At dusk, Shi Fen sat cross-legged in the middle of his bedroom, his palms pressed together and resting on his legs. A small ring lay in his hands.
After that embarrassing blunder, Shi Fen had spent a long, long time calming his mind. Only then had his thoughts finally settled.
It was hard to imagine that the tiny World Ring weighed nearly 800 kilograms. Judging by its weight and the name of its material, Shi Fen thought it must be made of an extremely high-grade F-Grade Metal.
That was the only way it could be so heavy.
He was currently refining the World Ring with his faint Spiritual Force, patiently chipping away at it like water dripping through stone. Although Shi Fen had an Inner World spacious enough to store things, he felt he needed some "cover"—it was essential.
His recent blunder had reminded him of that.
He needed to be extra careful.
Although he could use the Small World ring as cover in his daily life, Apprentice Level creatures using World Rings was extremely uncommon, even in the vast universe. It could still draw unwanted attention.
But he had no choice.
His wealth wouldn't let him keep a low profile.
He would have to make do with an ordinary Space Ring for now.
He spent the entire night refining it before he finally finished. He slipped the ring onto the middle finger of his left hand. Weighing eight hundred jin, it made his hand feel as though it were wrapped in a giant block of lead. Everything he did felt awkward.
"Good thing it can merge into my palm. Wearing this ring every day would be unbearable otherwise."
Shi Fen merged the ring into his palm, then used his Spiritual Force to control it and sense everything inside the World Ring.
"The World Ring really is extraordinary. I only need to channel my Spiritual Force into it and connect with the World Power inside. Then the World Power takes care of everything for me."
Shi Fen's Apprentice Level Spiritual Force could only spread a few dozen meters outward. Yet such faint Spiritual Force could command the space inside the entire ring. It was nothing short of miraculous.
Even though Shi Fen could use the entire space, there were limits. He couldn't store or retrieve items that were too large or too heavy.
"Impressive, impressive!" Shi Fen exclaimed in admiration as he tried storing items from the room.
He kept practicing with the World Ring, trying to get to the point where he could store and retrieve items with ease.
The ring's World Power was formidable. If a powerful expert used it, they would be able to use it effortlessly as soon as they finished refining it. Shi Fen was far too weak right now. Those experts could kill him with a mere "breath," leaving not even ashes behind.
With his weak Spiritual Force, controlling the ring's World Power was like "a kitten pulling a sled"—an exhausting struggle. He had to practice until he could store and retrieve things smoothly.
The books on his shelf had suffered a terrible fate. More than half had been completely ruined. Their "sacrifice" had been worth it, though. It had helped Shi Fen succeed.
He stuffed the damaged items into a woven bag, planning to throw it away when he went downstairs later.
Fueled by his excitement, Shi Fen worked from the previous afternoon until noon the next day.
The exhaustion that came after all that excitement flooded his mind.
He rummaged through the house for instant food and wolfed down a meal. Then he took a shower and returned to his bedroom.
"With an Image Space, why sleep?"
His Spiritual Force entered the Eight Trigrams Reincarnation Mirror stored in his mind, and his consciousness entered the Image World. His body's breathing settled, and he fell into a "sleeping" state to rest.
A few minutes after entering, Shi Fen's mental state had completely recovered.
"I was right. The Image World can restore my mental state, and it works even better here." Shi Fen realized that he had fully recovered. A smug smile crossed his face.
With his mental state restored, he immediately flew to a corner of the Main Hall and began inspecting the various Tech Tools. "Let's see how the treasures my teacher left me compare to the ones I had before."
He inspected them one by one, silently recording the details.
He was like a wealthy landowner in his treasure vault, able to name every single treasure by heart.
"There are actually three Wisdom Forges. Why would I need so many when I'm the only one using them?"
"There are three Refining Furnaces too."
"Hmm? Why are there three of every important Treasure Refining device? Is my teacher planning for my father, my brother, and me to forge things together?"
"There's only one 'Trash Can.' What a shame there isn't even one Storage Card." He looked at the hundred empty slots on it and sighed.
These devices were the same as before. Some came with Storage Cards, while others did not.
Ever since Shi Fen had seen all those World Rings, he couldn't stop thinking about the miraculous Storage Cards. They were the perfect storage equipment for him.
Shi Fen weaved between the ten neatly lined-up Mining Vehicles, running his hand over their bodies as he compared them to see whether they were all identical.
"Hmm? There really is one that's different."
He circled the unusual Mining Vehicle, carefully examining every detail of its body.
Its overall shape was exactly the same as the other Mining Vehicles, but it had no "hatches" at all.
Shi Fen lay on the gleaming white floor, trying to see whether it had a hatch underneath.
The Mining Vehicle fit so tightly against the floor that he couldn't see anything useful.
"Could it be another kind of vehicle with a different function? Or maybe it's the leader of the Mining Vehicles?" Shi Fen stood in front of the ten vehicles, rubbing his chin as he made a bold guess.
"Ah." Shi Fen sighed and stopped wasting time on it. He continued inspecting and recording each item.
"One of these devices."
"How are there ten of these?"
"What kind of device is this? I've never seen one before. And there are ten of them too."
"What's this one?"
"Why are there so many things I've never seen before..."
As Shi Fen continued his inventory, he began to feel lost. Every device he hadn't seen before came in a set of ten, all placed together here.
The largest device was silver all over and shaped like a giant watermelon.
