Chapter 103: Great Luck in Opening the Box

"A box?! A Gold Box?!"

Shen Youran stared at the object in Yan Jing's arms. Her fox-like eyes trembled, and she could barely speak.

"Is... is that an Inner World Box?"

"Yeah, that's what it's called."

Yan Jing placed the box on the table, and a metal key materialized in his hand.

It was about the length of an index finger, shimmering with a faint glow and marked with a triangle at its base.

"These two things took up two slots in my Inventory."

But Shen Youran clearly wasn't listening anymore. She reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

"You can only get an Inner World Box with a Grade A evaluation or higher!"

"Xiao Yanzi, did you get above Grade A this time?!"

Yan Jing nodded.

"I did."

Shen Youran took a deep breath, trying to calm down, but completely failed. Her voice trembled.

"The grade of an Inner World Box depends on how much you impact the course of the Inner World. Is this a Gold Box or a bronze one?"

In truth, the box's color was unmistakable. It gleamed like a pile of gold coins, illuminating the entire table. There was no way to misidentify it.

It was just too shocking, so much so that Shen Youran simply couldn't believe it.

She had originally just prayed for Yan Jing to return safely. Yet now he was telling her that not only had he returned, he had cleared the Dungeon, and not only had he cleared it, he had gotten a perfect score.

No, a perfect score didn't even begin to cover it.

A Gold Box meant that Yan Jing's actions this time had influenced the fate of at least two minor Domains.

For a Player to impact two Domains... at the very least, Shen Youran had never heard of a First Tier Player accomplishing such a thing.

"It should be gold."

Yan Jing spoke as he moved to insert the key into the box.

But Shen Youran immediately stopped him.

"Wait, hold on a second!"

"You can't just open it so casually!"

With that, she jogged all the way back to her place.

Soon, the area around the box was covered with various items: an incense burner, candles...

Finally, Shen Youran shoved the Peach Wood Charm she had obtained from a nearby temple into his hand.

"This, this! This is really effective!"

Yan Jing played along, gripping the Peach Wood Charm in his left hand, and smiled.

"Is it okay now?"

"Mhm."

Shen Youran nodded nervously.

Yan Jing then inserted the key into the lock.

A prompt from the Inner World System immediately popped up in front of him.

[You are opening an Inner World Box, Gold tier]

[This box contains three to five items of various categories. You will receive at least one purple item compatible with the box's owner]

[Good luck, Player]

Yan Jing gripped the key and gently turned it.

Click—

With a crisp clatter of tumblers, the lid of the box opened on its own.

Inside was a scene of chaos, shrouded in a cloud of gray mist that obscured the exact appearance of the items.

Only a faint light bloomed from within, projecting a single number: 4.

This meant there were four items in the box.

Yan Jing reached in and pulled out the first item.

It was a terrifying lump of meat covered in fleshy polyps.

[Item Name: Flesh Heart of a Certain Body Cultivator]

[Quality: Yellow]

[Tier Requirement: None]

[Effect: Can be consumed directly to touch the Inner World Pathway—"body cultivator"—or used as a material to enhance the physique after processing through special methods]

[Description: The body cultivators of Minhu often temper their physiques using weird energy. However, over time, they found that this method led to bodily mutations, making daily life extremely inconvenient. Eventually, they discovered a method to concentrate those mutated parts into a single location, known as the "Flesh Heart"]

"This should fetch a good price."

Yan Jing placed the fleshy lump in front of Shen Youran.

Yellow grade with no tier requirement. It was an absolutely stellar choice for a Day Selection Ritual.

"Around ten million surface coins."

Shen Youran happily offered her appraisal.

"Do you know the Minhu Domain?"

Yan Jing asked.

"I do. That Domain should correspond to the northern side of the Fifth Ring Domain, exactly opposite Ling'an."

Shen Youran said:

"Its biggest characteristic is that the Inner World residents there are very much like humans in terms of personality and habits. For example, they care about their appearance, value etiquette and morality, and follow rules."

Yan Jing nodded, then reached in again.

This time, it was a hand with ten fingers—a yellow-purple First Tier item.

Just like the last one, body parts from Inner World residents were essentially useless. They could only be used for Rituals.

Or sold for money.

"We have enough money!"

Although neither item was very practical, Shen Youran was still thrilled.

Half an hour ago, she had been worrying about money, and now the problem was instantly solved.

