It was a colossal, ferocious dragon. Yang An could clearly sense an unfathomably terrifying and profound Cultivation Level from it—at least that of a Zombie God.

But it didn't attack Yang An by force. Instead, it used bewitchment to try and lure Yang An into approaching it, to make him touch the light on its head.

At first, Yang An was merely on guard and didn't think much of it. It was only when the Lamp Dragon spoke to bewitch him that he realized what was going on.

'If it was really that powerful, why would it need to resort to such insidious methods? Wouldn't it have just attacked him directly?'

The only explanation was that the Lamp Dragon was either unable to act due to some restriction, or it was just an empty shell.

As for the Light Magic displayed by the Lamp Dragon—the golden, glowing orb on its head—Yang An was completely dismissive.

He wasn't bluffing. If that was Light Magic, it was pathetic.

Any of the Light Magic he had mastered was far superior to what the Lamp Dragon was displaying.

Sure enough, when Yang An attacked decisively, unleashing his full power without reservation, the Lamp Dragon shattered in a single blow. It dissolved into countless illusory bubbles, leaving behind only a fiery phantom with an open eye.

The fiery phantom was small—of course, only in comparison to the Lamp Dragon's originally colossal body.

In reality, the fiery phantom was nearly as tall as a person, and the strange, single eye on it was the size of a human head.

The single eye reflected the golden firelight, trembling uncontrollably amidst the countless intertwined White Feathers that were connected to his meridians.

The single eye seemed almost human, its gaze fixed on Yang An, filled with terror. It didn't dare to move a muscle.

The light around Yang An quickly dissipated. Water rushed back into the vacuum created by the vaporization, forming a violent undercurrent, but it had no effect on him.

He curiously stared at the golden, fiery phantom before him. Although it looked like fire, it contained vein-like patterns resembling tree leaves, making the flames seem unreal.

"Don't tell me... you're that Lamp Dragon?"

Yang An spoke slowly, a wide smile on his face, as he stared directly at the single eye within the flames.

But the single eye just trembled, giving no response.

'This Golden Thread River is supposed to be a place where the Golden Thread Pavilion stores countless Cultivation and Technique manuals. Why is there a strange entity like this here? It looks like some kind of sentient creature.'

'The only explanation is that this is also a type of Cultivation Technique or Technique!'

Seeing the single eye remain silent, Yang An had a theory. With a thought, countless White Feathers shot into the fiery phantom.

He didn't touch the strange thing with his own hands. After all, the White Feathers were part of his body. If this oddity was related to cultivation in some way, then even contact with the White Feathers would trigger a response.

Sure enough, as the White Feathers pierced the fiery phantom, an information box instantly popped up before Yang An's eyes.

"「[That Lamp Wisdom Eye Technique]: From the Miaohua Celestial Sect. Mastering this technique grants the Wisdom Eye, which can replicate a witnessed technique once. Can only be used once per Great Realm. A technique is already stored within this art: [Abyss Dragon Devouring Light].

[Abyss Dragon Devouring Light]: Using this technique condenses the shadow of a Lamp Dragon, transforming the user into the body of a Lamp Dragon. Duration depends on Mana. The Lamp Dragon devours light, its lantern burns eternal, the divine dragon appears, commanding the storm.

Cost of Use: [That Lamp Wisdom Eye Technique]: Each time a technique is replicated, the user will enter a state of suspended animation, losing control of their body until the technique is fully replicated. The cost of the replicated technique will be added to this cost.

[Abyss Dragon Devouring Light]: Using this technique will cause the user's consciousness to collapse. If the Lamp Dragon's light is exhausted, the user will turn to dust. Activating the light-devouring ability will incur an additional, equivalent cost of the devoured technique.

Status: Can be Purified!」"

After reading the contents of the information box, Yang An thought he must be mistaken. It wasn't until he confirmed the information was real that a look of astonishment spread across his face.

'This is... a buy-one-get-one-free deal!'

He had originally thought it was just one strange Technique, but he never expected that another Technique was hidden inside it.

'If I take this art, doesn't that mean I'm getting two Techniques from the Golden Thread Pavilion?'

'Isn't this a huge score?'

One was the That Lamp Wisdom Eye Technique. The name was a bit of a mouthful, and it sounded like "Old Bi Deng," but the Technique was incredible—it could actually replicate any technique one saw.

'Doesn't that mean that once I master this Technique, I can replicate any powerful Technique I see someone use?!'

And this Technique was actually from the Miaohua Celestial Sect!

Yang An remembered that name well. In the Riverbed Ancient Collection in the Xiyue River, the incarnation of Elder Miao Ye had been there. That place was the legendary Miaohua Celestial Sect.

Although he didn't know the full story of the Miaohua Celestial Sect, why it had declined, and how it ended up as just a corner of the Ancient Collection.

But in Yang An's subconscious, he felt that the Miaohua Celestial Sect was definitely anything but simple.

If he ever saw Elder Miao Ye again in the future, perhaps he could ask him about it.

His intuition told him that Miao Ye didn't seem like a bad person.

