The Heavens: Man Covers the Heavens, Refines Treasures to Become an Emperor

This was one of the dozen or so hidden hideouts in the southern district of Yanxia City that Chu Feng had secretly told him about beforehand. It was thanks to these pre-prepared escape routes that he was able to find a moment of respite amidst this inescapable pursuit.

He spared a sliver of his attention to sense the condition of his body.

Apart from the burning gash on his back from the arrow of the Remnant Wind and a few minor bruises from his clash with Lu Zhong, he had no other serious injuries.

These minor injuries will not affect his ability to continue his actions.

"We must restore our strength as soon as possible."

Jiang Xuan calmly planned in his mind.

"Being constantly chased like prey is too passive. Once I recover my strength, it will be my turn to fight back."

His eyes gleamed with a cold and dangerous light in the dim light.

From prey to hunter!
The time of a stick of incense passes quickly.

Thanks to the powerful effects of the Azure Jade Energy-Nourishing Pill and his own formidable recovery ability, Jiang Xuan had recovered about 70-80% of his physical strength and replenished most of his spiritual energy, restoring his rosy complexion to its former glory.

He opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them.

He quickly checked his remaining equipment.

The items were brought from the Bloodthirsty Camp, along with some life-saving supplies provided by Chu Feng. These included three "Burning Clouds" short crossbows loaded with arrows and shimmering with runes, two spare Black Spirit Battle Blades, more than ten bottles of various healing potions, antidotes, and pills for quickly restoring spiritual energy, as well as other miscellaneous items such as grappling hooks and smoke bombs.

"Enough to last until dawn."

Jiang Xuan made a quick assessment and felt somewhat reassured. As long as he wasn't trapped in a completely inescapable predicament, with these resources and his familiarity with the terrain, he was confident he could hold off the pursuers to the end, and perhaps even... turn the tables!

Just as he was about to get up and leave, his gaze inadvertently swept over the small Sumeru ring on his finger, and he remembered the strange gray bead he had obtained from Canfeng's eye socket.

With a thought, the bead, the size of a pigeon egg and covered with a faint gray luster, appeared in his palm.

The beads were still icy cold to the touch, and felt as light as nothing.

As he ran his fingers over the surface of the bead, that chilling, trembling feeling, as if he were being stared at by an ancient demon, returned, making his very soul tremble slightly.

"This item must be extraordinary."

Jiang Xuan took a deep breath and activated the secret technique "Minor Netherworld Divine Art" obtained from the Blood Killing Camp. A cool aura flowed through his sea of ​​consciousness, guarding his mind and forcibly suppressing the discomfort.

Just as he activated the Lesser Netherworld Divine Art to guard his mind, a sudden change occurred!
The gray bead in his palm seemed to be activated by some kind of energy, and the gray mist inside suddenly accelerated its flow and surged violently! Gray spiritual light emanated from inside the bead, rapidly evolving and condensing in the air about a foot above his palm!
In the blink of an eye, a grotesque phantom bow, identical in appearance to the one he had seen Canfeng use before, made of skulls and with a crimson bowstring, appeared out of thin air! Although it was only derived from spiritual light and not a physical entity, its grotesque form and chilling killing intent were crystal clear!
Jiang Xuan was startled and suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He tried to carefully inject a wisp of pure azure spiritual energy into the gray bead in his palm through his fingertips.

"Om-!"

The bead trembled slightly, emitting a low hum. The next moment, the illusory image of the spiritual bow floating in the air suddenly contracted, merging with the bead! And the bead in Jiang Xuan's palm instantly deformed and stretched!
As the light faded, a massive, incredibly realistic and menacing bow appeared in Jiang Xuan's hand!

The bow was still forged from several pale white skulls, with faint, eerie green flames flickering in its eye sockets. The blood-red bowstring seemed to pulsate slightly, as if it possessed a life of its own. It still felt weightless in the hand, yet holding it gave one a sense of perfect harmony and naturalness.

Jiang Xuan subconsciously hooked his finger lightly around the crimson bowstring and pulled it back with a little force.

Just as the bowstring was drawn!
A chilling aura, seemingly capable of freezing the soul, surged through his entire body like a tidal wave, flowing from the bowstring and bow itself! This aura wasn't just simple coldness; it carried an absolute calmness—no, ruthlessness! As if all things in the world were mere straw dogs!

