Although the tree hollow was pitch dark, after gathering spiritual power in his eyes, William Thompson could barely make out the road ahead. What surprised William Thompson even more was that this tree hollow actually twisted and turned several times inside.

After flying for what he estimated to be several hundred meters, and turning another corner, a faint light suddenly appeared ahead. Just as William Thompson thought he had reached the top of the tree, the little creature at his feet suddenly became excited, chirping nonstop, borrowing strength from the cold light and shooting upward. Seeing the little creature’s strange behavior, William Thompson couldn’t help but speed up as well.

It wasn’t until he got closer that William Thompson saw that this ball of light was not sunlight shining down from above, but a cluster of eerie green light. Even without direct contact, William Thompson could feel the endless vitality contained within this green glow. This energy didn’t feel like ordinary wood-element spiritual power, but rather like a living, breathing life force.

Standing on the cold light, William Thompson marveled as he examined the green glow before him. The little creature was already sprawled on the green cluster, blissfully absorbing it; with every sniff and gulp of its little nose, a thin green thread was drawn from the light and flowed into its body. William Thompson could even clearly see the trace of that green thread coursing through the little creature.

After just a few gulps, the little creature seemed full, opened its mouth and let out a satisfied burp, then jumped onto William Thompson’s shoulder and closed its eyes contentedly.

William Thompson reached out and touched the green glow, and instantly a wave of incredibly comfortable energy flowed from his fingertips.

“Treasure!” William Thompson drooled.

It seemed there was something inside the green glow; William Thompson’s divine sense couldn’t penetrate it to see what was within. This discovery immediately excited William Thompson.

Summoning his courage, he slowly reached his hand into the green light and finally touched something hard, like metal.

“Could it be an immortal artifact?” William Thompson’s drool dripped like an unstoppable faucet.

Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the object inside the green glow and channeled his spiritual power to pull it out.

As he drew the object out, the green glow seemed to be sucked in by a powerful vortex, swirling rapidly and pouring into the object. The dazzling light vanished.

William Thompson examined the object in his hand. Judging by its shape, it was a bow. The dark green bow was carved with lifelike human figures; upon closer inspection, they looked just like the angels described in old books, each with a pair of wings. The difference was that these figures didn’t have the exaggerated halos on their heads, and all the figures carved on the bow had pointed ears. The ends of the bow were dramatically curved, forming a W shape, with a black bowstring stretched across it.

“What a fine bow!” William Thompson couldn’t help but exclaim. With his knowledge and experience, he couldn’t determine the grade of this bow, but he was certain it was at least an immortal artifact.

Chapter Fourteen: A Powerful Enemy Approaches

“I’ve struck it rich!” William Thompson exclaimed excitedly. Although this was the Immortal Realm, most cultivators could only use what were called magic treasures. True immortal artifacts were only possessed by immortals or the major powers of the Immortal Realm. For a mere Nascent Soul stage rookie like himself to own an immortal artifact was truly a windfall.

Even his own master, the sect’s Immortal Envoy, with his status in the sect, only possessed a single immortal artifact—and it was the lowest grade. If his master found out, he’d be green with envy. Oh… praise the almighty Immortal Emperor.

William Thompson grinned slyly as he stored the bow in his storage ring. Just as he was about to fly down, he suddenly noticed three more clusters of green light above his head.

Oh… William Thompson’s heart began to race wildly. The cold light beneath his feet danced in a figure-eight as he flew toward the green lights.

As he got closer, he realized these clusters of green light were different from the previous one. These were actually some green crystals emitting light.

Although he felt a bit disappointed, William Thompson still knew these green crystals were no ordinary items—the energy contained within them far surpassed that of his worthless Heaven’s Secret Stones.

Without hesitation, he took out a discarded flying sword from his ring and pried the crystals off the tree one by one, placing them into his storage ring.

After thoroughly searching the entire tree hollow and confirming there were no treasures left behind, William Thompson flew back the way he came.

Exiting the tree hollow, William Thompson found the entire giant tree aging at a speed visible to the naked eye. In no time at all, the once lush, towering tree had become a dead husk, with countless leaves falling from the sky, as if the heavens themselves were holding a funeral for the disappearance of a spirit tree.

“Amitabha!” William Thompson sighed softly. The rapid aging of the tree was surely related to what he had taken. At this moment, even he felt sorrow for the death of the spirit tree.

After standing there for a moment and collecting his thoughts, William Thompson stepped onto the cold light and, with the still sleeping little creature, flew away.

Along the way, the immortal beasts in the forest were thrown into chaos by William Thompson’s rampage. The stronger ones were all slain by the combined efforts of William Thompson and the little creature. After killing them, he would dig out their immortal cores and toss them to the little creature, who had now begun to grow attached to William Thompson.