Chapter 30

She tried to put the ring on her finger.

To her frustration, the ring wouldn’t fit. Despite looking big enough, she just couldn’t get it on. Suddenly, she understood—this ring wasn’t meant for her, so she couldn’t wear it. This was the protagonist’s fate; only she could wear it. With a helpless sigh, she looked at the ring in her palm, then threw it back into the water.

But something strange happened at that moment.

A bronze alchemy furnace suddenly appeared in the water. It just appeared out of nowhere! Lan Yun’er was somewhat startled. She had seen many strange things in her life, but seeing an alchemy furnace appear out of thin air still amazed her. She stared at the furnace for a moment, then flew towards it. Although her cultivation had diminished greatly, she could still fly—just not too high or for too long.

She reached the furnace and looked closely. It was clearly a fine object, resembling something from ancient times. But how did it appear here? How did it come into existence? She stared at it for a while, then scratched her chin and smiled. She had been wondering where to find an alchemy furnace, and now the heavens had sent one to her. She could finally refine some beauty pills—at least now she had the proper tool.

But this furnace was so large. How would she carry it back? And if she did, her family would definitely see it. How could she explain it to them? Could she hide it in the mountains? But hiding it there felt unsafe—someone might take it. She wished the furnace could shrink like some magical treasures. If it shrank, she could hide it in her pocket and take it back without anyone noticing.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, something bizarre happened. The furnace suddenly shrank rapidly and, in the blink of an eye, was smaller than the size of her palm. Then, the furnace flew up by itself and… flew right in front of Lan Yun’er.

She was stunned and stretched out her hand in surprise, before automatically grabbing the small, exquisite furnace and flying back to the riverbank. She held the tiny furnace in her palm, her lips twitching. This really was a magical artifact! It could actually grow and shrink! How lucky was she to find such a treasure? With this, refining medicine would be so much easier in the future. She could take it anywhere and no one would know.

Excited, she tucked the furnace into her pocket, washed her hands, and continued searching for herbs. She needed to gather the materials quickly so she could start refining and later sell the pills in town.

With her newfound excitement, Lan Yun’er hummed happily as she moved through the forest.

Over an hour later, Zhou Mingyue arrived at the small river. She stood by the water, panting, wiping the sweat from her brow. She remembered that the golden ring was supposed to be in a river. After searching the mountains for a long time, she finally found this river. She had planned to come earlier, but she believed that since the book said the ring would appear today, the opportunity would only show itself now. If she had come earlier, she might not have found it.

Now that she had found the ring, the spatial ring would open up, and her fate would change. Everything would improve, and everything would start moving in the right direction. Excited, she bent down and searched the water.

After only a few minutes, she found the golden ring.

Seeing the glittering gold, a smile appeared on her face. She had found it! The thing that would change her life, and soon she’d be holding it in her hand. In a hurry, she took off her shoes, rolled up her pants, and stepped into the water.

The winter water was freezing, especially the mountain river water—it was bone-chilling cold. Zhou Mingyue gasped as the cold rushed up from her feet, making her shiver. But she didn’t stop; she continued walking toward the center of the river. She had to get that golden ring. She had to.

When she reached the center, she bent down and grabbed the ring, pulling it up from the water. Looking at the inscription on the ring, she smiled. “This is it. This is the one.”

It was inscribed with “Fudi Baoyuan” (Fortune and Treasure Source). This ring was the medium for the spatial storage.

Instead of returning to the shore immediately, she stayed in the water and put on the ring. It fit her finger perfectly, as if it had been custom-made for her. She smiled and quickly closed her eyes, preparing to activate the spatial ring.

Two minutes later, Zhou Mingyue finally stood inside the long-awaited spatial space. But looking at the endless desert and the gloomy sky above, she was completely stunned. What was going on? Why was the space like this? The book had described it as a place with lush green grass and a spiritual spring, but this space looked dead and desolate. There should also have been a thatched cottage, but there was none. The cottage was supposed to have many herb seeds—what should she do now?

Standing in the dried-up desert, Zhou Mingyue couldn’t comprehend it for a while. After a long time, she finally snapped back to reality and shouted, “This can’t be! This is definitely not my spatial ring!” She exited the space, hoping to reenter it. She thought that if she tried again, it would be different.

However, to her disappointment, when she entered the space again, it was still the same endless desert, and the gloomy sky remained unchanged. The lush green grass and spring she wanted, as well as the thatched house with many seeds she had envisioned, were all absent. She was somewhat on the brink of breaking down. She exited the space again, kicking the water angrily: “Why is this happening! Why is this happening!” What went wrong? Clearly, the ring was the one described in the book, so why did the space within the ring look like this?

