Zu An felt as if his consciousness had entered a vast, hazy space. Gray-colored mist surrounded everything, severely limiting his vision.
He tried to probe further into the depths, but his surroundings remained the same no matter what he did. It was as if he was surrounded by what fantasy stories described as primal chaos, a swirling nothingness which existed before the world was formed.
His mental strength was close to exhaustion. He couldn’t stay here any longer.
“This pearl seems quite strange.” Mi Li’s voice came from beside him.
Mi Li was, to a certain extent, connected to his soul. She could see everything he saw.
“Big sis empress, do you recognize this pearl?” Zu An asked quickly. “I think that dragon called it a Brilliant Glass Pearl,”
He understood his own limitations. He was still a foreigner to this world, and his knowledge was very limited.
However, Mi Li was different. Her cultivation was profound, and she used to occupy such a high position. Her knowledge and experiences were definitely extraordinary.
Mi Li shook her head. “Brilliant Glass Pearl? I’ve never heard of such a thing before. I only know that it seems to carry extremely profound spatial principles. Maybe it suffered too much damage, or had most of its functions sealed. There isn’t much we know about it right now.”
“Sealed?” Zu An was momentarily stunned, but his bewilderment soon gave way to joy. “Doesn’t that mean that this might be some sort of divine artifact?”
He’d watched so many movies in his past life. Every single one of the sealed treasures in them had badass effects!
Mi Li snorted. “Where do you even get your delusions from? Just because it’s sealed doesn’t mean that it’s definitely a formidable treasure. No one can know before the seal is undone.”
Zu An was puzzled. “Would anyone waste their time and energy sealing an ordinary treasure?”
“Nothing is too bizarre in this world,” Mi Li said indifferently.
Even a donkey like you exists—can anything else even surprise me anymore?
“How do I unseal this thing, then?” Zu An continued with his questioning. He really wanted to know what this pearl could do.
Mi Li shook her head. “I have no idea.”
“You don’t know?” Zu An grew discouraged. He really hadn’t expected such an answer.
Mi Li couldn’t stand his disdainful expression. Her face reddened. “Do you think I’m omniscient and omnipotent?” she retorted. “What’s there to be surprised about just because I don’t know? As far as I know, these seals are usually undone only by a mixture of opportunities and coincidences. There is usually no set way to unseal them.”
Zu An was stunned. “You’re saying that it depends on your face?”[1]
“Your face?” After being around this fellow for so long, Mi Li had picked up on the meanings of some of the strange phrases he used. “Indeed, it depends on your luck. Some people are blessed with good fortune and might unwittingly undo the seal, while others struggle their entire lives without finding a way.”
Zu An laughed. “Then there’s no problem at all! My luck has always been pretty good.”
Mi Li was momentarily at a loss for words.
She was also starting to get used to this fellow’s delusional confidence. She snorted, then continued, “Your luck is indeed pretty good. This pearl seems to be in a sealed state, but you can use it to store things. Aim the pearl at what you want it to store, and then give it an order with your mind.”
“Spatial storage?” Zu An was excited. This was exactly what he lacked the most right now! Bringing everything around with him really was inconvenient, especially things like the Tai’e sword.
Having such a treasure to store things would simplify matters.
He tried to store a large rock first. Sure enough, that large rock was sucked right in.
With another thought, the large rock was released again.
This was the first time Zu An had a treasure similar to a spatial ring. He couldn’t contain his excitement, and his eyes darted around the cave, storing and releasing objects again and again.
“Bumpkin.” Mi Li sneered. However, a smile subconsciously tugged at the corners of her lips.
Zu An suddenly had a thought. “Doesn’t this thing make me invincible, then? I can just suck in any enemy from now on! I don’t even have to fight them.”
This was the same as the gourd from ‘Journey to the West’! He could even suck people in!
Mi Li shot down his fantasies straight away. “Dream on! Spatial artifacts can only be used to store non-living objects. These are things set by natural laws, and not something we can go against. You also have no way of taking in things with other people’s spiritual imprints.
“If you could, then why not just steal your opponent’s weapons, their clothes, and everything else while in combat? What would even be the point of fighting, then?”
Zu An’s eyes brightened when he heard her explanation. If he could straight up steal his opponent’s clothes while they were fighting, then wouldn’t he be invincible against women…?
Mi Li gave him a strange look. She couldn’t quite figure out what had gone through his mind to make him smile in such a perverted way.
“There’s one last thing. We don’t know how large this spatial storage is. Even though it looks pretty large, since everything was covered in mist,” Mi Li muttered to herself. “See if you can take in that dragon’s corpse.”
Zu An was slightly shocked. “It’s probably too big, right?” That dragon was several dozen zhang[2] in length, after all. It looked practically like a small mountain when it was all coiled up.
Even though he didn’t have much confidence, Zu An still gave it a try.
Surprisingly, the entire dragon’s body vanished instantly.
Zu An rubbed his eyes. He was in complete disbelief.
He hesitated, then activated the pearl again. Sure enough, the massive dragon’s corpse appeared in front of him again.
