Soul Trigger

Chapter 134 Sigh (I)

"Master engraver - stonemason."

"He died during an outing two months ago. His disciples fought fiercely for his inheritance, and the fight only came to an end recently."

Qin picked up the two glasses of champagne prepared on the coffee table, handed one to Ji Li, then lazily leaned back on the sofa and took a sip:
"The remaining items were brought to Flash Street for auction..."

"In other words, all the truly valuable things have been taken away." Ji Li nodded and put the wine back on the coffee table.

At this moment, the auction on the screen has begun. This is an online auction. There is only one host standing on the stage. After a brief opening welcome, the red curtain was pulled open, revealing the first auction item -

A manuscript.

"Do you want it?" Qin asked temptingly.

"Do not want to."

"So simple?"

The amber eyes narrowed, but Ji Li lay down on the sofa:
"Although I'm studying the spiritual circuit recently, I don't need to obtain these things in Flash Street for the time being. I'm more interested in the deeds of that master."

Ji Li was actually trying to avoid getting too much unnecessary help from Qin. The relationship between the two was very delicate, so he had to pay attention to details at all times to avoid being manipulated by this socialite.

"He has been a well-known engraver in Aurora City for more than ten years."

Qin briefly told Ji Li about the life of this master.

In fact, there is nothing special about it. It's just that an awakened person with ordinary abilities gradually became a well-known engraver in Flash Street.

He was treated as a guest of honor by various forces, and orders and requests for apprenticeship came in an endless stream. He also successfully created a masterpiece, thus securing the title of "Master".

After his death, most of his ordinary property was inherited by ordinary family members outside the Awakener world, while the real wealth of the Awakener world was divided up among the apprentices.

"Why don't you sit closer?" Ji Li looked at Qin, who was sitting about the length of a backrest away from him.

"To prevent you from doing anything to me, this is the auction I'm in charge of, and I'm working now... Hey!"

Ji Li naturally hugged this plump and mature body and let her lean on him.

As the honey-like fragrance hit me, I felt the heavy flesh beside me.

He was here to meet his bed partner, so there was no need to be so polite. For him, this was a relaxing enjoyment, at least on the surface:
"You were so anxious when you sent me the message before. How come you've calmed down now? Are you in a stable state?" Ji Li lifted Qin Jie's white chin.

When Qin sent a message to Ji Li before, her eagerness was visibly evident. Ji Li thought that he would be stripped of his pants by the other party as soon as he came in.

The other party snorted and gently turned away:

"Don't be so proud here... Do you think I'm drinking ordinary wine? That's used to calm the spirit essence and soothe the awakening spirit light..."

Ji Li glanced at the glass of champagne that he had put back on the coffee table, and returned to the topic:

"So, this master did create a 'masterpiece'?"

"not that simple."

Although she was somewhat dissatisfied, Qin simply adjusted her position and leaned lightly against Ji Li.

Ji Li is no longer the skinny guy he used to be. Although his body shape in his mortal state has not yet reached the level of a strong man, he is very well-proportioned and strong, and it is very natural for him to support Qin's plump figure.

"Although the stonemason has indeed secured the title of master by creating a 'masterpiece', his work is still a little short of the standard of a true 'masterpiece'."

There are generally only three ways to describe the quality of an ectoplasm circuit:
Poor quality, ordinary, sophisticated.

This is not an "official" criterion for judgment, but a set of statements based on group cognition.

Only the spiritual circuits made by famous engravers and craftsmen need to be graded and judged:

Ordinary items, spiritual objects, rare treasures, precious treasures, and heirlooms.

This was originally a set of evaluation system that gradually formed when craftsmen made artificial psychic props, mainly weapons.

Later on, it was gradually adopted into the criteria for judging the spiritual circuit. Before that, the judgment of the spiritual circuit was left to soul psychologists at a deeper level.

According to what Ji Li had been learning, only the spiritual circuit that reached the "rare treasure" level could be called a "masterpiece".

And he had never had direct access to anything like this through any channel, and even had very little intelligence, except for the one around his neck.

Unlike ordinary spiritual circuits, even ordinary spiritual circuits will have some secondary functions in addition to the main functions, which makes the engraving difficulty of the spiritual circuit increase sharply and the complexity will be doubled.

Take the "Magic Shadow's Hoof" on Ji Li's neck for example, its main function is to summon a warhorse.

