Chapter 1144: A Divine Item That Can Devour Attacks? |
Xu An'yu's eyes narrowed. This was no small matter. "A divine item that can absorb attacks?"
Back in the Battle for the Throne, Mei Gongzi had never used such an artifact. But recalling that Tang San had just said this was something he and Mei Gongzi had worked on together, Xu An'yu understood. Even so, for someone already that strong to gain an artifact like this was like a tiger acquiring wings.
"No wonder your nickname sticks, fellow Crown Prince. I'm afraid the title of Amethystine Warrior will never wash off," Xu An'yu said helplessly, drawing a wave of laughter from the guests below.
Tang San descended with him, returning to the banquet.
"I wouldn't rush to conclusions, Brother Xu. This tome is more than it seems. Its name is the Book of All Laws," Tang San said with a smile.
When they heard those words, the look in the eyes of the Emperors shifted. If the name actually had to do with its functions, then….
If any ordinary person had given an artifact such a grand-sounding name, it would have drawn only scoffs. But knowing Jin Miaolin's reputation for turning trash into treasure, they would have to be complete idiots to dismiss it just like that.
And indeed, a moment later, their hypotheses were confirmed.
Holding the book in his left hand, Tang San flipped it open with his right to reveal the page that had just absorbed Xu An'yu's attack.
"What the…" Xu An'yu stared blankly for a moment, and then realization dawned. "Brother Jin… you don't mean…?"
Tang San only smiled in response, lifting the Book of All Laws toward the sky. Instantly, a dragon's roar rang out again, even louder than before, drawing the attention of every guest.
A golden dragon-shaped light burst from the book, soaring more than a thousand meters into the air before fading into light energy motes and vanishing.
It was a hundred percent identical to the strike Xu An'yu had unleashed earlier.
The sight moved every Emperor present. This was truly an extraordinary artifact.
Xu An'yu was a Crown Prince, an eleventh-rank Great Demon King at the peak of his stage. Though he hadn't gone all-out just now, for an artifact to simply swallow his attack with no consequences was no small feat. And as it turned out, it could even reuse the captured attack! That made it infinitely more valuable.
The Sunborne Nymph Emperor couldn't help asking, "You call it the Book of All Laws because it can swallow any kind of attack?"
Tang San smiled. "Any kind of attack, yes, but not any attack. It can take in bloodline power of any attribute, but only within the limits I can personally withstand. If Brother Xu's attack had been beyond my own defense, the book couldn't have absorbed it. The same applies if, say, one of Your Majesties attacks me. If it's within my capacity to resist, I can take it into the book, but I could not deal with a full-power strike."
The Celestial Fox Demon Emperor asked, "And how many abilities can it store?"
Tang San shook the tome slightly. "For me right now, about a third of its pages at any given time."
The book was thick, with hundreds of pages. A third meant well over a hundred abilities.
Though the exact usage limits were unknown, such an artifact was enough to make even Emperors covet it. It could be a complete game changer in every respect; if it could replicate offensive, defensive, and auxiliary abilities, then it was in a way even more precious than the last couple of items in the grand auction!
Tang San turned to the guests. "Today is my wedding to Little Mei, a joyous day. So a few days ago, I had an idea. I'm willing to take a dozen or so pages from the Book of All Laws and share them with everyone. I'd like to invite Your Majesties to imprint your bloodline abilities on them, and then I'll auction them off. Any guest may participate. The proceeds will be evenly distributed among all people who are at the Ancestral Court right now, so all may share in our joy. Would Your Majesties be willing?"
He… what? He'll tear off the pages of that absolute treasure and just give them away?
They had all just witnessed its power. Setting aside its replication ability, even if it could only absorb attacks, it was still enough to astound everyone. And he was proposing to imprint Emperor-level abilities onto consumable pages! For those below the twelfth order, they were devastatingly useful.
Xu An'yu's own strength was second to none save for his fellow Crown Princes, yet he had nearly been killed by three consumable artifacts. Such items had low usage requirements but overwhelming force. Now Tang San was offering over a dozen of them! That was enough to stir waves among the entire Ancestral Court, and even the whole continent watching the broadcast.
The Ancestral Court's citizens were the most excited. The proceeds would undoubtedly be huge, and even split among so many, each person's share would certainly not be negligible. Even the palace guards on duty would have a portion.
Across the continent, many who had been preparing to go back to their own business suddenly changed their minds, eager to see what abilities Tang San would imprint for auction. The whole land's attention shifted back to the event.
The Sunborne Nymph Emperor laughed. "You truly deserve your title! You're so generous with money that even we Emperors are tempted. But can you really just damage a precious artifact like that?"
Tang San smiled and shook his head. "For one, it has plenty of pages, and I can fix it later. For another, it has its limits. It might be able to imprint Emperor-level abilities at full power later, but for now, it seems Great Demon King peak is the cap."
He wasn't lying. If the book really could absorb hundreds of Emperor-level abilities, then he wouldn't have brought it out now. Certainly, once he reached the twelfth order himself and nourished it for a while, it would be able to do that as well, but that was far in the future.
Hearing it couldn't take Emperor-tier abilities, the Emperors relaxed. That made it less valuable to them directly.
"Fine, I'll join in," the Sunborne Nymph Emperor said with a smile.
Looking at the distorted air that masked her visage, Tang San couldn't help recalling her true form—a tremendously beautiful one. She'd really pulled a fast one on him. To think Crystalline hadn't warned him about that….[1]
"Many thanks, Your Majesty," he said warmly.
The Celestial Fox Demon Emperor chuckled. "If we don't play along, we'll be offending the whole Ancestral Court, won't we? Alright, let's all join in."
1. Crystalline should know this and there's no reason for her not to have told Tang San. She even talked to Tang San about Sunborne once. The problem is that the male, female, and non-human third-person pronouns sound exactly the same (they're all tā) and so it's impossible to know someone's gender unless you see it in writing. This is the source of a lot of jokes… and a lot of typos as well. ☜