Chapter 936: Future Plans P7

"This thing... Is this a storage ring?"

Aksai’s Spirit Sense swept through the spatial dimension of Varesh’s storage ring.

The sheer size of it left him speechless.

It was... enormous.

Far larger than any storage ring he had obtained from the native cultivators. The storage space it boasted was greater than that offered by the dozens of storage rings used by average native cultivators.

In fact, it was so large that Aksai initially wondered whether he had misunderstood Nuri’s calculations.

"How big is this?"

[Approximately three hundred metres on each axis.]

Aksai blinked.

"Three hundred?"

[Approximately 300 × 300 × 300 metres.]

Aksai’s mouth twitched.

That was several times larger than even Kalina’s storage ring. This simple comparison was enough for Aksai to know that such storage rings weren’t common in the Shinayin Empire either. Varesh was a special existence even among the imperial cultivators with sufficient background.

"This thing is less like a storage ring and more like a small warehouse."

Saying this, Aksai frowned and continued examining the spatial dimension.

He soon noticed another peculiarity of the ring.

The enormous space wasn’t a single unified area.

It was divided into three distinct sections.

He focused on the first one.

This section functioned much like an ordinary storage ring.

Spirit Stones.

Alchemy resources.

Refined materials.

Pills.

Miscellaneous cultivation resources.

Everything that shouldn’t decay or couldn’t survive without a living environment could be stored here.

Then he turned his attention toward the second compartment, and his expression changed.

"...Wait."

He carefully extended his Spirit Sense inside.

There was something different about this space.

The spatial laws weren’t exactly the same as those of an ordinary storage ring.

Aksai’s eyes widened.

"Is this spatial dimension conducive to living things?"

There were Spirit plants inside.

Some had been planted directly into prepared soil.

Others were stored with their roots wrapped in Spirit-preserving materials.

There were also Spirit insects and other small organisms. These small organisms were food sources for bigger beasts and so on.

Aksai could even sense the faint aura of several 2nd Order demon beasts. They were mostly used for consumption and didn’t have high-grade bloodlines. However, the fact that this storage ring could be used to keep their meat fresh in an organic manner was a big deal in itself.

His expression slowly became one of disbelief.

"You’re telling me this storage ring can hold living creatures? How is this possible? I thought storage rings were incapable of storing live creatures."

[My Liege, it was impossible for the storage rings used by the native cultivators, who obviously had no expertise in spatial laws and artifact-refining methods. However, it seems the imperial cultivators are not plagued by such problems.]

[As long as the spatial laws are stable and complete enough, a spatial dimension can provide a stable environment for living things. It’s just that there would still be certain restrictions.]

Aksai’s eyes gleamed.

"This..."

He stared at the storage ring in his hand.

"Is this what is referred to as the Void Mustard Seed Ring?" (Chapter 856)

Aksai remembered a brief mention of this type of storage ring in Kalina’s journal. It was said that these rings were usually used by Nascent Soul Kings to store their belongings.

The fact that Varesh had this ring while still being a late-stage Lord spoke volumes about his status in his faction as well as in the entire Shinayin Empire.

***

The first two sections of the Void Mustard Seed Ring had already surprised Aksai. But when his Spirit Sense entered the third section, Aksai felt like the horizons of his perspective were broadened once again.

"What is this?... I have never seen something like this."

Aksai saw that the entire space was filled with strange formations.

Aksai’s Spirit Sense swept across them one by one.

His eyes slowly widened.

[Analyzing the spatial structure.]

A few moments later, Nuri spoke.

[My Liege, the third section appears to be some sort of artifact-refining space.]

"Artifact refining space? What the fuc*k is that?"

Aksai immediately became interested and carefully examined the space.

There were dozens of large and small array formations arranged throughout the compartment.

Some were circular.

Others were rectangular.

A few even overlapped with one another, creating complicated three-dimensional formations that Aksai had never seen before.

And inside those formations...

There were swords.

Lots of them.

Some were barely the size of a palm.

Others were several metres long.

There were thin swords, broad swords, curved swords, heavy swords, short swords, and strange sword-shaped artifacts with unusual structures.

None of them appeared to be ordinary weapons.

Aksai’s eyes narrowed.

