Lin Xuan cheerfully sorted through his spoils of war. Though this senior sister had harbored vicious intentions, her wealth was truly substantial. From her storage bracelet, Lin Xuan found six low-grade spirit stones, two spiritual artifacts, and a jade bottle. When he pulled out the stopper, a refreshing fragrance immediately wafted out, revealing two snow-white Marrow Cleansing Pills resting inside. Beyond these, there were also some talismans.

Talismans were created when cultivators sealed techniques inside special talisman paper. This way, when facing enemies, they didn’t need to expend spiritual energy and could activate them instantly—the advantages were obvious. Of course, creating talismans was extremely complex, requiring not only specific talisman paper but also consuming vast amounts of spiritual energy, with a low success rate. The more advanced the technique, the harder it was to create. Thus, talismans were considered rare and precious items in the Cultivation World.

Lin Xuan counted them—there were seven talismans in total, encompassing techniques of all five elemental attributes: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Of course, among all the spoils, the most precious were still the spiritual artifacts. One must understand that even for Foundation Establishment stage experts, spiritual artifacts were extremely valuable items, yet Zhou Yan, a mere Spirit Stirring stage disciple, actually possessed two. One of them was the Golden Thread Binding she had used when killing her master. When shrunk, it was only about a foot long, but after injecting spiritual energy, it could extend at will, functioning to bind enemies.

The other item was that flying sword—an offensive spiritual artifact. Lin Xuan fondled it lovingly. Both were high-grade spiritual artifacts, invaluable beyond measure.

Unfortunately, his own cultivation was too shallow. He would need to train the Spirit Stirring stage cultivation method to the fourth layer before he could control spiritual artifacts. Lin Xuan packed everything back into the storage bracelet. Though this experience had been dangerous, the harvest was extremely bountiful. Moreover, there was still one more person’s belongings waiting for him to collect. As a Foundation Establishment stage expert, Zhang Yu’s wealth would surely be even more substantial.

Lin Xuan secured the storage bracelet and was about to turn around when his heart suddenly stirred. He stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling on Zhou Yan’s left hand. Though dead, her hand still clutched tightly to a small sandalwood box.

Zhou Yan had defied and killed her master precisely for the treasure inside this box. What kind of precious item could it contain?

After pondering for a moment, Lin Xuan walked over and somewhat reluctantly retrieved the small box from the corpse’s hand. However, he didn’t immediately open it. Instead, his expression grew solemn as he examined it carefully, then gently placed it on the ground before retreating seven or eight steps.

Breaking off a tree branch, he carefully flipped open the box lid. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—several small arrows shot out from inside at an astonishing speed. At such close range, if one were unprepared, even a powerful cultivator would find them difficult to dodge.

The arrows struck a nearby tree, which immediately withered. They were coated with a fierce poison. Yet Lin Xuan’s expression remained unchanged, not even blinking. Just as he’d expected—such a treasure would definitely have traps.

After the box lid opened, he still didn’t approach immediately. Instead, he waited another ten-some minutes, ensuring there would be no further danger before carefully picking up the box. ​visit our site​However, the contents left Lin Xuan stunned—it was actually a fist-sized seashell.

The shell displayed brilliant colors, its surface covered with strange and exotic patterns. Though he didn’t recognize it, one look told him this was no ordinary item.

Holding the shell in his hand, Lin Xuan examined it carefully. After a while, his initially hesitant eyes became resolute. With a slight effort of his hands, he opened the shell. The secret must be inside.

This indeed was no ordinary shell. Inside there was no pearl, but rather floating blue points of light. Those points of light were extraordinarily beautiful, like stars in the heavens, slowly rotating like a beautiful sea of stars.

Lin Xuan frowned, unable to determine what these were. He was about to close the shell and study it slowly later when, at that moment, something miraculous happened. The sea of stars began to change, spinning faster and faster, then drifted toward Lin Xuan. Instinctively, Lin Xuan tried to dodge, but those points of light moved too quickly. Before he could react, they had all merged into his body.

Intense pain—every inch of skin from head to toe felt like it was being torn apart. Lin Xuan collapsed to the ground, his consciousness gradually blurring as he lost consciousness. Meanwhile, the shell that had lost its blue points of light rapidly petrified, then weathered into sand, scattering in the wind. In the gorge, aside from an unconscious youth, it was as if nothing had ever happened.

…

At dawn, as the morning sun rose and cast its warmth upon the earth, accompanied by a faint groan, Lin Xuan opened his eyes. Looking up at the sky, he realized that when he’d lost consciousness it had clearly been noon—had he been unconscious for a day and a night?

Sitting up, the unbearable pain had completely disappeared. However, Lin Xuan didn’t feel refreshed either, having slept outdoors for a night after all.

He moved his somewhat numb hands and feet, then examined his physical condition once more. Finding nothing unusual, yesterday’s experience seemed like a dream. But how could a dream feel so real?

Lin Xuan remained silent for a long while, then wordlessly walked to Zhou Yan’s corpse. Suppressing his revulsion, he threw her into the trap pit. Next, Lin Xuan went to the location where Zhang Yu had been ambushed. First, he thoroughly collected his treasures, obtaining a storage belt. There was no time to inventory its contents—the pressing matter was to leave this place of trouble.

He dragged the body over and also threw it into the trap pit.

“Regardless of whatever grievances you had in life, when one dies the lamp goes out—you shouldn’t mind sharing a grave.” Lin Xuan silently prayed this once, then filled in the earth, carefully erasing all traces from the surroundings. This place was already rarely traveled by people, and after Read on Jormuntlhis arrangements, he believed no one would discover that two cultivators rested eternally here.

After completing all this, Lin Xuan delayed no longer and returned to Drifting Cloud Valley. Despite having experienced a heart-pounding scene, Lin Xuan’s expression remained normal, showing not the slightest abnormality, as if nothing had happened at all. Even when people occasionally greeted him on the road or mocked him coldly, Lin Xuan responded as he always did.

Nothing in his behavior revealed anything unusual.

Just like that, Lin Xuan returned to his dwelling. The first thing he did was close the doors and windows tightly, then took out the storage belt he’d obtained from Zhang Yu and began taking inventory.