Without any hesitation, Duan Ling Tian reached out a hand to lift the bow up. Since he had undergone the previous experience, this time, he used all his force to lift it directly.
However, even after he had fully exerted his strength, it was still difficult for him.
Despite lifting the bow, it was still difficult for him to use it as he liked.
“I’m afraid I’d have to wait until I make a breakthrough to the Mortal Shedding Stage before I can use this bow as freely as I like,” Duan Ling Tian muttered, holding on to the bow in his hand.
After taking a deep breath, he put it down once again before asking Elder Huo, “Elder Huo, what is this stringless bow?”
Duan Ling Tian did not realize that the instant he lifted the bow, Elder Huo’s eyes had unnoticeably flashed for a second.
“The Sun Shooting Bow!” In the face of Duan Ling Tian’s query, Elder Huo replied as calmly as possible.
However, even when he deliberately tried to calm himself down, one could still hear the shift in his tone.
“What?!’ The moment Elder Huo’s words left his mouth, Duan Ling Tian’s eyes bulged and were as wide as saucers. “Elder Huo… Y-You aren’t j-joking, are you? It’s actually t-the Sun Shooting Bow?”
Looking at the bow on the stone table that had countless dents and was besmeared with rust, Duan Ling Tian was overwhelmed with shock and disbelief.
Of course, he had heard of the Sun Shooting Bow before.
In the ancient mythology of his past life, when Hou Yi shot the sun down and killed the nine golden crows, he had used precisely this bow.
The reason he could kill the nine golden crows was all thanks to this Sun Shooting Bow.
“Elder Huo…” Looking at the old man, Duan Ling Tian’s gaze was complicated.
Elder Huo was the remaining Three-legged Golden Crow who had managed to escape Hou Yi’s arrow. His nine other elder brothers had all died from Hou Yi’s arrows.
“It’s all in the past,” Elder Huo sighed. When he saw Duan Ling Tian’s expression, he knew that he had heard of the Sun Shooting Bow before and recognized who the owner of the bow was.
“Elder Huo, why is this Sun Shooting Bow here?” After taking a deep breath, Duan Ling Tian asked.
“Back then, I killed Hou Yi and avenged my nine elder brothers, so his Sun Shooting Bow fell into my hands too. However, I didn’t manage to bathe in my victory much as not long after that, that old monk Dipankara came knocking on the door and sealed me in the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda. Needless to say, this Sun Shooting Bow came into the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda with me too,” Elder Huo explained.
“Y-You killed Hou Yi?” Duan Ling Tian’s eyes widened as his face was completely filled with skepticism.
In the legend, it was said that after nine of the ten golden crows had been killed by Hou Yi, the last one escaped in a wretched manner… And now, it seemed that this golden crow who had escaped had killed Hou Yi!
“Hou Yi was gifted with divine strength and the body of a mortal. He used the Sun Shooting Bow to kill nine of my elder brothers. That time, he managed to gain an advantageous position because there was a huge distance between us. Because of that, I could only flee.” Elder Huo seemed to see through Duan Ling Tian’s disbelief, so he replied slowly, “In the end, I managed to find an opportunity to get near him and make a sneak attack on him before I killed him.”
Duan Ling Tian finally understood.
Since he was using the archery set, of course, he knew about the pros and cons of using it.
If it was a close-range attack, the archery set was pretty much useless.
“Such a legendary Sun Shooting Bow actually turns out like this. How disappointing!” Looking at the bow on the stone table, Duan Ling Tian shook his head.
“The Sun Shooting Bow wasn’t originally like this. That time, after I killed Hou Yi, my anger was still not fully released yet, so I released all my wrath on this Sun Shooting Bow instead,” Elder Huo replied, “The strength of the Sun Shooting Bow originally came from the ten Heavenly Jewels embedded in the bow. At that point, by using the Sun Divine Flame, I forcefully tempered the Sun Shooting Bow for 81 days. In the end, I managed to take the ten Heavenly Pearls from it. Then, I also took the bowstring from the Sun Shooting Bow and threw it away along with the ten Heavenly Jewels… Therefore, the Sun Shooting Bow has now turned out like this,” Elder Huo finished in one breath.