The essence of the warhorse is a derivative of psychic energy, and then in this psychic energy circuit, the creator compounded other secondary circuits into it.

This allows the warhorse to have the ability to mimic and change according to spiritual essence, and even extend other functions.

In addition, there is also a solidified spiritual circuit as an auxiliary to reinforce this spiritual circuit and prevent it from being damaged.

All of this requires a sophisticated master-level architecture to integrate so many complex functions and finally present a wonderful effect.

Comparing it with the best circuit that Ji Li can engrave at the moment, there is only one [Traces of Eclipse] that is promoted from [Corpse Wax Fluctuation].

Although it has been promoted to soul space, its essence is just a main circuit responsible for emitting fluctuations, and two secondary circuits are responsible for completing the functions of compatibility with spiritual essence and corrosion.

Before the upgrade, this thing only had one primary circuit and one secondary circuit, without the part that was compatible with spiritual essence.

By comparing them in this way, we can see the technical value of the master's work.

As for the thing on Ji Li’s neck, he was not sure whether it was a "rare treasure", a "treasure", or even a "heirloom".

After all, this thing is precious, he can't just find someone to appraise it for him. After the incident with the Blood Shuttle Group, he will not publicize it casually.

According to Qin, the stonemason's "masterpiece" was called "Black Film of Stubborn Stone".

The effect is that it can generate a black force field on the body surface with a controllable radius.

This force field has extremely strong protective capabilities and huge repulsive force, and can be used for both offense and defense.

The reason why it cannot be considered a true "masterpiece" is because it is just a top-level "spiritual object" rather than a "rare treasure", but it is rare enough.

Hearing this, Ji Li narrowed his eyes:
"I guess this so-called 'masterpiece' was neither in today's auction nor acquired by his apprentices."

Qin blinked:
"Yes. The master's work was tattooed on his own body, and his body has never been found."

"The same thing happened to one of his apprentices, who was also a skilled fellow. What a pity."

The holder of a high-quality spiritual circuit has disappeared abnormally... The intelligence sample is too small to make a hasty conclusion. Ji Li pondered:

But if nothing unexpected happens, it almost confirms my previous inference.

At this point, the auction had reached the fourth item, which was a set of engraving tools used by the "stonemason" during his lifetime. It was not a traditional structure of gloves and arm sleeves, but a complete set of separate tools.

Ji Li thought that this thing would be very suitable for him to install on the needle behind his head, so he borrowed Qin's phone and pressed the call button.

Amber eyes blinked:
"Finally you've found it?"

"Just for fun." Ji Li said indifferently:

"So are there any clues to the death of 'Stonemason'?"

Qin laughed and said, "He is just a master engraver. Shan Street does express regret for this, but will not intervene. He is not affiliated with us."

That's true. For the wealthy and powerful Shan Street, a master engraver is indeed a rare talent, and they will definitely try to win him over. But Shan Street is not responsible for these operators after all, and at most the contact person of "Stonemason" will suffer a huge loss.

So if he's dead, he's dead. We're just expressing our regrets, and we won't intervene in anything unless Flash Street is also interested in his legacy.

At that time, Flash Street also had to consider whether stealing the operators' things would affect its own credibility.

"Besides the stonemasons, are there any other disappearances?"

Qin smiled: "Little Yang, I am a contact person and I also run a strip club, but I am not an intelligence dealer. I don't know much about these things..."

Then she changed her tone:
"From what you said... it seems like you are investigating a case? I thought you came to see me today... Hey!"

As the heavy and soft feeling pressed against his waist, Ji Li hugged Qin and sat on him:
"I thought it wasn't the flirting session yet?"

Jean, who was sitting on his lap, giggled, holding a glass of champagne in one hand and gently wrapping the other around his neck, without answering the question.

At this time, this round of bidding has passed the early stage, and most of the opponents have given up. Only one person is competing with Ji Li in the final bidding.

The other side kept shouting and the battle was quite intense.

"What are you checking?" Qin asked, leaning against his face.

"Confirm whether people with high-quality ectoplasm circuits have frequently disappeared in the past six months."

The elf girl's smile faded slightly. "It sounds like the skinners are going out to earn money in droves."

"That's true. The Special Management Bureau and the Guards have already launched an operation today."

As the operation had just begun and due to the delay in intelligence, Qin had not been able to get any news in this regard.

Then Ji Li picked out some content and told the other party, mainly to express that the real purpose of coming to Shanjie today was actually to check the whereabouts of Heibing, but for the time being he did not tell the other party that the master's work was on his neck -

I'll tell you when I take off my clothes.

