Chapter 12

Tai Cang was equally shaken.

So many top-tier heavenly treasures had truly exceeded his expectations. The Ten Golden Crow Princes' immense wealth made him feel a pang of envy.

"Fellow Daoist Tai Cang!"

Di Yi stepped forward and cupped his hands. "Please forge a set of acquired spiritual treasures for each of my ten brothers."

"You may keep the remaining materials as a gift."

"A gift for me?"

Tai Cang swallowed and turned to Di Yi. "Do you truly mean that, Fellow Daoist?"

Although forging ten sets of acquired spiritual treasures would consume quite a few materials, it would be but a drop in the bucket compared to the mountain of materials before him. Di Yi actually intended to give him all the leftovers, and the unexpected windfall left him unable to believe it for a moment.

"Of course!"

Di Yi's lips curved slightly. "These things are merely ordinary items in our Demon Race."

As soon as those words were spoken, not only Tai Cang, but even Zhao Gongming and the other disciples of the Jie Sect felt unbearably sour, wishing they could turn into lemons.

This was what true extravagance looked like!

Tai Cang steadied himself and swept his gaze over the heavenly treasures scattered across the ground. "Then I shall begin preparing."

"But before that, I will need to forge a furnace cauldron first."

With that, he waved his hand and selected more than ten top-tier materials from the pile, then began forging with the Primordial Clarity Artifact Forging Technique.

A quarter of an hour later, a golden three-legged cauldron appeared in the air.

This furnace cauldron, an upper-grade acquired spiritual treasure, possessed an extraordinary aura. It could be used to forge artifacts and also possessed offensive and defensive capabilities.

"An upper-grade acquired spiritual treasure!"

"It really is an acquired spiritual treasure!"

Zhao Gongming and the others cried out in amazement once more.

Their previous doubts about Tai Cang completely vanished with the formation of the Three-legged Cauldron. Their gazes grew increasingly fervent, and even those who had once been at odds with Tai Cang changed their attitudes.

"It's done!"

Ignoring everyone's reactions, Tai Cang glanced at the Three-legged Cauldron in his hand and immediately spat out a mouthful of essence blood to refine it.

After finishing, he turned to Di Yi and the others. "Do you have any specific requirements for the spiritual treasures?"

"This..."

The Golden Crow Princes looked at each other, speechless for a moment.

"Fellow Daoist Tai Cang!"

Regaining his senses, Di Yi said, "Since you are an artifact forger, surely you know what we need?"

The other Golden Crow Princes nodded as well. They truly did not know what requests to make.

"So be it!"

Tai Cang smiled helplessly. He knew these Golden Crow Princes were simple-minded. In the future, they would naturally have innate spiritual treasures to use, while these acquired spiritual treasures were merely transitional items.

To put it bluntly, these Demon Race nobles had come to him for artifact forging not so much to increase their strength as to satisfy their curiosity.

"Then let us forge fire-element spiritual treasures!"

Tai Cang suggested, "As Three-legged Golden Crows, your fire-element divine abilities are already formidable. With fire-element spiritual treasures to aid you, your strength will surely rise to another level."

"Good!"

"No problem!"

"We'll listen to Fellow Daoist Tai Cang."

Di Yi and the others agreed to Tai Cang's suggestion without hesitation. Naturally, they would not miss an opportunity to enhance their fire-element divine abilities. As Three-legged Golden Crows, their natal true fire—the Solar True Fire—was already incomparably powerful, while the higher-tier Solar Golden Flame was exclusive to Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Tai Yi.

"Good!"

"Then I'll begin!"

Seeing everyone agree, Tai Cang wasted no more time. He sat cross-legged, took out a Fusang Tree branch, cut it apart, and tossed it into the Three-legged Cauldron. Using fire-element spiritual materials as a foundation would yield better results. Then, he tossed the heavenly treasures on the ground into the cauldron one by one.

The cauldron hummed continuously. Under Tai Cang's control, acquired spiritual treasures gradually took shape one after another, and he inscribed them with Primordial Clarity restrictions to further enhance their power.

"Open!"

Tai Cang gave a low shout and formed a hand seal. The cauldron lid flew open.

Whoosh—whoosh—

The sound of air splitting rang out in succession as eleven spiritual treasures shot forth and hovered in midair, shining brilliantly. They included a weapon, helmet, armor, gauntlets, cloak, trousers, boots, bracelet, ring, necklace, and a jade pendant. Every single one had reached the level of a supreme-grade acquired spiritual treasure.