Under the influence of this aura, Jiang Xuan felt his mind become clearer and calmer than ever before. Every speck of dust in the dimly lit basement, the subtle movement of the air, and even the wriggling of a tiny ant larva in a crack in the wall were clearly reflected in his "eyes".

At the same time, all his emotions—the murderous intent, the urgency of being hunted, the plans for the future—vanished instantly as if covered by ice and snow, leaving only a calm, icy demeanor that looked down upon all living beings and disregarded everything.

At this moment, he seemed to transform into a god who wielded the power of slaughter, possessing unparalleled archery instincts. It seemed that as long as he wished, he could kill anything within his sight with a single arrow!
But this state was extremely strange! Jiang Xuan suddenly jolted awake, his powerful willpower instantly putting him on alert!

"No! It's this bow that's affecting my mind!"

He roared inwardly, gritted his teeth, and activated the Lesser Netherworld Divine Art with all his might. A cool aura surged in his sea of ​​consciousness, slashing like a sharp sword at the icy will that had invaded his mind.

"laugh!"

It was as if an invisible thread had been severed.

Jiang Xuan shuddered, breaking free from that absolutely calm, almost inhuman state, his back instantly soaked with cold sweat.

He looked at the menacing spirit bow in his hand, his eyes filled with shock and deep dread.

"What an eerie bow! No wonder Canfeng's assassination technique was so astonishing, appearing and disappearing like a ghost. I'm afraid most of the credit should go to this bow!"

Jiang Xuan was still shaken.

This bow not only greatly enhances the user's perception and archery skills, but more terrifyingly, it can forcibly change the user's mindset, turning them into an absolutely calm machine that only knows how to kill!

At the same time, he also felt that just by drawing the bowstring, a negligible amount of his spiritual power had been depleted. Though extremely small, it was indeed consumed!

"Using this bow will likely require expending spiritual power?!"

This discovery shocked Jiang Xuan even more. The power of the divine soul is profound and unpredictable, extremely difficult to cultivate and recover, and any weapon that consumes the divine soul is practically a forbidden existence!

He cautiously extended a wisp of his soul perception toward the spirit bow in his hand, attempting to understand it more deeply.

The moment his senses touched the bow, his vision blurred again, and in a daze, he seemed to see an endless, desolate, and lifeless gray wasteland. The sky was a suffocating leaden gray, and the menacing spirit bow hovered silently above the wasteland, exuding an aura of looking down on all things and disregarding life and death.

Suddenly, the void in the sky shattered violently, and a terrifying beast with a body as large as a mountain, covered with thick scales and resembling an ancient alligator dragon tore through space and rushed out with overwhelming ferocity, its target being the spirit bow in the sky!

Despite the ferocious beast capable of destroying the world, the spirit bow remained silently suspended. The crimson bowstring drew back silently on its own, and a phantom arrow, entirely formed of gray light, appeared out of thin air.

There was no sound, no earth-shattering momentum.

The illusory arrow of light flashed lightly, then traversed space and pierced the forehead of the colossal, mountain-like ancient alligator dragon.

The next moment, the enormous, mountain-like body of the ferocious beast, along with its overwhelming ferocity, vanished silently into countless fine, blood-red powders, like a dried sand sculpture encountering a gale, disappearing completely into the world without leaving a trace.

The illusion abruptly ended there.

Jiang Xuan's consciousness returned to the dark basement, but his heart began to pound uncontrollably, and a fine layer of cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

The spirit bow displayed in that illusion possessed an absolute power of "annihilation" that transcended his comprehension!
At the same time, two ancient, weathered words, seemingly containing some profound truth of law, naturally surfaced in his mind—

"No truth".

His gaze fell on the cold, menacing skull longbow in his hand. His fingertips gently stroked the pale bow and the crimson bowstring, and a strange feeling arose within him.

This spiritual bow, named "Wu Di," is no ordinary object; it may even be involved in profound causal relationships and secrets.

It is both a powerful aid and a dangerous abyss.

In the dimly lit basement, Jiang Xuan stared at the grotesque skull longbow in his hand, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

The feeling of having his mind forcefully reversed just now left him with lingering fear.

But he knew even better that in such a desperate situation, anything that could enhance his strength was worth the risk.

"We must find a way to control it..."

Jiang Xuan took a deep breath and sat down cross-legged again.

This time, he not only fully activated the Lesser Netherworld Divine Art to guard his sea of ​​consciousness, but also visualized the "Star Cycle" technique he had comprehended in the Bloodthirsty Camp. This technique aims to simulate the movement of stars, which is cyclical and has its own laws, effectively calming the mind and resisting external evils.

