This enormous desert stretched so far that I began to wonder if we''d somehow left our own country behind.


    I spread out my divine sense, scanning the area around us, but couldn''t detect a single soul.


    "Looks like we''ve stumbled into the middle of nowhere," I said, managing a bitter smile.


    The man with the mustache brushed off my concern with a wave. "Don''t sweat it. We''ll figure out how to get back."


    He immediately started digging for spiritual stones.


    "Jackpot!" The man with the mustache whooped with joy.


    He pulled out hundreds of spiritual stones and sprawled among them like he''d hit the lottery.


    I had to give the guy credit.


    Never crossed my mind that I''d manage to snag the entire spiritual stone mine for myself.


    "These stones will boost my cultivation speed big time," I mumbled to myself.


    I pulled out my Spatial Magic Artifact, getting ready to extract the spiritual stones from it.


    But the moment my divine sense probed inside the Spatial Magic Artifact, I went rigid.


    "What the hell?!" My brows knitted together, panic washing over my face.


    "Something wrong?" the man with the mustache mumbled.


    I didn''t respond. I jumped up and started pulling everything out of the Spatial Magic Artifact.


    To my horror, there wasn''t a single spiritual stone inside!


    "Where the hell are the spiritual stones?!" My eyes went wide as I whipped around to stare at the man with the mustache.


    The man with the mustache scowled. "What are you getting at?"


    My face went white. "There''s not one damn spiritual stone in here!"


    "What? That can''t be right!" the man with the mustache gaped in shock.


    I tore through the entire Spatial Magic Artifact but still came up empty!


    Right then, I started wondering if the mustached guy had never even put the spiritual stones in there to begin with!


    "Did you actually put the spiritual stones in or not?" I asked, my brows furrowed.


    The man with the mustache''s eyes bulged. "You kidding me? Of course I did!"


    "Then why aren''t there any in here!" I snapped, my mood turning dark.


    "How the hell should I know!" the man with the mustache shot back, clearly irritated.


    I slumped to the ground, my expression grim.


    If the stones went in, how could they just vanish?


    "Don''t go ming me. I swear I put everyst spiritual stone in there," the man with the mustache said coldly.


    I stayed quiet, but my face got even darker.


    I couldn''t wrap my head around how the spiritual stones could just disappear into nothing.


    Had this whole trip been aplete waste?


    "Look, if pushes to shove, I''ll share some of mine with you," the man with the mustache grumbled.


    I let out a quiet sigh.


    I tucked away the Spatial Magic Artifact and gathered up my gear too.


    "Never mind," I said, waving it off.


    Even though it made no sense, I decided to believe the man with the mustache.


    The guy had no reason to lie to me.


    "Let''s focus on getting out of this godforsaken ce first," I said, getting back on my feet.


    Despite my words, the disappointment was written all over my face.


    "Screw it, I''ll split them fifty-fifty with you," the man with the mustache muttered.


    I waved him off and forced a grin. "We''ll deal with thatter."


    I turned around, ready to leave this endless desert behind.


    Seeing this, the man with the mustache had no choice but to grudgingly stash his spiritual stones for now.


    This desert was ridiculously massive. We trudged through it for an entire day without spotting another living soul.


    "What kind of ce is this anyway?" the man with the mustache couldn''t help but wonder aloud.


    I kept my mouth shut, my thoughts still stuck on those missing spiritual stones.


    We walked from sunrise to sunset.


    Even after the sky went pitch ck, we hadn''t seen another person.


    "Damn, this would make one hell of a hideout," the man with the mustache whispered.


    After walking all day, we were both beat and needed to take a break.


    We found a decent spot and crashed.


    As Iy there in the middle of nowhere, all I could think about were those spiritual stones.


    Noticing how bummed out I looked, the man with the mustache figured I was still suspicious of him. He said with a hurt tone, "I''m telling you straight up, I really did put those spiritual stones in there. Unless there''s something screwy with your Spatial Magic Artifact."


    When I heard that, it hit me like a lightning bolt.


    I shot up and stared at the man with the mustache.


    "What now?" the man with the mustache grumbled.


    I smacked my forehead. "You think there''s something wrong with the Spatial Magic Artifact?"


    Those words sparked something in my memory!


    Way back when, Aiden Eve had tried every trick in the book to get this Spatial Magic Artifact back!


    "Quick, give me a spiritual stone!" I said urgently.


    The man with the mustache didn''t know what I was nning, but he fished out a spiritual stone and handed it over.


    Without saying a word, I dropped the spiritual stone into the Spatial Magic Artifact.


    "What''s this for?" the mustached man asked, confused.


    I said seriously, "I''m gonna test whether the problem''s with the Spatial Magic Artifact."


    I mmed up after that.


    I sat there waiting quietly.


    A few minutes passed, then I sent a thread of divine sense into the Spatial Magic Artifact.


    My eyes practically popped out of my head!


    "What is it?" the man with the mustache asked anxiously.


    I gulped hard. "That spiritual stone... it''s gone again!"


    "See! I told you it had nothing to do with me!" the man with the mustache quickly piped up.


    I scratched my head. "Could it be... this Spatial Magic Artifact actually eats spiritual stones?"


    "No way!" The man with the mustache shook his head.


    "From all my years of experience, Spatial Magic Artifacts can''t have divine sense unless there''s something lurking inside your Spatial Magic Artifact," he exined.


    I looked at the man with the mustache. "So you''re saying... only something with divine sense can gobble up spiritual stones?"


    "That''s usually how it works," the man with the mustache nodded.


    "But it''s hard to say for sure. Maybe your Spatial Magic Artifact has a hole in it."


    "A hole?" My brow furrowed as I quickly scanned the ground.


    The man with the mustache said with exasperation, "Even if it''s got a hole, it''s not gonna drop stuff on the ground. It''d probably fall into some void and vanishpletely."


    I couldn''t help but frown.


    I rested my chin in my hand and sat there thinking it over, then shook my head. "No, if the Spatial Magic Artifact had a hole, Aiden Eve wouldn''t have been so desperate to get it back."


    Ruling out that possibility left only one option.


    There really was something hiding inside the Spatial Magic Artifact.


    And whatever it was had divine sense!


    Thinking back, since I''d gotten my hands on the Spatial Magic Artifact, I''d never given it a proper inspection.


    So I decided to use this chance to check it out thoroughly.


    I wanted to figure out what was hidden inside the Spatial Magic Artifact that made Aiden Eve value it so much.


    I closed my eyes slightly.


    A wisp of divine sense shot out from between my brows.


    Golden light shed and dove into the Spatial Ring.