[Chapter 77: Sovereign Yearblade]
After hanging up the phone, Daniel said to Megan, "I'm heading out soon. If you've got something to do, you can handle it yourself. Just find me tonight."
"No way, I'm coming with you." Megan hurried through her meal, afraid Daniel might leave without her.
Half an hour later, Daniel pulled the Cadillac out of the driveway. Megan's red BMW 3 Series stayed parked in the garage, untouched.
...
As soon as they stepped inside Kingsbridge Antiquities, the shop owner greeted them warmly, "You're here, Mister..."
Before he could finish, he noticed Megan standing right behind Daniel. He froze for a moment. "Well, Brother, you've got skills," the owner said, giving Daniel a thumbs-up.
Daniel suspected a misunderstanding but didn't correct him. Instead, he asked, "Where's the merchandise? Let me see."
"Wait right here." The owner disappeared into the back room and returned with a small cardboard box.
Opening it, Daniel found it packed with copper coins. Most were genuine heritage coins, true relics from the past.
More importantly, there were enough coins to assemble dozens of Minor Five Emperors Coin sets.
However, some coins were suspicious. Daniel, relying on the Spiritual Perception Technique and his sensitivity to energy, could instantly tell which were authentic and which were fake.
Looking at the owner, Daniel said, "These items are good..."
The owner smiled, but as he was about to speak, Daniel added, "But you should take out the problematic ones yourself."
The owner's smile froze. He forced a dry laugh, "Little Brother, what do you mean by that?"
Daniel casually picked up a copper coin and said, "Do I need to be more clear?"
With a slap of his thigh, the owner winced, "That damned foreigner tricked me with fakes! And I trusted him so much. Brother, don't worry. I value integrity most in business. I'll sort out the bad ones right now."
He began to sort through the coins, but Daniel interrupted him, "Stop. With so many coins, how long will that take? We both know how many fakes are in there; no need to expose it. Give me a price for the whole lot."
The owner chuckled dryly, "There are about 11,000 coins total. Let's say 1,000 are fake, so 10,000 genuine ones. I'll price them at $15 apiece -- that's fair, right?"
Daniel countered, "Flat price: $100,000."
The owner hesitated. "Brother, you're cutting the price too hard. Last time, you paid $100 for seven coins, more than $14 each."
"$90,000."
The owner was stunned. This bargaining was unreal.
"Wait, Brother, you..."
"$80,000."
Daniel dropped another $10,000 immediately. "Besides me, no one else can buy all these coins at once. If you don't sell now, I'll knock off another 10,000."
"Sold! $80,000 it is," the owner said, surrendering helplessly.
He had planned to sneak in fake coins to inflate the count and pad his profits, but instead, he ended up losing -- in both his merchandise and in price.
Though he wasn't losing money per se, earning much less than expected still stung. He quietly regretted it as he watched Daniel leave with more than 10,000 copper coins.
...
At home, Daniel dumped the coins onto the table. Megan picked up a few and examined them curiously.
"Are these ancient coins? I think I've seen something like them in books."
Daniel nodded. "These are coins from the different dynasties like Roman and Byzantine."
Megan asked, "Why buy so many old coins? Are you collecting antiques?"
Daniel smiled. "I have other uses for them. Help me sort these five types of coins."
He pulled out a sample set of Minor Five Emperors Coins to show her. Megan could easily match the coins to the samples, and it made sorting easy for him.
Curious, Megan agreed eagerly.
Together, they spent over half an hour sorting. They managed to assemble 196 complete Minor Five Emperors Coin sets -- 128 in excellent condition, the rest average.
The leftovers, excluding the padded fakes, were coins that couldn't form whole sets, plus some from other eras.
Incomplete sets could serve as spares, and coins from other periods still had some value, so Daniel kept those as well.
As for the fakes, Daniel swept them straight into the trash.
...
Next came weaving the copper coin sword, which Megan couldn't assist with beyond watching.
Daniel produced an extra-long red cord to thread and tie the coins together. The process wasn't difficult but required extreme patience and care.
He worked steadily from lunch until 4 PM, when he finally finished crafting the copper coin sword.
This sword was made from 365 coins -- exactly 73 sets of Minor Five Emperors Coins. It was known as the Sovereign Yearblade.
Holding it, the sword felt weighty and substantial in the hand.
Megan watched the transformation from coin to sword in awe.
Daniel then performed a Consecration Ceremony, blessing the Sovereign Yearblade.
He also consecrated the remaining coins on the altar, giving even the ordinary coins a degree of protective power against evil.
The Sovereign Yearblade was something else entirely.
Even Megan, unfamiliar with such things, sensed there was something unique about the sword -- though she couldn't say what.
She kept staring at it. "Mr. Cross, why do I feel like this sword... it just looks better?"
Daniel ran his finger along the copper coins and laughed softly. "Its appearance hasn't changed. You think it looks better because now it carries a power that wards off evil and breaks malevolence. That kind of power naturally appeals to people like us."
"You mean it can exorcise demons?" Megan sounded even more surprised.
"Yes." Daniel nodded, satisfied with the sword's potential.
Though made from Minor Five Emperors Coins, it was far more formidable than the ordinary Exorcist's Sanctum Blade the System had given him.
With Daniel's confirmation, Megan's eyes sparkled as she gazed at the copper coin sword.
...
After they finished the pizza Megan had ordered, it was already past 8 PM.
Less than an hour remained before Megan's time of death at 9:17 PM.
Now, the two sat in the living room. The TV was on, playing Friends, but Megan couldn't crack a smile. Her nerves were taut, her face pale, lips dry, mouth bitter.
She sat stiffly on the couch, and at every small sound, she would jerk her head sharply to look.
Daniel said nothing, knowing that no words of comfort could ease the grip of impending death.
The fact Megan hadn't broken down yet was already thanks to his presence.
Time ticked by slowly. Megan's heart rate sped up; her breathing grew rapid and shallow.
Though she wasn't doing anything, her body had fallen into an anxious, almost panic-driven state.
As 9:17 PM approached, Megan's heartbeat raced faster and faster.
Finally, 9:17 arrived.
*****
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