Free Web NovelChapter 258: Chapter 232: Gourd Space, Sun Hao’s Visit
The Yellow Gourd was about a palm’s length, a uniform dark yellow, small and exquisite, with no carvings whatsoever. Holding it gave one the illusion of profound simplicity.
Inside the Gourd, there seemed to be a world of its own.
Starting from the Gourd’s mouth, one’s Divine Sense could extend downward for several hundred zhang. Floating within this space were a few globules of liquid—some medicinal wine, some regular wine...
But this was not the entirety of the Gourd’s space, because at the very edge of his Divine Sense’s reach, a thin layer of mist drifted. Within the churning fog, massive golden chains could be vaguely seen. Each chain was a hundred zhang long, appearing and disappearing with the roiling mist.
It seemed to be sealing off a deeper space.
Clearly, there was more to the space inside the Gourd...
’Hu Haiqing used it to store medicinal wine, treating it as a simple storage treasure... Did he not know the Gourd’s true purpose, or was it because of these chains?’
After some thought, Chen Che decided it was likely the latter.
He had a strong intuition that the space within this Gourd was far more vast and boundless than he imagined. The currently accessible space near the mouth alone was already equivalent to some Tier Three Spatial Magical Artifacts...
After a moment of contemplation, Chen Che’s gaze hardened, and he drove his Divine Sense to slowly approach the misty area.
There was no danger. That made sense. If it were dangerous, the item would have long since become known as a malevolent object. Hu Haiqing wouldn’t have just used it for storage; he probably wouldn’t have even dared to carry it.
After all, in some respects, the notoriety of malevolent objects far surpassed that of famous artifacts.
However, the thin mist, which looked as if a gentle breeze could disperse it, was like an impenetrable barrier, blocking his Divine Sense.
’Even my Divine Sense can’t penetrate it... Huh? This chain seems to be partially broken?!’
His Divine Sense made contact but couldn’t pass through. Then, he caught sight of something: the chains within the mist were covered in jagged notches, as if left by external impacts.
One of the chain links had been sawn through on one side. The other side bore a gash like one on a felled tree, and the remaining connection was as thin as a hair, yet it still hadn’t broken.
Chen Che was stunned for a moment, but he quickly understood.
’Perhaps Hu Haiqing also realized the Yellow Gourd was special and intended to explore the space behind the mist. But when he found that the mist blocked his Divine Sense, he tried to break these chains. Or maybe the Gourd’s previous owners all tried...’
’It looks like with just a little more effort, this chain link will finally break...’
With that thought, Chen Che concentrated his Divine Sense, wrapping it gently around the damaged chain link before giving a sudden, sharp pull.
However, the chain link didn’t budge an inch.
’Huh!?’
Stunned, Chen Che’s eyes filled with surprise.
He knew his Divine Sense had reached the First Layer of the Golden Core Realm. A full-force strike from it could even obliterate the Divine Soul of some Foundation Establishment Cultivators. And yet, it couldn’t snap a connection thinner than a hair?
’This restriction couldn’t have been set by an ordinary being. Could it have been a Nascent Soul expert?’
Though surprised, Chen Che didn’t stop. He abandoned his previous crude method and, shaping his Divine Sense like a saw, began to patiently grind away at the chain link’s connection point.
His movements were slow as he simultaneously monitored the depths of the mist. No one knew what lay behind it. It was possible this Gourd was the Storage Magical Artifact of some Great Power, and these seals were what they had left behind to protect their life’s collection.
It was also possible that this was a Sealing Magical Artifact, imprisoning an Ancient Fierce Beast or some peerless, malevolent deity.
No one could say for sure what it was. However, Chen Che was already prepared to withdraw his Divine Sense and flee at a moment’s notice.
BANG!
「After a full day.」
The chain link could no longer bear the strain and snapped.
RUMBLE!
A tremendous roar suddenly echoed throughout the entire Gourd Space. Immediately after, the colossal, seemingly endless chains shattered like porcelain, dissolving into specks of golden light that vanished into the void.
At the same time, the layer of thin mist receded like the tide.
To Chen Che’s surprise, however, there was nothing behind the mist. It merely revealed a vast, empty space.
This space was a full twenty thousand zhang across, even larger than the range his Divine Sense could cover.
Moreover, at the edge of his Divine Sense’s reach, another layer of mist remained. Within its churning depths, colossal chains could be seen, patrolling like giant dragons.
Those giant chains were even more massive than the ones before.
’There’s another layer of Sealing... Just what kind of treasure is this Gourd...’
Chen Che couldn’t help but murmur, a storm of shock raging in his heart.
A Storage Ring with a space of a hundred cubic meters would already be considered a Tier Two item...
A thousand cubic meters of space would be Tier Three.
A space ten thousand zhang wide would be a Tier Four Item at the very least—a treasure that only a Nascent Soul True Monarch could possess. And considering the rarity of Spatial Magical Artifacts, even a Nascent Soul True Monarch might not be able to own such an item...
Not to mention, this twenty-thousand-zhang space was only a part of the Gourd.
’Is it Tier Five... or even Tier Six?’
At this thought, Chen Che’s heart trembled.
If it was truly a Tier Five Magical Artifact, its value would far exceed that of the Undersea Palace the two Major Sects were fighting over!
