Safe Return to the Valley

Lin Xuan then went over to Yan Tianheng's corpse and happily began stripping him of his spoils. Though the man had been sinister and vicious, he had at least been the head of a family. His wealth surely would not disappoint.

Lin Xuan found a Storage Bracelet on him. He poured his divine sense into it and emptied out everything inside.

Nine low-grade Spirit Stones, a bottle of Marrow Cleansing Pills, and a Jade Slip. Without even looking, he knew it contained the intermediate cultivation art Yan Tianheng had stolen by ambushing Wang Family disciples. Besides those, there was also a small pill furnace.

A fine haul!

The nine Spirit Stones were enough to buy back the Talismans he had used. Since the cultivation art in the Jade Slip had been reserved by the Wang Family, it was certainly far better than the one he had bought. Though he was not short on Marrow Cleansing Pills, they would still save him the trouble of purification. As for the pill furnace, once removed from the Storage Bracelet, it gave off astonishing spiritual energy. Strange patterns were carved across its surface, and one glance was enough to tell that it was no ordinary item.

Together with the Beast Soul Talisman, although he had expended nearly a hundred low-grade Talismans in this battle, his gains were clearly far greater.

"Eh, what is this?"

Lin Xuan suddenly noticed a small box tucked away in the deepest corner of the Storage Bracelet. It was so inconspicuous that he had nearly overlooked it.

He drew it out with his divine sense. It was carved from sandalwood, ancient and elegant. Opening the lid, he found Brocade lining the interior, with a single medicinal herb resting upon it.

The herb had evidently been picked some time ago, yet it remained remarkably fresh. It gave off a faint fragrance that made his entire body feel at ease. Though Lin Xuan did not recognize it, he knew it had to be rare.

He closed the brocade box and stored it together with the other treasures in the Storage Bracelet. Then Lin Xuan moved the corpses of the Yan father and son together and used a Talisman sealed with the Quicksand Technique. The ground turned into a swamp, and the two bodies sank into it, vanishing without a trace. After a while, the quicksand reverted to solid earth.

Now it would be utterly silent and unseen. No one would ever imagine that the Yan father and son had been buried here.

Once he had finished everything, Lin Xuan did not linger. Though there were no people nearby, staying here still seemed inconvenient. He cast the Wind Control Technique and traveled through the night.

Lin Xuan raced for more than two hundred li in one breath. Only around midnight did he casually find a cave to rest in. Early the next morning, he set off again and quietly returned to Floating Cloud Valley.

He then headed straight for Danxia Mountain and returned to the Waste Pill Room's grounds.

"Immortal Master!"

It was already noon. The young attendants led by Zhao Ming were basking in the sun and resting. At the sight of Lin Xuan, they hurriedly bowed in salute.

"Mm. Has anything happened recently?"

"Please rest assured, Immortal Master. Everything has been well."

Zhao Ming answered respectfully. As for why Lin Xuan had gone out for half a month, he did not ask a single question. Troubles all came from speaking too much, and calamities arose from sticking one's neck out. How could he possibly be entitled to pry into the Immortal Master's whereabouts?

Lin Xuan was very satisfied with the young attendants' tactfulness. He nodded. "Mm. Go about your work." With that, he returned to his room.

The Restriction outside remained intact. It seemed that although he had been away during this time, no one had approached this place. That was thanks to the Waste Pill Room's remoteness; ordinarily, no one came here to disturb him. Lin Xuan was quite pleased with his original choice. Not only did he have ample pills, he also had a place where he could cultivate in peace—killing two birds with one stone.

Though this trip had brought him some trouble, and could even be called extremely perilous, his gains had also been abundant. Apart from Spirit Stones and treasures, he had obtained no fewer than three cultivation arts. The problem with the Spirit Control Technique had been resolved, and there was also the Lingyun Art, precisely what he currently needed most.

Though it was merely a beginner-level cultivation art, it was praised by Foundation Establishment Realm experts. Cultivating it during the Spirit Movement Stage would not only bring faster progress, but also build a firmer foundation.

The road of cultivation was exceedingly long. Though the Spirit Movement Stage was the lowest stage, it absolutely could not be underestimated. It was also the stage for laying one's foundation. If that foundation was unstable, it would greatly hinder later cultivation. On the other hand, if it was firm, its benefits would gradually reveal themselves in the future.

Lin Xuan did not begin cultivating at once. Instead, he first rested and recovered for a day. Though he had not been injured in his battle with the Yan father and son, Yan Tianheng had, after all, been an expert at the great completion of the Spirit Movement Stage. Even with Spirit Tools and Talismans to aid him, defeating Yan Tianheng had been extremely difficult.

It had been not only a contest of strength, but also of wits—psychological warfare, feigning weakness before the enemy, then cleverly setting traps. On top of that, he had traveled through the night and rested for only a little over an hour around midnight. His body was already exhausted. Cultivating in such a state would certainly be ineffective, so Lin Xuan decided to recover first. One could not eat hot tofu in a hurry; in any case, cultivation was in no rush for just a day or two.

After taking a bath, Lin Xuan fell into a deep sleep. He slept from noon until early the next morning. When he woke, he felt refreshed and brimming with energy, his spiritual power restored during his sleep. It was time to begin cultivating.

This journey had made Lin Xuan deeply appreciate the importance of spiritual power. Take this battle, for instance. To be fair, aside from the Beast Talisman, Yan Tianheng had possessed no treasures worth mentioning. Yet he had forcibly endured Lin Xuan's hundred-odd Talismans purely through his cultivation. Had Lin Xuan not used strategy, defeating him truly would not have been easy.

And then there were Spirit Tools. Their power was indeed tremendous, but with his fourth-layer cultivation, he could barely drive the mid-grade Gold Binding Rope. If he had possessed sufficient spiritual power to control that high-grade Flying Sword, he could have easily taken Yan Tianheng's head long ago.

No matter how many treasures one possessed, without sufficient spiritual power to support them, they were useless. At the very least, their might would be greatly diminished. Therefore, his most urgent priority remained increasing his strength. As for the Spirit Control Technique, it could be set aside for the time being. Once he entered the late Spirit Movement Stage and cultivated the fifth or sixth layer of his art, he could learn it gradually.

Being good at summarizing experience was one of Lin Xuan's greatest strengths. This journey had left him with many thoughts: the tyranny of sects and cultivation families, the roiling resentment that Rogue Cultivators dared not voice, and above all, the realization that there was no reason to speak of in the Cultivation World. In this world where strength commanded obedience, the fist was the only hard truth. If he did not want to suffer indignities, he had to work hard to increase his own strength.