“Then, this also means that this Sun Shooting Bow is no longer the invincible peerless Sun Shooting Bow from that era, is it?” Duan Ling Tian smiled wryly. “Elder Huo, why, oh, why? If you wanted to avenge your brothers, you could’ve just killed Hou Yi. How could you destroy this treasure, the Sun Shooting Bow?! If you hadn’t destroyed it the last time, I’d have a convenient weapon already by now!”
When Duan Ling Tian reached the end of his sentence, the wry smile on his face became even more apparent.
In his opinion, Elder Huo was too spendthrift!
“Although this Sun Shooting Bow is no longer as almighty as it was all those years ago, no matter what, it’s still a Celestial Supreme Treasure that was once on top of the world. Even my Sun Divine Flame can’t do anything to this bow at all,” Elder Huo responded, “Hasn’t your bow been snapped by the Little Devil Dragon’s tendon? This would fit the Little Devil Dragon’s tendon quite well. After you’ve attached the bow to it, although its strength might not be as comparable to the Celestial Supreme Treasure, it could still be deemed to be a top-grade weapon on this planet.”
With a raise of his hand, Elder Huo held the tattered Sun Shooting Bow in his hand and passed it to Duan Ling Tian.
“Yeah, I guess. It’s perfect after just attaching the five-clawed Divine Dragon’s tendon to it.” Duan Ling Tian nodded and accepted it, his face still slightly dejected. “If it were a complete Sun Shooting Bow, then it’d be even greater. What a pity… What a pity!”
“If it were a complete Sun Shooting Arrow, it’d be even heavier than the Jasper Celestial Sword! When only five out of the ten originally embedded Heavenly Jewels were taken out, then only did its weight decrease to become the same as the Jasper Celestial Sword,” Elder Huo added
“Is the complete Sun Shooting Bow even heavier than the Jasper Celestial Sword? By twofold on top of that too?” Upon hearing that, a twitch could be seen on Duan Ling Tian’s mouth right away.
Then, in that case, how freaky was this Hou Yi to have used the Sun Shooting Bow to kill nine Three-legged Golden Crows with a mortal’s body? Was he really just a human?
Taking a deep breath, Duan Ling Tian looked at Elder Huo and voiced out his question, “Just because Hou Yi had a mortal’s body doesn’t mean that he was an ordinary person. It was merely because his body couldn’t breed the Celestial Origin Energy. He mainly cultivated and trained his brute body. Even if he was empty-handed, other ordinary Celestial beings wouldn’t have been able to fight him at all,” Elder Huo explained.
“Oh, I see.” Duan Ling Tian finally understood. It was no wonder! And here he was thinking how an ordinary person could actually manage to lift a complete Sun Shooting Bow that was twice as heavy as the Jasper Celestial Sword.
“Wait a minute!” Suddenly, Duan Ling Tian seemed to recall something as he asked, “Elder Huo, as one of the Celestial Supreme Treasures, both the Jasper Celestial Sword and the Sun Shooting Bow are horribly heavy, but why isn’t the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda heavy at all?”
“The Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda isn’t heavy to you, its master. If the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda hadn’t acknowledged you as its master, you wouldn’t have been able to lift it up as well too,” Elder Huo replied.
“B-but, didn’t the sea monster take the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda with it as it wandered around?” Duan Ling Tian asked in curiosity.
The Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda was originally in the hands of a sea monster deep in the ocean not far away from Half Moon Island.
According to the three Vice Island Masters of Half Moon Island, it was always carried around by the sea monster.
“That was because I didn’t want to just stay in one spot together with the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda, so I controlled its weight instead,” Elder Huo explained, “After all, I’m still the pagoda spirit of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda. Even though I won’t have any impact on its decision of choosing its master, I can still control its weight.”
