Breaking the Storage Ring, Battle at Compassion Sea

"Phew~, this is actually a little difficult."

Xiao Chen let out a long Turbid Qi: "That Old Dog Yi's Life-Saving Trump Card are really not bad."

"Fortunately, I was the one who was more skilled in the end."

He could clearly sense it from this battle.

Nascent Soul True Lord are clearly more difficult to deal with than Golden Core cultivator.

The main reason is that the number of cultivators who can reach the Nascent Soul is not large to begin with, and basically everyone has certain advantages, so it cannot be calculated according to common sense.

In particular, they have access to better things.

For example, that strange Demonic Sacred Item at the end.

Xiao Chen had actually used the Thousand Gauze Robe to resist, but it was instantly dissolved by the blood light.

Including that Mystic Iron Pillar that could take a life, it also seemed to have the effect of relieving dizziness in advance.

If there were a few more similar items, he might not have been able to buy them today.

"If you look at it that way, my current strength isn't quite enough."

On Xiao Chen's list of targets was the Yin Corpse Sect, a force far more powerful than Old Dog Yi: "If we want to deal with others, we need to prepare more and stronger methods."

"We still need to keep working hard!"

He sighed softly, and realized that Old Dog Yi had said something that actually made some sense—there are differences even among Nascent Soul!

But it doesn't matter, the next period will be a period of rapid development for Xiao Chen's strength.

As he gradually replenished the Total True Essence within his Nascent Soul, he became increasingly familiar with the Crimson Sky Mountain Severing Palm, and sought out and cultivated more Yellow-grade Spell and even Divine Sense Secret Art.

The power one possesses will naturally grow stronger.

Moreover, there is now New Cultivation World where one can obtain additional resources.

Xiao Chen gave a general summary of his first battle after breaking through to the Nascent Soul.

Only then did they begin to clean up the remaining traces of the battle, mainly the still-burning flames on the sea surface and the scattered Blood Qi.

The fact that the two True Lord were fighting was undoubtedly a disaster for the surrounding environment.

Many Sea Fish were killed by the aftershocks of the battle, and some that floated on the surface were turned into charred remains.

Some, infected by the remaining demonic Blood Qi, became noticeably more agitated and began attacking their fellow demons.

Therefore, Xiao Chen focused on clearing away the Blood Qi.

This is to ensure that after he leaves, no Foundation Establishment cultivators will happen to pass by here or hunt infected Sea Fish and thus be affected.

For them, this was not a stroke of luck, but rather a deadly trap.

After completing the final work, he took the Storage Ring of the Yi Family Old Ancestor and found another island nearby to settle down.

"This Storage Ring has a rather unusual design."

Xiao Chen has now visited many markets and shops selling Spirit Artifact.

But I've never seen a similar style before.

If nothing unexpected happens, this Storage Ring should be a custom-made item created by Artifact Refining Master.

Generally speaking, customized products are of slightly higher quality than generic styles.

Xiao Chen quickly realized this.

He tried to break the restrictions, only to find that almost all of his previous experience was useless.

This Storage Ring has a very unique structure, and its restrictions are dozens of times more complex.

"Oh my god, you people are absolutely insane! Why did you design such complicated restrictions on the Storage Ring?"

Xiao Chen studied for four whole hours before he finally understood the classification of these restrictions.

At the same time, he was limited by his limited understanding of Daoist principles and weapon crafting techniques.

The subsequent disassembly process was exceptionally difficult.

"Ugh, this is too much trouble. My temper is so short... sigh."

Xiao Chen briefly attempted to unleash the Sky-rushing Palm to destroy the tangled restrictions on his Storage Ring.

But ultimately, they didn't want to ruin their spoils, feeling somewhat hesitant to act rashly.

"It seems that learning the Dao of Combinations must also be put on the agenda."

Xiao Chen thought about it carefully, "Learning some techniques related to restrictions and laws can not only make it easier to break through Storage Ring, but also be used to deal with formations and restrictions in the Secret Realm."

"Anyway, I was originally planning to go to the New Cultivation World to learn the more advanced Array Dao Skill anyway."

"We'll consider the specific training arrangements later."

"In any case, when I go to the New Cultivation World next time, I'll try to get a copy of the array-based inheritance first."

