The days in the armory sped by. With the Compendium of Worldly Marvels now in his hands, He Yiming devoted his entire focus to it.

Within the Compendium, meticulously collected and organized over millennia within the Lingxiao Palace, were records not only of Eastern treasures but also those from the West, the South, the Northwest, and the North. It even documented rare artifacts found only on remote islands beyond the seas.

It was, in essence, an absolute encyclopedia. Yet, no matter how astonishing He Yiming's memory, retaining every detail within was impossible. Thus, he merely skimmed the contents until, one day, within the Bestiary section, he found his quarry.

Gui Ku Ling, the Lair of the Dragon-Snake.

According to the records, the great python dwelling atop Gui Ku Peak was, in fact, a Dragon-Snake. Born initially in serpentine form, it possessed the capacity to enhance its power through constant cultivation, eventually breaking its limits to achieve the True Dragon form. At that point, the massive serpent would become a genuine Divine Beast.

He Yiming recalled his encounter with the python and knew instantly that this particular creature had not yet transformed into a dragon. Even so, its inherent might already surpassed ordinary comprehension. Should it one day shed its serpent skin and fully manifest as a dragon, its eventual power would be terrifying to imagine.

This spiritual beast naturally possessed an Extreme Yin Physique, excelling at absorbing Yin-Sha energy and combining it with the power of Heaven and Earth to forge an exceptional, unique cultivation environment. Legend held that tens of thousands of years ago, a supreme Daoist cultivator named Meng Ru Shen Ji, who practiced the Path of Ruthlessness, imprisoned the Dragon-Snake here. He forced it to absorb the pervasive Yin-Sha emanating from ancient battlefields, thereby creating a mystical cultivation sanctuary saturated with dense primordial energy.

The documentation concerning Gui Ku Ling presented several conflicting narratives. Some suggested that over the countless millennia, the Dragon-Snake within was no longer the original one. Others whispered that the colossal serpent remained in a deep hibernation, awakening only once every thousand years. Should an unlucky traveler enter Gui Ku Ling during that brief window, they would inevitably be devoured, leaving no survivors.

However, these were all unsubstantiated rumors. Unless one could directly question the giant serpent itself, no one could provide a definitive answer.

He Yiming continued his search and finally located the entry concerning the serpent’s horns beneath.

The Dragon-Snake is a spiritual creature born of Heaven and Earth, possessing Dragon Blood. If fortune favored it, it could transform into a true dragon. If it failed to achieve this metamorphosis, however, it would eventually succumb to natural death upon reaching the end of its lifespan. When a Dragon-Snake died, all its accumulated essence would condense into the twin horns atop its head. The value of these serpent horns was so immense that even the horns of a true Divine Dragon could scarcely compare.

Upon reading this, He Yiming was almost certain that the Dragon-Snake he encountered on the peak was not the original. However, he had no way of knowing which generation of descendants it was. The only certainty was that one of its descendants must have died without successfully transforming into a dragon, thus allowing the Treasure Pig to find that massive, tree-like horn in the Dragon-Snake’s lair.

He scrutinized every word in the introduction to the Dragon-Snake.

This creature was the supreme spiritual beast in the world. While its fame did not match the Four Holy Beasts or the legendary Phoenix, it was a branch of the Divine Dragon lineage. If the Dragon Blood within it could be successfully awakened, leading to its transformation, the power it wielded would surely be equal to any Divine Beast.

A spiritual beast possessing such immense might was naturally a treasure trove from head to tail. Its scales, flesh, eyes, and gall bladder were all considered legendary sacred objects. If these parts were refined into armor or combined with rare heavenly materials to create elixirs, they would incite fanatic pursuit among countless martial artists.

Yet, He Yiming’s gaze merely flickered over these details before immediately moving on. To hunt that massive python? He Yiming did not believe he possessed the strength for such a feat, so focusing on those items was pointless.

Of course, the most precious parts of the entire Dragon-Snake were the two horns crowning its head. Especially the pair shed after a natural demise, they concentrated the creature’s entire life force and essence, rendering them incomparably valuable—certainly ranking among the highest treasures in the entire world.

At this point, a faint gleam appeared in He Yiming’s eyes. He reached up to touch the silver ring resting on his chest, and thinking of the treasures within, his breath hitched slightly. Suddenly, he recalled: a naturally deceased Dragon-Snake should yield two horns. This meant there should be at least one more serpent horn lurking in the Dragon-Snake’s nest. A thought sparked in his mind: perhaps he should consult the Treasure Pig about paying another visit?