Qin's expression completely calmed down:
"That's why you wanted the Black Ice transaction flow. I didn't expect that the suspected assassin mentioned in the intelligence was actually you... How is the current progress?"

"It's just like I said."

Qin thought for a while and nodded:
"I'll have my intelligence network compile a report for you. As for the whereabouts of the black ice, since they had to fake the scene, it must be a large amount of black ice. I will complete my self-inspection as soon as possible and give you an explanation." "Thank you, you were also at the center of the N2 area that day, do you have any information?"

"It's not exactly the N2 area. Flash Street is mainly responsible for the reflection world."

Sitting on Ji Li's body, Qin lifted the hair from her face:

"Not much intelligence. He was mainly responsible for containing and killing two sixth-level masters under Chaos. From his spiritual essence, I can't tell what his background is."

"But since my condition is not very good, I have suffered some minor injuries. And you know my situation, if I use too much spiritual essence in a short period of time..."

There was a light flowing in her amber eyes, and she glanced at Ji Li with a slightly restrained expression, the meaning was self-evident.

Qin still couldn't let go of her reserve.

She suddenly held Ji Li's face with one hand, blinked and said:
"There is a technique that, after branding, can make you and me indistinguishable from each other."

Ji Li frowned at her sudden action: "What do you mean?"

"That is to say..." The pair of charming eyes narrowed:
"We can view each other's memories, touch each other's soul wells, and completely open our hearts to each other... You know that your existence is very important to me, right?"

"Then why can't we be real 'mates'?"

Ji Li suddenly laughed and said, "Is there such a technique?"

At this moment, the situation on the screen interrupted the atmosphere between the two:
At this moment, the person who had been bidding with Ji Li finally gave up. The price at this moment had more than doubled compared to the beginning. Although the price was high, it was not a huge loss for Ji Li considering the financial resources he had accumulated during this period of time.

Seeing his reaction, Qin smiled strangely and raised her champagne to signal:

"Congratulations, don't you want to clink glasses?"

Ji Li shook his head, not even looking at the cup on the coffee table: "It's just a little fun, it's not necessary."

Qin looked at her with a look of "you really don't understand romance" and then took a sip herself:
"Do you want to know who was the person bidding against you just now?"

"I'm not so stingy as to kill someone just to buy something."

"But he was bidding maliciously."

Ji Li raised his eyebrows: "?"

Qin took out her Shanjie mobile phone, clicked a few times, put her arms around Ji Li's neck and showed him a list of files.

"I don't know him. Was he coming for you?"

The buyer No. 6 who had just bid with Ji Li was a gloomy-faced man whose name he had never seen before.

The price he was asking to borrow was Qin's cell phone, so he must have been targeting her.

Qin gently leaned close to Ji Li's ear and deliberately exhaled hot air:

"That's a magic mirror..."

Ji Li's pupils moved slightly: "Duplicate?"

As for a fake identity, it’s a bit meaningless for someone like Magic Mirror.

As for the true face, that is even more impossible.

Considering the outcome after this guy attacked him at the entrance of Film, the answer can only be a clone.

Qin smiled: "So you knew?"

"I just know he can 'duplicate'."

"It's actually a flesh and blood puppet. It's said to be created through a special ritual that is mixed with spiritual circuits."

Qin clicked a few more times and screened out a dozen people from hundreds of buyers, with different appearances, ages and even abilities.

"You don't mean to say they are all magic mirrors?"

"Right!" Qin pinched his face on purpose but he dodged it.

Ji Li would not let a good dog turn over and become the master, so he pinched her buttocks while holding down the dress which was just a few large pieces of cloth:

The touch was tender even through the fabric, a muffled groan came from the swan neck, and amber eyes glanced at him:
"...These are his former contacts. Because they failed to meet the magic mirror's targets, he turned them into flesh and blood 'clones'."

According to Qin, flesh and blood clones are an important ability of the magic mirror and one of his iconic abilities.

He can completely possess his own flesh and blood clone, and can even control the clone's gradual promotion, and he never shows his true self to others.

Ji Li suddenly thought of the scene where the magic mirror inexplicably invited him to join his team, and he immediately became alert.

Does that guy have this plan for me?
He originally thought that the magic mirror was just using him to deliberately disgust Film, and that it might be a small fight between them.

