Chapter 277: Fantasy Representative, Storage Ring

Chapter 277: A Storage Ring from the Xuanhuan Realm

Zhao Changhe’s judgment was correct.

This was originally a hollow mountain belly—where could there be jelly? The jelly was formed later when energy mixed with sand and soil. If you dug through the jelly, there should be something else inside.

For instance, the Azure Dragon Seal might have been a similar stone, but it was transformed by the Azure Dragon of that era into a jade seal, leaving a legacy within—not purely a natural treasure.

The gem before him looked far more primitive, unaltered and uncarved. So, was there anything else left behind?

After carefully digging around, truly “unearthing three feet deep,” he finally found something.

It lay directly beneath the floating gem. Once the jelly was cleared away, a small stone platform appeared, resembling an altar, carved with the forms of the Four Symbols. On its front was the image of the Black Tortoise entwined with a snake.

Aside from the carvings, the altar itself had no energy reaction. In its center was a small hollow, where a platinum-white ring was placed with great care.

Zhao Changhe’s first thought was: could this be a storage ring?

Carrying such a large sword daily, along with luggage, medicine, gold foil, jade pendants, and so on, was extremely inconvenient. It was already lucky that he hadn’t lost anything in battle, and it was hard to endure.

If it really was a storage ring, the ring itself would bring more joy than whatever was inside.

Zhao Changhe picked up the ring, turning it over and over for a long time. It was quite beautiful, but no matter how he tried, he couldn’t sense any energy, let alone figure out how to open it. He had already begun using his mind to interact with the gold foil, thinking his spiritual power might be able to probe inside, but perhaps it was too weak—he found nothing.

Over by the gem, Yue Hongling was silently sensing how its energy was transforming her body, considering whether it suited her, but she hadn’t entered a meditative state to accept the transformation. Seeing him find a ring, she curiously leaned in: “What are you puzzling over?”

Zhao Changhe handed the ring to her: “You’re on the edge of the secret vault, so your spiritual perception should be a bit stronger than mine. Can you see if you can probe anything?”

Yue Hongling took it, closed her eyes to sense for a while, then opened them in shock: “There’s a small space inside! And there’s a book and a sword!”

Zhao Changhe was overjoyed: “Can you take them out?”

Yue Hongling shook her head: “We don’t have the power to retrieve objects with our minds—that’s the ability of immortals. But if you can learn a technique for retrieving objects, as long as you can see them, you should be able to pull them out with internal energy.”

Zhao Changhe recalled discussing this with Xuan Chong, who had the same opinion.

Xuan Chong had also said that retrieval techniques would have to be learned from the Thief Sect—they were the most skilled.

“As for the step of being able to see them first, your spiritual power…” Yue Hongling looked him over and asked, “Do you not have a cultivation method for the secret vault level?”

“That’s right. I was planning to find an opportunity to ask Lord Xue, but that guy is now on the Human Rankings, so it feels much harder.”

“The bottom of the Human Rankings is nothing special.” Yue Hongling smiled lightly: “Originally, people like us hadn’t even opened the secret vault, so we weren’t far apart from Lord Xue and the others. Compared to Hu Lie, there was a big gap—so why did we make it onto the Human Rankings?”

“Because there aren’t enough people who have opened the secret vault to fill the Human Rankings. So they pick the best among the mediocre at the ninth level of the Xuan Pass, placing those with stronger combat skills at the bottom.”

“Exactly. But people like Lord Xue have polished themselves at the ninth level for years, with no room for progress. Their techniques aren’t bad, and their combat experience is rich—they’re no pushovers. Why was I able to surpass my level? Because although he was at the ninth level, he hadn’t touched the door to the secret vault. Conversely, when I was at the eighth level, I had already vaguely glimpsed the secret vault.”

Zhao Changhe said: “I could tell. In your battle with Chi Li, there was a very clear expression of imagery, which went beyond ordinary martial artists. At that time, you were both only at the eighth level, but your strength surpassed many at the ninth. They said it was because of your fortuitous encounters.”

“Indeed, I had some encounters, gaining a more refined sword intent and touching the door to the secret vault early.” Yue Hongling said with a smile: “Want me to teach you this method?”

Zhao Changhe blinked: “I’m only at the seventh level. Is that possible?”

“Not for now, but can’t you train here until you reach the eighth level?” Yue Hongling said: “With such exceptional cultivation conditions, if you can’t reach the eighth level, it would be a waste of our life-and-death struggles. I mean reaching the eighth level both internally and externally; otherwise, if you’re unbalanced, you won’t glimpse the secret vault’s door.”

