At that moment, the chain of logic seemed to click into place.
Blood Crystal Coins, the energy currency these indigenous cultivators relied on to survive—their true value did not lie in the energy they contained, but in the faint trace of "contaminated Spirit Enlightenment Qi" hidden deep within.
Or rather, contaminated Source Essence.
Although indigenous cultivators absorbed Blood Crystal Coins primarily for their energy, they were also imperceptibly enhancing their cultivation talents.
Of course, every blessing carried a hidden curse. At the same time, they suffered a savage erosion that drastically shortened their lifespans.
These spent coins, left out in the open and exposed to the "Blood Sun" for countless years, had replenished not only their chaotic energy. More importantly, the Blood Sun's light might contain an extremely faint Source Essence property—or some factor capable of producing an original energy similar to "Spirit Enlightenment Qi." After prolonged exposure, it had gradually settled and accumulated inside the crystals.
Lin Yi lowered his head and gazed at the dark red Blood Crystal Coin in his hand. His eyes grew unfathomably deep.
This seemingly ordinary crystal now appeared to him as though it had revealed a corner of a world-shaking secret.
The brutal rules of this Secret Realm, the cycle of the "White Sun" and "Blood Sun," the Strange Monsters' madness, cultivators' short lifespans, and even the unusually high proportion of Star Core Level beings—all of it seemed to point toward the blood-red sun hanging high in the sky and the ultimate mystery it might contain.
Lin Yi slowly closed his fingers around the Blood Crystal Coin.
The discovery had practically confirmed his theory: even if Spirit Enlightenment Qi wasn't Source Essence itself, it had to be on the same level or be a higher-dimensional energy closely related to it.
The realization hit