Chapter Thirteen: The Celestial Artifact

No matter how hard Li Chengzhu tried, he simply could not fathom why the little spirit beast had suddenly become so formidable. Yet, what truly caught his eye were its remarkable speed and sense of smell. The ability to locate the Celestial Mechanism Stones within the Infernal Fire Array was a feat of intuition that could rival even the legendary Howling Celestial Dog of Erlang. If he could tame this creature, wouldn’t it make treasure-hunting vastly more convenient in the future? More importantly, he could use its sense of smell to lead himself out of the illusory maze that had plagued him for days.

At this thought, a mischievous smile crept across Li Chengzhu’s face. Without caring whether the little spirit beast could understand his words, he crouched down and feigned a harmless air, retrieving a handful of Immortal Cores from his storage ring.

“Little one, follow me and you’ll have nothing but the finest to eat and drink.”

The moment the little spirit beast caught sight of the rainbow-hued Immortal Cores in Li Chengzhu’s hand, it squeaked with excitement, completely forgetting how fiercely he had treated it before. With a gust of wind, it darted over.

Li Chengzhu only saw a blur before his hand felt light; the Immortal Cores were already piled behind the little mouse. He couldn’t help but exclaim in awe—its speed was truly extraordinary, far surpassing his own flying sword. This only strengthened his resolve to capture the creature.

Watching the little thing gnaw ferociously at a Celestial Mechanism Stone, Li Chengzhu couldn’t help but wince. The creature had already stolen or snatched six stones from him, and he only had a few to begin with—each one was precious. But now was not the time to fall out with the spirit beast; his hope of escape rested entirely upon it.

Li Chengzhu waited beside it for a long while, but the creature showed no signs of stopping. Waving its little paws, it devoured the Mechanism Stone and Immortal Cores with gusto.

Not yet fully recovered himself, Li Chengzhu began to feel his strength failing. His meditation had been interrupted halfway by the spirit beast, and then he’d expended more energy casting the Infernal Fire Array. Worst of all was that blood arrow he’d spat out—drawn from the power of his very soul, an act of pure overexertion. If he didn’t replenish his strength soon, his cultivation would surely regress.

Yet, with the little creature present, Li Chengzhu dared not bring out another Celestial Mechanism Stone. Instead, he picked up Cold Radiance, his sword, and carved a simple spirit-gathering array into the ground. Channeling his own spiritual energy into it, he settled into a posture of restoration.

He did not know how much time had passed before he awakened from meditation. His spiritual energy had almost fully recovered. Glancing to the side, he realized the little creature had vanished. Shocked, he prayed it hadn’t run off; otherwise, he might wander this illusory maze for years.

He silently berated himself—he should have negotiated with the creature before meditating.

Just as he was about to stand, he suddenly felt something on his thigh. Looking down, he saw the little creature, eyes closed, sleeping soundly atop his most vital spot.

“Damn,” Li Chengzhu muttered, his lips twitching. This little thing certainly knew how to pick a place.

As Li Chengzhu shifted, the creature slowly opened its bleary eyes, glanced around, and began squeaking noisily.

He grabbed its long ears and set it on the ground with a curse, “You little rascal.”

“Eek eek!”

Ignoring its protest, Li Chengzhu examined the tree hollow. The chamber was at least fifty meters in diameter, its floor so smooth it was as if sliced clean by a blade. Looking up, he saw only darkness.

The tree was hollow! Li Chengzhu was astonished. There was no sign of decay—who could have hollowed it so perfectly?

He summoned Cold Radiance and soared upward.

Down below, the little creature screeched anxiously, then leapt nimbly up to land at Li Chengzhu’s side, wrapping its tail around the sword.

Though the hollow was pitch dark, by concentrating spiritual power in his eyes, Li Chengzhu could just make out the path ahead. What surprised him even more was that the passage twisted several times within.

He estimated he had flown several hundred meters when, rounding a bend, he saw a faint light ahead. Just as he thought he’d reached the top of the tree, the little creature suddenly grew excited at his feet, squeaking incessantly, and with a push off Cold Radiance, shot upwards. Seeing its strange behavior, Li Chengzhu also quickened his pace.

Only upon drawing near did he realize the light was not sunlight filtering through the canopy, but a cluster of ghostly green radiance. Even without direct contact, he could sense the inexhaustible life energy within it—not merely the essence of wood, but something like a living presence itself.

Standing atop Cold Radiance, Li Chengzhu marveled at the green light before him. The little creature had already latched onto the glowing mass, reveling as it inhaled deeply. With each breath, a green strand was drawn into its body—Li Chengzhu could even see the luminous current flowing within the creature.

After only a few gulps, the little one seemed sated. It let out a belch, hopped onto Li Chengzhu’s shoulder, and closed its eyes in contentment.

Li Chengzhu reached out to touch the green glow. Instantly, a wave of comfort washed through him, a soothing energy flowing from his fingertips.

“A treasure indeed!” Li Chengzhu drooled with desire.

Within the green light, something seemed to be hidden—his spiritual sense could not penetrate it. The discovery thrilled him.

Emboldened, he slowly reached into the glow and found something hard, metallic to the touch.

“Could this be an immortal weapon?” Saliva streamed from Li Chengzhu’s mouth like an unstaunchable faucet.

Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the object and channeled his spiritual power to extract it.

As he withdrew it, the green light spiraled like a vortex and was instantly sucked into the object. The dazzling radiance vanished.

Li Chengzhu examined the item in his hand—it was a bow. The dark green body was engraved with lifelike figures resembling the angels described in ancient texts, each with a pair of wings, though none bore the exaggerated halos atop their heads. All the figures had pointed ears. The limbs of the bow curved dramatically, forming a W shape, and a black bowstring stretched taut across it.

“What a bow!” Li Chengzhu couldn’t help but praise. With his knowledge and insight, he couldn’t judge the bow’s exact level, but he was certain it was at least an immortal weapon.