The special apostles would hardly get lost within the base.
After assigning Yin Ling a task, Fang You returned to his room to continue studying the items he had just drawn.
Double Reward Card, Skill Cultivation Card. Skip.
Cannon Fist. This was an offensive skill similar to Blade Slash or Palm Thunder. Skip.
A bag of Strange Crystals… Huh, fate draw can even yield this kind of thing?
And it’s blue grade?
He clicked it lightly.
"Ding!"
"Hint: You have used 'A Bag of Strange Crystals' and obtained 88 Strange Crystals."
This bag of Strange Crystals was quite good.
He looked at the first Strange Artifact, the blue-grade, weirdly evil 'Peace Bell'.
"Description: Shaking this bell can produce sounds that bring peace to the mind. It can also release special sound waves that possess moderately weak destructive power against strange evils. At the same time, it can temporarily stun targets hit by the sound waves, with the effect depending on the target's strength."
"Side Effect: When the Peace Bell is used, the user's own emotions will be amplified."
This side effect wasn't weak.
Mild anger might turn into rage, and rage into fury.
But... the Peace Bell itself also had the effect of calming the mind, so perhaps it could also suppress some of these emotions. The side effect and the ability seemed to cancel each other out.
“It possesses area-of-effect buffs, damage, and control abilities. This bell is truly not weak.”
“It’s clearly the most suitable Strange Artifact for Yin Ling. I’ll equip it for her later.”
Fang You discovered another benefit of having special apostles.
They almost never needed him to coax or worry about them... they instinctively knew how to contribute to the Sacred Flame, as if they were veteran apostles of the Sacred Flame, not newcomers.
Uh, that could probably be considered so.
…
Fang You examined the remaining two items.
One was a purple-grade Strange Artifact, and the other was also a purple-grade Strange Artifact.
This draw was quite extravagant.
"Heavenly Net Hand (Purple)"
"Category: Perfect Strange Artifact"
"Ability One: Innate Space. The interior possesses a constant space of 15 cubic meters. This space can be further expanded by absorbing special materials."
"Ability Two: The wearer can control an invisible hand to attack, defend, and operate. It can also extend the wearer's skills and abilities through this invisible hand. The range of the invisible hand is determined by the wearer's strength."
"Side Effect: None"
This Strange Artifact was a glove, covered in intricate patterns that seemed to spread outwards infinitely at first glance.
A Perfect Strange Artifact!
A Strange Artifact with absolutely no side effects.
Fang You tried putting it on. As he did, the Heavenly Net Hand slightly contracted, fitting his palm perfectly.
He could vaguely sense the space contained within the glove.
He reached out and picked up the water cup in front of him. With a thought, the cup disappeared, reappearing within the constant space inside. With another wave of his hand, it reappeared, and with another, it vanished.
Spatial equipment of this kind was common in novels, but in reality, Fang You still felt a sense of wonder, as if he had acquired a new toy.
What's wrong with a man playing with toys!
He fiddled with it for a while, then tried the second ability of the Heavenly Net Hand.
He reached out and grabbed at the air.
Not far away, the beginner wooden sword placed on the table was immediately lifted. However, after only moving a couple of steps, it clattered to the ground.
Fang You: "..."
A minor mistake, a minor mistake.
Let's try again.
The Heavenly Net Hand was a Strange Artifact, not a skill, so using it wasn't difficult, but controlling it was quite unfamiliar. Fang You felt as if he were operating a claw machine.
I think I can do it, but in reality, I can't grasp it steadily.
However, he was a double-awakened individual, the possessor of the expert-level Palm Thunder, with strong mental power and meticulous control over skills.
After only half an hour of practice, he had become familiar with controlling the Heavenly Net Hand.
With a reach, the beginner wooden sword not far away naturally flew up and landed in his palm.
With a wave, the wooden sword flew out on its own, circling around him.
It was like a sword immortal.
“Style, this is style!”
“And…”
The beginner wooden sword, which had flown several meters away, suddenly disappeared with a 'swish'.
The synergy between the innate space and the invisible hand allowed for snatching objects from a distance.
It also allowed for...
