Taihao Golden Body

Whoosh!

From the distant horizon, a streak of startling light came hurtling over at tremendous speed, divine radiance blazing. Xu Yan focused his eyes and saw that it was a banner-like magical artifact. Its domineering spiritual glow nearly tore space apart, and it exuded an intensely ancient aura.

This was clearly an innate spirit treasure!

It was fleeing at incredible speed, and it happened to be headed straight toward Xu Yan and Qin Nishang.

"Quick, catch it! We've struck it rich!" Qin Nishang cried, her eyes wide.

It was close at hand, less than a hundred zhang away.

A stroke of fortune delivered right to their door—there was no reason to refuse it.

Without another word, Xu Yan unleashed Three-Fold Cloud Dragon, driving his spiritual power to its limit and accelerating at astonishing speed.

He reached out to seize it.

But just then, the great banner suddenly shuddered violently. It veered away from Xu Yan, then turned and shot off behind him.

Xu Yan stared wide-eyed, utterly stunned.

"What's going on?!"

The banner dropped into the deep mountains and was immediately claimed by a white-bearded old Daoist.

"Little friend, it seems this banner does not like you."

The old Daoist also looked surprised. His cultivation was not high, merely at the first level of the Profound Treasury Realm.

He had only come to try his luck, never expecting a spirit treasure to fly over and land right at his feet.

Most innate spirit treasures had developed some degree of sentience. Those with stronger sentience could even choose their own masters to serve.

After obtaining the banner, the old Daoist did not hesitate. Knowing when to stop while ahead, he immediately fled.

In the blink of an eye, he vanished without a trace.

"Xu Yan, what happened to you? You were so close!" Qin Nishang clutched her head in frustration, as though she herself had lost a spirit treasure.

As a princess of the dynasty, she was not short on spirit treasures, but she certainly would not mind having another.

Xu Yan frowned deeply, thoroughly displeased.

As soon as the words left her mouth, another high-grade magical artifact flew into a small mountain nearby.

Seeing this, Qin Nishang immediately fled over and snatched it up. It was a string of prayer beads, emitting a crimson demon glow with exceedingly domineering power.

"Hahaha, got it!"

Qin Nishang was somewhat excited. She swung the prayer beads in her hand, clearly fond of the magical artifact.

Countless streaks of spiritual light danced through the sky like a meteor shower that would never end.

The Qiu Dragon clan had been immensely powerful in ancient times. The spirit treasures they had amassed over the years had nearly all been buried within their tombs and ancient halls. Now that they had burst forth, countless human cultivators and Demon Race powerhouses were exhilarated. Everyone gained something; their journey had not been in vain.

As they spoke, another spirit treasure fell here.

At once, Xu Yan rode the Literary Gold Shuttle and lunged toward it, trying to seize it.

"Even a high-grade magical artifact..."

It was a great halberd, merely a high-grade magical artifact. Yet just as Xu Yan was about to grasp it, it forcibly turned away from him and fled in the opposite direction.

That only made Xu Yan even more furious.

Again and again, he flew toward the treasures streaking through the sky. Not only magical artifacts—even ordinary pills and Daoist scriptures avoided him, shoved aside by some invisible force.

"Am I some kind of jinx? Why is everything avoiding me?" Xu Yan frowned, feeling as though these treasures were looking down on him. The displeasure in his heart grew stronger.

Meanwhile, Qin Nishang had seized more than a dozen treasures in just a single hour.

The sight made Xu Yan's heart itch.

He possessed the Formless Spirit Aperture and was in even greater need of cultivation resources.

"Xu Yan, how come you haven't gotten a single thing?" Qin Nishang flew over, staring in surprise at Xu Yan's completely empty hands.

"I don't like those demon things," Xu Yan said irritably.

"Though these came from the Demon Tomb, they are still spirit treasures of the Demon Race's sacred ancestors. As long as you refine them, you can wash away the demon aura. How many years does it take to encounter such a heaven-sent opportunity? Don't let it slip away!" Qin Nishang excitedly placed the treasures into her storage pouch one by one.

Little did she know that Xu Yan's face was growing darker and darker.

Unwilling to accept this, he immediately used his movement technique to fly through the surrounding mountains, hoping to take one or two treasures.

But even the items from the Demon Tomb that had fallen to the ground would begin trembling the moment Xu Yan approached, then flee from him as if for their lives.

At the sight, Xu Yan could not help swearing.

Just then, he suddenly felt a burning pain in his chest. Startled, Xu Yan immediately tore open the black robe over his chest and lowered his head to look.

The Human-Snake Ancient Jade hanging around his neck was rippling with blazing radiance!

The light was not bright, yet it scorched his skin so painfully that it seemed almost embedded in his chest.

"What's going on? Could this ancient jade be the reason?"

Xu Yan thought to himself.

He had picked up this ancient jade years ago from within the divine official statue of Taihao Sovereign. It could indeed ward off evil and avert misfortune, but more importantly, its mystical power could scarcely be described as that of a spirit treasure or magical artifact. Even calling it an immortal artifact or Dao artifact would not be an exaggeration.

Naturally, Xu Yan could not throw away the ancient jade over a few demon objects.

Besides, he could no longer remove it. Before Xu Yan's astonished eyes, it slowly sank directly into his body, leaving only a faint Human-Serpent Evolution Pattern upon his chest.

Xu Yan's heart pounded wildly. He immediately sent his consciousness inward and discovered that he could still enter the ancient jade's space as usual. Only then did he let out a slight breath of relief.

"Could it be because the Li Ancient Secret Repository has emerged..."

He made a casual guess.

From the direction of the Qiu Dragon Ancient Palace, the demon dragon's thunderous roar amid the clouds pulled Xu Yan from his thoughts.

The demon dragon's figure became increasingly solid, as though it were real. It swept through the dark clouds overhead, roaring and howling toward the north. As it summoned wind and rain, its terrifying demon aura crushed all beneath it, as if it would swallow the very earth and mountains whole!

At last, movement also came from the direction of the Li Ancient Secret Repository.

The Taihao Emperor Bell suddenly shook. Its enormous toll was even more violent than before!

The bell's chime summoned a fierce gale that bent the ancient trees throughout the mountains, forming green ripples like waves upon the sea. They swayed in clusters as emerald ancient leaves scattered across the heavens.

Within the northern mountains, dazzling golden light suddenly surged forth.

That golden aura gradually gathered into a towering golden Dharma form!

That heaven-reaching Dharma form was like a giant holding up heaven and earth, incomparably majestic. With a mere spread of its arms, it swept across countless mountains and rivers.

The golden Dharma form was too dazzling for the cultivators even to look at directly.

Wild winds howled and the great heavens trembled. As the clouds churned, the golden Dharma form rose straight into the vault of the sky.

Upon its shoulder, a Golden Crow flapped its fiery wings as it flew over and landed there, gradually transforming into a huge crimson sun!

The scarlet sun was enormous, slowly filling the northern sky above the Ten-Thousand Mang Mountains. Its oppressive presence was overwhelming; merely looking up at it made people breathe faster, their hearts sinking beneath an indescribable weight.

All the cultivators bathed beneath the radiance of that crimson sun. Its sacred aura shot straight to the crown of their heads, leaving them utterly entranced.

"It's the Taihao Golden Body!"

A grandmaster stood suspended in the air, staring in shock toward it.

His aged face trembled slightly, his expression overflowing with excitement, as though he had witnessed an ancient myth return to the mortal world!