Chapter 144 The Secret of the Space Ring

Deep in the Boundless Forest, at the 1,300-kilometer mark, a lone Fifth-level Demonic Beast was trapped within a Formation, wailing in agony.

At this moment, the Thousand Thunder Array unleashed another massive surge of lightning power, shocking the Fifth-level Demonic Beast once more until it was completely numb!

The smell of roasted beast meat wafted out, and Chen Songxiao swallowed hard.

“Fourth Brother, are you hungry?” Chen Songli teased.

“Haha, a little. I miss Third Brother's roasting skills!” Chen Songxiao replied, his eyes fixed on the tortured Fifth-level Demonic Beast inside the Formation.

Zhu Lingyue gripped the moon scooping sword; it was a sword Chen Songxiao had forged for her, primarily with a lightning attribute.

The Moon Scooping Sword Art focused on speed, allowing the user to release Sword Qi infused with lightning power from a distance.

Inside the Formation, the Fifth-level Demonic Beast had been thoroughly electrocuted and was now blindly crashing against the energy shield condensed by the Formation.

“Sister, the Formation you upgraded is quite tough; it’s reached the level of the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, hasn't it?” Chen Songxiao praised.

“Not quite yet, it's a bit short, but it's enough to give this Fifth-level Demonic Beast a run for its money!”

“We brought enough purified Thunder Ore. By stacking them under the Formation Flags, we can continuously generate lightning power! Shock it again!”

Chen Songli struck another Dharma Art into the Formation Plate, activating the Formation once more as lightning power surged again.

The smell of charred beast meat grew even stronger. A bit of cumin right now would surely make it delicious; Chen Songxiao was already thinking about going back to roast meat, feeling quite hungry!

After three more shocks, the Fifth-level Demonic Beast finally went limp, falling to the ground on its last breath. Zhu Lingyue entered the Formation and used the moon scooping sword to finish it off, then stored it in her Storage Pouch.

Another Fifth-level Demonic Beast added to the Family assets!

“Mother, shall we keep hunting?” Chen Songli asked. Over the past few months, their three-person hunting team had hunted a total of nine Fifth-level Demonic Beasts, twenty-five Fourth-level Demonic Beasts, and countless Third-level Demon Beasts.

“No more. Fifth-level Demonic Beasts are too scattered, and there's no need for us to risk hunting Sixth-level ones further in!”

“Mm, then let's go home.”

The three of them began their journey back.

Sitting on a small flying ship, Chen Songli recalled the experience of being flown by Chen Li.

“I miss Father's Light-Escape Flight!”

Chen Songxiao asked curiously, “What is the flight speed of a Golden Core like?”

“It is simply beyond words. After being carried by Father for a few days, that speed is something a Fifth-level Demonic Beast couldn't even react to, let alone chase!”

“Ah, that's so cool. I want to be carried by Father too!”

“Haha, I wonder if Father has finished his seclusion. I don't know how powerful he's become after being in seclusion for so long!”

“Looking forward to it. Let's go home!”

...

A few days later, at Zizai Pavilion on Black Magpie Mountain, after another month of cracking, Chen Li successfully broke the final layer of the Restriction on the space ring!

Chen Li was very much looking forward to what was inside this space ring!

Chen Li cautiously probed inside with his Divine Sense, and after a while, found there was no danger.

He soon discovered a shield, a Cultivation Technique, and a map!

Chen Li was dumbfounded. That's it? Just these three?

Chen Li looked through it again and found that there were indeed only these three items.

Chen Li took out the shield and examined it closely. Its texture was incredibly hard. He took out a golden thunder bamboo flying sword and began to poke it; it was quite tough. Even when Chen Li used seventy percent of his strength, the shield did not break.

Good stuff!

Since it looked like a shell with tortoise attributes, he would call it the [Black Tortoise Shield]!

Chen Li began to flip through the Cultivation Technique. It was titled the Hundred Meridians Body Tempering Art, a technique that could be cultivated up to the Late Golden Core Stage.