He integrated the mysteries of "Star Path" into his mind, as if constructing an invisible star trajectory around his mind, before stretching out his finger again and slowly hooking the blood-red bowstring.

This time, it felt completely different!

The moment the bowstring was drawn, that chilling, domineering aura surged forth again, but when it came into contact with the mental defense constructed by the mysteries of "Star Circulation," it was like a stream encountering a rock, cleverly guided and dispersed, failing to invade his core mind again.

Moreover, Jiang Xuan even felt a subtle connection forming between himself and the "Boundless" spirit bow in his hand. It was no longer the forced, shoved illusion of "using his own arm as a finger," but a more real, smoother feeling of being connected by blood! It was as if the bow itself was an extension of his body!

With a slight thought, he didn't nock any physical arrows, but instead focused his mind on the tightly closed basement door made of heavy ironwood in front of him, and then... gently released his finger from the bowstring.

"Om..."

A faint, almost imperceptible sound, like the trembling of a harp string, rang out. A nearly ethereal gray arrow materialized from the crimson bowstring, instantly tearing through the void!

There was no earth-shattering noise, not even a sound of something breaking through the air.

In the center of the heavy ironwood gate, a fist-sized hole with edges as smooth as a mirror appeared silently. Through the hole, one could see the still torrential rain outside.

The gray spirit arrow continued its trajectory, piercing through the gate and shooting straight into the muddy ground outside, leaving a small, bottomless hole with equally smooth edges! Jiang Xuan's soul perception probed downwards along that hole, reaching a depth of over a thousand feet!
The penetrating power and destructive force of this strike are chilling!

Jiang Xuan slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

He carefully sensed the energy expenditure within his body.

That arrow just now consumed about 20% of his spiritual energy, and at the same time, his soul perception in his sea of ​​consciousness also consumed nearly 10%!
"With my current cultivation level and soul strength, I can only draw this bow five times at most!"

Jiang Xuan quickly made a judgment.

This consumption is terrifying. No wonder Canfeng didn't seem to use this bow frequently for long-range sniping when he was assassinating before. He relied more on its enhanced perception and archery skills for close and medium-range attacks.

"The fact that the Residual Wind can be used multiple times suggests that it is combined with a unique secret technique that can quickly restore the soul or reduce energy consumption."

Jiang Xuan speculated.

Even so, he was certain that this "Boundless" Spirit Bow was an extremely rare treasure! Once he could fully master it, it would undoubtedly give him a qualitative leap in strength, especially in assassination, ambush, and long-range sniping!
Just then, outside the basement, came extremely faint footsteps, almost blending into the sound of the rain! If Jiang Xuan hadn't kept his soul perception constantly extended, he would have had no chance to detect them.

A blurry, dark figure, using the shadows of the wall and the sound of rain as cover, silently approached the basement entrance, its movements cautious and professional.

Jiang Xuan's eyes turned cold, and a murderous intent arose instantly.

He raised the "Boundless" spirit bow again, without even needing to aim, simply relying on that blood-connected perception, locking onto the approaching dark figure outside the door with his mind, and pulling the string with his finger!
"call out--"

Another almost illusory gray spirit arrow shot out, easily piercing through the ironwood gate that already had a hole in it!
A short, muffled groan came from outside the door.

Jiang Xuan moved like lightning, instantly smashing open the dilapidated door and rushing out.

In the muddy rain, a lean man dressed in black night clothes lay on his back, his chest riddled with a fist-sized hole, identical to the one in the door, completely exposed from front to back! No blood flowed from the wound; instead, it took on an eerie, ashen gray, like a withered tree, all life extinguished in an instant by the gray arrow's energy!
The man's face still bore the shock of his impending death and a trace of lingering caution. Clearly, he was a cultivator skilled in tracking and stealth. Perhaps he had accidentally discovered the anomaly in this place and came to investigate, but he never expected death to come so quickly and so abruptly.

"As expected, a spirit arrow formed solely from spiritual energy and divine soul power, without the need for a physical arrow, possesses such formidable power."

Jiang Xuan glanced at the corpse on the ground, confirming the practicality of the "Boundless" spirit bow.

Without further hesitation, he slung the spirit bow behind his back, and with a flash, completely disappeared into the vast rainy night. (End of Chapter)