Behind the small door, numerous items were on display.
Master Yin enthusiastically introduced them to Li Fan.
"This is the skeleton of a Veda fish. Three thousand five hundred years ago, this species went extinct. It took me a tremendous amount of effort to collect these bones. It's said the Veda fish was exceptionally intelligent and could learn human speech. Eating its flesh supposedly allowed one to understand the language of fish. Who knows if that's true or false."
Walking up to a lifelike, coiled giant serpent over a thousand meters long, Master Yin spoke excitedly once more: "This is a Congyun sea serpent. Usually it lurks in the deep sea, burying its body in the seabed soil. I scoured more than half of the Congyun Sea before capturing one this long! Turning it into a specimen cost me no small effort."
Then, whispering somewhat mysteriously, he added, "According to my research, the snake itself is actually not the true body. Inside them lives a mysterious parasite. These worms are extremely minute. Even the divine sense of a Foundation Establishment cultivator would struggle to notice them. Yet it is precisely these tiny worms that control the colossal sea serpent! Truly unimaginable!"
...
Walking along, the diverse array of exhibits was an eye-opener for Li Fan.
The two stopped before two human skeletons placed side by side.
Master Yin pointed at them and asked with some smugness, "Can Fellow Daoist discern any difference between these two human skeletons?"
"A difference?" Li Fan swept over them with his divine sense. They appeared to be purely the remains of mortals.
Both were the skeletons of men, differing only in height and frame.
Yet if one were to ask about any fundamental difference...
After looking a while longer, Li Fan shook his head. "My eyes are clumsy; I see no difference."
Master Yin let out a hearty laugh. "Never mind you! I'd bet that in the entire Congyun Sea, not a single other cultivator besides me could perceive the distinction between these two sets of remains!"
He pointed at the skeletons, leaning in close to Li Fan, and whispered in an undertone, "These two were not the same kind of human."
"Not the same kind of human?" Li Fan froze. "What do you mean?"
Master Yin gestured with his hands for a while, pondering, seemingly unable to find the right words to describe it.
After struggling for a long moment, he clenched his fist, his face full of conflict. "It's just a feeling—you understand feeling, right? They are clearly both humans, but these two humans lived in different eras and different regions. Perhaps they look much the same, and I dug them both up from the floor of the Congyun Sea, but there is an extraordinarily distinct demarcation delineating the difference between these two skeletons..."
Master Yin spoke mystically, rambling on for quite a while without arriving at any concrete explanation.
Not dwelling on it, he continued walking forward.
Before an empty display pedestal, he abruptly came to a halt.
He pointed at the vacant stand, his face pale and his fingers trembling uncontrollably.
He tried to say something, his lips parting and closing, but for a long time he could not utter a single word.
"Fellow Daoist Yin, what happened?" Li Fan could not help asking.
"I... I..."
"Where is my treasure?!"
Master Yin was aghast with horror.
Behind him, the human-handed dog let out a whine, its ears drooping.
Stealing an upward glance, it quickly curled up by Master Yin's feet, shivering in fright.
Seeing this, Li Fan realized something.
Thus, he asked tentatively, "Fellow Daoist Yin, your treasure wouldn't happen to be a bone, would it...?"
Master Yin was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. "Yes! You've seen it?"
With an odd expression, Li Fan led Master Yin back to the entrance of the square building.
When Li Fan had first arrived, the human-handed dog had collided straight into him.
The object it had been carrying in its mouth had fallen to the ground back then. At the time, Li Fan had glanced at it, seen that it was merely a bone, and assumed it was just a dog toy, so he hadn't picked it up.
He never imagined this bone was actually Master Yin's treasure.
With a face full of heartache, Master Yin picked up the bone and wiped away the slobber on it.
With the gaze one might direct at the lover of one's dreams, he gazed at it intently, stroking it tenderly.
That demeanor gave Li Fan, standing beside him, a full bout of goosebumps.
Clearing his throat, Li Fan broke Master Yin out of his reverie.
Li Fan could not resist asking, "Fellow Daoist Yin, what is the origin of this bone that makes you treasure it so deeply?"
Master Yin held the bone firmly in his hand, as if terrified of losing it again.
Staring at the bone in his grasp, a dazed look crossed his face. "This... this is an incredible treasure. I could lose all my other collections, but this one alone is more precious than my very life."
Hearing this, Li Fan became solemn, genuinely curious now. He looked at Master Yin with an inquiring gaze.
"You must be familiar with the immortal-mortal miasma, Fellow Daoist," Master Yin said boastfully.
"At first, this immortal-mortal miasma only circulated among mortals, having no effect on us immortal cultivators whatsoever."
"Later, after an immortal cultivator inexplicably contracted it, it began to spread among cultivators."
Li Fan looked at the white bone in Master Yin's hand. "You mean..."
"That's right! This rib bone belonged to that very first cultivator infected by the immortal-mortal miasma."
Master Yin chuckled foolishly, rubbing his hands back and forth along the rib as if caressing a prized treasure.
Yet immediately after, seeing that Li Fan showed no sign of astonishment or excitement, he couldn't help feeling a bit baffled.
"What? Such a treasure, and upon seeing it, Fellow Daoist doesn't tremble all over with unimaginable delight?"
Li Fan shook his head repeatedly.
"Alas, that you cannot appreciate its preciousness is truly a pity," Master Yin sighed.
"The immortal-mortal miasma infecting cultivators is one of the greatest events in history. Its impact on the current structure of the cultivation world is second only to the Great Calamity."
"And that unlucky fellow who was the first to be infected—how immense is the research and memorial value of his bones?"
"Aren't you curious? Why a mere plague from mortals could infect immortal cultivators?"
"If one can figure out the source of this mutation, perhaps we can resolve the immortal-mortal miasma from its root!"
"When that day comes, I will be a great existence remembered by the entire cultivation world!"
Master Yin lost himself in his delusions for a moment.
After a while, seeing Li Fan's still indifferent face, he let out a long sigh, looking like someone lamenting iron failing to become steel.
"You have no idea. This guy was named Su... Su what-was-it? Whatever. Every single bone of that unlucky fellow is priceless, fought over by countless cultivators."
"I was only able to snatch this rib thanks to extraordinary luck."
"Of course, the most precious piece is his complete skull, which is kept at the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' headquarters."
Master Yin daydreamed, drool almost dribbling from the corner of his mouth.
Li Fan truly could not fathom such an obsession and could only shake his head repeatedly.
At that moment, Master Yin suddenly snapped back to reality. "Eh? I still don't know what brings Fellow Daoist to visit so abruptly?"
Chapter 108