American variety show world begins with subduing Jason

"Perhaps these are the items they're targeting tonight?"

"No, no."

Bai Ziyuan shook his head confidently, pointing to a string of letters and numbers on the box.

"Let me tell you a little secret: the official warehouse's collection is numbered systematically, with more important items appearing earlier. These few items may be quite valuable, but they're definitely not worth those people risking angering the federal government and making such a big fuss!"

"So we can keep it as a reward for our hard work, and there won't be any problems later."

Following Bai Ziyuan's instructions, the boy picked up the two boxes, wiped away the ashes, and found the engraved numbers on them.

B3 Area 75

B3 Area 103

The box in Bai Ziyuan's hand had the earliest number, but it was only B2 section 168.

Zhu Mingyao nodded silently, agreeing with Bai Ziyuan's assessment. According to the rules he mentioned, the items were indeed not very important, and it wasn't worth gathering a large group of skilled people to storm into an official institution to seize them.

The dead black-clad vampire was just one of his leaders, yet his strength was already quite formidable. He possessed a ruthless and insidious Western necromancy technique, and his movements were as swift as the wind. If it weren't for Bai Ziyuan, who happened to be his perfect counter, few other superhumans of the same level would have been able to defeat him.

By extension, one can imagine the strength of the mastermind behind this; a few ordinary materials or magical artifacts would probably not even be of interest to them.

Thinking of this, Zhu Mingyao opened the remaining two boxes. Since Bai Ziyuan's words made sense, he would pick out one or two items, so that his efforts tonight would not have been in vain.

In the first box was a small, thick finger bone. Judging from its size and the ferocious aura surrounding it, it must have been left by some kind of powerful beast. He casually put it aside and then opened the second box.

As the lid was lifted, a faint golden light came into his view.

Ok?

Ah!

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Chapter 23 Undead Gold Coins! Pirates of the Caribbean?

Zhu Mingyao stared at the small, gold badge-like object in the box, and suddenly felt his mouth go dry. He hesitated for a moment, unsure whether he should reach for it.

Seeing that something was off about him, Bai Ziyuan tilted her head and leaned closer to take a look, then asked curiously:

"It's just a cursed gold amulet, why make such a big deal out of it?"

"It's not a talisman." Zhu Mingyao took a deep breath and corrected in a deep voice, "It's a gold coin... a special gold coin!"

"Oh? This kind of gold coin is quite rare. The design looks like it's from South America..."

As she spoke, Bai Ziyuan reached into the box, wanting to take it out and examine it closely.

"Don't touch it!"

Zhu Mingyao was startled. With his free hand, he grabbed Bai Ziyuan's wrist. The movement was so forceful that the box tilted, and the so-called gold coin fell out of the box and rolled onto the floor with a crisp sound.

"What are you doing? I'm not going to take it from you."

Bai Ziyuan couldn't help but laugh and scold. Seeing that the boy was still staring at the gold coins on the ground with a serious expression, he also put away his playful look.

"What's wrong? Is something the problem?"

"This thing... it's best not to touch it with your hands." Zhu Mingyao thought to himself, and said slowly, word by word.

"It's just that someone has cast a curse or spell on it. It doesn't seem that powerful. Is there any need to be so alarmed?"

Bai Ziyuan blinked, a faint white flame flickering in his pupils. He crouched down, examined it closely for a moment, then looked up and said with some confusion:

"Hmm... Judging from the aura, this kind of curse leans towards the power of death and yin. Long-term exposure should cause a person's bloodline to wither and decay, turning them into a slowly rotting living corpse. The effect is indeed vicious, but the energy level is not too strong. It is enough to be fatal to ordinary people, but for us, it should be just so-so..."

If I had to point out something strange, it would be the material used to mint the coins. It was clearly a high-quality rare gold, but the curse magic attached to it was rather weak, hardly befitting such a precious material.

Zhu Mingyao looked at this rare friend of his, hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to tell him the truth.

"As far as I know, this thing has a complicated origin. It seems to be a sacrificial object used by priests of the ancient Aztec Empire to worship evil gods."

