Seeing the bewildered look on Draven's face, the old man smiled. "Are you wondering why I took out three treasures instead of two?"
Draven nodded in confusion.
The old man shook his head helplessly and explained, "Life Bond Weapons are actually refined by integrating the souls of God Realm experts into 10th-tier weapons. This process too must follow strict conditions. The strength of the god's soul must be capable of withstanding the power of the 10th-tier weapon being refined. Furthermore, the refined weapon should be further enhanced with several rare materials, making them capable of fully transforming into a Life Bond Weapon, one capable of growth along with the person who is bonded with it."
He then turned to Draven and said, "The armor before you is called Silent Eclipse. It is refined from the soul of one of the strongest gods who walked the path of assassination to ascend to the God Realm. The crooked staff and the wine gourd, although they appear as two weapons, are in fact a single Life Bond Weapon called the Drunken Shepherd's Twin Treasures. It is refined by an existence even I didn't dare provoke at my peak."
Draven's ears perked up when he heard the term 'god' in the old man's explanation. He waited for him to finish speaking and asked tentatively, "Senior, are the gods and the Origin Gods the same?"
The old man didn't mind the question and replied, "No, they are not the same. Being a god is the highest realm of cultivation any living thing under the heavens can achieve. An Origin God is a realm higher than the God Realm. In the God Realm, you still have a lifespan limitation, and once it is over, you must enter the cycle of reincarnation to be reborn again. But for Origin Gods, this limitation does not exist; they are practically immortals with an endless life span equivalent to the heavens."
"Of course, there is a downside. Once you become an Origin God, your soul merges with the heavenly rules. Although you will achieve immortality, your soul will become emotionless and indifferent, like the heavenly rules themselves. Most gods do not choose this path and instead choose to enter the cycle of reincarnation, like me."
Draven looked at the ring tattoo on his finger and thought to himself, So the person who brought my soul to this place was someone who had stepped into the highest realm in this world.
"Now, let me explain the uses of these treasures," the old man once again pointed at the black armor. "Silent Eclipse's first ability is that it can conceal one's aura completely, making them completely undetectable. Secondly, it has a steadfast defense with a feature of impact absorption, along with high resistance to all types of elemental attacks, including taboo elements like Time and Curse. Thirdly, the hat attached to its back is called the Petal Hat; it can split into 200 flying knives which can be manipulated by spiritual energy. Of course, with your current spiritual sense, you will only be able to split it into, at most, 10 flying knives."
"Fourth, is its boots. They are an imitation of a very powerful magic treasure called the Traveler's Sandals; they have the ability to teleport you anywhere within the radius of your spiritual sense. And lastly, the revolvers. They are an imitation of the celestial Maiden Bow I gave to that little girl. As long as you can channel any type of energy into them, they will form concentrated bullets for you."
After he explained about the armor, he turned his finger towards the gourd. "This is the Drunken Shepherd's Wine Gourd. It is capable of refining wine according to the raw materials you provide. There is also an extremely rare ancient time array engraved inside the gourd, which will make the wine age faster. As for the details, you can explore them on your own."
Then he looked towards the crooked staff with respect in his eyes and continued, "Now comes this staff. It is called the Drunken Shepherd's Staff. This thing is the most powerful treasure I have ever seen in my life. As long as you tame a beast using this staff and bind its soul to it, even if that animal is killed in battle, as long as you can provide enough Bloodchi Wine, it can come back to life. The bell hanging from its neck is also a treasure; it can produce an attack directed at the soul."
Alexandria and Draven listened to the full explanation with wide eyes. There was nothing to say; if a person could have these, they would be overpowered as hell.
"Although both are powerful life bond weapons, you have to know that if you want to break through to a higher realm, you must also make your Life Bound Weapon break through by infusing your vital chi and spiritual power into it. Otherwise, you will be forever stuck in the same realm as your Life Bond Weapon. To remind you, both of these treasures were refined by infusing thousands of ancient runes into them, and making them break through to a higher realm will also be extremely difficult." The old man stroked his beard with a satisfied look on his face.
