Chapter Ninety-Two: Chen Zhong Gives a Ring

Then I’m rich?

Lin Xiaobao grew excited. He knew that after breaking into the Spirit Path realm, even though he had devoured a strange fire, his cultivation had risen by only two stages in half a year. For someone as accustomed as he was to soaring ahead like a rocket, that pace still felt far too slow. Now that he heard how greatly the Chaos Mirror could aid him, his thoughts immediately turned lively again.

“It wouldn’t be quite right to put it that way. After all, what you have now is only a fragment of the Chaos Mirror. Unless you can find the other pieces and restore it, this is nothing but a worthless scrap!” Elder Wu continued to explain.

“With the abilities of the two elders, even if this is a worthless scrap, you must still have some way to make use of it, right?” Lin Xiaobao seemed unwilling to give up, hoping to exchange flattery for a workable solution.

Sure enough, Elder Mo did not disappoint him. “It is not necessarily so. If you are willing to make some sacrifice, this fragment of the Chaos Mirror may allow you to sense the locations of the other fragments. In that way, you might have a chance to gather them all. Moreover, once you refine this fragment, repairing the Chaos Mirror in the future will become far easier.”

“Sacrifice? What kind of sacrifice?” Since Elder Mo had spoken so gravely, Lin Xiaobao was certain it would be no trivial matter.

“If the Chaos Mirror is broken, its artifact spirit is almost impossible to sense. Once you enter the realm of Dao Heart, place this fragment into your dantian and continuously nourish it with your spiritual power. Over time, you may become its master, which is essentially the same as refining it directly,” Elder Mo said.

“Can I not refine it directly?” If he had to keep feeding it with his own spiritual power, wouldn’t that only slow his cultivation even further?

“Direct refinement is possible, but with your current cultivation, I’d estimate that even after a million years you still might not see the slightest progress.” As if thinking of something, Elder Mo suddenly mimicked Lin Xiaobao’s tone. “The Chaos Mirror is an extremely formidable existence!”

“Then if I nourish it with spiritual power, how long would it take?” Lin Xiaobao felt it necessary to clarify this point. If it took too long, then even if he died of old age, he still might not have refined the fragment. What would be the point?

“If you rely solely on spiritual power to fully refine it, even several tens of thousands of years would likely not be enough.” At this point, Elder Mo suddenly changed his tone. “But for initial refinement, it would probably take at most one or two hundred years. After that, you can use various materials to feed it, letting it absorb them to speed up the process. That would be worth a try.”

“Only a try?” Lin Xiaobao grew a little hesitant. After all, by Elder Mo’s account, for these one or two hundred years a portion of the spiritual power he had painstakingly cultivated would be absorbed by the Chaos Mirror fragment, and afterward he would still have to pamper the fragment like some kind of grand lord, feeding it lavishly. Yet the result would only be a try.

“Yes. After all, the Chaos Mirror exists only in legend. No one knows how great its power truly is, nor how much must be paid to refine it. As for whether you choose to do it, that is for you alone to decide,” Elder Wu suddenly interjected. “But one thing can be certain: if you refine the Chaos Mirror, it will bring immense benefits to your future path toward enlightenment!”

Elder Mo was just about to speak when Elder Wu tugged at him, and he immediately understood what Elder Wu meant. He wanted to test Lin Xiaobao’s resolve in pursuing the Dao. No matter how high one’s talent and fortune might be, without an unwavering heart set upon the Dao, one’s future accomplishments would remain limited. What the two elders hoped Lin Xiaobao would one day accomplish required extremely formidable power. Now that they had obtained a fragment of the Chaos Mirror, the two elders naturally felt that another glimmer of hope had appeared.

Likewise, although Lin Xiaobao had never said it aloud, he too could faintly sense that the road ahead would not be smooth.

“Then let’s try it!” After some thought, Lin Xiaobao made his choice. He believed the two elders would not deceive him.

“Once matters here are concluded, find a quiet place and refine the Chaos Mirror fragment first.” After giving this instruction, the two elders fell silent again.

“That won’t do. My storage pouch is already full!” After taking the stardust sand Lin Xiaobao handed over, Si Mengling said with some regret.

Although a storage pouch possessed its own separate space for keeping items, that space was not especially vast. Now that she saw there was still two-thirds of the resources left, Si Mengling regretted not having brought the storage pouches of Le Hongcai and Xu Youyi along as well.

“Then that can’t be blamed on me!” Although dividing the resources with Si Mengling was meant as compensation on behalf of Lin Tian, Lin Xiaobao still felt a pang of pain in his heart. And now that he knew he would have to feed the Chaos Mirror fragment like a treasured guest in the future, he almost wished there were twice as many resources here.

Without needing to split the loot with anyone, he could simply sweep everything into his storage bracelet. Naturally, Lin Xiaobao worked much faster that way.

“Damn it! My storage bracelet is full too!” Looking at the remaining one-third of the cultivation resources, Lin Xiaobao furrowed his brows, clearly thinking about how to gather the rest all at once.

Just then, Chen Zhong swept out a large hand. A surge of suction came forth, drawing all the resources into his storage ring. Then he took it off and solemnly handed it to Lin Xiaobao. “This storage ring is yours.”

“How could I accept that?” Lin Xiaobao rarely passed up a bargain.

In this world, storage rings were exceedingly rare. In the entire Wind and Snow Pavilion, only the pavilion master Hua Zhengchun possessed one. Yet with Lin Xiaobao’s eye, he could naturally tell that the storage ring in Chen Zhong’s hand was of a grade far beyond Hua Zhengchun’s.

Normally, a storage ring only had the function of holding items. However, from the formation patterns on the surface of Chen Zhong’s ring, Lin Xiaobao could tell that this storage ring sealed within it a formidable defensive array.

“If you refuse it, then you’re looking down on me, brother Lin!” Chen Zhong explained. “Refining the Yin Pill may not mean much to you, but to me it is a tremendous favor. Besides, after refining the Yin Pill, your path of cultivation will likely face additional tribulations. I hope that in the future, the Star Peak Ring can lend you a hand when you are in difficulty.”

Seeing Chen Zhong’s sincere expression, Lin Xiaobao hesitated briefly, then still accepted the Star Peak Ring. After all, he felt he had always been rather greedy. “Then thank you, Brother Chen!”

But when Lin Xiaobao’s spiritual sense entered the Star Peak Ring, he nearly burst into tears.

This old fellow was far too poor! Inside the entire Star Peak Ring, aside from the resources Chen Zhong had just swept in, there was only one set of clothes for changing and washing. Other than that, it was completely empty!

And yet he had still given away his only Star Peak Ring. At that moment, Lin Xiaobao once again confirmed in his heart that Chen Zhong was a man who valued loyalty and righteousness, and he also came to regard him as a true friend.

“Everything has been taken. We should get ready to leave as well!” After obtaining the Yin Pill, Chen Zhong grew a little impatient to make the final preparations for his tribulation. If it were not for the fact that the Yin Pill had been refined by Lin Xiaobao, he would have already slapped his thigh and departed.

“Let’s go,” Lin Xiaobao nodded.