"It seems you're planning to screw me over. There's definitely something you're not telling me about this thing."
Yi Tianxing shot Arthur a meaningful glance. This item was clearly unusual—there had to be some hidden danger. And judging by Arthur's eagerness to give it away, it was definitely not something beneficial. It was probably a total trap. Yi Tianxing didn't believe Arthur would just gift him a top-tier treasure out of goodwill.
"So what if I'm trying to trick you? Tell me, do you dare or not? Are you really going to turn down a treasure that's being given to you for free? You are, after all, the Number One Under Heaven of this Martial Arts Tournament," Arthur said bluntly, showing no effort to hide his intentions.
It was an obvious provocation, openly acknowledging that there was a catch, yet refusing to explain.
"Your provocation is rather clumsy. But a free treasure? I have no reason to turn it down. No matter what your scheme is, if you want to give me a treasure, why would I refuse? Hand it over."
After a brief pause, Yi Tianxing agreed.
As he said, there was no reason to refuse a treasure that came knocking on his door.Even if it required refining into a Life-bound Treasure and later turned out to be problematic, he could simply abandon it. Besides, he trusted in his own foundation and strength. A treasure still in its embryonic form shouldn't be able to harm him. Most importantly, since they were inside a secret realm, even if something went wrong, leaving the secret realm would allow him to recover.
That assurance was his greatest source of confidence.
"Alright, here you go."
Arthur, without hesitation, tossed the tower base toward Yi Tianxing.With so many cultivators watching, he wasn't worried Yi Tianxing would go back on his word—breaking a public promise would utterly destroy his reputation across the entire Eternal Continent.
Holding the tower base, Yi Tianxing immediately sensed its heaviness. He frowned slightly but didn't hesitate—he bit his tongue, spat out a mouthful of blood essence, and fused it into the tower base. At the same time, his true energy and blood qi surged into it without reservation, and a wisp of his divine sense completely bonded with it.This kind of refining was the method used to forge a Life-bound Treasure.
Normally, refining a magic treasure only required true energy and a bit of divine sense. But fusing blood essence meant tying it to his lifeline. Once nurtured, the treasure would be utterly linked to his own bloodline and fate, truly becoming one with him.
As he completed the refining process, information naturally poured into his soul.
Yi Tianxing instantly understood Arthur's malicious plan.
"Yi Tianxing, now that you've refined this tower base as your Life-bound Treasure, let's see how you continue cultivating! I'm going to turn you into a pauper—forced to watch others grow stronger while you crawl forward like a tortoise. Let's see how you manage to nurture that so-called supreme treasure now!"
Arthur sneered coldly when he saw Yi Tianxing complete the refining, and without any hesitation, his body turned into white light and disappeared.
After being bitten by Green Emperor so miserably, Arthur had no face left to stay any longer.Now that his trap had been successfully sprung, of course he would leave immediately.
"What kind of secret does that treasure hold, to make Arthur so confident?"The surrounding cultivators were all secretly alarmed.
Anything that could make Arthur so sure of himself was definitely not ordinary.
They guessed furiously, but none could figure it out.
"Sure enough, it was a trap. And he really dug a huge pit for me. How interesting. I didn't expect to find such a bizarre treasure. Unexpected indeed. But a treasure like this—if properly nurtured—could eventually become a supreme artifact beyond imagination. Trying to screw me over? This might just turn out to be my greatest fortune yet. It won't be any worse than obtaining the Supreme Divine Weapon Diagram."
Yi Tianxing opened his eyes after a while, a strange light flashing in them.
He had to admit—Arthur really had dug a massive hole.But if filled properly, even a deep pit could become a towering mountain.What was a trap for others might not be a trap for him.Who knew, maybe he could refine a peerless treasure that could shake the heavens and earth.
As he scanned the surroundings, a concerned gaze entered his senses.
Following the sensation, he spotted Yao Yue's figure.
Seeing Yi Tianxing looking at her, Yao Yue snorted coldly, turned into a white flash, and disappeared from the secret realm. She clearly wasn't willing to speak to him.
Yi Tianxing had intended to say something, but she vanished too quickly.
"Yao Yue, I will find you one day. When that time comes, you won't be able to avoid me anymore,"he murmured softly.
Swish!!
