When the Huang Family came back to Shajing Oasis, it caused a huge stir. Many Gu Masters looked on with envy, their hearts restless. A large amount of Earth Path resources poured into the Family, and its overall strength began to rise steadily.
Furthermore, the most important matter was that the beast tide ended almost anticlimactically. Ordinary Gu Masters were left to clean up the aftermath, gathering remains and restoring order across the oasis.
Lin Yan and Shan Shayuan ignored all of that and focused on their gains. 200,000 worth of Profound Yellow Earth Qi, one Rank 4 Earth Dragon Gu valued at 100,000, along with beast corpses, Gu worms, and materials collected along the way, plus 500,000 primeval stones from killing Gu Masters of other Families—altogether totaling around 800,000, split evenly between them.
Since most of it was Earth Path resources, selling everything at once would damage the market price. Lin Yan had no interest in managing that, so he left it to Shan Shayuan. He kept the majority of the Profound Yellow Earth Qi, worth one hundred fifty thousand, and converted the rest into two hundred fifty thousand primeval stones.
In the end, Lin Yan held 650,000 primeval stones, along with enough Profound Yellow Earth Qi to attempt Rank 4 Gu refinement multiple times. And this was still growing—the Flame Lake Gu House was thriving during this period.
He didn't linger on it. Without delay, he went to meet Huang Ming with a request in mind.
"What? You don't want a Rank 4 Gu, and instead want to exchange for two White Silver Relic Gu?"
Huang Ming was still handling Family matters, yet he took the time to meet Lin Yan. Hearing the request, he frowned slightly. "If I remember correctly, you already have one White Silver Relic Gu. Your cultivation is only at Rank 3 mid-stage. Taking more right now won't help you."
He understood the choice—any Rank 3 Gu Master would crave Relic Gu.
Lin Yan didn't explain further. He simply gave a small yawn and said, "Other Rank 3 Gu don't interest me."
Huang Ming looked at him for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Very well. No problem."
A trace of satisfaction passed through Lin Yan's eyes. Without hesitation, he made another request—he wanted to use his three chances from the secret vault to exchange for the only two remaining Yellow Golden Relic Gu.
He feared that delaying too long might allow other Rank 4 Family Elders to exchange for them first, as he was not the only one who had grown wealthy from this battle.
At this, Huang Ming felt a sharp pang of loss, but in the end, he waved it off and agreed.
In truth, the civilian population of the oasis had suffered heavy losses during the beast tide. A large amount of human qi had gathered, and based on past patterns, more Relic Gu would likely appear in the near future.
Although the Huang Family did not understand the deeper workings of Human Path, experience had shown that after every great disaster, talents would emerge and Relic Gu would be born.
Lin Yan left in a good mood, holding two golden and two silver pearl-like treasures.
In the end, he chose two Yellow Golden Relic Gu. This left him with only one remaining chance in the Family's secret vault, which he decided to keep for now and observe further.
As for the extra White Silver Relic Gu, Lin Yan had his own plans. He had a faint intuition that the Human Path Gu recipe he was developing to improve aptitude would require a large number of Relic Gu. Stockpiling them in advance was the safest approach.
After returning to his quiet room, he immediately entered seclusion, aiming to break through to Rank 3 Peak. He refined two White Silver Relic Gu in succession, pushing his cultivation forward step by step until the breakthrough was complete.
Within his aperture, the primeval sea transformed. A vast expanse of snow-silver true essence surged, bright and steady. This was Rank 3 Peak silver true essence, and the inner walls of the aperture had become smooth and crystalline, far more solid than before.
Lin Yan slowly stabilized his cultivation, letting his aura settle. A quiet sense of satisfaction rose.
At Seventeen years old. He was at Rank 3 Peak and there were still nearly eight years before the main events would begin.