Mysterious Light Spots

Lin Xuan turned his gaze to the remaining books and continued searching. After a while, he stopped before a shelf and pulled out a black-covered volume bearing several large characters: Records of Cultivation Oddities.

After leafing through it briefly, he found that it was a cultivator's journal. It contained no cultivation techniques or the like, only this senior's observations and anecdotes from his travels across various lands.

This entire shelf held similar books. Perhaps he could find some clues among them. Lin Xuan carefully selected two more: Nine Provinces Wonders and Tales of Gods and Ghosts.

Three books were already the borrowing limit for low-ranking disciples. After completing the formalities, Lin Xuan carried the books back to his room, sat down in a chair, and began reading in earnest.

As the sun set in the west and golden clouds drifted across the horizon, Lin Xuan rolled his somewhat sore neck and rubbed his dry eyes. At last, he had finished all three books.

They contained no small number of strange tales and extraordinary events, broadening the young man's horizons considerably. Yet regarding the blue Star Sea within his body, there was still not the slightest clue.

The books did recount many miraculous encounters passed down in the Immortal World. For example, two thousand years ago, Flying Crane Master had consumed a Mystic Heaven Ice Fruit atop the far northern peak. From then on, cultivating water-attributed Daoist arts among the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth had been as effortless as if aided by the gods. He became a revered grandmaster of his generation and founded the Heaven Mountain Sect.

Another example was Ghost Corpse Master, a great figure of the Demonic Path. In his early years, he had been bitten by a Strange Snake and poisoned with its deadly venom. Yet astonishingly, not only had he survived, he had instead gained enormous benefits. From then on, his cultivation arts and techniques automatically carried the Strange Snake's deadly poison, something no one could withstand.

And then there was...

The three books described many such fortuitous encounters, but they were not all blessings rather than disasters. Far more cultivators had died from mistakenly consuming rare treasures and exotic fruits, or from encountering Demonic Beasts and venomous insects.

In other words, such encounters carried both benefits and dangers. Whether one gained an advantage or suffered a calamity falling from the sky depended entirely on whether one's luck erupted.

Lin Xuan was not worried about that. Zhou Yan's act of murdering her master was enough to prove that the shell was a treasure that brought only benefit and no harm. What troubled him now was merely how to use it. Unfortunately, none of the three books contained even a single word about the Blue Star Sea.

It seemed he would have to rely on himself and slowly feel his way forward...

Lin Xuan sat cross-legged and once more employed the Internal Vision Technique. The Star Sea in his dantian had not changed at all. It remained as distinct from his spiritual power as the Jing and Wei rivers, each minding its own course without affecting the other.

He observed it from the side with his divine sense. After roughly half an hour, Lin Xuan decided to take a risk. Using his sect's cultivation method, he gathered the Blue Light Spots that formed the Star Sea just as he would gather spiritual power.

This process carried a certain degree of danger. Those blue lights were unknown entities, while the dantian was the foundation of every cultivator. One wrong move could bring disaster upon him.

Yet one could not catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's den. To gain benefits, one had to take risks. Besides, after observing them for some time, Lin Xuan was fairly confident. He had always thought thrice before acting, and today's experiment had likewise been decided upon only after careful consideration.

Before long, bean-sized beads of sweat appeared on Lin Xuan's forehead. Compared with the spiritual power in his dantian, those blue light spots were even harder to control. Yet Lin Xuan had long been mentally prepared for difficulties. Neither flustered nor anxious, he continued working step by step. After repeated attempts, the Blue Light Spots finally gathered together.

Wisps of white vapor rose from Lin Xuan's head as he struggled to manipulate them like spiritual power. The process was incomparably difficult. Every slight movement of the blue light was unbearably stiff and awkward, though fortunately, no other discomfort arose.

He continued trying.

Time passed, second by second...

"Eh?" Lin Xuan raised his brows. At last, a trace of surprise appeared on his calm face. When the light spots traveled through his meridians to the palm of his right hand, they did not circulate back to his dantian as spiritual power would. Instead, they escaped from his body.

Though Lin Xuan had considered every possible outcome before beginning the experiment, he had not expected this one.

It was unexpected, but Lin Xuan did not panic in the slightest. He stopped circulating his cultivation method and slowly opened his eyes. Sure enough, quite a few Blue Light Spots floated before his chest, identical to those he had seen in his dantian.

Lin Xuan touched them with his hand. They gave him the warm feeling of standing beneath sunlight, but he could not draw them back into his body. After a while, the light spots grew dimmer and dimmer until they vanished completely.

The young man sat cross-legged again and examined his dantian with the Internal Vision Technique. He discovered that the Star Sea within it was slightly smaller than before.

Lying on his bed, Lin Xuan began to think. It appeared that his deduction had been correct. These light spots could indeed circulate through a major heavenly cycle like spiritual power. But why they were expelled from his body through his palm required further study.

After carefully reviewing everything he had gained today, drowsiness washed over him. Circulating the light spots through his meridians had exhausted him more than completing nine major heavenly cycles. Only Lin Xuan could have possessed the perseverance to finish it; another person truly might not have managed it.

A rooster crowed, and the rising sun tore open the dawn.

When he woke, Lin Xuan felt refreshed and invigorated. Rather than going to Young Eagle Pavilion to practice as usual, he sat cross-legged on his bed. Yesterday's attempt had made great progress, and he intended to press on while the iron was hot and continue experimenting.

He once again used the Internal Vision Technique to examine his dantian. An imperceptible smile appeared at the corner of Lin Xuan's lips. The state of his dantian was indeed exactly as he had anticipated.

Yesterday, because some of the light spots had spilled outside his body, the Star Sea in his dantian had shrunk considerably. Yet after one night's sleep, it had already returned to its original state.

Lin Xuan had considered this possibility yesterday. Since these light spots could merge into his body, they should not be one-use items. After being consumed, they ought to recover through some means. Otherwise, Zhou Yan would not have valued them so highly and called them a supreme treasure.

Though he had been fairly confident, it had only been a hypothesis. This morning's discovery was what truly put his mind at ease.

It was even better than he had expected. No particular conditions were needed to replenish them. These light spots seemed to have become part of his body, like physical strength: when one grew tired and used it all up, it could regenerate naturally after proper rest.

Not having to worry about exhausting the light spots was another major discovery Lin Xuan had made through his exploration. Now, the most urgent matter was to uncover their use.