Chapter 481 - 478: Mysterious Space

Chapter 481: Chapter 478: Mysterious Space

Upon entering the city, Chen Wanjun, familiar with the route, found a sizable inn and booked several superior rooms.

The room assigned to Fang Han was at the end of the second-floor corridor. Pushing the door open, he found the furnishings simple: a bed, a table, and a chair. The bedding was reasonably clean.

He unstrapped the Cloud Splitting Sword and leaned it against the headboard, then tossed his bag onto the table and sat cross-legged on the bed.

After days of constant travel, the cyan-gold Inner Qi from his Cyan Profound Technique had been depleted to a thin, sluggish layer flowing through his meridians, almost completely exhausted.

He had used nearly all his strength in the battle against Xue Yuanlang.

Although that old bastard had lost an arm and was severely injured, the foundation of a First Grade Martial Artist remained.

Even for someone as powerful as him, who had comprehended Sword Intent and reached Minor Achievement in the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique, it had been a hard-won victory. He had nearly lost his life at Xue Yuanlang’s hands.

The consumption of his Inner Qi had been immense.

This was followed by a full day and night of travel with only two short rests. On top of that, maintaining the "Thousand-Mile Soul Lock" to watch for pursuers had drained his Inner Qi even further.

As a result, his Inner Qi was completely depleted.

RUSTLE—

Fang Han took a Jade Bottle from his robes and tipped a Yunling Pill into his mouth.

The elixir dissolved instantly, and a warm stream of Medicinal Power slid down his throat, spreading through his limbs and bones.

He closed his eyes and slowly circulated the Cyan Profound Technique.

The cyan-gold Inner Qi surged through his meridians like a long-awaited rainstorm in a parched riverbed, greedily absorbing and refining the pure Medicinal Power from the Yunling Pill.

The Medicinal Power transformed into streams of Inner Qi, which then poured into the acupoints throughout his body. His once-depleted meridians gradually filled up again.

The Quiet Chamber was silent, save for the occasional noise from the bustling market outside and the faint sound of a dog barking in the distance.

「Over an hour later.」

Fang Han slowly opened his eyes. A faint golden glint flashed within them before vanishing.

Inside his body, the cyan-gold Inner Qi had returned to its peak state, surging endlessly through his meridians, vigorous and full.

He gently exhaled a breath of turbid air and felt his whole body lighten.

’They must be after the treasure I brought out of the Ancient Ruins...’

Fang Han sat leaning against the headboard, his gaze fixed on the world outside his window.

Recalling the life-and-death crisis he had experienced over the past day, he couldn’t help but feel a lingering fear.

At the same time, a suspicion began to form.

Xue Yuanlang was a First-Grade Elder of Thunderlight Pavilion, and Meng Zhao was a First-Grade Elder of the Red Flame Sect. The dozen or so disciples tailing them also belonged to these two Sects.

He had no prior grievances with these two Sects; he’d had very little interaction with them at all.

His only encounter had been in the Ancient Ruins, where Xue Wu of Thunderlight Pavilion had provoked the younger generation of Qingyang County. Kuang Tu had taught him a lesson, and Fang Han, as the first on Qingyang County’s Celestial Pride List, had stepped up and said a few words. That was all.

A conflict so minor would never warrant two First-Grade Elders personally leading an ambush to kill him.

The only explanation was the treasure he had obtained from the Ancient Ruins.

The man is innocent; his treasure is his crime.

The people from Thunderlight Pavilion and the Red Flame Sect had clearly grown covetous of the treasure he acquired.

’Thunderlight Pavilion, Red Flame Sect...’

Fang Han’s fingers tapped unconsciously on the edge of the bed, making a soft, rhythmic sound.

A coldness slowly gathered in his calm eyes.

He had committed the names of these two Sects to memory.

Right now, his cultivation was only at the Middle Stage of Third Grade. Even going all out, he could only kill Xue Yuanlang because the man was already heavily wounded.

If faced with a First Grade Martial Artist at their peak, he wouldn’t stand a chance.

Furthermore, both of these Sects were top-level powers in Donglu County, on the same level as the Qingxuan Sect.

Each Sect had a Grandmaster Powerhouse presiding over it, numerous Elders, and a deeply entrenched network of power. They were not something he could contend with.

Even the Qingxuan Sect would find them difficult to handle.

’Just because I can’t do anything about it now doesn’t mean I won’t be able to later!’

A cold glint shone in Fang Han’s eyes.

He never doubted his ability to reach the Grandmaster Realm.

With the system panel and his 256-times Root Bone Talent Amplification, reaching the Grandmaster Realm was only a matter of time for him.

Once he stepped into the Grandmaster Realm, or perhaps even further—

When that time came, he wouldn’t mind taking a trip to Donglu County to make those two Sects pay for what they did today.

’First, I need to get some proper sleep!’

Fang Han averted his gaze, temporarily suppressing these thoughts.

Now was not the time to dwell on such things.

The exhaustion from days of travel now washed over him like a tide.

His eyelids felt as heavy as lead, and a dull ache spread through his limbs.

He hadn’t closed his eyes since leaving the Ancient Ruins.

He stopped forcing himself to stay awake, removed his outer robe, and lay down on the bed.

The moment his head hit the pillow, sleepiness drowned him like a flood.

His consciousness slipped into chaos as he fell into a deep sleep.

He slept deeply and dreamlessly.

He slept from the afternoon all the way to the next morning.

When Fang Han awoke, morning light was already filtering through the window paper, casting faint shadows on the floor.

From outside came the faint clamor of the market—the cries of street vendors, the rumbling of cart wheels over stone slabs, and the voices of early risers greeting one another.