Indeed, the item in the third box was the core object that triggered the conflict in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie that Zhu Mingyao had seen in his previous life.

—Undead Gold!

Its unique shape left a deep impression on Zhu Mingyao at the time, so much so that even after many years, having lived two lives, he still clearly remembered its appearance.

It is about an inch and a half in diameter and looks like a small golden sundial. Concentric circles intertwine with radial lines extending from the center, and at the very center is a ferocious skull. At first glance, an unsuspecting person would not think it is a gold coin, but rather a talisman.

Bai Ziyuan glanced at him, but tactfully refrained from pressing him about how he knew the relevant secrets. Instead, she stroked her chin thoughtfully and said:

"According to you, that's quite interesting. To be associated with a god... even an evil god, the power on the gold coin shouldn't be so shallow. Compared to its superior material, it seems very discordant..."

It's like a priceless piece of dragon liver and phoenix marrow, but someone sprinkles it with expired soy sauce and inferior vinegar to make a cold dish. It's the embodiment of the phrase "a waste of precious resources".

"Hmph, that's too deliberate; it's only made it obvious."

He flipped his hand and made a grasping motion, and an invisible force pulled the gold coin over and placed it on the altar.

"Should you do it or should I?" Bai Ziyuan asked seemingly out of the blue.

"Let's work together, it'll be faster," Zhu Mingyao readily agreed, understanding the unspoken meaning.

He immediately understood what his friend meant: he suspected that there was something fishy about the seemingly superficial curse enchantment on the gold coin, which actually matched his own suspicions.

In the original film, the power of gold coins goes far beyond simply turning people into zombies.

When I watched it back then, as an ordinary person, I was simply amazed by the special effects and marveled at the scene where the crew of the Black Pearl turned into undead under the moonlight.

But it wasn't until he became a cultivator in this life that he truly understood what level of extraordinary power was needed to replicate the scenes presented in the film in reality.

The difficulty is absolutely off the charts!

With just one gold coin, a living person can be transformed into a strange being who appears normal in daylight but turns into a skeleton under the moonlight. The most outrageous thing is that after the curse ritual is lifted, the person can be restored to a living body with flesh and blood!

First, it goes from life to death, then from neither life nor death, and finally from death back to life.

Is this some kind of effect that a curse could cause?

Zhu Mingyao almost thought he had witnessed the Taiyin Refining Form Technique!

...If a person dies and temporarily enters the realm of the Yin, passing through the Three Officials, the flesh will decay to ashes, the blood will sink and the pulse will disperse, yet the five internal organs will still regenerate, and the bones will be as white as jade...Thirty or twenty years later, it will be as it pleases. At the time of rebirth, the blood will be collected to nourish the flesh, and the body will produce fluids, thus completing the embryonic form.

It looks so much like the description in the scriptures!

Bringing the dead back to life! This is an extremely high-level ability in any power system.

Even if the incantation is cast first and then broken, which is a shortcut of creating and solving one's own problem, strictly speaking, it can only be called a pseudo-resurrection. But in the end, it is still an extremely remarkable supernatural power.

Such profound effects far exceeded Zhu Mingyao's shallow understanding. If he had to give an example, he would probably have to open the "Biographies of Immortals" and search for it in the legends and deeds of the various immortal predecessors.

Seeing Bai Ziyuan's eager expression, he didn't delay any longer. He made a hand seal and gathered the remaining true fire energy after the Vermilion Bird True Form had just dissipated, turning it into a fist-sized ball of fire, which he threw onto the gold coin and let it burn.

At the same time, Bai Ziyuan took out his own magical artifact, the bone bracelet, and added a wisp of chilling white energy to it.

The cursed gold coin, enveloped in flames and chilling energy, spun continuously, crackling as it burned. Under the turmoil of these two forces, wisps of black vapor gradually rose from the coin.

The black mist grew thicker and thicker, as if it had reached a certain limit, then suddenly contracted towards the center and exploded into nothingness.

The two men withdrew their techniques and stared intently. They saw that the originally shiny and flamboyant color on the surface of the gold coin had completely faded, revealing a simple and restrained dark gold luster. In the depths of the eye sockets of the skull in the relief in the middle, there was a faint dark light floating.

