Planet Earth, China.
Inside the luxurious main bath of the villa that formerly belonged to Mayor Bai Yong, Bai Zemin was sitting on the edge of the large pool of warm water while looking at the object in his right hand with curious eyes.
This object was small, circular in shape with a large hole in the center, and on the purple surface were several strange deep violet runes and lines that had been engraved with some unknown material.
"Another ring." Bai Zemin muttered to himself. "Well, considering this thing is Legend grade it should be good, no?"
He said to cheer himself up. Besides, Bai Zemin still had room for more rings so regardless of the function of this new ring it was most likely of good use to him.
"Let's see what you're hiding there, baby." He whispered as if speaking to his lover as he stroked a finger across the surface of the object.
The records of the ring immediately flashed in Bai Zemin's retina. However, when he saw what it was, his expression froze.
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[Spatial Storage Ring (Legend Grade Treasure): A ring that was crafted by a talented blacksmith over 12,000,000 years ago. It was forged using a Rank 4 metal and an amateur Magic Rune Inscriber found it by pure coincidence, then, without knowing what it was, used the ring to practice her rune skill on this ring because of its good material. This ring is proof that sometimes, miracles really can happen. Fight and persevere!]
[When equipped, it automatically increases the following stats: Magic +70 / Agility +50 / Mana +30.]
[Inside the ring, you have a space equivalent to 10 x 10 cubic meters where you can store any object that does not possess life. To be able to use the ring freely, you only need to let a drop of blood trickle on the surface.]
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"Oh…." Bai Zemin couldn't help but let out a small sound of surprise as he stared at the ring in his hands.
Then, as if awakening from some sort of dream he was in, he jumped off the edge of the pool until he was standing with his completely naked body in the free air as his excited blood bubbled furiously.
* * *
Shangguan Bing Xue, as well as all the main soul evolvers, was staying in the villa that previously belonged to Bai Yong. The villa was really big and would have no problem accommodating around 60 people so there was no need for everyone to split up.
After all, even though Baiquan Camp had fallen, there were still many things that needed to be done. The government of Bai Zemin in this new place was far from stable and the only way to speed things up a bit was to transport the citizens from the north to here; that way, when those who already knew what it was like to live within the administration of Bai Zemin could plant seeds of good faith in the hearts of the survivors of Baiquan Camp.
There were still many things that needed to be done such as cleaning up some streets that were covered with human waste because the previous government did not care about the base's slums, starting to distribute relief food with some mutant beast meat to slowly improve each survivor's body to eliminate possible diseases, forming a larger logistics team to add to the current one, getting to know the other leaders of the different forces, etc.
However, Shangguan Bing Xue had taken this well-deserved rest; not to sleep even though she was exhausted but to take care of Wu Yijun.
Shangguan Bing Xue looked at the face of the unconscious Wu Yijun and sighed softly as she bent down to gently wipe with a damp towel the beads of sweat that slid silently down her lovely innocent face.
From the moment Bai Zemin was saved by the two women and forcibly pulled out of the gray corridor seconds before the Cosmos Gate collapsed completely, Wu Yijun had not opened her eyes again after she saw the miserable state in which he had returned.
But it was also understandable considering that the Bai Zemin from a few hours ago was alive basically thanks to his Blood Manipulation skill that prevented blood from continuing to flow out of his system and thanks to his Health stat comparable to a peak Second Order human or a mid-level Second Order feral beast.
"Girl, you really fell for that scoundrel, mm?" Shangguan Bing Xue whispered under her breath.
Who would have thought that the ever-jokey that smiled at everyone but never really cared about anyone Wu Yijun would actually end up falling madly in love for a man in a matter of a month or two.
If Shangguan Bing Xue or anyone else still had any doubts about Wu Yijun's feelings for Bai Zemin, then the fact that she had fainted directly after seeing her loved one in a state that looked like he would die in the next instant was probably the final proof to remove all doubt about it.
Shangguan Bing Xue's eyes suddenly became complicated as she recalled what happened in Oblon World. However, she soon shook her head as she said to herself:
"Forget it, he was just giving me the potion since I couldn't drink it due to my badly wounded condition….. No need to overthink it. He would have made it for anyone who found themselves in that kind of situation after that anyone protected him."
However, even though she was trying to convince herself with those words and had indeed half succeeded, the other half of her could not accept them as true.
After all….
"After all, that was also my first kiss you little bastard!" Shangguan Bing Xue gritted her teeth and cursed under her breath.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!"
Shangguan Bing Xue suddenly jumped off the edge of the bed where Wu Yijun was resting when a yell that resembled the howl of a wolf in front of the full moon shook the entire mansion.
