Chapter 45: Spiritual Energy

"No use, it won't budge."

On the twentieth strike, Shang Luo tapped the surface of the deity's statue with the small hammer. The statue remained utterly motionless, and the little hammer couldn't even scrape the slightest scratch off the stone figure.

He leaned against the statue, panting. Suddenly realizing his hand was resting in an awkward spot, he pulled it back.

"So this little hammer *can* actually pierce defenses? Could this thing be a magical artifact too?"

"Hmm... probably. It can probably break defenses, but right now it doesn't seem to be working."

This was the third time Wen Yuan had seen this guy casually pull out a magical artifact.

"How are you entirely covered in magical artifacts? Are you Monk Tang? Did Guanyin give you a full set of artifacts before you left home or what? It certainly looks like it, considering there are demons trying to eat your flesh. You're a walking treasure trove, aren't you?"

"Only things that solve problems are treasures... But speaking of which, why isn't it working anymore?"

The little hammer was still the same little hammer that had once severely wounded Apollonia. Until not long ago, even a gentle tap from it could make Apollonia's miniature world shake violently.

Should he try again? He pulled out the small box containing Apollonia.

[Don't bother trying! This hammer is completely normal.] Apollonia hurriedly called a halt.

"If I don't try, how do I know if it's normal?"

[Don't you have any tactile sense of your own? You can clearly hear it.]

Reminded by her, Shang Luo suddenly remembered.

Earlier, when he held this hammer in his hand, his palm would always itch, and everything he looked at seemed like a nail. But now, holding the hammer, it didn't feel quite right in his hand, feeling somewhat slippery instead. This sensation was terribly mystical, because something as simple as a hammer obviously couldn't generate a consciousness he could perceive.

Yet, it was undeniably there. The hammer had, after all, been "blessed," and holding it felt different from holding other objects. And the most prominent difference was...

"Wen Yuan." He handed the hammer to Wen Yuan standing beside him.

"You want me to smash it? Probably won't work. Magical artifacts generally choose their owners, and it doesn't have much to do with physical strength. If you couldn't break it, I probably won't be able to either."

"You can give it a try. But you might want to weigh it first."

This suggestion seemed rather odd to Wen Yuan. This was just a small hammer made during a metalworking internship. Such simple components were not only taught to everyone at the Wutaishan Training Institute, but even those from military hereditary households like him had learned the basics.

It was just an ordinary small brass hammer; he could have made one himself. Could this little hammer possibly be different?

He reached out and took it.

"??????" Wen Yuan's expression twisted, his reaction far more astonished than when he had fallen into a trap.

"How is it? Is there something wrong with this hammer?"

"The density of this hammer is not that of brass. It's heavier than gold! This weight..."

He tossed it into the air to gauge its weight more accurately.

"I'm certain. This thing weighs more than any metal I know; a palm-sized little hammer weighs four or five jin. What on earth is this made of?"

"It's just brass, I machined it myself. But I injected some... some spiritual energy into it. You could call it that."

"What shocks me isn't the spiritual energy itself. I've seen things with spiritual energy—they do become heavier after gathering spiritual energy, but for it to be heavy like this, the spiritual energy would definitely leak outward. Because the Way of Heaven diminishes the excessive to supplement the deficient, overloaded spiritual energy will inevitably dissipate."

"So spiritual energy is that kind of thing? Why does that sound somewhat familiar? Then this hammer of mine..."

"Your hammer actually doesn't leak spiritual energy outward. That is truly marvelous, simply marvelous. What is the function of this magical artifact?"

Shang Luo thought for a moment. "It's probably very suited for breaking spells."

"So it's a spell-breaking artifact, but it's useless against this stone statue? Then we might need something bigger." He set his sights on the Spear of the Sun God held in the white lion's mouth.

After a round of "communication" with the lion, a disheartened Luoluo opened its mouth. It had already recognized that this was Phaethon, but it seemed even more pessimistic than Shang Luo, its mane drooping down and looking a full size smaller than before.

Shang Luo, having received the spear, also fell silent for a moment.

"What's wrong?"

"Too light. As expected, even lighter than when I saw it before. It seems the spiritual energy inside has been nearly exhausted." Without saying much, he turned and thrust the Spear of the Sun God at the stone statue.

The stone statue still remained motionless, just as it had been when struck by the small hammer earlier.

The two looked at each other, both at a loss for good ideas.

The stone statue stood quietly there, transcending the dark space, displaying subtle shifts of light and shadow upon its surface. Like an oil painting anchored in spacetime, everything about it was etched onto the canvas, frozen there forever.

Impenetrable to all forces, completely unyielding. The two could only circle the statue, looking for any flaw.

"Hey, Shang Luo, have you noticed she's actually quite pretty? Look at this strong, powerful bridge of the nose, look at this spirited ponytail, and look at those teeth."

"Teeth? Are you appraising a horse?"

"I'm not very familiar with people; I'm much more familiar with horses."

"True, your Wutaishan Training Institute is a garrison school, you have more horses than people."

Shang Luo was quite glad that he could maintain his optimism in a situation like this. That was a good thing; if he were like the white lion lying dejectedly nearby, nothing could be accomplished right now.

"Wait, Wutaishan Training Institute? What is that?"

The two looked at each other...

Both read astonishment, wonder, and subsequently growing terror on the other's face:

"I've lost my memory?!" Wen Yuan's hair practically stood on end. "Is the Wutaishan Training Institute important?"

"Very important. You come from a military household, so you should have been studying there since you were six. You even wanted me to sign off on your internship report earlier."

"Right! An internship report, I have an internship report to write. But where is the internship report supposed to be submitted? I... why can't I remember? The Wutaishan Training Institute, right? Where is it?"

"Inside Nanjing City, Stone City is to the west, Rooster Mouth to the south, the school gate is Wutaishan Subway Station, three stops away from the Palace Museum, four stops from the Grand Imperial Palace. Right next door is the Wutaishan Coaching Academy; when we went on spring field trips as kids, we always went to the Palace Museum, and inside the Palace Museum, there's a huge rubbing of an Egyptian Sphinx. Do you remember?"

"I... I can't remember..." Wen Yuan pressed his head. "What is wrong with me?"

A profound fear enveloped the two. Fear stems from the unknown, and nothing is more terrifying than being slowly consumed by the unknown. This could no longer be resolved simply by optimism.

[You don't need to worry about yourself; this should be related to phlogiston, and I can handle anything related to phlogiston. Confirm Wen Yuan's condition.]

"Then what else do you remember?" Shang Luo asked him. "Tell me about recent events. For instance, why did you guys come to Yangzhou? Was it because of the Las Vegas case?"

"No, it's because the imperial court judged that the New World might pose a threat, so they need to establish the Yangzhou Garrison Camp. We are on an imperial mission to scout out the situation here. Las Vegas is just part of what we need to investigate."

"So that's how it is... What about your own matters? What is the most important thing to you right now?"

"The internship report needs to be handed in to Lu Liang, our team leader. She's always chasing me for my homework. I can't beat her; she can kick me three times a second."

"What are you still remembering homework for at a time like this!"

[It looks like his phlogiston is dissolving, and his self-awareness is also disintegrating. If you pay attention, he might have become a bit dimmer than before. I suggest you find a way out first. You can also go to Helios to fulfill the contract; he will definitely keep his word. Try infusing phlogiston into the Spear of the Sun God; its illumination function should still work.]