My Old Wife, Storage Pouch

Among the many deadly, unsolvable anomalies of the wilderness was one known as the [Bottomless Pit].

It referred to places where the ground suddenly collapsed beneath a traveler, revealing a bottomless cavern of varying size that swallowed up living beings. It was said that anyone who fell into a Bottomless Pit would never escape.

Of course, the evenly sized pits that had appeared throughout Anle Town were all dug out by the offspring of that old monster whose True Form was the "White Jade Demonic Rat." They weren't real Bottomless Pits.

Otherwise, forget Ge Xian and the other cultivators—even the Two Ghoul Generals wouldn't have dared go down.

After he'd pretended to "accidentally" fall underground, four or five monstrous rats the size of large cats immediately came at him with bared teeth. They bit down on his legs and clothes, then dragged him along the crisscrossing tunnels toward the depths of the earth, together with the other townsfolk who were squealing and shouting.

Though it was a little disgusting, and he had the power to kill every one of these monstrous rats,

Ge Xian didn't resist. He simply went with the flow.

Before long, he sensed the sounds of fighting erupting one after another throughout the underground.

The rat tide was being slaughtered.

Don't be fooled by the fact that, among the Evil Cultivators who'd come from Qiantang County, only Xu Bai Lian, the Wang Family Eldest Daughter-in-law, the Gong Family Second Shopkeeper, and Song Zhengxing were often mentioned by Ge Xian. The rest of the cultivators weren't much weaker.

After all, they'd all been raised by wealthy families, with ample resources for cultivation.

Foundation Establishment was difficult!

But at the Dao Entry Realm, they were all outstanding figures, each with extraordinary abilities.

The rat tide was formidable once it surged into motion, but against them, it was doomed to be slowly wiped out.

The greater commotion, meanwhile, came from the White Jade Old Thief and the Two Ghoul Generals.

As the cry, "Damn you, ghouls! How dare you eat my beloved consort!" rang out, it was clear that the Rat Demon Emperor had been intercepted by the Two Ghosts, and the fighting had begun.

And so, the events that followed were these:

Zhang Buzu and Zhao Wuyou kept the White Jade Old Thief occupied. It shrieked and wailed without end, clearly unable to withstand the two ghouls working together, and gradually began to suffer injuries.

Meanwhile, the Evil Cultivators slaughtered the rat tide as they rescued the townsfolk.

They gradually closed ranks, with excellent results.

Of the townsfolk who'd originally been carried away, a third had already been rescued and directed toward the surface.

The townsfolk were clever, too. Seeing their "saviors" risk danger to follow them underground, they immediately began shouting for help, afraid they'd be forgotten and become blood food in the bellies of those plump rats.

But among them was one person who was afraid of being discovered, even as he was being rescued.

That person was Ge Dahualang!

He didn't even mind the disgusting surroundings. He simply lay on top of several monstrous rats and let them carry him deeper underground.

That alone would have been enough, but he even deliberately avoided the Evil Cultivators who'd come to rescue them. Whenever he sensed them drawing near, he kicked the rats, making them change course.

Who would have thought?

He could even use his Supernatural Perception like this.

"As the children of the [Original Anle Son of God], these monstrous rats will drag their spoils somewhere first. Where, naturally? The den of that so-called White Jade Old Daoist. It's probably where he keeps his treasures, too."

"The White Jade Old Daoist was once an officially enfeoffed, legitimate Immortal God!"

"Judging by his cultivation and Dao attainments, on his own he should be above either Zhang Buzu or Zhao Wuyou, and might already be infinitely close to the Foundation Establishment Realm."

"He's lived a long time, knows a lot, and has a vicious habit of hoarding treasures."

"If I can snatch this fellow's treasure trove, it'll be a great boon to me. I can't afford to miss this chance."

The Two Ghoul Generals and the many Evil Cultivators could never have imagined that the Young Peddler they were using as a "tool" had quietly pulled off a trick of slipping through the back door. He'd reached the White Jade Old Daoist's den ahead of them—and ahead of every captured townsfolk, too.

In recent days, he'd seen plenty and developed quite a tolerance for bloody, brutal scenes.

But what he saw now still made him grit his teeth, his heart filling with boundless fury and killing intent.

The scene before him was almost indistinguishable from a fiendish hellhole.

It was a vast den, warm, damp, and filthy. Monstrous rats worked without pause, dragging out the human corpses they'd preserved and salted. They dissected, carved, and even cooked them, turning them into one revolting dish of blood food after another.

All of it was meant to feed the "mother rat" at the far end of the den, whose body was already as large as a house.

The mother rat lay on her side, gulping down food as she strained and strained to give birth.

Newborn Rat Monsters were sent beneath her belly. The rows upon rows of dripping teats nearly blinded Ge Xian.

He didn't know what "strange demonic qi" the milk contained, but after suckling for only a short while, the newborn rats visibly began to grow.

At the sight of this, Ge Xian understood why the White Jade Old Daoist could summon a rat tide with a single call. He was clearly a male rat demon; he couldn't possibly be a mother himself. So it turned out he hadn't given birth to them.

He just didn't know whether this monstrous rat, as large as an old sow, was the White Jade Daoist's wife or his mother.

Even with his Supernatural Perception, Ge Xian couldn't determine their relationship at a glance. He could only guess that they were probably husband and wife.

So he couldn't help spitting and cursing:

"Ptui!"

"A lecherous old thief, a shameless scumbag. He must have taken a wife back when he was still the Anle Son of God. After transforming, he let himself go wild, leaving his poor wife in this lightless underground to keep bearing children while he played emperor on the surface and took a full hundred human women as consorts."

"Compared to Lu Hualong, his cultivation may be inferior, but he's even more shameless."

