As a Foundation Establishment expert, Zhang Yu’s wealth was indeed considerable. Lin Xuan found a large quantity of treasures in his storage belt—over twenty low-grade spirit stones alone, which was an enormous fortune for him.

Additionally, there were more than ten talismans of various kinds. To Lin Xuan’s delight, two of them were actually middle-grade talismans: an offensive Fire Dragon technique and a defensive Water Spirit Shield.

Beyond these, there were several medicinal pills and one top-grade spiritual artifact.

As he caressed the white jade ring in his hand, even the normally composed Lin Xuan’s eyes filled with joy. After all, even the various Foundation Establishment uncles and senior uncles in the sect mostly possessed only high-grade spiritual artifacts. Top-grade spiritual artifacts were extremely rare and precious.

After obtaining the treasures from Zhou Yan and Zhang Yu, Lin Xuan’s wealth could be said to exceed that of any Foundation Establishment expert within the valley.

Moreover, in Zhang Yu’s storage belt, he discovered another item—a close-fitting vest made of some unknown woven material that was incredibly resilient. At first glance, it was clearly a defensive treasure. Lin Xuan naturally didn’t hesitate to put it on.

After completing all this, Lin Xuan sat cross-legged and began examining his physical condition. Actually, compared to the storage belt and bracelet he’d obtained, the shell contained in that sandalwood box was the true treasure. Although Lin Xuan still didn’t know what purpose it served, Zhou Yan’s willingness to commit master-murder to monopolize it was enough to deduce how precious the shell was.

Everything that happened yesterday remained vivid in his mind. The blue light points from inside the shell had merged into his body, and then the shell had weathered away and disappeared. Those blue light points were the key to unraveling the mystery.

Lin Xuan first organized all the threads of logic in Read on Jormuntl his mind. He preferred to plan thoroughly before acting—even when solving mysteries, he couldn’t bumble around like a headless fly. He needed to be methodical and purposeful.

First, he could confirm that these blue light points caused no harm to his body. In fact, they should be greatly beneficial; otherwise, the shell wouldn’t have been treated as a supreme treasure. With this understanding established, Lin Xuan began his unhurried, gradual research.

Nothing appeared abnormal on the surface. Lin Xuan sat cross-legged and employed the internal viewing technique to examine the circulation of spiritual energy within his dantian and meridians. The spiritual energy flowed normally, but within his dantian, an unexpected situation had appeared…

Inside his dantian, besides those thread-thin, barely visible wisps of spiritual energy, there were now some drifting blue light points. These points were extraordinarily beautiful, like stars in the sky, slowly rotating like a magnificent star sea.

It was just like what he’d seen yesterday inside the shell, except now these light points had transferred from the shell into his body.

This was somewhat unexpected, yet upon reflection, perfectly reasonable. Lin Xuan’s expression remained unchanged. He first concentrated his spiritual sense to observe from the side. Each blue light point was like a star in the heavens, twinkling and blinking. After waiting a long while, there was no change whatsoever, and his physical condition remained completely normal.

Observation alone couldn’t solve the mystery. Lin Xuan hesitated briefly, then followed his sect’s mental cultivation method to gather the tiny, weak spiritual energy in his dantian—roughly the size of an embroidery needle—and cautiously touched one of the blue light points.

Of course, before doing this, he had already prepared various contingency plans in his mind to handle whatever might occur. However, the result was once again unexpected: the needle of spiritual energy passed right through easily, having no interaction with the blue light point whatsoever. There was no reaction at all.

How could this be?

Though different from his expectations, Lin Xuan remained neither [noodles]arrogant nor impatient. The purpose of these blue light points certainly couldn’t be discovered all at once. It would require time to gradually explore and eventually master. Lin Xuan had thought this through very clearly from the start.

An ordinary young person might become restless, but such a temperament would never appear in Lin Xuan. Compared to his peers, he seemed extremely mature—one might even say slightly old beyond his years.

After his first attempt failed, Lin Xuan stopped to rest for a while, eating two steamed buns and some dried meat. From yesterday noon until now, this was his first time eating. High-level cultivators could abstain from grain, maintaining survival needs solely by absorbing spiritual energy, but Lin Xuan didn’t yet have such capability.

After a brief rest, he resumed his research. Still using internal viewing to observe and experiment, yet the secret wasn’t so easily cracked. From morning until nightfall, Lin Xuan made little progress.

Lying in bed, Lin Xuan carefully contemplated every detail of today’s research. It seemed unlocking the secret of the blue light points would require more time.

Over the following days, Lin Xuan resumed his normal life, practicing cultivation daily. He didn’t want to attract attention, yet secretly, he actively researched the mystery of the blue light points.

Besides examining his meridians and dantian, Lin Xuan also carefully monitored his body’s condition to see if, over time, absorbing the light points would cause any changes. The results were disappointing—everything remained normal, without pain or problems. His cultivation speed remained as slow as before. Lin Xuan tried various methods, but the blue light points in his body truly seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever.

Of course, Lin Xuan wasn’t truly disappointed. These light points were definitely a secret treasure; he simply hadn’t grasped the key yet. There was no rush—he would research slowly.

As for Zhou Yan and Zhang Yu’s disappearance, it caused tremendous waves throughout Drifting Cloud Valley. Among Spirit Stirring disciples, Zhou Yan was a top-three expert. If nothing went wrong, she would likely succeed in Foundation Establishment within a few years. Her disappearance naturally attracted the sect’s attention. As for Zhang Yu, there was even more to say—Drifting Cloud Valley was only a small sect, and though Elder Zhang at middle-stage Foundation Establishment wasn’t exactly a pillar, he was still one of their few experts. For him to disappear without reason could be said to shake the entire sect.

Under Sect Master Cloudcrane’s personal inquiry, countless Spirit Stirring and Foundation Establishment disciples were noodlesdispatched to search for traces of the two.

However, after witnessing the sect’s reaction, Lin Xuan felt joy rather than worry. These past days, he had appeared outwardly unconcerned while secretly monitoring the situation. From the sect master’s reaction, it was clear he cared about Zhou Yan and Zhang Yu’s fate, yet there wasn’t the slightest hint or trace regarding the shell treasure.

Further considering that Zhou Yan dared to commit master-murder to swallow it whole without fearing the sect’s discovery meant they weren’t acting on the sect’s orders to seize that treasure. The two must have had secrets unknown to others and acted privately.

Combining the information at hand, Lin Xuan reached the above conclusion and breathed a deep sigh of relief. As long as Drifting Cloud Valley didn’t pursue the shell treasure’s whereabouts, all was well. As for Zhou Yan and Zhang Yu’s bodies, Lin Xuan believed no one would discover them. Even if they did—so what? No one would ever connect the deaths of two cultivation experts to him, a low-rank disciple without spiritual roots.

He was safe.