Spirit Ring, Spirit Stones, Manuals

How strong was Empress Xuan? No one could say for sure.

Some said she ranked among the top five. Some said she was weaker than the Evil King and Dragon King. Some said she was second only to the Void Emperor. Others said she was the strongest under heaven, unpredictable as gods and ghosts, already touching the edge of the Heavenly Dao.

Of course, these were all conjectures. Yet it could not be denied that Empress Xuan had indeed reached an inconceivable realm. She had once killed three grandmasters of the evil sects from a hundred li away, pierced the earth veins with a single palm strike, triggered a volcanic eruption, altered the landscape, and moved her own sect gate tens of thousands of li away. Even an unknown nobody like Ye Chen had heard these deeds countless times.

After studying the portrait carefully, Ye Chen found that he could not make out Empress Xuan's face no matter how hard he tried. It seemed the painter had been unable to depict her appearance and could only blur it, creating a hazy beauty of distance.

After a long while, Ye Chen withdrew his gaze, a question rising in his heart.

Who had lived here? To possess a portrait of Empress Xuan... one had to know that Empress Xuan had ruled the world for more than a decade, and very few people had been qualified to meet her. Judging from the ink, this painting could not have existed for more than ten years. Besides, where had the owner of this stone chamber gone? He had hung this well-preserved painting on the wall, clearly valuing it greatly. If he had gone on a long journey, he should have taken it with him.

Hm, what was this?

Ye Chen's gaze fixed on the center of the stone chamber. There was a scorched patch there. Looking closely, he found an utterly inconspicuous ring amid the pale ashes.

He reached out and picked it up, wiping it with his sleeve. Two ancient characters were engraved on the back of the dark green ring—Mid-Grade.

Ye Chen was stunned at first, then nearly went wild with joy. This inconspicuous ring was actually a Storage Spirit Ring, and a priceless Mid-Grade Storage Ring at that.

If a Low-Grade Storage Spirit Ring could bankrupt an ordinary mid-sized family, then a Mid-Grade Storage Ring would be enough to make a great family like the Ye Family bleed heavily. Only great sects likely possessed one or two, and even then, they would be reserved for the sect master. Ordinary people need not even dream of one.

Taking a deep breath, Ye Chen circulated his Internal Energy and slowly poured it into the Storage Spirit Ring.

Buzz!

The Storage Spirit Ring trembled slightly. A faint, almost imperceptible ripple spread outward and was caught by Ye Chen's Soul Force.

The next moment, Ye Chen saw the space inside the Storage Spirit Ring.

It was a standard cube, two zhang in length, width, and height. It was misty and faintly translucent throughout, as though it had been carved out of the void itself, larger than an ordinary family's sitting room.

Inside lay two manuals, a long saber with its sheath, and a pile of jade stones that glowed faintly white. They were the size of eggs, with edges and corners.

"Could these be Spirit Stones?" As his attention settled on the jade stones, Ye Chen's previously steady emotions stirred once more.

With a thought, Ye Chen drew out a jade stone directly. Closing his eyes, he urged his Internal Energy into it.

Boom!

Like floodwaters released from a broken dam, the vast Origin Energy within the Spirit Stone surged out fiercely and rushed through Ye Chen's Meridians, unstoppable.

"This is bad. Martial artists below the True Condensation Realm have no right to cultivate with Spirit Stones." Ye Chen's face turned pale. He spat out a mouthful of blood and hastily circulated the Pure Origin Skill, forcibly severing his connection to the Spirit Stone.

Huff, huff, huff...

After taking several heavy breaths, Ye Chen was still shaken with fear. In his excitement, he had actually forgotten a martial artist's taboo. His joy had nearly turned to grief, and his Meridians had almost been crippled.

Fortunately, the Internal Energy of the Pure Origin Skill was incomparably pure, and he had cultivated it to the highest realm of [***] One. He could barely sever the connection. Had it been someone else, even if their Meridians had not been ruined, they would have been swollen unconscious by the Origin Energy.

Although the Meridians in his arm still ached faintly, Ye Chen burst into laughter.