Xiao Chen kept this matter silently in his heart.

Another twenty-seven hours passed.

After persistent True Essence Flushing, the restrictions on the Storage Ring were finally lifted one by one.

"Oh, it finally worked!"

Xiao Chen couldn't help but sigh, "Cracking a Storage Ring is more difficult than fighting that Old Dog Yi."

"After spending so much time, it's bound to give me something good."

However, when he probed it with his Divine Sense, he found that the Storage Ring was slightly smaller than he had imagined.

Objectively speaking, its five-zhang square Storage Space was the largest Storage Ring Xiao Chen had ever seen.

Compared to the three-zhang square Vast Sea Ring, its internal capacity is more than three times larger.

However, the size was much smaller than he had initially imagined, according to his initial expectations.

Size isn't the key factor; the important thing is the contents.

Xiao Chen habitually used his Divine Sense to count the Spirit Stone inside.

It took almost a breath to count them all; there were only a little over 1.03 million Spirit Stone in total.

"Are they that poor?"

Xiao Chen frowned slightly, somewhat surprised.

To be honest, this Old Dog Yi is supposed to be True Lord, so how come he only has this little bit of money on him?

If I remember correctly, didn't he still have two million at the Listening Wave Sea Auction two years ago?

Three years have passed, and not only have I not earned back any money, I've actually spent almost half of it.

"Sigh, I'm so disappointed in you!"

Xiao Chen silently put away all the Spirit Stone, then looked at the remaining items.

Perhaps in preparation for war, he carried seven enormous Formation Flag and five large, dark boxes in his Storage Ring.

Each box is six feet long, three feet wide, and three feet high.

The items were sealed with different colored tapes, but the specific items were not identified.

Xiao Chen took out the five large boxes and opened them one by one.

The first one contained a whole chest of spirit ore, gleaming with a golden light, looking like a chest of gold.

These spirit ores had clearly been processed, cut into neat little cubes.

There were exactly one thousand in the big box.

"Some kind of partially processed Tier 3 spirit ore?"

Xiao Chen picked them up and examined them, discovering that these small cubes seemed to have undergone compression, and their Spiritual Power content was significantly higher than that of ordinary spiritual ore.

At the same time, Impurities were removed, retaining only the purest Metal Spiritual Power.

If we calculate based on a price of one thousand Spirit Stone per piece...

Preliminary estimates suggest that the total value of this box of spiritual materials is approximately one million Spirit Stone.

It's almost more expensive than the Spirit Stone that Old Dog Yi always carries around.

However, this kind of spiritual material is most likely a reserve that the Azure Sea Immortal Sect has accumulated over time.

"These should be the Five Elements Materials used to set up the formation?"

Xiao Chen opened the second box, and sure enough, it was also full of pre-cut small cubes.

Except for the color changing to dark blue, the quantity is exactly the same.

"Then the remaining ones should all be the same."

Xiao Chen quickly checked the remaining three large boxes, and sure enough, they all contained the corresponding Five Elements Spirit Ore.

It seems that the Azure Sea Immortal Sect is already using its sect reserves in order to deal with the invasion of the Sea Race.

This suggests that the overall war situation is not progressing well, or at least is quite tense.

Otherwise, these reserve supplies would certainly not be used so easily.

Xiao Chen took the opportunity to check the Formation Flag.

Although the specific formations are not easily recognizable, it is not difficult to distinguish them from Fourth-tier Grand Array by the complex restrictions on them.

"That's not right, there's only an array, but no Spirit Stone?"

According to the knowledge Xiao Chen learned in "Initial Understanding of Array Dao", at least Mid-Grade Spirit Stone or a third-order or higher Spirit Vein is required to activate Fourth-tier Grand Array.

He searched inside the Storage Ring.

They quickly found forty-two small boxes of the same size.

Upon opening it, they found a Red Brocade covering the inside.

He lifted the brocade in one swift motion.

Below, neatly stacked Mid-Grade Spirit Stone were revealed.

Xiao Chen counted them; a small box also contained a thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stone.

The forty-two small boxes together contained a total of forty-two thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stone.

That's equivalent to 4.2 million Low-grade Spirit Stone!

