Chapter 26 Test Secrets
"So what's going on here?"
Although he could clearly sense the existence of the spirit of the weapon, he had no way of communicating with it.
Could this be a test set by some spirit?
Jia Wenyan kept simulating various possible situations in her mind. She thought that it might be that the spirit of the artifact here didn't like her, but according to the Three Kings Pot, with her current spiritual power, if the spirit of the artifact actively rejected her, she would have no way of sensing it.
With such confusion, she followed the director of the National Museum to a storage room where the authentic Twelve Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crown was stored.
The National Museum's storage room is very professional. Although it is not known whether this room was specially arranged by the other party, the connection between the studio and the storage room did greatly satisfy Jia Wenyan's imagination.
However, before she could get a basic understanding of the surrounding environment, as soon as she stepped into the storage room, she was shocked by the energy that was almost overflowing from the Twelve Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crowns.
There are at least forty weapon spirits in this Twelve Dragon and Nine Phoenix Crown.
She asked why she could clearly sense the existence of the spirit of the weapon but could not communicate with it.
It turned out that all the weapon spirits had gathered in the weapon spirit space of the Twelve Dragon and Nine Phoenix Crown to hold a meeting.
She tentatively opened her golden pupil of time, but as soon as she moved, a female voice with a very stern tone came into her mind.
"During the examination period, no outsiders are allowed to enter."
Examination... for outsiders? Weapon spirits also need to take examinations?
Jia Wenyan was startled by the sudden sound. But because Director Liu of the National Museum of China was right next to her, she couldn't show any exaggerated reaction.
Director Liu: "Director Jia, you can use the studio inside to do your work later. If you have any needs during this period, you can always call our contact staff."
"Okay, thank you Director Liu, I will complete the reproduction as soon as possible and will not delay the museum's work too much."
Jia Wenyan nodded and responded. Although she didn't know what happened to the cultural relics in the National Museum, the most urgent thing was to find the Twelve Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crown, which was the root of the problem, and ask for clarification.
Soon in the workshop, she was surveying and tentatively sensing the Twelve Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crown on the workbench in front of her.
After all, it is a national treasure known as the most beautiful crown. Although I have known the appearance of the Twelve Dragons and Nine Phoenixes Crown for a long time, the amazement of seeing it with my own eyes is far beyond what a photo can achieve. Even though the real thing in front of me is no longer the original one, it does not affect the Phoenix Crown to once again show its beauty in front of the world.
Especially many details of the features cannot be effectively reproduced by photos alone unless seen closely. However, it is unknown whether her frequent attempts annoyed the other party. When she tried to communicate with him for the fourth time, her consciousness was finally brought into the spirit space by the other party.
"Is this... the spirit space of the Twelve Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crown?"
After entering the spirit space, Jia Wenyan quickly collected all the information she could use. She wanted to solve the "strange phenomenon" in the National Museum storage room as soon as possible, but before she could find any clues.
She was shocked by the scene before her which looked like a martial arts arena in a fairy tale drama.
On the martial arts arena that was as big as a football field, weapon spirits that had transformed into human forms were constantly circulating their spiritual power. The one who controlled all of this was a woman wearing blue feather armor.
At this moment, she was swinging a long whip in her hand that was engraved with twelve golden dragon patterns on it in the martial arts arena.
The whipping of the long whip caused the entire martial arts arena to occasionally emit the sound of bricks shattering. But surprisingly, no matter how many times the woman whipped, her long whip never landed on any weapon spirit.
"So she is the spirit of the Twelve Dragons and Nine Phoenixes Crown?" Jia Wenyan thought to herself. However, before she could analyze the situation, the woman in blue feather armor on the martial arts field turned around and said as if she had heard her thoughts:
[Yes, I am Cui Yushang, the spirit of the Twelve Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crown.]
"Hello, senior. I am Jia Wenyan, the curator of Yong'an Museum. I came here hoping to..."
[You hope to inherit my skills, right? I already know. 】
"Got it? So what are you doing?"
[Selecting the weapon spirits that are qualified to be taken away by you. 】
"A weapon spirit that is worthy of being taken away by me?" Jia Wenyan was confused for a moment, but the weapon spirits in the martial arts arena had already noticed her presence and had been secretly casting expectant glances at her.
Jia Wenyan had no idea what was going on, but Cui Yushang, who was standing at the front of the training ground, had already reacted immediately.
Her long whip fell on the training ground with a noise caused by the friction of the air.
Although it looked like a venue with very fine workmanship and quality from the outside, Cui Yushang's whip still left visible cracks all over the entire training ground.
[Don’t you know what you are doing now? If you don’t want to take the exam, you can quit at any time. I will never stop you. ]
So what is this…is this the elimination scene of the disciples of the Demon Cult?