As for Tier Six, he didn’t even dare to imagine it.
That was the level of the ’Heaven-Filling Map,’ which belonged to a Divinity Transformation Ancestor who had founded an Immortal Sect on the Earth Element Star. During the Calamity of Heaven’s Fall, that very item had sealed an Evil Cultivator for a full seven days!
’It seems Hu Haiqing wasn’t the only one to have owned this Yellow Gourd. It must have passed through dozens of hands. It might have even been found by some Qi Refining Cultivators who couldn’t leave a Divine Sense Mark.’
Searching with his Divine Sense, Chen Che discovered the mark left by Hu Haiqing. Besides his, there were dozens of other imprints... Upon careful examination, he found that these marks varied in strength, with quite a few belonging to Golden Core True Masters.
These imprints were like the search history, photos, and text messages left on a used phone.
Of course, he could just ignore them.
But doing so might cause occasional conflicts during use.
As for erasing the imprints, it was equivalent to formatting a second-hand phone. It sounded simple, but it was somewhat difficult in practice. It had taken Chen Che a full day just to sever that hair-thin connection; erasing these imprints took him three more days.
’Finally, I can begin the Sacrificial Refinement!’
Having the prior experience of performing Sacrificial Refinement on the Sword Pill, he was no longer fumbling in the dark. Chen Che eagerly bit his finger and squeezed a drop of blood onto the Gourd.
There was no reaction.
Just as Chen Che was about to squeeze out a second drop of blood, the Gourd quivered silently. Without any external force, it floated into the air, as if it was meant to hover there. Before he could react, a powerful suction burst forth.
WHOOSH~
Like a hemorrhage, a fountain of blood gushed from his fingertip, streaming toward the Yellow Gourd as if it were a fledgling swallow returning to its nest.
He grew dizzy, and his ears began to ring nonstop.
In an instant, Chen Che felt as though he had suffered massive blood loss.
But at the same time, a feeling of a deep, blood-bound connection arose spontaneously within him.
’The Sacrificial Refinement... it succeeded just like that?’
Ignoring his body’s weakness, Chen Che immediately cupped the Gourd in his hands.
From now on, this Yellow Gourd was his. No matter how far apart they were, he would be able to sense it, and it would never be lost. If his Cultivation reached a profound enough level in the future, he could even summon it from millions of li away with a simple wave of his hand.
’This is actually a Magical Treasure?’
It must be known that Magical Artifacts were forged by mortal hands, while Magical Treasures were Innately formed.
Take the Sword Pill, the Pure Jun Sword, or the Black Dragon Lock Chain, for example. Once formed, they could not grow any further unless they were completely re-forged.
But Magical Treasures were different. They could grow step by step along with a Cultivator’s increasing strength or through nourishment with True Essence.
’This trip to the Black Tortoise Calm Sea... I truly have no regrets...’
Although it was a slight shame that the Golden Core True Masters didn’t take the Foundation Establishment cultivators to explore the Undersea Palace, this one Gourd alone was worth more than a hundred such palaces combined.
Even if this item couldn’t currently compare to the Heaven-Filling Map, as his Realm increased, the space inside it would continue to grow.
It might even surpass the Heaven-Filling Map one day.
’But... since it’s a Magical Treasure, does that mean one of its previous owners, or all of them, continuously performed Sacrificial Refinement to nurture it to this level? And then they perished... which is why it ended up adrift in the world?’
Chen Che pondered.
However, the Gourd offered too few clues, and there was no telling how many owners it had passed through, so he simply gave up on these pointless speculations.
It was likely that even Hu Haiqing didn’t know the Gourd’s origin.
In any case, with the Gourd in his possession, as his Realm rose, he would one day uncover its secrets.
For the next few days, Chen Che explored the Gourd’s functions. Besides its basic storage capability, it also had the power to seize another person’s Magical Artifact. The only catch was that each seizure consumed a corresponding amount of True Essence.
’In other words, as long as I have enough True Essence, I can forcibly seize someone else’s Magical Artifact?’
Chen Che’s eyes lit up.
If he suddenly brought out the Gourd during Magical Combat and snatched away his opponent’s Magical Artifact, it would be a devastating blow.
Before he could think of how to test this Magical Treasure, his Divine Sense suddenly stirred. An imprint he had left was rapidly approaching Jinyun Valley.
’This imprint? It’s Sun Hao?’
Chen Che paused. To this day, the only person he had ever placed a Divine Soul Mark on was Sun Hao. But the man was incredibly cunning and had disappeared completely after the exchange meet, leaving Chen Che with no way to track him down.
He never expected the man to show up at Jinyun Valley on his own initiative.
"Valley Master..."
Chen Che rose and left his seclusion.
He happened to run into Hu Yao, who was coming to deliver a report. Chen Che nodded.
"I already know."
He followed Hu Yao to the main hall, where he saw Sun Hao leaning against a giant, flood-dragon-like beast, his hands clasped behind his back as he surveyed the room. When he saw Chen Che approaching, he broke into a wide grin.
"Valley Master Chen, long time no see..."
"I’ve come today on the orders of the Thousand Eyes True Master to invite you on a trip to Hunzhou. Remember to bring the Sacrificial Cauldron."
Hunzhou?
Chen Che’s gaze sharpened.
