Chapter 373: Sumeru Pearl

In less than a day, He Pingsheng set up two arrays outside the small pavilion.

After that, he spent the remaining time resting inside the pavilion.

Shortly after entering, the warning array above him began chiming repeatedly.

Without saying it, someone—an unstable Nascent Soul cultivator—had tried to probe He Pingsheng's privacy with spiritual sense, only to be blocked by the warning array, triggering the alarm.

The intruder naturally dared not continue probing.

Because all around were Nascent Soul experts; if he persisted, others could easily trace the spiritual sense residue back to him.

Not only would he be humiliated, he might even be barred from participating in the exchange meeting.

After several days passed, the Dao Discussion Assembly officially opened.

He Pingsheng followed Mi Cangyuan toward the grand hall.

On the way, they encountered the Ruokai Patriarch again; this time, He Pingsheng made no pretense—he shot out his spiritual sense with a sudden burst, sweeping over Ruokai Patriarch.

Sixteen years ago, when Ruokai Patriarch had asked him to refine pills, He Pingsheng was merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the second layer, his spiritual sense limited to ten thousand zhang, unable to perceive Ruokai Patriarch's cultivation. Now, his spiritual sense had reached twenty thousand zhang—equivalent to the strength of an ordinary Nascent Soul fourth-layer cultivator.

Thus, after this single sweep, he saw through Ruokai Patriarch's cultivation: Nascent Soul fourth layer.

A middling level.

"Ladies and gentlemen… please come in!"

"Come in, come in…"

Bei Yezi stood at the entrance of the grand hall, personally greeting the arriving cultivators.

He had sent out twenty-three invitation tokens, but allowed each token to bring one additional person, so the total number of attendees was not twenty-three, but roughly forty.

Once everyone entered, regardless of cultivation level, they all walked into the grand hall and found seats to sit.

Inside the golden hall stood a massive table.

Around it were about forty to fifty seats.

Everyone could sit wherever they wished.

He Pingsheng and Mi Cangyuan found two adjacent seats and sat down.

Said to be adjacent, yet there was still a distance of three chi between them!

"Hehehe…" Ruokai Patriarch clung to He Pingsheng like a medicinal plaster, saying: "Young friend, would it be alright if I sat beside you?"

He Pingsheng replied coolly: "Master, do as you please…"

"Good, good!" Ruokai Patriarch sat down.

Behind him stood two young attendants.

No sooner had he sat than Ruokai asked: "Young friend… back when I saw you with that 【Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow】, I must admit—I was very interested in it!"

"I wonder, did you bring it with you this time?"

"I did," He Pingsheng nodded. "If you can offer something that truly moves me, I might consider trading with you."

Ruokai's expression darkened instantly. "Young friend… must it truly be metal and earth elemental rules?"

"Could nothing else suffice?"

He Pingsheng said: "I've already found the earth element. Now I only lack the metal element."

Hearing this, Ruokai's face grew even more grim.

After a few breaths, everyone had taken their seats.

As host, Bei Yezi first exchanged pleasantries with the gathering, then said: "Ladies and gentlemen… since I organized this Dao Discussion Assembly, I shall open with a humble offering to spark your insights. Afterwards, each of you must present an item."

"Look here!"

As he spoke, Bei Yezi suddenly extended his hand.

In his right palm rested a black, egg-sized bead.

"What is this?" someone asked in confusion.

Almost everyone lifted their heads to stare at Bei Yezi.

For neither spiritual sense nor sight could discern any mystery within the bead.

"Hehehe…" Bei Yezi chuckled. "This is a treasure—called the 【Sumeru Pearl】…"

At this, several people immediately understood.

But most clearly had no idea what the Sumeru Pearl was.

Bei Yezi continued: "It was crafted by ancient masters who mastered space Dao, who infused a miniature world into it—meaning, this bead contains an entire miniature world."

Ah…

At this, everyone grew even more astonished.

Good heavens!

A miniature world.

Especially He Pingsheng—he gaped in shock, mouth wide open.

He had known of storage bags, storage rings, and bracelets before.

Now you've managed a miniature world?

Wouldn't this thing be priceless?

Someone asked: "Brother Bei Yezi, hehe… this Daoist wishes to know—how large is the space inside your Sumeru Pearl?"

Many others also looked expectant.

In everyone's mind, it must be at least hundreds of li.

Otherwise, how could it be called a miniature world?

But Bei Yezi replied: "Ahem… it's precisely one hundred zhang in diameter."

Pfft…

Everyone nearly spat.

A world one hundred zhang across?

Is this even called a miniature world?

It's barely larger than a storage ring's interior.

"Then…" another asked: "Brother Bei Yezi, does this miniature world contain any spirit veins?"

If it did, that would be fine—since one could cultivate low-grade spirit plants inside.

Like second- or third-grade spirit herbs.

Carrying it around would be quite convenient.

But Bei Yezi shook his head. "I'm sorry—there are no spirit veins. If you wish to cultivate immortal herbs, you may place spirit stones inside to nourish them."

Without spirit veins, spirit herbs cannot grow.

Because, like humans and demonic beasts, spirit herbs absorb celestial spiritual energy during growth.

If there are no spirit veins, one may compensate by using the spiritual power within spirit stones.

But the cost would be enormous.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if anyone wishes to acquire it, make your offer!" Bei Yezi waved the Sumeru Pearl in his hand.

He Pingsheng suddenly raised his hand. "Master, I wish to examine this bead—may I?"

"Of course!" Bei Yezi activated his spiritual sense, lifting the bead's seal: "All of you, if you wish to see, may extend your spiritual sense inside."

This way, no one needed to physically pass the bead around.

Dozens of spiritual senses surged forth, extending inward.

He Pingsheng saw it clearly—a space roughly one hundred zhang in diameter.

Around the space was a barrier; above it stretched a sky, with a sun that moved in sync with the outside world's sun.

"This…" it shattered his understanding—he turned to Mi Cangyuan in shock. "Master Mi, why is there a sun inside this tiny Sumeru world?"

"Hehe…" Mi Cangyuan chuckled. "The sun isn't part of the Sumeru world—it's the illumination of sun and moon reflecting across all realms. Any space you construct is fundamentally synchronized with our cultivation world."

"Rules synchronized. Time synchronized."

"The kind of space without sun or moon—or one that sets its own sun and moon—that's called a self-contained realm."

"Even immortals may not be able to craft something that is a self-contained realm."

Hearing this, He Pingsheng understood.