Chapter 852: Wu Yangzi's Treasure

The Purple-Winged Heavenly Male Beast was only half-step Silkworm Seal, while Dong Xin's beast pet was a solid mid-stage Silkworm Seal.

The former was not slow, but its strength was limited; its burst might not be weak, but in terms of endurance, the latter was certainly superior.

A single trip for the latter took over three days. Your Purple-Winged Heavenly Male Beast wanted to make a round trip in three days? And leaving at midnight? If that's not a joke, what is?

"It's settled. Tonight at midnight, wait for me at Thunder Peak outside the city. We'll set off together then!"

Too lazy to explain, Zhang Xuan said.

"Alright!" Seeing he didn't want to say more, Hu Yaoyao didn't press further. She acknowledged, turned her delicate body, and walked straight toward the academy.

Watching her leave, Zhang Xuan didn't rush to the palace for the evening banquet. Instead, he walked over to the giant pine tree in the courtyard.

Since this tree was the location of the Three-Star Earth Dragon, the treasure must be nearby.

His Eye of Insight flickered as he circled the trunk, searching for a while, but saw nothing.

True enough—if anything could be spotted with the naked eye, it would have been taken long ago.

"Senior Wu Yangzi said that once you find the Three-Star Earth Dragon site, place three formation flags according to the three-star arrangement, and the item will emerge on its own..."

Reviewing Wu Yangzi's earlier message in his mind, Zhang Xuan flipped his wrist and took out three formation flags and a luminous pearl.

With a flicker, he returned to the high spot where Hu Yaoyao had stood, raised the luminous pearl, and saw star-like traces appear in the three distant ponds.

"Go!"

His brows lifted, and his fingers snapped sharply.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

The three formation flags shot straight into the ponds where the stars were located.

Hum!

A clear ring sounded. The three flags seemed to touch a great dragon spreading through the ground. With a tremor, the nearby pine tree split open, and a small iron box sprang out from within.

Reaching out, Zhang Xuan caught the iron box in his palm.

"So this is the treasure Senior Wu Yangzi left behind? Truly hidden!"

Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

Although the box popped out of the pine tree, it wasn't actually inside the tree but hidden in a concealed space.

In other words, without finding the three stars and inserting the three flags, even if you smashed the trunk to powder, you wouldn't find this box.

If he guessed correctly, it was constructed like a storage ring, hiding the object at some formation node. That was why, over two thousand years and countless owners, this courtyard had never revealed it.

"It's a Tian Gong mechanism!"

Marveling at the other's meticulousness, he looked at the iron box in his hand.

It was a Tian Gong Academy mechanism, extremely delicate. Without knowing its construction, it was impossible to open.

But for Zhang Xuan, it was nothing.

With a thought, a book appeared in his mind. He quickly finished reading it, then, using his fingers as a sword, tapped sixteen times around the box.

Crack!

A crisp sound, and the springs clicked. The box opened instantly.

The first thing to catch his eye was a pitch-black ore, fist-sized, radiating a piercing chill.

"If you've opened this box, it means I've met with misfortune..."

Just as he was about to pick it up, the box's mechanism activated, and a faint voice spoke.

It was Wu Yangzi's voice.

"You did meet with misfortune..."

Thinking of this man, the foremost refiner of the Hongyuan Empire, trapped in an inescapable underground palace until his death, Zhang Xuan couldn't help feeling a pang of sorrow.

Wu Yangzi thought he had turned those alien tribesmen into puppets and killed them, but in reality, they had used his refining skills to extend their lives and continue protecting the ruthless one.

"Whether I'm dead or not, the fact that you found this means you are fated to have it. This is the most important thing I left behind; I hope you will treat it well."

"The ore in the box is Gold Crystal Mystic Stone. I spent countless efforts to obtain this treasure. For refining, just a tiny bit can elevate the quality to a higher level."

"Gold Crystal Mystic Stone? This is Gold Crystal Mystic Stone?"

His eyes brightened, and Zhang Xuan's breath quickened.

With peak Six-Star refining skill, he knew many rare ores, and this Gold Crystal Mystic Stone was one of the most precious.

Not to mention anything else, his semi-sage-level Ice Rain Sword could advance to the saint domain with just a little added!

Extremely precious!

A piece this large, if sold, would probably be worth tens of thousands of high-grade spirit stones, and even then, it might not be available!

Its value was simply incalculable.

No wonder Wu Yangzi treated it as a treasure and hid it—it was truly a good thing that money couldn't buy.

"Gold Crystal Mystic Stone can only enhance a treasure's quality; it's not the best item. The second thing I left is the exclusive cultivation technique for the Five Radiance Golden Body!"

The voice continued.

Zhang Xuan looked into the box and indeed saw a manual, with 'Five Radiance Golden Body' written on it.

He had already obtained this book in the underground palace, so seeing it again no longer stirred the same excitement.

