Henry Clark glanced over quietly, sizing up the cultivation levels of the three. Big Rat Spirit was at the third level of Lingdong, while the other two were at the second. He could tell they were trying to intimidate him, so he sneered inwardly but maintained a respectful expression and said, “Newly admitted outer disciple Henry Clark has come according to sect rules to claim a magical artifact, with the waist token bestowed by Elder Gao as proof. Please, senior brothers, take a look…”

Big Rat Spirit took the wooden token, glanced at it, and immediately sneered, “So you’re a newly admitted outer disciple. You don’t know the rules, so I’ll let you off this time for barging into the Artifact Pavilion. But you’re just coming here empty-handed to claim an artifact?”

His beady little eyes flickered, clearly hinting that Philip Carter should offer a bribe.

“Uh, what do you mean, senior brother?”

Henry Clark gave a sheepish smile, playing dumb, but he really didn’t want to give anything—after all, it was a spirit stone!

Others needed their guidance to avoid picking a damaged artifact, but he wasn’t worried. Was the Yin-Yang Divine Demon Mirror just for show?

“You little punk, playing dumb? Hand over the spirit stone, or get lost…”

One of the men beside Rat Spirit lost his temper and scolded him outright, not even bothering to keep up appearances, directly demanding the spirit stone.

Henry Clark’s expression changed instantly. At first, although he was reluctant, after some thought he had planned to hand over the spirit stone—after all, he’d just joined the sect and didn’t know the ropes, so it was better not to stand out. But he was the type who responded better to kindness than to threats, and the man beside Rat Spirit shouting at him made his temper flare up at once.

“I only get one spirit stone every three months—why the hell should I give it to you, you bastard?”

Henry Clark shouted even louder than the man, startling all three of them.

Chapter 9: The Ten Thousand Nets Ghost Mask

“You… you dare insult me?”

The man beside Big Rat Spirit was stunned, then his anger exploded. Their positions in the Artifact Pavilion were far above those of the fat Daoist in the miscellaneous office—they’d either had connections or paid a hefty price to get in, holding the source of magical artifacts. Which disciple didn’t treat them with respect? That’s exactly why they’d become so arrogant.

But who would have thought that after just a mild scolding of a new disciple, he’d dare curse them out?

Furious, the man stepped forward, ready to slap the kid away.

Henry Clark saw his posture and knew he was about to make a move, so he stepped back and said with a low chuckle, “You tried to extort a bribe and now you want to fight me? Does the Daoist sect have any rules at all?”

The man’s expression changed abruptly, and he forcibly stopped himself.

Although all new disciples followed the unspoken rule of handing over a spirit stone, it was not something that could be made public.

He looked at the boy in front of him—young, but with the air of an old hand—and was genuinely afraid he’d make a scene…

“Haha, haha, why are you arguing the moment you meet? That’s not good…”

Big Rat Spirit looked at Henry Clark with a sly smile and said with ill intent, “This little junior brother may be young, but he’s got quite a temper. Fine, we were just joking with you earlier. Go ahead and pick out an artifact, but keep your eyes open…”

“Thank you, senior brother!”

Henry Clark cupped his fists, ignored the double meaning in Big Rat Spirit’s words, and headed straight inside.

Once inside, he was immediately taken aback—this was no Artifact Pavilion, it was more like a general store.

Rows and rows of wooden shelves held flying swords, talismans, spiritual tools, and more. At first glance, it was dazzling; each item looked impressive, some with names and small descriptions attached, others just piled haphazardly on the shelves—talismans, flying swords, treasure vials, even compasses—making it impossible to tell good from bad.

At this point, Henry Clark finally understood why every new outer disciple was so willing to bribe these people: there were simply too many artifacts here, and from appearances alone, you couldn’t tell which were good or bad, nor what they did. If you just picked one at random, the chances of getting a dud were high.

Big Rat Spirit and his two junior brothers saw Henry Clark standing there dumbfounded and immediately sneered.

They’d dealt with plenty of people unwilling to hand over spirit stones, but none had escaped being tricked by them.

Although the artifacts here were all low-grade items for the outer disciples of Qingyun Sect, there were two or three thousand pieces. Not long ago, the sect had recruited a batch of disciples who’d already picked out most of the good ones. What was left was mostly low-quality or outright broken items that couldn’t be used, and any good ones had been hidden away in hard-to-find spots.

They didn’t believe this kid who’d dared talk back could pick out anything good!

“Hmph, these three bastards want to trick me? Today I’ll show them something new…”

Henry Clark snapped out of it, sneered inwardly, and slowly walked forward.

“Little junior brother, every disciple only gets one incense stick’s worth of time to choose in the Artifact Pavilion. I’ll light it for you now…”

Big Rat Spirit said with a grin, signaling to the man beside him to pick the driest stick of timing incense and light it.