Chapter 1363: Ring Space

This relic, leveraging the terrain of the surrounding mountains and rivers and stripping out a spirit vein to provide power, could not possibly have left only a simple Dongxu Gourd; there must be more.

Zhang Xuan suddenly understood. Looking at the others, he saw that Bi Hongyin and the others were not surprised, and only then did he realize.

It seemed these people also knew this, which was why, despite knowing the danger, they strove to help Luo Xuanqing obtain the Dongxu Gourd.

"Yun Lianhai, I leave it to you!"

Luo Xuanqing turned his head.

"Mm!"

Yun Lianhai did not decline. He used his secret technique again, and immediately ripples spread from his brow in all directions.

Having passed through the spatial formation that prohibited the use of power, this place was more expansive. The ripples spread for a long time, until Yun Lianhai's body trembled slightly, before stopping.

"How is it?"

"I did sense some ancient items, but I don't know if they are treasures!"

After catching his breath and recovering a bit, Yun Lianhai said.

"Lead the way!"

Luo Xuanqing spoke.

Without further ado, Yun Lianhai determined the direction and walked ahead.

After walking for over ten minutes, everyone stopped.

"The river in the sky has hardly changed position. Is there a trapping formation here?"

Bi Hongyin frowned.

Everyone looked up and saw that the spiritual energy river in the sky had not changed much from where they first encountered it. It seemed that for over ten minutes, they had been staying in the same place, not moving forward.

"It's not a trapping formation, but a distorted space!"

After a moment's hesitation, Luo Xuanqing said.

Having reached the Half-Step Dongxu realm, his understanding of space was stronger, and he too sensed something amiss.

"Distorted space?" Bi Hongyin was puzzled.

They had entered through distorted space, but this place was vast and completely different from the funnel-shaped space before. How could it be the same?

"The space we usually see is three-dimensional, but this one is like a folded ring. Walking inside, we go around and around, always returning to the same starting point!"

Luo Xuanqing said: "Space is distorted, and light bends along with the distorted space. So, although it looks like we're walking straight, we're actually going in circles! If we could jump out of here, we would see that our bodies are also curved, not straight!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

When space is distorted, those trapped inside cannot tell, just like people on Earth cannot see with the naked eye that the Earth is round.

On a piece of paper, drawing two points, everyone knows the straight line is the shortest. But if you bend the paper into a circle, the straight line drawn earlier is not the shortest but extremely long.

This was their situation now: they seemed to be moving forward, but were actually going in circles.

"Then... how do we leave?"

Yuan Xiao couldn't help asking.

"Shatter the space!"

After a moment's hesitation, Luo Xuanqing said.

Bi Hongyin shook her head: "Folded space is unstable. If something goes wrong, we might be trapped here forever..."

Folded space is not as stable as the outside world; it can automatically repair after being broken. If too much force is used here, it might cause complete collapse, and everyone could be ground to powder, not even leaving residue.

That was why those at the Saint Realm Eighth Layer could not enter this place.

"This..."

Luo Xuanqing frowned.

He knew this too; otherwise, he would have acted earlier and not remained silent.

"Actually, we don't need to shatter the space!"

Zhang Xuan spoke.

"Oh?"

Everyone looked at him sharply.

"Look at the spiritual energy river above. No matter how we walk, it hangs overhead, which means... its space is stable, not folded!"

Zhang Xuan explained.

Everyone nodded.

If this river were also in folded space, it should move with them, not stay in the same place.

"To escape here, we just need to find a way to enter the river and swim upstream against the current!"

"Not bad!"

His eyes lighting up, Luo Xuanqing also nodded.

"Then let's move!"

Without further hesitation, everyone flew up and headed toward the river.

This river was actually a spirit vein. Entering it, they immediately felt rich spiritual energy rolling in, pressing down and making it hard to breathe.

Luo Xuanqing grabbed with his hand, forming a huge spatial bubble that enveloped everyone. Only then did they feel more comfortable, slowly flying forward.

"This spirit vein could have formed top-grade spirit stones, but it consumed too much to nourish this space. What a pity!"

Zhang Xuan sighed emotionally.

Such a massive spiritual vein, if still contained within the mountain range, could definitely form quite a few top-grade spirit stones. But to maintain the space's operation, it had been constantly consumed, so not only top-grade but even high-grade ones could not be produced.

However, on second thought, if top-grade spirit stones had really been produced, they would surely have been discovered and mined by those super forces long ago, and wouldn't have been left until now for him to obtain treasures like the Voidcauldron Gourd.

"By the way, let me communicate with this thing!"

Knowing that with Luo Xuanqing's protection, there was no immediate danger, Zhang Xuan didn't dwell on it. He turned his mind inward and arrived at his dantian once more.

