Phil's Choice

Du Chen then opened the third Sacred Artifact Box, obtained from the tomb's secret chamber.

This box contained two items. One was a blue crystal the size of a thumb-pad, its purpose utterly unknown. The other was a ring. Just a glance at it had Du Chen inwardly exclaiming, *Good heavens, this must be worth a fortune!* Normally, wealth held little appeal for Du Chen, but this ring was truly exquisite!

The ring's band was crafted from iridescent crystal, and upon closer inspection, Du Chen realized this shimmering material was actually polished magic crystal from a High-level Aberrant Beast. The craftsmanship was superb; despite the crystal being reshaped through grinding, its inherent properties seemed utterly undiminished. It was astounding to imagine destroying the pristine form of a magic crystal—a material that commanded exorbitant prices but was never available for sale—yet retaining its full functionality. This level of artistry alone made the ring priceless.

But that was only the band. The ring was also set with a tiny diamond. Compared to the magnificent magic crystal band, the diamond seemed insignificant, almost an unworthy adornment that threatened the ring's overall harmony. Yet, this particular diamond glowed a fiery red, transforming it into the perfect accent, a 'finishing touch' that made the piece truly unique!

Unconsciously, Du Chen removed the necklace from his neck—the protective amulet Phil had left him, remarkably similar to Yetha's Holy Relic, The Weeping Tear, and still containing a woman's tear. Both the necklace and the ring possessed a striking congruence; staring at the pendant of the necklace seemed to reveal a vast, boundless ocean, while gazing at the fiery red crystal on the ring evoked roaring, furious flames.

Undoubtedly, even if the necklace and ring weren't treasures of the same kind, they certainly shared some profound connection!

Du Chen, feeling rather awkward, slid the ring onto the pinky finger of his left hand. He raised his hand, fiddling with it, a deep sense of unease bubbling up. Yet, if it was a treasure, it was better to try wearing it. Du Chen had never worn rings or any other adornments before; it was a fundamental tenet of the Clandestine Circles that a nimble hand must never be burdened by anything, save for the delicate iron wire wound around the wrist for lock-picking, or 'fishing' as they called it!

However, after experimenting for a long while, Du Chen couldn't uncover the ring's special properties. Frustrated, he picked up the blue crystal. “Brook, ladies, come over and help me take a look at these things!”

Deboning and the Grand Matriarchs also found no discernible function for the ring. Instead, their attention was captivated by the blue crystal, examining it with astonishment. Deboning was the first to praise, “What astonishing water-element power! Young Master, this must be a landscape image left behind by a water-element High-level Battle God, utilizing the Water Mirror Image Secret Technique. It surely contains something of great importance!”

*Could this be this world's version of a camcorder?!* Du Chen was immensely interested. He never imagined the Battle God World would possess such ‘high-tech’ artifacts.

“How do we activate this thing?”

“Let me give it a try!” Lucy called over a few of her sisters. “A few of us here are water-element Battle Gods and have some experience researching Water Mirror Images!”

The Grand Matriarchs gathered, forming a circle hand-in-hand, with the blue crystal suspended in its center. Moments later, a faint blue light slowly coalesced around each Grand Matriarch. The light intensified, eventually converging on Grand Matriarch Lucy’s forehead. Lucy closed her eyes briefly, then snapped them open, two beams of light shooting from her beautiful eyes and pouring into the blue crystal.

*Whoosh…* A sudden breeze swept through the dense forest, rustling the leaves with a soft *soughing* sound. Suddenly, the blue crystal burst forth, emitting a brilliant azure light that gradually coalesced into a human figure!

“Cough! Hey, whoever you are… no matter who you are, you’re truly trying to infuriate me to death!”

The voice was sweet and crisp, emanating from the ethereal figure itself. Lucy exclaimed in shock, “How powerful! To be able to leave a voice within a Water Mirror Image requires the advanced Secret Technique of Water Ripple Resonance! The Battle God who created this Water Mirror Image must be at least two ranks higher than me!”

Deboning nodded, staring at the figure. He murmured, “Young Master, it's your mother, Saintess Phil. I never realized her true strength was enough to embed resonant sound waves within a Water Mirror Image. Based on this alone, her true power is not much less than mine. At least that’s the case now!” With that, he let out a somewhat self-deprecating laugh. Indeed, after lurking in the Saint Sigurd Cain Estate for so many years, Saint Deboning still didn't know the Saintess’s true strength—this was truly humiliating, a complete disgrace!

Phil’s voice continued, “To anyone who isn't blood-related to me, please excuse yourselves. What follows is a private family matter. Even if I invited you to listen, you wouldn’t feel comfortable, would you?”

Du Chen let out a wry chuckle. *This Phil… when she was younger, she must have been a meticulous yet playfully mischievous young girl. Hmm, little Beibei will probably grow up to be just like this!*

After Deboning and the Grand Matriarchs instinctively departed, Du Chen observed Phil's projection.

There she sat, crossing her legs on a large rosewood chair, clad in a blue robe. One hand held a plate, while the other continuously plucked grapes from it and tossed them into her mouth. If Deboning had witnessed this scene, he would have been astounded, for what incredible power did it take to record an image while simultaneously enjoying food with such leisure and comfort!?

However, Du Chen’s attention was more focused on Phil’s face. He had already seen Phil's appearance in the portrait Sherine had given him—a very beautiful woman with a hint of shrewdness in her brows. But that portrait depicted Phil in her youth, looking only seventeen or eighteen. The Phil in the current projection, though still appearing young, seemed to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight—meaning this recording was made sometime before Phil’s 'death'!

In other words, over a decade ago, Phil already possessed such terrifying strength. What if she had lived until now?