On top of that, there was also the Abyss Dragon Devouring Light.

According to the description, that must have been the colossal Lamp Dragon he had just seen.

If he wasn't mistaken, the That Lamp Wisdom Eye Technique had used this art to pose as a guardian of the Golden Thread River and try to bewitch him.

However, because it was just a Technique by itself, it had no real power and couldn't unleash the might of the replicated art. It was basically an empty shell, which was why he saw right through it.

Of course, what interested Yang An the most was the Abyss Dragon Devouring Light.

Mastering this technique allowed one to transform into the body of a Lamp Dragon and devour the power of light. The more it devoured, the stronger the Lamp Dragon's body would become.

This was a terrifying ability, one that seemed specifically created to counter Light Magic.

If what Yang An had faced earlier wasn't an empty shell of a technique but a true Lamp Dragon body, and he had been so arrogant as to unleash all his Light Magic right in front of it... wouldn't that have been like serving it a gourmet meal on a silver platter?

A grand feast, at that!

'If it had been a real Lamp Dragon, I'd probably be a corpse by now. No! There wouldn't even be a corpse left!'

But it was precisely because he had seen that the Lamp Dragon was an empty shell that he had dared to act without hesitation.

It just goes to show that fortune favors the bold. Every gain and every loss is preordained.

'I've struck gold! I've really struck gold!'

Yang An was thrilled. He never imagined that the moment he entered the Golden Thread River, the very technique he wanted would be delivered right to his doorstep.

He looked at the fiery phantom that was the That Lamp Wisdom Eye Technique. Its single eye was still trembling, like a pitiful little rabbit.

"Don't be afraid~ I'm a good person."

Yang An grinned, revealing a set of pearly white teeth, and decided to "comfort" the poor little thing that had served itself up. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The next moment, countless White Feathers sprang into action, gleaming with a cold light in the dark depths as they all pointed at the terrified single eye.

"Tell me, do you prefer to be active or passive?"

Faced with the countless White Feathers, the That Lamp Wisdom Eye Technique finally chose to respond. Amidst Yang An's smile, it suddenly transformed into a golden phantom and floated before him.

'This little thing is quite obedient.' Yang An nodded in satisfaction and reached out to touch it lightly.

The golden phantom completely merged into Yang An's body. A faint glimmer of light soon appeared on his forehead, forming the sigil of a golden fiery phantom with a single, closed eye, before quickly fading from sight.

At the same time, two information boxes appeared one after another in front of Yang An, detailing the That Lamp Wisdom Eye Technique and the Abyss Dragon Devouring Light.

Without hesitation, he Purified both Techniques, completely eliminating their associated costs.

This trip could only be described as a bountiful harvest.

He had his Dao of Destiny Technique, plus another Technique that could replicate other techniques. A bloody fortune!

But just as Yang An used his Purification Ability, the blood-fog sigil on his hand, derived from the Golden Demon Tower, once again gushed out a large amount of Red Fog. It enveloped him completely, and the power emanating from it was impossible to resist.

The scene before his eyes changed rapidly. The Red Fog dissipated, the sigil on the back of his hand vanished, and in the blink of an eye, Yang An was back in the Quiet Chamber of his small pavilion.

He was already very satisfied with obtaining two Techniques, so he naturally wouldn't ask for more.

The only regret was that he hadn't had the chance to see how many other treasures were hidden in the Golden Thread River.

As one of the hegemons of the Treasure Temple Domain, its resources were absolutely incomparable to that of an ordinary Sect.

If he had another chance to enter the Golden Thread River in the future, he would at least have to go look at the other Techniques. Maybe there was something even better.

'But... the future...'

At this thought, Yang An immediately remembered the two-month deadline Elder Zhuan Yu had set. In two months, he would have to go to the Great Virtue Temple—a veritable lion's den—and become an undercover agent.

Since Elder Zhuan Yu was sending him on this undercover mission, he would surely place some kind of restriction or restraint on him.

'Dammit! Why do I never have control over my own life?!'

He'd thought that after dealing with that old bastard Elder Life Crane, he had become the Sect Leader of the Mystic Path Sect. He thought that from then on, he would no longer be controlled by others, that he could turn the tables and enjoy true freedom.

'Too weak... I'm too weak...'

It was because he was too weak that he couldn't even control his own fate and freedom.

It was because he was too weak that he was constantly being constrained by one powerful figure after another.

Yang An had a feeling that the world itself was forcing him forward.

He had just left the wolf's den only to enter the tiger's lair. And before he could even get his footing in the tiger's lair, he was being sent to another Demon Cave. Every step was a struggle.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

He clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking from the pressure.

For the sake of freedom, he had to get stronger!

Just being at the Corpse Transformation realm wasn't enough!

Beyond that, there was the Zombie God realm, the Insect Dao, the Immortal Platform, and even higher levels he didn't yet know of.

'Even if I go to the Great Virtue Temple, I can't just be some bald monk waiting to be slaughtered.'

'If I'm going to do this, I'm going to go big!'