She looked in the direction of the howl and gritted her teeth as she muttered, "That little bastard really needs to make a fuss about everything?"
This wasn't nearly the first time Bai Zemin had yelled when something he didn't expect happened after all! Besides, it was clear that something good had happened to him since his voice was brimming with happiness!
So, she thought about going to check what was going on but after a moment's thought, she decided it was better not to. Therefore, after snorting in the direction of Bai Zemin's howl, she sat back down while pouting and complaining hysterically.
She only calmed down when the Soul Record began to calculate her achievements to offer her the deserved reward.
* * *
"I finally got my fucking ring!" Bai Zemin exclaimed joyfully as he raised the purple ring high in both hands and pivoted naked around the bathroom.
Although Lilith had told him that there was some probability of obtaining a low-quality storage ring if he accomplished a really great feat, Bai Zemin had dismissed those words as an impossibility since the day he heard them!
Little did Bai Zemin expect that he would actually obtain a Legend grade treasure and that from the orb would actually come out a storage ring as he so desired!
"Hehehe… I really want to see Lilith's face when I show her all the good stuff I got recently." Bai Zemin laughed like a little demon as he rubbed the ring.
Although in Lilith's eyes this kind of treasures might not be a big deal, she would probably be shocked when she found that he, a peak First Order existence, actually had such good quality stuff for his current level.
After jumping naked all over the bathroom in a way that if anyone saw him they would probably faint from shock due to the stark contrast between this Bai Zemin and the usual Bai Zemin, he slowly calmed down and carefully placed the storage ring on one of the fingers of his right hand just like the Blazing Ring and the Arachnid Silk Ring.
He bit lightly on the thumb of his left hand and worried that one drop would not be enough he ran the bloody finger across the surface of the storage ring turning it red soon.
Flash!
A slight radiance immediately shot out from inside the ring as the deep violet runes and lines lit up as if they had received some kind of stimulation.
As the wound on his thumb disappeared within moments, Bai Zemin watched in wonder as all the red blood was gradually absorbed by the runes glowing on the storage ring before disappearing without a trace.
He immediately felt as if something connected with his soul. It was a strange feeling as it was not like the Soul Contract he somehow formed with the Endless Blue Lotus Flame but felt freer and less heavy.
"Oh! There really is a lot of storage space here!" Bai Zemin exclaimed happily as his consciousness was immersed in a different space.
The surroundings were dark with white mist surrounding a certain area the size of a fair-sized room; 10 x 10 cubic meters was undoubtedly more than enough to bring Bai Zemin great relief from now on!
"So, now…"
After playing for several minutes allowing his consciousness to drift in and out of the inside of his storage ring to get used to the process faster, Bai Zemin made sure that there was really no one around as if he feared that someone would see what he was about to do even though earlier he was running wild with his little brother bouncing up and down without a care in the world.
But in fact, this was an important matter as even Bai Zemin himself had no idea what would happen next.
He reached out his right hand and as if he had done it millions of times held it to his chest. Then, he whispered a mental command and a bright golden light illuminated the area of his heart.
Bai Zemin pulled outward and along with his fist clenched in a grip moving away from his body, the golden light also followed the movement of his hand.
By the time his arm had fully extended outward and the knuckles of his right hand were pointing toward the wall in front of him, the golden light in his hand stretched out similar to a laser beam until it reached 2.5 meters.
The golden light receded and in its place what appeared was a golden spear exquisitely decorated by a lot of runes.
This was precisely the spear that had saved Bai Zemin's life. However, there were many noticeable differences compared to the spear he had seen several hours ago.
Although the spear was still golden and good-looking, the crimson glow that surrounded it was nowhere to be seen. Furthermore, the runes were dulled as if they no longer had any power or as if they had worn out over the years.
"Besides… I no longer feel that strange power I felt coming from the spear before." Bai Zemin whispered to no one in particular.
Before getting to work, Bai Zemin had naturally picked up the spear. How could he leave behind a weapon capable of ending the life of a Fourth Order being in an instant? However, to his surprise, the spear simply disappeared without a trace.
Just as Bai Zemin was scared to death, a lot of information naturally flowed into his soul so that he immediately understood how to summon the spear again if he so wished. However, Bai Zemin had not done so until now since at that time he simply did not have the time and circumstances did not allow him to sit down and drink tea.
Therefore, now that everything had been partially settled and the rest could be treated more lightly in comparison, Bai Zemin decided to give it the attention this golden spear deserved.
"Well, even if it was weakened for some reason it should still be strong, right?" Bai Zemin excitedly talked to the nothingness, "Soul Record, show me what this baby has for daddy."
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Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3