After standing in the water, feeling frustrated for a while, she took a few steps toward the shore. However, after stepping on a moss-covered stone, her foot slipped, and she fell into the water. This fall left her soaked through. The cold river water wrapped around her body, turning her face pale from the chill. She quickly stood up, tilted her head back, and screamed, “Ahhh!” After screaming a few times, she started cursing Lan Yun’er. It was definitely that damn woman’s fault. That damn woman had ruined her, and weakened her luck! Lan Yun’er, that hateful woman! She vowed to destroy her. If she didn’t destroy Lan Yun’er, she would not rest!

**Lan Yun’er found the herbs around noon and gathered them all together. Afterward, she reached the deepest part of the mountain forest, sitting down to rest under a tree demon. These herbs were really hard to find. Although the birds helped her, there were some herbs the birds didn’t recognize, and they couldn’t lead her to them.

After resting for a few minutes, she took out a small alchemy furnace from her pocket and muttered, “Grow big.” The furnace instantly transformed back to the size it was when Lan Yun’er first saw it. Smiling, Lan Yun’er stood up, dusting off the grass from her bottom. She emptied the herbs from her basket and prepared to wash them in a nearby small pond.

Not far ahead, there was a small pond.

“You… this is the Fuyuan Ding? How did you get this divine object? How did you obtain it?” The tree demon’s excited voice suddenly sounded in the air.

Lan Yun’er froze, then turned her head to look at the tree. “You say it’s called Fuyuan Ding? Do you know it?” She took out the treasure, not worried that the tree demon might covet it because she had discovered before that the tree demon was sealed with a talisman. Unless that talisman was destroyed, the demon couldn’t move or use any magic. It could only talk.

The tree demon had at least several hundred years of cultivation. How powerful was the person who managed to seal it here?

“Yes, I’ve seen it in an ancient book before. The book said it’s an ancient divine object, created by a powerful god from a long time ago. This thing can shrink and enlarge, changing size according to the user’s will. Also, the pills made with this furnace are far superior to those made with ordinary alchemy furnaces—at least ten times better. I’ve heard that it was sealed away by a master from the common people, and it was sealed in a ring. I never expected to see it here today.”

The tree demon said everything it knew, word by word.

Lan Yun’er furrowed her brow. “So it has this kind of origin. But you say it was sealed in a ring? Is that true?” Could the ring be the same gold ring in the river? Had the Fuyuan Ding been unsealed because of her touching that ring?

“Yes, it seems it was sealed inside a golden ring. The ring itself has a spatial dimension.”

The tree demon quickly added.

Lan Yun’er’s lips twitched. So, it really was that ring. Now that she had taken the Fuyuan Ding out of the ring, she wondered if there would be any changes to the protagonist’s space. Probably… not much change?

She couldn’t be bothered to think about it. Picking up some herbs, she walked toward the small pond. She needed to hurry and refine the pills. Afterward, she still needed to practice cultivation. Although earning money was important, cultivating was just as crucial. She couldn’t neglect either of them.

**About an hour later, Lan Yun’er finally finished refining the pills. As expected from an ancient divine object, using it to refine pills greatly shortened the time required, and the pills produced in such a short time were of excellent quality. She had refined sixteen beauty pills. These pills were glossy and emitted a refreshing fragrance.

Lan Yun’er picked one up and quickly ate it. Though her appearance was already beautiful, she, like most women, wasn’t afraid of becoming even more beautiful. After taking the pill, her skin would become smoother, whiter, and more radiant. Eventually, she would become even more stunning.

Thinking about how beautiful she would become, she smiled slightly, unable to resist showing a bit of joy.

The tree demon looked at her: “…”

A beauty-loving human being.

She put the pills into her pocket and sat cross-legged on the ground to begin her cultivation. She needed to hurry and cultivate, or the day would soon turn dark.

**Around 5 PM, seeing that it was getting late, Lan Yun’er stood up and quickly walked down the mountain with her basket. She had to hurry back, or Ho Jinchen would worry if she wasn’t home. Since she had cultivated in the afternoon, her movements were lighter, almost as if she were flying. She actually did fly a little. Seeing that there were no other people in the mountain, she walked for a while, then flew for a while. Soon, she had covered most of the journey.

She had intended to continue, but suddenly, two wild pigs appeared in her line of sight. The pigs were quite fat, probably weighing at least 100 pounds. Lan Yun’er’s eyes lit up, and a smile spread across her face.

Since they had come to her, they shouldn’t blame her for slaughtering them. She raised her finger and cast a spell. The wild pigs squealed twice, then collapsed into the grass.

Lan Yun’er walked over and looked. These pigs were so fat that she couldn’t carry them on her own. Even if she could, it would be awkward. She was a delicate woman, and carrying such large pigs would make her look like a monster.

She frowned, stood before the pigs, thought for a few seconds, then cast a spell to cover the pigs with some wild grass, asking a few birds to keep watch. She then went down the mountain to get help.

Upon returning home, Ho Jinchen had just returned from work, and Cao Yunxia and Yao Guizhi were absent. When Ho Jinchen saw Lan Yun’er with her basket, he quickly walked over to her.