Yan Jing nodded and spoke to her.

"Teacher Shen, why don't you draw one?"

He felt like his luck was off, as if he were back to the time when he drew the lesser wandering ghost.

"Alright!"

Shen Youran excitedly ran off to wash her hands before slowly reaching into the box.

Very quickly, she pulled out an item.

Before it was even fully revealed, its purple light had already flooded the entire room.

The guaranteed drop?

Yan Jing looked at the system prompt.

[Item Name: Shattered Mirror of the Attenuator]

[Quality: Purple]

[Tier Requirement: First Tier]

[Effect: Once a week, you can specify the power of a certain Pathway. When the wearer faces that power, they gain a certain degree of effect reduction for 6 hours. After 6 hours, the wearer will suffer double the effect when facing that Pathway's power for the next 6 hours]

[Description: An item from a Pathway that has completely disappeared: "Nothingness." Because the apex entity of this Pathway walked into true nothingness, the Pathway itself vanished entirely, leaving only a few items behind. However, they have already been left thoroughly shattered by the river of time]

"Good stuff."

Yan Jing took the broken mirror from Shen Youran's hand and nodded.

"You never disappoint, Teacher Shen."

Shen Youran was still immersed in the joy of pulling a purple item. Hearing Yan Jing's praise, she grew even happier, blinking her fox-like eyes.

"I guess I'm just lucky today."

"However."

Her expression turned serious. "You have to do the last one yourself, Xiao Yanzi."

"This mirror probably isn't the item meant for you. There's definitely something else good in there!"

With that, she pressed the Peach Wood Charm deeper into his hand.

"With this Peach Wood Charm, you'll definitely get something good!!"

"Is that right?"

Yan Jing smiled helplessly.

He actually felt that this highly practical broken mirror was already the guaranteed drop.

But under Shen Youran's fierce insistence, he reached back into the box.

He pulled out an item.

In an instant.

Both of their gazes locked onto it.

[Item Name: Extremely Impure Source Liquid of Fear]

[Quality: Black-Purple]

[Tier Requirement: None, cannot be used in a Ritual]

[Effect: Can cause entities of the Fear Pathway to undergo a transformation in strength. However, due to its low purity, it may cause unimaginable mutations unless used as a medium for another system]

[Description: A product of the Source of Fear. Even after being polluted and diluted, it remains an extremely rare material. It is enough to drive entities of Fear mad, making them willing to bet their lives on it even if there is only a one-in-ten-thousand chance of success]

It was a black liquid held in a small, transparent bottle.

The liquid was filled with tiny tentacles, each resembling a pitch-black bug. They curled and squirmed, making the fluid seem as though it was constantly shifting and shuddering, rippling with a gloomy light.

When Yan Jing's eyes landed on the liquid, it was as if some force had forcibly drawn him in. He simply couldn't look away.

Suddenly, obscure whispers echoed in his ears.

It sounded like a high-tier entity murmuring right beside his ear, speaking words he couldn't begin to understand. Even if he didn't want to listen, he was forced to. Gradually, the whispers grew louder and incredibly grating, like needles scraping across his scalp.

An intense, piercing pain spread from the top of his head down through his entire body. It wasn't until an icy sensation burst from his chest that the whispering was finally banished from his ears.

His gaze was finally able to shift away.

He looked at Shen Youran beside him. At that moment, her appearance had grown somewhat terrifying.

Her eyes were fixed dead on the liquid in his hand. Veins bulged from the corners of her eyes all the way to the base of her ears, and her eyeballs bulged as if they might burst at any second.

Yan Jing hurriedly moved the bottle out of sight.

Only then did Shen Youran snap out of it, collapsing back onto the sofa and gasping for air.

Even between pants, she didn't forget to offer reassurance.

"See, Xiao Yanzi? I told you there would be something good. A black-purple item! Even if you can't use it, selling it will get us a massive fortune."

"I know quite a few people. I guarantee this thing will fetch at least twenty million as a starting price."

To her surprise, Yan Jing slowly shook his head.

"No, Teacher Shen, I'm not planning on selling this just yet."

His face was calm, though he was desperately suppressing the phantom of the Fear Sapling within his body.

That tree had gone completely crazy. It continuously contorted its branches into various shapes to curry favor with him, even attempting to fully bloom behind him to reveal its peak form.

Faced with the bottle of liquid, it constantly transmitted a single thought to Yan Jing:

Longing.