Like Storage Spirit Rings, Spirit Stones were necessities for high-level martial artists. The latter stored objects, while the former provided Origin Energy for cultivation. They could only be produced by Heaven and Earth Spirit Veins and were divided into four grades according to quality and the amount they contained: low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and supreme-grade.

One had to know that it took an ordinary person more than five years to cultivate from the Qi Cultivation Realm First Layer to the Qi Cultivation Realm Tenth Layer. To cultivate from the True Condensation Realm Early Stage to the Late True Condensation Realm took more than ten years, while advancing from the Primal Origin Realm Early Stage to the late stage took at least twenty or thirty years. Altogether, that came to forty or fifty years.

To most people, forty or fifty years was far too long—terrifyingly long.

But with Spirit Stones, it was different. Aside from the Qi Cultivation Realm, which had to be cultivated steadily and honestly, once one reached the True Condensation Realm, one could absorb the Origin Energy inside Spirit Stones. According to calculations by those in the know, the quality of Origin Energy in a Spirit Stone was equivalent to five times that of Heaven and Earth Origin Energy. In other words, setting aside the issue of breaking through realms, cultivation was four times faster than normal. Even taking into account how difficult it was to advance realms, it could still roughly double one's cultivation speed.

It could be said that only with Spirit Stones could a genius's value truly be revealed.

After all, geniuses possessed astonishingly high comprehension and broke through realms at an inconceivable speed, allowing them to bring the value of Spirit Stones to its utmost limit. Those with poor aptitude, however, would still have to honestly comprehend things when facing a breakthrough, even with Spirit Stones to assist them. Otherwise, they might remain stuck there for the rest of their lives.

Ye Chen estimated that there were at least ten thousand Spirit Stones inside the Storage Spirit Ring. Each was worth more than a thousand taels of silver, for a total of ten million taels of silver.

What did ten million taels of silver mean? It could practically cover a mid-sized family's expenses for one or two years. It was absolutely an enormous fortune.

"Wealth must not be revealed. I have to hide this secret and keep it buried in my heart until I have sufficient strength."

Ye Chen silently warned himself.

With difficulty, Ye Chen tore his gaze away from the Spirit Stones and took out the two manuals.

The first was a fist art cultivation manual—

Hegemon Fist, an Earth-Grade Low-Tier Martial Skill. Those who cultivated it had to possess absolute confidence, never losing heart and never giving up. Otherwise, it would be difficult to bring out the true essence of the Hegemon Fist.

The Hegemon Fist had four forms.

First form, Tyrannical Rampage!

Second form, Sole Dominator!

Third form, Dominate as King!

Fourth form, Eternal Overlord Aura!

Take heed: the Hegemon Fist possessed tremendous power. Before cultivating True Qi, one's physical condition had to be exceptionally strong. Otherwise, one would injure oneself through the recoil, making the gain not worth the loss.

The fourth form, Eternal Overlord Aura, contained boundless mysteries. Only with exceptional physical condition and True Qi could it be driven to its limit.

It was an Earth-Grade Low-Tier fist art. If Ye Chen claimed he was not excited, he would be lying. Generally speaking, only Core Disciples were qualified to cultivate Earth-Grade Low-Tier Martial Arts. Very few Inner Sect Disciples could learn them, much less Outer Sect Disciples. He then turned his gaze to the second book.

The second was a body-strengthening manual—

"Jade Tempering Body Strengthening Art, Earth-Grade Low-Tier. A manual passed down from several centuries ago. Those who cultivate it successfully greatly increase their capacity for Origin Energy. If Qi Cultivation Realm martial artists cultivate it, they can directly absorb the Origin Energy within Spirit Stones with their powerful bodies, without needing to worry about safety.

The Jade Tempering Body Strengthening Art has five arts.

First Art, Body Nourishing and Strength Training!

Second Art, Hard and Soft Divine Strength!

Third Art, Jade Tempering Body Strengthening!

Fourth Art, Jade Shattering Rebirth!

Fifth Art, Adamantine Jade Body!

Note: The First Art and Second Art focus on nourishing the body. Those gifted with extraordinary talent may cultivate the Third Art directly. If one can reach the highest realm, the Fifth Art, one will be invincible among martial artists of the same level.

Another Earth-Grade Low-Tier manual!