Rootling had become Joe Di's little servant. Although it wasn't very happy about it, the thought of finally leaving that place where it had lingered for countless millennia and wandering freely made its gloom dissipate quite a bit.
Joe Di pointed to the bottom of the pot where the Blueleaf Bloom had once grown and said to Rootling, "From now on, you're not allowed to cultivate by draining blood—only by absorbing spiritual energy. Go cultivate in that pit at the bottom of the pot; it's perfect for you."
"But there's really not enough spiritual energy here for me to absorb. I just don't have any motivation to cultivate," Rootling muttered. At the rate it absorbed spiritual energy, it might take countless millennia to achieve anything. Draining blood was far faster than absorbing spiritual energy.
"Why do you cultivate by draining blood?" Joe Di asked.
"It's to refine my body, so I can leave that withered shell behind."
Joe Di gave Rootling a smack on the head. "Well, you've done it. Haven't you already left?"
"But..." Rootling still felt something was off, though it couldn't quite put its finger on it.
"Go cultivate, and stop whining." Joe Di gave it another smack.
"Big brother, can you stop smacking my head all the time? I'm going to get dumber!" Rootling grumbled after Joe Di smacked it twice, feeling a bit unhappy. It seemed to sense its own miserable fate ahead.
Joe Di ignored Rootling and directly took out the Bonekeeper Ring.
Seeing that his boss had no interest in paying him any attention, Rootling could only pat its own head, droop down, and shuffle off to the pit at the bottom of the pot to cultivate.
Joe Di studied the Bonekeeper Ring for a long time, suspecting it might be a storage ring. The storage rings at the auction looked like normal rings, at least you could wear them on your finger.
After inspecting it for quite a while without finding anything unusual, Joe Di began refining the ring.
Having learned about restriction techniques and started dabbling in arraycraft, Joe Di found the process of refining the ring much more systematic this time.
The restrictions on the ring were dozens of times more complex than those on the Cleaver. Joe Di began refining them one by one with his spiritual sense. After two days, when his spiritual sense was completely exhausted, he let out a surprised cry.
This wasn't just a storage ring, though calling it a storage ring wasn't wrong either, because it was actually a spiritual herb garden. Joe Di knew that a spiritual herb garden was even more advanced than a storage ring—a storage ring could only hold dead things, while a spiritual herb garden could store living things. More importantly, you could transplant spiritual herbs into it.
To Joe Di, this spiritual herb garden was quite large—about the size of a soccer field and at least several dozen meters high. It was divided into several sections, but Joe Di didn't see a single spiritual herb in any of them. Maybe there used to be herbs here, but now they were all dead.
Joe Di also understood why the ring looked so small and was made of bone. This spiritual herb garden ring could change size at will, as long as you could refine it. Joe Di put the spirit ring on his finger, and it blended perfectly with his skin—if it weren’t for Joe Di himself, no one would have noticed it.
The reason he could see the bone ring before was simply because the owner had died, and the ring had reverted to its original state. If the owner’s soul had still been present, the Bonekeeper Ring would have fused with the finger bone, and even Joe Di’s spiritual sense might not have detected it.
The only regret was that there was nothing inside the spiritual herb garden—no spirit stones, no artifacts, and certainly no pills.
On the Celestia Plaza, many people looked at Jade Yu with envy. Ever since Jade Yu returned from Celestia, she had broken into the Innate Realm—not only becoming the vice dean of Celestia Martial Academy, but also receiving an invitation from the Earth Alliance to join the council of elders.
Today was the day the Earth Alliance awarded Jade Yu her honorary badge; it was truly her moment of glory. Anyone who came to Celestia and reached the Innate Realm could enjoy the same prestige as Jade Yu.
Jade Yu felt little joy in her heart. She had once said that the Heaven Rank was not the Innate Realm, but no one paid attention to her words. What everyone cared about was that, after she became an elder of the Earth Alliance council, she would lead them to search for Rootling.
The Earth Alliance secretary-general, Wenxing Fan, walked up to Jade Yu. A young girl holding a tray with the badge was already standing by.
Wenxing Fan picked up the badge and looked at Jade Yu warmly. "Congratulations on reaching the Innate Realm and joining the Earth Alliance council of elders..."
Before Wenxing Fan finished speaking and before Jade Yu received the badge, a piercing, terrifying alarm suddenly echoed throughout the plaza. This alarm was not intermittent like before, but grew louder and louder.
Everyone's expression changed; Wenxing Fan shoved the badge into Jade Yu's hand and shouted, "All Earth Alliance forces, to the defense wall!"
Since becoming secretary-general of the Earth Alliance, Wenxing Fan had heard countless alarms. But this was the first time he'd heard the most terrifying destruction alarm.
This alarm meant that Celestia Plaza might be destroyed—it was the highest grade of danger warning.
No reminder from Wenxing Fan was needed; almost everyone rushed to the top of the Celestia defense wall. The martial corps commander, Segal, frantically issued order after order, mobilizing all forces to defend Celestia Plaza.