He saw that the thing that had drilled in here had assumed a very comfortable posture, lying horizontally within, exuding an indescribable sense of ease.

"Since this thing absorbed my blood and acknowledged me, it's as good as being refined!"

Seeing a gourd so arrogant, Zhang Xuan frowned slightly. With a thought, he began to drive it.

Zzzzzz!

Controlled by his power, the gourd indeed began to spin in the air.

Strands of honeycomb-like spatial power flowed within his body.

Whoosh!

As these powers swept through, the originally abundant Heavenly Dao true qi in his dantian immediately collapsed, forming a hollow.

"What's going on?"

His pupils contracted.

He had spent a great deal of effort to fully recover his true qi. How could a mere sweep of the gourd's emitted power cause such a large chunk to disappear?

"No, it's not disappearing—the space here has changed, allowing more true qi to be accommodated..."

After scanning around, he couldn't help but freeze.

It turned out that where the gourd had swept, the true qi hadn't evaporated; instead, the space had become distorted, capable of holding more true qi.

"Right, if I could arrange a ring-shaped space like that one in my dantian, not only would it hold more true qi, but when using it, I could draw upon it at any time, and the speed would also be faster..."

An idea popped into his mind.

The ring-shaped folded space that everyone had walked through earlier seemed eerie and confusing, but once the logic was clear, it became simple.

If he could arrange it in his dantian, not only would it hold more true qi, but the true qi could also circulate continuously, being tempered without pause. More importantly, the extraction speed would be faster, with no more limits!

"If I could burst out all my true qi in an instant, maybe I could execute that move, One Sword Vast as the Ocean..."

His eyes lit up.

The reason he couldn't cultivate One Sword Vast as the Ocean and execute it now was that his cultivation was insufficient, but more importantly, his true qi output speed was too slow.

It was like a water channel as thick as a fist; no matter how fast the flow, the amount of water that could pass in an hour was limited. But if it became a river tens of meters wide, it would be different.

Even a single breath would yield countless times more than before.

One Sword Vast as the Ocean required an even more massive amount of true qi than One Sword Splitting the Sea. If he could arrange such a space and let true qi burst out quickly, he might actually be able to execute it!

"Let me try..."

With a thought, he began to manipulate the Voidcauldron Gourd according to his understanding of space.

Zzzzzz!

Sensed by his power, the gourd rotated slowly, releasing layers of space that hung inside his dantian, like bees creating a honeycomb.

"It seems it will take some time to complete the construction..."

Knowing that due to his limited strength, even with the help of the Voidcauldron Gourd, constructing a ring-shaped folded space would require considerable effort, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the gourd still looked cocky, being able to use it without resistance indicated that it had been completely refined.

"As long as it doesn't cause trouble, that's fine. But... now my true qi is insufficient again, and I need to find enough spirit stones..."

Seeing the folded spaces being arranged layer by layer inside his body, like honeycombs hanging within, Zhang Xuan once again felt helpless.

Previously, after cultivating the Saint Sealing Solution, his true qi was already quite abundant, but now that his dantian was arranged into a ring-shaped folded space, filling it would require even more true qi.

A rough calculation showed it was a full ten times more than before!

In other words, he needed even more spirit stones to convert into true qi and fill it.

He was already poor—where could he find so many?

"If worst comes to worst... I could go find someone's tribulation lightning to absorb..."

Resting his chin on his hand, an idea emerged.

Last time, when he broke through to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, the tribulation lightning appeared, allowing him to absorb a great deal and make significant progress. If another tribulation occurred and he went for a stroll, he might easily gather enough true qi in his dantian without all this trouble.

"When I get out, I'll discuss with Brother Luo—when he undergoes his tribulation, let me observe..."

Nodding to himself, Zhang Xuan made up his mind.

After the last incident, the power contained in ordinary tribulation lightning was no longer of much use to him. If worst came to worst, when Luo Xuanqing underwent his tribulation, he could go over and find a way to get some back.

"Look, what's that?"

Lost in thought, he was pulled back to reality by a voice in the crowd. Looking up, he saw that the bubble had flown to the end of the river, where a towering mountain range appeared before them.

This mountain range was not real; it looked like a painting hanging at the edge of the sky, or perhaps a mirage, giving a sense of ethereality—something to be viewed from afar but not approached.

"It's the highest realm of painting masters—the World Within a Painting!"

Luo Xuanqing said solemnly.

"World Within a Painting?"

"This realm surpasses the state of seeming real yet illusory. The world painted can even be entered by humans to live in..." Luo Xuanqing explained.

Zhang Xuan nodded and carefully looked at the painting before him. Suddenly, he froze, his pupils contracting: "The mountain range in this painting... why does it look so familiar? It seems like... the one that Emperor Qingtian asked me to break the seal on..."