Tai Cang had deliberately engraved Three-legged Golden Crow patterns onto the spiritual treasures and made gold their dominant color, giving the entire set an imposing appearance.

"Wow!"

"So cool!"

The Golden Crow Princes' eyes lit up, and they exclaimed in amazement. The extravagant appearance of the set of spiritual treasures thrilled them greatly.

"Fellow Daoist Di Yi!"

Tai Cang stood and waved the spiritual treasures over before Di Yi. He explained, "This set consists entirely of supreme-grade acquired spiritual treasures, and its power is no weaker than that of low-grade innate spiritual treasures. Especially this jade pendant—"

He took out the jade pendant separately and continued, "This item is called Divine Evasion. It contains a small space that can shelter one's primordial spirit in a critical moment and instantly activate the art of shrinking the earth, escaping a million li away. It has no offensive or defensive capabilities, but it is a powerful life-preserving treasure."

After speaking, Tai Cang gave the Ten Golden Crows a meaningful look. If the Tribulation of Witch and Demon erupted, this item might help them escape disaster.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Tai Cang!"

Di Yi did not think deeply about it. After cupping his hands in thanks, he stored the spiritual treasures within his sea of consciousness.

"Manifest!"

With Di Yi's soft shout, the eleven spiritual treasures instantly attached themselves to his body. As golden light flowed around him, he looked like a majestic god of war. The Solar True Fire around him surged wildly, and his aura was astonishing.

"Big Brother, these spiritual treasures are so cool!"

"The Solar True Fire is much stronger than before!"

"Fellow Daoist Tai Cang's artifact-forging skills truly are extraordinary!"

Lu Ya and the others crowded around him, their faces filled with envy. The splendor and practicality of this set of spiritual treasures far surpassed the innate spiritual treasures they had received from Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Tai Yi.

"Fellow Daoist Tai Cang!"

Di Er hurried forward and said earnestly, "Please forge a set for me as well."

Before he could finish speaking, the other Golden Crow Princes rushed over and eagerly called out one after another:

"Fellow Daoist, I want a set too!"

"Forge a set for me too!"

A smile appeared on Tai Cang's face at the sight.

As long as he could satisfy these Golden Crow Princes, this matter would be a complete success. Besides, the materials needed to forge this set of spiritual treasures were not plentiful. Even if he forged nine more sets, the heavenly treasures piled on the ground would be enough to make him rich overnight. With these resources, he would not even need to set his sights on the Jie Sect to successfully condense the Supreme Five Qi.

"Everyone!"

Tai Cang raised his hand to quiet them and said loudly, "There is no need to rush. Since I promised to forge treasures for each of you, I naturally will not go back on my word. However, forging spiritual treasures that enhance fire-element divine abilities requires Fusang Tree branches, and I do not have enough left."

"What difficulty is that!"

Before Tai Cang could finish, Lu Ya immediately replied, "We have plenty of Fusang Tree branches."

The nine Golden Crow Princes instantly transformed into their true forms and flew toward the Fusang Tree. Each broke off a branch and threw it to Tai Cang with great boldness. "Fellow Daoist Tai Cang, you may begin!"

"Good!"

Tai Cang said no more. He put away the Fusang Tree branches and immediately began forging.

Time passed, and set after set of Golden Crow gear gradually took shape in Tai Cang's hands. Each of the Ten Golden Crow Princes received one. Wearing their brand-new spiritual treasures, they strutted back and forth around the area, making the Jie Sect disciples look on with envy. They secretly resolved to gather materials after returning and ask Tai Cang to forge them a set of acquired spiritual treasures.

"Tai Cang!"

A call came from not far away.

Everyone looked toward the voice and saw Tongtian standing side by side with Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Tai Yi. Clearly, the banquet was nearing its end, and they were about to depart.

"Greetings, Master!"

"Greetings, Demon Emperor!"

"Greetings, Demon Sovereign!"

Tai Cang and the Jie Sect disciples all bowed.

"Mm."

Tongtian nodded slightly. His gaze swept over the Golden Crow Princes and the materials on the ground as he said calmly, "Not bad. Such artifact-forging skill has somewhat of my Second Brother's bearing."

"Oh?"

Di Jun looked somewhat surprised. "This young friend's artifact-forging technique came from Fellow Daoist Yuan Shi?"

Eastern Emperor Tai Yi also revealed a look of surprise. After all, Tai Cang was from the Jie Sect, so by all reason, he should not possess the artifact-forging methods of the Primordial Clarity lineage.

"This technique was not taught by my Second Brother."

