Qin Tian dazedly lowered the hoe in his hands and crouched down, running his small, calloused hands over the divine treasure he had just unearthed.
It was the tip of a pagoda, crystalline as a diamond and radiating a dreamlike luster. An unfathomable aura flowed across it, ancient and majestic.
Every inch was crystal clear, with divine markings upon its surface—the tangible manifestation of the Dao. Its name was Divine Marks Purple Gold!
"This is... divine mark purple gold. There's no mistaking it. It's definitely divine mark purple gold." Qin Tian's feelings could be summed up in a few words: a racing heart, trembling hands.
"I only just thought about finding divine mark purple gold or Mother Qi of All Things for my weapon, and it landed in my hands the very next day."
"I walked outside and picked up Emperor Weapon material. My luck must have surpassed even my son Wang Teng's!" Qin Tian gleefully hugged the piece of divine mark purple gold and cried, "Patriarch, how generous of you!"
He used divine power to shatter all the rock encasing it, then stroked the natural Dao marks on the divine mark purple gold. It all felt like a dream, leaving his mouth and throat dry.
It was as though the thing before him were an illusion. What was divine mark purple gold? One of the nine great immortal golds, the legendary physical embodiment of the Great Dao's traces.
This was a sacred treasure reserved for Ancient Great Emperors. How many people throughout history had ever obtained it? Even some Great Emperors of old had failed to find it, leaving them no choice but to refine their own flesh into Saint Weapons. Its preciousness was plain to see!
Though the Ruthless Great Emperor had been swimming in wealth in her later lives, using divine metals as chains to seal her own Great Dao-a wealthy woman through and through-her first life had truly been plagued by misfortune. She had slaughtered an entire era and incurred Heaven's loathing, and genuinely could not find any worthwhile treasures.
Only after she transformed into a Chaos Body had things improved somewhat.
That alone showed it was a divine treasure even Ancient Great Emperors struggled to find. If it appeared, it would undoubtedly unleash great turmoil. Back in ancient times, holy lands would have gone to war with one another and brought out their Extreme Dao Emperor Weapons. Blood would have flowed deep enough to float shields, bones would have piled into mountains, and all living things would have suffered.
Its rarity was simply unimaginable!
Dozens throughout history had attained the Dao, yet only the Myriad Dragon Emperor, the Amitabha Great Emperor... a scant few had obtained such a divine treasure.
Qin Tian examined it closely and discovered that Dao and principle had already interwoven within this piece of divine mark purple gold. They did not resemble natural Dao marks, but rather something wrought by human hands.
Qin Tian frowned. "This doesn't look like a naturally formed divine treasure. It looks more like some being's weapon, with Dao and principle already woven into it."
He carefully inspected the piece of immortal gold. It was not purely natural; there were signs of workmanship. It resembled the upper three tiers of a pagoda, while the lower tiers had vanished.
"What kind of being could blast apart even a weapon forged from immortal gold?!"
"Could this be a fragment of an Emperor Weapon? No, it doesn't seem like it. Though intricate Dao and principle have been woven into it, there's none of that supreme imperial aura." A flicker of ardor flashed through Qin Tian's eyes.
Qin Tian speculated, "The lower tiers probably weren't immortal gold. Other treasures must have been mixed in to forge a Dao pagoda."
Still, this was excellent. Even if he were given an Emperor Weapon, he would not be able to erase the supreme Dao resonance within it.
He would be unable to reuse it.
Moreover, the Dao and principle interwoven within it would aid his future cultivation. "Dao patterns" were things the Great Powers of ancient times had "copied and engraved" after gaining insights into the natural world. Some had survived and been passed down.
The stronger the Dao patterns, the longer they endured. Emperor Weapons could even last as long as the world itself, and in a certain sense, the Great Emperor laws they contained could also be considered a kind of Dao pattern.
Qin Tian pondered. "The owner of this piece of divine mark purple gold was at least a Great Power. A fellow both lucky and unlucky?"
To obtain the rough blank of an Emperor Weapon, he had clearly been lucky enough. Just as clearly, however, he had lacked the strength to keep this immortal gold.
When virtue failed to match one's station, disaster was sure to follow.
The divine mark purple gold had been exposed. After a great battle, its owner had died and his Dao had perished; even his weapon had been blasted apart. The precious divine mark purple gold had fallen into the earth veins, only to be dug up by Qin Tian after countless ages. It was a fate that invited a sigh.
Qin Tian stored the divine mark purple gold in the Temporal-Spatial Realm and immediately felt a stabbing pain in both eyes. The Temporal-Spatial Realm was nearing its limit.
Unable to suppress a muffled groan, Qin Tian covered his eyes and said regretfully, "What a pity. The Temporal-Spatial Realm constructed by my Temporal-Spatial Twin Eyes is almost at its limit."
The name Temporal-Spatial Twin Eyes sounded grand, but in truth, Qin Tian had simply coined it himself. In terms of their fundamental essence, these divine eyes probably could not even compare to Weiwei's Immortal Spirit Eye.
Still, Qin Tian was already perfectly content to have a special pair of divine eyes. At least he was not entirely without a cheat.
The Temporal-Spatial Realm and temporarily borrowing power from the future were both secret arts Qin Tian had developed himself based on his Temporal-Spatial Twin Eyes.
Peering into the void, observing the past, and gazing into the future were the innate abilities of these temporal-spatial eyes. They were somewhat similar to the clairvoyance from a certain moon-themed franchise.
Except one observed the entire world, while the other observed and foresaw the future of individuals.
Qin Tian walked on, stopping now and then, before finally halting before an earth vein. With a casual tap, a fist-sized piece of heterogeneous source fell into his hand.
It blazed like the scorching sun, resembling condensed flames. Fiery sun source stored solar essence and was another variety of heterogeneous source.
He casually tossed it into the basket on his back, then left the mine once everything was done.
This piece of heterogeneous source was enough to fulfill his quota.
Carrying the heterogeneous source out of the mine, Qin Tian looked at the mirror hanging high above and could not help feeling smug. No matter how many tricks you have, you still have to drink my foot-washing water.
Of course, such thoughts did nothing to change Qin Tian's circumstances. They could only be called an Ah Q-style spiritual victory.
The worker responsible for inspection widened his eyes. "Oh, it's actually heterogeneous source."
"With this piece of heterogeneous source, plus the points you've already accumulated, you have enough for a visit to the Library Pavilion. Would you like to go there and choose a more advanced cultivation method?"
"Yes!" Qin Tian nodded. That was precisely why he had come.
"I look forward to seeing you join the Yaoguang Holy Land's order of knights." The inspector gave Qin Tian a jade token.
Before long, Qin Tian arrived at the so-called Library Pavilion. In reality, it was merely a dilapidated cave dwelling.
He used the jade token to open the door and deactivate the defensive array. Inside, a Four Extremes expert guarded the Library Pavilion.
"Leave as soon as you've taken what you need," said the man reclining in a chair when Qin Tian entered, without even lifting his head.
Qin Tian nodded and looked around. The Library Pavilion held few books, with only two shelves: one containing cultivation methods, the other an assortment of secret arts.
Looking at these introductory books on the Pill Dao and Formation Dao, Qin Tian thought he should dig up some more heterogeneous source another day and exchange it for a book on the Formation Dao.
He used an array diagram as his weapon, yet had only studied some basic knowledge of the Formation Dao. That would never do.
Following his intuition, Qin Tian picked up a copy of Elementary Array Dao. He casually glanced at the book he had taken at random, then froze on the spot.
He had seen an extremely familiar name in the author's byline.
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