“Ah, I see.” After Elder Huo had explained to him, Duan Ling Tian’s confusion was finally solved for the time being.
“In this case, this incomplete Sun Shooting Bow suits me better no, eh?” Looking at the dented Sun Shooting Bow that was engulfed in rust, a brilliant smile flashed across Duan Ling Tian’s face.
Then, with just a raise of his hand, he attached the five-clawed Devil Dragon’s tendon onto the Sun Shooting Bow. As Elder Huo promised, the bow of the Sun Shooting Bow was indeed very tough and tenacious.
No matter how he exerted his full strength to try and pull the bowstring, the Sun Shooting Bow did not budge at all.
“Elder Huo, what’s the original material of the bowstring of the Sun Shooting Bow?” Suddenly, Duan Ling Tian was hit by this question and he could not help but ask.
“It was also a dragon tendon,” Elder Huo replied.
“Dragon tendon too?” Duan Ling Tian’s eyes were as huge as saucers. “Isn’t the Sun Shooting Bow an eminent Celestial Supreme Treasure? Wouldn’t a Five-Clawed Divine Dragon’s tendon be slightly unworthy to be its bowstring?”
“The dragon tendon of a Five-Clawed Divine Dragon isn’t even worthy to be the bowstring of other ordinary Celestial Bows, let alone the Sun Shooting Bow. The string of the Sun Shooting Bow was made from the Nine-clawed Winged Dragon,” Elder Huo explained.
“Nine-clawed Winged Dragon?” Upon hearing that, confusion was apparent on Duan Ling Tian’s face. “What’s that? Is it a Divine Dragon too?”
“The Nine-clawed Winged Dragon is also known as the Nine-Clawed Divine Dragon,” Elder Huo explained patiently.
“The Nine-Clawed Divine Dragon…” Duan Ling Tian’s eyes narrowed for a moment. “Does it actually exist in this world? I thought the Five-Clawed Divine Dragon is already the most prominent dragon in the dragon clan. I can’t believe that the Nine-Clawed Divine Dragon exists too!”
“The Five-Clawed Divine Dragon can be considered the most prominent in planets like this or the Yan Huang Planet,” Elder Huo continued, “By the time you’ve possessed the strength to walk out of this planet, you’ll realize that there isn’t just the Nine-Clawed Divine Dragon in this universe. There are even various Six-clawed, Seven-clawed and Eight-clawed Divine Dragons too.”
Duan Ling Tian nodded.
His biggest target now was to return to Earth, and if he wanted to do that, he had to leave this planet.
Therefore, his target was to leave this planet too.
Looking at the Sun Shooting Bow in his hand, Duan Ling Tian muttered, “With my current strength, I’m still far away from being able to use this Sun Shooting Bow as freely as I like. By the time I’ve made a breakthrough to the Mortal Shedding Stage, it should be more or less ready.”
At that moment, he was desperately eager to make a breakthrough to the Mortal Shedding Stage. “I wonder when will my Profundity finally merge into my body and aid me in opening the Saint Vein.”
As for how many Saint Veins he would be able to open once he had reached the Mortal Shedding Stage, Duan Ling Tian’s heart was full of anticipation.
Relying on both the Ninth Level Emperor Stage Fused Profundities and Sword Profundities, he had faith that the number of Saint Veins he would open would not be fewer than Xue Nai.
“However, I can’t cultivate now for the time being. Xue Nai must be still looking for me.” The moment he thought of this, he motioned to the Elder Fire and with a racing heart, he left the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda.
Raising his hand, Duan Ling Tian gripped the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda that was as big as a speckle of dust in his hand.
“Unfortunately, the space inside the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda is still unstable before the fourth level is fixed. Otherwise, even if I come across any powerful fiend, I could still hide inside it to escape from the trouble,” As he tossed the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda that was slightly enlarged into his ears, Duan Ling Tian sighed deeply to himself.