"If you want to change to some other weapon, you can tell me now. Otherwise, there won't be a chance later. Once it becomes your Life Bound Weapon, it will accompany you throughout your life; not even a god will be able to remove it from you."
Draven fell silent for a moment upon hearing this. He looked at the ring tattoo on his finger and nodded firmly. "I am grateful for your reminder, Senior, but this junior has no intention of selecting a different treasure."
"As you wish," the old man said. He waved his hand, and the two sets of weapons turned into an illusory mist and entered Draven's body.
The next second, Draven felt an itch on his left arm and back. It was so uncomfortable that he felt as though ants were crawling under his skin.
"Your spirit and vital chi are still not strong enough to support these two treasures. Take off your shirt," the old man said calmly when he saw this.
Draven did as he was told. The old man placed one hand on Draven's left arm and the other on his shoulder.
Suddenly, Draven felt a cool energy enter his body, strengthening it and making his spirit more robust. His heart began beating violently, and the blood all over his body started flowing rapidly, just like when he had awakened his chaos Divine Ape bloodline, but it didn't feel as painful as before. Instead, it felt comfortable.
Visible to the naked eye, Draven's body began to change as the old man continued infusing his energy. His muscles shrank and became even more streamlined and lean compared to his previous physique. Although he still appeared muscular, he didn't seem overly bulky like before. It was as though all the minor flaws in his physique were eliminated, making him as perfect as a jade sculpture. After a while, the itching on his left arm and back slowly stopped. The Silent Eclipse transformed into a black sun tattoo on his back, and the Drunken Shepherd's treasure transformed into a beautiful golden dragon that coiled around Draven's left arm.
Seeing this, the old man removed his hands, and Draven fell to the ground, panting, with sweat covering his whole body.
Turning around, the old man saw Alexandria looking at Draven with eyes full of envy. With a hearty laugh, he walked towards her and placed a finger on her forehead. The next second, Alexandria lost consciousness and fell to the ground, though lightning flickered all over her body as if she was covered in a lightning veil.
"This kid is pathetically weak," the old man's mouth twitched upon seeing this. He took out a bottle containing a blue potion from somewhere and poured the contents into Alexandria's mouth.
Alexandria slowly opened her eyes with a confused look on her face. By this time, Draven had also recovered somewhat and hurriedly came forward to help Alexandria stand on her feet.
Lightning still flickered all over her body, but Draven didn't feel anything when he touched her. It was as though the lightning had no effect on his body whatsoever.
"This is an extra reward from this elder to both of you. I have infused the blood essence from the heart of an Ancient Dragon into both of your bodies. As for how much benefit you will reap, that is up to your own luck, but at the very least, it will draw out both of your dormant traits," the old man said.
"Thank you, Senior," Draven and Alexandria bowed to the old man sincerely. Both of them could feel the qualitative improvement in their bodies, so they were truly grateful from the bottom of their hearts.
"Now it is time to give you both a cultivation technique each. First, you, little girl, tell me what you prefer," the old man looked at Alexandria.
Alexandria looked towards Draven and said firmly, "I want the strongest lightning-type cultivation technique you have, Senior."
"Copying tactics, huh? I like it," the old man smiled and snapped his fingers. The next second, a torrent of memories appeared inside Alexandria's mind.
"The Nine Heavenly Thunder Scripture, coupled with your lightning bloodline and the Innate Heavenly Lightning Physique you just awakened, if you practice diligently, you will surely become one of the strongest gods in the future," the old man said casually, then turned towards Draven. "So, what about you? I sensed Chaos and Darkness elements from your bloodline. Should I select the strongest technique I have in any of these elements, like for the little girl?"
Draven hurriedly shook his head. What a joke; without an elemental core, what was he going to do with an elemental cultivation technique?
"Senior, I am deeply attracted to the Asura Blade Intent Manual you gave me back in the trial. If it is possible, I would like to ask you for the complete technique for it," Draven asked expectantly.