Chapter 128: Who Wasn’t Young Once?

"System, every time I purchase a spirit bamboo shoot from the system store, temporarily seal 0.0045% of my spiritual energy."

"Command received. Configuring... Configuration complete."

Li Yunfei began his so-called replication of the spirit bamboo shoots in front of Zhang Ziying, A-Bao, and Xiao-Bei. After precise calculations, he decided to produce them at a rate of five per minute, meaning it would take forty minutes to retrieve all two hundred. By this logic, if he were to "replicate" twenty thousand shoots, it would appear to consume ninety percent of his spiritual energy over three days and nights—seventy-two hours in total. This method was safe enough to perform even in front of Ziwei, as the gradual decline in his spiritual power during the "replication" process would provide a consistent and believable cover story.

"126... 127... 128..."

A pile of spirit bamboo shoots grew on the table before Li Yunfei. Every time he produced one, A-Bao and Xiao-Bei would excitedly count it. Just then, a knock sounded at the door, and the bored Honghong opened it using her spiritual sense. Everyone turned to see Ziwei walking in with a smile.

"Comrade Ziwei." Li Yunfei quickly stopped and stood up to greet him, but Ziwei waved a hand, saying, "Go on with your work. There’s no need for such formality in private." He glanced at the pile of bamboo shoots, realizing Li Yunfei was providing snacks for the children, and added with a smile, "Finish up their rations first. I’m not in any hurry."

Ziwei sat down in another chair at the table, watching Li Yunfei with interest. Li Yunfei sat back down and said, "Then please wait a moment; I’ll be finished in about ten minutes."

Ziwei nodded. Li Yunfei extended his right hand, feigning a meditative focus. Every twelve seconds or so, a spirit bamboo shoot would appear in his hand. Ziwei clearly sensed that each time a shoot materialized, Li Yunfei’s cultivation base dipped slightly. It seemed he hadn't lied about the mechanics of his ability.

Ten minutes later, as A-Bao and Xiao-Bei shouted "200" in unison, Li Yunfei’s task was complete.

"There you go, divide them yourselves!"

"Thank you, Boss." The siblings thanked him, each waved a hand, and the pile of bamboo shoots vanished. They immediately sat down to the side, crunching away happily. The shells of the spirit bamboo shoots were as rich in spiritual energy as the centers, so they ate them whole. Li Yunfei and Ziwei watched them with amused shakes of their heads.

"Did you have any instructions for me, Comrade Ziwei?"

Ziwei waved his hand. "No, no. I’m here for a personal matter. I wanted to ask if you could replicate two magic treasures for me. Is that possible?"

Li Yunfei was secretly delighted. If he were to replicate Ziwei’s treasures, he would essentially gain access to them himself—and surely, nothing belonging to Ziwei could be mediocre. "I’d be happy to help. What kind of treasures are they?"

Ziwei spread his left hand, and a hollow, golden spherical object the size of a volleyball appeared in his palm. It emitted a faint golden light, looking like a miniature sun. Then, he pointed his right hand at the empty space beside him, and a crescent-moon-shaped treasure, the size of a millstone and glowing with a ghostly silver light, materialized and hovered at his side.

Li Yunfei and Zhang Ziying could not help but chuckle. "Comrade Ziwei, aren't these the 'Sun and Moon Golden Wheels' from the movie *The Legend of Zu*?"

Ziwei smiled sheepishly. "Well, what man doesn't have his sentiments? I was young once, too, and I had dreams of riding a sword on the wind to explore the heavens."

"For those of us born in the nineties, *The Legend of Zu* fulfilled all our fantasies about the world of immortals. It left quite an impression!"

"So, once I obtained the right materials, I forged these two treasures. It was a way to fulfill a dream from my youth."

"Haha, the comrades from the Emei Sect even forged the 'Purple and Azure Swords' and the 'Heavenly Thunder Swords'! You’ve already seen Daoist Yuling’s Bagua Haotian Mirror, and that fellow He Ming even tried to imitate the 'Southern Brightness Li Fire Sword'."

"It’s a pity he didn't have any Southern Brightness Li Fire, so he just asked Daoist Yuling to carve a True Fire Talisman onto it. The treasure only resembles the original; its power is far inferior."

Li Yunfei was left speechless. These high-level cultivators were certainly whimsical, though they had the status and capital to be so. "If you really want to lean into the sentiment, you should be creating those floating mountains from *The Legend of Zu*. Just imitating treasures won't turn Great Xia into a true land of immortals!"

Zhang Ziying covered her mouth to hide a giggle. Ziwei nodded solemnly. "You’re right, but our current cultivation level isn't high enough yet."

"Creating such a surreal environment requires the power of a true immortal, coupled with immortal-grade formations. To do it in the short term, we would have to rely on the power of technology."

Li Yunfei was stunned. "Wow, you’ve actually thought about this? I always thought only the rich could be this whimsical, but it turns out high-level cultivators are even more outrageous."

Ziwei chuckled, then turned serious. "However, now is not the time for such things. The Blue Earth Planet is fraught with problems. We must solve them one by one to stabilize society and enter an era of steady development before we can consider 'upgrading' our reality."

Li Yunfei nodded in agreement and looked at the two treasures. "Let me try to replicate these Sun and Moon Golden Wheels."

Ziwei placed them on the table with anticipation. Li Yunfei reached out and pressed his hands onto the treasures. To his surprise, he found he could not store them. Frowning, he asked the system in his mind, "System, why can't these treasures be stored in the system space?"

System: "Because refined magic treasures contain the owner's soul imprint. They are considered property and, in a sense, possess a form of life, acting as an extension of the owner. Therefore, they cannot be stored."

So that was it. Li Yunfei tried to store his own internal treasures into the system inventory and found it impossible as well. He had only just realized this today, as he had previously only ever stored them within his own body. While slightly annoyed, he had no argument against it; it was perfectly logical. Otherwise, if he could simply use his spiritual sense to forcibly capture an opponent’s treasures during battle, the game would be over for his enemies. It seemed the system wasn't omnipotent after all; his previous assumption that it disregarded all rules was clearly incorrect.

Li Yunfei withdrew his hands and said apologetically to Ziwei, "I’m sorry, I can't do it."

Ziwei asked with surprise, "Why is that?"

Li Yunfei explained, "I can only store and replicate inanimate objects, or objects that have no owner. These Sun and Moon Golden Wheels have been refined by you and contain your soul imprint—they are essentially a part of your soul, so I cannot store or replicate them."

Ziwei realized the truth and looked slightly disappointed. After a moment of contemplation, he made a decision.