Zhao Changhe was stunned: “I might manage the eighth level of external cultivation, but for internal cultivation, I’m only at the sixth level. Jumping to the eighth seems absurd. My meridians…”

“Here, you can make some optimizations. I have faith in you.” Yue Hongling said softly: “You’re worried about incompatibility between your body-forging and the innate Dao body, which might cause conflict. I understand that concern, but you don’t need to face this thing directly…”

Zhao Changhe’s heart stirred as Yue Hongling lowered her head slightly and took the initiative: “This thing is indeed useful to me, but it’s not entirely compatible. I’ll take what benefits me and optimize my body myself. Then you can teach me the Ultimate Bliss Technique, and I… with my new body, we can practice dual cultivation, which will surely benefit you.”

Zhao Changhe’s mouth nearly split into a grin.

Yue Hongling shot him a glance and sighed: “Although we can stay here for a long time, we can’t linger. Remember, we came north for Yanmen. And the decisive battle at Yanmen is likely imminent.”

Zhao Changhe was jolted awake, all those trivial thoughts scattering to the winds. He said seriously: “Yes, I’ll work hard.”

“The boudoir is a hero’s grave.” Yue Hongling gently kissed his lips and murmured: “In the future, as you grow stronger, you’ll have more women… I hope that when that day comes, you won’t forget who you once were…”

…

Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling vanished into the mountains. Chi Li and his men searched the entire peak but couldn’t find a single hair.

The mountain itself was a bare, rocky hill with very few plants, just scattered stones everywhere. The stones weren’t tall either—basically, a single glance could reveal everything in the pile, even if there was a cave, it would be easy to spot. But there was nothing at all.

Two days later, Wubulu sent more troops to search the mountain, expanding the search to other peaks. Even the Temple of the Eternal Heaven sent a shaman from the top ranks of the Human Rankings, leading a group of monk soldiers to assist. But the two seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no clue whatsoever.

Wubulu, Chi Li, and the others held a brief meeting: “There’s only one possibility here: there’s a secret realm. We’ve been stationed nearby for a long time, and many have suspected there’s a secret realm entrance here. We searched the lake in Huangsha Ji for five whole years and found nothing. It seems it’s in these mountains.”

Chi Li said: “General, you’ve been stationed here for five years. Didn’t you ever survey the surrounding mountains?”

Wubulu shook his head: “Our focus was on the lake. We never thought it would be this barren mountain.”

The temple shaman slowly spoke: “But from what we know, the General did find something in the lake, though he kept it secret. At this moment, shouldn’t you bring it out for everyone to examine?”

Wubulu narrowed his eyes: “Who’s spreading rumors? If I had found a clue, would I still be standing here dumbfounded?”

The shaman frowned and said nothing.

Wubulu said coldly: “I don’t know why the Temple is backing Yuan Sanniang. In my view, that woman is most likely a spy from the Great Xia, stirring up trouble. Instead of suspecting me of hiding something, you should suspect her of withholding information. I suggest you interrogate her thoroughly.”

The shaman said slowly: “I will.”

“Also,” Wubulu added, “the War Lion Tribe raided the Desolate Wolf Tribe, slaughtered the Desolate Wolf King’s entire family, conscripted the tribe’s elite, and seized a large amount of grain. What does the Temple think of this?”

Batu and Chi Li had once gone south of the river together and had a good personal relationship. Chi Li was from the Temple, a direct disciple of the Great Shaman, so Wubulu had to be wary of the Temple’s opinion on this matter.

Chi Li said coldly: “The Temple has never interfered in tribal conflicts. If you want to ask our opinion on this, then when the War Lion Tribe was in internal strife and other tribes were eyeing them covetously, why didn’t anyone ask us then?”

Wubulu said: “So, if we were to avenge the Desolate Wolf King, the Temple wouldn’t interfere?”

Chi Li turned and walked into the mountains: “I’m only interested in how to find Yue Hongling. Don’t bother me with anything else.”

Wubulu watched his retreating back, a hint of ruthlessness in his eyes.

Tribal conflicts on the grasslands had a snowball effect. If Batu absorbed the Desolate Wolf Tribe’s population and secured enough grain, he would gain a huge advantage in the War Lion Tribe’s internal struggle. If he then swallowed his other brothers and unified the tribe, the War Lion Tribe would instantly become a behemoth with a hundred thousand troops.

Once, He Lei had submitted to the Great Khan. But now?

Would he have to cut off Batu’s momentum before he could rise?