Calculating it, the Phil who was still alive should now be in her early to mid-forties, a period when a Battle God’s strength progresses fastest!

Startled by the immense power of his mother, Phil, Du Chen quietly watched the projection. Phil swallowed a few more grapes, then sighed, saying, “You’ve managed to find even these deeply hidden clues I laid out. Damn it, it seems fate has decreed you walk this path of no return!” She shook her head sharply. “No, it should be said that from the moment you found the Art of Artifact Annihilation, your destiny was already abandoned by the heavens!”

Phil shrugged. “Since you’ve found your way here, listen to what I have to say. Remember every word.”

“The Art of Artifact Annihilation—you must have seen it by now. First, I’ll tell you everything about it. The Art of Artifact Annihilation is a Secret Technique for breaking sacred artifacts, developed by our ancestors who poured their entire lives into it, synthesizing the wisdom of countless predecessors. This Secret Technique consists of two parts: first, your own battle qi strength, and second, the sequential cipher-maps of various sacred artifact locks, along with the methods to decipher them! If you reach the rank of Titled Battle God and cultivate the Art of Artifact Annihilation to its highest realm, then, theoretically, you will be able to completely disregard the artifact spirit of any sacred artifact and decipher any sacred artifact below Nine-Star rank!”

Upon hearing this, a stone finally dropped from Du Chen’s chest. *What!? The highest realm only lets you decipher Nine-Star artifacts? And I have to reach the level of a top Titled Battle God!? And it’s only theoretical!? What the hell kind of joke is this?! What use is that, anyway?!*

When Young Master Fu Third broke Zigurd’s Nine-Star Cloud Mist Chains, in the professional jargon of their Clandestine Circles, he merely employed the ‘Sixteen Pillars’ technique, and without any external aid! Furthermore, Du Chen’s highest level was ‘Twenty-Four Pillars’! And Du Chen had long since mastered unique secret lock techniques beyond the ‘Twenty-Four Pillars’ technique, even achieving further breakthroughs…

Next, Phil slowly expounded on the various key points of the Art of Artifact Annihilation, but Du Chen had little interest in listening. He picked up the Art of Artifact Annihilation, flipped through it for a couple of pages, constantly pursing his lips before spitting on the ground.

“The Art of Artifact Annihilation is exquisitely ingenious, yet it ultimately defies the natural order. That’s why I stipulated that you must reach Nine-Star Battle God before you could open that box and seek out the clues I left behind. This is because, when deciphering a sacred artifact that possesses an artifact spirit, you will face a backlash from that artifact spirit!!”

Phil spoke with utmost gravity and solemnity. But Du Chen…

He casually put away the Art of Artifact Annihilation, muttering, “How should I put this?” He mused aloud, “My lock-picking technique involves opening a lock in the normal sequence, directly making the artifact spirit mistakenly believe I am its master, thereby acknowledging mastery! Whereas the Art of Artifact Annihilation… it has indeed figured out a part of the lock’s structure, but then it went astray… Alas, it doesn’t pick the lock using normal techniques. Instead, it exploits its understanding of the lock body’s structure to funnel battle qi along the internal patterns to the core, directly communicating with and suppressing the artifact spirit!”

Du Chen shook his head. “The so-called 'theoretically a Titled Battle God can decipher Nine-Star sacred artifacts'… Hah, isn't that just knowing the lock's structure, sending a Ten-Star battle qi to the artifact spirit, and forcing a Nine-Star artifact spirit into submission?”

Suddenly, Du Chen thought of his elder brother, Steve. In that guy’s words… “Ha!” Du Chen couldn't help but laugh. “Rape comes in many forms. My technique is the most advanced form of ‘seduction,’ tricking the innocent girl, and then having her devotedly follow you afterward! Whereas the Art of Artifact Annihilation is ‘violent coercion.’ After it’s done, even if you force the girl to stay by your side, you’ll constantly have to worry about her retaliation… That’s the difference, isn’t it? Heh heh!”

Du Chen looked at the grave-faced Phil, who was still speaking, and chuckled, “My mother Phil, your Art of Artifact Annihilation is quite backward. However, to conceive of such a method within the limitations of that era’s environment already marks you as exceptionally intelligent individuals. As someone who benefits from the advantages of a later era, I’m hardly in a position to mock you!”

After a while, Phil finished explaining the Art of Artifact Annihilation. She suddenly flashed a radiant smile. “Though I don’t truly believe Arges could find this place, just to be safe, tell me now: are you Arges, or are you my son!?”

Phil’s question stunned Du Chen for a long moment. Firstly, the question was too sudden and bizarre. Secondly, Phil was merely an image right now. Even if Du Chen wanted to answer, could she even hear him?!

But Du Chen hadn't anticipated that Phil had already solved this predicament. She plucked two grapes from her plate, letting them levitate before her, and effectively, before Du Chen. “Water Mirror Image, water ripple sound waves… not bad, are my two Secret Arts? Now, witness my true Secret Art, the Water Curtain Splendor Wheel!”

Phil's fingertips touched the two grapes individually. “If you are Arges, tap the left grape. If you are my son, tap the right grape!”

A ridiculous, absurd feeling welled up in Du Chen’s heart. *Phil, are you always this mischievous even when entrusting a life-and-death mission?*

Du Chen gave a bitter smile and shook his head before tapping the right grape.

Phil's expression suddenly grew solemn, like a Grand Marshal on the battlefield outlining battle plans that would determine the empire's survival. “My son, your mother has an exceptionally arduous task to entrust to you, a mission of nine deaths and one life… First, tell me, do you have a wife or a lover you cannot abandon? If you fear their heartbreak, then close this image now!”