“This… this…” Zu An was speechless.
Mi Li gasped in astonishment. “Brat, your luck really is quite good! Normal spatial rings have restricted space, yet the one you have can even store a giant dragon! I could sense that, even with the dragon inside, it could still store more things.”
Zu An roared with laughter. “Handsome men always have the best luck!”
Mi Li resisted the urge to slap him.
She couldn’t handle his narcissism anymore.
“Enough already! I’m going back to sleep since there are no more dangers. I’m being serious this time. Don’t disturb me if it’s not something important.”
She went silent after saying this.
Zu An’s expression grew strange. Why did she say that she was being serious this time? Was she lying when she said this the night before?
Then again, he didn’t really mind her seeing his gallant and heroic figure. They were already so close anyway.
Zu An deliberately made this thought crystal clear. When he didn’t see any Rage points come in, he was reassured that she had truly gone into hibernation.
He was just about to return to the cave when he noticed a pool of blood with a golden blade next to him. Only then did he finally recall that Chen Xuan had been crushed to death in this very spot.
Sigh, a formidable figure was ground into meat paste just like that.
Why does that make me feel so… refreshed?
That Chen Xuan was a monstrous criminal! He should’ve died a long time ago!
He suddenly noticed a small bottle next to him. When he picked it up, he noticed that it was still half-full with some sort of medicinal liquid.
He uncorked it, and a sweet, fragrant smell wafted out.
What is this? Zu An didn’t dare drink it. However, he subconsciously sensed that it was probably something good.
He stored it away inside the Brilliant Glass Pearl. He’d have Ji Xiaoxi analyze it for him later. She’s pretty skilled in medicine, so she should be able to figure out what this stuff is.
He searched around what remained of Chen Xuan, and stumbled upon many thin, skin-like masks.
Hm?
From all the shows he had watched previously, he obviously knew what all this was for.
When he tried them on his face, he discovered that each of them made his face change into a different, unfamiliar look.
“No wonder no one could catch this Chen Xuan all these years. He could change his appearance!” Zu An carefully stowed away these masks.
They might prove extremely useful in the future. The only regrettable thing was that these masks had a fixed appearance. They couldn’t change him into whatever he wanted to look like.
He put away Chen Xuan’s blade as well. He made a final sweep and saw nothing of value, so he quickly returned to the cave.
“Where did you run to, Ah Zu?” Zheng Dan was already seated upright, looking all around her in a panic. As her eyes settled on him, tears began to flow down her cheeks.
Zu An rushed over to console her. “I went out for a bit just now. Come on, don’t cry.”
“I thought you left me…” Zheng Dan laughed in embarrassment. She had just offered her everything to him, and she couldn’t help but feel worried.
Zu An felt his heart skip a beat. Zheng Dan’s clothes were already torn to shreds. When she stood up, almost everything was revealed to him.
Zheng Dan covered her chest with one hand, and she used the other to tuck away some loose strands of hair behind her ear. “You’ve already had all night to look at me,” she murmured shyly. “Haven’t you… haven’t you seen enough?”
Zu An was surprised. She had been so enthusiastic last night, yet now, she was incredibly shy again, as if she had returned to being that sweet-tempered young miss. Why did she seem to have such split personalities?
Whatever it is, it doesn’t look too serious. Her two personalities aren’t completely separate, after all. Not like in those movies, where one personality had no idea of the other personality’s existence, or what it did.
Anyway, it’s not even that big of a deal even if she has split personalities.
I’ll just enjoy both of them!
Zu An reached out a hand and lifted her chin slightly. “I’ll never be able to get enough of you,” he said, gazing at her perfect face. He sighed in admiration.
Zheng Dan’s face grew red. “I really don’t think I can right now. It hurts…” she said softly.
Her eyes were full of embarrassment.
Zu An laughed and took her into his arms. “Relax, I’m not that much of a beast.”
Leaving her aside, even he had run out of stamina after experiencing those eighteen spring winds.
Zu An noticed a set of sparkling purple clothes in the cave. It seemed to have been made from some type of silk, and its surface was embedded with crystals and gems.
They were truly clothes befitting a goddess. Even Zheng Dan, who had seen all sorts of clothes before, wasn’t willing to part with it after putting it on.
Dragons were fond of collecting shiny objects. There was quite a bit of gold, silver and other gemstones piled up here, and that dragon had probably added these clothes to its collection because it was also bright and dazzling.
“We’ve really struck it rich now! There are so many treasures here!” He took in all the piles of gold and silver, and estimated them to be worth two or three million taels of silver, at least. He could barely contain his glee. “Let’s split it in half,” he told Zheng dan.
Zheng Dan shook her head. “Money and valuables are only worldly possessions, and they mean nothing to me. You can have all of it.”
Zu An was stunned. “Why did you secretly establish the Whale Gang if you don’t care about money?”
1. In this context, Zu An is using “face” as slang for “luck”. In Chinese, 看脸 (literally “to see one’s face”) is used to describe leaving something to one’s luck.
2. One zhang is approximately equal to 12 feet, or 4 meters.
