Ten Thousand Years in Seclusion
Chapter 8:Once Owned Such a Bell

Chapter 8: Chapter 8:Once Owned Such a Bell

Qi Tian quietly explained the method of awakening the bell’s soul resonance to Zhou Shen.

"Send your spiritual sense into the hollow of the bell," he said softly. "Then use a single thread of divine sense to tap it—as though you were striking a bell. One tap is enough."

Zhou Shen listened with complete concentration.

Following the instructions precisely, he sank his spiritual sense into the bell once more. He found the faint fluctuation hidden deep within, steadied his mind, and gently tapped it with the finest thread of divine sense.

The instant he did—

His entire body shuddered.

A clear, resonant peal of a bell rang out inside his sea of consciousness.

It never reached his ears.

Instead, it echoed directly through his soul.

In that single instant, every distracting thought vanished. His mind became perfectly clear. The exhaustion from days of travel, the mental strain accumulated from countless appraisals—everything was washed away by that solitary chime.

A profound sense of clarity and tranquility filled him from the inside out.

The bell had not rung in his ears.

It had rung within his soul.

Zhou Shen stood frozen.

For a long time, he did not move.

Only after several moments did he slowly open his eyes. Looking at Qi Tian, he bowed deeply, his voice low and utterly sincere.

"I have been enlightened."

Around them, the crowd exchanged bewildered glances.

They had heard nothing.

Seen nothing.

All they had witnessed was Master Zhou standing before a battered old bell in silent concentration before suddenly trembling—and then offering the ragged cultivator wrapped in beast hide a respectful bow.

Yet that single bow spoke louder than a thousand words.

A two-star appraiser had publicly bowed to an unknown wandering cultivator and admitted, "I have been enlightened."

That alone was proof enough.

The shabby, silent bronze bell truly was an ancient artifact.

The crowd erupted.

"So... that bell really is a treasure?"

"How could that wandering cultivator recognize an artifact that even Master Zhou failed to identify?"

Zhou Shen paid no attention to the commotion surrounding him.

He cupped his hands toward Qi Tian.

"Brother Qi," he said, genuine curiosity filling his voice, "I have spent decades studying ancient artifacts and have read nearly every appraisal text I could find. Even so, I encountered the name Soul-Stilling Bell only once, in a single ancient manuscript. Yet you recognized it at a glance—and even knew how to awaken it."

He paused.

"May I ask... how?"

It was the one question he simply could not answer.

He was a two-star appraiser, yet even he had known only the name.

How had this mysterious young cultivator learned knowledge that had vanished from the world long ago?

Qi Tian smiled.

"A long time ago," he said evenly, "my family once owned one as well."

"I’ve seen it before."

Zhou Shen paused for a moment before nodding in understanding.

A family’s inherited treasures and ancestral teachings were private matters among cultivators. To press further would have been discourteous.

Qi Tian was not exactly lying.

It was just that...

That bell hadn’t been a family heirloom. It had belonged to him.

Back then, when his cultivation had still been shallow, that bell had protected his soul through more than one life-and-death ordeal.

Later, however, after cultivating the Essence-Returning True Origin Scripture, his soul had grown far beyond what it once was.

Even an attack from an early Golden Core cultivator targeting his soul no longer posed much of a threat.

A bell capable of defending only against Foundation Establishment soul attacks had gradually become little more than a relic with no real use to him.

He remembered giving it away to his junior sister almost as an afterthought.

She had treasured it for quite some time afterward.

A trace of melancholy flickered across Qi Tian’s eyes—

so faint that even he himself failed to notice it.

It vanished in an instant.

Ten thousand years.

That bell...

And that girl...

Were both long gone.