56: Chapter 56 Sumeru Bag, Heavenly Gang Refining Treasure Technique

The Bibo had been sailing at sea for a day and a night.

Inside the cabin, the light was dim, and the air was a mix of sea brine, sweat, and a faint sense of anxiety.

Most passengers remained silent, either dozing with eyes closed or warily observing their surroundings, with only the monotonous sound of waves slapping against the hull and the flapping of the sails as accompaniment.

Jiang Hanzhou sat in the corner with his back against the cabin wall, seemingly browsing through a yellowed medical book titled East Sea Hundred Herbs Identification, but in reality, his mind was far from the pages.

His left hand rested on his waist, seemingly by chance.

Tied there was an unremarkable grayish-brown leather pouch, about the size of a palm, with a coarse texture and edges worn white, looking like an old item used for a long time.

To anyone looking, it appeared to be nothing more than a small pouch for loose silver or personal belongings.

Only Jiang Hanzhou knew that there was a whole other world inside this pouch.

Through his coarse cloth clothes, his fingertips lightly brushed the rough surface of the pouch, and his thoughts involuntarily drifted back several months to the journey from Three Rivers Estuary to Donghai Prefecture.

At that time, he was blended into a caravan transporting silk to Linjiang Prefecture, traveling along an official road that was still relatively peaceful.

The sun was fierce, the caravan moved slowly, and everything seemed calm.

Suddenly—

"Boom!!!"

A terrifying explosion, like a clap of thunder, came from high above without warning!

The sound was so immense that it made eardrums sting; the packhorses reared up in terror, and the entire caravan instantly fell into chaos.

Jiang Hanzhou looked up abruptly to see two blurry figures clashing at an appalling speed in the far-off sky!

Every contact exploded into visible circular airwaves, and the violent shockwaves even flattened the crowns of the trees in the forest beside the official road below!

That had already exceeded his understanding of fights between Martial Artists, as if beings from myth were locked in a fierce battle.

When had the people of the caravan ever seen such a sight?

They were immediately scared to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, crying out for their parents as they abandoned their goods and fled into the mountain forests by the road.

Although Jiang Hanzhou was also startled, he was far calmer than most.

Crouching low, his eyes were like lightning, firmly locked onto the battle in the sky.

One could vaguely see one of them wearing dark gold monastic robes, surrounded by Buddhist light, with a grand and upright Aura.

The other was shrouded in roiling black and red evil energy, his figure eerie and unpredictable.

Just as that black and red figure was struck by a powerful Buddhist palm print and fell diagonally toward the distant forest like a meteor, an imperceptible gray shadow fell from his waist, drifting down toward the official road where Jiang Hanzhou was.

Jiang Hanzhou's heart skipped a beat.

In a flash, his body shot out like an arrow from a bow, ignoring the scattered terrifying energy still scraping past overhead, as he accurately lunged toward where the gray shadow was falling.

In a mess of bushes, he grabbed the grayish-brown leather pouch; it felt slightly warm to the touch and had a strange resilience.

Without the slightest hesitation, he turned immediately and pushed his speed to the limit, no longer following the caravan but instead veering onto another small path, staying far away from that den of trouble overnight.

Later, he stayed in Yongjia Prefecture for a few days, piecing together the truth from the discussions in the streets, tea houses, and taverns.

That battle was an Elder of the nearby major sect, "Huiquan Temple," personally taking action to hunt down a True Disciple of the Heavenly Evil Cult.

It was said that the Huiquan Temple Elder was a true Dragon Elephant expert who had already stepped into the second realm, the "Dragon Fetus Realm," and possessed vast Divine Ability.

And that Heavenly Evil Cult True Disciple was no amateur either; the two sides fought all the way from the sect gate to the vicinity of the official road, until the cult Disciple was finally captured and suppressed.

As the news spread, Yongjia Prefecture was shaken, and everyone praised the Divine Might of Huiquan Temple.

After hearing this, Jiang Hanzhou secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he had run fast at the time and kept his hands clean, not attracting any attention.

At the same time, he placed even more importance on the origin of this pouch.

This was actually a personal item of that Heavenly Evil Cult True Disciple!

He found a secret location and tried to open the pouch.

The mouth of the pouch seemed ordinary, but it was sealed by a strange force, not a common knot or mechanism.

Jiang Hanzhou tried for several days, finally relying on the pure blood and Qi energy cultivated from the Dragon Subduing and Tiger Taming Skill to slowly penetrate and wear it down like grinding water, eventually opening it.

The internal space was much larger than he had imagined, nearly the size of half a room, and there seemed to be some kind of stable structure; items placed inside didn't feel much shaking.

He later learned from some scattered Jianghu records of anomalies that this item was called a "sumeru pouch." It was said to be crafted from the organs of a Essence Spirit called the "Sun Moon Toad," supplemented by special secret methods. It contained a miniature space and was extremely precious, usually only owned by True Disciples of major sects, direct descendants of great families, or wealthy experts.

