Misery: There is a pawn shop here

Chapter 182 Three-day period
Three days later, the five illusionary realms opened, leading to the appearance of the five divine artifacts.

This matter quickly became the talk of the martial arts world. Although only three of the five divine artifacts had revealed their power, each seemed to possess the power to change the world and overturn the existing situation in the martial arts world. Even knowing the extreme danger involved, greedy desires still arose in the hearts of many. They were restless and plotting how to get a share of the spoils in this conflict.

Meanwhile, after the Tongtian Pillar Gathering concluded, the righteous sects escorted Ao Xiao Hongchen on his return journey. Along the way, the topic of the Five Divine Weapons remained a hot one, and the Hongchen Sword in Ao Xiao Hongchen's hands was frequently mentioned by people in the martial arts world.

Recalling Ao Xiao Hongchen's experiences, struggling through countless cycles of life and death, he has now fallen into deep self-isolation after being brought back to the health center by Qin Jiaxian and others. Looking at Ao Xiao Hongchen in this state, Mu Shaoai felt a chill run down his spine. His diagnosis revealed no physical abnormalities in Ao Xiao Hongchen, but his mental affliction was the most difficult to cure.

Perhaps the owner of that pawnshop never showed any ambition or intention, which made people forget that someone who could run such a pawnshop could not possibly be a kind person.

Mu Shaoai frowned, his gaze grave, and said, "The five divine artifacts, any one of them, has the power to change the current situation in the martial arts world. In the next three days, a bloody battle will be waged over the gold coins for entering the illusionary realm."

To enter the illusion and compete for the divine artifact, one must obtain the qualification to enter. Currently, the known qualifications are held by the seven people present. Mu Shaoai could easily guess that, given the style of Yanmo Hanba and Kuanglong Yishengxiao, they would definitely make a move within three days. Guiliang Bingfu, Yiliu Black Cult, and those two mysterious figures would all become their targets.

Qin Jiaxian leaned closer to Mu Shaoai and asked curiously, "Speaking of which, Mu Shaoai, do you know who that person who looks like Si Wujun is?"

Mu Shaoai shook his head slightly, his eyes filled with doubt. "I don't know about this matter. But it seems that this person is backed by a hidden force that has not yet surfaced. In that case, he may not become the primary target of Yama Hanba. On the contrary, Gui Liang Bingfu and Yi Liu Heijiao are large and powerful, and may be targeted by the Otherworld at any time. Even we may not be spared."

Qin Jiaxian scratched his head and said, "Speaking of which, we still don't know what the inside of that illusion is like. What if that man in black robes is just using a divine artifact as a cover, and in reality he can't break through the barrier or obtain the artifact?"

Mu Shaoai pondered for a moment and slowly nodded, “What you said is indeed not impossible. But given the way the owner of Youjian Pawnshop does things, it is unlikely that he would do such a thing. If he simply wanted people to come to the pawnshop to pawn their goods, there are countless desires in people's hearts, so why would he go to such lengths to set up these five illusions?”

Ye Tuling, standing to the side, shook his head, looking puzzled. "Then why is he doing this? It's hard to understand."

Mu Shaoai sighed softly and said, "Perhaps it's just for the sake of so-called fun. In any case, we must not let our guard down. We can only hope that this item can remain in Youjian Pawnshop forever. Once this divine artifact falls into the hands of the martial world, it will surely unleash a real bloodbath, and at that time, the martial world will be plunged into an abyss of no return."

Qin Jiaxian patted his chest, "I'll find out about this with Lao Xiaohui. By the way, how's it going with your search for that Yan Guiren by Crystal Lake?"

Mu Shaoai's expression darkened, and a heavy sigh escaped his lips, "This is a long story..."

With the revelation of the divine artifact, Qin Jiaxian also brought back news about the master of the Holy Halberd. Since Tan Wuyu had gone out to investigate the strange phenomena and had not yet returned, and Lian Emei was going to the Tongtian Pillar, Mu Shaoai took on the task of finding the master of the Holy Halberd.

However, this meeting was bittersweet. Yan Guiren readily admitted his identity as the master of the Sacred Halberd, but surprisingly, the halberd and its power had already been traded to Youjian Pawnshop. Now, Yan Guiren's eyes revealed a weariness of the martial world; he clearly stated that he had no interest in its turmoil and only wished to retire with his beloved and live a simple life. At their first meeting, Mu Shaoai didn't dare to offer too much advice. But he knew that if things continued this way, the plan to subdue the demons with the halberd would be difficult to achieve.

Upon hearing this, Qin Jiaxian flew into a rage and couldn't help but curse, "Sister, that pawnshop is utterly rotten to the core! Spreading such rumors, only to find out the Sacred Halberd was already gone, just to trick you into going to that lousy shop to make another deal!" Mu Shaoai, however, remained calm and said, "If that's really the case, I'm actually relieved. The fact that they went to such lengths only proves that the Sacred Halberd, combined with the Divine Blade, possesses the power to slay the Yama Drought Demon."

Qin Jiaxian scratched his head. "Well... that's true, but even if we do get the Holy Halberd back, I'm afraid it will be difficult to put it to use."

He racked his brains for all the masters in the martial arts world, but he couldn't think of anyone who could cooperate with Yu Renfeijing to use the Holy Halberd. Did he have to let Mu Shaoai take the field himself?
"In any case, this is ultimately a direction," Mu Shaoai said. "However, there are three urgent tasks at present. First, the ownership of the divine artifact. The secret realm will open in three days. Since we have one, we can go in and give it a try. Second, the method and personnel for slaying the demon. In addition, we also need to deal with the possible attack from the otherworldly demon realm and the source of the strange phenomena."

“Mu Shaoai is right. While searching for a way to kill the Yama Drought Demon, we must also keep an eye on the movements of the divine artifacts,” Lian Emei said from the side.

Upon hearing this, Qin Jiaxian patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, I, Old Qin, am absolutely professional at gathering information. Little one, let's go."

After saying that, Qin Jiaxian led his two underlings straight towards the martial arts path.

Seeing the departing figures of Qin Jiaxian and the other two, Mu Shaoai thought of Tan Wuyu, who had gone out to investigate the Tearful Sun Blood Moon phenomenon.

"Given the current situation, I wonder how things are going with Tan Wuyu?"

"The effects of gravity on suffering are constantly deepening, and we cannot let our guard down on this matter."

At that very moment, a Buddhist chant echoed from beneath Ping Mountain.

“Amitabha Buddha, the Mahayana preceptor of the Ten Thousand Saints Rock Precept Hall requests an audience with the Cloud Man.”

"Is it the master from Wansheng Rock that Qin Jiaxian mentioned before?" Mu Shaoai immediately realized.

"Yes, I would like to request an audience with Your Excellency." Lian Emei nodded in response.

"Amitabha, thank you." Then, Maha Jiezhe ascended Ping Mountain and bowed to Lian Emei and Mu Shaoai.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. This time, I've been ordered to go out, firstly to deal with the matter of the Five Divine Artifacts, and secondly to deal with the Otherworldly Demon Realm..."

(End of this chapter)