This is definitely a large sum of money.

"I never expected that Old Dog Yi would carry so many Mid-Grade Spirit Stone with him."

In fact, Xiao Chen could guess that this was mostly due to the accumulation of the Azure Sea Immortal Sect.

But it doesn't matter, no matter where it came from, it's his now.

After removing these items and separating out miscellaneous items such as bedding, writing brushes, inkstones, musical instruments, chess pieces, calligraphy, and paintings, the Storage Ring suddenly became empty.

After all, there weren't many items originally placed inside.

Talisman had been used up, and there were only two bottles of pills left.

One of the bottles was actually the True Essence Convergence Pill, which is only used by Foundation Establishment Cultivator when breaking through to the Golden Core.

The other bottle contains Purple Sea Restoration Powder, used to quickly restore true energy.

"Hmm, this True Essence Convergence Pill can be left for that kid Chen Fan."

Xiao Chen put it away separately.

In fact, when he broke through to the Golden Core, he didn't even need a similar Breakthrough Spirit Pill; he just broke through directly.

As a result, they had no surplus reserves at all.

When we parted ways last time, I couldn't even leave a few for Chen Fan.

I had originally planned to collect some for him when I had the chance, but now that I have this bottle of True Essence Convergence Pill, there's no need to go out of my way to search for it anymore.

Another difference between them and Golden Core cultivator is that...

Xiao Chen did not find any extra spare Spirit Artifact in his Storage Ring.

Aside from the special Bright Pearl that could amplify the Ice Wheel, there was only a Jade Ruyi.

"What's the use of this?"

Xiao Chen picked up the Jade Ruyi and tried to infuse it with his true essence for refinement.

However, he discovered that this thing did not react to his true essence at all.

"Huh, what's going on?"

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Chen followed the method for refining Storage Ring, injecting a wisp of Divine Sense into the ring while activating his true essence.

Things went much more smoothly after that.

Moreover, compared to Storage Ring that are difficult to refine, this Jade Ruyi was easily refined in just half an hour.

"Oh, it's actually a spiritual Spirit Artifact for cultivating Divine Sense."

After refining it, Xiao Chen immediately understood its purpose.

The cultivator only needs to inject their divine Divine Sense into it, and then use their true essence to activate the Jade Ruyi.

Depending on the amount of true essence injected, one can apply different levels of pressure to one's Divine Sense.

There are a total of six levels.

Starting with 500 strands of true essence, each level requires an additional 500 strands of true essence, with a maximum of 3,000 strands of true essence that can be injected simultaneously.

This is a gradual process of adaptation from low to high.

It's just like Body Cultivator practicing weightlifting, only this time it's training their Divine Sense.

"Another Custom Spirit Tool."

Xiao Chen immediately understood why there were six levels inside.

Because if we add any more, it will be beyond what the Nascent Soul Early Stage can achieve.

"This item seems pretty good; I can keep it for training."

Xiao Chen actually wanted a defensive magical Spirit Artifact to make up for his current weakness in Defensive Spell.

But then again, if such a thing really existed, it would have been used against him long ago.

"Hey, right, why aren't there any defensive Spirit Artifact?"

Xiao Chen suddenly realized that he hadn't seen any defensive Spirit Artifact during their previous exchange.

Logically speaking, there should be at least one.

This question didn't last long; the answer was found in a letter.

The Storage Ring contained many letters.

One of them was a reply from the Weapon Forging Hall of the Azure Sea Immortal Sect.

As mentioned above, the spirit shield is severely damaged and will require at least a year to repair.

They also requested the allocation of additional fourth-tier spiritual materials to fill the small fragment that had been bitten off by the Great Demon in the lower half of the shield.

"Interesting."

Xiao Chen guessed the reason directly from the time at the end of the receipt and the words "bitten by Great Demon".

It must be that Old Dog Yi rushed to the New Ruin to try and ambush him.

As a result, they encountered Sea Race Fourth-Order Great Demon that had come to greet the Flood Dragon, and were forced to fight.

Later, Xiao Chen was chased again outside Wave Listening Market, and he was somewhat regretful that the Fourth-tier Sea Fish hadn't eaten Old Dog Yi directly.

But now it seems it wasn't entirely useless.