Jia Wenyan was completely confused. Cui Yushang in the martial arts arena finally explained her behavior.
[This is a test to determine who can be taken away by you along with my clone.]
[I have learned the purpose of your visit from the weapon spirit from Xian'an. I can open the inheritance of metal and kingfisher feather crafts for you, but in return I also hope that you can use my clone to take away the weapon spirit that won this selection. ]
"The winning weapon spirit?"
[Yes, I and other spirits have done a very strict calculation of your current spiritual energy, and your current spiritual energy is enough to support a young spirit.]
[I hope you can bring the winner of this trial back to your museum, and let him/her get as much spiritual feedback from visitors as possible after reshaping his/her body.]
"I see. You mean that the spirit of an artifact can improve its spiritual power by deepening its impression in human memory, right?"
[Yes, the more attention a weapon spirit receives, the stronger it is. Similarly, the less attention a weapon spirit receives, the weaker it is. This is the life pattern destined for weapon spirits as part of history. I hope you can bring a weapon spirit back to Xian'an and help it improve its strength by gaining public attention and recognition, just like the red jade porcelain box.]
"I can understand improving their strength, but why do you want me to take them back to Xian'an? This is the National Museum, the museum with the most rare cultural relics and the largest flow of visitors in the country."
[What you said is why I hope you can bring one more spirit back with you.]
【Wait a mininute. 】
[You wine jar over there, why are you being lazy? Do you know how much energy it takes for me to open a training space like this? Even if you have no hope of being selected, you have to persist in training and complete this entire exam.]
After Cui Yushang finished speaking, he waved the whip again to wake up the drowsy brown-haired little fat boy at the end of the team.
Jia Wenyan: "Senior, this is..."
[A small wine jar, it is a spirit that was born in the National Museum not long ago, but he is not able to fully control his spirit body as a spirit, so he feels like he is soaked in a wine jar all day, and he is drowsy. Okay, let's continue the previous topic. ]
Cui Yushang: [You are right. The National Museum is the most famous museum in Donghuang. However, it is precisely because the National Museum, as a facade, gathers too many precious cultural relics from all over the country. Most people who come to the National Museum have no way to clearly understand the history behind each cultural relic. ]
[It may be okay for locals who have lived in Beijing for a long time, but for most foreign tourists, apart from the few treasures in the museum, most of the exhibits in the National Museum are just passing encounters in the eyes of tourists. ]
[Although the National Museum has provided us with a very superior protective environment, as artifact spirits we also have our own needs. We are the product of spiritual culture, and we need people's attention and recognition to improve ourselves.]
[There is certainly no problem with national treasures in this regard, but for those relatively inferior artifacts, ordinary tourists will not pay attention to them at all. Even many artifacts placed in corners have never appeared in the sight of tourists.]
[I understand that those foreign tourists who have limited time to visit would choose to focus on the key treasures of the museum. But the problem is that for these little spirits, they can only grow if they are remembered by more people. So since I learned about you and the red jade porcelain box, I have already made a plan. I want you to take one of the spirits back with you and give her a chance to get the same attention as the red jade porcelain box.]
[As for this selection trial, it is the result of my thinking and design based on the current situation. ]
Jia Wenyan: "So you mean that all the weapon spirits in this space right now are skill-oriented and have production capabilities?"
[Yes, just like the wine jar that just dozed off, it has a lot of winemaking techniques. But now that your spiritual root can only take away one instrument spirit, we must select the one with the most perseverance and the one that deserves the most attention from this group of instrument spirits.]
[At the moment, they are being suppressed by my spiritual power, trying their best to gather the spiritual power in the long river of time.]
[Although their origins are different, under the suppression of my weapon spirit space, the speed at which all of them acquire spiritual power will be adjusted to the same level. In other words, whichever weapon spirit can last the longest under my pressure and accumulate the most spiritual power will be the one who is most likely to seize the opportunity when it comes.]
"I understand, but I would like to ask, why are all the spirits gathered here in female form? And..."
[They are all a bunch of babies, right? ]
【That’s because they are the representatives who have been ignored. 】
Cui Yushang patted Jia Wenyan on the shoulder while saying this.
[There are two main situations in which a tool spirit is born. One is a token like me and the Three Kings Pot that carries a certain identity symbol and meaning, while the other is a tool that is closely related to a certain technology.]
[For example, kitchen knives for cutting vegetables, silver needles for embroidery, hammers for forging, and brushes for painting, etc. ]
[After creating a series of legendary works, these tools will also have the opportunity to develop self-awareness and become tool spirits. But the difference is that for these tool spirits, their popularity is closely related to the status and fame of their users in history.]
[And all of these artifacts in front of you are miniatures of female craftsmen of that era. 】
[You are lucky to live in an era where women have the opportunity to prove themselves. But in our era, many female craftsmen were still restricted because of their female identity even if they made achievements.]
