Xue Mingzhao looked at Xiao Qian's open and candid expression, bent down to grab a handful of grass, stuffed it into her storage ring, and with a flash of her figure, returned to the outside world.
She checked the storage ring again.
It was empty.
She re-entered the space. “I can't even take out a single blade of grass.”
Xiao Qian stared at the empty ring, a clear look of doubt appearing on her cute, cold face for the first time.
She was questioning her very existence as a bracelet.
Xue Mingzhao, on the other hand, stared at those dozen or so spirit stones and fell into deep thought. If items within the space couldn't be taken out, how could those dozen or so spirit stones be explained?
Xue Mingzhao lowered her head in thought, her gaze suddenly landing on Baize.
Those dozen or so spirit stones were uniform in size and had smooth surfaces. They were precisely the batch that Baize had previously dug out of the ore layer using its spiritual energy.
A thought struck her.
“Xiao Qian, get a few more spirit stones.”
Xiao Qian did as she was told.
“Baize, hold them and come out with me.”
Baize obediently clamped the spirit stones between its two front hooves.
One person and one beast left the space.
Baize's arms were completely empty.
The little fellow looked down at its hooves, its face filled with innocence.
Xue Mingzhao took it back inside and pointed toward the spirit vein.
“This time, dig them out yourself.”
Snowy-white spiritual energy surged from the tips of Baize's hooves.
The rock layer vibrated slightly, and several lustrous spirit stones detached themselves from the soil, falling into its embrace.
One person and one beast returned to the outside world once more.
The spirit stones remained securely in Baize's arms.
Xue Mingzhao's expression gradually grew complex.
Baize couldn't take out the spirit stones that Xiao Qian had conjured.
But the spirit stones that Baize had personally mined could appear in the outside world normally.
To verify her theory, she turned around to look for Su Ye.
When Su Ye was brought into the Qiankun Heaven-Locking Bracelet, he stood dazed for a long time.
Rolling distant mountains, a surging spiritual river, forests, and oceans stretched as far as the eye could see. The spiritual energy in the air was so dense it could almost be wrung out like water.
“Ju... Junior Sister...”
He turned his neck with difficulty. “You call this a spatial spiritual tool?”
Xiao Qian was very satisfied with his reaction.
She lightly snapped her fingers, and daytime instantly turned into night, with a vast river of stars covering the sky.
With another wave of her hand, a distant mountain peak slowly rose from the ground and relocated to the middle of the ocean.
Su Ye's mouth grew wider and wider. “Do you guys usually play on such a grand scale in here?”
Xue Mingzhao walked over and raised her hand to close his jaw.
“Don't be shocked yet. Help me do some work.”
With a wave of Xiao Qian's hand, several of them instantly appeared beside the supreme-grade spirit vein.
Xue Mingzhao stuffed the spirit rock pickaxe into Su Ye's hand.
“Dig one out.”
“Just one?”
“Just dig first. If you dig too many, I'm afraid you won't want to leave.”
Completely bewildered, Su Ye swung the spirit rock pickaxe, chipped a supreme-grade spirit stone from the rock layer, and handed it to Xue Mingzhao.
With a flash, the two of them returned to the outside world.
The supreme-grade spirit stone lay quietly in Xue Mingzhao's palm, without disappearing.
Cang Jue pondered for a moment and offered a guess: “The native objects within the bracelet are connected to the space's origin. When the master and the artifact spirit mobilize them, the origin mark is not severed. Once they leave, they will automatically return.”
“Only when an external living being personally harvests them does it count as a true acquisition, allowing the items to be taken out of the space.”
Xue Mingzhao summarized, “In other words, I'm sitting on a gold mountain, yet I can't even take away a single stone. If I want to spend money, I have to hire someone to dig it for me first.”
Cang Jue said, “From the looks of it, yes.”
Xue Mingzhao clutched her chest.