At the very least, it helped me establish a defensive shield, so that should be considered an assist.

"Tsk tsk tsk, karma, what a twist of fate."

Having figured out the root of the problem, Xiao Chen couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Serves you right for blocking my way at the exit of the ruins!"

There were also several useful letters containing battle reports and important intelligence about the Sea of the Compassion Sea.

For example, the Bitter Silence Zen Master was confirmed to have passed away two years ago.

The Bitter Silence Temple was also razed to the ground within ten days, and none of the Bitter Gourd Arhat and others escaped; they all perished.

The information was not released to the public in order to avoid causing premature panic.

Xiao Chen had already guessed this, after all, even if Bitter Silence Zen Master survived the first ambush, he would not fare well in the subsequent encirclement.

Meanwhile, Purified Dust Zen Master of Universal Salvation Temple was fortunate enough to only suffer minor injuries during that attack.

However, Pure Bottle Chan Shi Jingping was severely injured by the Three-Plumed Qing Luan and barely managed to return to the temple.

Ultimately, he succumbed to his injuries due to the eruption of residual Demon Power within his body.

"Oh, really?"

Xiao Chen was somewhat surprised. "Was that Azure Luan that fierce?"

He remembered seeing an illustration depicting the complicated relationship between Pure Bottle Chan Shi and the Three-Plumed Qing Luan.

It left a deep impression on me because I thought it was somewhat outrageous at the time.

Unexpectedly, in a one-on-one situation, the Azure Luan actually managed to kill it.

On the same day, Ying Wu Chan Shi of Awakening Sea Temple was also ambushed by two Great Demon who had transformed into evil cultivators and was injured on the spot.

Only by self-destructing the Buddhist Artifact could it escape.

In other words, before the Sea Race officially invaded, the Buddhist Sect had already lost a Zen Master and two others were injured.

It's fair to say they were at a huge disadvantage from the very beginning.

"The Sea Race, despite having the advantage, actually launched a sneak attack, and more importantly, they succeeded."

Seeing this, Xiao Chen couldn't help but sigh, "A truly disastrous start."

But that's not all.

The information received by the Azure Sea Immortal Sect up to last year.

The Small Prajna Temple, located at the northernmost edge of the Compassion Sea, remains shrouded in thick fog, completely cut off from all communication, and all means of sound transmission are ineffective.

Several of the Arhat broke through the fish's blockade and escaped.

However, they were all disciples stationed at the external Spirit Vein and knew nothing about the situation inside the temple.

The only good news is that one of them is a True Disciple.

At least Small Prajna Temple won't end up like Bitter Silence Temple, with its incense burning out completely.

The True Disciple and his two companions have been assigned to the Storm Sea, while the other Arhat have chosen to remain at Universal Salvation Temple to continue fighting the Sea Race.

However, the Giant Scallop to the north has already blocked the way between Small Prajna Temple and Universal Salvation Temple.

The situation inside the dense fog is probably hard to predict.

The Nautilus in front has already reached the middle of Awakening Sea Temple and Universal Salvation Temple.

Communication has now essentially been cut off.

The good news is that the Benevolent Face Arhat and Compassionate Heart Arhat, carrying the lineage of Awakening Sea Temple, have been successfully rescued.

Moreover, half a year ago, he boarded the spirit ship bound for the Storm Sea.

In other words, the Sea Race' efforts in issuing Wanted Notice for those traitors against the two of them were in vain.

Although, from an overall perspective, this level of good news is of no help whatsoever.

However, compared to those reports of repeated defeats, the urgent news of the loss of a certain spirit mine or Spirit Vein is still a good thing to be happy about.

"What about the octopus?"

Xiao Chen curiously scrolled down and finally found the relevant information in a message from Cloud Wave Sword Abode.

The octopus's purpose was very clear: to emulate the other two giant Spirit Beast and sever the connection between Cloud Wave Sword Abode and the other sects.

Including that strange strong wind.

It was also the work of the Sea Race, serving a similar purpose to the dense fog in the north.

Unlike others, Esteem Truth Temple decisively formed a temporary alliance with Cloud Wave Sword Abode.

To show their sincerity, they first helped set up a formation to dispel the strong winds.

