Liang Shixian was thoroughly annoyed. He ignored Ji Ruo and turned around to continue practicing.
Ji Ruo had already reached the Qi Pulse Realm, while he had only just become a Level Nine Martial Apprentice.
Even two birds were stronger than him. The class monitor was feeling the pressure.
Ji Ruo smiled, took a deep breath, and charged toward his two new disciples.
Three bolts of lightning streaked through the enormous bird's nest, setting countless dead branches ablaze.
Fortunately, the nest was huge, so there wasn't much damage for the moment.
It was just that one spot was missing a chunk while another was scorched, making the place look terribly unsightly.
But that was all right. Most of the damage had been caused by the two little troublemakers. Ji Ruo had meant to chase them down and get them to stop making a mess—but, well, he hadn't caught them.
Anyway, if Wind God Falcon Auntie blamed him later, that was what he'd tell her.
"Ha ha ha ha! Run faster, run faster! I'm gonna catch you!"
"Chirp chirp chirp~ (Nyah nyah nyah~ Master can't catch us~)"
"Chirp chirp~ (Can't catch us, can't catch us~)"
Whatever the outcome, Ji Ruo was having a great time.
And so, the nest grew messier and messier.
But that was all right. This was the two little ones' home, after all!
They didn't care, so why should Ji Ruo?
When life was good, you had to let loose!
Half an hour later—
The two little ones finally stopped. They'd only just been born, and no matter how much they loved playing around, they were completely exhausted by now.
"Chirp chirp~ (Master, hungry~)"
"Chirp chirp~ (Meat, yummy meat!)"
"All right, all right, meat it is." Ji Ruo chuckled. After all that strenuous activity, he was a little hungry too.
He hadn't spent the past half hour merely playing with the two little ones. He'd also taken the opportunity to test his current strength and some of the abilities he'd gained after opening his Qi Vessel.
First, opening his Qi Vessel allowed him to absorb Spirit Qi directly from the air, greatly reducing the energy he used up during strenuous activity.
Put simply, it had boosted his stamina.
Second, his strength and speed had increased more than threefold. Without using Thunderclap and Flash, he could run a hundred meters in under four seconds at full speed!
And with Thunderclap and Flash, he was almost down to a single second!
His eyesight, dynamic vision, and reaction speed had all improved dramatically, though he wasn't sure by exactly how much yet.
A casual swing of one arm could probably muster several thousand jin of force. With a full-power sword swing, even without any technique, he could cut loose a wind blade that didn't have much killing power—Hard Sword Qi!
After marveling briefly at the strength of the Qi Pulse Realm, Ji Ruo turned and headed toward the Freezer.
Then he suddenly realized something was wrong.
Why was Rosie still eating?!
How long had she been at it?!
She looked so tiny, so how could she eat that much?
If he brought her back to Great Xia after the Martial Exam, would he even be able to afford to feed her?
Ji Ruo took a few quick steps and looked down behind Rosie.
Rosie was sprawled in the Spirit Herb and Treasure Zone, "eating like crazy."
Strangely, from Ji Ruo's angle, she looked like she was eating. But in reality, she seemed to be doing nothing more than pulling the Spirit Herbs and treasure medicines she could reach over to herself, whereupon they promptly vanished.
It didn't look like eating. It looked like she was stocking up?!
Little Rosie was so absorbed in stocking up that she hadn't noticed Ji Ruo behind her. As she dragged things over, she let out a silly, snickering laugh.
Ji Ruo grabbed Rosie by the scruff of her neck and lifted her up. "What are you doing, little—"
Clang~
Something fell from Rosie's arms and hit the ground with a clang. Ji Ruo froze for a moment.
Little Rosie instinctively covered her face with her paws. "Meow meow meow meow meow (Rosie didn't steal anything, Rosie didn't steal anything. Auntie said I could eat whatever I wanted.)"
"Stealing?"
Ji Ruo couldn't help laughing in exasperation.
He looked down. The thing that had fallen from Rosie seemed to be a mirror about the size of an infant's fist.
"What's this thing?"
