"This bracelet-type treasure looks interesting."
Aksai remarked as he extracted the bracelet from Lian's wrist, scrutinizing it with his Spirit Sense.
Surprisingly, he discovered it was a 1st-order top-grade Spirit artifact, teetering on the brink of becoming a quasi-2nd-order treasure.
Aksai realized it was this treasure that had enabled Lian to survive his first sudden assault.
Without much hesitation, Aksai donned the bracelet. Despite its association with Lian Lakir, Aksai was confident that the Lakir clan's status would soon crumble in the impending storm. So why should he hesitate?
After erasing Lian's spiritual imprint from the bracelet, Aksai swiftly discerned its functionality. It could fend off attacks from late-stage Spirit Refining cultivators as long as he maintained an ample reserve of Spirit essence. Even those who had mastered the Spirit Refining realm found it challenging to breach its defenses.
However, the bracelet exacted a significant toll on Spirit essence each time it was activated, which explained why Lian had deactivated the defensive layer once he assumed Aksai's attack posed no further threat.
Moreover, the bracelet possessed a secondary function: repelling both physical and mental assaults. This feature could only be utilized once before requiring replenishment either through the wearer's Spirit essence or spirit stones.
"Truly an impressive defensive treasure. It must have been bought for hundreds, if not thousands, of spirit stones.
Lian Lakir is indeed my foremost benefactor. Besides the wealth he carried, even his body can serve as an ideal Scarecrow puppet. I'm profoundly grateful," Aksai reflected as he gazed upon Lian's body, emotions stirring within him. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ N()velFire.net
Had Lian's soul been present, he would have cursed Aksai and his seven generations for subjecting him to servitude even in death. He would have obliterated his own body rather than let Aksai manipulate it. The thought of his body serving Aksai indefinitely would have tormented his soul, reliving the agony of death once more.
Too bad, a certain Spirit farmer didn't care about giving Lian some face after his death.
Aksai lacked any defensive-type Spirit artifacts, prompting him to prioritize wearing the bracelet for his safety before venturing outside to aid Aunt Reta and her son.
"This... this is a flying sword. Unbelievable!"
Aksai marveled at Lian's sword artifact, which had remained unused in the battle and instead stored as a backup in the young man's storage ring.
The blade measured a little over three feet, with a finely carved wooden hilt adorned with various elemental runes. Its silvery blade cast a cold, ruthless gleam under the twilight sky.
Slightly larger than Aksai's current weapon, this sword was clearly crafted from precious materials sourced outside Wuyum County, evident from its lightweight yet durable construction. Once Aksai removed Lian's residual spiritual imprint, the sword responded seamlessly to his Spirit essence.
It appeared tailored for practitioners of the Stellar Greenwood Tantra, given how its wooden hilt resonated harmoniously with Aksai's Spirit essence.
Moreover, the flying sword boasted its own innate Spirit spells, courtesy of the Essence Equations etched onto both surfaces of the blade.
The presence of these two innate weapon spells attested to the artifact's quality and supposedly exorbitant price, making it an unattainable treasure for someone of Aksai's social standing, even with ample spirit stones.
Its primary distinction lay in its ability to enable cultivators to soar through the skies. If Aksai were at the 9th stage of the Spirit Refining realm and possessed this sword, navigating through the dangers en route to Wuyum County would have been effortless.
The 9th stage Spirit Refining realm was usually considered to be the bare minimum for the Spirit cultivators if they wanted to make use of the flying sword. Ideally, it would either be used by those talented cultivators who had perfected their Spirit Refining realm or the Foundation Building Experts.
"Perhaps I can make use of the sword to fly because of my outward Spirit Sense. But the Spirit essence expenditure of the sword wouldn't be something I can take lightly of with my current cultivation.
Plus, I'm not proficient in flying using the spirit artifact. I can't just jump onto this sword and hope for the best.
So I better not use it unless I have practiced enough with it," Aksai decided in his head. Even though he couldn't make use of the flying sword right away, he was glad that he had indeed come to finally possess one for himself.
Aksai still vividly recalled the awe and envy he felt watching other Spirit cultivators effortlessly glide through the skies on their flying swords while he relied on the cultivation world's equivalent of public transport for long-distance travel.
Possessing this sword was akin to owning a personal vehicle; he simply needed to ensure he could handle it proficiently by taking a few solo rides in a safe location before using it in earnest.
"A seventh-stage Spirit Refiner shouldn't usually be able to harness such a treasure. Moreover, the Spirit essence consumption of the sword will be considerable. It's no surprise Lian hesitated to wield it prematurely. Sadly, before he could unveil this sword in battle, he fell by my hand," Aksai pondered, offering a well-reasoned conjecture.
Aksai was glad that he was decisive when it came to dealing with his opponents. He reckoned that Lian would have at least managed to get away from him using the flying sword in conjunction with some rare talisman if he had given the latter enough time.
"Hmm. In honor of my late benefactor's memory, I shall call the flying treasure Lian sword," Aksai nodded to himself before storing it away.
Lian's possessions not only included the Stellar Greenwood Tantra, flying sword, and the defensive Spirit artifact but also a plethora of precious cultivation resources.
Aksai was thrilled to uncover rare 1st and even a few 2nd order Spirit Seeds, likely acquired by Lian from the inheritance ground. The young man wasn't a Spirit farmer like Aksai but he could always hire one.
Lian also possessed a sack full of spirit stones and a few 1st order Spirit spell manuals. Though not of impressive level, these Spirit spells were genuinely offensive and defensive types.
Aksai had only accessed Spirit spells related to his Spirit farming activities until now. It was only through creative use with the help of the neural link fabric that he could employ them for lethal purposes.
The Spirit spells obtained from Lian's collection were the first genuine offensive and defensive Spirit spells he had ever acquired.
Once Aksai finished sorting Lian's belongings, he turned his attention to Haisha's storage ring, proceeding with what he needed before sending his Spirit Sense into it.