Chapter 140: The Ancient Relics of Divine Communion

"Something is wrong. Did anything unusual occur while I was in slumber?"

As soon as the remnant soul of my past life awakened, its gaze swept across the star-sea of memories.

"Unusual? That is putting it mildly—I encountered something truly bizarre..."

Xu Xuan immediately recounted the events of that day in Yellow Dragon City, detailing his encounter with the mysterious shop.

"What treasure? Let me see it."

The remnant soul’s gaze flickered, and it began to investigate the details of the Moonlit Secret Pearl within Xu Xuan’s body.

A moment later, the remnant soul was overjoyed and said in disbelief, "What kind of incredible luck have you stumbled upon? You have obtained an extremely rare heritage treasure! Its specific grade cannot be measured, but one thing is certain: this heritage treasure is at least of the Artifact grade, and it possesses the potential for continued growth. In the vast world of cultivation, such things are virtually extinct. Treasures of this nature have the ability to upgrade themselves endlessly as they fuse with the master’s power. As for its upper limit, even I cannot fathom it."

Upon hearing this, Xu Xuan was pleasantly surprised and quickly asked how to control it. Up until now, he had no idea how to actively use the Moonlit Secret Pearl.

"Although heritage treasures have lower cultivation requirements than standard items, your cultivation is currently too low. Once you reach the Spirit Refining stage or higher, you might be able to test it. From my observation, this Moonlit Secret Pearl is an auxiliary-type treasure. It possesses certain spiritual effects and seems to have a nourishing effect on the body, making it very suitable for you. However, since it is a heritage treasure, some of its abilities need to be slowly unearthed and unlocked..." the remnant soul explained.

Xu Xuan nodded repeatedly. He had already experienced some of the pearl's effects; when he faced a Spirit Refining stage master, it helped him offset some of the mental pressure. Recently, when he slept during his cultivation, the pearl had provided a miraculous nourishing effect on his body.

"To trade for such a treasure with a mere pittance of spirit stones is no different from getting it for free. Tell me the events of that day in more detail. Do not miss a single point," the remnant soul added, its expression grave.

Xu Xuan recounted the entire sequence of events, including every doubt and detail, without leaving anything out.

"Fresh Grain Old Shop... a hunchbacked elder... twelve heirloom treasures... those with destiny... traded with spirit stones..."

The remnant soul closed its eyes, contemplating for a long time. Xu Xuan waited patiently. Because the whole affair was far too strange, he had never been able to make sense of it; things like that just didn't happen—it was like a pie falling from the sky.

"This 'Fresh Grain Old Shop' incident sounds somewhat familiar. It should be in the memories of my past life, but I cannot recall it at the moment. It seems we must wait until you reach a certain level of cultivation and unlock more memories to learn its origin," the remnant soul said in a deep voice.

Xu Xuan felt a pang of disappointment; it seemed even his past self couldn't recall the matter of the Fresh Grain Old Shop.

"Wait, as soon as you woke up, why did you sense that something was wrong?" Xu Xuan suddenly felt something was amiss.

"It was an indescribable intuition," the remnant soul’s eyes flashed with a sharp light, and it suddenly urged, "You traded your entire wealth of spirit stones for that item. Check the storage bag in your star-sea."

Xu Xuan seemed to anticipate something and hurriedly checked the storage bag within his star-sea.

"What!"

Xu Xuan’s face changed drastically; even the spirit stones in the storage bag within his star-sea had vanished without a trace. In an instant, he felt a bone-chilling cold...

"Just as I thought. The moment I awakened, I sensed an anomaly in the star-sea," the remnant soul said solemnly. "Even though your cultivation is very low, the ability to directly extract items from the star-sea is something hardly any powerhouse in this Small Fish Realm could achieve."

"Doesn't that mean the memories in this star-sea have been exposed?" Xu Xuan’s heart hammered in his chest.

"If you think that, you are underestimating the layout of your past self," the remnant soul sneered. "The memories in this star-sea originate from your soul's core imprint. Outsiders can only sense the space here; extracting items from within it is the limit. Few in this world can even perceive the existence of these memories, and should anyone try to absorb or capture them, they would be repelled by the unique soul origin. There is practically no one in the cultivation world who can do that! Even if you were to die, the star-sea would remain intact, potentially continuing across reincarnation into your next life..."

Xu Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. He finally understood that his past self had ensured the star-sea was foolproof. Even if he were to die in this life, the star-sea would endure.

"The star-sea is, after all, a unique conscious space. Losing a few spirit stones is no big deal; the memories within show no signs of being tampered with. However, the existence of that Fresh Grain Old Shop is indeed suspicious; its true intent is hard to grasp."

The remnant soul was clearly interested in the matter as well. So far, this was the greatest mystery in Xu Xuan’s mind, aside from the fall of his past self and the riddle of the Immortal River. Perhaps once he unlocked enough memories, he would discover its origin, or once he raised the Moonlit Secret Pearl to a certain level, he might find some clues.

After awakening, the remnant soul remained weak and was soon to fall back into slumber. Xu Xuan took this opportunity to take out a large amount of celestial spiritual materials and placed them in his physical storage bag. With an abundance of fiery spiritual materials and various other spiritual items and elixirs, his cultivation speed would naturally improve.