But he swiftly dismissed the terrifying notion. Although the Treasure Pig seemed incredibly powerful, having made the Dragon-Snake retreat willingly, if it attempted outright theft of the horns, the serpent might not let the matter rest peacefully. Shaking his head, he realized he had become momentarily lightheaded, allowing such an absurd idea to surface.

He calmed himself and continued reading meticulously.

The uses of the serpent horns were numerous, almost all-encompassing. Especially in alchemy: merely adding a minuscule amount of ground horn powder, regardless of the elixir being refined, would boost the success rate by fifty percent. If He Yiming were attempting to refine the Youth-Preserving Pill now, even with only a ten percent chance of success, adding a pinch of the powder would raise the probability to around sixty percent.

Even more astonishing, this probability seemed unbounded. That is, if He Yiming was concocting a pill with a fifty percent inherent success rate, incorporating the horn powder would guarantee a hundred percent success. Of course, to achieve a successful refinement still required a degree of alchemical knowledge. A complete novice might coincidentally succeed, but whether the resulting product was the intended elixir or a deadly poison worthy of immediate exploration remained an open question. Nevertheless, based on this single unique capability, the value of the serpent horns was unbelievably immense.

Furthermore, serpent horn powder served a similar function in forging divine weapons and sharp arms. Adding a mere trace would not only increase the success rate of crafting the weapon but, upon successful forging, would also bestow the new implement with certain mystical properties. Of course, whether these enhancements manifested, and what form they took, was entirely up to fate.

For humans, the utility of the serpent horn ended there. But for the spiritual beasts of the world, its uses were even greater. The horns contained the Dragon-Snake's entire essence. At the moment of death, all its concentrated Dragon Blood would flow into the twin horns. If a portion of one horn were swallowed by another spiritual beast, it would be akin to consuming Divine Dragon Blood—specifically, the essence that had been condensed. The consuming beast would have a high likelihood of breaking through its inherent limits and ascending to a more powerful state.

Just as divine weapons might mutate when infused with dragon blood powder, spiritual beasts were no different. A creature consuming the serpent horn had a chance to awaken latent potential and develop new abilities. Naturally, whether such an opportunity arose was up to Heaven’s will; it could not be forced.

Slowly, He Yiming turned the page. Having absorbed the details about Gui Ku Ling and the Dragon-Snake spirit beast, his heart stirred. He knew he held a vast treasure in his hands, but he currently lacked a concrete plan for how to utilize it. After sitting still for a long while, he regained his composure and continued flipping through the pages.

Moments later, his gaze sharpened as he found the entry on the Treasure Pig, located under the section detailing Tianchi Mountain. He was disappointed, however, to find only a few terse sentences: the Treasure Pig was a spiritual beast of Heaven and Earth, its origins mysterious, suspected to possess great might. Specific details were entirely absent, leaving him greatly let down.

Over the subsequent days, He Yiming even ate and slept within the library, so profoundly engrossed was he by the Compendium of Worldly Marvels. The final few days proved equally fruitful.

Here, he discovered information about the Holy Water Pool at the Western Cathedrals. Supposedly, this was a place capable of fundamentally altering a human’s innate constitution. A single immersion would result in a bone-deep, transformative change to one’s inherent physical structure. On the path of martial cultivation, this would undoubtedly allow one to advance much further. He Yiming felt a profound pull; substances and locations capable of changing innate physique were undeniably the most precious things, perhaps even more valuable than some rare artifacts that aided in breaking through bottlenecks. Thinking of his own subterranean fortuitous encounter and Yuan Lixun's Deep Cold constitution confirmed their immense worth.

Finally, within the Elixir chapter, He Yiming inadvertently discovered the origin of the golden elixir he had taken from Zhu Guanhai. Among the dozen or so vials and jars he had recovered from Zhu Guanhai, only one item’s source had remained unknown—an item he now managed to trace through this set of books, indicating his luck was quite good.

It was an elixir called the Thunder Pill, capable of awakening the latent lightning attribute hidden within the human body. The lightning attribute was universally recognized as the most formidable of all powers. However, this force was overwhelmingly potent; throughout history, only experts at the Venerable level or higher had ever managed to master it. Individuals possessing the natural talent for this power were exceedingly rare, nearly matching the scarcity of super-level spiritual beasts. Consequently, He Yiming had never encountered a powerhouse capable of commanding lightning. He strongly suspected, though, why Zhu Guanhai carried a Thunder Pill—did he possess a lightning affinity himself?

Shaking his head, He Yiming dismissed the absurd thought, stood up, and cast one last lingering look at the set of books. Finally, he resolutely departed the library archive.