[A craftsman should refer to a person who has the skills to master craftsmanship. However, under the influence of the old society, except for embroidery, which is defined as a female profession, it is difficult for female craftsmen to get due recognition in the male-dominated market.]
[This also directly leads to the fact that many fine products made by female craftsmen are not as well-known as those made by male craftsmen. ]
[As a result, even if these tools have their own self-awareness after making one treasure after another, it is difficult for them to get the same attention as the "tools" of other male craftsmen. ]
Jia Wenyan: "So Hongyu is also..."
[Yes, that's right. The same is true of the red jade porcelain box in your museum. Even if its maker mixed the rouge and powder well, it would not be recognized by the world.]
[So I hope you can help these artifact spirits achieve the achievements they deserve, just like Hongyu did.]
"I see. So how is the trial going so far?"
[Currently, the number one is this "little friend." ]
"Is this... Bingjian?"
[Yes, her name is Bingtang. Don’t be fooled by her small appearance. To be honest, she is a spirit that was born at the same time as me.]
[Her original owner was a female chef in the Shangshi Bureau. She was best at making all kinds of snacks. But I think you also know that the chef industry has always been dominated by men. Although this is a basic skill that every woman must master in the old society, in the eyes of the world, women's cooking is more to serve their male husbands, rather than to achieve their own pursuits. ]
[This female chef grew up in such an environment. She was born into a royal family, but her father never taught her any banquet-style main dishes. All she had access to were the snacks that were used to please people after dinner.]
[But this female chef did not give up. Although she was forbidden to touch or learn those regular meals, she relied on her own efforts to make the so-called snacks and desserts to perfection.]
[She relied on her dessert skills to avoid the fate of being married as a concubine. Many concubines and princes and princesses in the palace liked her desserts very much. But desserts are not full meals after all, and her female identity restricted her from making anything even if she did it well. No one would regard her as a famous chef.]
[So over the years, even though her most frequently used ice jar was finally given birth to a spirit as a cultural relic, it never grew into a divine tool that represented the skills of a master in the eyes of the world, like other tool spirits of the same period.]
[I think if it were her, she should be able to gain recognition from the world in this era through her skills, just like Hongyu.]
"So you want me to bring rock sugar back and open a pastry shop selling traditional desserts?"
[That's basically it. This child has a very stubborn personality. Since she entered my spirit space, she has been more hardworking than other spirits. So if I have to choose a spirit to take away, I would recommend her as the first choice.]
"I understand what you mean, but the game isn't over yet. Does this mean you are destroying the fairness of the game?"
[What's the big deal? Don't worry. Although my spiritual pressure will have a certain impact on the spiritual power extraction of the weapon spirits, their spiritual strength will also be tempered accordingly under my Fengyi pressure. This is why many weapon spirits, even though they have completely fallen behind in progress, still choose to stay in my weapon spirit space obediently.]
[As for my suggestion to you to choose "Bingtang", although at first glance it does affect the balance of the competition, you can look at the data. Since I officially opened the selection three days ago, Bingtang is the only weapon spirit who has persisted in his own cultivation all the time in the three days.]
[Originally I was thinking of waiting until I had decided the final result before bringing you into the weapon spirit space, but seeing that you were outside with all sorts of thoughts and looked impatient, I dragged you in early.]
[I will continue to use my own pressure to help the spirit inside to cultivate, and you should also take advantage of this time to complete the study of the craftsmanship of my Twelve Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crown as soon as possible.]
"Wait, wait, I haven't finished what I want to say."
【Time is tight, so if there is anything, learn and talk about it later. 】
After Cui Yushang finished speaking, he swung his whip and threw Jia Wenyan into another parallel world in the spirit space.
As one of the National Museum's treasures, the spirit space of the Twelve Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crown also has a very exquisite layout.
Jia Wenyan easily found the props she needed in it.
A spacious workshop, coupled with an endless supply of materials that can even be completely cost-free, can be said to be a working environment that every craftsman would envy. But at this moment, Jia Wenyan was completely uninterested, because the moment Cui Yushang sent her into the workshop space, the entire process of making the Twelve Dragons and Nine Phoenix Crown appeared in her mind.
This includes the most cruel "feather stripping".
I believe that when many people mention kingfisher jewellery, they would imagine how many kingfishers the craftsmen have to kill and capture in order to obtain enough feathers from such a small kingfisher to make a set of kingfisher jewellery.
Jia Wenyan understood that this was the most traditional kingfisher inlay technique, but when she saw kingfishers locked in cages one after another on her workbench, she found it really hard to bring herself to do it.
Of course, as an omnivore who eats both meat and vegetables, Jia Wenyan never considered herself a saint who couldn't bear to kill. But the kingfisher in front of her was not a poultry or livestock that was originally raised for meat.
