Should I consider wearing gloves from now on? Song Shuhang thought to himself.

According to the information he had gathered up until now, his hands had to touch the 'object' to appraise in order to trigger the secret technique.

Then, just as his vision concentrated on the item, or he wondered about its characteristics, there was a very large probability that the appraisal technique would activate.

Since touching the 'object' with his fingers was one of the main conditions to trigger the appraisal technique, perhaps he could reduce the chances of the secret technique activating if he was wearing a pair of gloves and thus not directly touching the object in question?

At most, he would receive a small wound while wearing the gloves, which he could easily endure.

Perhaps it could really work!

"What are you thinking about?" Senior Sister Ye asked after seeing Song Shuhang's pensive look.

Thereupon, Song Shuhang told Senior Sister Ye about what he was thinking just now.

"Gloves? If you need them, I just happen to have a pair of gloves here with me! I have no idea where these gloves come from, but I found them next to me when I came out of secluded meditation one month ago. Since I found the whole thing quite strange, I decided to pick them up and keep them. Come, give them a try and see if they fit your hands," Senior Sister Ye said and stretched out her hand, placing it on her bracelet. In the next moment, she took a pair of white gloves from inside the bracelet.

The bracelet was a space-related magical treasure, an incredibly valuable item! An ordinary Fifth Stage Spiritual Emperor wouldn't be able to obtain such an item even if they were to sell their whole property.

Anyway, a pair of old-looking gloves appeared before Song Shuhang's eyes. The pair of gloves wasn't a magical treasure. Therefore, Senior Sister Ye gifted them to Shuhang.

"Thank you, Senio— Ye Si. I'll give them a try." Song Shuhang happily took the pair of white gloves and prepared to 'appraise' them.

However, the appraisal technique didn't activate this time.

Apparently, it disliked this pair of gloves and felt that they weren't worth appraising.

"..." Song Shuhang.

Are you making fun of me?!

Earlier, you continuously activated on your own. But now that I'm trying to activate you of my own volition, you are ignoring me?!

Song Shuhang started to recall the scene of the 88,888 voices speaking in his mind, stubbornly staring at the pair of gloves.

At the same time, he silently thought in his heart, I'm really curious about this pair of gloves. I really wonder what's their story and what they are made of!

After a short moment, the appraisal technique activated, and several light wounds appeared around the wrist place of his right arm.

The bandages wrapped around his right arm were dyed red with blood, and the pain was propagated to the rest of his body through his nerves, making Song Shuhang clench his teeth.

After that, runes rushed out of Shuhang's eyes and fell on the gloves, forming the picture of a clock.

The hands of the clock turned counter-clockwise and returned to Song Shuhang's immediately after.

The gloves of passion. It's a pair of gloves that a swordsman nicknamed 'Wooden Ox' lost in the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion 600 years ago. His lover, Fairy Yi, wove the silk of the ice silkworm into a pair of gloves. As a consequence, every inch of the gloves is full of the love Fairy Yi had for him. The user's luck will increase after wearing them!

A pair of gloves that his lover made for him... that Swordsman Wooden Ox must have been so scared of his lover that he probably knelt on the washboard for a whole day after he carelessly lost them, right? Hmm, wait a moment. It seems it's trendy to kneel on diamond-hard durians as a punishment in the world of cultivators.

Song Shuhang remembered that a senior of the Nine Provinces Number One Group had once posted a piece of news related to the world of cultivators in the group. According to the content of the news, the sect master of one of the four great sword sects, the Southern Eternal Sword Sect, quarreled with his wife. The sect master used harsh words and wanted to break up with her, but in the end, he had to kneel for a whole day on a 'diamond-hard durian' as a punishment.

Song Shuhang didn't have any idea as to what these 'diamond-hard durians' looked like, but they should be way scarier than ordinary durian fruits.

The pain transmitting from his wrist made Song Shuhang clench his teeth, allowing him to return to his senses.

At the same time, he thought to himself, This pair of gloves is something Swordsman Wooden Ox forgot here in the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion when he came as a guest 600 years ago... but why did they suddenly appear next to Senior Sister Ye a month ago? Moreover, Senior Sister Ye doesn't seem to know the origin of these gloves, either...

After reaching this conclusion, Song Shuhang didn't ponder the matter further.

He quickly wore the 'gloves of passion'.

The size was perfect. It seemed that the hands of Swordsman Wooden Ox were precisely as big as Shuhang's!

Such being the case, Song Shuhang decided to be impolite and keep the 'gloves of passion'. If he were to meet Senior Swordsman Wooden Ox some day in the future after he had left the Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion, he would remember to return the gloves to him!

The 'gloves of passion' were made from the silk of the ice silkworm and were extremely light, almost weightless. Song Shuhang tried to move his fingers while wearing the pair of gloves and noticed that they hardly hindered his movements.

The only drawback was that the temperature of the gloves was rather low, and his hands would become numb after wearing them for a long time.

"These gloves are pretty good," Song Shuhang said in praise.

Senior Sister Ye smiled and narrowed her eyes. Although she practiced the ❮Tome of Never-Ending Tears❯, she was a very cheerful girl that loved smiling.

❄️❄️❄️

After wearing the gloves, Song Shuhang tried to touch objects in the surrounding area such as the table lamp, the floor, the stool, rocks, and so on.

Afterward, he took out of his 'size-reducing purse' the spirit-binding ice bead, all sorts of medicinal pills and talismans, the silver dragon puppet, and other items, touching them with his hands.

There wasn't any reaction after touching the spirit-binding ice bead!

There wasn't any reaction after touching medicinal pills and talismans.

And there wasn't any reaction after touching the silver dragon puppet, either!