"Are these being refined at the same time?"

[Yes.]

Nuri confirmed his suspicion.

[These artifacts are currently undergoing a long-term refinement process.]

Aksai’s expression became thoughtful.

He could sense something peculiar from the swords.

They weren’t merely being nourished by Spirit Essence.

There was another force slowly accumulating within them.

Something that resonated with the Sword Intent lingering throughout the spatial section.

Aksai immediately understood.

"Sword Intent."

Aksai’s gaze became serious.

"So that’s what this place is for."

The third section of the Void Mustard Seed Ring was Varesh’s dedicated artifact-nurturing space.

Certain artifacts could be placed inside it and continuously refined through the owner’s Intent.

But there was a prerequisite.

The cultivator needed to have achieved at least an initial mastery of Intent. Without that, there would be no way to properly imbue the artifacts with Intent.

The space itself seemed to provide the necessary conditions. The formations stabilized the artifacts. The spatial laws maintained a consistent environment. And the cultivator’s Intent was slowly introduced into the artifacts through the formations.

It wasn’t a process that produced results overnight. Instead, it allowed the artifacts to accumulate the owner’s Intent consistently over a long period.

More importantly, this arrangement was done inside a storage ring. It meant that this space would be accessible to the owner no matter where he was.

Aksai’s eyes gleamed.

"That’s quite an ingenious design."

It was almost like cultivating an artifact.

Instead of simply refining it with Spirit resources and leaving it alone, the cultivator could continuously nurture it with their own Intent.

Over time, the artifact would develop a deeper resonance with its owner.

Aksai continued inspecting the various formations.

Then his expression suddenly became strange.

"Wait."

His Spirit Sense moved across the swords again.

"They’re all swords."

That was when the realization struck Aksai, his eyes narrowing as he suddenly had a suspicion in his mind .

"A Sword Array?"

[Highly probable.]

He carefully examined the formation arrangements.

Several smaller swords surrounded a larger one.

Some were positioned according to specific geometric patterns. Others were arranged according to what seemed to be a complex Sword Intent circulation route.

It was obvious that the swords weren’t independent artifacts but were components of a much larger killing formation.

Aksai’s expression became complicated.

"That rich sword boy..."

He couldn’t help but shake his head.

"It’s a good thing that he kept on underestimating me till the end. And also because this formation wasn’t ready to be deployed yet."

During their battle, Varesh had used only one weapon.

His Natal Sword.

And that made perfect sense.

Varesh was a true sword cultivator who followed the traditional path of sword cultivation.

His Natal Sword was his one and only true weapon. He had spent decades nurturing it with Sword Intent and had become the embodiment of his Sword cultivation.

Aksai had therefore never expected Varesh to carry an arsenal of weapons. Yet here they were.

A chill suddenly ran down his spine.

If these artifacts had been fully refined...

If Varesh had been able to deploy them during their battle...

Aksai’s expression became grim.

He had already struggled to survive against Varesh wielding only his Natal Sword.

Even after using Kalina’s accumulated Sword Intent, his various artifacts, formations, Poison Metamorphosis, woodland creatures, Demon Vines, Zyn, and nearly every trump card available to him...

Varesh had still managed to push him to the brink of death.

If a complete sword array had been added on top of that...

Aksai didn’t think he would have had any realistic chance of winning.

He would have had only one option.

Retreat.

And not just ordinary retreat.

He would have needed to immediately hide inside Enchanted Everwood Farm.

"Good thing these formation swords weren’t ready."

Aksai gave a wry smile.

"Otherwise, I would have been forced to hide inside a hole like a scared little rat. But since I have killed him, these swords are all mine. Kekeke. I’ll make good use of them once I understand how to utilize them."

He looked at the swords again.

He had killed Varesh before these swords could mature. That meant he had potentially acquired another enormous resource.

Aksai’s eyes gradually brightened as he asked his perma assistant.

"Nuri, can we continue the refinement?"

[Possibly.]

Nuri paused.

[However, it would require further analysis. The existing formations are deeply connected to Varesh’s Intent and Sword cultivation system. I would suggest we check Varesh’s cultivation resources in the first section. Hopefully, there’s a jade scroll that has a complete version of this sword formation.]