Chapter 224: A New Storage Ring

Only to immediately reel back, stumbling into Senior Brother Fan Xiao, who placed a steadying hand on his back.

“What happened?” 

“Are you alright?”

“I am fine,” Yang said, steadying himself.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Senior Brother Weilong mutter to Senior Brother Qing An. “That is not a usual reaction to looking inside your storage ring.” 

“Maybe it's packed full of priceless treasure, and Junior Brother was shocked out of his wits at the sight of them,” came a casual drawl from behind them.

All four of them immediately whipped their heads around to see Senior Brother Yuan Shen sauntering over, swallowing down a bottle of pills to patch up his injuries as he approached.

Yang looked past him and spotted Senior Brother Zhen Hao still fighting the beast, even throwing a venomous glare at the back of Senior Brother Yuan Shen’s head for abandoning him mid-fight to sate his curiosity.

Senior Brother Qing An offered him a lazy smile. “Tired of putting your strength to the test?”

“I have been a Golden Core cultivator for many years,” Senior Brother Yuan Shen scoffed as he reached them and stood beside Yang. “It's not me who needed to test the limits of their strength. I simply couldn’t resist the snippets I overheard over the beast's squealing around.”

“So what's so special about Junior Brother Yang’s new toy?” he asked as he looked down at the silver ring on Yang’s finger.

“I don’t know… It's completely unlike the storage ring Master gave me,” Yang admitted. “With my original ring, once bound to me, I could only perceive a fixed space, and whenever I stored an item, I simply sensed it suspended within that space.” 

He paused as he thought over the words he wanted to use. “But when I looked inside this ring, I felt as if I was inside the space itself. There was no fixed pocket of space. It actually felt like I was in a void.”

And Yang would know better than most what that felt like. He wouldn’t have been so shocked if it hadn’t given the same feeling as when he was suspended bodyless in the void. Peering into the ring and finding a similar feeling had thrown him off completely.

“Here, try putting this in your new storage ring,” Senior Brother Qing An said as he summoned a massive, full-sized bed right on the flattened ground.

Yang looked incredulously at him.

“Don’t look so shocked.” Senior Brother Qing An rolled his eyes. “This is the largest item I have that I wouldn’t care if I lost.”

“Qing An is right,” Senior Brother Fan Xiao said contemplatively. “If you have something to anchor your attention to, it may give you a point of reference to judge the scale of the space inside the ring.”

“What about him feeling like being in the void?” Senior Brother Weilong asked in concern.

“Space and void are intrinsically connected,” Senior Brother Fan Xiao explained. “If this storage ring originates from a higher world, it's likely that its spatial capacity is so large as to give the feeling of being in a void. Even for a higher world artifact, I have doubts anyone would be capable of recreating an actual void in a ring”

"Yang is also still alive," Senior Brother Qing An said dryly.

Senior Brother Fan Xiao inclined his head in agreement, "There is also that."

Senior Brothers Fan Xiao, Weilong and Qing An all turned to Yang, who looked at the large, ornately carved dark wood bed. He sighed as he waved his hand and summoned the bed into his storage ring. 

One of his eyebrows rose immediately in surprise.

Placing items inside a storage ring was already a near-instantaneous process, yet here, Yang could feel a difference. The bed was pulled in too seamlessly. Instantly.

He glanced up and saw Senior Brothers Qing and Fan Xiao also seemed to have realized it, as they looked at him expectantly.

Yang once again peered within the ring and got the feeling of an unending expanse, but after hearing Senior Brother Fan Xiao’s explanation, he didn't immediately panic. Instead, his gaze immediately found the bed sitting on the ground. As his concentration shifted to it, he found himself actually standing near it.

He looked down to find his hands completely visible. He could even see his body. Curious, he ran a hand down his chest, feeling the fabric and the contours of his muscles beneath his fingers. This was completely different to how normal storage rings worked. With those, he only got a sense of space and could visualize what was where, but here, it felt as if he was himself present in the space inside the ring. 

He reached a hand out and placed it on one of the corners of the bed, feeling the divots in the carved wooden post. He walked around, circling the bed and then took a seat on it, wondering what else was possible in this ring, but couldn't dwell on it too long. He had to get back, or otherwise his Senior Brothers would worry that his mind had gotten lost in his own storage ring.

He immediately went back and found himself meeting Senior Brother Fan Xiao's gaze.

“It's in there. The bed,” he stated.