At first, Ji Ruo didn't think much of it and bent down to pick it up.
But the instant his fingers touched the mirror, he froze.
```
[Clang clang clang clang~]
[Congratulations, young host! You have obtained: The In-and-Out, Up-to-the-Sky-and-Down-to-the-Earth, Embracing-the-Myriad-Things Mirror!]
[Category: Utility Item.]
[Quality: Theoretically perfect (with a flaw)]
[Effect 1: In-and-out, up-to-the-sky-and-down-to-the-earth at any time and place (after recording coordinates, allows instantaneous spatial travel) (incomplete)]
[Effect 2: Embracing the Myriad Things (contains a storage space that can be divided into sections and assigned storage rules; current rule: time-stop freshness preservation)]
[Manufacturer: Fantasy Sovereign]
[Note: Judging by the item's name, this Fantasy Sovereign probably isn't exactly a respectable entity.]
[Current owner: Rosie (determined to be the host's pet; this item can be added to the Card Collection Album)]
[Cards currently in the Card Collection Album: None]
[Note: The joy of collecting cards~]
[Note: My turn! Draw a card!]
The system suddenly spewed out a long string of densely packed information, making Ji Ruo's eyes swim.
It seemed like it had unlocked a new feature too?
When Rosie saw Ji Ruo take the mirror, she reached out a paw and let out a mournful cry. "Meow~ (Master, that's my treasure!)"
Ji Ruo glanced at her. "You're too young to have something this valuable. I'll hold on to it for you."
His expression and tone were exactly like a parent's on New Year's, when a child got their lucky money and was told, "Why would a little kid need this much money? Daddy will keep it safe for you."
"Meow~ (Master's mean!)"
Ignoring Rosie, Ji Ruo began examining the All-Encompassing Mirror.
Unlike an ordinary mirror, its surface wasn't smooth. It had raised and sunken areas, and a series of irregular straight lines divided the surface into diamonds of different sizes.
It didn't reflect the image of whoever looked into it. In fact, each diamond-shaped facet showed a different scene.
One diamond-shaped facet showed one scene. Two neighboring facets combined to form a new scene, and three showed yet another—and so on.
Even the scenes changed when he shifted his viewing angle, shapeless and ever-changing.
It was irregular, yet somehow gave Ji Ruo a sense of perfection.
But that perfection had a flaw—the mirror was missing one diamond-shaped facet at its center.
"A storage item?"
Ji Ruo rubbed his chin, added it directly to the system's Card Collection Album, and then took control of it through the album.
In an instant, a seemingly vast, boundless space of chaos appeared in Ji Ruo's mind.
Ji Ruo was stunned by how enormous it was, but then his expression darkened.
The space had finished displaying its full extent, then began shrinking at lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, Ji Ruo saw a small hill.
That was the pile of supplies Rosie had stored in the All-Encompassing Mirror.
Grilled fish, grilled meat, Spirit Fruits, Spirit Plants. A densely packed mountain of them.
"So that's why you can eat so much, little one. You've been eating your fill and stashing the rest away!"
Rosie's ears drooped sadly. In a small voice, she said, "Meow~ (Rosie doesn't want to go hungry anymore. When Master wasn't around, Rosie was so, so hungry. I couldn't find anything to eat, and even the fish picked on me.)"
Ji Ruo's heart softened. "Don't worry. That won't happen again."
Rosie happily lifted her head. "Meow meow meow~ (Really? Then Rosie's treasure—)"
"I'll keep it safe for you."
Rosie's heart, still warm with excitement, was immediately doused with cold water. "Meow~ (All right.)"
Ji Ruo looked into the All-Encompassing Mirror again.
Nine-tenths of those "supplies" had been swiped from Wind God Falcon Auntie's stockpile. Thank goodness her family had plenty of food stored away, or Rosie would've cleaned her out long ago!
"You're not allowed to steal things anymore!"
Ji Ruo said sternly.
Teaching had to start when they were young.
Her treasure confiscated, Rosie said listlessly, "Meow~ (Got it~)"
Before you continue