165: About the source

Chu Mu looked at the brocade bag Chu Jingyu had taken out; several strands of colorful silk threads drilled into the mouth of the bag, and thumb-sized Source Spirit Stones were pulled out from the bag's opening one by one.

Then, as if they were glistening stars suspended in the air, Chu Mu waved his palm toward a corner of the ancestral hall.

The Source Spirit Stones suspended in mid-air within the great hall were moved, heading toward the corner.

The Chu Family Father and Son looked closely at the corner and discovered that only a black stone lotus statue existed there. Was this not the object that had been discovered by Xu Yinyue last time and confirmed by Ancestor Chu to be an Origin Artifact?

The two did not know why Ancestor Chu was suddenly moving this Origin Artifact, but they did not ask, simply watching patiently.

The Source Spirit Stones arrived above the [moyang stone lotus] and, as if catalyzed by some special power, gradually shrank, transforming into clusters of white clouds that completely enveloped the [moyang stone lotus].

The clouds shrouded it for about half a minute, and as if slowly being absorbed by the [moyang stone lotus], they gradually became thin.

Chu Mu glanced at the [Nameless Book]; one hundred points of Source Spirit had been consumed, but it had finally restored the damaged state of this [moyang stone lotus] to normal.

[Origin Artifact: moyang stone lotus; Rank: Upper Tier of the Extraordinary Rank; Contains Source Spirit: 220 points; Attribute Tendency: Shadow, Flower. Abilities: 1. Spirit Opening: Accumulates relevant energy every period of time, can perform Spirit Opening for Mortals. 2. Shadow Conversion: The moyang stone lotus can convert Source Beasts that do not have a Shadow tendency into Source Beasts with Shadow characteristics, and change their abilities. 3. Moyang: Consumes accumulated Source Spirit to raise a Moyang that releases shadow power from within the lotus; Source Beasts illuminated by the shadow light increase the shadow power within their bodies, accelerating their growth. 4. Moyang Domain: In the place where the Origin Artifact is located, the ley line energy of the Family territory increases slightly, increasing the growth rate of shadow-side spiritual items within it.]

All damaged states in the Origin Artifact's information had disappeared; as long as it formed a contract with a certain Family Bloodline, it could re-establish a Noble Family.

Chu Mu looked back at the Chu Family Father and Son, "This Origin Artifact has been successfully repaired; you may present this item as a gift to the County Magistrate. This should surely count as a rarity."

Chu Jingyu looked in surprise at the [moyang stone lotus], which had a certain oily luster on its surface, and swallowed his saliva gently. In the eyes of other Families or Loose Cultivators, an Origin Artifact that had already formed a Bloodline contract was not worth mentioning, no matter how Heaven-Defying its abilities were.

After all, an Origin Artifact that had already signed a Bloodline contract was equivalent to being branded; even if the people of that Family died out, others could not use it.

However, an ownerless Origin Artifact capable of forming a Bloodline contract was extraordinary; after all, it could allow a Spirit Rank Loose Cultivator to immediately create a Noble Family and enjoy various benefits such as fiefdoms and tax revenues.

It could be said that if an ownerless Origin Artifact appeared at an auction, those Loose Cultivator Contract Masters would certainly be willing to take out their life savings to bid for it.

Looking at this [moyang stone lotus], Chu Jingyu only felt it was a pity; after all, giving away such a treasure, he did not know how many rare resources it could have obtained for the Family.

This was still under the condition that he did not know Chu Mu could consume Luck, as well as Source Spirit, to absorb the abilities of this item. If he had known, he probably would not have presented this item away no matter what.

However, regarding the absorption of such Origin Artifacts, Chu Mu had other ideas; perhaps his ability could absorb Origin Artifacts that had already formed Bloodline contracts as usual.

As for the subject of the experiment, he already had an idea; this Zhang Family had repeatedly acted against the Chu Family, and their Origin Artifact was quite good.

Chu Mu's figure turned into silk threads and poured back into the substantial book on the offering table. His faint voice echoed in the great hall, "Present this item to the County Magistrate, and find an opportunity to seize the Zhang Family's Origin Artifact."

