Chapter 284: Chapter 236: Superpower ’Seal

Researchers at the Spiritual Energy Research Institute were divided into three levels: junior researcher, intermediate researcher, and senior researcher.

The clearance of each researcher level was different—the higher the level, the greater the access.

Had they not been following Wang Shi, the director of the Spiritual Energy Research Institute, the other researchers would have been unable to enter the laboratory of the middle-aged man, who was a senior researcher.

"Zhao Tianfu, what’s going on? Why did your lab’s alarm go off?" Wang Shi asked with a stern expression as he walked into the laboratory, addressing Zhao Tianfu, who had his back turned.

The moment he finished speaking, his eyes fell upon the Jade Token on the lab bench in front of Zhao Tianfu. It was glowing with a faint golden Spiritual Light, and just like that, he understood why the lab’s alarm had been triggered.

"Director, I’m not sure what happened myself. I was just about to leave the lab to grab lunch at the cafeteria.

But right as I was leaving, this Jade Token on the bench activated all on its own."

Hearing the sound behind him, Zhao Tianfu turned to face Wang Shi and his colleagues, whose faces were all filled with confusion, and began to explain.

Wang Shi walked over to Zhao Tianfu’s side, frowning as he stared at the Jade Token, which was still emitting a faint golden Spiritual Light on the lab bench.

This Jade Token was undoubtedly a Spiritual Artifact, and its origin was rather strange.

It came from a fish farmer’s pond, discovered by chance while the man was cleaning it out.

At the time, as the farmer washed the mud off the token, its surface flashed with a faint golden Spiritual Light.

Seeing this, the farmer figured it must be something special and worth a bit of money, so the very next day he brought it to the Spiritual Energy Research Institute for appraisal.

Initially, the researchers at the Spiritual Energy Research Institute determined that the Jade Token did contain Spiritual Energy.

However, it had no apparent function. The faint golden Spiritual Light was simply a result of the material itself containing Spiritual Energy. Plenty of materials contained Spiritual Energy, and not all of them were valuable.

A more thorough analysis with specialized instruments revealed the amount of Spiritual Energy in the Jade Token was extremely scarce—almost negligible. Therefore, it wasn’t worth much of anything.

The farmer, who had spent over a thousand yuan on the appraisal, was instantly filled with regret upon learning the Jade Token was worthless.

So, he asked the researcher who had appraised it if the Institute would buy the Jade Token off him.

The researcher, of course, declined. The Spiritual Energy Research Institute wasn’t an antique shop; it was only responsible for appraisals and had no service for purchasing items.

His dreams of striking it rich shattered, the dejected farmer took his Jade Token and prepared to leave.

Just then, he happened to run into Zhao Tianfu, who had come to the appraisal department looking for someone.

Upon learning that the farmer had spent over a thousand yuan to appraise a worthless item, Zhao Tianfu felt sorry for him, knowing how hard it was for a farmer to make a living.

After a moment’s thought, he decided to buy the Jade Token from the man with his own money.

His intention was simply to do a good deed, which was why he paid for the Jade Token.

Back in his lab, Zhao Tianfu thought about putting it to good use.

He decided to polish the Jade Token, buffing out the faint patterns on its surface, and then carve a pretty design into it to give to his daughter as a gift.

However, the moment he used an instrument to begin polishing it, the unremarkable Jade Token flashed with a faint golden Spiritual Light.

A pulse of Spiritual Power then surged from the Jade Token, attacking Zhao Tianfu, who was right next to it.

Fortunately, Zhao Tianfu was a Second Order Middle Stage Cultivator. Coupled with the fact that the Spiritual Power attack from the Jade Token wasn’t very strong, he was able to neutralize it with nothing more than a furrowed brow.

After launching that one Spiritual Power attack, the Jade Token fell silent once more.

He had previously paid little mind to the Jade Token that contained a trace of Spiritual Energy, but now it had actually launched a Spiritual Power attack.

This came as a huge surprise to Zhao Tianfu. As a senior researcher, his interest in this Jade Token, which could now be called a Spiritual Artifact, was thoroughly piqued.

In the days that followed, Zhao Tianfu conducted numerous studies on the plain-looking Jade Token, but unfortunately, he made little headway.

After that one instance where it proactively attacked him with Spiritual Power, the Jade Token never showed any reaction again. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

No matter what methods he tried, it remained as inert as a common piece of jade, showing no signs of activity.

If he hadn’t personally experienced the Spiritual Power attack from the Jade Token, he might have dismissed it as just an ordinary trinket.

Several months passed, yet Zhao Tianfu had not given up his research on the Jade Token.

However, he had drastically reduced the amount of time he spent studying it.

He still had his regular duties to attend to, after all, so he usually only studied the Jade Token in his spare time.

Today, just like any other day, he had set aside some free time to study it, but as usual, he made no progress.

He had been about to leave the lab for lunch at the cafeteria when, unexpectedly, the Jade Token that had remained inert for months suddenly sprang to life again—and with quite a commotion.

"So this Jade Token really is a Spiritual Artifact, just like you said!" Wang Shi remarked, a hint of surprise in his voice as he stared at it glowing with a faint golden Spiritual Light on the lab bench.

’I don’t know why, but it just activated on its own. How strange... What could have caused it to activate?’ Zhao Tianfu muttered to himself, his eyes fixed on the glowing Jade Token.