*Zzzzzzap*—
A ball of lightning erupted several meters away, sustained and not dissipating for a long time.
As he controlled it, it even transformed into a lightning snake, continuously circling around him.
But this was still far from the Heavenly Net Hand's limit.
It couldn't be tested in this small bedroom. Fang You immediately went to the second training ground, which was vast and the size of a football field. The ground was also hard, capable of withstanding the bombardment of his Palm Thunder.
Arriving here, Fang You unleashed the invisible hand and controlled it to extend outwards little by little.
Ten meters.
Twenty meters.
Thirty meters.
It was only close to this distance that it reached its limit! That was very far!
The invisible hand clenched into a fist and punched out.
*Boom*—
The specially made sandbag in the distance exploded with a roar, sand and gravel scattering everywhere.
“It seems to be a bit more powerful than my own punch.”
“It also provides a considerable boost when using Palm Thunder.”
“And there are other untapped uses.”
As expected of a purple-grade Perfect Strange Artifact!
As for the other item.
"Faceless Statue (Purple)"
"Category: Strange Artifact"
"Ability One: Mysterious Storage. This statue can absorb mysterious factors drifting in the world, or mysterious energy stripped from human bodies, and store it. It can also guide these mysterious factors into a target body. There is a loss during this process."
"Ability Two: Ritual Core. This statue could once serve as the core of a certain ritual. It is now damaged, but it seems to have other uses."
"Side Effect: The existence of this statue has a strong attraction to strange evils."
The appearance of this statue, in Fang You's opinion, was somewhat strange.
It was a statue with black wings on its back and withered, claw-like hands. The strange part was its face, which wasn't naturally featureless but rather seemed to have been deliberately carved away.
As a result, the entire head of the statue was somewhat pointed.
Like the tip of a pencil shaved with a knife.
Not only was it strange, but compared to the 'Heavenly Net Hand', this 'Faceless Statue' could truly be described as ordinary, even lackluster.
Ability Two was cryptic and unclear.
Ability One, absorbing and storing mysterious energy, also seemed... just that?
“No, on second thought, it might not be useless.”
“This is equivalent to a large experience pack. For example, if An Jianyou failed to awaken this time, with enough mysterious energy to supplement, she could quickly attempt a second awakening without such a long delay.”
“And Hei Tong too.”
This cat, not being an apostle, went on missions relatively infrequently.
When he was weaker before, Hei Tong was a powerful bodyguard. But now that his version had been continuously enhanced, Hei Tong seemed to be lagging behind, like a pet that was just leeching experience.
In such a situation, if it could consume experience, Hei Tong could keep up with him, the Savior.
So as not to become a useless cat.
And also for newcomers like Master Ming Deng, it could help them awaken faster and form combat power – assuming they were qualified and had accumulated enough.
Thinking of it this way, the 'Faceless Statue' wasn't too bad.
However, he tried it and found that it had to be placed outside.
The Sacred Flame base was a highly independent special space and couldn't absorb much mysterious energy.
But placing it outside presented a problem.
This statue attracted strange evils.
“Someone needs to guard it long-term.”
“But I, Hei Dao, and An Jianyou often go on missions. It’s common for all three of us to be away from the base simultaneously.”
“Assign Yin Ling to guard it, and others take turns?”
This wasn't impossible, but it felt a bit like a waste.
Fang You suddenly thought of Hei Tong.
This silly cat would become weak once it got far from him. But something had happened before. This cat, which just wanted to slack off, had once secretly returned to the base.
It didn't weaken.
At that time, he thought it was because the distance wasn't far enough. Now, it occurred to him that it might also be because...
Being around the base was the same as being around him.
He could try it.
If it works, you're the gatekeeper cat.
Fang You pondered the future development of the organization. As he thought, night deepened.
He also wrote a pile of development plans.
However,
he seemed to have forgotten something. What was it?
In the base's entertainment area, Hei Tong suddenly shivered.
In Yunling Province, a thousand kilometers away, Xing Jinglei, who had returned to his hotel to rest, couldn't sleep at all.
In his mind, that voice lingered incessantly.