Chapter 123: The Things Inside the Space

Ding Huan paid no attention to Qi Qi Xinyue's expression; his focus returned to the star-shaped pebble.

His spiritual sense sank inside, revealing a space of nearly two hundred cubic meters.

Inside, it was utterly empty, save for two rows of shelves.

One shelf held nothing but various Bai Yu bottles; the other was filled with bamboo slips and jade slips of all kinds.

Neither shelf was full, as if some items had been removed.

With a flick of his spiritual sense, a jade bottle fell into his hand.

"Big brother, what is this…?" Qi Qi Xinyue snapped out of the sudden embrace, staring in astonishment at Ding Huan's palm.

A jade bottle had suddenly appeared in Ding Huan's hand; she was a Level Five Gene Cultivator, and she was certain she hadn't imagined it—it had truly appeared out of nowhere.

"Xinyue, have you ever heard of a Xumi Space?" Ding Huan asked, excited.

He was certain he had acquired a Xumi Space—it felt as unreal as a dream, yet it had truly happened.

Qi Qi Xinyue nodded rapidly. "My master told me about storage spaces—they're legendary items.

A Xumi Space is a higher-tier existence than a storage space; my ancestral clan is the Divine Race, and the Divine Race possesses Xumi Spaces…"

Here, Qi Qi Xinyue seemed to realize something, staring intently at the star-shaped pebble in Ding Huan's hand.

"Xinyue, you've guessed it. I don't know whether this is a storage space or a Xumi Space—but Xumi Space sounds better, so let's call it a Xumi Space.

It's this. Take a look." As he spoke, Ding Huan placed the pebble into Qi Qi Xinyue's hand.

He trusted Qi Qi Xinyue, but he would never trust Lao Liu.

Even though Lao Liu had imprinted his soul mark on him, Ding Huan still harbored some suspicion toward him.

"Ah…"

Qi Qi Xinyue gasped, carefully examining the star-shaped pebble in her hand, then gently placed it back into Ding Huan's palm.

"Big brother, hurry and put the things inside," Qi Qi Xinyue's voice trembled; she had never imagined she'd see a legendary artifact.

What moved her even more was Ding Huan's complete trust in her.

He had told her about the Xumi Space—he would die before revealing that Big Brother possessed one.

Ding Huan nodded and opened the jade bottle in his hand.

To his disappointment, there were no fragrant pills inside—only dried black solids.

No need to ask; the pills had all been ruined by time.

Ding Huan swiftly swept out all the jade bottles from the shelves, scanning them with his spiritual sense—each one contained nothing but a black lump.

Qi Qi Xinyue, unaware, was still opening the stoppers of the jade bottles.

"Useless—all of them are ruined," Ding Huan said.

He didn't care much; having a Xumi Space was already more than enough.

Letting Qi Qi Xinyue inspect the bottles, Ding Huan's spiritual sense swept over the other row of shelves and immediately noticed that all the bamboo slips had turned to dust—no structure left.

The moment touched, they would crumble into powder.

Ding Huan counted: thirty-one bamboo slips and twenty-three jade slips.

The jade slips were intact, their contents varied and diverse.

Ding Huan did not touch the bamboo slips on the shelf—he would wait until he returned to Luohe to transcribe their contents onto paper and ink.

"Big brother, all the pills inside have turned to black lumps. Shall I clean out these jade bottles?" Qi Qi Xinyue said.

Ding Huan waved his hand. "No need to clean them. Leave the bottles here—for now."

Ding Huan thought: these pills inside the bottles were inherited from the ancient Divine and Immortal era.

If one day he could analyze these powders and identify their components, wouldn't he someday reconstruct the pill formulas?

"Then Big Brother, put all these Zhan Shen Crystal Stones into the space," Qi Qi Xinyue pointed to the pile of Zhan Shen Crystal Stones in the ship's cabin.

Ding Huan shook his head. "Not yet. Wait until we reach Luohe City."

He feared disturbing the bamboo slips—if they were damaged, the loss would be irreparable.

"Big brother, this pot isn't ordinary either, is it?" Qi Qi Xinyue was sharp—she immediately thought of the pot Ding Huan had brought in.

The meat cooked in this pot had no flavor, yet roasted meat from it was delicious.

"I'm not sure yet. We'll see later," Ding Huan knew the pot bore a layer of array patterns—he'd spent days grinding a single pebble, even losing consciousness from spiritual sense exhaustion.

This pot might take months just to strip the array patterns.

"Xinyue, we're already close friends…"

Hearing Ding Huan's words, Qi Qi Xinyue seemed to think of something, her cheeks flushing slightly as she instinctively lowered her head.

"I might be even younger than you…"

Before Ding Huan could finish, Qi Qi Xinyue rushed to say, "Big brother, I'm only twenty-two."

Ding Huan paused slightly—Qi Qi Xinyue looked very young.

But he assumed it was due to her cultivation of Divine Art Force; she was likely at least twenty-six or twenty-seven, given she'd left Zhan Shen Continent years ago.

He had never imagined she was only twenty-two.

Though slightly older than him, the difference was minimal.

