Chapter 4021: The Justice Crushing Cestus

Lin Mu stopped before the pedestal and stared through the layers of formations surrounding it. There was no longer any doubt in his mind. The object floating within was exactly what he had seen through the formation screen Taegong had used when discussing his plans for Little Bull.

’The Justice Crushing Cestus.’

Its appearance was surprisingly crude for something important enough to be placed within the Forbidden Relic Section. It resembled a gauntlet only in the broadest sense.

There were no articulated fingers, no delicate joints that would allow the wearer to move naturally, and none of the intricate craftsmanship Lin Mu usually associated with powerful Immortal Tools.

Several thick metal tubes formed the base of the weapon, overlapping around the wrist and forearm like pieces of crude armor hammered together by a mortal blacksmith. At the front rested two enormous iron spheres, each one larger than a man’s fist, positioned so that a punch would bring their tremendous weight directly into whatever stood before the wielder.

There were scratches all over its surface. Some were shallow while others had cut so deeply into the metal that Lin Mu could almost imagine the battles required to leave them behind. There were no gemstones, elaborate engravings, or decorations proclaiming its value either.

A few ancient characters had once existed along the wrist, though most had been worn away until only fragments remained. Even its dark gray metal had an uneven appearance, with some sections nearly black while others carried faint silver streaks.

Yet Lin Mu felt uncomfortable simply looking at it.

He had experienced a faint version of that sensation when seeing the Cestus through Taegong’s formation screen. At the time, he had assumed it was some quality of the recording or perhaps a strange reaction from his instincts.

Seeing it directly changed his mind as the feeling was real and it was heavy.

Lin Mu frowned as that description felt inadequate as he had experienced true physical weight before. His body cultivation had allowed him to lift things that ordinary cultivators would struggle to move even with Immortal Qi.

He understood gravitational pressure, spatial pressure, and the oppressive sensation produced when a powerful cultivator deliberately forced their aura upon someone weaker. Not to mention, his own Dao Skills, and Physique had weight focused abilities too.

But this was different as the Justice Crushing Cestus seemed to carry a burden.

Lin Mu could think of no better description.

It felt as though something had accumulated inside the weapon over countless years. Something invisible had piled upon it layer after layer, generation after generation, until the Cestus carried a weight that had nothing to do with its actual mass.

Lin Mu narrowed his eyes.

His Immortal Sense could not penetrate the barriers surrounding the pedestal. The formations were clearly designed to prevent exactly that. Whatever was contained within could neither release its power outward nor be casually examined from outside.

Fortunately, Lin Mu had other methods and his Spatial Perception spread.

The world around him changed. Ordinary colors faded as his perception shifted toward the Spatial Fabric underlying the chamber. The formations appeared as distortions and interconnected structures stretching through space.

The pedestal itself became a cluster of overlapping spatial boundaries, each barrier occupying a slightly different layer and reinforcing those beside it. Then Lin Mu looked at the Cestus and his expression nearly changed.

Against the dark background of the Spatial Fabric, the Justice Crushing Cestus looked completely different as a vast mass of color surrounded it. There was Grey, Black, Violet, Red and white.

The colors twisted together like countless clouds compressed into the shape of the weapon. Some strands seemed to crawl through the metal tubes, while others wrapped around the iron spheres. Thin tendrils extended outward before being stopped by the barriers.

Lin Mu focused harder and realized the substance resembled energy, yet it behaved incorrectly.

’It’s not Qi, or any other form of energy either. It’s similar to Dao Traces, but not that either.’

He had seen Dao Traces many times and this lacked their structure. Dao Traces carried meaning and principles. Even when Lin Mu could not understand them, there was usually an order to their existence.

The mass inside the Cestus felt fragmented and chaotic. As if countless pieces had been forced together until they became something new.

’Senior, do you know what it is?’ Lin Mu asked.

Xukong remained silent for several moments and Lin Mu waited.

When Xukong finally answered, his voice carried unusual thoughtfulness. "Considering the feeling it gives off, and the absence of blatant malevolence, I reckon what you’re seeing might be fragmented souls. A great many of them."

Lin Mu’s brows rose slightly. ’Soul Qi?’

"No," Xukong replied. "It might have been related to Soul Qi once. Time has changed it. Those fragments have remained together for far too long, and they seem to have amalgamated into something else. More importantly, they have fused with the spirit of the gauntlet itself."

Lin Mu examined the swirling colors again. ’Then the Weapon spirit absorbed them?’

"Absorbed is too simple a description," Xukong said. "The boundary between them has likely disappeared. The weapon spirit has become part of the amalgamation, and the amalgamation has become part of the weapon spirit. I cannot tell you precisely what resulted from that process."

’Can it be separated?’ Lin Mu asked.

"Perhaps. Perhaps doing so would destroy everything involved." Xukong paused briefly. "You’ll understand more if you hold it yourself. Spatial Perception is showing you its existence from an unusual angle, but you are still observing it through twelve layers of isolation."

Lin Mu blinked. ’Twelve?’

He looked away from the weapon and properly counted the formations surrounding the pedestal. And sure enough the number kept rising. By the time he finished, Lin Mu’s expression had grown serious.

There were indeed twelve independent barriers. Some isolated Immortal Qi, some suppressed spiritual fluctuations, one seemed specifically designed to restrain souls and another reinforced the surrounding space.

There were even two formations Lin Mu could not immediately identify.