[A.B.P.P.E.] Bk 2 - Chapter 56 - A Giant Void

Yin Hu crossed his arms behind him once more. In the same exact pose he had struck a thousand times in such a short time span. It seemed to have become his go to whenever he was faced with a difficult situation. Not only did it make it appear as though he knew exactly what he was doing at any moment, it helped buy time for him to figure a solution without rushing the situation. 

“I see…” he said, clearly not understanding anything at all. 

But who would ask? Who would try to press him into explaining what he actually learned from staring at a towering gateway that had a barrier around it just like the palace. From the illusion and down to the shimmering where his eyes lay on it. Otherwise, it was invisible to him. 

“What do you think he is seeing? Is it just a wall or is there something special inside it?” Shui tried whispering under her breath to Wu Xui and Hu Jun, but failed in such an open area. Her voice echoed loud enough to reach every corner and back a few times. Jun did try to keep her focused, but even she had started to become curious after the second hour of just standing there. 

It was strange, really. 

Fearing he would start a chain reaction that would imprison them within the palace. It wouldn’t be much of an issue resource wise, considering the state of his rice bag, nor would he be worried about himself. Yin Hu had survived ages alone and stuck in what amounted to a floating prison. 

Yet, having his girls suffer the same fate made him hesitate. 

I know I can shatter this just like the other one. They’ve been on for too long. 

Just a touch was all that was needed to kick start the train of reactions that would either open the gate and nothing else happened or cause the crystal inside to go haywire. 

Maybe there were monsters in there they had to fight? Or worse, the Void Blob made a return as was just waiting for someone foolish enough to mess with an ancient place like this. Dumb treasure hunters that would jump into any cave or hole just for a few pieces of gold. 

Loot Goblins. I can use this as a perfect training ground for Shui’s loot goblin tendencies if it's safe. Make her collect everything into my rice bag as a first step.

Yin Hu mentally sighed. He had wasted enough time without coming up with a proper solution. 

Dangering the life of Da Ruis in an attempt to see if he could phase through the illusion had been the best thing he came up with in the hours spent standing there staring. While the old ghost wasn’t an inner court disciple and directly responsible for the greatest danger put on his girls, he was still part of the Hu Clan now. Yin Hu’s responsibility as the patriarch overceded any desire for revenge after the Sparring Instance was made. 

More so when it was still being perfected. 

Yin Hu reached out and touched the barrier. Just as he expected, the thing shattered into a million pieces like glass. 

He looked over his shoulder and watched the entire party react with shock a second time as the illusion that had shown them nothing but a wall vanished. Though this time it wasn’t anything as wild as the first time. 

“Soon,” Yin Hu said as he walked ahead to the gateway and pushed slightly. It sucked in air and made it difficult to swing inward for a second. “Soon there will be a lot of training. Your perceptions are unacceptable. Strength unacceptable. Cultivations and Dao, unacceptable. Even physically, you should have had intrinsic gut feelings that something was not right and yet none of that happened.”

The air clapped back at them as the gateway was forced open by Yin Hu. Everyone was thrown off their feet except for him as he walked into the treasure room.

Rong struggled to keep the hatchlings and Shui from flying off into the distance.

Shit! I did too much! 

He ignored them and kept his head down, DragonsWrath appearing in his hands in case something tried to take advantage of the situation. 

Except nothing happened.

Yin Hu passed through a wall of darkness and stepped proper into the treasure room.

Welcome User…

You’ve entered an Administration Pocket provided for the greatest of races!

Please refrain from attempting to cause any further damage!

Previous users had not been so careful…

He stumbled through and stepped into a second cavern that had no source of light except a single blue fluorescence in the distance that he suspected was the crystal. Yin Hu activated his perception skill to match the blip to where he saw the crystal and it matched perfectly. 

Yin Hu stepped forward and nearly fell face first as he stepped on a perfectly round rock. 

Only slamming his spear into the ground as an aid prevented him from sprawling and potentially destroying his ancient being persona.

He quickly straightened up and acted like nothing happened. 

The rest of the party were thrown into the cavern face first. Landing in a heap of limbs and body parts as they struggled not to puke. It didn’t help that Yin Hu could almost see stars circling around their heads from how dizzy they were. 

Yin Hu ignored them and picked up the rock, intent on crushing it for its crime–

He tilted his head as he brought it closer to his eyes. 

Huh… This looks just like my Superior Qi Stones. Same ones I pulled out of my rice bag when mutating the girls bloodlines and Spiritual Roots.

Except this one didn’t have the swirling motes of light within it. It was dry, dark, and nearly worthless without an ounce of Qi within it. It looked like a special rock, nothing more. 

It was then that Yin Hu’s eyes drifted up as his vision readjusted to the darkness.

“Oh dear God…” Da Ruis’s voice was filled with awe. He floated next to Yin Hu, able to pierce the pitch black that covered the majority of the cavern. “How many Qi Stones is that? Has to be millions… Dare I say… tens of millions. What realm are they? Just a single one has to hold…?”

Welp… there goes my plan to make Shui gather everything up. It would take her centuries just to get through the first half.

“Nothing but a pittance," YinHu said and he was being honest. 

Da Ruis gave him a strange look. 

This was nothing compared to what he had in his rice bag. Each type of Qi Stone within it had entire sections larger than this whole cavern dedicated to them. Then there were the blades, weapons, rice, and every single other item that he could imagine just floating there. 

Yin Hu blinked slightly as a strange thought crossed his mind. 

What level was the rice bag? This was supposedly an Administration inventory pocket for an entire race that it considered one of the greatest. 

What the hell did that say about what was currently hanging on his hip?

Yet, more important than all of that. Who the hell was the Vagrant who owned it before Yin Hu found it?

How powerful could someone get to have the capacity to either make a spacial pocket or be gifted one this massive?

“Jun. Look!” Shui picked up one of the Superior Qi Stones. “Aren’t these the weak Qi Stones ancestor decided were worth using for our cultivation?”

Shit! My bullshitting is catching up to me! Wait… When did I say that? I don’t remember?

Everyone within the cavern turned to look at the girls with wide eyes and then back at him. 

Yin Hu ignored everyone and started to make his way through the piles of Qi Stones and down a set of stairs toward the central crystal. “Be careful when going down.”

“Okay!” Shui grabbed the six dragon hatchlings and sprinted to catch up to him. “So much treasure…”

The dragons wrestled out of her grip and floated around them, swimming through the air as they zipped from one pile to another like children in a candy store.