Seeing Gu Xuanzhan's stern expression, Gu Changhuan quickly said, "Aside from Great-Grandfather, no one else knows."

"This stone could even help someone reach Golden Core. I will not ask where you found it. But never show a treasure so carelessly again. It could cost you your life!"

Gu Xuanzhan's words were earnest and sincere.

Many clan youngsters had lost their lives after carelessly revealing their wealth on their travels. Compared with rogue cultivators, they had easy access to methods and Spirit Stones. A sheltered upbringing left them too ready to trust strangers.

Gu Changhuan naturally understood this principle and the meaning behind Gu Xuanzhan's words.

"I understand, Great-Grandfather. A man need do no wrong; owning a treasure is enough to make him a target. People are hard to judge. I will remember your warning."

"This stone improves my chances of reaching Purple Mansion by another twenty percent! You have done us a great service, Changhuan. Tell me what you would like," Gu Xuanzhan said with a smile.

"All I want is for you to reach Purple Mansion. Then I can call myself the great-grandson of a Purple Mansion ancestor. Imagine how grand that will sound!" Gu Changhuan said cheekily.

"You brat! Fine, it seems you're not lacking anything now. If there's anything you want in the future, don't hesitate to ask me for it!" Gu Xuanzhan made a very generous promise.

"It is late. I will leave you to rest, Great-Grandfather."

Gu Changhuan was delighted. A promise from a future Purple Mansion ancestor—he would not trade it for ten thousand Spirit Stones!

Gu Changhuan left the cave dwelling humming a tune. What he didn't know was that after he left Gu Xuanzhan's cave dwelling, Gu Xuanzhan sent a Communication Talisman to Gu Wanhao.

In Gu Wanhao's courtyard, a Spiritual Talisman crashed against the defensive Formation.

Gu Wanhao slowly ended his cultivation session and opened his eyes with a frown. Who would send a message at this hour?

He waved his hand to open the Formation, and the Communication Talisman was drawn into his hand.

After reading the message on the Spiritual Talisman, Gu Wanhao's frown deepened.

Returning to his own room, Gu Changhuan took out a jade slip to examine.

He had finished cataloging the contents of the ninth-tier ring he had found at Cloudheaven Market. Its treasures and spirit objects were at least seventh tier!

This made Gu Changhuan both happy and distressed. The spiritual items were too high-grade; he couldn't use them at all, and he didn't dare to show them to others.

Among the spiritual items in the ring, aside from Spirit Stones, there was actually nothing he could immediately take out and use!

But even with Spirit Stones, he didn't dare to use them openly. After all, he was merely a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator from a Foundation Establishment family. If he casually took out High-Grade Spirit Stones, wouldn't that be blatantly inviting suspicion?

While inventorying the spiritual items, Gu Changhuan also discovered many jade slips.

Most of the jade slips recorded cultivation techniques, while another portion documented some otherworldly secrets and the deeds of the ring's previous owner.

From these jade slips, Gu Changhuan learned that the previous owner of this ring was a Great Ascension Realm cultivator from the Spirit Realm, known as Zhenlingzi, a powerhouse who was only half a step away from ascending to the Immortal Realm.

The Spirit Realm was a higher-level realm than the one he currently resided in, with Spiritual Qi far more abundant than his current realm. In the Spirit Realm, humans could cultivate up to the Great Ascension Realm.

In Gu Changhuan's world, Soul Formation was the limit. To go further, a cultivator had to find a way to ascend to the Spirit Realm, where Soul Formation was nothing exceptional.

After Soul Formation, there were three more realms: Refinement Void, Body Integration, and Great Ascension.

When cultivation reached the Great Ascension Realm, one could trigger the Immortal Spirit Tribulation at any time. Passing the Immortal Spirit Tribulation allowed one to ascend to the Immortal Realm and become a true immortal!

According to Zhenlingzi, the Spirit Realm was only one of countless such worlds. Lower realms like Gu Changhuan's were as numerous as the stars.

The slips described Zhenlingzi as a rogue cultivator of the Spirit Realm, gifted with a lightning spirit root.

Zhenlingzi had good natural talent. Although his parents were mortals, he was fortunate to be taken as a disciple by a Nascent Soul expert when he was young. He advanced to the Purple Mansion at one hundred years old, formed a Nascent Soul in less than three hundred years, and broke through to the Soul Formation Realm at six hundred years old, which was rare even in the Spirit Realm.

While seeking the resources he needed to reach Soul Formation, Zhenlingzi had killed a direct descendant of a Refinement Void elder. Furious, the elder had used a bloodline spell to identify the killer and pursued him in person. But Zhenlingzi was unusually resourceful and had mastered powerful secret techniques and escape arts. Again and again, he narrowly escaped death.

That Refinement Void Patriarch, seeing that he couldn't capture him and feeling he had lost face, spent heavily to issue a bounty.

The enormous bounty drew rogue cultivators in droves, all eager to hunt Zhenlingzi down.

To escape the relentless pursuit, Zhenlingzi fled human lands for the territories of other races. There, a succession of extraordinary opportunities transformed his fortunes. When he returned, he had reached Body Integration.

His old pursuer was still at Refinement Void. The tables had turned, and Zhenlingzi had no intention of letting him go.

The Refinement Void elder made a decisive choice. Now at Zhenlingzi's mercy, he refused to bring disaster on his sect and descendants. He ordered them never to seek revenge, then went to Zhenlingzi himself and took his own life before him.

With the culprit dead, Zhenlingzi spared the man's descendants. Later, war broke out between the humans and a neighboring race. Zhenlingzi distinguished himself repeatedly, and for a time no one among his people enjoyed greater renown.

Later, he even cultivated to the Great Ascension Realm, becoming a pillar of the human race in the Spirit Realm.

Great Ascension Realm cultivators generally wouldn't trigger the Immortal Spirit Tribulation unless they were confident they could pass it, but they still had to undergo a Great Heavenly Tribulation every thirteen hundred years. Most Great Ascension Realm cultivators could only pass two or three times, but Zhenlingzi was exceptionally powerful. Relying on his own strength, he forcefully passed six Great Heavenly Tribulations.

But the power of the Great Heavenly Tribulation would gradually increase. Even Zhenlingzi wasn't confident about passing the seventh Great Heavenly Tribulation.

But ever since entering the Great Ascension Realm, he had been preparing for the Immortal Spirit Tribulation. By now, he had some confidence in passing the Immortal Spirit Tribulation.

"Less than a century remains before my next Great Heavenly Tribulation. I have resolved to summon the Immortal Spirit Tribulation instead. Since reaching Great Ascension, I have spent my wealth seeking treasures to help me survive it. May I pass the trial and ascend to the Immortal Realm, so that my tens of thousands of years of arduous cultivation will not have been in vain."

So Zhenlingzi had written.

But this ring somehow appeared in the Lower Realm where Gu Changhuan was. Gu Changhuan speculated that this Senior Zhenlingzi probably didn't successfully pass the Immortal Spirit Tribulation.

Otherwise, this ring wouldn't be in his hands.

Unfortunately, his current cultivation was too low; he couldn't use the spiritual items in the ring yet.

Suddenly, he slapped his own head.

Although he couldn't use the spiritual items in the ring now, he could cultivate the techniques stored in the ring!

And all kinds of cultivation techniques were also priceless treasures!

He had all five spirit roots, and the clan had no method suited to him. Why not choose one from the ring? Surely that was better than trying to find one elsewhere.