Sitting cross-legged on the bed in the inner chamber, Du Fei made no move but squinted slightly, staring intently at the ancient wooden box in front of him, lost in deep thought.

The box was made of agarwood. Despite its age, there was no sign of damage. At the opening of the box, the beeswax that sealed it was pitch-black, indicating that it hadn't been opened in countless years.

"Does this really contain the secret to the Elixir King Ruins? Can I trust what that woman said?"

Compared to his demeanor in front of Yun Yuqing earlier, Du Fei now seemed much more composed. However, this calm only gave rise to even more questions and doubts in his mind.

After all, when it comes to the legendary Heaven and Earth Primordial Core, anyone would become incredibly obsessed. Du Fei couldn't believe that Yun Yuqing was genuinely disinterested in the Heaven and Earth Primordial Core, as she claimed.

Given the circumstances, Du Fei considered two possibilities. First, the so-called Elixir King Ruins might not contain the Heaven and Earth Primordial Core at all, which would make sense if Yun Yuqing was uninterested in the alchemical records inside. The second possibility was that the Elixir King Ruins did indeed house the Heaven and Earth Primordial Core. Still, to obtain it, one would need an alchemist... However, a very powerful alchemist might be too hard for Yun Yuqing to control...

Someone like him, on the other hand, would be easier to control. Furthermore, since both might have their secrets, even if she decided to silence him afterward, probably no one would ever find out.

If one were to consider this, Yun Yuqing might have some hidden cards up her sleeve that make her fearless against an Eighth-grade Martial Artist. However, she might not have these cards in her hands just yet. To actually employ such a trump card would likely take half a year. Otherwise, they would have set off for the Elixir King Ruins immediately instead of meeting up half a year later.

"A woman's heart is truly the deadliest," Du Fei murmured with a cold chuckle.

Regardless of everything, now that he had a lead on the Elixir King Ruins, he certainly wouldn't give it up. Half a year... There was plenty he could do in that time.

Having sorted out the intricacies of the situation, Du Fei finally took a deep breath. While this half-year was of utmost importance to Yun Yuqing, it was equally crucial for him.

If he only possessed this much strength, even if he went to the Elixir King Ruins, he might be swallowed whole by that woman.

Taking a deep breath, Du Fei's palm finally rested on the wooden box in front of him. Moments later, the true breath within him vibrated slightly, and the beeswax sealing the box was shaken open by the true breath. What appeared in front of Du Fei was a somewhat darkened base of the box.

An antique smell seemed to rush out from the box. After a short while, the darkness slowly faded, and Du Fei could finally see the object inside clearly.

"A ring..."

Frowning slightly, Du Fei slowly took out the ring and placed it before himself.

The ring had an ancient design, resembling a dragon connecting its head and tail, but it was slightly twisted. But apart from its ancient appearance, nothing unusual could be detected.

However, it was this very "ordinariness" that made the ring seem extraordinary.

The reason was simple: an object stored with such care couldn't possibly be just an ordinary ring.

After pondering for a moment, Du Fei still couldn't figure it out, but he didn't want to waste time in this place, so he quickly issued a command in his mind.

"Little Bai, can you examine this ring?"

"Beep—"

"Command received, initiating scan... results obtained. Do you wish to view the results?"

"So fast? Read it!"

"Analysis indicates that this object is a type of spatial container, possessing an internal storage space of several meters. To access it, a soul imprint must be placed on it. Would you like to open it?"

"Is this object a storage ring?" Du Fei's lips twitched slightly, disbelief apparent on his face. However, he had no objections to such results. After all, items like storage ring were rare. Even in the Du Family, no one possessed such a thing, so obtaining it was an pleasant surprise.

"Open it for me!" A moment later, Du Fei quickly commanded.

"Command received. The original soul imprint has been erased. A new soul imprint has been left. You can now use this item at will!"

As the cold electronic sound echoed in his mind, Du Fei suddenly felt a peculiar sensation, as if he could faintly sense what the space inside the storage ring truly was.

Hesitating for a moment, Du Fei subconsciously put the storage ring on his left hand. He then lightly swiped across it, and immediately, a small medicine bottle appeared in front of him.

"This is... a pill!" Du Fei exclaimed in delight. Moments later, without hesitation, he swiped across the storage ring again. This time, an ancient and tattered scroll appeared in his hand.

However, apart from these two items, there was nothing else in the storage ring. Yet, even so, it was a pleasant surprise.

