The magic artifact upgrade took very little time, and so too did the birth of the magic artifact.

Within just a quarter of an hour, the Blood Crystal Mask emitted a wave of energy.

The jewelry in the drawer clattered noisily, and the poor wooden dressing table was directly shattered.

Lu Ran instinctively sidestepped, positioning himself in front of the wardrobe, while the Smoke and Mist Silk swiftly spread out, catching the turbulent wind.

"Whoosh~"

The Blood Crystal Mask slowly floated up, hovering in front of Lu Ran's face.

It seemed to be scrutinizing the young man.

"Hello?" Lu Ran cautiously reached out, attempting to hold the half-face mask.

But the Blood Crystal Mask retreated slightly, avoiding the young man's hand.

"You don't recognize me?" Lu Ran didn't forcefully grab the mask, saying, "You were my birthday gift."

The Blood Crystal Mask slowly floated around the young man, seemingly trying to confirm something.

Lu Ran smiled and continued, "Our footsteps have covered the Holy Spirit Mountain Realm, you accompanied me in defeating enemies, cutting through many evil demon headquarters."

The Blood Crystal Mask happened to rotate back to Lu Ran's face, still silent.

"Come." Lu Ran slowly raised his hand.

This time, the Blood Crystal Mask didn't retreat.

Lu Ran felt a surge of joy in his heart, gently supporting it; it felt warm to the touch.

"This is how we used to march south and north together." As he spoke, he put on the mask, covering the lower half of his face.

"Buzz~" The Blood Crystal Mask finally had a slight reaction, trembling gently.

"Remembered?" Lu Ran's muffled voice came from within the mask.

Beside him, Jiang Ruyi's voice came, "It... hmm?"

Just as she uttered a word, a surge of energy appeared in front of her, followed by a blood mask, made entirely of pure energy, covering the lower half of her face.

Lu Ran naturally noticed the anomaly, immediately turning his head to look, witnessing the astonishing scene.

The mask on her face was not made of crystalline Blood Crystal Stone, but a deep red half-face mask, seemingly formed of solidified blood.

Red to the point of black!

Jiang Ruyi's celestial elegance was quite out of sync with the style of this mask.

Yet the blood mask, disregarding all else, adjusted its size, completely wrapping her from the middle of her nose to her entire lower jaw.

Jiang Ruyi frowned slightly, sensing a surge of energy in the blood mask, wisps of blood thread attempting to penetrate her Water Flow Armor and burrow into her skin.

"What, not allowing me to speak?" Jiang Ruyi's voice was muffled.

This remark seemed to further anger the magic artifact Blood Crystal Mask!

The blood mask covering her face stirred with even more intense energy fluctuations, fine blood lines pressing insistently into her skin.

Jiang Ruyi's physical body possessed the strength of the Third Level of the Heavenly Realm.

The Water Flow Armor covering her was the most top-grade existence within the Heavenly Grade.

How could a mere First Rank magic artifact breach such a defense?

That being said, the Blood Crystal Mask dared to cover Jiang Ruyi's mouth probably due to the blessings of the magic artifact Smoke Green Gauze.

To avoid burdening Lu Ran too much, Jiang Ruyi had condescended to step down from the Divine Altar, going to great lengths to conceal her presence with the artifact.

If she were to appear in the presence of an Evil God, the Blood Crystal Mask likely wouldn't dare to act so insolently, right?

"Don't be naughty, she's my fiancée and also your mistress." Lu Ran raised his hand, patting the Blood Crystal Mask he wore.

Jiang Ruyi also raised her hand, grasping the blood mask on her face, pulling it downwards.

This removal certainly opened Lu Ran's eyes.

Jiang Ruyi forcibly tore off the blood mask, revealing that dense blood threads were still clinging to the lower half of her face.

The scene was particularly horrifying!

"Snap~ snap~ snap~"

Jiang Ruyi held the mask, pulling it further away as the blood threads snapped one by one, making a subtle eerie sound.

"Crunch!"

With a strong grasp, Jiang Ruyi crushed the blood mask, its sticky blood staining her fair hand.

Moments later, the blood dispersed into wisps of mist.

"All right." Lu Ran patted the Blood Crystal Mask, "She is your mistress, no more of this in the future. What exactly is the specific effect of your ability?"

The Blood Crystal Mask remained silent, without any reaction.

"Hello?" Lu Ran was somewhat puzzled, "Is the Artifact Spirit there, to say something?"

Jiang Ruyi suddenly said, "It might not understand our language."

"Huh?" Lu Ran was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized.

Right!

This is a magic artifact, not a Divine Weapon.

Every Divine Weapon born involves significant contributions from the Human Clan, not to mention the preliminary cultivation stage, but just the crucial stage of aggregating into a weapon spirit requires the Human Clan to lead throughout, with a mutual understanding between weapon and master.

The essence of the weapon spirit is the person who is the Master of Divine Weapon.

Therefore, once a Divine Weapon is born, it understands the human language and can communicate normally with its master.

Magic artifacts are entirely different.

This thing is naturally formed, with no involvement from the Human Clan from conception to birth.

"I'll gather the soldiers in the Sculpture Garden for an initial discussion." Jiang Ruyi turned and left, "You stay with the Blood Crystal Mask for now. Once it fully recognizes its master, you'll be able to understand each other's thoughts."

In terms of language, there shouldn't be a need to spend special time teaching it.

It will learn by ear and eye.

Lu Ran watched Fairy Jiang's departing figure, muttering softly, "Not angry, right?"

Jiang Ruyi: "..."

Do you really think I'm that petty in your mind?

