Chapter 984: Not Minding Your Own Business
The golden page world vanished along with the school of fish. It remained within Chi Hong's spirit sense range, but the sheer number of fish made individual scanning impossible, even for a level seven spirit beast.
Chi Hong could never have imagined Ye Mo possessed something as powerful as the golden page world, a realm unto itself. Nothing comparable existed in the cultivation realm. While small pocket worlds were known, none possessed the golden page world's power. Most pocket worlds were artificial, but Ye Mo's was born from chaos. No matter how powerful one became, even a god, they couldn't create anything so formidable.
Therefore, Ye Mo's concerns were unfounded. Unless Chi Hong located the golden light within a fish's stomach, he would never find Ye Mo.
Ye Mo, unwilling to leave the golden page world, retrieved the spirit beast's arm and a large storage ring before incinerating the arm. This storage ring differed significantly from ordinary ones. Ye Mo could craft simple artifacts and rings, but his creations were rudimentary and offered minimal space. This ring, however, was different in both construction and appearance. Upon investigating with his spirit sense, Ye Mo detected a potent spirit sense restriction. He knew that without his expertise in formations and restrictions, opening the ring would be impossible. Fortunately, it was he who found it; otherwise, its contents would have remained inaccessible to anyone else.
Ye Mo meticulously removed the restriction with his spirit sense. Despite his skill, the process consumed nearly three days. But upon seeing the football field-sized space within, his astonishment stemmed not from its size, but from its unbelievable wealth. This was no mere storage ring; it was a warehouse. While the bandit's storage ring had been impressive, this one dwarfed it.
Neatly arranged shelves held spirit herbs, the lowest grade being level three. Mountains of level four and five herbs were present, along with several hundred level six herbs and two level seven ones. Most gratifying to Ye Mo were the thousands of water weeds. Having emerged from the plain of herbs, he realized his previous conception of wealth had been laughably naive.
Beyond the herbs were approximately fifty million top-grade spirit stones, countless mid-grade stones, and a plethora of magic and spirit artifacts stacked on shelves. Ye Mo surmised these belonged to human cultivators he had slain. Beast cores were scarce, only about twenty, ranging from level five to level seven. To Ye Mo, level five and above beast cores were invaluable.
Ye Mo's spirit sense reached the last, sparsely populated, white shelf. Yet, he sensed its contents held the greatest value. Three extreme-grade spirit stones immediately caught his eye, beside a flame sealed within a restriction.
"Snow essence flame?" Ye Mo gasped. One of the thirty-six rare flames of the cultivation realm, though ranked only fifteenth, it was notoriously difficult to obtain. A water-type flame, like the Purple Flower flame, but composed of pure water element, it was ideal for alchemical concoctions requiring both water and fire.
Delighted, Ye Mo secured it, along with the two level six materials beside it: extreme blue gold and thousand-level spirit sand. He felt a mixture of excitement and wonder. A mere nascent soul state tertiary stage spirit beast possessed such wealth; what treasures might a hollow spirit state cultivator's ring hold?
But the image of the black and white face immediately quelled that thought.
Unknown to Ye Mo, Chi Hong's storage ring was essentially a small warehouse, temporarily in Chi Hong's possession. This explained Chi Hong's relentless pursuit; losing the ring would have dire consequences for him, a mere underling to a level seven spirit beast.
Ye Mo stored the ring but remained cautious, focusing on cultivation and preparing to consume the third Heaven Glory Pill. A month later, he reached golden core state level five. He possessed ample water weeds to continue concocting Heaven Glory Pills, but chose to abstain for now. The power increase was satisfying, but the process too terrifying.
Ye Mo retrieved the Five Element Mobility technique, resolving to master it as his primary escape method. The name was misleading; it wasn't actually five mobility types. Easy to learn, mastery proved challenging. Even basic proficiency wouldn't surpass the speed of a magic artifact. Success depended on cultivation essence, spirit sense, and comprehension of the technique. It had seven levels, but without strong spirit sense and cultivation essence, one might never surpass level one. Even with these attributes, inadequate understanding would preclude reaching level two.
Ye Mo's cultivation of the Three Birth Chant granted him unparalleled understanding, enabling him to reach level one on the first day.
…
Two months passed swiftly in cultivation. He could no longer remain hidden within the golden page world. Having spent half a year acquiring significant treasures, he wished to return to Mo Yue.
Unable to control the golden page world's departure from the fish's mouth, he apologized to the fish before exiting. But upon emerging, he found himself enveloped in darkness. His spirit sense revealed his location: inside a whale's belly. The white fish, it seemed, had been consumed.
Well, he could finally avenge the white fish that saved his life. Ye Mo summoned Zi Xu, creating a gash in the whale's body and escaping through its back. After a cleansing sea bath, he stood atop the water.
He was speechless to find himself witnessing another cultivator's fight—a golden core state level nine against a level eight. The level eight cultivator was in grave danger, near death.
At that moment, the level eight cultivator spotted Ye Mo's sudden appearance. "Dao friend," he gasped, "please deliver this message: the Ao Cheng merchant association conspired with spirit beasts, luring golden core state cultivators to sea, then handing them over…"
"You seek death!" The level nine cultivator attacked with renewed ferocity.
The level eight cultivator, struck by a white jade ring, spat blood but still yelled, "Flee! Carry the message! Otherwise, you'll be next!"
Ye Mo initially intended to remain uninvolved, but the involvement of the Ao Cheng merchant association, whom he despised, changed his mind. He released Zi Xu.
A long purple ray streaked across the sky, several kilometers above the level nine cultivator. Even the level nine cultivator hadn't anticipated a golden core state level five cultivator choosing confrontation over escape.