“You went to the mountain again? Didn’t I tell you? The mountain is dangerous, you shouldn’t go.”

His voice was low and stern, showing concern.

Lan Yun’er smiled, holding his hand. “I know, I’ll be careful. Let me put my things down first. I want to take you to the mountain to get something.”

She quickly walked to their room to put away some of the herbs from her basket. She was planning to sell them.

As she walked out and reached him, she looked up at him and said, “I found two injured wild pigs in the mountain. They must have fought each other. Both of them are too injured to move. Jinchen, let’s hurry and get the pigs before someone else does.”

Ho Jinchen was stunned. “You saw… fighting wild pigs?”

Lan Yun’er picked up a carrying pole and a rope. “Yes, let’s hurry, the sooner we go, the sooner we can return.”

Just as they were about to leave, Zhong Cuitao came out of the house. Hearing their conversation, she said, “I’ll go help. It’s always better to have an extra hand.”

Lan Yun’er thought for a moment. Having more people would definitely be helpful, so she nodded at Zhong Cuitao. “Alright, second sister-in-law, let’s go together.”

The three of them left the house and headed for the mountain. When they reached the place where the wild pigs were hidden, Lan Yun’er uncovered the wild grass and revealed the pigs.

Ho Jinchen and Zhong Cuitao stared at the incredibly fat pigs, stunned.

“Stop standing there, let’s quickly tie one up and carry it back,” Lan Yun’er urged.

They could only carry one pig at a time since there were only three of them.

Ho Jinchen bent down and, without waiting for a reply, picked up the fattest pig and said, “You wait here. I’ll carry this one back. Once I get this one home, I’ll come back for the other.”

Without waiting for her response, he turned and headed down the mountain.

Lan Yun’er stared at his slender figure, carrying the large wild pig with ease. She couldn’t help but feel surprised. Who would have thought that although he was slim, he had so much strength? He had just picked up the pig and was walking so quickly. She stared at him, stunned.

She frowned, saying, “Jinchen, put it down. The pig is heavy. Let’s carry it together.”

But Ho Jinchen said, “No need. I can carry it. Besides, I can walk faster. You just wait here.”

Lan Yun’er: “…”

In the end, she couldn’t convince him, so she silently watched as he carried the large pig down the mountain.

Zhong Cuitao glanced at the remaining pig, frowning, and asked Lan Yun’er, “Do you have strength? If so, we can carry it together.”

Although the pig looked heavy, Lan Yun’er was somewhat strong, so she smiled at Zhong Cuitao. “I do. Let’s carry it together.”

“Alright,” Zhong Cuitao agreed, and the two of them began tying the pig to the carrying pole.

They carefully carried the pig down the narrow path, but halfway down, they saw Ho Jinchen already returning with the first pig.

Ho Jinchen quickly walked over, his face darkening as he saw them carrying the pig.

“I told you to wait for me! Why did you carry it yourselves?”

“Well, we’re not powerless. We can carry it, so we did.” Lan Yun’er smiled at him.

Ho Jinchen didn’t say anything but asked them to put the pig down. He quickly lifted it and walked ahead, with Lan Yun’er and Zhong Cuitao following behind.

Lan Yun’er looked at Ho Jinchen’s back: “Jinchen, are you tired? If you are, let us carry it back.”

“Yes, yes! Jinchen, let us carry it,” Zhong Cuitao chimed in.

Ho Jinchen walked in front, his steps steady, not the slightest bit unsteady.

He lightly spoke, “Not tired.”

No matter how tired he was, he wouldn’t let his wife carry it.

Lan Yun’er sighed. How could he not be tired? Carrying such a large pig down the mountain and then coming back for another one, he wasn’t superhuman. He had to be exhausted.

But she didn’t say anything more. Instead, she silently thought that once they got back, she’d make a good meal for him to replenish his energy.

When they got home, Ho Jinchen put the pig down and placed it next to the first one.

However, just as he put it down, Cao Yunxia and Yao Guizhi returned.

When Cao Yunxia saw the two pigs in the yard, her eyes lit up, and she rushed over with a hoe.

“Wow, how did we get two wild pigs? Each one must weigh at least a hundred pounds!”

“One hundred pounds! We’re going to make a fortune!”

The excitement in Ho Junda’s eyes was clear.

With these two wild pigs, he would definitely take one for himself and send it to the market to sell.

Lan Yun’er saw the greed in Cao Yunxia and Ho Junda’s eyes and immediately knew what they were planning. She smiled coldly.

She then looked at Yao Guizhi and said, “Mom, I found these two wild pigs in the mountain. I’m planning to keep half for ourselves to eat, and sell the rest in town with Jinchen. As you know, these years Jinchen hasn’t been able to save much. Without savings, we don’t dare have children, afraid that they will suffer with us.

Mom, Jinchen and I plan to save enough money and then have children. I think you support us, right? You must want us to have children.”

When Lan Yun’er finished speaking, the yard fell silent.