This was probably the legendary 'wealthy enough to rival a country, yet penniless.'
Baize immediately sidled up to Xue Mingzhao and rubbed against her affectionately.
“Don't be sad, Master. I'll dig them for you from now on.”
Xiao Qian, who was already feeling depressed, looked even colder upon hearing this.
As a dignified artifact spirit, she could easily move mountains and fill seas, yet she was ultimately outmatched by a beast that knew how to mine.
The Chaos Spiritual Root took the opportunity to drive a wedge between them: “I told you this beast has too many schemes. It definitely knew the rules beforehand and deliberately waited until now to show off.”
“Usually, it claims to know nothing when asked, but when it comes to pleasing the boss, it's faster than anyone.”
Baize was too lazy to pay attention to it and simply snuggled further into Xue Mingzhao's arms.
Su Ye, however, stared at the supreme-grade spirit vein, his eyes shining terrifyingly bright.
“Junior Sister, since I can take the spirit stones out, does this mean we'll never be short on money again?”
“Theoretically, yes.”
Xue Mingzhao looked at him, then at Baize.
“But relying solely on the two of you, how many ages would it take to empty out a single spirit vein?”
The Chaos Spiritual Root suggested, “Why not just bring more people in?”
Cang Jue immediately vetoed it. “Once a secret treasure of this level is leaked, it will be enough to attract the greed of the entire cultivation world. The more people who know, the more danger Master will be in.”
“Then just form covenants with all of them. Whoever dares to betray you gets killed.”
Cang Jue fell silent for a moment. “That is exactly how evil cultivators are made.”
However, Xue Mingzhao was enlightened by this debate.
“We can't easily form covenants with humans, but surely we can with demon beasts?”
The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
“We'll find a group of demon beasts that excel at digging holes and naturally love ores. We'll provide them with room and board, and hand out spirit fruits based on their mining volume. They'll be happy, I'll get rich, and everyone gets what they need.”
Speaking of spirit beasts, Xue Mingzhao suddenly remembered that group of chubby herb-gathering mice in the Qingyu Mystic Realm, and she instantly felt a heartache so intense she could barely breathe.
Had she known they had such employment value, she should have swept away the entire nest back then.
Even if they couldn't mine, having them farm for her inside the space would have been fine.
Unfortunately, it was too late to think about that now.
What was truly important right now was the Evernight Demon Domain three months later.
No matter what, she had to secure a spot.
Xue Mingzhao looked down at Baize in her arms, her smile suddenly becoming exceptionally gentle.
Baize rubbed against her without any defense.
“Master.”
“Good.”
Xue Mingzhao stroked its fur while carrying it into the spirit stone mine.
“Dig well. Master will prepare spirit fruits for you after I go out.”
Looking at the endless mineral vein, Baize suddenly felt that its master's gentleness was somewhat heavy.
Seeing it suffer a setback, Xiao Qian's mood inexplicably improved.
Xue Mingzhao turned her head to look at Su Ye. “Senior Brother, I want to go to the Evernight Demon Domain.”
Su Ye replied without the slightest hesitation, “Then I'm going too.”
“Then starting today, come find me every night.”
Su Ye suddenly took half a step back, clutching his lapels tightly with both hands.
“Junior Sister, this isn't appropriate, is it? I've always treated you as my own sister, and I have absolutely no improper thoughts about you.”
Xue Mingzhao looked at him expressionlessly.
“You'd better not.”
“I'm telling you to enter the space to cultivate at night. The flow of time here is ten times faster than in the outside world. Three months outside is two and a half years inside. If we want to snatch a spot from the Great Sect Tournament, relying on normal cultivation is far from enough.”
Su Ye silently released his lapels.
“So that's how it is.”
“What else did you think?”
“I knew Junior Sister was single-mindedly devoted to the Dao and would never covet my beauty.”
Xue Mingzhao kicked him.
“Scram and mine.
Rate on N.U.