He lay quietly for a moment, feeling the abundant energy within his body.

After that long, deep sleep, the fatigue from days of travel had finally dissipated completely.

His wounds, nourished by the Creation Pill and a night of rest, had already begun to scab over.

A GROWL echoed from his stomach.

After sleeping for so long, his stomach was completely empty, and the pangs of hunger were especially sharp.

Fang Han got up, washed his face, changed into a clean cyan robe, and hung the Cloud Splitting Sword from his waist before pushing the door open and heading out.

In the main hall downstairs, a few tables of guests were already eating breakfast.

Chen Wanjun and Luo Yuntian were sitting at a table by the window, talking in low voices.

Yun Muyao sat alone in a corner, dressed in a plain white gown with a light veil covering her face. A bowl of plain congee was set before her, which she was sipping delicately.

Kuang Tu, Chen Wuhen, and the others sat at another table. When they saw Fang Han come downstairs, they all nodded in greeting.

Fang Han gave a slight nod in return and sat down at an empty table.

An attendant eagerly came over, and he casually ordered a few items—a steamer of buns, a bowl of congee, and a few side dishes.

The food arrived quickly.

The buns were thin-skinned and generously filled, bursting with steaming hot meat juices when he bit into them.

The congee was thick, its rice fragrance wafting to his nose.

The side dishes were light and refreshing.

Fang Han ate not quickly, but steadily.

The steamer of buns, the bowl of congee, and the side dishes were soon wiped clean.

The hunger in his stomach finally subsided, replaced by the comfortable feeling of being full.

He put down his chopsticks, took a sip of tea, paid his bill, and went back upstairs to his room.

He reached into his robes and his fingers brushed against something—cool, slightly heavy, and smooth to the touch.

It was the jet-black ring he had obtained from the Ancient Ruins.

Since leaving the Ancient Ruins, he had first been ambushed by Xue Yuanlang and his men, then had fled for his life for a full day and night. He hadn’t had a chance to examine this object closely.

Now, he finally had some free time.

’What kind of treasure is this, exactly?’

Fang Han took out the ring and placed it in his palm.

The ring was entirely pitch-black, made of some unknown material.

Its surface was unadorned and smooth as a mirror, yet it lacked the coldness of metal, instead possessing a warmth like jade.

It felt slightly heavy in his hand, much heavier than an ordinary ring.

He turned it over and over, his brow furrowing slightly.

He couldn’t see anything special about it.

It wasn’t inlaid with any Gemstones. Aside from some faint, mysterious patterns, it was just a jet-black band.

It was plain, unadorned, and unremarkable.

If he had seen it at a roadside stall, he probably wouldn’t have given it a second glance.

But this ring was the reward for the eighth trial of the Ancient Ruins.

Given the lavishness of the previous rewards from the Ancient Ruins, this ring, being the reward for the eighth trial, could not possibly be an ordinary item.

’I’ll try infusing it with Inner Qi!’

Fang Han pondered for a moment before slipping the ring onto the index finger of his left hand.

The size was a perfect fit, not too loose and not too tight.

He tried to infuse a wisp of Inner Qi into the ring.

The cyan-gold Inner Qi flowed from his fingertip into the black band, disappearing without a sound, like a stream flowing into the sea.

The ring remained jet-black, showing no reaction whatsoever.

’If it’s not driven by Inner Qi, does it require a blood bond?’

Fang Han thought for a moment and took the ring off again.

A common trope from the entertainment works of his past life surfaced in his mind—claiming ownership with a drop of blood.

Since this world had things like Ancient Ruins, which were suspected to be relics left by immortal cultivators, then perhaps a method like claiming ownership with blood truly existed.

He drew his sword and made a cut on the pad of his index finger.

His physical defense was astonishing now; it took considerable force just to make a shallow cut.

A drop of crimson blood seeped out and landed on the ring’s surface.

His eyes were glued to the ring.

The blood drop rolled across the smooth surface of the ring, and then—

Nothing happened.

It wasn’t absorbed, it didn’t glow, and there were no strange phenomena.

The drop of blood just sat on the surface, as if it had landed on an ordinary stone.

’Still nothing?’

Fang Han was silent for a moment before wiping the blood away.

Inner Qi didn’t work, and neither did blood.

How on earth was he supposed to use this ring?

His brow furrowed deeply as he stared at the jet-black band in his palm, lost in thought.

The reward for the eighth trial couldn’t possibly be a useless item.

There had to be a method he hadn’t thought of yet.

Inner Qi was the foundation of this world’s Martial Dao system.

Claiming ownership with blood was a common method for bonding with magical treasures in the xianxia novels of his past life.

He had tried both, and neither had worked.

So what else was there?

’Could it be... I need to use spiritual power?!’

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Fang Han.

The path of the Martial Dao had the Three Gates of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

The Essence Pass was for tempering the body, the Qi Pass for accumulating Inner Qi, and the Spirit Pass for refining the spirit.

After entering the Third Grade, he had unlocked the "Spiritual Perception" Divine Treasure, gaining the ability to sense his surroundings with his spiritual power.

Inner Qi didn’t work, blood didn’t work... so what about spiritual power?

’I’ll give it a try!’

Fang Han took a deep breath, suppressing the faint anticipation in his heart, and slipped the ring back onto his left index finger.

He closed his eyes, and the Divine Treasure between his brows grew faintly warm.

An invisible wisp of spiritual power extended like a tentacle, cautiously touching the ring.

The instant his spiritual power made contact with the ring—

BUZZ...

A soft hum that only he could perceive echoed in his mind.

The sound was extremely faint, yet it seemed to open an invisible door.

In the next moment, his consciousness flowed of its own accord, entering a mysterious space.