Seven Mysterious Spaces: My Rise to Power in the Cultivation World

Zhuang Yu emerged from Elder Zhao's cave with a gloomy expression.

Spare him?

It's just a delaying tactic.

Tomorrow's training ground will be the real test.

The sect provides pitifully few resources, making cultivation as slow as a tortoise's pace. If this continues, forget about standing out in the martial arts arena; even self-preservation will be difficult.

He had to find another way out.

After much thought, Zhuang Yu decided to go to the market to try his luck and see if he could find some cultivation resources.

The market town is located between two mountain peaks, bustling with activity and lively atmosphere.

A dazzling array of rare treasures and miraculous medicines were on display.

Cultivators came and went, bargaining and making a lively scene.

As Zhuang Yu walked among them, he felt like a lamb to the slaughter, constantly at risk of being swindled by these seasoned veterans.

He carefully observed the surrounding stalls, hoping to find some good quality items at low prices.

Suddenly, a seemingly ordinary item caught his attention.

It was a small wooden box, about the size of a palm, with strange patterns carved on its surface, faintly exuding a spiritual aura.

A crowd had gathered around the wooden box, all talking about it, but no one dared to go forward and buy it.

The stall owner was a fat, wealthy merchant with a big head and ears. He smiled broadly and kept promoting the item to the crowd: "This is a treasure left over from ancient times. It contains powerful spiritual energy. As long as you get it, you can improve your cultivation and prolong your life!"

Zhuang Yu's heart stirred. This wooden box looked ordinary, but it faintly exuded spiritual energy, clearly indicating that it was no ordinary object.

Could it really be an ancient treasure?

He secretly speculated, but remained vigilant, thinking that this wealthy businessman was glib and might be a swindler.

Zhou, the wealthy merchant, immediately noticed the interest in Zhuang Yu's eyes and greeted him warmly, "Young brother, I see you have extraordinary talent; you're clearly a genius at cultivating immortality. This treasure is destined for you!" He picked up the wooden box and handed it to Zhuang Yu, saying, "Take a close look; this is a rare treasure!"

Zhuang Yu took the wooden box and examined it carefully. The surface was plain and even a little rough, and there was nothing special about it.

He sneered inwardly. This wealthy merchant was indeed a fraud. This wooden box was clearly just an ordinary wooden product, not some ancient treasure.

"This thing..." Zhuang Yu was about to expose the wealthy merchant's scam when he suddenly felt a warmth on his fingertips. This wooden box seemed... somewhat unusual.

"How about it? Young man, can you feel the extraordinary nature of this treasure?" Zhou, the wealthy merchant, looked smug, thinking that Zhuang Yu had been impressed by the "magic" of the wooden box.

Zhuang Yu remained calm, holding the wooden box in his hand, and said indifferently, "How much does this cost?"

Zhuang Yu stroked the wooden box, a barely perceptible smile curving his lips.

The eye for treasures honed through years of hard work at street stalls is no joke.

This wooden box may look ordinary, but it actually holds a secret.

The patterns carved on it are not ordinary designs, but ancient sealing runes, which cleverly preserve the spiritual energy contained within. No wonder these "country bumpkins" in the cultivation world can't see it.

"This thing..." Zhuang Yu feigned hesitation, his brows furrowing slightly, "It looks ordinary, is it really as magical as you say?"

Zhou, the wealthy merchant, rolled his eyes and assured him confidently, "Young brother, I, Zhou, am honest and fair in business. This is a genuine treasure! If I didn't urgently need spirit stones, I wouldn't be willing to part with it!"

"Oh? Then name your price," Zhuang Yu asked casually, while secretly calculating how to acquire this treasure at the lowest possible price.

Zhou, the wealthy merchant, held up five fat fingers: "Five hundred low-grade spirit stones!"

"Five hundred?" Zhuang Yu feigned surprise. "That's too expensive!"

Seeing Zhuang Yu hesitate, Zhou Fushang immediately called over several "shills" to come forward, pretending to be interested in the wooden box, and they all chimed in to drive up the price.

"Boss, I want this treasure! Six hundred spirit stones!" a man with a pointed mouth and monkey-like face shouted.

Another burly man chimed in, "I'll bid seven hundred!"

Zhou Fushang glanced at Zhuang Yu smugly, his eyes seeming to say, "Kid, see? This treasure is in high demand!"

