There was one thing that was certain: The system was far higher in level than the Black Salvation Ring.
It was why Xiao Ran could handle the matter so calmly.
Before he joined the group chat, he scanned the three solutions the system had given him.
“Solution One: Abandon the black ring at once and allow it to seek someone who possesses the caliber of salvation on its own.”
‘How’s that possible? It’s mine! I found it!’
“Solution Two: Spend 100 DP in order for the system to forcefully bind the black ring. You will replace Ye Fan as one of the Eleven Salvation Lones.”
Xiao Ran thought about it. While he did not identify with the black ring’s concept of salvation, it was not a bad choice to sneak into the group and reap some benefits or become a spy. It was too bad that it cost too much. It cost 100 DP…
He would think about it when he earned enough points. For now, he was in survival mode.
“Solution Three: Place the black ring into storage. You can browse through the messages exchanged in the black ring through the concentration of the resonance spirit, but you will be unable to speak and exchange cultivation methods and items with others, as you are not bound to the black ring.”
Alright, solution three it was!
He placed the Black Salvation Ring into the system storage at once.
In the blink of an eye, the piercing chilliness and the lofty sensation that made him feel superior to others disappeared.
Xiao Ran exhaled in relief. It had only been a matter of minutes.
When he looked around, there was no one. However, to avoid suspicion, he secretly retrieved his disciple ring and left it in the ruins before pretending to find it and putting it on his hand.
After doing that, he left the Sword Plain speedily to head to the Ruling Tower.
…
Before the Elder meeting, Commandment Elder Huangfu Qun had asked Yinyue Zhenren to hold a simple yet solemn burial for the two Commandment Hall Disciplinarians who had been sacrificed.
Then, Xiao Ran, Chuyan, and Chen Gongxing, as well as Luosheng, respectively made their statements in the Commandment Hall.
It was only after these things that the Elder meeting took place.
Lingzhou Yue was absent, while Chen Gongxing and Chuyan were added to the attendees.
Bo Yunzi, Moxia Zhenren, and Huangfu Qun were all maintaining the array in their individual array points, so they joined the meeting by transmitting their voices.
…
Representing the Sword-Wielding Elder, Xiao Ran sat in the Elder’s seat southeast. Chuyan stood behind him, but he basically obscured her view.
During the Elder meeting, his mind was not into it. Once the meeting started, Xiao Ran quietly concentrated and accessed the Black Salvation Ring in the system storage with the resonance spirit.
There was a buzz in his mind before an image of a chat interface appeared before him.
The background was a chaotic void with 11 names in Chinese style calligraphy often used for seals. He had to scrutinize before recognizing the script.
The 11 names were distributed across three layers of depth. The ones farthest were two cracked grey names, and one of them was connected to Xiao Ran’s awareness—”Breaking Times[1]”.
There was no doubt that it was the savior nickname of the original owner, Ye Fan.
Xiao Ran guessed that the grey color meant ‘hidden’ and the cracked text probably symbolized that the original owner was dead and a new owner had not yet been found…
In the same area with ‘Breaking Times’ was another cracked grey name—”Your Grandpa’s Grandpa”.
This nickname looked just ridiculous in that calligraphy script! Luckily, that person was already dead…
When he looked closer, the middle layer contained normal grey names. Xiao Ran supposed these were people who were currently busy and had not concentrated on checking their phones… No, their black rings.
There were eight people in an inactive state—”Rhyme”, “Wild Hunt”, “Junzi”, “Little Mist”, “Body Severing”, “Primate”, “Stated Dao”, and “Scram If You Got No Dough”.
What saviors! Their nicknames were very unique without being overbearing. There was no sense of the icy superiority that Xiao Ran had felt earlier.
The script that lay right in front of his field of vision was bright black, probably signifying people who were currently online. There was only one person—”Hardly An Immortal After Vicissitudes”.
This nickname finally felt a little like a savior’s name.
No one was chatting, and he was just looking at the group quietly.
Depending on the system and the force of resonance, Xiao Ran sat in on the meeting while keeping an eye on the group incognito.
Halfway through the meeting, someone finally got online and spoke.
“Little Mist: Look what I noticed! (Breaking) Times is cracked!”
The chat message was displayed in regular script and was presented in a sort of floating method, like the bubbles in a group chat.
The topic was Ye Fan’s death.
‘Hardly An Immortal After Vicissitudes’ remained silent, but it did not seem like it mattered to Little Mist.
“Little Mist: Why isn’t anyone saying anything when something so big has happened?”
After two messages, the rest were finally roused into replying.