The smallest was a cube with sides about ten centimeters long.
They weren't very big, which was why he hadn't noticed them at a glance the last time he inspected everything.
Shi Fen had a good memory. Although he had only taken a quick look the last time he came in, he clearly remembered that these devices hadn't been here then.
"Looks like the tools on display before weren't everything."
Shi Fen had a better understanding of his teacher's style now. He liked to "play."
"The first reward my teacher gave me was already priceless. With his abilities, these newly added things definitely won't be ordinary. He's probably put them here in plain sight, using my curiosity to make me study the Secret Patterns faster."
Shi Fen felt he was almost certainly right.
The tactic had worked perfectly.
Shi Fen was the sort who would give in to a gentle approach but not a hard one. This was exactly the kind of thing that worked on him.
"Looks like I can't go adventuring in the Wilderness Area. That would waste too much time. Besides, I'm not short on money. The money I make from forging is enough to cover the family's daily expenses. I should stay hidden and focus on studying the Secret Patterns. Once I've finished studying them, Earth's resources and wealth will be nothing but clouds."
"I'll spend a year studying the Secret Patterns first."
Shi Fen made up his mind.
He decided to keep a low profile and quietly make his fortune.
When Luo Feng went to the universe, he would go with him and explore it. Compared to that, the Wilderness Area would be nothing.
Shi Fen was bound to have a bright future. There was no need for him to make a name for himself right now.
After working out a plan for his future, Shi Fen continued inspecting the remaining things in the Main Hall.
A few steps later, his eyes were drawn to a transparent box beneath a table.
"Oh, my god."
Shi Fen recognized what was inside the transparent box. Without a thought for his dignity, he dropped to his knees and leaned over the box, carefully counting the contents.
The transparent box was tiny: a little over twenty centimeters long, a little over ten centimeters wide, and a little over ten centimeters tall. Inside were neat stacks of Storage Cards.
He leaned over the side of the box and stared at the small stack of Storage Cards at the bottom. Using his eyes and hands, he began counting without a care for appearances. "One, two, three, four... one hundred."
A "scientist" who had lived two lifetimes and could do mental arithmetic at lightning speed now looked like a child who had found a pile of toys. He excitedly counted on his fingers, muttering to himself about how many toys he had won.
"One small stack has a hundred. From the top, there are ten small stacks in each layer, so that's a thousand Storage Cards per layer. There are ten layers, which means ten thousand Storage Cards."
Squatting beneath the table, Shi Fen rocked back and forth, excitedly counting on his fingers. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed writing on the back of the box. He instinctively reached out to turn it around so he could read the words.
The box turned a few degrees toward him. When Shi Fen saw it shift and tilt, he froze.
"Hm? Why did it move?"
The box was light, weighing no more than a few hundred jin at most.
Shi Fen lifted it effortlessly. Standing up, he turned the box this way and that. On the "front" was a line of text: "One hundred million kilometers in length, width, and height."
Shi Fen frowned, unable to believe it. "Wasn't I unable to use anything? Why can I pick up this box? And why is it so light?
"I remember that in the Virtual Trial Space, each Storage Card weighed ten kilograms. Shouldn't ten thousand of them weigh a hundred thousand jin?
"What's going on?
"These Storage Cards aren't as high-grade as the ones from before. But the Inner World is still one hundred million kilometers long, wide, and high. A treasure of this scale shouldn't be this light."
He tried to open the transparent box, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't. Then, as if he'd suddenly thought of something, he stared in disbelief. "No way, teacher. Are you playing word games with me?"
He remembered that in his message, "Yi" had said he couldn't use any items.
But he hadn't said he couldn't "move" them.
As soon as he realized this, Shi Fen immediately searched the areas he hadn't checked, looking for hidden boxes while inspecting the various Tech Tools.
Shi Fen finished checking all the areas he hadn't inspected.
"How come I haven't found a single box? That makes no sense. You gave me 100,000 World Rings, each with a diameter of one trillion kilometers. There's no way there could be so few Storage Cards." Holding the transparent box, he stood in a corner of the Main Hall, lost in thought.
Shi Fen felt conflicted.
He knew this box of Storage Cards was his teacher's "bait." His teacher's meaning was simple: there were plenty of good things, so don't slack off—get on with studying the Secret Patterns.
It was a way to urge Shi Fen to study the Secret Patterns faster. He understood that much.
What he couldn't understand was why there was only one box of such low-grade Storage Cards. Their Inner Worlds were only one hundred million kilometers in diameter. They were nothing compared to the Storage Cards that came standard with top-tier devices.
A spark of inspiration suddenly flashed through Shi Fen's mind.
"Those Storage Cabinets!" he shouted excitedly.
Besides the spaces visible at a glance, many Tech Tools had Storage Cabinets beneath their tables, with outer doors that could be pulled open by hand. It wasn't just tables that had Storage Cabinets. There were also many standalone Storage Cabinets beside various devices.
He had inspected them all in the Virtual Trial Space, and they had all been empty. That was why he hadn't checked a single one this time.
He immediately got up and darted to the nearest Storage Cabinet. He opened it and saw that it was empty, then hurried to the next one.
One empty cabinet after another swung open. Instead of feeling disappointed, Shi Fen grew even more excited.
He'd guessed right. His teacher really was playing word games.
Clutching the transparent box, he rushed to the Storage Cabinet beside the "Trash Can." The moment he opened it, he was stunned by what he saw...
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