"If I also left this technique later, that means it's... fake! This is the real Five Radiance Golden Body. Cultivate with this to truly grasp the secrets of the golden body; that other one will only lead to qi deviation..."

The mechanism's voice went on.

"Fake?"

Zhang Xuan was startled. He picked up the manual, and with a thought, a copy appeared in his mind.

Flipping through it, he shook his head.

This one was indeed different from the one obtained in the underground palace, with far fewer errors. But for him, the authenticity of the technique meant nothing.

The Library of Heaven's Path had already corrected all its flaws in the underground palace. In other words, what he cultivated was not only correct but far superior to this original version.

For others, it was a harmful technique; for him, as long as it could supplement the Heavenly Path technique, it was of great use.

No effect at all.

"Merge!"

With a thought, it merged with the Heavenly Path Five Radiance Golden Body in his mind. He opened it again.

Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

"It seems the third level can now be cultivated..."

The previously compiled Five Radiance Golden Body, aside from the first level, required a rare treasure for each of the second through fifth levels.

For example, the second level used Earth Core Flood Rock, and the third used One-Yuan Heavy Water.

He had heard from Hu Yaoyao and others that One-Yuan Heavy Water cost ten high-grade spirit stones per bottle, and he needed at least ten bottles to complete the cultivation!

That meant he needed a hundred high-grade spirit stones to buy it.

He didn't have that much money, so he had never gotten around to cultivating it. But after merging with the correct version of the Five Radiance Golden Body, the third level, while still requiring One-Yuan Heavy Water for nourishment, needed much less.

Previously, ten bottles were needed; now, one bottle was enough!

In other words, cultivating the third level of the Five Radiance Golden Body according to the compiled Heavenly Path technique required only one bottle of One-Yuan Heavy Water to succeed, greatly increasing efficiency.

"The fourth and fifth levels have also improved a lot..."

Continuing to read, this genuine manual, though not as useful as imagined, did refine some issues in the previous technique, reducing the treasures needed for later levels.

"It seems that in the underground palace, he still didn't trust the alien tribesmen..."

Putting the manual into his storage ring, Zhang Xuan sighed.

Fortunately, when he cultivated, he had compiled countless books and taught the correct method to Luo Qiqi; otherwise, the two of them might well have suffered qi deviation.

On second thought, it was understandable.

Given Wu Yangzi's circumstances at the time, how could he truly reveal all his cards? What if the alien tribesmen got hold of the Five Radiance Golden Body? Wouldn't that betray humanity?

"The third treasure is the most important. It was because I obtained this that the alien tribesmen coveted it. If you are an ordinary cultivator, I hope you will hand it over to the Master Teacher Pavilion. If you are a master teacher, I hope you will handle it carefully and not let it fall into the wrong hands..."

The mechanism's voice continued.

"Hand it over to the Master Teacher Pavilion?" Zhang Xuan casually took out the last item in the box.

It was an old sheepskin, aged beyond measure, densely marked with a map annotated in a strange script.

"What is this?"

He studied it for a while, searched his mind, but couldn't recognize it, so he put the sheepskin into his storage ring.

Though he didn't know what map this was, the fact that Wu Yangzi treated it with such caution and that the alien tribesmen coveted it showed its importance.

The Library of Heaven's Path could identify flaws in this map, but only in the material; the script indicated place names and had no flaws, so it revealed nothing.

In other words, without knowing these characters, even with the map, it was useless. What exactly made it precious was unclear.

"If my descendants still exist, I hope you will treat them well. The calamity I brought has implicated them..."

After introducing the three treasures, the iron box was empty, and the voice from the mechanism carried a desolate tone.

It seemed that when recording these words, Wu Yangzi was filled with conflict, aware that once he met with trouble, his family would inevitably be affected.

"Rest assured, your descendant is now my apprentice. I will take good care of her!"

Zhang Xuan responded.

Earlier, not knowing Hu Yaoyao's identity, he had taken her as an apprentice only to learn the location of Wu Yangzi's former residence. Now, having received the former's benefits and agreed to his request, his attitude changed; he could give her more guidance.

Even if he didn't take her as a direct disciple, he would at least make her apprenticeship truly worthy.

"Thank you!"

As if hearing his words, the voice from the mechanism slowly faded, as if it had never existed.

"Now, two questions: what exactly is this map? And second, why did the alien tribesmen covet it and capture him?"

Zhang Xuan rubbed his brow.

Hu Yaoyao and others living incognito, Wu Yangzi's caution, and the vigilance of the Ten Great Elders all indicated that Hongyuan City was not as safe as imagined.

"By the way, maybe the ruthless one knows something..."

With a thought, he remembered someone.

Others might not know, but the ruthless one had lived since ancient times and might have some knowledge, perhaps even recognize the script on the map.

Just as he was about to summon his clone and the ruthless one from the Thousand Ant Hive, he raised an eyebrow and saw a graceful figure flying straight toward him.