Cautiously Cultivating Immortality in a Strange World - Chapter 78: Black Granules

Chapter 78: 

“That evil creature is related to the Ancient Ruins?”

When Chen Lin heard the old Daoist’s words, he couldn’t help but feel a shock.

However, he immediately expressed his doubts: “The Ancient Ruins have been explored for so long, and we’ve never heard of such a situation before. Moreover, isn’t there a Foundation Establishment cultivator stationed there?”

Chen Lin had a deep understanding of the methods of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Yu Yuehai, who had just recently advanced, could deal with Qi Refining cultivators like stomping on ants.

Even if the red shadow was very mysterious, it was still no match for a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The old Daoist shook his head again, “I’m just speculating, and we need to investigate further to know the truth. Since there are strong cultivators from the Lietian Sect there, we don’t need to worry about it.”

Chen Lin nodded in agreement.

Indeed, with the Lietian Sect present, it was natural that they wouldn’t need to get involved. They just needed to ensure their own safety.

As the two of them conversed, the officials and the families of the deceased arrived, and the atmosphere became filled with sorrow.

Chen Lin felt a pang of discomfort.

In this world, the lives of ordinary people were truly difficult. Not only did they have to struggle for food and clothing, but they also had to face the danger that could appear at any moment.

The old Daoist took out a medicinal pill and ate it, and his spirits lifted significantly. He began to direct the officials on what to do.

The Five Elements Temple was a powerful force of cultivators under the imperial court, with branches in every region. They were responsible for guarding their respective territories, capturing and killing demons and evil cultivators that disrupted the order of the mortal world.

Therefore, their status in the mortal world was very high, even higher than the government.

After the matter was settled, the old Daoist and the officials left together.

Chen Lin didn’t want to get too entangled with official institutions, so he declined their invitation and prepared to return to his residence.

As he walked a few steps, he suddenly remembered something. When the red shadow was killed, it seemed like something had fallen from the black smoke.

Because he was focused on the old Daoist’s life or death at the time, he hadn’t checked.

It seemed that the evil creature could drop items after being killed. What could it be?

Chen Lin went to the location where the black smoke appeared and began to search the ground.

He soon found a few black granules the size of rice grains. If the ground hadn’t been so hard and smooth, he wouldn’t have noticed them.

The old Daoist and the others had already walked far away, so Chen Lin didn’t hesitate to pick them up.

He roughly sensed them and didn’t discover anything unusual.

This wasn’t a place for research, so he put the granules in his pocket for now. He then took a glance at the Liu family’s large courtyard, let out a sigh, and turned to leave.

After returning to his residence, the first thing Chen Lin did was to examine the black granules.

However, when he reached into his pocket to take them out, he discovered that the granules were gone!

This shocked him greatly.

The granules were small, but his pocket didn’t have any other items that could have crushed them. Besides the granules, there was only a jade talisman and a demon-repelling talisman, which couldn’t have pressed on them.

This robe was specially tailored for him, with two hidden pockets of high quality, and it was impossible for there to be any holes.

Moreover, it had only been a short distance of one or two hundred meters, and it was impossible for him to have lost them.

Chen Lin’s face was filled with shock and doubt as he turned his pocket inside out to check multiple times, confirming that the granules were truly gone. He couldn’t help but feel as if he had seen a ghost.

Could it be that the granules couldn’t be preserved and had turned into air after a certain amount of time?

His eyebrows were tightly furrowed.

If they had indeed turned into air, that would be fine, but what if they were remnants of evil energy that had quietly seeped into his body? That would be terrible.

Thinking of this, he hastily checked himself and didn’t find any problems.

It didn’t seem too possible.

When he put the granules away, he had been cautious about this, deliberately placing the granules with the jade talisman and the demon-repelling talisman. If there was really evil energy, the jade talisman should have reacted.

Even if the jade talisman’s energy was depleted, there was still the demon-repelling talisman, which was a passive, one-time-use talisman that would definitely react if it sensed anything.

What was going on?

Chen Lin was puzzled.

Could it be that the jade talisman had absorbed it?

Suddenly, he thought of a possibility.

Those black granules should be energy crystals, like the demonic cores of some demonic beasts or the strange spirits of monsters.

Since they were energy crystals, it was natural that they could be absorbed, but a method was needed.

The jade talisman could sense evil creatures, and it wasn’t impossible for it to absorb the energy crystals left behind by evil creatures.

Chen Lin immediately took out the jade talisman and examined it carefully.

He didn’t know if it was just psychological, but he felt that the jade talisman seemed to be a bit more rounded than before.

Could it be that it had really been absorbed?

If it could be absorbed, that meant the jade talisman had the possibility of being refined!

Chen Lin’s eyes lit up.

This jade talisman was a priceless treasure that could resist evil creatures, and if it could be refined, it would be very valuable.

Unfortunately, the black granules were already gone, and he couldn’t verify it now, so he could only wait until later to confirm.

Chen Lin thought for a moment, then took out a spirit stone and placed it with the jade talisman.

He wanted to try if the jade talisman could absorb other energies, but it didn’t work, and there was no reaction.

He then experimented with other energy-containing items like spirit grass, but they couldn’t be absorbed either.

Without any new leads, Chen Lin stopped thinking about it and put the jade talisman away, wearing it on his chest with a string.

According to the old Daoist’s words, such mid-level evil monsters were common, so he should prepare more demon-repelling talismans and evil-destroying talismans. In a few days, they might increase in price.

However, he didn’t have many spirit stones left, and he was afraid he couldn’t buy many, so he wanted to make them himself.

If the talismans increased in price, he could make a big profit.

If not, he could keep them for himself, and it wouldn’t be a loss.

With this idea, Chen Lin began to visit each shop, looking for the production methods of these two talismans.

Actually, he most wanted to buy the production method of the Five Elements Escape Talisman, because escape talismans were the most expensive among all talismans, especially the Five Elements Escape Talisman, which was a first-tier talisman and even more expensive than some second-tier talismans.

If he could master it, he would definitely make a lot of money.

Moreover, life-saving items would always be in demand, and as long as he could refine them, someone would buy them.

Unfortunately, such a legacy was impossible to buy.

After circling around, he didn’t even find the production method of the lowest-level demon-repelling talisman.

His dream was shattered.

However, he didn’t gain nothing. He heard some information.

It turned out that these talismans for driving away evil spirits were all made by the Daoists of the Five Elements Temple, and even the ones sold in the market were sourced from there.

This was quite a coincidence.

Regarding matters of life and profit, Chen Lin had a thick face, and he had just saved the life of that old Daoist, so the other party should give him some face.

So, after inquiring about the location of the Five Elements Temple, he set off.