Chapter 870: Wu Yangzi's Treasure

The Purple-Winged Heavenly Xiong Beast was only at the Half-Step Chrysalis Realm, whereas Dong Xin's spirit beast was a genuine mid-Chrysalis Realm expert. While the former's speed wasn't slow, its power level was limited. Its burst might be strong, but for sustained effort, the latter would definitely prevail.

The latter took over three days for a single trip. Did he expect his Purple-Winged Heavenly Xiong Beast to make a round trip in three days? And leaving in the middle of the night? This was clearly a joke.

"It's decided then. Tonight at midnight, wait for me at Thunder-Distant Peak outside the city, and we'll depart together!" Too lazy to explain further, Zhang Xuan said.

"Alright!" Seeing that he didn't want to elaborate, Hu Yaoyao didn't press the matter. She agreed, turned her lithe body, and walked straight towards the academy.

After she left, Zhang Xuan didn't rush to the imperial palace for the evening banquet. Instead, he walked a few steps towards 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. He circled the tree trunk, searching for a while, but saw nothing. That made sense. If it could be spotted with the naked eye, it would have been taken long ago.

"Senior Wu Yangzi said that once I find the Three-Star Earth Dragon's location, I need to arrange three formation flags according to a three-star pattern, and the item will automatically appear..." He replayed Wu Yangzi's original message in his mind, then with a flick of his wrist, he produced three formation flags and a luminous pearl.

He swayed, reappearing at the high spot where Hu Yaoyao had stood. Raising the luminous pearl, star-like marks immediately appeared in the three distant ponds. "Go!" His eyebrows rose, and he flicked his fingers sharply.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!*

The three formation flags plunged straight into the ponds where the star-like marks were. With a clear chime, the three formation flags seemed to have stirred a great dragon spreading beneath the ground. The area vibrated, and the nearby pine tree suddenly split open, from which a small iron box immediately sprang out.

He reached out and grasped the iron box in his palm. "This is Senior Wu Yangzi's hidden treasure? It's indeed well-concealed!" Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

Although the box had sprung from the pine tree, it wasn't actually *inside* the tree but hidden within a secret space. This meant that without finding the three stars and inserting the three formation flags, even if the tree trunk were ground to powder, the box would remain undiscovered. He guessed correctly: it must use a similar mechanism to storage rings, hiding the item within a certain formation node. This was why, for over two millennia, this courtyard had changed countless owners but the box had never been found.

"It's a Heavenly Crafting Mechanism!" After marveling at the creator's meticulousness, he looked at the iron box in his hand. It was a very intricate Heavenly Crafting Mechanism from the Heavenly Crafting Institute; it would be impossible to open without knowing its internal structure. However, for Zhang Xuan, it was nothing.

With a thought, a book appeared in his mind, which he quickly read through. Then, he pointed his fingers like a sword and tapped the box sixteen times in quick succession.

*Click!*

With a crisp sound, the springs clicked, and the box instantly opened.

The first thing that met his eyes was a dark, fist-sized ore, emanating a chilling cold.

"If you've opened this box, it means I've certainly met with an unfortunate end..." Just as he was about to pick it up, the box's mechanism suddenly activated, and a faint voice sounded. It was Wu Yangzi's voice.

"You certainly did meet an unfortunate end..." Remembering how this dignified number one artifact forger of the Hongyuan Empire had been trapped in an inescapable underground palace until his death, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. Wu Yangzi believed he had turned those Otherworldly Demonic Tribesmen into puppets and killed them. In reality, they had used his artifact forging techniques to prolong their lives and continue protecting the cruel entity.

"Whether I am dead or not, the fact that you found this indicates a fated connection. This is the most important thing I've left behind; I hope you'll treat it well!"

"The ore in the box is Golden Crystal Profound Stone, a treasure I acquired with immense effort. For artifact forging, just a tiny bit can elevate an item's quality to the next level."

"Golden Crystal Profound Stone? This is Golden Crystal Profound Stone?" His eyes gleamed, and Zhang Xuan's breathing quickened.

With his peak six-star artifact forging expertise, he knew much about various rare ores. This Golden Crystal Profound Stone was indeed one of the rarest and most valuable among them. Leaving aside other uses, just a tiny bit added to his Half-Saint-tier Ice Rain Sword could elevate it to the Saint realm! It was incredibly precious! A piece this large, if sold, would likely be worth tens of thousands of high-tier spirit stones, and might not even be available for purchase at that price! Its value was immeasurable. No wonder Wu Yangzi treated it as a treasure and hid it away; it was indeed a valuable item that couldn't be bought with money.

"The Golden Crystal Profound Stone can only enhance an item's quality; it's not the best thing I've left. The second item is my unique Five Luminaries Golden Body cultivation technique!" The voice continued.

Zhang Xuan looked into the box and indeed saw a secret manual with "Five Luminaries Golden Body" written on it. He had already obtained this book in the underground palace, so seeing it again, he no longer felt the same excitement.

"If I also left this cultivation art behind later, it means that one is... fake! This is the true Five Luminaries Golden Body; only by cultivating with this can you truly grasp the mysteries of the Golden Body. That other one would only lead to qi deviation..." The mechanism's voice continued.

