70: Chapter 70 Sudden Wealth and the Troubles of Happiness

The mountain stream was quiet, with only the crackling of the campfire reflecting the three people's faces, which were slightly tired but unable to hide their excitement.

"Chener, set up a Formation here first; it's better to be cautious." Although Clan Leader's heart was surging, his years of experience kept him vigilant at all times. After all, a great battle had just occurred here, and there was no guarantee that other red-eyed Cultivators wouldn't wander this way.

"Yes, Grandfather!" Lin Cangchen suppressed the heat in his heart and quickly replied. He took a deep breath and warned himself: "Don't get cocky, don't get cocky! There are many schemers in the cultivation world, I must be cautious at all times!"

He took out the Formation Flags and Materials again, skillfully beginning to set up the [Dust Mote Array] and [Warning Formation]. With his previous practice at Emerald Chirp Lake and on the hillside just now, setting up these First Grade, Low Rank Formations was like second nature to him. Before long, faint Formation fluctuations enveloped this small mountain stream, isolating it from outside prying eyes.

After finishing all this, he truly breathed a sigh of relief and impatiently sank his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness.

On the battlefield earlier, he was too busy "drawing cards" and didn't have time to look closely at his gains. Looking now, wow, there were over twenty cards floating in his consciousness space! White light (common) made up the majority, but there were also several glowing green (rare) and even a faint blue light (special?)!

He suppressed his excitement and began to "inspect" his spoils one by one.

Several [low-grade spirit stone cards], adding up to nearly two hundred stones! This was definitely a windfall!

Several [attribute cards]—fragments of Strength, Agility, and Physical Defense. The quantities weren't large, but small amounts add up.

Several [spirit energy cards], ranging from "trace" to "small amount." They were all pure non-attributed Spiritual Qi that could be directly absorbed.

[spiritual root aptitude fragment card]! And there were five of them! This made his heart skip a beat; it meant the efficiency of his "pseudo Four-Element Spiritual Root" could be stabilized or even slightly improved!

Two [half-year Lifespan cards]! These were good things that could increase Lifespan. Although half a year wasn't much, it could be the turning point for a Breakthrough at a critical moment!

Several [spell insight fragments], involving Fireball, Wind Blade, Earth Spike, etc., better than nothing.

A few [Talisman cards], all First Grade, Low Rank fireball talismans and wind blade talismans.

[Medicinal Pill cards]: one bottle of yellow dragon pills, one bottle of qi recovery pills.

Two [memory fragment cards (meaningless)], trash, ignore.

When his consciousness swept over a card glowing with green light, his movements couldn't help but pause.

[spell card: Five Elements Escape Technique (proficient)]!

"Five Elements Escape Technique?!" Lin Cangchen was shocked. This was a very practical Spell for escaping and traveling! It was much more comprehensive than a single Wind Chasing Steps or Divine Movement Technique! And it was directly at the proficient level! He immediately thought of that grey-clothed cultivator who used stealth to steal the jade marrow ganoderma but was eventually killed instantly by focused fire. "It seems this escape technique and concealment method were his signature skills... Unfortunately, no matter how good the technique, it's still afraid of a kitchen knife."

He sighed inwardly, while also feeling delighted by this unexpected gain. This was definitely a life-saving divine skill!

However, when he saw the last card, the only one glowing with a faint blue aura, his breath suddenly hitched, his eyes widened, and he almost misplaced the last Formation Flag of the [Warning Formation] he was setting up!

[spiritual item card: jade marrow ganoderma (Complete)]!

On the card, the pattern of that flawless white jade, spiritually glowing ganoderma was so clear and so familiar!

"Jade... jade marrow ganoderma?!!" Lin Cangchen's head buzzed, and he almost thought he was hallucinating. "Didn't Wei Wushang take it away using a blood escape? How could it be here?!"

He shook his head hard and confirmed again. That's right! It was the jade marrow ganoderma! Below the card was a brief description: [Foundation Establishment Spiritual Item, can increase Foundation Establishment success rate by ten percent].

After the massive shock came endless wild joy and deep confusion.