But if the other party has this idea, Ji Li will have to think about it in other ways.

Could the magic mirror be behind the pilgrimage day, the frame-up, and the skinner?
Ji Li tightened his arms slightly, told Qin Hou his guess and said:

"Do you think he had any part in the events of the Parade?"

Now Ji Li is a little sensitive about the information about the spiritual circuit. If the "it is said" in Qin's mouth is true information, then if he wants to obtain a large number of spiritual circuits, in addition to finding a cooperation with the engraver, he can only purchase them from the Skinner's black market.

And this bloody method makes it hard not to associate it with the latter.

Qin shook her head, indicating that the information was not clear:

"Magic Mirror accepted other mission assignments that had nothing to do with the Pilgrimage Day. He wasn't even in Aurora City that day."

"Did you go to the capital?"

"No, I went to the Black Sun Mansion."

Ji Li originally thought that if the magic mirror went to the capital, then judging from the information revealed by Feilin, the magic mirror would be a certain suspicion, after all, the Tower of Babel had some layout in the capital.

"You don't have to worry too much about whether he will attack you. If he uses his clone, it will be equivalent to giving his enemies in Shan Street a handle." Qin smiled and said:
"So if he is really interested in you, he will only send his men to act."

It is not difficult to see from the relationship between Jean and the Magic Mirror that Flash Street is by no means a monolithic entity. Compared with the Bureau of Special Operations and the Guards, it is seriously divided and seems to be fighting each other.

Ji Li nodded without commenting.

Because if it is confirmed that the Magic Mirror was involved in the Pilgrimage Day, this will be another breakthrough. It can also take this opportunity to mobilize the forces of the Special Management Bureau and the Guards to get rid of this guy who is currently an unstable factor.

We can only look for a breakthrough from Li Zheguang and Luo Hu, so is Luo Hu's abnormality that day related to the magic mirror?
The Ascension Protocol recorded this information, and the logic grid began to deduce.

As new information was continuously received from Qin, this online auction gradually came to an end.

Another manuscript appeared in the middle of the auction, which triggered a large-scale bidding. In the end, Mojing spent a huge amount of money and was far ahead.

Ji Li naturally would not miss this opportunity to make a malicious bid, and finally he bid up a price twelve times the starting price, which could be considered as a return of favor.

After the auction, Qin stretched her body and showed Ji Li her curvy and voluptuous figure to the fullest:
"Little Lamb, you just used my money..."

Her phone vibrated, and she picked it up and looked:
[The cute little male slave has initiated a transfer to you]

"you really……"

The next moment, she felt her waist and shoulders tighten, and she was pushed down on the sofa. Ji Li's half-smiley expression was very close to her, and he picked up the phone and showed it to Qin:

"I almost forgot about this...cute little male slave?"

Qin was stunned for a moment, then suddenly revealed a charming smile:
"Don't you like it?"

She gently hugged Ji Li's neck and raised her head to meet his lips.

But Ji Li suddenly broke free, and spiritual fire ignited on his neck——

Following a sharp hissing sound, a completely transparent spider screamed and fell to the ground, quickly turning into a black ice sculpture:
"What kind of tune are you playing?"

Qin smiled and sat up straight on the sofa, a golden spiritual light flashing in her eyes, and she swallowed the champagne in her mouth with some regret.

Noticing the other person's rolling white throat, Ji Li glanced at the glass of wine that he hadn't touched.

It turned out to be something added.

"I've read your file. Although your first mission was unremarkable, you were able to deal with two gluttony trains in a row. Indeed, you are a very good awakener. Your performance far exceeds that of some senior awakeners. You can't even be called a rookie."

Ji Li's spiritual essence gradually rose:

"What do you want to say?"

"Honestly speaking, with your speed, you can become a top master in half a year at the shortest, or a year at the longest... Ji Li, as a partner, I am very satisfied with you."

"But I would rather my partner be someone who knows me better... Do you understand what I mean?"

Ji Li's rising spiritual essence suddenly stopped. While Qin's expression instantly turned into a stunned one, he turned around decisively and walked towards the door.

"It's like this again... Do you really think you can just bully me?! Come back here!!!"

Qin jumped up instantly, and Ji Li had already grabbed the door handle.

The elf girl suddenly became anxious, and the golden powder spirit instantly bloomed in her eyes. The rolling golden and pink fog occupied Ji Li's vision on the spot.

　The second update will be released soon

　　
　
(End of this chapter)