Spatial Ring - 461

When Zhu Yi's feet touched the ground, something moved. A piece of stone with a door on its front came out from the ground.

Zhu Yi walked towards it, and the key in his hand turned into specks of light. By the time he reached the door, the key was gone and the door was open.

Inside was a dark staircase that led down. Zhu Yi began to walk down. After a few minutes, the stairs stopped and a long, dark hallway appeared.

Zhu Yi took a step forward, and a pressure appeared on his body, and most importantly, his heart.

He felt as if a voice resounded in his head. "Heart Like a Boulder. Unmovable, unaffected."

Zhu Yi understood that he needed to walk down the hallway. Although he had won, it did not mean that he had the will, or the heart to accept the inheritance. The previous competition was only for the right to enter.

Zhu Yi began to walk. Every step he took, the pressure hit him harder.

"It does not appear that you will be able to reach the end of this inheritance."

Zhu Yi heard his master's voice, and he agreed. He could not even see the end of the hallway, and he was already struggling to walk.

Still, he would not give up. He continued to move forward. At some point, he could feel his will wavering. Although Zhou Fan could teach anything, some things were better learned by oneself. 

It would not be difficult for Zhou Fan at his peak to create some sort of technique that artificially strengthened willpower, but he had never done so. Willpower was something that should be naturally gained and trained. Artificial willpower, while useful, would prove detrimental to a cultivator's growth.

As Zhu Yi struggled to walk, he eventually crumbled and fell to the ground. Far away, he could see the end of the hallway. However, there was no chance of him reaching it.

Just as he was about to curse in anger, the floor beneath him opened. He fell down, and when he opened his eyes, he saw many things around him.

Among them, there was one that instantly caught both Zhou Fan and Zhu Yi's attention. 

"Spatial ring. Grab it." Zhou Fan said.

Zhu Yi did not waste any time and grabbed it. They did not know if there was a time limit or if Zhu Yi was only allowed to receive one item.

All around them were other items, and while Zhu Yi ran to collect them, Zhou Fan pointed.

"Array material. Array material. Array material. Spirit stones. Array material. Formation material. Array material."

Through Zhou Fan's guidance, Zhu Yi snatched up a large amount of array materials, spirit stones, and even a few formation materials.

As Zhu Yi began to collect another item, a light shone on him and dragged him up. He could not resist, and through a hole, he was brought back to the mountain peak. The hole closed and Zhu Yi was left with an empty peak and a corpse.

Zhu Yi used some fire Qi to burn the corpse and walked around the mountain. As he went to one side, he saw something in the distance. To him, it looked like a bunch of lines and a circle, but Zhou Fan was more knowledgeable.

"That's a giant array. You should probably head to it." Zhou Fan said.

Obviously, Zhu Yi agreed. This array was hidden behind the mountain. From where he first entered, Zhu Yi had not seen it.

Luckily, they still had plenty of time.

Zhu Yi slid down the top of the mountain and ran towards the giant array.

Meanwhile, not long after he left, a person arrived on top of the mountain. He wore a scholarly robe and carried with him both a piece of paper and an ink brush.

He first noticed a burnt corpse. Although Zhu Yi had burned it, his fire was not very hot. Some of the girl had survived.

"Let's see. That girl from the High Boulder sect. What was her name again?" 

After a second of thinking, the person shook his head.

"Regardless, it's too dirty up here. I should clean up before leaving."

The person made a few lines on his piece of paper, and the charred corpse scattered into the wind like dust.

"This place has probably been looted. Regardless, it doesn't fit my style. I just came for the view." The person mumbled.

He looked around the mountain, and a giant array caught his attention. 

"I suppose that will work. Perhaps our founder didn't leave anything here? After all, nobody has mentioned it. We'll see."

The person walked down the vertical mountain top, his body perfectly horizontal, in the direction of the giant array.

—-------------------

As Zhu Yi ran, he made fast progress. The giant array was closer to the mountain than the mountain had been to his starting location.

After about 5 miles of running, Zhu Yi arrived at the giant array. Surprisingly, there were a few people standing around it.

They were walking around and observing it closely. Zhu Yi wanted to ask what was going on, but he was not familiar with anyone. He felt that if he walked up to someone and they called him White Palace City Trash, he may not be able to stop himself from beating them up.

As he watched, Zhou Fan spoke. "The challenge is probably to manage to get past the array and enter."

Zhu Yi nodded. "But how do I do that? I know nothing about arrays."

"If only there was someone on your shoulder that knew arrays." Zhou Fan said.

Zhu Yi coughed a few times and nodded in understanding. Just as he got up, he heard a voice behind him.

"Someone from White Palace City? Do you know about arrays?" The voice asked.

Zhu Yi turned around and saw someone around the age of 18, wearing scholarly robes and carrying a brush and paper.

"I know a little." Zhu Yi said.

The person nodded. "My name is Wen Si, from the writing sect. Who are you?"

Zhu Yi had guessed his sect from his clothes. The writing sect, the 2nd ranked sect in the world. 

"My name is Zhu Yi, from White Palace City."