The wild joy went without saying; this was like a pie falling from the sky—no, it was a Golden Core falling! The Foundation Establishment spiritual item the Clan Chief dreamed of had actually reached his hands in such an incredible way!

The confusion lay in how it got here. He carefully recalled the previous "card drawing" process. Wei Wushang had taken the physical jade marrow ganoderma, and his Golden Finger's rules clearly stated that "cards drawn are extra draws by the System and do not affect the original items on the corpse."

"Wait... extra System draw..." A flash of inspiration hit Lin Cangchen's mind, and he thought of a possibility. "Could it be... after that grey-clothed cultivator, some other lucky (unlucky) bastard snatched the jade box in the chaos, but before they could celebrate, they were killed by a person or a Yao Beast? And at that moment, the jade marrow ganoderma happened to be on them. I used the Golden Finger on their corpse, the System judged the jade marrow ganoderma belonged to 'them', and then I... drew it?"

Although this speculation was bizarre, it seemed to be the only reasonable explanation. After all, the scene was too chaotic at the time, the jade box changed hands several times, and no one could fully understand who died or what they were carrying. It could only be said that some anonymous "good person" sacrificed their life to pave the way for him.

"May good people have a peaceful life..." Lin Cangchen silently mourned for that unknown "delivery man" for 0.1 seconds, then was immediately overwhelmed by a sense of immense happiness.

He suppressed the urge to immediately take out the jade marrow ganoderma, took a few deep breaths, and forced himself to calm down. Now that the Clan Chief and the Second Elder were closing their eyes to regulate their breathing and recover their previously tense spirits and consumed spiritual power, it was the perfect time to handle the "stolen goods"!

First, with a thought, he used the [spell card: Five Elements Escape Technique (proficient)].

In an instant, a large amount of cultivation formulas, spiritual power circulation routes, and various techniques and insights for escaping, concealing, and converting Five Elements attributes poured into his mind like an empowerment. It was as if he had been immersed in this Spell for several years, directly skipping Entry and Minor Achievement to reach the proficient level!

"Awesome!" This feeling of directly gaining knowledge and insight was simply addictive.

He didn't dare to delay and immediately took out a blank Jade Slip from his own Storage Pouch (not the newly snatched one), pressed it to his forehead, and carefully recorded the complete cultivation formula for the Five Elements Escape Technique (excluding the proficient-level personal insights). After finishing this step, he felt slightly more at ease; at least the source of the Spell could be explained—he would just say it was a Jade Slip found on some corpse.

Next was the main event.

He looked intensely at the [spiritual item card: jade marrow ganoderma (Complete)] and thought: "Use!"

With a flash of light, a familiar jade box appeared out of thin air in his hand—the very one that previously held the jade marrow ganoderma! Even the small bloodstain on the box was identical! The System had thoughtfully "copied" the packaging as well!

He carefully opened a small crack, and that familiar exotic fragrance and warm treasure light appeared again. After confirming it was correct, he immediately closed it. Suppressing the urge to laugh wildly at the sky, he placed this jade box, which was enough to drive a Foundation Establishment Cultivator mad, along with the Jade Slip he just recorded the Five Elements Escape Technique into, into the Storage Pouch of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining Cultivator he had snatched.

After doing all this, he truly breathed a sigh of relief. He felt like he had just finished a great battle; some cold sweat seeped from his back, but his heart was incredibly grounded and excited.

He glanced at his grandfather and the Second Elder, who were still regulating their breathing, and forced a look of "confusion," "nervousness," and "disbelief" onto his face. He was already drafting a script in his mind on how to "naturally" act out the surprise of an "unexpected discovery" and the bewilderment of being "utterly puzzled."

After all, everyone had seen with their own eyes that the jade marrow ganoderma was taken by Wei Wushang, and now another one had popped up here... how could he explain this?

Forget it, don't think about it! Let the Elders fill in the blanks with their own imagination! As long as the item is real, it's fine!

Lin Cangchen made up his mind; he would just play the role of a lucky youth who had stumbled upon dog-shit luck and was himself confused. He adjusted his breathing and followed the example of the Clan Chief and the others, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing, though the slight upward curve of his lips simply couldn't be suppressed.

Tonight was destined to be sleepless. Not because of worry about danger, but because of happiness.