Turning Waste into Treasure

Over the next few days, Lin Xuan spent half his time practicing cultivation and the other half studying the Star Sea within his body. In the blink of an eye, a week passed. Though he still had not found any clues, at least the circulation of the blue light as spiritual power through a major heavenly cycle had become somewhat smoother.

"How exactly should I use it?"

Lin Xuan toyed with a pill in his hand, carefully reviewing in his mind all the experiments he had conducted on the Blue Light Spot over the past days.

Unlike other spiritual pills, this pill gave off a muddled smell. It was a Waste Pill Elder Ma had given him. To cultivators, a failed pill was utterly useless, yet Lin Xuan had been unwilling to throw it away. After all, the materials used to refine it had also been precious heavenly treasures.

Thinking alone was useless. If he wanted to understand it, he had to try it himself.

"Let's run another major heavenly cycle."

Lin Xuan had circulated the blue light through his meridians as spiritual power many times already. Every time it reached his right palm, it would disperse from his body. This was clearly the key, so Lin Xuan patiently persisted, hoping to find a breakthrough here.

He sat cross-legged and once more gathered the light spots in his dantian into a blue ribbon, beginning the circulation. Everything went smoothly at first. Though it moved slowly, it truly flowed along his meridians and soon reached his right wrist.

If it went any farther, it would disperse. Lin Xuan focused all his divine sense, preparing to observe closely and see whether he could uncover details he had previously overlooked.

With the aid of his divine sense, Lin Xuan could clearly sense the changes in the light spots. They were about to reach his palm. Light was a formless, intangible thing; it easily passed through his meridians, through his blood vessels and skin, and dispersed outside...

Wait!

Lin Xuan's expression suddenly changed. This time was slightly different from before. The blue light had indeed escaped his body, but rather than floating into the air, it burrowed into an object in his palm.

The Waste Pill. He had forgotten to set it aside before running the major heavenly cycle.

With this discovery, Lin Xuan became even more focused. He continued drawing blue light endlessly from his dantian. Though he still did not understand why the blue light reacted to the Waste Pill, this might very well be a breakthrough.

And any detail could be the key to solving the mystery!

With utmost care, Lin Xuan controlled the blue light with one hand while using his divine sense to examine the Waste Pill. The scene was transmitted directly into his mind. Some of the blue light spots burrowed into the Waste Pill, while others were repelled and dissipated into the air.

One minute passed.

Two minutes passed.

Ten minutes passed...

The Star Sea in his dantian had shrunk to only one-third of its usual size. At this point, no matter how hard Lin Xuan tried, he could no longer draw out any light spots. This seemed to be its limit. At the same time, a fragrance drifted into his nose.

The youth opened his eyes and saw that the originally black, mushy Waste Pill had become snow-white throughout. This was— a low-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill?

Compared with others his age, Lin Xuan was far more mature. Though he had not yet reached the point of remaining unruffled even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, he could at least keep his joy and anger from showing on his face. But nothing was absolute. At this moment, his face was full of astonishment, and he even rubbed his eyes hard. Such a loss of composure had rarely appeared in Lin Xuan.

After examining it for a long while and confirming that he had not seen wrong, with its fragrance still continually entering his nostrils, it truly was— a low-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill!

"Ha ha!" No matter how steady and shrewd he was, Lin Xuan could not help laughing heartily at this moment. A Waste Pill that had been like garbage had actually become a useful spiritual medicine. Could it be that these blue light spots could turn waste into treasure?

Wouldn't that mean he had struck it rich?

One had to know that on the path of cultivation, aptitude was certainly important. But with sufficient spiritual medicine to support them, even a Mortal without a Spirit Root could become a grandmaster... Of course, that was only in theory. The reason was simple: no matter how wealthy a cultivator was, they could not treat pills like candy.

But if these blue light spots truly could turn waste into treasure, then things would be different...

Lin Xuan's delight was easy to imagine. Yet he quickly suppressed his excitement, regained his calm, and began to consider matters carefully.

He had long known that this treasure was extraordinary, but he had never expected its ability to be nearly heaven-defying. Turning waste into treasure was enough to make any cultivator covet it. Therefore, the most important issue before him now was secrecy. He could not let anyone learn of it.

He did not know how Zhou Yan and Zhang Yu had obtained the treasure, or whether a third person had been involved. But even if there had been, Lin Xuan was not worried. Zhou Yan and Zhang Yu were both dead, and no one could possibly suspect a low-level disciple like him.

He could rest easy about that matter. The only thing he needed to watch for was ensuring that no one discovered the state of his dantian. This was not too difficult, either. The human body was exceedingly marvelous. Even experts whose cultivation far surpassed his own could easily be blocked from scanning his dantian with divine sense, so long as he was careful. The chance of exposure was minuscule.

As long as he remained vigilant, keeping it secret should be easy. Having realized this, Lin Xuan no longer worried and instead began considering the benefits the blue light spots could bring him.

To become an outstanding cultivator, one needed to meet two conditions. First, one needed a decent Spirit Root—that was, sufficient talent. Second, one needed diligence: never being lazy or slack, overcoming every difficulty, and devoting oneself wholeheartedly to cultivation.

As for Lin Xuan, he fulfilled the second condition two hundred percent. This was no boast. If Lin Xuan claimed second place in diligence within Floating Cloud Valley, no one would dare claim first. As a disciple of the Spirit Movement Stage, he had dared cultivate on the Heart Refining Path. This alone showed how devoted he was to cultivation.

The reason his cultivation was so weak was that he had no Spirit Root. He was merely an ordinary Mortal, and ordinary people had always cultivated at a pitifully slow pace.

But this situation could soon be changed. Though ordinary people cultivating immortality achieved twice the result with half the effort, it was not without a remedy. As long as there was sufficient spiritual medicine to support them, even a Mortal without a Spirit Root could become an extraordinary grandmaster. Of course, pills were not candy, and even powerful great sects could not afford such an expense.