"Fake?" Zhang Xuan paused, picked up the book, and with a thought, an additional book appeared in his mind. He opened it and immediately shook his head. This version was indeed different from the one obtained in the underground palace, with far fewer errors. However, for him, the authenticity of a cultivation art held no meaning. In the underground palace, he had long since corrected all its flaws. In other words, what he cultivated was not only correct but far more profound than this original version. For others, it was a harmful technique, but for him, as long as it could supplement the Heaven's Path cultivation art, it was immensely useful. There was no adverse effect.

"Merge!" With a thought, he merged it with the Heaven's Path Five Luminaries Golden Body in his mind and reopened it. Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

"It seems I can cultivate the third realm now..." The Five Luminaries Golden Body he had previously compiled, from the second to fifth realms (excluding the first), all required assistance from rare treasures. For example, the second realm used Earth Core Flood Rock, and the third realm used One-Yuan Heavy Water. He had heard Hu Yaoyao and others mention the price of One-Yuan Heavy Water: ten high-tier spirit stones for one bottle. To complete his cultivation, he would need at least ten bottles! In other words, it would cost one hundred high-tier spirit stones to acquire.

He didn't have that much money, so he hadn't gotten around to cultivating it. However, after merging with the correct version of the Five Luminaries Golden Body, although the third realm still required nourishment from One-Yuan Heavy Water, the quantity needed was significantly reduced. Previously, he needed ten bottles; now, one bottle would suffice! This meant that cultivating the third realm of the Five Luminaries Golden Body using the refined Heaven's Path cultivation art would only require one bottle of One-Yuan Heavy Water to succeed, greatly increasing efficiency.

"The fourth and fifth realms have also improved significantly..." Continuing to read, this authentic secret manual, though not as useful as he had imagined, still resolved some issues with the previous cultivation art, significantly reducing the amount of treasures needed for later stages.

"It seems this fellow in the underground palace still didn't trust the Otherworldly Demonic Tribesmen..." Zhang Xuan sighed as he put the book into his storage ring. Fortunately, when he cultivated it, he had sifted through countless books and taught the correct method to Luo Qiqi. Otherwise, both of them might truly have suffered qi deviation. Thinking about it carefully, he understood. Given the circumstances Wu Yangzi was in, how could he possibly reveal all his trump cards? What if the Otherworldly Demonic Tribesmen truly obtained the Five Luminaries Golden Body? Wouldn't that be a disservice to humanity?

"The third treasure, and the most important one, is what caused the Otherworldly Demonic Tribesmen to covet me. If you are an ordinary cultivator and obtain this item, I hope you will hand it over to the Master Teacher Pavilion. If you are a Master Teacher, I hope you will handle it appropriately and ensure it does not fall into the hands of villains..." The mechanism's voice continued.

"Hand it over to the Master Teacher Pavilion?" Zhang Xuan casually took out the last item remaining in the box. It was an ancient piece of parchment, of unknown age, densely marked with a map using peculiar characters.

"What is this?" He looked at it for a while, searching his mind, but couldn't recognize anything. He simply put the parchment into his storage ring. Although he didn't know what kind of map it was, the fact that Wu Yangzi was so cautious about it and that it was coveted by the Otherworldly Demonic Tribesmen indicated its importance. Although he could discern flaws in the map, they only pertained to its material. The characters on it indicated place names and had no flaws themselves, so he couldn't make anything out. In other words, without recognizing these characters, even having the map was useless. Its specific value remained unclear.

"If my descendants are still alive, I hope they can be treated well. The troubles I stirred up have implicated them..." After describing the three treasures, the iron box became empty, and the voice from the mechanism carried a hint of desolation. It seemed that when recording these messages, Wu Yangzi's heart was filled with conflict, as if he knew that if anything happened to him, his family would inevitably be implicated.

"Rest assured, your descendant is now my apprentice. I will take good care of her!" Zhang Xuan replied. Previously, he hadn't known Hu Yaoyao's identity and took her as an apprentice simply to find out the location of Wu Yangzi's former residence. Now that he had received benefits from Wu Yangzi and agreed to his request, his attitude changed. He could certainly offer her more guidance. Even if she wasn't accepted as a direct disciple, he would at least ensure her apprenticeship was well-deserved.

"Thank you!" As if hearing his words, the voice from within the mechanism slowly faded, as though it had never been there.

"Now there are two questions: What exactly is this map? And second, why was it coveted by the Otherworldly Demonic Tribesmen, leading to Wu Yangzi's capture?" Zhang Xuan rubbed his temples. Hu Yaoyao and the others lived in anonymity, Wu Yangzi was so cautious, and coupled with the Ten Elders' vigilance, it all indicated that Hongyuan City was not as safe as it seemed.

"Right, perhaps the Vicious one might know something..." With a thought, he recalled someone. Others wouldn't know about these things, but the Vicious one had lived since ancient times. Perhaps he knew something, or even might recognize the characters on the map. Just as he was about to bring his clone and the Vicious one out of the Thousand Ant Hive, his eyebrows suddenly rose. He then saw a beautiful figure swiftly approaching.