Zhuang Yu sneered inwardly. This clumsy acting could only fool these naive cultivators.

He touched his empty money pouch; he couldn't even come up with five hundred spirit stones, let alone seven hundred.

Are we just going to miss out on this treasure?

"Eight hundred! I'll bid eight hundred low-grade spirit stones!" The man with the pointed mouth and monkey-like face called out again.

Zhou Fushang's smile widened, and he turned to look at Zhuang Yu, his eyes full of mockery: "Little brother, do you still want it? If not, I'll sell it to him!"

Zhuang Yu gritted his teeth, thinking to himself: It seems I have no choice but to...

"Wait!" he suddenly said. "I don't have enough spirit stones, but I have some spirit herbs that I collected in the back mountain of the sect. Perhaps I can exchange them with you."

Zhuang Yu took out several spiritual herbs that emitted a faint glow from his storage bag, and a refreshing medicinal fragrance immediately filled the air.

Zhou Fushang's eyes widened. Although these spiritual herbs were not very old, their rarity made them perfect for refining special pills.

He originally just wanted to rip Zhuang Yu off, but he didn't expect the kid to have such good stuff.

“This…this is…” Zhou Fushang’s voice trembled slightly, his greedy eyes fixed on the spiritual herbs.

"What? Don't you recognize them?" Zhuang Yu smiled casually. "I risked my life to pick these in the back mountain of the sect. I wouldn't have taken them out if I didn't urgently need spirit stones." He said this half-truthfully, his skill in deceiving people was superb.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Fushang finally couldn't resist the temptation and gritted his teeth, saying, "Alright! I'll exchange these spirit herbs for them!" He snatched the spirit herbs, afraid that Zhuang Yu would change his mind, and then impatiently stuffed the wooden box into Zhuang Yu's hands, "Take it, take it! This treasure is yours now!"

Zhuang Yu took the wooden box, secretly amused. This Zhou, the wealthy merchant, was truly a money-grubbing fellow.

He turned to leave, but caught a glimpse of a familiar figure not far away—Wang Yao.

She stood outside the crowd, silently observing everything.

"Wang Yao!" Zhuang Yu called out loudly, a smug smile on his face, and strode towards her. "How about that? Aren't I amazing? I traded a few spirit herbs for a treasure!"

Wang Yao merely glanced at him indifferently, her eyes still cold and aloof, and without saying a word, turned and left.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Zhuang Yu hurriedly chased after her, only to be left with a helpless, bitter smile at her retreating figure.

Back in his room, Zhuang Yu carefully opened the wooden box.

A rich spiritual energy rushed towards him, invigorating him.

Inside the box lay a crystal-clear jade pendant, radiating a soft glow.

“This jade pendant…” Zhuang Yu stroked the jade pendant, feeling the powerful energy contained within it, “What kind of treasure is it?” He tried to inject spiritual power into the jade pendant, but found that it did not move at all, like a sleeping giant beast.

It seems that breaking the seal on this treasure will not be an easy task.

Perhaps, within the sect...

The sect or faction might be the key to unlocking the secrets of the jade pendant.

Zhuang Yu pondered to himself that although this small sect was lacking in resources, it had been passed down for hundreds of years and might be hiding some unknown secrets.

He played with the jade pendant, feeling the spiritual energy flowing within it, and a strange excitement welled up in his heart.

This jade pendant is no ordinary object!

Upon returning to his sect, Zhuang Yu couldn't wait to begin studying the jade pendant.

He perused all the records about magical artifacts and treasures in the sect's library, but found nothing.

The material, pattern, and aura of this jade pendant were completely different from any other magical artifact he knew.

He tried to infuse it with spiritual power, temper it with true fire, and even use the sect's secret techniques to investigate, but the jade pendant remained unresponsive, lying quietly in his hand like a stubborn stone.

Repeated attempts and failures began to frustrate Zhuang Yu.

Could this jade pendant be just an ordinary piece of jade?

He was somewhat unwilling, yet helpless.

Just when he was about to give up, he suddenly remembered that he had another secret—that mysterious space.

He closed his eyes, concentrated his mind, and his consciousness instantly entered a vast and silent world.

Here, the spiritual energy is so dense it's almost liquefied, and all sorts of rare treasures emit a dazzling light.

He took out the jade pendant and slowly approached a ball of light emitting a soft white glow.

The sphere of light seemed to sense the presence of the jade pendant, trembled slightly, and then...