Chapter 108 A White Rib

After the small door, many collections were displayed.

Yin Shangren enthusiastically introduced them to Li Fan.

"This is the fishbone of a Vedic Fish. Three thousand five hundred years ago, this fish was already extinct. I spent a lot of effort to collect this fishbone. It is said that Vedic Fish are exceptionally intelligent and can learn human speech. Eating their meat allows one to understand fish language. I don't know if it's true or false."

They walked in front of a lifelike, winding, coiling giant snake, easily a thousand meters long.

Yin Shangren excitedly said, "This is a Congyun Sea Serpent. It usually lurks in the deep sea, burying its body in the soil. I traveled half of the Congyun Sea just to catch one this long! It really took me a lot of effort to turn it into a specimen."

Then, he mysteriously whispered, "According to my research, this kind of sea serpent, the snake is not its true body. They have a mysterious parasite inside them, and this worm is extremely tiny. Even a Foundation Establishment Stage Divine Thought would not easily detect it. But it is precisely this tiny worm that controls the massive sea serpent! It's truly unimaginable!"

…

Walking forward, various collections opened Li Fan's eyes.

The two stopped in front of two human skeletons placed side by side.

Yin Shangren pointed at the two skeletons and asked somewhat proudly, "Fellow Daoist, can you tell what is different about these two human skeletons?"

"Different?" Li Fan swept with his Divine Sense; they seemed to be merely the remains of Mortals.

Both were male skeletons, differing only in height and size.

But if asked what the fundamental difference was…

After observing for a while, Li Fan shook his head, "I am unperceptive; I cannot see the difference."

Yin Shangren laughed, "Don't even mention you! I dare to bet that in this Congyun Sea, besides me, no other Cultivator can detect the difference between these two skeletons!"

He pointed at the two skeletons, leaned close to Li Fan, and whispered, "These two people are not the same kind of people."

"Not the same kind of people?" Li Fan was startled, "What do you mean?"

Yin Shangren gesticulated with his hands for a while, thought for a while, and seemed unable to find suitable words to describe it.

After struggling for a long time, he suddenly clenched his fist, his face full of struggle, "It's just a feeling, you know? They are clearly both humans, but these two humans lived in different eras and different regions. Perhaps they look similar, and I dug them both out from the Congyun Seabed, but there's an extremely special boundary that marks the difference between these two skeletons…"

Yin Shangren spoke vaguely, talking for a long time but unable to articulate anything specific.

Without further entanglement, they continued to walk forward.

He suddenly stopped in front of an empty display stand.

He pointed at the empty stand, his face pale, his fingers trembling uncontrollably.

He wanted to say something, his lips moved, but he couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

"Fellow Daoist Yin, what happened?" Li Fan couldn't help but ask.

"I… I…"

"Where's my treasure?!"

Yin Shangren was greatly alarmed.

And the human-handed dog following him let out a whimper, its ears drooping.

It secretly glanced up, then quickly cowered at Yin Shangren's feet, trembling.

Seeing this, Li Fan thought of something.

So he tentatively asked, "Fellow Daoist Yin, the treasure you're talking about, it wouldn't be a bone, would it…"

Yin Shangren was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, have you seen it?"

Li Fan's expression was strange as he led Yin Shangren back to the entrance of the square building.

When they first arrived, the human-handed dog had bumped into Li Fan.

The item it was holding in its mouth had also fallen out. At the time, Li Fan glanced at it, saw it was just a bone, and thought it was merely the human-handed dog's toy, so he didn't pick it up.

He never expected that this bone was actually Yin Shangren's treasure.

He saw him pick up the bone with a pained expression, wiping off the saliva.

With the gaze of someone looking at their dream lover, he carefully admired and gently stroked it.

That expression made Li Fan, standing beside him, get goosebumps all over.

He lightly coughed, startling Yin Shangren from his trance.

Li Fan couldn't help but ask, "Fellow Daoist Yin, what is the origin of this bone? Why do you cherish it so much?"

Yin Shangren held the bone tightly in his hand, as if afraid of losing it again.

Staring at the bone in his hand, his expression was somewhat dazed, "Ah, this, this is an incredible treasure. I can lose all my other collections, but only this, it's even more precious than my own life."

Li Fan couldn't help but feel solemn upon hearing this, and he became genuinely curious, looking at Yin Shangren with an inquiring gaze.

"I presume Fellow Daoist is not unfamiliar with the immortal-mortal miasma," Yin Shangren said boastfully.

"Initially, this immortal-mortal miasma was only prevalent among Mortals, and it had no effect on us Daoist Cultivators at all."

"Later, after a Daoist Cultivator mysteriously became infected, it began to spread among Cultivators."

Li Fan looked at the white bone in Yin Shangren's hand, "You mean…"

"Exactly, this rib belongs to the first Daoist Cultivator who was infected with the immortal-mortal miasma."

Yin Shangren chuckled foolishly, and then, like stroking a treasure, he rubbed the rib back and forth.

But immediately after, he saw that Li Fan showed no surprise or excitement, and he couldn't help but feel somewhat puzzled.

"What, such a treasure? Fellow Daoist, don't you feel a thrill of excitement and boundless joy upon seeing it?"

Li Fan shook his head repeatedly.

"Alas, Fellow Daoist actually cannot understand its preciousness, what a pity," Yin Shangren sighed.

"The immortal-mortal miasma infecting Daoist Cultivators, this is one of the biggest events in history. Its impact on the current格局 of the Cultivation World is second only to the Great Tribulation."

"And how much research and commemorative value does the corpse of that unfortunate soul who was the first to be infected with the immortal-mortal miasma possess?"

"Aren't you curious? Why can a mere plague on Mortals infect Daoist Cultivators?"

"If we can figure out the source of this anomaly, perhaps we can solve the immortal-mortal miasma from its root!"

"At that time, I will be a great existence that the entire Cultivation World will remember!"

Yin Shangren was momentarily lost in his own fantasy.

After a while, seeing Li Fan's still indifferent face, he let out a long sigh, looking as if he was disappointed.

"You don't know, this person called Su… what was his name again. Never mind, every bone of this unfortunate soul's corpse is priceless, and countless Cultivators fought over them."

"I was also extremely lucky to be able to snatch this one rib."

"Of course, the most precious is his complete skull, which is stored in the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance Headquarters."

Yin Shangren fantasized, saliva almost dripping from the corners of his mouth.

Li Fan truly couldn't understand this kind of hobby and could only shake his head repeatedly.

At this moment, Yin Shangren suddenly reacted, "Oh? I still don't know why Fellow Daoist suddenly visited?"