They then rallied their forces to jointly confront the Giant Octopus and the Sea Fish, firmly keeping them at bay on the southern edge of the Listening Wave Sea.

This matter is actually somewhat related to Xiao Chen.

It wasn't just because he provided Route Map of the Giant Sea Beast.

It is also indirectly related to his performance on Red Flower Island.

Since Esteem Truth Temple didn't have many people to begin with, and their plan to make a name for themselves in the Eight Directions Arena was ruined.

When people talked about it, they were all talking about Xiao Chen's outstanding performance.

Basically, very few people care about the newly emerging Esteem Truth Temple.

As a result, besides the group of new Qi Refining Realm disciples recruited in the last two years, their sect only had some Guest Elder temporarily hired.

To put it bluntly, they have almost no fixed industries.

But in that case, they had nothing to be reluctant to part with.

Therefore, it became much easier for Esteem Truth Temple to gather its forces, as they simply abandoned the lower-ranking disciples in a relatively safe place.

With two True Lord and a group of Golden Core cultivators, they can fight fires everywhere and reinforce important Stronghold of Cloud Wave Sword Abode.

With everyone possessing the Golden Core, they can be said to come and go as swiftly as the wind.

However, more than half a year ago, the Azure Sea Immortal Sect received two pieces of news, one good and one bad.

The good news is that Surging Wave True Monarch took the initiative and used his sword to injure the Giant Octopus, even severing eleven of its tentacles.

It can be said that his offensive prowess truly befits the name of Sword Cultivator.

The bad news is that although Surging Wave True Monarch is quite powerful, he has only been cultivating for a short time and has only been at the Nascent Soul stage for a few years.

Under the octopus's counterattack, his true energy quickly ran out, and he too returned wounded.

It's a lose-lose situation for both sides.

An even more serious problem is that the Illuminating Void Sect has completed its encirclement of the Ink Barrier Sect.

The two Fourth-Order great demon of the Sea Race also freed up their hands and came to reinforce the territory of the Listening Wave Sea.

Even with Cloud Wave Sword Abode and Esteem Truth Temple joining forces, they were outnumbered and forced to switch to a full-scale defensive strategy.

In short, it can be summed up in one sentence.

After reading through all the letters and intelligence, Xiao Chen couldn't help but shake his head. "The Compassion Sea is doomed!"

If being ambushed at the beginning could be explained by a lack of preparation, then...

However, after two years, the overall situation has not improved at all, which is a matter of hard power.

In other words, the overall strength of the Compassion Sea Human Race was completely outmatched by the overall strength of the Sea Race.

In fact, if it weren't for the home advantage...

By pre-arranging a Fourth-tier Grand Array, several key nodes were supported.

In addition, with the Daoist Sect and Buddhist Sect setting aside their past grievances and joining forces against the enemy, the two sides were united and likely suffered a major defeat long ago.

Even with the advantage of terrain and popular support, they were ultimately no match for the Sea Race who had the advantage of favorable timing.

As things have developed to this point, Xiao Chen can clearly sense it.

In recent years, the concentration of Spiritual Qi Tide has increased, leading to an overabundance of Golden Core Sea Fish, making the Sea Race the biggest winners.

Compared to the vast, Endless Sea, the Human Race is completely outnumbered.

"No wonder we saw so many spirit ships fleeing before, and even major sects were arranging for some of their disciples to take refuge in the Storm Sea."

The problem that Xiao Chen could immediately spot after reviewing the intelligence.

The other Nascent Soul True Lord had naturally experienced this firsthand long ago.

They were probably not very optimistic either, but unlike Esteem Truth Temple, most forces were reluctant to give up their sect's foundation.

That's why they stayed and persevered, hoping for a turnaround.

Objectively speaking, this bought some time for the independent cultivators to evacuate.

Otherwise, everyone would scatter and run away.

If the Sea Race pursued them relentlessly, they could easily wipe out most of the cultivators in the Kunpeng Sea by taking advantage of the vast distance.

"Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore."

Xiao Chen shook his head. "Let's deal with the remaining spoils first."

I was so busy reading the letter that I realized he still has a lot of things to organize.

I'll discuss the specifics after I've taken a trip around the territory of the Heavenly Dipper Sect.