Chapter 70: 70, Storage permission

When Xu Xianchu returned to the cave, he found Wang Lei examining his wound. He turned to Ren Xiaosu with curiosity and asked, “Do you still have that elixir?”

Having Wang Lei as a test subject, Xu Xianchu was well aware of the black elixir’s significance. In the wilderness, a wound inflicted here could be mitigated by this very potion, perhaps even improving survival odds significantly.

“No,” Ren Xiaosu replied instinctively.

“I’ll pay for it…” Xu Xianchu said.

“Then there’s still some left,” Ren Xiaosu answered. If it were another item, he might have hesitated to trade money for it—after all, money was useless in this wilderness. But the black elixir was different.

Suddenly, Ren Xiaosu thought of a question: “Aren’t you broke?”

“I took it from the three people you killed,” Xu Xianchu said.

Ren Xiaosu’s chest clenched, breathless with pain. His inexperience had led him to overlook such a basic mistake—he hadn’t even searched the corpses! How could he have erred so gravely?

So that was why Xu Xianchu had gone outside earlier. The man had endured the night’s dangers, waiting until dawn to venture out.

Ren Xiaosu clenched his fists and lamented, “This isn’t your money—it’s mine! At the very least, you owe me half!”

Xu Xianchu paused before saying, “Money here is useless to me. Give me the black elixir, and I’ll hand over the eight thousand or so I have on me.”

Upon hearing that the three corpses had carried over eight thousand, Ren Xiaosu’s heart ached further.

Yet, studying Xu Xianchu closely, Ren realized this man was peculiar—unmoved by wealth. He produced the remaining half-bottle of black elixir and shoved it into Xu Xianchu’s hands. “Money.”

“Take it,” Xu Xianchu emptied his pockets, deliberately turning them inside out to prove he had nothing left.

Ren nodded in satisfaction. Though they weren’t close, Xu Xianchu’s actions along the way had indeed been honorable.

But as Ren accepted the eight thousand or so, a voice echoed in his mind: “Host detected carrying sufficient funds—twenty thousand. Purchase primary storage permission?”

Earlier, Wang Lei had paid one thousand two for his treatment, Luo Xinyu had given him ten thousand, and now this eight thousand nine hundred from Xu Xianchu brought his total to twenty thousand.

This time, Ren was truly stunned. He had longed to unlock the palace’s storage function, but the palace had never explained how. He’d assumed it required completing a task or a side quest, like unlocking weapons.

He never imagined it would cost money! What use did a phantom palace have for currency?

In his life, Ren had never possessed ten thousand. Now, having just acquired it, he was forced to spend it all—a return to destitution overnight.

The sum could not be spared. Ren understood the value of a storage space in the wilderness. Gritting his teeth, he spoke into the void: “Purchase!”

“Purchase successful. Primary storage permission unlocked.”

At that moment, a door materialized within the palace. It creaked open, revealing a wall with a single cubic meter-sized compartment embedded in its center…

This was a scam. Two hundred thousand for such a tiny space?

Wait—the palace had mentioned “primary storage permission.” Did that mean upgrades to intermediate or advanced tiers were necessary? Would repeated purchases expand the space into a proper room?

But how much would that cost? Ren doubted he could ever earn such sums in his lifetime.

At this point, earning twenty thousand felt like a windfall.

Ren was torn between anguish and joy. Truthfully, today’s gains surpassed all previous days combined. He snapped a branch, peeled its bark, and scraped the white inner stem against his teeth. Though his face could go unwashed, his teeth needed to stay clean.

In this wilderness, survival demanded good dental hygiene.

Suddenly, Ren noticed Yang Xiaojin and Xu Xianchu mimicking him, brushing their teeth with branches. Their survivalist zeal was infectious—they mirrored his every move.

Ren plucked a handful of leaves and pocketed them. In response, Yang and Xu gathered the same from nearby trees.

Wherever three walked, one was a teacher. When they realized Ren’s wilderness expertise far exceeded theirs, their instinct was to learn. Only through imitation could they hope to match his comfort in this harsh land.

Yet Xu Xianchu frowned. “What use are those leaves?”

Ren grinned, pulling out the leaves and tossing them aside. “Nothing. I just wanted to see if you’d copy me…”

Xu Xianchu: “???”

Xu Xianchu fell silent, stubbornly refusing to discard his leaves. He had picked them because he wished to, not to emulate Ren!

Yang Xiaojin, however, shoved another handful into her pocket without hesitation…

The trio’s mental fortitude surpassed Luo Xinyu’s group. Though they had witnessed death the night before, they faced it with equanimity, as if untouched by its weight.

Luo Xinyu’s party could not. When Ren’s group emerged from the cave, brushing their teeth, Luo and the others hesitated, paralyzed by fear of the three corpses outside.

They spent half an hour psyching themselves up before finally stepping out. They couldn’t fathom how Ren’s group could laugh after such horrors.

“Let’s move,” Xu Xianchu said. “Though we don’t know the dangers ahead, staying here solves nothing. Before nightfall returns, we must find a place to camp. Stay together—surely you’ve seen what happens when you don’t.”

They now stood on the outskirts of the Jingwang Range. Ren could even glimpse the black smoke spewing from the active volcano within. The deeper they ventured, the greater the peril.

“What lies inside the Jingwang Mountains?” Ren asked.

Xu Xianchu considered. “Perhaps the secret of beast evolution, or the origin of a new species’ order.”

“When you emerged from the Bastion, did they tell you what the ruins inside might be?”

Xu Xianchu’s silence broke. “A mysterious city.”