「Yantian Mountain Range.」
Lin Yan stood atop a tree on the mountain, his gaze sweeping the area. After confirming that no one else was within several miles, he climbed down and landed on a large rock.
He took a Jade Box from his robes. He had purchased it specifically before entering the mountains to store certain herbs that required special preservation.
The Jade Box was made of Xiu Jade, which in modern terms would be called quartzite, just polished to a smooth finish.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t found any such special herbs. Instead, he had managed to catch a Black Cicada.
He slid the lid open, and the Black Cicada inside shot out, trying to escape. However, before it could fly even three inches, Lin Yan precisely pinched its head between his thumb and forefinger and gave it a gentle twist.
The Black Cicada let out a short, piteous chirp, struggled a few times, and then fell still.
Lin Yan then carefully used the tip of his sword to slice open the cicada’s abdomen. Nestled among its inky-black innards was a pale golden, soybean-sized sac, glowing faintly.
This was the Black Cicada Heart.
The most valuable part of the entire Black Cicada.
Lin Yan had read about the method for consuming the Black Cicada in the Tang Family’s medical texts.
The method was simple: dissolve it in dew and drink the mixture.
Lin Yan had already collected plenty of dew. He poured what had gathered on a large banana leaf into the Jade Box, then immediately placed the Black Cicada Heart inside.
Soon, the Black Cicada Heart slowly dissolved, and the once-clear liquid began to take on a golden hue.
Seeing this, Lin Yan no longer hesitated. He raised the Jade Box to his lips and drank its contents.
An icy sensation instantly spread from the tip of his tongue, as if he were holding a frozen pearl in his mouth.
Lin Yan quickly closed his eyes and began to circulate the Thunder Sound Technique.
Although the Black Cicada Heart’s main purpose was to enhance the five senses, that didn’t mean it provided no boost to his Qi Blood. Its effects in that regard were simply weaker than other Treasure Medicines.
His Qi Blood flowed, and time passed.
Lin Yan’s Breathing gradually grew longer and slower, and quieter as well. His very presence seemed to diminish until he was utterly silent and still, like a stone statue.
In stark contrast, the world around him grew ever clearer in his Perception.
His hearing was the first to change.
The whistling mountain wind, the rustling of leaves, the subtle crunch of insects gnawing on moss—every sound became crystal clear.
He could even distinguish the different sounds the wind made as it passed through different types of leaves.
Next came his sense of smell. At that moment, the scents of the entire mountain were peeled back layer by layer, like an onion.
Finally, his sight.
The moment Lin Yan opened his eyes, the veins of every single leaf in the distant treetops were rendered in perfect detail.
Just as he thought the enhancement of his five senses was complete...
Suddenly, his body shuddered. His vision went black, his ears fell silent, and all scent vanished from his nose. It was as if he had fallen into a void.
He had lost all five of his senses!
Deprived of his senses, Lin Yan even lost all concept of time.
’He had no idea how much time had passed.’
An explosion of unimaginable brilliance roared in Lin Yan’s ears.
Light, sound...
In that instant, his five senses returned.
Lin Yan opened his eyes. Looking at his surroundings, he suddenly felt that something was not right.
’He couldn’t put his finger on what it was.’
The mountain was the same mountain, the trees were the same trees. The wind, the insects, the streams—everything seemed normal.
But he just knew that what he heard, saw, and smelled was different than before. It wasn’t merely clearer—it was deeper.
’Perhaps the so-called sensory enhancement from the Black Cicada Heart is far more powerful than the outside world believes.’
After a long while, Lin Yan stopped dwelling on it. He figured he would probably only notice the true extent of this deeper enhancement when facing a crisis.
For now, what he could notice was that his hearing range had increased by thirty feet and his visual range by five hundred feet. Moreover, his close-range vision had become exceptionally sharp.
As for his sense of smell... he had no way to quantify the improvement just yet.
Glancing at the Sword Scabbard beside him, Lin Yan picked it up, preparing to leave.
’Wait.’
As he held the Sword Scabbard, a thought suddenly struck him.
The next moment—
His Longsword flew from its scabbard.
A flash of sword-light.
Silk Binding Sword Intent!
Flowing Cloud Sword Intent!
Lin Yan stood on the rock, his Longsword angled toward the ground, its tip quivering slightly.
’He finally understood what was different.’
The enhancement of his five senses had also elevated his combat instincts.
Take his fight against the three cultivators at the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing hired by Ma Sheng, for example. He had been able to slay them with such devastating speed only because he had crushed them with the sheer power of his Sword Intent.
But if he had to fight them again now, he was confident he could slay the three of them just as quickly without even needing to use his Great Success Level Sword Intent—he could do it with Sword Momentum alone.
The enhancement of his five senses had elevated his Perception of his surroundings to a minute, almost microscopic, level.
Lin Yan couldn’t help but curse aloud, "Those who spend tens of thousands of taels to buy up Black Cicada Hearts are downright wicked. But those who sell them for just tens of thousands of taels are even bigger fools." The Black Cicada Heart was an absolute treasure.
’He wouldn’t trade it for even ten Purple Essence Fruits.’
One day, as Lin Yan was squatting down to dig up a Half Moon Flower, several whistling sounds cut through the air.
Lin Yan rose and turned to look at the figures heading his way, his eyes wary.
The four of them were all dressed in black.
"Are you Lin Yan of the Third Branch?"
"And who are you?"
Instead of answering, Lin Yan countered with a question of his own, his hand already gripping the Sword Scabbard at his waist.
"The four of us are from the Lin Family’s Law Enforcement Hall."
The leader of the group took out a Spiritual Token and tossed it to Lin Yan.
Catching the Token, Lin Yan examined it closely. It was made of the same material as his own Identity Token, and the front was engraved with the two words: Law Enforcement.

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