Before long, the secret realm's time limit ran out.A repelling force naturally rose up, enveloping every participant. In the blink of an eye, everyone on the platform turned into white light and disappeared.
—
Back in Xuanhuang Town, inside a closed meditation chamber.
A flash of divine light burst out—And three figures suddenly materialized in the once-empty chamber.
"We're finally back. Everything that happened over the last two days felt like a dream. So surreal," Yi Tianxing said, standing steadily on the ground.Looking at Green Emperor and Jinpeng beside him, he could feel the tangible changes inside his body.The improvements in his cultivation and the treasures he had obtained—none of it was an illusion.
Without bothering with anything else, he waved his hand, and most of the treasures he had collected during the tournament poured out from his Spirit Pearl Space into the chamber.
"So many treasures!"Green Emperor's eyes practically turned greener, lunging forward immediately—Only to get smacked away by Yi Tianxing.
"These aren't for you. You've already gotten stronger—grew four legs and even sprouted fur on your tail. Keep training, and one day you'll have green fur covering your whole body. Now get to the crystal mine and patrol around Xuanhuang Town. I'll find you some pretty dog-girls later."
Yi Tianxing said with a hint of amusement.
"I want big-butt dog-girls!" Green Emperor said excitedly.
"As long as you behave, I'll get you whatever you want," Yi Tianxing said, half laughing, half exasperated.
"Hehe! Don't worry, Master! I'll watch that mine like a hawk—not even one spirit crystal will escape me!"Green Emperor bounced out of the window, tail wagging happily, and trotted off to patrol.
"Jinpeng, find a place to settle down here. As for the skies above Xuanhuang Town, they're your responsibility now. Any fierce birds that trespass—you have full permission to hunt them down," Yi Tianxing instructed.
Screech!!
Jinpeng nodded and soared out of the chamber.The two arrow towers stationed in town didn't react—they could sense that Jinpeng carried Yi Tianxing's aura.
"Strange. Why is there a giant bird flying over the town?"A few townsfolk looked up in confusion.
—
Looking at the heap of treasures in front of him, Yi Tianxing's heart burned with excitement.
This harvest was nothing short of shocking—he had acquired dozens of rare treasures, countless cultivation manuals...It was enough to greatly enrich the Scripture Pavilion.
The items brought along by those contestants were no ordinary junk.While many treasures had disappeared along with their dead owners, an enormous number of unclaimed treasures remained.
Among them were over a hundred Pet Contracts, capable of forging an unbreakable bond with powerful mounts or beasts. To any cultivator, they were priceless assets.
Aside from that, there were many other strange and wonderful treasures.
After sorting through everything, he found that only about nine items were truly useful to him, excluding the cultivation manuals.
"This warbow is quite impressive."
The first item that caught Yi Tianxing's eye was a warbow. He didn't even remember which dead cultivator it had come from—he had killed too many, especially Westerners, to keep track.
All he needed to know was:Now, the warbow was his.
It was entirely black, with strange dark patterns etched onto its body.On its surface, two ancient characters were engraved: Falling Star.
Falling Star Bow. Able to shoot down the stars themselves? I wonder if it truly has that kind of power...Yi Tianxing ran his hand over the bow.Its bowstring was black as well, sparkling with a strange luster. It felt incredibly tough to the touch.
Grasping it firmly, he placed his right hand on the bowstring and slowly began to draw it.
The bow's body tensed.
"So stiff..."
The moment he took hold, Yi Tianxing's strength began to pour in.100 jin... 300 jin... 1000 jin...
Even at 1000 jin, he couldn't budge the string.Only when his strength reached 3000 jin did it loosen slightly.At 10,000 jin, he finally managed to draw it open.
Even then, he only just barely succeeded.
Once pulled, the terrifying power contained in the bow was palpable.
"A truly monstrous bow. Even at Yellow Rank, Grade One, it can withstand 10,000 jin of force. If its grade advances further, it'll be even harder to draw. Without a powerful physical body, you couldn't use this bow at all. No wonder its previous owner discarded it—he probably couldn't even pull the string."
Using such a strong bow—especially with Rune Arrows (符箭) or White Bone Battle Arrows—would unleash devastating power.Even Sea of Gods realm cultivators wouldn't be able to block a shot easily.
Yi Tianxing couldn't help but marvel at the Falling Star Bow, unwilling to set it down.