Waking up the next day refreshed, Xu Xuan cast the fiery materials into his True Fire Furnace. As a flow of high-quality true fire emerged, he circulated his internal power, slowly absorbing it to refine his flesh and blood, forging a stronger body.

Enduring the tempering of the true fire often left behind minor hidden injuries or caused physical fatigue. But at such times, streaks of cool, subtle energy would seep out from deep within his body, extending to his limbs and bones like a medicinal bath, cleansing his entire frame. The hidden injuries and fatigue caused by the tempering were quickly washed away.

Xu Xuan was overjoyed; this meant he could accelerate his cultivation without any worries. In this state, a large quantity of fiery materials and spiritual items were rapidly consumed, burning in the furnace to become streams of pure true fire.

Xu Xuan only tempered his body with the true fire for one or two hours a day. He understood that the body-refining stage still required long, grueling persistence, practicing the secret techniques of his past life. Using true fire to temper his body was a relatively luxurious and extreme method; without the Moonlit Secret Pearl, it would not be suitable for long-term use.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed. Xu Xuan successfully stepped into the seventh level of Qi Refining. While the strength of an internal force measured a body cultivator's power, Xu Xuan’s true strength was such that he likely had no rivals below the Spirit Refining stage. He was confident that even if he faced a ninth-level Qi Refining expert, he would have a chance to win.

"This cultivation speed is truly fast, especially for body refining, which is an extremely difficult path. However, the rate at which spiritual materials are consumed is terrifying..." While pleasantly surprised, Xu Xuan couldn't help but feel worried. The rapid progress meant that his stock of fiery materials was being depleted. At this rate, by the time he reached the eighth level of Qi Refining, his current supplies would be exhausted.

What depressed Xu Xuan even more was that he had almost no spirit stones left, as the transaction at the mysterious shop had emptied his coffers. Fortunately, he could consider using his remaining treasures and materials to trade for more spirit stones in Yellow Dragon City. Additionally, as a second-class guest of the Zhang family, he received a monthly stipend of spirit stones and materials.

"Resources! Even body refining requires so many resources. No wonder the cultivation world is filled with endless wars and cannot remain peaceful for long..."

Xu Xuan now understood Chu Dong’s interpretation of the cultivation world’s battlefields even better. No force or individual could truly escape the wars of the cultivation world, because the essence of war was the redistribution of resources. Every cultivator needed resources—immortal cultivators were the same as body cultivators.

Sighing lightly, Xu Xuan stepped out of the Spirit Pavilion to check on his sister. Xu Hui-lan was still studying arrays. Over the past month, her cultivation had successfully reached the fourth level of Qi Refining. As a brother, Xu Xuan did not skimp on providing her with good medicinal pills. In comparison, what Xu Xuan needed most were raw spiritual materials; pills were only a secondary necessity.

Just as Xu Xuan was about to speak to his sister, an strange sound echoed outside the Spirit Garden, accompanied by a peculiar fluctuation of spiritual energy.

*Thump!*

It sounded like a heavy object colliding with something. A golden light rippled at the entrance of the garden, and a figure was sent flying backward.

"Ah! Who is so wicked to set up an array at the entrance?" Zhang Feng’s somewhat disheveled figure appeared at the garden gate.

Xu Xuan looked at him with a strange expression. Hui-lan had been researching arrays and had placed many traps throughout the garden. Even he had to be careful when walking around. Fortunately, these arrays were not lethal; they were mostly defensive, trapping, or illusion arrays.

"Hmph, who told you to walk in without a word? This is an array I just set up. Except for those of us who live in the Green Hill Green Residence, any outsider needs the owner's permission to enter safely," Xu Hui-lan said, putting down her blueprints and pouting with annoyance.

"Haha," Xu Xuan laughed dryly. "Come in, Brother Zhang. My sister still has a playful heart; don't take it to heart."

Zhang Feng smiled wryly and said, "Sister Hui-lan, how is the simple array diagram I gave you two days ago coming along? Have you found a way to crack it?"

"This array is very obscure. I've only managed to decipher about sixty or seventy percent of it. I'll need at least another ten days to truly comprehend it," Xu Hui-lan said, her brows furrowed as she stared intently at the blueprints again.

"That's truly amazing! The resident array master of our clan spent half a month and only grasped forty or fifty percent. Sister Hui-lan has achieved this in just two days!" Zhang Feng exclaimed in surprise.

Xu Xuan asked curiously, "Brother Zhang, what is this array diagram about?"

"To tell you the truth, our Zhang family and the Dongfang family recently discovered a rare 'God-Communicating Relic' in the south of Yellow Dragon City. It is said that a seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator accidentally wandered into it and had an epiphany, breaking through two levels in less than a month. Ordinarily, this God-Communicating Relic is shrouded in an ancient array, making it difficult to penetrate," Zhang Feng said with a sigh.

God-Communicating Relic? Xu Xuan was quite shocked. A so-called God-Communicating Relic was an ancient site left behind throughout history. Due to the great supernatural powers exerted by ancient cultivators, these sites possessed mysterious spiritual energy that allowed future generations to seek enlightenment. Those with high aptitude could use these relics to have epiphanies, reaching miraculous states of mind and achieving a qualitative leap in their mental realm.