Hearing Ancestor Chu's words, the Chu Family Father and Son were both shaken to the core. Only after Ancestor Chu's figure disappeared did they hurriedly reply, "Yes."

Leaving the ancestral hall, Chu Jingyu summoned the people of the Family and ordered them not to go out, also leaving the [Golden Armored Jade Pupil Beast] at home as a guard to prevent anyone from taking advantage of his absence to raid the Chu Family.

That afternoon, Chu Jingyu took Chu Qinhui, passed through the vortex passage in the town, traveled to the city wall Beyond the Border, and then went to the county seat.

The father and son ignored the prosperity within the county seat and went straight to the Xiao Residence.

They had already inquired; unless there was something urgent, the County Magistrate generally stayed in this Xiao Residence to handle official business.

Arriving at the entrance of the Xiao Residence, before they had even approached, the guards at the door came over, "This is the territory of the Xiao Residence; idlers, please detour."

Chu Jingyu smiled and cupped his hands toward the guard, "We are from the Chu Family in Heyu Town. Please trouble yourself to announce us, little brother; we wish to pay a visit to the County Magistrate."

As he said this, Chu Qinhui handed over a Source Spirit Stone. The guard accepted the Source Spirit Stone, and upon noticing the Aura on Chu Jingyu that far surpassed his own, his expression instantly became much gentler.

He looked over the Chu Family Father and Son and then asked, "Chu Family Members, do you have any proof? If not, the County Magistrate is not someone just anyone can meet."

Chu Qinhui took out a token engraved with the character 'Chu'. This was a token issued by the town, containing the Family's Aura, and was uniformly issued by the imperial court; Noble Families of different ranks possessed different numbers of tokens.

Like a Ninth-Rank Humble Family such as the Chu Family, they were only given one to be engraved.

In the lower left corner of the token was a small number nine, indicating the Chu Family's current rank.

The guard took the token, "Wait a moment; I will go and announce you."

About ten minutes later, the guard returned, "You are lucky; the Lord has no official business to attend to today. Follow me."

This meant he had agreed to Chu Jingyu and the others' visit.

Chu Jingyu and Chu Qinhui followed behind the guard into the Xiao Residence.

It was not much different from what they had seen when attending the banquet last time, except that compared to before, perhaps there was a bit more coldness.

Even if there were menservants and Maidservants walking back and forth, they were mostly silent, and the entire residence was excessively quiet.

Perhaps this County Magistrate liked quiet, Chu Jingyu guessed inwardly.

After bypassing one courtyard after another, the guard finally led them to the outside of the study.

Outside the study stood two youths around twenty years old dressed in scholar attire. Seeing them walk in, one of them stepped forward and carefully looked over the Chu Family Father and Son, "Are these the visitors from the Chu Family?"

The guard bowed and answered yes.

These two Study Boys seemed to have an unusual status; he waved his hand, "Leave the two of them here, and you may withdraw."

Chu Jingyu's expression was indifferent, but inwardly he was pondering what the status of the Study Boy was; he acted just like a master of the house.

After dismissing the guard, the handsome-looking Study Boy looked back at the two again, then pushed open the door to the study, "Come in."

Entering the study, the space was exceptionally large; just the shelves on both sides displayed many rare antiques, or some rare spiritual materials that were hard to see.

Some of those that Chu Jingyu could name, which were placed in the corners, were each worth more than the top three items in his own Chu Family's treasure vault.

Fortunately, he had not brought those three items; if he had brought them and claimed they were treasures to present to the County Magistrate, he would surely have ended up with the evaluation of being from a small, humble Family, and he would likely have made the County Magistrate unhappy. In that case, failing to establish a relationship and ending up with a counterproductive result was certainly not what the Chu Family desired.

Walking past the dozen or so display shelves that were about three meters wide, and opening another door, Chu Jingyu and the others finally saw the County Magistrate of Zhiyao County—City Lord Xiao Muchu.