As Ge Xian muttered, his gaze gradually shifted from the enormous mother rat to the space above her.

There stood a raised platform.

Its design was much like that of the so-called Star Picking Platform on the surface. Many wooden shelves stood atop it, nearly all crammed full of various objects.

The display was dazzling, with an enormous number of items, most of them gleaming.

Through his perception, he could also sense Dao Qi Exotic Power within some of them. They were clearly strange treasures.

"Now that's something!"

"This is the old thief's treasure trove, collected over all these years? What brazen arrogance—he just leaves it all out in plain sight?"

"Most of it is money and valuables, gold and silver, jewelry and the like, things that gleam. But sensing them closely, there are some curious treasures, too..."

As his thoughts flickered, Ge Xian followed his perception and looked toward the very front of the platform.

There was a polished, rounded jade table, with several unusual objects set upon it in a solemn arrangement.

From a distance, they appeared to be a yellowed sheet of paper, a medium-thick booklet brimming with Dao Qi, and a palm-sized jade plaque.

The moment Ge Xian saw the three objects, an intensely powerful attraction sprang up within him.

By his own perception, it was even stronger than when he'd sensed the Dragon Transformation Chapter earlier.

There really were treasures here!

He'd come to the right place!

Ge Xian had only just had that thought, and begun weighing whether to simply make his move or use a subtler approach, such as stealing the items without being noticed,

when the "White Jade Daoist's Old Wife," as enormous as an old sow, made the choice for him.

Perhaps she'd eaten too much cured meat and wanted a change, something fresh to taste.

When she saw several monstrous rats carrying Ge Xian, a "living human," into the den, she immediately squealed a few times. Ge Xian couldn't understand rat speech, but from what the rats did next—preparing to butcher and cook him—he could guess that the mother rat wanted to eat him.

With that, Ge Xian naturally wouldn't delay any longer.

Who knew how long the White Jade Old Thief could hold out against the Two Ghoul Generals and the other Evil Cultivators? He needed to end this quickly.

Without warning or unnecessary words,

Ge Xian instantly called upon the Dragon Transformation Power within him. With a terrifying Dragon's Roar, he transformed on the spot.

His half-human, half-dragon body appeared. The rat tide, which had been in an uproar moments ago, was immediately suppressed by the aura of a higher being, unable to move.

The only one still able to struggle was the White Jade Daoist's wife.

She squealed wildly and writhed her fat demonic body. Seemingly by accident, she sprayed a great deal of milk laced with venomous demonic qi toward Ge Xian... Perhaps this mother rat, whose True Form was evidently also a White Jade Demonic Rat, had once possessed potential as impressive as the White Jade Daoist's. Unfortunately, now that she'd fallen into this state, she couldn't even fight back against Ge Xian.

"Stop squealing. I'll send you, Your Majesty the Empress, to the next world."

"Bang!"

From the moment he'd entered the rat tide, Ge Xian had been holding back.

Now that he'd transformed, there was no way he'd go easy.

First, he gathered qi in his mouth and let out a Dragon's Roar, shaking every rat monster in the den to death. Then he stepped forward and stomped down, crushing the skull of the old mother rat who'd eaten who knew how many people and given birth to who knew how many rats.

Using the force of that stomp, before the splattering flesh and blood could hit him, Ge Xian leapt onto the platform.

He didn't waste time looking over the shelves packed full of goods. He went straight to the jade table, confirmed there was no danger, then picked up the three objects one after another and quickly examined them.

He looked first at the yellowed sheet of paper. It was covered in extremely strange writing and diagrams, and with his limited knowledge, he couldn't understand a single character.

Then he looked at the medium-thick booklet. Before even a few breaths had passed, something Ge Xian saw brought an expression of delight to his face.

His excitement was even greater than when he'd obtained the Dragon Transformation Chapter earlier.

"Anle Zishen's Logbook!"

"This booklet is a diary kept by an Immortal God? It records what the White Jade Daoist did over all those years as the Anle Son of God, and, like a local gazetteer, also includes all sorts of local customs, anecdotes, and secrets."

Learning the booklet's origins, Ge Xian felt that this risky venture had been well worth it.

Almost without thinking, he flipped a few more pages and skimmed them. He also quickly learned what the jade plaque was: it went with the logbook, an official jade token bestowed by the Dayuan Dynasty to prove the holder's status as a local Immortal God.

Just as Ge Xian was about to investigate the sheet of paper and turn around to sweep the shelves holding the treasure and valuables,

a heart-rending howl rang out from somewhere underground beyond the den:

"Who?"

"Who killed my empress—my old wife?"

Anyone could hear it.

The owner of that howl was surely heartbroken beyond measure.

The burst of power that followed was so great that the White Jade Old Daoist forcibly broke through the Two Ghoul Generals' encirclement. His body manifested as the True Form of the White Jade Demonic Rat, and he charged madly through the winding tunnels toward the den.

Anything in his path—even his own offspring—was smashed into meat patties beneath his body.

Sensing the commotion, Ge Xian had originally planned to retreat.

But as the White Jade Old Daoist drew closer, Ge Huolang clearly sensed the condition and strength of his demonic body.

Grievously wounded!

At the end of his rope!

Those two judgments alone might have been enough, but what truly made Ge Xian unable to tear himself away, excitement appearing in his eyes, was a page he'd happened upon by chance. The logbook read:

"On this day, my Dao attainments advanced once more, and I could faintly glimpse the threshold of Foundation Establishment. I bribed my superiors with years of savings and secured their help. At the cost of all my [White Jade Rat Fur], I had them craft a Storage Pouch."

"Storage Magic Treasure??"

Those four key words made Ge Xian reach a decision in the blink of an eye.

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