William Clark counted and found there were a total of seven talismans, each containing spells of different attributes: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Of course, among all the spoils, the most precious were still the spiritual artifacts. Even for experts at the Foundation Establishment stage, spiritual artifacts were extremely valuable, and yet Emily Carter, a disciple at the Spirit Movement stage, actually had two. One of them was the golden cord she had used when she killed her master. After being shrunk, it was only about a foot long, but once infused with spiritual power, it could grow at will and was used to bind enemies.

The other was a flying sword, an offensive spiritual artifact. William Clark couldn’t put it down, playing with it fondly. Both were top-grade spiritual artifacts, incomparably precious.

Unfortunately, his own cultivation was too shallow; he would need to reach the fourth layer of the Spirit Movement stage to be able to wield spiritual artifacts. William Clark put everything back into the storage bracelet. Although this experience had been dangerous, the rewards were extremely rich. Moreover, there was still someone else’s belongings waiting for him to collect—Henry Bolton, being a Foundation Establishment expert, surely had even greater wealth.

William Clark put away the storage bracelet and was about to turn around when he suddenly paused, his gaze falling on Emily Carter’s left hand. Although she was dead, her hand was still tightly clutching a small sandalwood box.

It was for the treasure inside this box that Emily Carter had defied and killed her master. What kind of precious item could be inside?

After a moment’s thought, William Clark walked over and, with some disgust, took the small box from the corpse’s hand. He didn’t open it immediately but instead examined it gravely, then gently placed it on the ground and retreated seven or eight steps away.

He broke off a tree branch and carefully pried open the lid. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—several small arrows shot out from inside at astonishing speed. At such close range, if one was unprepared, even a powerful cultivator would have a hard time dodging them.

The arrows struck a nearby tree, which immediately withered; they were coated with a potent poison. William Clark remained calm, not even blinking. Just as he had expected, a treasure like this would surely be booby-trapped.

After the lid was opened, he didn’t approach right away but waited another ten minutes or so to make sure there was no further danger. Only then did he carefully pick up the box. However, what was inside left William Clark stunned—it was actually a fist-sized shell.

The shell was brilliantly colored, with strange patterns on its surface. Although he didn’t recognize them, it was clear at a glance that this was no ordinary item.

Holding the shell in his hand, William Clark examined it closely. After a while, his hesitant expression turned resolute. With a slight force of both hands, he opened the shell, believing the secret must be inside.

Sure enough, this was no ordinary shell. There was no pearl inside, but rather some blue specks of light floating about. The specks were beautiful, like stars in the sky, slowly rotating, forming a gorgeous sea of stars.

William Clark frowned, unable to figure out what these were. He was about to close the shell and study it later, but at that moment, something strange happened. The sea of stars began to change, spinning faster and faster, then drifted toward William Clark. Instinctively, William Clark tried to dodge, but the specks of light were too fast. Before he could react, they all merged into his body.

Agonizing pain shot through every inch of his skin from head to toe. William Clark collapsed to the ground, his consciousness fading as he passed out. The shell, now devoid of blue specks, quickly turned to stone, then weathered into sand and was carried away by the wind. In the canyon, aside from the unconscious youth, it was as if nothing had ever happened.

……

At dawn, the rising sun cast its warmth upon the earth. Accompanied by a faint groan, William Clark opened his eyes. Looking up at the sky, he realized that he had lost consciousness at noon—had he really slept for a whole day and night?

Sitting up, he found that the unbearable pain had completely vanished. However, William Clark didn’t feel particularly refreshed, having spent the night outdoors.

He moved his slightly numb limbs and checked his body again, finding nothing unusual. Yesterday’s experience felt like a dream, but how could a dream be so real?

William Clark was silent for a long time, then, without a word, went to Emily Carter’s corpse. Enduring his disgust, he threw her into the pit. Next, William Clark went to the spot where Henry Bolton had been ambushed, first collecting his treasures—a storage belt. There was no time to check its contents; the most urgent thing was to leave this place of trouble.

He dragged Henry Bolton’s corpse over and threw it into the pit as well.

“No matter what grudges you had in life, once dead, all is extinguished. Don’t mind sharing a grave,” William Clark prayed silently, then filled in the earth and carefully erased all traces. This place was already rarely visited, and with his careful arrangements, he believed no one would ever discover that two cultivators lay buried here.

After finishing all this, William Clark didn’t linger and returned to Floating Cloud Valley. Despite having gone through a thrilling ordeal, William Clark appeared as calm as ever, showing no sign of anything unusual. Even when people greeted him or mocked him along the way, William Clark responded as he always did.

There was nothing in his demeanor to suggest anything out of the ordinary.