Tongtian glanced at the two of them and smiled faintly. "Tai Cang comprehended it himself."

There was nothing wrong with those words. The Three Pure Ones' Inheritance had always been open, and all disciples could study it. Tai Cang's gains came entirely from his own fortune.

"So that was it."

Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Tai Yi understood.

"Father Emperor!"

"Uncle!"

Di Yi and the other Golden Crow Princes excitedly crowded forward. "Father Emperor, what do you think of the Golden Crow set forged by Fellow Daoist Tai Cang?"

"Father Emperor, these spiritual treasures have increased the power of our Solar True Fire fivefold. They are even more powerful than the innate spiritual treasures you and Uncle bestowed upon us!"

Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Tai Yi exchanged smiles and gently shook their heads.

If the Ten Golden Crow Princes' words spread, they would likely leave the vast majority of Great Desolation cultivators too ashamed to show their faces.

Di Jun's gaze fell upon Tai Cang once more. After studying him carefully for a moment, he said, "Young friend Tai Cang, seeing how well you get along with Di Yi and the others, I shall give you this item."

Before he finished speaking, a uniquely shaped jade token appeared in Di Jun's palm. He handed it toward Tai Cang. A lifelike Three-legged Golden Crow was carved upon it, along with a single character.

"This..."

Tai Cang stared blankly at the token, then instinctively turned toward Sect Master Tongtian. Although he did not know the token's origin, its design showed it was no ordinary item. With the Tribulation of Witch and Demon brewing, rashly becoming involved could provoke a saint's displeasure.

"Wait, Fellow Daoist!"

Sure enough, Tongtian immediately spoke to stop him. "This item symbolizes your identity, Fellow Daoist. How can you casually grant it to Tai Cang?"

"A token representing the Demon Emperor's identity?"

Tai Cang's pupils contracted sharply, and he immediately understood the token's weight. A token that could represent the Demon Emperor's identity—did that not mean it could mobilize the Demon Race's army? Even if he was friendly with the Ten Golden Crows, Di Jun should not be so generous upon their first meeting. If it was not a sincere gift, then there could only be one possibility—he intended to win over the Jie Sect!

Di Jun wanted to befriend the Jie Sect but had struggled to find an opening. This was precisely why, despite knowing the Ten Golden Crows could suppress the Jie Sect, he had still sent Lu Ya, a Golden Immortal at the Great Perfection stage, to fight. Giving Tai Cang the token now was in truth a gesture of goodwill toward the Jie Sect. With the talent Tai Cang had displayed, Tongtian would surely value this disciple greatly.

"Fellow Daoist Tongtian worries too much."

Di Jun seemed to have prepared for this long ago and smiled calmly. "This is not the Demon Emperor Token, merely a pass."

"Though holding this token cannot command the Demon Race's troops, it allows free entry into the Primordial Star Domain and the Thirty-Three Heavens. Di Yi and the others have been born for a long time, yet among their Demon Race peers, they have found few kindred spirits. Since young friend Tai Cang has earned their recognition, I hope he will associate with Di Yi and the others more often in the future."

As soon as those words were spoken, the surroundings fell silent.

Tongtian swallowed the words that had reached his lips, while Tai Cang could find no reason to refuse. On the surface, Di Jun was asking him to deepen his friendship with the Ten Golden Crows, but once he accepted this token, he would not be able to stand aside if the Ten Golden Crows encountered danger in the future.

"Wonderful!"

"Fellow Daoist Tai Cang can come play with us often from now on!"

The Ten Golden Crow Princes did not understand the implications and cheered excitedly. After this exchange, they greatly admired Tai Cang's artifact-forging attainments and cultivation strength, and had long regarded him as a close friend.

"Tai Cang, accept it."

After a moment of silence, Tongtian finally spoke. Having just accepted the Sun Moon Essence from Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Tai Yi, it was truly inconvenient to refuse now.

"I obey Master's command."

Tai Cang quietly breathed a sigh of relief. With Tongtian's approval, even if something happened in the future, he would not have to bear it alone. He stepped forward, accepted the token, and bowed respectfully. "Thank you for your generous gift, Demon Emperor."

Di Jun nodded in satisfaction, the smile on his face deepening.

Di Jun suddenly recalled something and said, "Five thousand years from now will be Di Yi and the others' coming-of-age ceremony. Young friend Tai Cang may come and attend."

With that, Di Jun said no more. After nodding to Tongtian, he departed with the Ten Golden Crows.

"Five thousand years from now!"

"A coming-of-age ceremony!"