Chapter 340: Exploring the Secrets of the Ring

Chapter 340: Exploring the Ring

Xia Chichi called the red dress tacky, of course—no rival in love ever speaks well of another. In truth, Yue Hongling's red robes were dashing and generous, while the Vermilion Bird and Winged Fire Serpent's crimson ritual vestments were eerie and mysterious, not tacky at all, but rather quite beautiful.

But this outfit now was truly tacky. If it were a wedding gown, that would be one thing, but how could an ordinary dress, clearly not a bridal garment, still reek of wedding attire? Xia Chichi had no idea where the Vermilion Bird Venerable had dug up such a thing. If she wore it out, wouldn't the disciples laugh themselves to death?

Was the Venerable getting old? What kind of taste was this...

Xia Chichi pitifully bathed, then put on the loving red dress her master had bought her, and even had to thank her for it.

During the meal, the Vermilion Bird picked at her rice in small bites, her eyes drifting toward her disciple now and then: "Not bad, not bad. Chichi looks quite pretty in that little red dress."

Xia Chichi forced a smile: "The Venerable has good taste."

Watching her wear clothes she hated with such a wronged expression and still thank her—it was satisfying, sure, but not fully satisfying.

Saying "quite pretty" wasn't sarcasm; she hadn't expected Xia Chichi to still look so good even in such tacky clothes... When disciples like Willow Earth Gazelle saw her, they were merely a bit puzzled—the Saintess usually didn't wear red—but they felt nothing else.

The Vermilion Bird didn't know terms like "buyer's show" or "seller's show." A beautiful person was a clothes hanger; any random outfit looked good on her, but not on others. The anticipated effect hadn't been achieved, so it wasn't that satisfying.

Instead, a little sourness crept in.

That little wretch was truly beautiful. Just her youthful vitality made one envious—no wonder he liked her so much.

Old now... twenty-nine this year. The thought of crossing the thirty-year threshold made any woman shudder.

He was right; she had never really lived for herself in this life. In a blink, youth was gone, and she hadn't even tasted the flavor of that sort of thing.

Unbidden, the memory of last night's entanglement rose in the Vermilion Bird's mind—his body pressing over hers, his domineering invasion, her whole body...

"Venerable? Venerable?" Xia Chichi's cautious voice came from across the table.

The Vermilion Bird snapped back, her eyes full of murderous intent as she glared at the little wretch across the table: "What is it?"

"I... I'm done eating. I'll go copy the scriptures."

"Hmm." The Vermilion Bird collected her thoughts and sighed: "Chichi..."

"Ah..."

"If you open the Second Secret Treasury, I will no longer forbid your romantic feelings."

Xia Chichi froze, then burst into ecstasy: "Really?"

Having made the decision out of softness, the Vermilion Bird was again irritated by Xia Chichi's ecstatic expression. She stiffened her face and said: "When you can silence everyone with your strength, the sect's rules can be changed for you. But until then, you must cast aside all distractions. The Second Secret Treasury is far harder than the First—not something you can glimpse in your current pathetic state."

Xia Chichi stood at attention and bowed: "The Venerable can rest assured—I will definitely achieve it!"

The Vermilion Bird squinted at her for a long moment, then said slowly: "Seeing how you perk up at the mention of a man, do you think I can't lift my blade anymore? Go on. Double the scriptures you copy tonight."

Xia Chichi: "..."

...

When would Xia Chichi's miserable life of getting tripped up even while eating come to an end? Over on Zhao Changhe's side, after going to find Chen Yi and relaying the matter of the secret realm, he went back to cultivate on his own for an entire day.

Ying Wu wanted the secret realm space itself, which basically wouldn't conflict with anyone. Who else would want that thing? So it was truly a case of harmony bringing wealth—he could do business with anyone. The local powers like Jade Void True Man and Ye Wuzong probably wouldn't argue with Ying Wu over this, so there was no need for Zhao Changhe to get involved.

Thus, the first cooperation with Ying Wu was successfully concluded. He had given Zhao Changhe the clue about the Dragon-Elephant Blood Ginseng, and Zhao Changhe found it while giving him the secret realm—a win-win.

Ying Wu's people were reliable too. If not for Chen Yi's reminder, Zhao Changhe might not have realized that Tian Lingzi was no good.

Once there was a first, there would be a second. With such a pleasant initial cooperation, Zhao Changhe looked forward to what clue Ying Wu might offer next worth exploring.

That was for later. For now, he had to focus on his own matters.