After hesitating for a while, Du Fei opened the medicine bottle. Instantly, a strong medicinal aroma enveloped him. Even though he merely caught a whiff, Du Fei's spirit was instantly invigorated.

"This is... the Marrow-cleaning Pill... No, although its medicinal effect seems similar, judging by the potency contained in it, this should be something of a higher grade... Is it an eighth-grade pill?" After gently sniffing the aroma and carefully examining a pill he poured out of the bottle, Du Fei hesitantly remarked.

"It is indeed not a ninth-grade Marrow-cleaning Pill, but an eighth-grade Concentration Pill. Its purpose is similar to the Marrow-cleaning Pill, but its potency is vastly different," Little Bai's cold voice chimed in as Du Fei was lost in thought.

Taken aback by this system that spoke up for the first time on its own, Du Fei paused. He knew next to nothing about this system, so he wasn't sure how to respond. However, after a moment of hesitation, he calmly said in his mind, "Little Bai, how do you know this is an eighth-grade pill?"

"The system's database has records of it. Whether it's shape, taste, or potency, there's not a single discrepancy. Master, you can safely consume it," Little Bai's cold voice echoed again.

"How do you know all this?"

"Beep— Insufficient user authority, I cannot answer—"

"Sigh— The authority issue again—" Clearly frustrated, Du Fei sighed. Moments later, he put that issue aside and, with an expression resembling someone who had won the lottery, quickly poured out everything from the medicine bottle.

"One, two, three... there are actually nine? It seems I've struck gold this time!" After securing the medicine bottle, he stored it inside the storage ring. Du Fei's expression was one of utmost excitement.

With these nine pills, even if he consumed them all, he could cultivate himself to become a Ninth-grade Martial Artist. By that time, equipped with Qi and combined with the pill formulas he knew, mass-producing Marrow-cleaning Pills wouldn't be a difficult task.

"Alright, let's see what the other item is." Du Fei lightly clapped his hands and slowly unfurled the ancient scroll before him.

What met his eyes were incomprehensibly dense lines that made one's head spin. However, after examining it for a short while, Du Fei realized that these intricate lines likely represented the location of the Elixir King Ruins.

His inability to understand at the moment was probably because he only had half the map. Unless he could get his hands on the other half, no one would be able to determine the actual location of the Elixir King Ruins.

If he let the system record this and then destroyed it, wouldn't that mean that no one else would be able to find the Elixir King Ruins besides him?

Under such circumstances, even Yun Yuqing might not be able to act against him.

With this thought, Du Fei immediately gave the command for the system to record the information. He then closed his eyes and delved deep into his consciousness. After careful comparison and finding no discrepancies, he confidently destroyed the old scroll.

Squinting at the slowly burning ancient scroll in front of him, Du Fei felt nothing. No matter how precious this scroll was, destroying it in this manner would bring countless benefits to him! Regardless of Yun Yuqing's intentions, now that he had destroyed this item, she would definitely not linger around him anymore!

Watching the burning ancient scroll for a moment, Du Fei was about to leave. However, he suddenly frowned. Most of the scroll had turned to ash under the intense flames. Yet, there was a palm-sized section that, instead of being damaged by the flames, had its lines disappear. In their place, faintly glowing, ancient characters emerged...

"This is..."

Du Fei wasn't sure what to feel about this change. However, after hesitating for a moment, he quickly put out the flame and immediately grasped the warm golden fragment, following the inscriptions with his eyes...

"Elixir's Skill, Heavens-reversing Pill!"

The moment these words appeared, Du Fei's expression shifted slightly. Moments later, he couldn't help but laugh heartily!

Unlike martial techniques, the Elixir's Skill was a skill only alchemists can cultivate. The difference between this skill and martial techniques was that the energy driving the skill wasn't true breath, but pills!

It was widely known that pills contained an immensely powerful energy. The Elixir's Skill was about activating the energy within the pills, resulting in an attack technique similar to martial techniques!

However, the potency of the Elixir's Skill not only depended on the grade of the skill itself, but it was even more reliant on the pill used as a primer! If a high-grade pill is used as a primer, then even the most basic Elixir's Skill can unleash power beyond common comprehension!

This Elixir's Skill was also one of the reasons for the esteemed status of alchemists on the Xuanwu Continent!

As long as one had pills, one would have power. And if one possessed an endless supply of pills, then who could be their match?