Even after he had touched all the items inside the size-reducing purse, the appraisal technique didn't show any sign of activating.

"It works!" Song Shuhang said happily.

He wasn't sure if the gloves could completely stop the appraisal technique from starting. However, it seemed they drastically reduced the probability of it activating.

Such being the case, it was better if he kept them on before finding a way to permanently prevent the appraisal technique from making him spurt blood from all over the body. Of course, he could take them off if there was an emergency.

❄️❄️❄️

Around five minutes later.

Song Shuhang was now holding in his hand the horse-type spirit beast crystal, wiping it clean since he was about to eat it with the ❮Whale Swallowing Technique❯.

On one side, Senior Sister Ye was curiously looking at Song Shuhang, who was preparing to use the ❮Whale Swallowing Technique❯.

She was very curious about this cultivation technique that could allow the user to eat and absorb spirit beast crystals. Moreover, with her being there, she could promptly help Song Shuhang if something unexpected were to happen while he was using the ❮Whale Swallowing Technique❯.

Song Shuhang adjusted his state and tried to be at his best.

Afterward, he put the horse-type spirit beast crystal in his mouth.

After the activation of the ❮Whale Swallowing Technique❯, Song Shuhang's teeth became capable of biting the spirit beast crystal to pieces, and his stomach and digestive system capable of absorbing the spirit beast crystal. Aside from that, it was possible to flawlessly lead the energy inside the spirit beast crystal into one's dantian through the technique.

While practicing the ❮Whale Swallowing Technique❯, Song Shuhang had always been wondering if he could use it to bite people other than eating and absorbing spirit beast crystals.

After all, Shuhang's teeth turned as hard as a treasured weapon after the usage of the technique. If he were to bite the enemy, it wouldn't be a problem to chew away their flesh.

Cough... of course, such a technique wasn't truly a good sight to behold. Therefore, it was better not to use it if possible.

"Crack, crack, crack~"

The hard spirit beast crystal was bitten to pieces just like that.

"Chew, chew, chew~"

"Gulp~"

"This time, it tasted like roasted meat. The taste was somewhat astringent, I guess?" Song Shuhang muttered to himself.

The previous time, when he ate the shark-type spirit beast crystal, it tasted like raw fish.

And when he ate the sheep-type spirit beast crystal while dreaming, it tasted like lamb chops.

Such being the case, was the taste he felt just now the taste of roasted horse meat?

The nearby Senior Sister Ye exclaimed, "You really ate it! It looked rather incredible!"

It was very difficult to extract the spiritual energy within spirit beast crystals. But now, she witnessed that it was possible to make use of them by simply 'eating' them. The senior that created the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Technique❯ must have been a very talented person!

"Shuhang, although you managed to bite to pieces the spirit beast crystal and eat it, it's still a piece of crystal in the end. Won't it give you indigestion later? What if it gives you diarrhea as well?" Senior Sister Ye asked. She was pondering about this matter from an academic point of view.

"..." Song Shuhang.

Why is everyone asking me if I'll have diarrhea after they see me use the ❮Whale Swallowing Technique❯ to eat spirit beast crystals?

First, it was Senior Phoenix Slayer that asked this question. Now, it was Senior Sister Ye.

In the end, Song Shuhang forced a smile and shook his head, saying, "The ❮Whale Swallowing Technique❯ can allow me to completely digest the spirit beast crystal. There won't be pieces left behind in my stomach that would cause me trouble."

"So that's how it was." Senior Sister Ye nodded.

The ❮Whale Swallowing Technique❯ was activated, and everything proceeded without a hitch.

Song Shuhang didn't dare to be careless and sat cross-legged, operating the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Technique❯ to lead the spiritual energy inside the spirit beast crystal to his dantian. At the same time, he guided the 'origin true qi' inside the horse-type spirit beast crystal as well, making it mix with the embryonic form of the 'innate true qi' in his dantian.

The whole process proceeded well, and aside from the place between his eyebrows hurting due to the excessive amount of mental energy, nothing unexpected happened.

In the end, the small illusory figure of a horse appeared next to the embryonic form of the 'innate true qi' in Song Shuhang's Sea of Qi Dantian. Afterward, it circled the embryonic form of the innate true qi together with the figures of the shark and sheep, revolving around it.

Song Shuhang opened his eyes.

Now, he had to do one last thing...

'After eating it with the ❮Whale Swallowing Technique❯, the quickest way to absorb it is to run for 5000 meters on four limbs.'

Do I really have to do that?

It was a rather embarrassing thing to do, especially with Senior Sister Ye still there.

However, there were many passageways and rooms in the 'Lower City' of the Time City.

Song Shuhang could quietly find a lonely place and run on four limbs in there.

Thereupon, Song Shuhang stood up and said to the nearby Senior Sister Ye, "Ye Si, I'm going out to exercise a bit. I'll come back in a while!"

He just had to run for 5000 meters, and even if he had to do it on four limbs, it wouldn't take him more than a few minutes if he were to do it quickly.

"Be careful on the road. Right, carry this badge with you. You don't have to worry about losing your way if you have it," Senior Sister Ye said as she passed Song Shuhang a button-sized badge.

❄️❄️❄️

Song Shuhang took the badge and left Senior Sister Ye's private library room.

After walking straight in the passageway, he arrived at what resembled a huge arena. The arena was very big, basically the same as the race tracks in schools. Completing one lap around the arena should be comparable to running for 300-400 meters.

"It should take me around twenty laps to completely digest the spirit beast crystal." Song Shuhang placed both his hands and feet on the ground.

It wasn't that easy to 'run' while maintaining this posture.

Perhaps I should try to leap around like a cheetah?