Chapter 402

Wang Yu walked to the center of the garden, pulled out a white box from his person—the unnamed bone box he had obtained from the bar's safe.

He had possessed this object for some time, but had been too busy fleeing and handling affairs back home to deal with it.

Now, finally free, and having found a relatively open residence, he prepared to cast a spell to open the bone box and see what treasure lay inside.

The very thing that had caused the "White Wolf" and his backers to pursue it relentlessly.

Wang Yu held the bone box in his palm, extending his spiritual sense to scan its surface, checking for any subtle changes since last time.

After a moment, he exhaled slowly and retracted his spiritual sense.

The energy fluctuations within the box remained astonishing, yet the box's exterior remained unchanged, showing no anomaly.

It seemed the object inside was well-preserved—not something prone to violent transformation.

If so, he could safely proceed with the Water Refining Technique.

Thinking this, Wang Yu no longer hesitated; he placed the bone box on the ground before him, formed hand seals, murmured incantations, and quietly linked his spiritual intent to the silver talisman within his spiritual sea.

Threads of black qi drifted out from the talisman, swiftly sinking into his meridians.

"Puff."

A blue, water-like sphere the size of a human head materialized in midair before him; urged by his hand seals, it shot straight toward the white bone box on the ground.

In a flash, the sphere enveloped the bone box, slowly rising and hovering in midair.

Wang Yu stared at the sphere, expression unchanged, yet his ten fingers continuously flicked out multicolored hand seals toward it.

The next instant, the water sphere enclosing the box began to rotate slowly, then faster and faster; within it, faint blue threads of light appeared, dense as countless thread-like blades, swirling within the water.

"Reel in."

Wang Yu muttered under his breath.

The light threads within the water tightened sharply toward the bone box.

"Sssss."

Violent scraping sounds emanated from the box's surface, occasionally spewing forth clouds of white mist.

Wang Yu's expression remained calm, but his hand seals grew even steadier.

As more white mist rose from within the water sphere, the bone box shrank visibly under the relentless abrasion of the countless light threads.

Though many disciples of the Four Symbols Sect learned the Water Refining Technique, few mastered its essence.

This technique hinges on "stability"; the practitioner must never be restless or impatient.

As a second-rank Artificer, Wang Yu understood this deeply; now, he calmly guided the seals, showing not a trace of haste.

After a full teacup's time, the bone box had shrunk to only one-third its original size, yet the unknown energy fluctuations within had intensified several-fold.

Clearly, the box could no longer contain or conceal its contents.

Only then did he slow his incantation and retract his hand seals.

The spinning water sphere gradually came to a halt.

The swirling light threads within dissolved one by one, vanishing swiftly; the bone box, now reduced to a thin shell, reappeared.

Wang Yu fixed his gaze on the object within the water, then tapped his forehead with one finger.

"Whoosh."

A streak of silver light shot out from his brow; after a flash, a white bone demon clad in thick bone armor appeared on the ground beside him, hands empty, standing motionless.

Wang Yu glanced at the bone demon once; a thread of spiritual intent drifted silently into its skull.

The next instant, green flames flickered in the demon's hollow eye sockets; it stepped forward twice, raised a bony arm, plunged its five fingers directly into the water sphere, and seized the shrunken bone box.

"Splash."

The instant the box was removed, the large water sphere collapsed into a puddle of clear water on the ground.

Wang Yu silently stepped back two paces.

The bone demon tightened its fingers slightly; the paper-thin bone box shattered instantly, revealing a dark object falling out.

The bone demon's hand shot out, snatching the object, then opened its palm toward Wang Yu.

A silver ring lay clearly in its bony palm.

"This is…"

Wang Yu, seeing the object, narrowed his eyes slightly.

The next moment, the bone demon stepped forward twice and offered the ring closer.

Wang Yu examined the object closely.

The ring was crudely made, as if hand-forged; atop it was set a black crystal the size of a bean, emitting a faint, eerie black glow.

The ring's astonishing energy fluctuations came from this crystal.

As Wang Yu sensed the strength of its energy with his spiritual sense, his expression subtly changed.

If converted into cultivation power, this energy approached the level of a Golden Core cultivator's strike—akin to third-rank power in the cultivation world.

If this terrifying energy were to erupt, everything within a radius of several li would be obliterated.

Yet seeing the bone demon hold the ring without incident, he exhaled in relief—though his spiritual intent, upon touching the ring, was repelled entirely, unable to penetrate even a fraction.

Wang Yu frowned, then reached out with one hand toward the ring in the bone demon's grasp; but to be safe, before his fingers touched it, a stream of black yin qi surged from his arm, swiftly enveloping his entire hand.

With two fingers wrapped in black qi, he delicately plucked up the ring and held it before his eyes for close inspection.

The band was flat and circular, seemingly ordinary silver, not of high purity, its surface pitted and uneven, as if poorly polished.

The small black crystal atop the ring had an irregular surface, yet its color was so deep it seemed to suck in the gaze, refusing to let it look away.

The origin of this crystal must be extraordinary!

As he pondered this, he tilted the ring slightly and saw, etched inside the band, several hasty Chinese characters.

"Beloved, Jenny."

Wang Yu fell silent for a moment, his gaze returning to the black crystal.

For some reason, he felt the crystal's energy fluctuations bore a faint resemblance to yin qi.

After thinking it over, he gently activated the yin qi in his hand; a thin thread of black qi drifted slowly from one finger, cautiously approaching the black crystal.

Something unexpected happened.

The instant the yin qi touched the crystal's surface—"Sssss"—it vanished inside, swallowed whole.

No!

Not swallowed—it was being pulled in by some force.

What the hell is this?

Wang Yu instantly jerked his wrist, flinging the ring away, then stepped back in a swift slide.

The bone demon snatched the ring midair and clamped it tightly between both palms.