‘I’ve never seen a spatial ring designed in this way. The level of Space Inheritance needed would have to be at the Dominion Realm at a minimum, and that’s a conservative estimate.’

Ailsa quickly agreed. ‘A rare Spatial Sprite of the Inanis Clan might not be able to do this without years of training. Building a space capable of sustaining the opening of another space takes a level of skill beyond normal means…’

This sort of field of study was incredible in depth. Though Ailsa explained in so few words, the reality was far more complex than this.

Normal spatial rings could use the plane it current exists on as an anchor. However, even they have a lifespan. Over time, the inner space of a spatial ring will inevitably collapse as its ability to connect to a stabilizing plane wanes.

For a secondary spatial pocket to exist within a spatial ring, it means that this secondary space is using the primary space as a foundation. This means that that primary space of this ring was so sturdy that it was capable of being used as an anchor all on its own!

To put this into perspective, this essentially means that the space of this spatial ring is equally as stable as the Pocket of Space Ryu found the Prayer Mat in at a minimum! If Ryu really overestimated it, it was possible for it to be just as stable as a True Realm!

The more Ryu thought about it, the more he was certain he had vastly underestimated the level of skill it took this forge this seemingly ordinary ring. Ryu had no comprehension of space outside from his limited insights into the Warp Visualization. He simply couldn’t wrap his head around it.

How could a human be capable of such a thing?! If it wasn’t for his Mysteries of Heaven and Earth Pupils, he would have had no chance at seeing this hidden pocket! In fact, the truth was that without his rudimentary understanding space thanks to Warp, even with his pupils, he would have missed this.

‘Who could create such a spatial ring…? And why would it be in Edwin’s hands?’

Ailsa sighed. ‘Everyone in the cultivation world will receive their own fortuitous encounters one way or another. It just seems that Edwin died before he could truly take advantage of his own.’

Ryu thought for only a moment before attempting to open this secondary pocket of space.

As expected, it worked no differently from a normal spatial ring. However, the oddity was in the fact Focus Qi drained much quicker within the second pocket as though trying to maintain a long distance connection.

What wasn’t expected, however, was what was within this secondary pocket.

‘Cosmic Qi Stones…’

Ryu’s reaction was exceptionally lukewarm. How could he, as the Scion of the Tatsuya Clan, have not seen Cosmic Qi Stones before? The only issue here was that, once again, Edwin had no business having these Qi Stones!

Of course, there were very few of them, only eleven, in fact. However, each one carried strength that could shatter the Pedestal Plane!

Cosmic Qi was the highest evolution of qi possible in all of existence. The Pedestal Plane couldn’t even produce such high-level qi, let alone withstand its power. Ryu would have never expected to stumble upon such a thing here.

‘This is quite a good find, Little Ryu. Ten Cosmic Qi Stones is just enough for me to draw Qi Source Evolution Array…’

Ryu’s brows raised. ‘Such a thing exists.’

‘Well, it doesn’t exist for normal people. But you forget this Big Sis of yours is a worshipped Princess of the Cultus Clan. My means are not normal.’

Ailsa stuck her proud chest out and smiled widely. If she was in her full form, it would have truly been a sight to behold.

‘Though, the return on this array is fairly limited. Qi Sources usually takes countless epochs to evolve. In order to speed up the process, there will of course be some sacrifices that need to be made.

‘Ten Cosmic Qi Stones is only enough to raise one of your Mortal Qi Sources to the Immortal Qi Source level. As for raising the other six or raising the one to the Cosmic Qi Source level, you can forget it for now. Reaching the Cosmic Qi Source level would take many billions of Higher Cosmic Qi Stones, while you only have ten Lower Cosmic Qi Stones.’

Ryu nodded, expecting about as much. Still, just one Immortal Qi Source was invaluable. One had to remember the Qi Sources were usually the foundations of massive Sects and Clans, yet Ryu only needed to satisfy himself.

