Had anyone else been present, they would have seen the intense excitement in Lin Changheng's eyes as he looked at the long wooden box.
Clack!
With the talisman removed, the wooden box opened to reveal a flower, stem and all, roughly three inches tall, lying on red silk.
Its appearance was wondrous and strange. The flower took the shape of a candle flame, flickering with emerald light, its surface covered in layers of peculiar patterns that coiled around the flame. Its stem resembled white jade, with a warm, lustrous sheen.
One glance was enough to tell it was extraordinary.
It was the Spirit-Candle Flower!
This was the precious treasure True Lord Gui and True Lord Sea-Sweeper had painstakingly schemed for and pursued, ultimately costing one his life and the other his freedom.
It was also the "sweet date" the Single-Horned Flood Dragon Cultivator had used to buy True Lord Sea-Sweeper's loyalty, following a slap with a sweet treat.
For this Spirit-Candle Flower offered cultivators at the nascent soul early-stage peak some help in breaking through their bottleneck and reaching the nascent soul middle stage.
After so many twists and turns, changing hands several times, it had actually ended up in Lin Changheng's possession. Fate was truly a wondrous thing.
His earlier doubts were now answered as well. True Lord Sea-Sweeper had not attempted to break through to the nascent soul middle stage, nor had he failed.
Perhaps he felt the timing was not right, having only recently recovered from his old severed-arm injury, or perhaps his preparations were insufficient, so he had chosen to wait.
That had let Lin Changheng scoop up an enormous bargain and acquire a crucial resource for his breakthrough.
Even Lin Changheng's normally composed face could not conceal his delight.
If he could also redeem the