Mei Chao Bing closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had made his decision but that didn’t mean that he wanted to see this outcome. After all, even though he was willing to sacrifice his life as long as it meant that his Master was dealt with, he also knew that he would leave some regrets behind.

Opening his eyes again, he finally nodded. “I will take it.” He didn’t explain himself. Anyway, this was something he had to do. No words could change that or his circumstances.

Yan Hong Min wasn’t interested in discussing Mei Chao Bing’s thought process either. He simply nodded and then got up, walking up to a chest that was standing against the wall.

He had created many devices over the years. Some were well thought-out while others were just something he had tinkered with at the side but didn’t care too much about. Making them was like a game to him, something to pass the time and have some fun. He was proud of all of them but naturally, they couldn’t compare to the ones he had created after years of painstaking efforts.

The one that Mei Chao Bing had asked for was naturally precisely the kind of masterpiece that had been planned up until the last detail. In fact, this might be the one he had invested the most time in although part of that may be because he had tried to create something so far above his own level.

He opened the wooden chest and then took out another box that was made of polished jade with a beautiful carving on top. Looking at that carving, he slowly exhaled.

This was one of its kind, a device he might never be able to replicate. And now, he wouldn’t even be able to watch it be used. Naturally, he was devastated but he also knew that they weren’t at a point any longer where he could whine about something like that.

If it had been the usual mission — even in the border region — maybe he wouldn’t care. Anyway, this war had been waged for thousands of years. What did a year or two more matter? But this time, that war wasn’t far away. No, the demonic practitioners had delivered it to their front door.

He wasn’t thinking of Elder Wu. That had happened more than half a decade ago and he hadn’t even liked the guy. No, what he was thinking of were his own martial brothers. He couldn’t forget Luo Lin’s gaze when he came to tell him that Shen Lei might be dead and asked for help to at least find his body.

He and Luo Lin had had their differences in the past. He hated how they both sucked at cultivation but Luo Lin got away with it because he relied on all those men willing to prostrate themselves at his feet. When it came down to it though, this was his junior.

From the day their Master had taken him in, he had felt responsible for him and if he saw somebody bully him when there was no man in sight to pick up the slack, then he would also take out one of his inventions to teach the other person a lesson. Nobody bullied his, Yan Hong Min’s, junior martial brothers!

He carried the box over to the table and put it down with a click, keeping his hand on top of the lid while he looked at Mei Chao Bing. “I’ll have you know that you should better be careful with this. It’s intricate work that can’t be handled roughly.”

Mei Chao Bing nodded solemnly. He wasn’t sure if this was simply Yan Hong Min’s pride in his own work speaking that wanted him to acknowledge that this was a good invention or if this really was something one would have to handle carefully. Either way, he wouldn’t take chances.

Yan Hong Min watched his expression and finally sighed. “Alright, let me explain to you how it’s used.” He picked the box back up and turned it to all sides as if trying to show Mei Chao Bing all the details on it. “You might think this is merely the pretty packaging but you’d be wrong. This is the magical tool I created.”

Mei Chao Bing nodded. It did indeed look like a box that would contain something but then, after what he had seen so far, a weird exterior really wasn’t that surprising when Yan Hong Min was the creator of the tool.

Yan Hong Min seemed satisfied with that reaction. He stopped turning the box here and there and instead tapped the side. “If you want to use it, you simply pull off the seal and open it up. That will release the attack. It shouldn’t need mentioning that this means that the seal shouldn’t get damaged while you carry the tool around. If it does, I can’t guarantee that the attack won’t accidentally release. So I can’t stress enough that you should be careful.”

Mei Chao Bing nodded again and added a hum on top. It seemed that Yan Hong Min hadn’t said that before just because he had a standard in mind for how his inventions should be treated. No, this magical tool was dangerous when not handled with care. Well, that was if it worked in the first place.

Looking at the box, Mei Chao Bing had some doubts. A box … that didn’t seem like a good way of attacking somebody? He tried to imagine that scene and had to admit that he had trouble doing so. “I don’t need to do anything else other than open it? Not … imbue spiritual energy, throw it at the opponent, or …” He tried to think of anything else you could do with a box to attack but couldn’t come up with anything so he simply looked at Yan Hong Min questioningly.

Yun Bei Fen’s second senior martial brother shook his head though. “Nothing else. Although there is something you can do to add a bit of oomph.”