The cultivation method of this technique involved using the Golden Core True Fire, condensed from the Golden Core, mixed with some Fine Iron Ore fragments, and then drawing it into the Meridians to continuously temper them.

Through repeated refinement, achieving Major Achievement would result in the Hundred Meridians Vajra Body, allowing the Physical Body to withstand attacks from Magic Treasures of the same rank.

Refining the Meridians also increased the probability of advancing to the Nascent Soul stage. Another good item!

Chen Li's eyes lit up. The first two were defensive items, both at the Golden Core Stage level and of very high quality!

Chen Li put those two away and then looked at the last item, a map.

The map depicted the location of an Immortal Cave, the Aurora Cave Mansion!

Chen Li saw that the location was roughly within the Northern Region, and specifically at its westernmost edge, at least a hundred thousand miles away from Chen Li's current location.

The map also noted precautions for entering the Immortal Cave: one needed a Golden Core cultivation or higher, a powerful Divine Sense, and the ability to crack Restrictions.

However, it didn't specify the types of Restrictions or what was inside the Immortal Cave.

Chen Li flipped through the map several times, but nothing else was written.

Nevertheless, since this space ring contained a Black Tortoise Shield and the Hundred Meridians Body Tempering Art, this map must also lead to many good things. Anyone would likely want to investigate. Chen Li was also tempted; after all, he had already obtained two Golden Core-level spiritual items before even entering.

The moment this thought popped up, Chen Li felt a shiver. How could he have such a terrifying thought? He knew nothing of the dangers or the Restrictions. He had been careless!

After thinking it over several times, he suppressed his strong desire for exploration and put the map into his Storage Pouch!

Regardless of whether there was danger, he would not explore this place for the time being, because the unknown was the most terrifying thing.

An ordinary Golden Core Cultivator, even knowing there was danger, would likely find a way to make the trip given such a huge temptation.

He decided to wait and see; there was no need to take risks when he had his own Opportunity and Luck, otherwise, he might fall into a trap.

Chen Li thought that he needed to properly refine this shield, and he could also cautiously try out the Hundred Meridians Body Tempering Art, stopping immediately if he found any issues.

Just as Chen Li was contemplating these things, Zhu Lingyue and the other two returned.

Upon seeing that Chen Li had finished his seclusion, they all came to Zizai Pavilion.

“Father, congratulations on finishing your seclusion. Congratulations on making great progress; you are now a Golden Core Cultivator in both name and deed!”

Chen Songli's strings of compliments made Chen Songxiao go numb. After traveling through the mortal world, Chen Songli seemed much more lively upon returning home, and she enjoyed joking more.

Zhu Lingyue also listened, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. It had to be said that traveling did indeed change one's state of mind; she was also planning to go out and travel for a while.

“Haha, you have a way with words. I have indeed gained much. Was the beast hunting successful?” Chen Li was also very happy listening to Chen Songli.

“It was successful; we hunted quite a few Fifth-level Demonic Beasts!”

“That's good. During this seclusion, I refined a Golden Core Magic Treasure for each of you.”

The group was excited, and Zhu Lingyue asked, “Husband, will it deplete your own strength?”

“It won't. You'll understand once you reach the Golden Core Stage!”

Chen Li took out the burial fire thunder blast beads and said, “These beads are immensely powerful. They contain a type of fire seed I created myself, as well as ten-thousand-year lightning power! You only need to perform a detonation Dharma Art I created; these beads can sense it and explode within twenty miles!”

“Thank you, Father!”

“Thank you, Husband!”

“Use them carefully; don't hurt yourselves!”

They all quickly agreed.

Each of the three received one. He had already given them to Chen Songxuan and Chen Songyan; once Xu Yunqiu and Lu Qinglan learned Chen Li had finished his seclusion, they knew as well.

Chen Songxuan was developing Foundation Establishment Puppets, investing a lot of time and buying a large amount of Materials. Since getting married, Chen Songyan had matured quite a bit and become more stable; he could now patiently handle tasks, and his progress in the path of raising insects was increasing.

The Family was thriving, and Chen Li began to plan his next steps.