Free Web NovelChapter 196: Chapter 196: Space Ring
Ning Xuan and her group had searched the entire main hall. They hadn’t encountered any danger, nor had they found any items that looked particularly rare or valuable.
"Something feels off," Tang Xue said, her confusion evident as she gazed at the empty hall. "There’s such a powerful formation array suppressing this place from above, but this is all that’s down here?"
"Yeah, it really doesn’t make any sense. It would be more logical if there were an incredibly powerful Fierce Beast trapped down here," Wang Yue chimed in.
’This is strange,’ Ning Xuan thought, turning her gaze to Zhang Nan. "Zhang Nan, have you found anything?"
Zhang Nan shook his head. "No. The area below and around this hall is solid rock—no hollow spaces. My Companion Spirit hasn’t sensed any danger, either."
"Alright, for today, let’s take back everything we can carry. Especially the books, they might be useful." Although Ning Xuan and her group didn’t have any Storage Treasures, they had strength in numbers. They packed everything into the snakeskin bags, hoisted them onto their shoulders, and set off.
The main hall had seemed empty, but once packed up, the items amounted to quite a lot. By the time they left, almost everyone was carrying a large snakeskin bag.
After returning to Spiritual Spring Valley, they all began to investigate how to use the items they had acquired.
Ning Xuan prepared to head back to her chamber. The moment she turned to leave, not only did Yun Han fall in step behind her, but Chen Nan, Lin Mo, and Di Youlin followed as well.
Qinghe, Nine-tailed, and Lan Xin also watched them.
When Chen Nan saw Ning Xuan look his way, he immediately dropped to one knee. "Contractor, as one of your Contractors, everything I’ve obtained belongs to you. How these items are used and distributed is entirely up to you."
Lin Mo nodded at once and knelt as well.
Upon hearing this, Qinghe, Lan Xin, and Nine-tailed had the same thought. ’That’s right, we’re Ning Xuan’s slaves. Everything we get should belong to our master.’ They immediately followed suit and knelt.
’Huh.’ Ning Xuan listened. ’That seems logical enough.’ She gave a nod, and so the Contractors, slaves, and Contracted Slaves all followed her into her egg-shaped chamber.
With so many people flooding in—especially since, apart from Lan Xin and Nine-tailed, the others were all well over 1.9 meters tall—Ning Xuan found that her once-spacious chamber suddenly felt cramped.
Originally, only Ning Xuan and Yun Han lived in this chamber. A large bed, heavily veiled by a draped canopy, occupied the center, leaving not much space to spare.
Besides, the only furniture was a single table and chair. Although Yun Han also lived there, he either stayed on the bed or knelt on the floor, so there were no spare chairs.
After sitting down in the chair, Ning Xuan had Yun Han fetch the extra snakeskin bags they had made earlier. If spread on the floor, they could serve as makeshift cushions.
While Yun Han was fetching the items, Di Youlin scurried over to Ning Xuan, knelt by her side, and began massaging her legs like an eager sycophant. Inspired, Lin Mo immediately hurried to her other side and knelt down.
’Never before,’ Lin Mo thought, ’did I imagine I would one day be kneeling so willingly just to compete for our Contractor’s favor.’
Ning Xuan glanced down at Di Youlin, who was diligently kneading her thighs. Although his actions weren’t improper, she still reached out a hand to stop him.
"We’re discussing serious matters. Sit properly." As she spoke, Di Youlin simply wrapped his arms around her calf, settled into a comfortable position, and sat there. Ning Xuan kicked at him lightly, but he just blinked his handsome eyes and gave her a pitiable look. Seeing this, she sighed. ’Fine, whatever. Let him hug it.’
Lin Mo saw Ning Xuan’s brow furrow and didn’t dare get any closer, merely kneeling properly on her other side.
When Yun Han returned with the snakeskin bags, he saw that Lin Mo and Di Youlin had already claimed the spots beside Ning Xuan.
Visibly displeased, he shook open the bag made from Snake Shedding, spread it out on a wider patch of floor nearby, and then went to stand behind Ning Xuan.
"Everyone, please sit. Our main goal is to figure out the use for the items we collected today. The first thing I found was this black rod. On the way back, I already tried to communicate with it using my spiritual power, but there was no reaction."
Ning Xuan said, placing the black rod aside for everyone to see.
"Contractor, I found this folded fan and this Jade Pendant. Could you see if they react to your spiritual power?" Yun Han offered an exquisitely crafted folded fan and an emerald-green Jade Pendant to Ning Xuan.
"Have you tried?" Ning Xuan asked without taking them.
"No," Yun Han replied.
"You don’t need to give me what you’ve found. Let’s all study these items together to figure out what they do. Whoever found an item, it’s theirs. If you can’t use it, you can trade with someone who can." By saying this, Ning Xuan was giving them permission to keep their findings for themselves.
The others weren’t surprised by Ning Xuan’s words; after all, they knew her well enough. Qinghe, however, was stunned. Watching Di Youlin clinging to Ning Xuan’s leg and leaning against her, he felt a bitter surge of jealousy.
"Contractor, this dagger didn’t react to my spiritual power. I’d like to try using a drop of blood on it. Is that alright?" Chen Nan asked.
"Yes, of course," Ning Xuan agreed. "I was thinking the same thing. If spiritual power doesn’t work, everyone should give blood a try."
Di Youlin seized the opportunity to press a ring into Ning Xuan’s hand. "Master, you should try this first. I’ve heard that Ancient Cultivators often fashioned their spatial storage items into rings. If Cultivators once existed on this planet, maybe they had customs similar to those in our Star Domain."
Ning Xuan looked at the blue, gem-inlaid ring Di Youlin had given her and couldn’t help but smile. She was naturally fond of beautiful jewels, so she didn’t refuse his gift.
Seeing Ning Xuan accept his ring, Di Youlin shot a provocative glance at Yun Han, who paid him no mind.
Ning Xuan made a small cut on her wrist with a dagger and let her blood drip onto the ring and the black rod. The crimson droplet rolled across the surface of the rod and simply fell to the ground.
The drop on the ring, however, was instantly absorbed. An image flooded Ning Xuan’s mind: a room, about a dozen square meters in area. She could perceive its size, but not its height.
Ning Xuan couldn’t resist trying. With a mere thought, she willed the black rod into the Storage Ring. Sure enough, the rod appeared inside it. The others were baffled when they saw the rod vanish into thin air. ’But the black rod didn’t absorb any blood.’
Then, just as suddenly as it had disappeared, they saw the rod reappear out of thin air.
’Two possibilities,’ they thought. ’Either the ring is a storage space, or the rod has become a bound weapon that Ning Xuan can recall at will.’