"I was captured at thirteen for leaving Luoshen Valley without permission. As a Divine Race heretic, I was tasked with finding the Divine Race's dwelling place—they took me off Zhan Shen Continent…"

Here, Qi Qi Xinyue stared at Ding Huan, as if wanting to say something but hesitating.

Ding Huan smiled. "Xinyue, I've already said it—we're comrades in hardship. You saved me, and I saved you.

We've been through life and death—what's left unsaid?"

"Comrades in life and death…" Qi Qi Xinyue murmured, her eyes brightening. "Yes, Big Brother—we truly are.

I'm grateful they brought me to Earth and that I met you here. If I hadn't found Earth, they'd have kept wandering me through the universe.

Perhaps one day, I'll choose to end my own life."

"Why?" Ding Huan didn't understand.

Qi Qi Xinyue smiled sadly, "Because I was still young, so they left me alone. In the vast universe, once I grew older, how could they possibly let me go?"

This time Ding Huan understood: Qi Qi Xinyue had come to Earth no older than fourteen, and had been imprisoned there for seven years.

Fortunately, she was held by the Federation, under the direct responsibility of General Hu Jiatian.

When Hu Jiatian was transferred to the Human Corridor Frontline, Qi Qi Xinyue was taken there too.

Otherwise, with her beauty, she could never have protected herself before her disfigurement.

Ding Huan suspected Qi Qi Xinyue had disfigured herself, but he didn't want to ask—afraid of stirring her pain.

"Since I could remember, besides Mother, only Big Brother treated me best." As Qi Qi Xinyue spoke, her eyes turned slightly red.

She had seen too much of human cruelty and kindness.

"Aren't you still under a master?" Ding Huan asked, puzzled.

Qi Qi Xinyue shook her head and said nothing more about her master.

Ding Huan knew there must be a reason, so he quickly changed the subject:

"Xinyue, we're returning to Luohe. I need to check on Old Six—see if he can form a spiritual root."

"Uh, I also go by the name Ding Xiaotu. Don't call me Big Brother anymore—just call me Xiaotu."

"Ah, how can I? In my heart, you're my true…"

Qi Qi Xinyue paused mid-sentence, as if remembering something, then hurried on, "Then I won't call you Big Brother—but 'Xiaotu' sounds a bit…"

Ding Huan smiled: "A name is just a label. When I wandered, I once called myself Ding Ding Buyi—you can call me Buyi too."

During his travels across the universe, Ding Huan had taken many names—he'd not only called himself Ding Ding Buyi, but even Ding Xunhuan.

His current name, Ding Huan, came from that.

He'd chosen Ding Xunhuan because he admired a character named Xunhuan, a flying dagger master from a certain novel.

He'd wanted his own flying daggers to strike true, never missing.

Unfortunately, even when hunted to death in the void, he'd never found a good flying dagger technique.

"Hmm, I'll still call you Xiaotu—it sounds warmer." Qi Qi Xinyue whispered.

"Good. Go get Old Six. We're heading back to Luohe." Ding Huan said, then headed for the cockpit to prepare Blue Star for departure from Kunlun Mountains.

Staying here for one or two months had yielded tremendous gains.

"Master Huan, are we returning to Luohe City?" Old Six, hearing Qi Qi Xinyue call him, excitedly dashed onto Blue Star, chattering wildly.

"Yes." Ding Huan guessed Old Six's meaning and had already activated Blue Star.

…

At Blue Star's speed, even with Ding Huan's control, it took only twenty minutes to stop outside the lair of the Great Wild Jin Yuan.

The Great Wild Jin Yuan rushed out, saw Ding Huan and Old Six, and immediately put on a smiling face.

"Ah Huang, I'm going with Master Huan to handle business. You stay here and guard Blue Star, understood?"

Old Six spoke to the Great Wild Jin Yuan with the tone of someone about to rise to great fortune.

Though Ding Huan couldn't understand monkey speech, he could guess some of it.

He said without hesitation:

"Old Six, only I and Xinyue are going to Luohe City. You stay here to guard Blue Star—just give me a drop of your brow blood to take back."

After speaking, Ding Huan turned to the Great Wild Jin Yuan:

"Ah Huang, watch over Blue Star for me. When I return, I won't let you down—I'll at least help you reach Level Nine Beast."

The Great Wild Jin Yuan feared Ding Huan deeply; hearing his words, it dared not refuse, nodding repeatedly.

Ding Huan's promise meant little to it—Level Nine Beast? Ha! With the resources here, it could never reach that level.

"Big Brother, let me come with you—fresh blood would be better, right?" Old Six pulled out paper and pen, wrote it neatly, then gazed at Ding Huan with a sly, flattering smile.

"Then fine," Ding Huan agreed to Old Six's request, "come with me first to gather some herbs, then head to Luohe."

Whether the brow blood was fresh or not didn't matter to Ding Huan—he was just too lazy to argue with Old Six.

Blue Star was so tough that even if the Great Wild Jin Yuan harbored ill intent, it couldn't break in.

Even if the Great Wild Jin Yuan were stronger, could it rival that mutated great owl?