The Joy of Opening Boxes

Xia Mo took the keys and walked up to the three bluestone platforms. Looking at the three stone boxes, although he already knew what was inside, he still felt the thrill of opening blind boxes. He just did not know which one he would open first.

Xia Mo touched the metal lock before him, unsure what material it was made from. It probably was not any special metal; it seemed Mu She had managed to open the stone boxes even without keys. He really did not know what the senior who had left this treasure behind had been thinking. Perhaps it was simply some powerful senior's collector's habit—liking to put everything in boxes. Xia Mo thought maliciously.

Staring at the stone box, Xia Mo rubbed his hands together, casually picked one of the three keys, and slowly inserted it into the metal lock's keyhole. "This senior really fitted the lock mechanism and stone box together well." Perhaps because he had lived another life and become younger again, even his mindset had changed. Xia Mo felt as though he was becoming a little too childish. Instead of quickly opening the boxes and taking the treasures, he was still standing here thinking about all sorts of nonsense.

"Mm, not this one. Try another. This lock shouldn't be rusty, right?" Xia Mo licked his lips, picked up another key, inserted it into the keyhole again, and slowly turned it. After several crisp clicks, the clasp suddenly sprang open.

Xia Mo took several steps back, then a burst of force shot from his hand and violently flipped open the stone box's lid. As the saying went, one could never be too careful. This was a real world, not something described in a novel. No one knew whether there might be danger. When traveling outside, only by being cautious in all things could one live a little longer.

After waiting for a while and seeing no reaction, Xia Mo stepped forward and picked up the scroll inside. On its side were small words: "Profound-tier high-grade Dou Technique—Raging Lion's Roar. A wind-attribute offensive Dou Technique. When activated, it produces sound waves resembling a lion's roar that affect the enemy."

"Mm, not bad. Its grade isn't low either, so it should be worth quite a bit. Unfortunately, it doesn't suit me. So the order of opening them is different. I wonder what the next one will be—Seven-Colored Poison Scripture or Eagle's Wings?"

Xia Mo set the scroll aside and looked at the second stone box. He picked one of the two remaining keys, inserted it into the keyhole, and slowly turned it to open the box. Xia Mo looked inside. "Another scroll. This should be Eagle's Wings."

Xia Mo reached out, took out the black scroll, and looked at the words along its side: "Profound-tier high-grade Flying Dou Technique—Eagle's Wings."

On the Dou Qi Continent, flying required at least the strength of a Dou Ling. Even Dou Ling experts could only glide over short distances; that was not true flight. Only after reaching the Dou Wang or Dou Emperor realm could one condense energy wings behind one's back, break free of the earth's restraints, and soar through the skies. Of course, magical beasts like Xia Mo, who naturally had wings, did not count.

Xia Mo slowly opened the Eagle's Wings scroll, and two jet-black eagle wings that sent chills down one's spine came into view. The eagle wings were drawn on the scroll, lifelike and vivid. Their entire surface was dark black, faintly threaded with purple cloud patterns, and the wings possessed a metallic texture like refined steel. Most especially, the feathers on the wings actually radiated a faint warmth. As a breeze brushed against his face, the feathers seemed like those of real wings, as though they were about to spread and take flight. It was quite miraculous.

"Black Flame Purple Cloud Eagle, a Fifth-tier flying magical beast. It is said to possess a thin trace of ancient phoenix bloodline. Its flying speed ranks among the best of all flying magical beasts. Naturally cunning and vicious, it is extremely difficult to capture and lives only in the Cloud Mist region in the southern part of the continent."

"What a pity. It can only be cultivated by one person, and it's useless to me. Too bad this isn't the method for crafting Flying Dou Techniques. Otherwise, it would be another way to make money. I seem to remember that the Golden Goose Sect of the Falling Goose Empire has a method for crafting a Flying Dou Technique, called the Heavenly Goose Nine-Line Wings."

Xia Mo did not dwell on it further. He placed the Eagle's Wings scroll together with Raging Lion's Roar, picked up the last key, slowly inserted it into the final stone box's keyhole, and opened it. He took out the ancient-looking colorful scroll inside—the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture. "This poison scripture records how to concoct poisons. It should count as the sacred text of Poison Masters, right? I might as well study it too. When traveling outside, every extra method means another chance to survive."