The original obvious aura of curse on it has now completely disappeared, and to the naked eye it looks like an ordinary work of art with exquisite craftsmanship.

However, neither of the two people beside them dared to reach out and take it, because the illusory stinging sensations that arose in their spiritual senses constantly reminded them of the danger of this object.

The two could clearly sense that beneath the calm surface of the gold coin lay an evil power that was hundreds of times stronger than before!

Zhu Mingyao nodded secretly. This was the power that the strange object in the original work, which could make people go from life to death and then from death to life, should have. The curse on the surface was just a disguise deliberately set up by someone.

The imposter was very clever, using a spell similar to the primal power of the gold coin to successfully deceive later collectors. That's why the Special Investigations Bureau set its importance level so low; otherwise, it would have ranked at least higher than that gem.

Carefully, they moved the gold coins back into their original box. Zhu Mingyao then took out a gold-lacquered wooden box engraved with sealing incantations from Zhang Shouzhong's collection, put the box inside, and only after doing all this did the two of them breathe a sigh of relief.

Bai Ziyuan then placed the three items on the altar in turn, and with a grand and imposing gesture, he waved his hand.

"Come on, let's start dividing the spoils! You go first!"

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Chapter 24: The Division of Loot, A Shocking Turn of Events!

"All three items are very nice, but I don't really want any of them..."

Zhu Mingyao's gaze kept shifting between the three spoils of war, and he muttered to himself.

It seems that the black-clad vampires deliberately selected the items they stole while casually looting from the Special Investigation Bureau, as the attributes of the loot were all biased towards darkness and death.

Our family practices a branch of the Maoshan lineage, which, although it contains many spells related to ghosts, is generally a pure and tranquil practice.

These three things are usable, but when you really think about it, they don't really fit together.

Needless to say, the blue-black gemstone was overflowing with pure and abundant Yin energy. It was clearly an excellent material for crafting magical artifacts in the relevant field. You could see that Bai Ziyuan's gaze was fixed on it like a lecherous wolf, almost unable to be pulled away.

This item perfectly suited his cultivation path, and Zhu Mingyao had originally intended to give it to him.

The remaining two pieces, the remains of the strange beasts, should be able to be used as auxiliary materials for refining magical artifacts and talismans, and they can probably also be used to make some unorthodox medicines.

As for the final cursed gold coin, Zhu Mingyao couldn't think of any use for it at the moment.

Zhu Mingyao was quite excited when he discovered that an important treasure from the movie had suddenly appeared in front of him. But now that he had calmed down, he suddenly realized a very real problem.

This thing doesn't seem to be very useful...

According to his earlier idea, he might have been able to use this as a clue to trace the desolate cave where the pirates hid their treasure in the movie and make a fortune.

That small mountain made of various gold and silver jewels had a great impact on Zhu Mingyao's young mind.

But after careful consideration, it seems unrealistic. It's already the end of the 20th century, several centuries have passed since the original story took place, Captain Jack and his crew have long since disappeared into the annals of history, and the pirates' treasure has probably been discovered long ago, as evidenced by the cursed gold coins that have been lost.

Today, humanity has traversed every corner of this planet's surface, and countless remote and secluded places have been unveiled. How could a small, desolate reef island be any different?

In reality, it's not like in an RPG game where all the treasures are quietly hidden away, waiting for the protagonist to discover them.

The value of the cursed gold coin is rather awkward. If you were to say it's precious, both its material and the power it contains certainly make it valuable.

But if you say it's useless, it really doesn't seem to be very useful. It can neither attack enemies nor protect itself. The curse power on it doesn't distinguish between friend and foe; it just operates according to a pre-set method, and you'll be contaminated if you touch it.

If one is an expert, perhaps one can learn from it, conduct academic research, and see if one can grasp the pseudo-resurrection power within it.

What use is someone as a novice like myself? To use it as a tool for witchcraft to harm people?

You can't just give up being a living person and turn yourself into a ghost, can you?