The General's Daughter Doesn't Want to Get Married!-Chapter 217: Divine Artifact

Yet it was also the same thing he needed if he wanted to get stronger and stand by Yun Shu’s side proudly.

Around them, cultivators surged forward, shouting oaths and names of sects, summoning protective auras as a frenzy began.

The golden halo of the divine artifact continued to pulse across the lake, bathing everything in its heavenly light. Cultivators surged toward the lotus pavement, their spiritual auras igniting the air in brilliant streaks of light. Martial arts forms whirled, talismans glimmered, and sect leaders barked commands to their disciples as the frenzy escalated.

Yun Shu, still seated on her picnic mat beside Bai Yunxian, tilted her head, taking in the scene. She had expected something grand, something mystical, something worthy of the countless hours of waiting, preparation, and gossip that had surrounded this divine event.

And yet...

The artifact itself slowly descended from the halo, rotating gently. A beam of pure energy encircled it, confirming its "divine" status to every cultivator present.

Yun Shu blinked once, twice.

Then thrice.

Because the object hovering above the lotus pavement was... a rectangular block of metal. A modern, completely mundane, ordinary metal brick.

A brick.

One of those bricks you’d see at a construction site in any city.

It gleamed slightly in the moonlight, but... that was it. There were no mystical carvings, no glowing runes, no ethereal inscriptions. Just... your common metal, rectangular and ordinary.

Yun Shu’s chopsticks fell out of her hands with a clatter.

The system screeched in disbelief.

[WHAT?! Host, this... THIS IS WHAT THEY CALL A "DIVINE ARTIFACT"?! Are you seeing this?! You’re seeing a brick, right?! Tell me you’re seeing it!]

Yun Shu pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned audibly. "I... I can’t... What am I supposed to do with this?"

Bai Yunxian, of course, remained unfazed. He simply observed the reactions of the cultivators, his dark eyes sharp and calculating. Even he had to admit, the scene was... quite peculiar.

The cultivators, however, were entirely unaware of the brick’s mundane origin. They fell to their knees in awe, their expressions twisted into reverent ecstasy.

"This... this must be the Heavenly Rectangular Essence of Infinite Longevity and Celestial Power!" one shouted, eyes wide with devotion.

"No, no! It’s the Metallic Tablet of Eternal Divine Conception and Spirit Unification!" another argued, flailing dramatically.

"I have studied the scriptures of the Nine Dynasties," a third declared, "and this is clearly the Supreme Pillar of Celestial Alignment and Infinite Cosmic Resonance!"

Yun Shu’s jaw nearly hit the mat.

"Please," she whispered to the system. "Tell me they aren’t serious. Tell me this is some kind of cosmic prank!"

The system’s reply was little more than a squeal of glee.

[OH, THEY’RE SERIOUS, HOST. And it’s perfect. They don’t even know what it is, and now they’re inventing ridiculously long and fancy names to try to sound impressive. Host, this is comedy gold!]

Yun Shu groaned again. Her fingertips were trembling slightly, partly in exasperation, partly in disbelief.

Meanwhile, cultivators began to leap onto the lotus pavement, shouting, waving their talismans, and summoning their spiritual energy in wild attempts to claim the artifact. The brick hovered stubbornly, as if daring them to touch it.

One elder of the Jade Lotus Sect, robes billowing, bellowed, "Only those who achieve Absolute Harmony Between Spirit and Metal, Fire and Water, Heaven and Earth may lift it!"

Another sect leader countered, "No! It is the Celestial Convergence Pillar of the Nine Heavens, requiring three lifetimes of cultivation to grasp its true essence!"

Yun Shu buried her face in her hands, muffling a scream. The absurdity of the names, each longer and more ornate than the last, was physically painful to her modern sensibilities.

The system, in contrast, was howling.

[HAHAHAHAHA! HOST! Listen to them! Absolute Harmony Between Spirit and Metal?! Three lifetimes of cultivation?! They think a BRICK requires three lifetimes to use! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!]

"Chen Yi!" Yun Shu groaned, tapping the ground with her fingers. "Please. Do something! I can’t take all these made-up titles, I— my brain is breaking!"

[Relax, Host, relax!] the system replied. [You can’t stop it— this is what we call cultural entertainment. And besides... You get to watch them squirm. Let’s see who actually tries to pick up the brick!]

Yun Shu peeked over her fingers. She couldn’t help laughing despite herself.

The scene devolved into chaos.

A young cultivator, barely out of his teens, bounded onto the lotus pavement with a flourish. He raised his hands, energy crackling, and declared, "By the Infinite Essence of Celestial Alignment, Metal Transcendence, and Spirit Harmonization, I—"

He didn’t finish the sentence before he fell flat on his back, stunned by the sheer weight of spiritual energy from every other cultivator nearby.

Another, a woman with flowing red robes, screamed, "I will claim the Supreme Pillar of Eternal Divinity, and bring enlightenment to all under Heaven!"

She stretched out her hands... and slipped on the glowing lotus petal, landing in a pile of robes with a startled yelp.

The system clapped in delight.

[YES! Host! Look at them! Falling, slipping, shouting, inventing impossible names! The absolute chaos! You can’t make this up! This is perfect!]

Yun Shu buried her face in the mat. "I’m going to faint."

Bai Yunxian, by contrast, did nothing but observe, one hand brushing over the tea cup as though none of it was happening. He wasn’t amused, but he was merely interested.

The brick, in all its mundane glory, hovered silently above the lotus, its presence commanding respect simply because everyone thought it should.

Yun Shu peeked again, scanning the crowd.

And that was when she noticed the subtle signs of danger.

Though the artifact was just a brick, cultivators were not behaving rationally. They were pushing, shoving, and using their cultivation techniques on one another in a desperate bid to reach it. Talismans collided, spiritual blasts ricocheted, and some cultivators were injured, their robes torn.

The situation was precarious. Even if the object itself was ordinary, the consequences of its claim were potentially deadly.