There weren't many things in this sumeru pouch.

Aside from a few Golden Leaves and several bottles of unidentified Medicinal Pills, the most prominent item was one thing.

A Dark Silver Scroll that was neither metal nor jade.

Five large characters were engraved on the scroll in ancient seal script.

Heavenly Dipper Treasure Refining Art.

Jiang Hanzhou gave it a cursory study and was shocked.

This was not an ordinary martial Cultivation Technique, but an extremely profound and mysterious Body Refining method. Its core lay in "refining rare treasures to condense Heavenly Dipper Precious Qi."

These so-called rare treasures were not ordinary medicinal materials or minerals, but referred to certain special spiritual items nurtured by heaven and earth, rare refined metals, precious blood of exotic beasts, and other things containing unique spiritual opportunities and essence.

Refining rare treasures into one's body using this method could not only greatly strengthen the Physical Body but also condense a kind of "Heavenly Dipper Precious Qi" that served both offense and defense with infinite uses.

This method was clearly prepared for those in the Dragon Elephant Realm or even higher levels of Cultivation.

The threshold was high, and the required resources were even more demanding.

Although Jiang Hanzhou was moved after obtaining it, he had never cultivated it.

Firstly, he had been lying low in the medical clinic, focusing on digesting what he had gained from the White Dragon Gang and solidifying his Foundation.

Secondly, the "rare treasures" meeting the requirements of the Heavenly Dipper Treasure Refining Art were truly hard to find; he had kept a close watch but had seen no sign of them even in Donghai Prefecture City.

His decision to go to sea to Bibo Island this time was not only to find Martial Skills to improve his fate but also to find rare treasures suitable for cultivating the Heavenly Dipper Treasure Refining Art, which was one of his most important goals.

The cabin jolted slightly, interrupting Jiang Hanzhou's memories.

"Bibo Island is here! Everyone, pack your bags and prepare to disembark!" the old shipmaster's gravelly voice called out.

Jiang Hanzhou closed the medical book, tucked it back into his medicine box, regained his calm expression, and stood up with the other passengers.

Stepping out of the cabin, the moist and slightly salty sea breeze brushed against his face, and the sunlight was a bit dazzling.

The scene before him was completely different from the orderly docks of Donghai Prefecture.

The Bibo Island dock was far larger and more chaotic than imagined.

The piers extended in a winding fashion, with all sorts of ships of various sizes moored there. Many hulls bore battle scars or flew strange, exotic flags.

The waves of noise almost overturned the dock, as various tribal languages, local dialects, crude curses, and loud hawking intertwined to form a chaotic yet vibrant symphony.

The crowd was like a woven tapestry, shoulder to shoulder.

There were bare-chested Martial Artists with fierce Auras, overseas merchants in strange clothes and weird accessories, solitary travelers with cold faces and wary eyes, and members of various forces in groups wearing uniform clothing.

Besides the smell of the sea, the air was filled with the stench of fish, the scent of spices, the smell of alcohol, and a faint hint of blood and rust.

Carrying his medicine box, Jiang Hanzhou stepped onto the solid wooden boards of the dock with the crowd, his gaze calmly scanning everything.

He had already heard this information countless times from the mouths of Martial Artists traveling back and forth, injured or ill, in the medical clinic in Donghai Prefecture.

Bibo Island was not a single island but one of the more prosperous ones situated at a hub within the Shattered Star Archipelago.

The Shattered Star Archipelago was scattered across this vast sea area, with numerous islands and complex forces.

Bibo Island and some surrounding islands together formed a relatively loose Alliance—the Star Shattering Water Mansion.

This Water Mansion was not a unified government in the strict sense, but more like a community of interests and a rule-maker, maintaining basic order and commercial flow in this sea area while also maintaining a delicate relationship with various external forces.

Following the signs and the flow of most people, Jiang Hanzhou left the noisy dock area and headed forward along a main road paved with a mixture of rough stone slabs and rammed earth.

After walking about two or three li, the outline of a city appeared before his eyes.

Rather than a city, it was more like a massive hybrid of a fortress and a market, built layer upon layer against the mountains and the sea.

The city walls were not made of the blue bricks or rammed earth common in the Central Plains, but were constructed from huge dark gray coral rocks and a kind of wood as hard as black iron. They were tall and rugged, full of a primitive and solid atmosphere. Patrolling figures could be seen on the walls, wearing various styles of armor.

The city gates were wide open, and above them, three bold characters were inlaid with some kind of fluorescent shells—Bibo City.

At the city gate were guards wearing half-body leather armor and holding halberds, but the inspection did not seem strict. They only scanned the incoming and outgoing crowd with sharp eyes, seemingly focusing on those carrying large amounts of goods or traveling in groups.

Jiang Hanzhou blended into the crowd and walked into Bibo City with steady steps.