[ Simulation System Initiated ]

[ Input: Player's Desire - "The best way to use the items I got from the family treasury." ]

[ Process: Analyzing Best Utilization Methods for Acquired Items ]

- [ Analyzing... ]

- [ Progress: 1% ]

- [ Progress: 2% ]

- [ Progress: 10% ]

- [ Progress: 50% ]

- [ Progress: 60% ]

- [ Progress: 80% ]

- [ Progress: 100% ]

[ Analysis Complete ]

[ Actions Required: ]

1- [ Awaken the Rusted Katars: Anoint the rusted katars with your blood, then envelop your hands in soul force before picking them up. The rusted katars will awaken and reveal their true power. ]

2- [ Purify the Plain Box: Incinerate the item known as the plain box. ]

[ Warning: Due to the unique properties of item 2, the plain box, the simulation system will provide direct guidance. It is imperative to adhere to the system's instructions meticulously, or player Nie Li risks entrapment in an unspecified state or location. ]

Nie Li's heart raced as he read the system's warning.

This was uncharted territory, even for him. With a deep breath, he pricked his finger with a knife, letting drops of his blood fall onto the rusted katars.

To his amazement, the katars seemed to drink in his blood, and tiny cracks spider-webbed across their surface.

"Did I mess up?" Nie Li wondered, eyeing the system for any signs of error.

Yet, the system remained silent, offering no clues.

Gathering his resolve, Nie Li wrapped his hands in a warm glow of red soul force and grasped the katars firmly.

In an instant, his soul force vanished into the weapons, the cracks now shining brightly, as if filled with the light of a thousand stars.

Then, something incredible happened.

The katars began to transform.

The rust and even the metal flaked away like the shell of an egg being peeled off, revealing what lay beneath.

Nie Li found himself holding a pair of katars made entirely of pulsing energy.

They shimmered in his grasp, vibrant and alive, their form perfect and lethal.

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The energy katars seemed to dance with light.

[ Item: Soul Katar ]

[ Type: Soul Weapon ]

[ Description: A mystical item was given to the champion of the Colosseum in the era of the sacred empire. This item was stolen by one of the founding members of the Heavenly Marks Family. The item that slaves fought to obtain it while the people of the sacred empire enjoyed their suffering. This item was the carrot on the stick for slaves and now will be the weapon that the liberated slaves use, but even they didn't know the true nature of what these katars are. The only one who found its true nature is Nie Li. ]

[ Rarity: Mystical ]

[ Effects: ]

- [ Soul Bond: This weapon bonds with the user's soul, ensuring it can never be lost, persisting beyond death and into reincarnation. ]

- [ Soul Piercing: Attacks bypass physical defenses to directly harm the soul, making physical armor irrelevant. ]

- [ Soul Force Absorption: Absorbs the soul force of defeated enemies, replenishing the user's SF by 5% per absorption. ]

- [ Ethereal Damage: Capable of inflicting damage on ethereal and soul-constructed entities. ]

- [ Adaptive Assault: The weapon's effects adapt based on the demon spirit absorbed by the cultivator, with effects varying widely. ]

- [ Battle Power Boost: +10K BP when wielded. ]

Nie Li couldn't help but laugh in disbelief. "Holy shit," he exclaimed, his voice a mix of awe and excitement.

He was holding a mystical soul weapon, its effects beyond anything he had dared to imagine.

Nie Li stood before the plain box, his heart pounding with anticipation and a trace of fear.

After witnessing the transformation of the rusted katars into something magnificent, his mind raced with possibilities about the box.

"If those katars held such power, what secrets does this box conceal?" he wondered, his curiosity piqued.

With a deep breath, he tossed the box into the fire.

The moment the flames touched its surface, an intricate inscription array appeared, weaving around the box like a protective barrier.

Nie Li watched in fascination as the array suddenly fractured, emitting a strange aura. He felt an unsettling sensation, as if he were aging and reverting to youth simultaneously. Time seemed to warp, contracting and expanding in an impossible rhythm.

Then, in a breathtaking instant, the box erupted in a blinding flash, tearing open a rift in space-time.

Suddenly, everything around Nie Li came to a halt.

The fire's dance ceased, and even a bead of sweat on his brow remained suspended mid-air. Nie Li blinked in confusion, attempting to consult the system for answers, only to realize he couldn't.

Time had ensnared him too.

"Why did the system freeze time?" he thought, puzzled. However, he quickly corrected himself.

"No, this is different when the system stops time, I can still move. But not this time."

This realization led him to a startling possibility.

Was it something else, then, that had stopped time?

His gaze inevitably drifted towards the rift in space-time.

The swirling vortex seemed to exist outside the constraints of the frozen moment, pulsing with a strange energy.

"Is this box somehow connected to the system?"

Just as quickly as everything had stopped, Nie Li found himself regaining control.

[ Path Selection Required ]

[ Option 1: Stab the Temporal Rift via the Soul Katar and be transported to the Temporal Spirit Library ]

[ Option 2: Stab the Temporal Rift via your hand and gain the Mark of Time ]

[ System recommends option 1 ]

Nie Li had never heard of the Temporal Spirit Library or the Mark of Time before.

These terms were as alien to him as the concept of dating women.

Yet, despite his confusion, there was a part of him—a deep, trusting part—that believed in the system's guidance.

So, without fully understanding what he was choosing, he opted for option 1: the Temporal Spirit Library.

His hand seemed to move with a mind of its own, guided by the system's invisible force towards the rift.

The Soul Katar in his grasp felt alive, eager to plunge into the unknown.

As the weapon made contact with the rift, reality itself seemed to shatter.

A brilliant, all-consuming white light enveloped everything in its path, sweeping away the world Nie Li knew.

In that moment, just before the light overtook him, Nie Li's thoughts raced.

What even is the Temporal Spirit Library?

Whatever, onto the Temporal Spirit Library, whatever or wherever that is.