Soul Land 5: The Rebirth of Tang San

Chapter 588: Choosing Divine Items

Tang San's lips moved slightly as he transmitted a few words to Big Cat. Big Cat understood immediately, smiling broadly and giving him a thumbs up. At this moment, Big Cat's mood was absolutely great. He had already gotten the God-Slaying Sword, and now he was about to get yet another divine item! How could he have ever expected that before coming to the Ancestral Court?

Moreover, with only Tang San and Mei Gongzi choosing before him, Big Cat was completely confident that if there were an item suitable for him, Tang San and Mei Gongzi would not take it for themselves. After all, they were on the same side.

"Time's up," the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor announced.

The Scorching Sword Pair had also finished their observations and returned to stand beside Tang San and Mei Gongzi, waiting. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The Celestial Fox Demon Emperor said, "You have all observed the ten divine items. Now, let's begin the selection. Mei Gongzi, you choose the first one."

As the absolute champion, Mei Gongzi had the first pick... and the second, and even the third.

Mei Gongzi looked at Tang San, who whispered something to her. She immediately stepped forward to the tenth case. Under the shocked gaze of the Scorching Sword Pair, she said to the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor, "I want this one. I use a sword, and this is very suitable for me."

The Celestial Fox Demon Emperor was slightly surprised and said in a deep voice, "Are you sure about your choice? Once you choose, you cannot change your mind."

"Yes, I'm sure." Mei Gongzi didn't quite understand why Tang San was asking her to choose this one. After all, it was not particularly useful for them, but it was easily the best choice for the Scorching Sword Pair. By selecting it, they would unquestionably offend the Red-Crowned Crane clan led by the Sword Saint Demon Emperor. Even so, she still followed Tang San's advice without question and chose the item.

The Red-Crowned Crane opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately didn't. It was the champion's right to choose first.

As the crystal case opened, a terrifying sword intent, as keen as a razor, shot skyward. Mei Gongzi waited momentarily until the sword intent dissipated, then stored the black beak into her storage bracelet.

The Celestial Fox Demon Emperor said, "You should be able to tell that this beak comes from a Red-Crowned Crane. It was left in the Ancestral Court by the Sword Saint Demon Emperor from two generations ago. That ancestor exchanged it for a precious treasure to ensure his successor could ascend to the throne. He also promised to redeem it for twice its value. Well... until now."

This statement was essentially implying that the Red-Crowned Crane clan was quite poor and had not accumulated enough resources over the years to redeem this divine item.

For this beak to appear in the selection of divine items, the Sword Saint Demon Emperor must have made efforts and promises to the Ancestral Court. Yet unexpectedly, Mei Gongzi was the one to choose it.

The reason it was brought out was that the Sword Saint Demon Emperor hoped his successor would win the championship and choose it first. Moreover, this beak was clearly less significant to other races than it was to the Red-Crowned Cranes. Taking it would undoubtedly invite resentment.

However, Asura had Mei Gongzi choose this beak. The reason was unclear, but one thing was certain: This item being in the vaults of the Ancestral Court was an entirely different thing from it being in the hands of others.

"Now, please choose the second and third divine items, together with Asura."

Regardless of their choices, the selection of divine items had to continue.

Tang San walked to Mei Gongzi's side and stood with her. First, he indicated for Mei Gongzi to pick the item inside the fifth case—the crimson saber that appeared somewhat ethereal. Then he himself went to the fourth case and chose the dark golden book.

The Celestial Fox Demon Emperor was somewhat surprised and said, "I didn't expect you to choose this way. The Holy Blaze Saber is a good item, a rare spirit-type weapon. It can be integrated into one's sea of consciousness and, after the birth of divine consciousness, into the divine consciousness itself, and it specializes in cutting through the opponent's spiritual power. However, its overall energy is the lowest among these ten divine items."

Mei Gongzi looked somewhat stunned at Tang San, but Tang San still nodded at her. Mei Gongzi nodded to the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor, indicating that she wanted this item. Since Tang San had asked her to choose this item, it had to be suitable—what for, she didn’t know, but she fully trusted Tang San to know.

Upon hearing the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor's explanation, Big Cat also frowned. It seemed that the items chosen by Tang San and Mei Gongzi were not particularly useful. Could it be that Tang San was mistaken?

The Celestial Fox Demon Emperor looked at Tang San again and said in a deep voice, "The item you chose is excellent; I thought you would overlook it. Among all ten divine items, if I had to choose, I would choose this one. The Tome of Duplicates—it is named thus because it allows you to record and use others' bloodline abilities. Unfortunately, it is an imperfect artifact, so the abilities are not as strong as the originals. There's only one Crystal Demon Emperor, that's for sure. But it doesn't really come with any drawbacks and the abilities can be used at practically no cost, so it's actually a very good item.[1]"

This should've been great news, but Tang San showed no emotional change; he simply took the Tome of Duplicates and said nothing.

The dark-golden cover of the book emitted a gentle glow; it was not particularly bright, but it gave off a peculiar feeling. Now that he was holding it, Tang San's demeanor seemed to change slightly.

Next was the selection of the fourth divine item, which was the additional reward for Tang San and Mei Gongzi. Without hesitation, Tang San chose the sixth item, the enormous purple crystal.

The Celestial Fox Demon Emperor looked surprised and said, "Compared to other choices, this one seems rather unwise to me. You may have guessed that this is the raw material for amethystine coins, but the coins are only useful for cultivation at the god level and above. They are of little use to you now. Can you tell me why you chose this?"

Tang San said, "Because I don't know the functions of all ten divine items, this one is the only one that gives me some certainty. Instead of guessing about the uncertain ones, it's better to choose something I know I want."

A hint of disappointment flashed in the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor's eyes. He nodded and signaled to Big Cat. "You can make your selection now."

Big Cat stepped forward, glanced at Tang San, and hesitated slightly.

He didn't know how to choose, but Tang San had already told him which item to pick. However, based on the four items Tang San and Mei Gongzi had chosen, they didn't seem particularly impressive.... The Celestial Fox Demon Emperor certainly wouldn't lie, would he?

Aside from the Tome of Duplicates, which the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor praised, Tang San and Mei Gongzi had chosen the beak, the Holy Blaze Saber, and the piece of amethyst. The latter three seemed far too ordinary.

But his hesitation didn't last long. Seeing Tang San's calm expression, he gritted his teeth and walked to the mirror-like item.

Once taken out of the case, the mirror didn't seem to change much. It shimmered with a faint glow and felt warm to the touch.

The Celestial Fox Demon Emperor said, "This is a good choice, very suitable for you. This is the Heart-Protecting Divine Mirror, suitable for embedding in any armor. It can generate strong protective power, protecting the heart in particular. Moreover, besides physical defense, it also guards the mind against external interference and internal demons alike."

Hearing the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor's praise, Big Cat had no more misgivings and happily put away the Heart-Protecting Divine Mirror.

1. This paragraph has been almost entirely rewritten and does not reflect the original. The decision was made based on information from future chapters, where it is made clear that the use of the book is in fact completely different from what is originally explained here—the current explanation reflects future appearances of the book. Given the information to date, it is fairly clear that it's not the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor making a mistake, or an intentional plot device, but rather an error on the author's part. ☜