It's like the different definitions of pet pigs and meat pigs. It's really difficult for her to attack such birds without any psychological barriers.
Even though she knew that everything in front of her was just an illusion created by the Twelve Dragons and Nine Phoenixes Crown through spiritual power in the artifact spirit space, everything that was fabricated was too real, so Jia Wenyan had no way of treating those "alive" existences in her eyes as part of the artifact.
"Can I not use these kingfisher feathers?"
[Oh? You want to give up the inheritance of the kingfisher feather craft. ]
"No, I just don't think there's any necessary connection between the kingfisher feather inlay technique and the random slaughter."
"It is true that kingfishers will struggle to death after being captured by humans, but they must be kept within a certain range so that humans can always obtain a certain amount of kingfishers' feathers after they molt or die naturally."
[But have you ever thought that the feathers of kingfishers are like human hair, and the quality of their feathers will only deteriorate as they age? ]
[This is the case with kingfishers that are slaughtered on site, not to mention the "inferior" ones that are eliminated during the natural shedding process. Do you really think that those inferior feathers can be used to create fine products that can represent the inheritance of the kingfisher feather technique?]
Jia Wenyan: "No...I think..."
[Don't be silly, humans are at the top of the food chain in nature, and humans are not the only killers of kingfishers in nature.]
The cruelty of kingfisher feather carving is a well-known fact. But why do so many people continue to pursue the possibility of this memory for so many years?
Ultimately, it is just because of human beings' endless pursuit of desires.
Inlaying kingfisher feathers has never been a noble skill. If you want to inherit the tradition of inlaying kingfisher feathers, you should understand the darkness behind this tradition. 】
"But I don't believe that it's impossible to make a good design with ordinary feathers."
Jia Wenyan argued with reason, but all she got in return was a sneer from Cui Yushang.
[Yes, I admit that as long as the craftsman has good design and skills, even ordinary feathers can be used to create excellent works, but the question is when you use other materials to create works, will you think about whether this work will have a chance to become better if the best materials are used? ]
[It is admirable to turn decay into magic, but for a work, the highest ceiling is to maximize all aspects. 】
[If you create with this mindset, your work will always have room for improvement that you cannot ignore.]
"Then work hard to use craftsmanship to elevate ordinary materials to a level comparable to kingfisher feathers."
"The reason why kingfisher feathers are used as the material for inlaying kingfisher feathers is that people love their bright colors. Besides, not every kingfisher's feathers are good enough to be used as the material for the work."
"The length, thickness, color, and the inevitable anti-corrosion work are all processed. In ancient times, it may have been limited by the dyeing process, but in modern times, I think we are fully capable of solving this problem."
"As long as we can create a formula that can replace the green feather, we can replicate and reproduce the process of inlaying green feathers on a large scale."
But what if I insist?
"Then I will go find other kingfisher-inlaid cultural relics."
"Materials are the foundation of cultural relics. Since you already have your own self-awareness, I don't believe that you don't understand what kind of resentment is carried by those extremely gorgeous kingfisher feathers on your body."
"I don't believe there is any Jadeite spirit in this world willing to end this meaningless torture."
After Jia Wenyan finished speaking, she began to circulate her spiritual power, preparing to leave the spirit space by her own strength. However, before she could gather her spiritual power.
The kingfishers in front of her turned into extremely black symbols amid Cui Yushang's laughter.
Jia Wenyan: "What is this?"
【My curse.】
"curse?"
[Yes, it is a curse. I think the Three Kings Pot should have mentioned to you the saying that the spirit of the artifact protects its master.]
[The spirit of the weapon is the product of the combination of history and faith. 】
[This is just like what you humans call heirlooms. Many artifacts that have spirits will use their abilities to bestow various blessings on the humans they recognize.]
[For example, your Dean Zhen has received blessings from many artifact spirits in the Xian'an Museum. ]
[As long as these blessed humans are willing to treat the artifacts well and face everything around them with kindness, the blessings of the artifact spirits will last forever. On the contrary, if the blessed humans choose to abandon their original intentions, then what will greet them will be a curse that reverses the blessing.]
"So what you're saying is that if I attack those kingfishers just now, I will be cursed by you?"
[Hmm, who knows? ]
"Then isn't your mechanism a bit unfair? After all, those who don't know about the existence of weapon spirits have a different concept from me."
"Whether people are informed of this kind of thing may really affect their choices."
【So you don’t have these blessings. 】
Cui Yushang said this, while reaching out to stroke Jia Wenyan's long hair and continued:
"As a spiritual power holder, you and ordinary people are in two completely different systems."
"Ordinary people maintain blessings by doing good deeds, but a vessel like you who knows everything accumulates blessings through every act of kindness."
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