a guard."

"Okay," responded Ye Ziyun a bit worried. They had expected and joked about the meeting between their parents and Nie Li but when it came to the actual meeting it was making her anxious. "We will return to our room and call him."

"Why? Can't you call him from here?" Ye Zong narrowed her eyes.

"Ah, well" she looked at Xiao Ning'er who was avoiding her father's eyes and staying silent. "Okay."

She again did the same manipulations above the bracelet. Ye Zong wondered what did those mean.

A full-body image of Nie Li appeared. He was tinkering with a large elongated object that floated in the air in front of him, not looking at them.

"So how're my favorite girls doing?" his clear and joyful voice was heard in the silent room.

"Nie Li," Ye Ziyun hissed, blushing under her father's raised brow. "My father and lord Xiao Yunfeng are here." Xiao Ning'er was also completely red under her father's amused look.

"Oh, shii…, ugh I mean..." Everything around Nie Li disappeared and Nie Li turned towards them. "City Lord, Lord Xiao Yunfeng, this junior greets you." Nie Li cupped his hands and bowed to them.