“Junzi: Times is dead? How’s that possible?! He said that he was preparing for an important battle yesterday and all of us sent him a number of cultivation methods. He was young and fresh but he had underdeveloped the Wraithism Art as a last resort to save himself. At least, he wouldn’t have been killed directly!”
Underdeveloped the Wraithism Art as a last resort to save himself?
Xiao Ran was slightly alarmed.
He had not been an Apostle summoning a Wraith? A living person could turn into a Wraith just like that?
Xiao Ran felt like his values were being picked apart.
“Body Severing: He had a rare Divine Saint’s Faculty, though. Losing little brother Times is a loss. The black ring will seek an owner after this, so it will probably be just the nine of us for a long time to come.”
“Junzi: I remember Times was on Zongzhi Mountain, right? Zongzhi Mountain is free spirit-wise, but when safety is concerned, Huangfu Qun takes it seriously. How could there be a death during disciple sparring? Little Mist, you around Zongzhi Mountain? Any insider news?”
“Little Mist: I only heard that Sword-Wielding Elder Lingzhou Yue recently took in a Direct Disciple and caused some buzz in the sect.”
‘I’m being mentioned?’
Not expecting himself to be right in the center of a storm fresh from his debut, Xiao Ran got nervous suddenly.
“Junzi: Times was young and vehement, with heaven-defying talent. He was all about cultivation speed. If he wasn’t chosen as the Direct Disciple, he’d possibly stray away from the right…”
“Body Severing: In that case, did this new Direct Disciple kill Times?”
Sh*t, he had been discovered after one guess…
“Little Mist: Unlikely. I heard that this Direct Disciple of the Sword-Wielding Mountain is a talentless loser. He just got into the sect three days ago. There’s no way he could have killed Times.”
Xiao Ran thought, ‘Thank you, Little Mist!’
“Junzi: Not necessarily. Maybe he concealed his ability and no one knows about it.”
A new name lit up in the middle layer and shifted to the front.
“Scram If You Got No Dough: Just saw the chat. What happened? Speaking of Lingzhou Yue, I have intel here.”
“Junzi: Speak now!”
“Scram If You Got No Dough: Scram if you got no dough.”
“Junzi paid 10 spirit stones to Scram If You Got No Dough.”
“Little Mist paid 10 spirit stones to Scram If You Got No Dough.”
“Body Severing paid 10 spirit stones to Scram If You Got No Dough.”
Xiao Ran was flabbergasted.
Was this not a salvation help chat? Why was there a collection of fees?
It was fortunate that he could watch for free! What was the intel on his master?
“Scram If You Got No Dough: Someone just discovered that Lingzhou Yue’s been asking about the flood dragon’s pellet in Chaotic City. It seems that she wants to go to the Withered Sea on her own.”
“Body Severing: The flood dragon pellet from the Withered Sea? That’s for incredibly talentless people who want to refine Qi and extend their longevity. Did Lingzhou Yue really take in a loser?”
Xiao Ran’s thoughts were switching between ‘Go on, call me more names!’ and ‘So Master went out for me?’
“Junzi: Other than the Nine Novas and the Senior Wild Hunt in the current cultivation world, who’s to assert that they’ll leave the Withered Sea alive? Even though Lingzhou Yue’s good, it’s too dangerous for her to go there for the flood dragon pellet alone… Who’s this Direct Disciple of hers who’s worth her defying the odds and risking her life?”
Xiao Ran was nearly tearing up while reading the texts.
‘Master does actually love me! I’ve accused her wrongfully!’
Xiao Ran decided then and there to hasten his progress and become strong and powerful. He could not let his master take risks alone again.
“Body Severing: Now that Times’ dead, our channel on Zongzhi Mountain is cut. Little Mist, you’ll have to keep an eye on Zongzhi’s intel from now on.”
“Little Mist: It’s my duty.”
“Junzi: It’s fine if others haven’t seen something so serious happening. Brother Vicissitudes’ been online, but you’re still keeping quiet. Speaking of that, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you talk, Vicissitudes.”
“Little Mist: Who says all 11 of us must be humans? Maybe Brother Vicissitudes is a divine beast?”
‘Hardly An Immortal After Vicissitudes’ was still silent.
“Body Severing: Whatever this is, there’s gonna be a storm tonight in the chat.”
After that, there were no more replies.
By the time Xiao Ran concentrated and left the chat, the Elder meeting had just started talking about him.
[1] It references to Chen Dong’s novel, 遮天 (Zhe Tian), or translated work Shrouding The Heavens, where the character of the same name, Ye Fan, singularly cut off an era to end a dark time.