If it were a troublesome kid, of course one could discipline it until it behaves. But this is merely a newborn "infant," knowing nothing, so why get angry?

Jiang Ruyi had the urge to turn her head and glare at Lu Ran.

Yet she worried he might say something that would scare the Blood Crystal Mask, so she simply grunted, picked up the Fiery Phoenix Patterned Gourd in her hand, and walked away without pausing.

Little Blazing Phoenix: "..."

It really wanted to make new friends and play together.

Unfortunately, the mistress wouldn't allow it, and it didn't have much time to rest either; it had to constantly study and comprehend new effects, striving to advance to a fourth-rank Magic Artifact.

Lu Ran watched as his girlfriend, the Evil God, left, then sat down on the spot, holding his face in his hands, with his palms covering the Blood Crystal Mask, trying to develop feelings with it.

The birth of the Magic Artifact took only fifteen minutes.

But the process of recognizing its master took an entire afternoon!

As dusk approached, Lu Ran finally sensed that the Blood Crystal Mask had opened its heart to him, and the two could now convey Heart Thoughts to each other.

"Haha!" Lu Ran's muffled laughter echoed in the bedroom.

The Blood Crystal Mask sensed its master's joy and seemed to feel much better, though it still didn't make the slightest sound, not even a slight tremor.

Lu Ran realized that the temperament of this Magic Artifact was a bit unique.

Magic Artifacts come in many types, all of which can exist independently and have their own temperaments.

The few Magic Artifacts Lu Ran owned had vastly different personalities: Little Blazing Phoenix loved to play and cause mischief, the Smoke Green Gauze was gentle and considerate.

And now he had another silent gourd.

"Come on, let's test the effect of your Magic Artifact," Lu Ran mumbled, transmitting a few Heart Thoughts.

Even if the language is different, thoughts could be easily understood.

However, the Blood Crystal Mask still did not respond.

Hmm... it seemed quite similar to the Silent Night Blade?

After pondering for a moment, Lu Ran summoned the Ancient Bronze Mirror in his hand and arrived in the northern region of the Holy Spirit Mountain Continent, stepping into a snowy forest.

He walked several dozen steps forward and stood by the lakeside.

The Moon Shadow Heavenly Pool at dusk was equally beautiful. The setting sun shone through the snowy forest, casting a shimmering glow on the calm lake surface.

Lu Ran understood why Guan Yiren chose to hide away here.

This place was peaceful and tranquil, allowing one to momentarily forget the filth of the Holy Spirit Mountain.

After admiring for a moment, just as Lu Ran was about to search for the Evil Demon Nether Toad, something suddenly came to mind.

"Uh." Lu Ran slapped his forehead, somewhat annoyed.

No wonder the lakeside was so quiet; the Evil God Nether Toad had already been slain by the Ran Sect!

Now where could there be any Nether Toad... eh?

Lu Ran blinked, glanced over the dense snowy forest, and spotted a silver toad under a big tree.

Lu Ran: "..."

It was a swift slap in the face, he couldn't quite process it.

Indeed, once the minions of the Evil Demons were created, they existed as independent entities, and wouldn't perish with the demise of the Evil God.

Within the Holy Spirit Mountain, there naturally remained remnants of the Nether Toad clan.

No need to worry that the Evil Demon minions were helpless; it was their inherent trait. The minions were essentially the offspring of the Evil God himself, quite unlike the humble human believers who needed to sign a Master-Servant Contract before they could plead with the God Demon to permit them to cast spells.

"Killing one is one less~"

Lu Ran murmured, holding the Blood Crystal Mask with his left hand and pointing his right finger at the distant big tree.

Kill!

"Whew~"

Connected in Heart Thoughts with the Magic Artifact, under heavy killing intent, the Blood Crystal Mask immediately cast a spell. A blood mask appeared, fitting precisely over the silver toad's mouth.

The body structure of the Nether Toad was vastly different from that of the Human Clan.

Nevertheless, that blood mask cleverly adjusted its shape, fitting perfectly over the Nether Toad's mouth!

Nether Toad: ???

The suddenness of it all left the already not-so-intelligent Nether Toad completely dumbfounded.

In just an instant, the blood mask extended blood threads, piercing into the Nether Toad's skin.

Lu Ran was also somewhat stunned.

The Nether Toad clan was known for being annoyingly loud, especially in battle, where they would constantly croak non-stop.

Yet, at this moment, Lu Ran only saw the frantically struggling Nether Toad, hearing no sound whatsoever.

Even with its mouth covered, shouldn't it be able to make some muffled sounds?

This?

What Lu Ran couldn't see was that underneath the blood mask, blood lines like needle and thread had already sewn the Nether Toad's mouth shut and pierced into its vocal sac...

Suddenly, the palm-sized silver toad's body swelled up, silver light glistening beneath its skin.

Lu Ran's pupils slightly contracted!

Nether Toad Evil Technique: Toad Spits the Moon?

Unfortunately, with its mouth firmly sealed by the blood mask, it couldn't open it even a bit, naturally unable to spit out moonlight.

The terrifying energy could only gather within its mouth, swelling the Nether Toad's belly immensely...

"Puff!"

The Nether Toad exploded directly, with pieces of its body scattering everywhere.

Even to its death, it didn't manage to utter a sound.

Even to its death, it didn't spit out that beam of moonlight.

Although its body burst apart, half of the Nether Toad's head remained, and the perfectly-fitting blood mask was still firmly glued to its mouth, refusing to let go.

"My heavens..." Lu Ran looked shocked.

Clog one's mouth, not allowing it to speak?

This was too domineering, wasn't it?

It sounded like something that could easily trigger public outrage, leading to an online exposé...

...

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