Ever since Ye Wuzong gave him the Crane Control Art, Zhao Changhe had learned it simply to facilitate using the storage ring. When Ye Wuzong gave him the technique, he had warned that "the technique itself is more important." Zhao Changhe understood the principle, but he just hadn't had the time.

Right after getting the Crane Control Art, it was straight into the thief game—rushing to Kun Ridge, diving into the secret realm, breaking through to the Ninth Layer, and then getting tangled in romantic affairs until now, without having done anything else. The Crane Control Art now was only good for grabbing the massive Dragon Sparrow; for any small object, given his current level of practice, he might not even be able to grasp it precisely.

Chichi was right that he shouldn't spend too much effort on this. At this rate, what cultivation could he do? Including the Vermilion Bird, countless seniors had advised against getting entangled in love—basically the true wisdom of those who had been through it.

It wasn't just that he hadn't practiced the Crane Control Art. Back when he first got the ring, there was a sword and a book inside that he couldn't take out. He had been waiting to learn the Crane Control Art to study them, but now that he had learned it, he still hadn't even glanced at the ring's contents.

Now his spirit was more vigorous and refined than before. Observing the space inside the ring, he could see it more clearly and in detail. It seemed to be an independent vacuum state, with everything floating in midair. The Dragon Sparrow floated right in the center, arrogantly occupying the C-position. He had vaguely worried whether it might fight with the sword, but now it seemed it couldn't be bothered with the sword at all.

Of course it couldn't be bothered. Upon closer inspection, he realized it wasn't a complete sword—it was a half-forged sword blank.

Carefully using the Crane Control Art, he nudged the massive Dragon Sparrow aside from the C-position. His true qi extended like a tangible arm, probing deeper. He could clearly feel the qi stretching like an arm, but it couldn't match the dexterity of his own hand—it was extremely crude and consumed a lot of energy.

He hadn't even had the mind to experience this kind of technique usage before... This was indeed a skill that required repeated practice to truly control like one's own hand, with endless subtle uses in combat.

Zhao Changhe even had a vague feeling—could this be a prerequisite for the Sword Control Art?

He would leave it for later, to ponder slowly... Zhao Changhe carefully controlled his true qi to wrap around the sword blank and swiftly extracted it from the ring. He was surprised to find that in just that moment, his true qi had been depleted by a chunk. And this was just a straightforward extraction—what if he needed to manipulate it in some action?

Zhao Changhe shook his head and carefully examined the sword blank.

Since it was an unfinished blank, naturally there were no carved patterns or textures, and certainly no spirituality to provoke the Dragon Sparrow's pride. But Zhao Changhe quickly detected its forging foundation—the intent of the myriad stars was implicit within, already laying the groundwork for the sword's essence.

This ring had been enshrined on an altar in the Black Tortoise secret realm with great reverence. It was only natural that the items inside carried the intent of the stars. It was likely a sword that the Black Tortoise of the previous era had forged for himself, but it hadn't taken shape before the cataclysm of the era's collapse.

He wondered if he should hand this over to the Four Symbols Sect. It probably didn't mean much—after all, it was just a sword blank. To forge it into a complete sword would require who knows how many steps, and the people of this age might not even have the ancient forging methods or the ability to finish it. Besides, the turtle had already taken the ancient sword Dragon Sovereign... He would leave it for now, and see if an opportunity arose.

Zhao Changhe tossed the sword blank back into the ring and continued to take out the book that looked like a manual.

He had thought it was another Black Tortoise-related manual, but upon inspection, it wasn't. It wasn't even a manual at all.

It turned out to be an atlas, titled "The Atlas of Mountains and Rivers."

Opening the book, each page recorded strange mountain and river geography, exotic beasts, and rare treasures—almost all unseen in this world. Most of the mountains and rivers couldn't be matched to any known location, and the beasts were unrecognizable. The only familiar thing was the Dragon-Elephant Blood Ginseng, which was noted as originating from Kunlun.

Zhao Changhe's first thought was that this was an otherworldly version of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas"...

But the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" was unverifiable, while this "Atlas of Mountains and Rivers" might have truly existed—the geography and products of the previous era.

His gaze fell on one page, where it was written plainly: "The Hundred Thousand Mountains are where the Gu Tribe dwells. They call themselves the Spirit Tribe, using sorcery and gu arts, pursuing methods of blood and flesh. Their laws are inexplicable, strange and hard to guard against, with a hint of origin essence, somewhat worth observing. Their customs are vastly different from the Central Plains. For example, when men and women fall in love, they cast a Heartlink Gu; if one side changes heart, the death is unbearably gruesome."