“Did you manage to get a scale of the inside?” Senior Brother Qing An asked eagerly.

Yang shook his head. “It still looked just as vast. But it's different from my own storage ring.”

“Instead of being suspended in space, the bed was placed on a flat surface.” He looked at Senior Brother Fan Xiao. “I can’t exactly call it ground, but I was able to walk across the surface, touch the bed, and even sit on it.”

“Wait,” Senior Brother Weilong interrupted. “Sat on it?” He looked shocked. “Do you mean to say you were tangible inside your own ring?”

“Yes. I could walk around, touch the bed, circle it, and even sit on it. I was even able to see and touch myself.”

“Then I can say without a doubt that you would not find another storage artifact like this in all of our world.” Senior Brother Fan Xiao said as he looked intently at Yang. “It would be best if you kept its existence and abilities secret.” 

Yang nodded back seriously. This time he had really gotten something good.

Without warning, Senior Brother Fan Xiao raised his hand and made a twisting motion.

A disgusting squelch echoed from behind him, and Yang turned to see the flame-headed beast, crushed in front of Senior Brother Zhen Hao, who looked in bad form as he stood with his sword raised, and in complete shock as he realized his opponent was crumpled like a wet tissue midway through their fight.

Senior Brother Zhen Hao seemed to know exactly who to credit for this unasked-for aid as he shot a glare at Senior Brother Fan Xiao, who merely raised an eyebrow. “Your time is up. We leave now.”

Knowing better than to argue, he quickly bent down and used the tip of his sword to peel off the skull and brain matter as he dug around for a beast core.

He quickly retrieved it and walked back to them, taking out a bottle of pills and swallowing them. Yang watched as the cuts and injuries showing through his torn robes healed in seconds, leaving only clear skin.

He tossed the bright orange beast core at Yang, who caught it, stripped off his robes, and quickly put on a fresh set.

“So we found a way out?” he asked as he stood beside them.

“You heard everything while fighting the beast?” Senior Brother Qing An asked, looking impressed.

“No,” Senior Brother Zhen Hao said, letting out a grin. “I just assumed since all of you were already gathered here, chatting.”

“So what happened? Anyone willing to fill me in?” he asked, looking at all of them before his gaze settled on Yang. “I have a feeling Junior Brother Yang is at the center of it.”

“Yes,” Senior Brother Fan Xiao said. “But we are not waiting around to fill you in.”

“Chen Yang, take the beast cores and all the carcasses in your storage ring.” Senior Brother instructed Yang, who nodded and walked over first to the small mound of beast cores.

He waved his hand over and added the cores and then the large pile of beast carcasses. He peeked inside his new ring and saw there was still space. He noticed the carcasses were too close to the bed and wrinkled his nose, wishing the carcasses were placed away, and suddenly they were at a great distance from Yang and the bed.

He looked shocked. The distance, and consequently the space in this ring, was too exaggerated. Even with his heightened sight, all he could see in the distance was a small blurry mound.

He shook his head. This was not the time.

He quickly resurfaced and went towards the crushed body of the Nascent Soul beast, adding it to his new collection, and then turned to look towards his Senior Brothers

They were all ready with their flying swords levitating next to them.

Yang immediately took out his flying carpet and jumped on it, flying behind Senior Brother Fan Xiao, who shot off in the lead with the ice-blue talisman in his hand.

He saw Senior Brother Weilong raise his hand, and the naked cultivators were raised in the air, being dragged behind them.

“Are we even taking the trash with us?” came Senior Brother Zhen Hao’s voice.

“It's a good habit to pick up after yourself,” Senior Brother Weilong replied. “They wouldn’t have a chance inside the forest, so I plan on dropping them somewhere relatively safe, and then the rest is on them.”

They kept flying for some time, and almost two hours into their journey, they came across a large lake. Yang noticed Senior Brother Weilong losing altitude in the back and saw him sprinkle the naked cultivators as he flew low over the lake.

The cultivators gained mobility as soon as they hit the water and started swimming frantically towards the shore.

They crossed the lake and, an hour or so in, reached the edge of a large mountain range. 

“Just how far away is this new rift?” Senior Brother Qing An called out to Senior Brother Fan Xiao, who replied without even looking back. “I have no idea. This token just gives a direction.”

They started flying higher to cross over the mountains when Yang suddenly saw Senior Brother Qing An swerve to his left as a large bolt of grey mist shot past him.

Join my Patreon to read 10 advance chapters.