A trillion souls—it was an exhilarating amount to redeem. When it came to soul treasures, it was impossible to suffer a loss. These treasures, once stored in the Star-Plucking Tower, would deepen the nation's foundation. After years of warfare, now was precisely the time to distribute generous rewards. Soldiers needed soul-bound treasures; ministers needed divine weapons and magical artifacts. While there weren't enough rare worldly treasures to go around, soul treasures could serve as substitutes.
And besides—there was everything imaginable.
Divine weapons, magic tools, sacred items: blades, spears, swords, clubs, whips, chains, bells, tripods, seals, towers, gourds—an overwhelming variety, in staggering quantities. For instance, some types of battle sabers appeared in sets of dozens, even hundreds. A terrifying sight.
Taken back to Great Yi, these would become the seed embryos for countless cultivators' life-bound treasures. Every one of them had value.
"What's this?"
Suddenly, a book appeared before Yi Wuchang, who's eyes lit up with curiosity.
"Wuchang, do you want that one?" asked Yaoyue with a smile.
"Yes. The moment I saw it, I felt something resonate inside me. As if it's meant for me," said Yi Wuchang, whose temperament was always quiet and composed. For her to ask for something meant she truly liked it.
"That's a Curse Soul Treasure," said the Crow Emperor, grinning. "Made from the hides of demons and ferocious beasts. During the refining process, something went wrong and gave birth to a treasure filled with resentment and ominous energy. It's called the Book of Curses. Write a name inside, and it inflicts a curse—or outright death—on your enemy. Of course, with the right cultivation method, you could refine it into something far more powerful."
"Wuchang, you have the Wuchang Physique—this book is perfectly suited to you," Yi Tianxing added with a smile. "You could refine it as your life-bound artifact. I'll grant you a slot in the Woodcutter's Spring to transform it from postnatal to innate. And I've acquired a Treasure Refinement Codex from the God-Demon Treasury—specifically the Yin-Yang Codex, derived from the Book of Life and Death. If cultivated to the limit, it might rival even the original."
With that, he directly exchanged for the Book of Curses. It wasn't expensive—just two or three billion soul points.
The other children also each picked out their own treasures.
Yi Xianhuang chose a single feather—imbued with seven-colored divine light, capable of cleansing both people and objects. It might become a secret weapon in battle.
Yi Xianling chose five elemental pearls (metal, wood, water, fire, earth) to fuse into her Five Elements Ring.
Yi Yuehua picked a set of 36 Ice Soul Orbs—capable of nurturing miniature worlds and forming powerful formations, though energy-intensive.
Yi Fengling selected a bell string, composed of several bells that could be refined to hold nine distinct divine abilities.
Yi Ziyang chose a gourd, which he planned to refine with Pure Yang energy into a Sword Gourd capable of holding and unleashing innate violet qi.
Yi Tianxing didn't interfere with their choices. Each soul treasure would be eligible for refinement in the Woodcutter's Spring, once a year—no special conditions needed.
While browsing the treasures, something unexpected appeared before him.
A single coin.
Looking closely, it was round with a square hole, exuding an ancient divine rhythm. Its surface shimmered with chaotic light, mystical and elusive. The moment he saw it, Yi Tianxing felt an inexplicable pull—as though the coin was calling to him from the void.
"What kind of coin is this?" he asked.
"A soul treasure, accidentally created during one of our refining sessions," the Raven Emperor replied. "It seems to contain Chaotic God-Iron Essence and naturally formed a restriction called the Chaos Heaven-Earth Matriarchal Seal. Its exact function is unknown, but it probably relates to currency. It's cheap—just five billion soul points."
"I'll take it," Yi Tianxing said without hesitation.
He held it in his hand, sensing the primordial chaos aura it radiated.
A thought flashed through his mind. He retrieved a pile of Eternal Coins—brand new, gleaming gold.
Ding!
Sensing the wealth energy from the coins, the Chaos Mother Coin suddenly glowed, emitting a haze of chaotic light that enveloped the entire pile. To Yi Tianxing's astonishment, the Eternal Coins began to merge.
One coin.
Two.
Ten.
Thousands…
They fused rapidly and naturally, until ten thousand coins became a single purple Eternal Coin.
Then, the process continued:
Twenty thousand…
Fifty thousand…
One hundred thousand…
One million!
With a crisp chime, a new coin appeared—purple-gold, radiating a powerful aura.
"Unbelievable… the Chaos Mother Coin can fuse Eternal Coins into higher forms. Ten thousand become purple. One million become purple-gold. Not just in color—the internal energy also transforms, becoming more potent and refined!"
Yi Tianxing held both a purple and a purple-gold Eternal Coin. The weight was the same as ten thousand or a million coins respectively—yet they were condensed into a single unit.
"Split!"
With a thought, the purple coin split into ten thousand golden Eternal Coins.
"Combine!"
Another thought, and the coins re-formed into a single purple one.
Fusion and division at will. Truly miraculous.
"Excellent. If this Chaos Mother Coin is fused with the Eternal Coin's existing mother coin, then all Eternal Coins could gain this property. And if I place the fused coin into the Woodcutter's Spring to transform it into an innate treasure..."
Yi Tianxing's mind raced with excitement.
"This is foundational—truly national fortune material. Once all Eternal Coins have this capability, large-scale transactions will become much easier. No more carrying piles of gold; just one purple-gold coin would suffice."
For top-tier cultivators, it was more convenient, safer, and symbolically powerful.
And this Chaos Mother Coin was likely a one-of-a-kind accident, forged by the Crow Clan by chance. Reproducing it might be impossible.
Yi Tianxing quickly tucked it away, planning to refine it further once back in the Eternal World.
The redemption continued.
The Crow Clan's soul treasure inventory was extraordinarily deep. Though they didn't offer divine or demonic seeds, the quantity and variety of treasures was overwhelming. For the Great Yi, backed by wealth beyond imagination, there was only one policy: buy, buy, buy.
No hesitation. No restraint.
By the time they'd burned through the entire trillion soul-point stockpile, the Crow Clan's treasure vault was nearly cleaned out—and Great Yi was immensely enriched.
Watching this, Yi Tianxing's wives and children were visibly moved. The scale of this operation was something one could only witness here—beyond the imagination of the outside world.
Time passed quietly.
The trading hub remained open daily, with billions—tens, hundreds, even trillions—of Eternal Coins flowing out of Great Yi's hands and into the pockets of countless other races across the battlefield.
The influence of Eternal Coin had never run deeper.
Some races were worried.
Some were indifferent.
Most treated Eternal Coins like resources, akin to pills or spirit stones—used once, then gone. As far as they could tell, Great Yi still had to pay a cost to mint them, and they posed no real strategic threat. At best, the coins gave Great Yi some face and earned them a bit more fate energy.
Nothing major.
What they didn't know… was that Eternal Coins in Great Yi's hands were endlessly renewable.