Xia Mo glanced around at the treasures with satisfaction. "Only the Storage Ring remains. I've wasted quite a bit of time. Let's see what's inside."

Xia Mo slowly extended his soul power into the Storage Ring. Its interior space was more than a hundred cubic meters. Seeing how enormous it was, Xia Mo nearly jumped up in excitement. "This should be a mid-grade Storage Ring. The Storage Ring alone makes this worthwhile. These things are priceless and impossible to buy. This senior was most likely a Dou Emperor. Otherwise, where would he have gotten so much wealth? Ahem, but it all belongs to me now."

Xia Mo calmed himself. "Sigh, getting excited over so little—how will I ever accomplish great things?" If others heard that, they would surely spit in his face. It was far too pretentious. Xia Mo began examining the Storage Ring's contents. Inside were some Monster Cores, medicinal pills, Medicinal Herbs, scrolls, gold storage cards, and some miscellaneous items.

Xia Mo took everything out, tossed the miscellaneous items aside, and sorted the rest. Looking at the medicinal pills that had turned to ash and the Medicinal Herbs that had become dried grass, his heart ached terribly. They had all been his!

After more than ten minutes, Xia Mo had sorted everything out. There was one Profound-tier high-grade earth-attribute cultivation technique, "Earth Rock Art"; one Profound-tier mid-grade wood-attribute cultivation technique, "Wood Spirit Art"; one Profound-tier high-grade Dou Technique, "Rock Fist"; one Profound-tier mid-grade Dou Technique, "Earth Tornado"; and two Profound-tier low-grade Dou Techniques, "Stone Shattering Palm" and "Cracked Rock Leg." It seemed this senior had been earth-attributed. What delighted Xia Mo most was a Third-grade Alchemist's Handbook. He had no idea where this senior had obtained it.

There was one gold storage card containing One Million Gold Coins, one Fifth-tier Monster Core, two Fourth-tier Monster Cores, ten Third-tier Monster Cores, and various Second-tier and First-tier Monster Cores.

Xia Mo thought to himself that it was fortunate he had helped the senior rest in peace. Otherwise, he would have missed all this. It seemed he was the senior's fated person. Xia Mo began storing the items from the cave into the Storage Ring: the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragmented Map, cultivation technique and Dou Technique scrolls, Monster Cores, Medicinal Herbs, and the gold storage card all went into the mid-grade Storage Ring. Xia Mo found a thin cord among the treasures piled to one side, threaded it through the Storage Ring, and wore it around his neck, letting it rest against his chest.

Xia Mo packed the remaining treasures into the low-grade Storage Ring on his hand. Once everything had been put away, he let out a long breath. "I've taken all the treasures. It's time for me to leave. Xiao Yi Xian must still be worried about me. I should hurry back."

Xia Mo turned and walked toward the cave entrance. After passing through the stone door, he pressed the small protrusion beneath it again. Amid a series of clicks, the stone door closed once more. Who knew how many years would pass before someone opened it again? But when they discovered there was nothing inside, they would probably stomp their feet in fury.

After bowing once more toward the stone door, Xia Mo summoned the Dragon Phoenix Flame into his hand. After walking for five or six minutes, he emerged from the damp, dark passage. The Rock Snake was nowhere to be seen; it had probably been scared away. Xia Mo gathered some strange branches from nearby and blocked the cave entrance, hoping the senior would not be disturbed again.

Xia Mo spread his Purple-gold Wings and flew up the cliff. After checking that no one was around, he landed on the ground and retracted his wings. The sky had not yet brightened, so Xia Mo headed into a small grove, intending to set out again after dawn. It would not do to get lost at night.

"Phew." Xia Mo sat cross-legged on a thick tree branch, let out a long breath, closed his eyes, and slowly began cultivating.

PS: The size of Storage Rings is really hard to define. In the original work, low-grade Storage Rings only held three or four cubic meters, yet the Deep Blue Sea Ring could store a magical beast corpse more than ten zhang long and wide. So this newbie author just set the Storage Ring sizes however he liked here.