Plus, having an Immortal Qi Source would remove the limiters on his Death Worm Immortal Cave. It would be able to unleash its full strength from then on.

‘This is a bit odd, though.’ Ryu said skeptically. ‘Judging by the level of skill it would take to forge this ring, eleven Cosmic Qi Stones wouldn’t be the limit of such a person’s wealth.’

Ryu felt that Edwin running into several lucky encounters was unlikely. The most plausible explanation was that he had one windfall and all of his most valuable possessions were related to it. Ryu found it hard to believe that the individual who left behind these things for Edwin to find only left such a pitiful amount of wealth behind.

Compared to Ryu’s peak wealth, this amount was simply too lacking.

Shaking his head, Ryu stopped speculating. He disliked wasting time on such things when he didn’t have enough information. For all he knew, Edwin buried most of his wealth elsewhere, or maybe it was taken before he learned how to protect it. There were too many possibilities.

But, what didn’t need to be speculated about was right before Ryu in the form of an ancient tome wrapped in a leathery skin.

The tome trembled with a fierce ancient aura that made the secondary pocket seem as though it might collapse at any time… But, what was truly sinister was the fact Ryu was certain that this leathery skin… Was made of humans!

Ryu slowly took this tome out, looking at it with an indifferent expression. It felt warm to the touch, as though the humans that made up its cover were still living and breathing even to this very moment.

In truth, Ryu wasn’t particularly disgusted by such a thing. Though there was an inherent revulsion a human would feel, Ryu found this to be irrational. After the Fourth and Fifth Order, beasts had complex thoughts no different from humans, yet hadn’t Ryu been wearing an armor of a Sixth Order beast just a year ago?

Ryu felt that thinking of such things was just another form of hypocrisy, so he didn’t bother with such feelings. Who knows, maybe this tome was written by a high-level beast who decided to use the skin of human experts.

‘I can feel it telling its name to me… ‘Body of an Herbologist’…’

For Ryu to hear the name of this tome so easily, it meant that it had a particular affinity to him. Maybe it appreciated his thoughts or his demeanor… Either way, it was far more in sync with him than the prayer mat which had yet to tell Ryu its name so clearly.

Ryu slowly opened its cover, finding a small note to its front written in an ancient language of the Sky God Era. However, for a Ruin Master of Ryu’s level, reading it was as easy as breathing.

Suddenly Ryu had a thought. Maybe Edwin spent his wealth hiring a Ruin Master to translate for him…

I was frail, so I became a gardener.

I was poor, so I became an herbologist.

I was weak, so I became a demon.

The lines were short, but they somehow made Ryu’s heart thump uncontrollably. He resonated with them in a way he had never done with anything else.

Steadying his breathing, he turned the page once more. He found on it the very formula Edwin planned to use on himself. Edwin was only two ingredients away from succeeding. As it turned out, one of the last of the main ingredients was a Crown Grade Herb of the Earth Grade.

Ryu ran his hands across the ancient pages, lost in thought.

He didn’t need this tome. Or, at the very least, he didn’t need this particular recipe. His talent was too great and couldn’t be molded by these herbs even if he was foolish enough to want to.

But the complex theories trapped in this book… Before, he was grasping at straws when trying to build up his own corpse refinement method. He only barely managed to do it after sacrificing two Half-Step Immortal Ring corpses. However, the creator of this Body of an Herbologist Tome spent his life learning how to modify the human body with Spiritual Herbs. This was no different than providing Ryu a guiding light in the dark.

As Ryu flipped through, he quickly came to understand that Edwin had truly been a fool. The first formula was not only the crudest, but it was a purposeful trap laid by its creator in case of finding the wrong successor.

To make matters worse, that formula purposely used overly expensive and hard to find ingredients as well. What was truly amazing about this Tome was how simple and inexpensive its ingenious designs were!

In the end, however, it all benefited Ryu.

Just as Ryu was about to become engrossed, his gaze swept upward like a hawk.

‘It seems I was right to stay…’