Chapter 72: The Abode of a Great Cultivator, the Starring Ring—It’s Hers!

This hidden space was extremely secretive and difficult to find—only when the moonlight at night shone upon the cave walls could it be seen.

The entire cave wall was covered in glowing crystal granules. These crystals had been meticulously inlaid into the rock face, forming magnificent and intricate murals.

In the murals were hanging full moons, brilliant stars, winding rivers, majestic mountains, and even totems and scenes symbolizing ancient cultures.

Although Ye Qingning couldn’t understand what the murals were meant to express, she knew that touching the mural would allow entry into the hidden space.

This kind of secret realm hidden within a mural had once been the secluded dwelling of a powerful cultivator, who had even left behind some things inside.

In her previous life, Ye Qingning’s mission had been to win over the second male lead, Xie Jibai. To fulfill the mission, she foolishly trusted the damn system and gave all the Moonlight Crystals and the items left by the cultivator to Xie Jibai.

If Xie Jibai hadn’t been a water spiritual root cultivator, the system would probably have made her give him the Thunderflame Fruit too—just to gain favorability points.

The system also remembered all that from the past and sobbed pitifully, “It was all my fault. I thought if you treated him well, you could capture his heart… I made you his cheat code!”

“It was my poor guidance that caused you to fail… It’s all on me. This time, all of it belongs to you, Ningning! None of it goes to that scumbag man!”

The system was full of remorse, crying like a pitiful creature. In truth, it still didn’t understand why the favorability kept rising steadily but ultimately still ended in failure.

If there hadn’t been any rise in affection from the beginning, it wouldn’t have misjudged so badly.

Now, whenever the system thought about Xie Jibai, it would fume with anger and draw angry circles on the ground with its bird wings, muttering curses under its breath.

Ye Qingning didn’t blame the system. She knew it was merely a subordinate to the main system, only carrying out the orders assigned. Both she and the system were just reluctantly completing their missions.

As the saying goes—”Nine out of ten systems are pits.” That sure was the truth.

Fortunately, this time around, she didn’t have to do any more stupid favorability missions. Naturally, everything here was hers to take!

Take everything, leave no trace!

Very quickly, she and the system efficiently dug out all the Moonlight Crystals from a corner of the cave.

Though Ye Qingning wasn’t an artifact cultivator now, the Moonlight Crystals could be sold to artifact cultivators or at an auction house—either way, they’d fetch a high price.

Of course, she could also use the Moonlight Crystals to hire a reliable artifact cultivator to craft a custom magic weapon for her. All she’d need to provide was the appropriate crafting fee and the extra materials.

However, such crafting fees weren’t exactly cheap. The more famous the artifact cultivator, the higher the cost to make a weapon.

Just as she was about to touch the mural, Ye Qingning heard the system mention that her spirit jade slip had lit up the moment she was swept into the cave by the current—so she took it out first.

There was a message from Si Qian and the others inside.

Since it was from Si Qian, she decided to listen to what she had to say first.

The transmission contained Si Qian’s anxious voice, saying she had already gone into hiding to escape the pursuit of the Black-Winged Gryphon. She was currently in a safe zone, waiting to regroup with the rest of the team, and asked Ye Qingning if she was safe.

Another message followed, saying that because she hadn’t received a reply in a long time and feared something had happened, she had used her inner sect disciple waist token to contact Shen Xuanli and inform him of the situation.

In Si Qian’s view, someone at the Foundation Establishment stage couldn’t possibly deal with a Black-Winged Gryphon. She was truly worried about Ye Qingning’s safety, and she remembered Shen Xuanli had once said: in any life-threatening situation, she could transmit a message to him.

Unable to wait any longer for Ye Qingning’s reply, Si Qian, an impatient sword cultivator, grew more and more anxious. Believing this to be a life-or-death moment, she urgently contacted Shen Xuanli for help.

Ye Qingning and the system were both stunned by Si Qian’s message.

More accurately, they were stunned by the name “Shen Xuanli.”

Once they processed it, the system flapped its wings excitedly, shouting, “Aaaahhh! Ningning! Shen Xuanli is coming! Our male lead is coming!”

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Ye Qingning watched the system’s useless expression and felt a black line form on her forehead. This dumb system was probably a hardcore Shen Xuanli fangirl.

The only people who could get this kind of reaction from the system were the male lead Shen Xuanli and the yet-to-appear main antagonist—one made it thrilled beyond reason, the other made it scared out of its mind.

No other characters could stir the system like this.

Silently, she took out the inner sect disciple waist token at her waist. Since she was safe now, there was no need for Shen Xuanli to come searching for her.

“Wuwuwu, Ningning! Can’t you just not reply? That’s the male lead, you know! Don’t you have any feelings about this?”

Ye Qingning frowned slightly. Was she supposed to have feelings?

Right, this secret realm had treasures. If Shen Xuanli came, should she share them with him?

Immediately, she sent a concise message through the waist token: I’m fine. Don’t come.

The system was dumbfounded. It had been feeling guilty, thinking everything in the past life had been its fault, that Ye Qingning hadn’t even gotten a bite of meat while trying to help the male lead. This life, it had sworn to let its host have the best and juiciest piece!

But now… the host really wasn’t playing along!

Ignoring the system’s wails and sighs, Ye Qingning messaged Si Qian and the others to assure them she was safe, then reached out to touch the mural. In the next moment, a mysterious force pulled her into the mural on the cave wall.

The hidden space wasn’t as large as the cave—in fact, it resembled more of a residence.

The walls were inlaid with luminous minerals, casting soft light across the space.

Unlike the inheritance ground Ye Hanyue had entered in a previous life, this was simply a place where a powerful cultivator once lived.

There was no legacy or inheritance left behind—only items the cultivator once used and things he had perhaps accidentally left behind.

Among them were pottery jars, stone carvings, some wooden artifacts whose names she couldn’t even guess, and a few cultivation manuals casually thrown into a corner.

Naturally, there were also spiritual treasures and magical tools left behind.

What caught her attention most was a ring.

This was no ordinary ring—it was a spatial treasure, a mustard seed ring.

And this particular mustard seed ring had a beautiful name—Starring Ring.

It was forged from an extremely rare material known as Starring Stone, which was said to be found only in ancient forbidden zones.

Infused with the power of the stars, the ring’s surface shimmered with faint starlight, as if a galaxy was worn on one’s finger.

The interior of the ring was even more breathtaking, as if a whole starry sky had been sealed within.

Inside was an expansive realm with endless mountains, clear flowing streams, towering trees, birdsong, and fragrant flowers—like a miniature world.

The reason there was spiritual energy in this space was that the soil within it was Xirang, a type of living earth that contained the power of life.

Just the Xirang alone was extremely rare. Not to mention, a spatial treasure of this level—the mustard seed ring—was something even she couldn’t afford.

After dripping her blood on it to bind the ring, Ye Qingning immediately felt a mysterious connection. With a mere thought, she could now enter the Starring Ring at will.

In her past life, she had loved this ring—but for the sake of the mission, she gave it to Xie Jibai. Now that it was finally hers, she truly understood what satisfaction meant.

She gave the system, who still had “I know I was wrong” written all over its face, a hard glare.

The next second, the system deliberately tried to change the subject and shouted in alarm, “Ningning! Someone’s entered the cave! I think it’s Shen Xuanli!”