"I'm fine, Yingying, don't move."
After being repelled, Ning Beichen saw Luo Yingying about to destroy the skeleton with a sword and hurriedly stopped her.
Then he explained.
"This should be his obsession before he died. It will be fine once it dissipates."
Luo Yingying then ceased her attack.
Ning Beichen was unwilling to let her get hurt and would subconsciously protect her everywhere.
And wasn't she the same?
For her, her world was gone, her sect was gone, her master was gone, and her fellow disciples were gone, so Ning Beichen was her world.
Therefore, she would never allow anyone to harm Ning Beichen.
However, Ning Beichen's guess was correct. After that mysterious force repelled Ning Beichen, it disappeared after a while.
Only then did Ning Beichen retrieve the storage artifact from the skeleton.
This storage artifact was very different from the storage artifacts Ning Beichen had seen before. Moreover, whenever he thought that the owner of this skeleton was likely a Venerable, Ning Beichen was extremely excited.
This was a Venerable!
Ning Beichen opened the storage artifact and found that it contained a treasure with a huge storage space.
Compared to this treasure, Ning Beichen's jade gourd seemed like a small trinket.
The space inside was large enough to accommodate ten Boeing 747s with plenty of room to spare.
And most importantly, it contained countless Star Stones. Ning Beichen lightly probed with his divine sense, and there were at least a million Star Stones inside. He was so excited that his hands trembled.
Luo Yingying also took a look, and her reaction was the same as Ning Beichen's; her hands trembled.
"Ning Beichen, we... are rich."
After a long while, Luo Yingying recovered and said excitedly to Ning Beichen.
"No, we are extremely rich."
Ning Beichen wiped his drool and said.
With so many Star Stones, they didn't know to what extent they could improve their cultivation.
Even Star Stones were not omnipotent. The more they were used, the less effective they became, just like taking medicine. If you took too much, your body would develop resistance, and you would only need to increase the dosage to achieve the effect. Star Stones were the same.
However, even with such drawbacks, Star Stones were still priceless treasures for cultivation.
"Thank you, senior, for your generosity."
Ning Beichen and Luo Yingying bowed to the skeleton in gratitude.
Regardless, having obtained so many Star Stones from him, and such a large storage artifact, let alone bowing, Ning Beichen would even be willing to call him father.
It was just that he wondered why such a powerful Venerable would die here?
Was he killed?
Or did he die here from severe injuries?
Although Ning Beichen was not a detective, he tried to reconstruct the situation based on the items at the scene.
This place was a sealed secret chamber, possibly created by him to hide from something before he died.
Because the secret chamber was crude, there were also many sword marks. Although these sword marks were obscured by dust due to the passage of time, they could still be seen with careful observation.
Therefore, it could be inferred that the Venerable was already injured at that time, and not with minor injuries, but with severe injuries. This was because Ning Beichen found that all the bottles of healing pills in his storage artifact were empty.
He came here and found that there was no way out, and there might have been a powerful enemy outside, or he was being chased by some monster.
Then he dug out a secret chamber here to hide.
The outcome was not important; he was dead anyway. A Venerable was gone, which made Ning Beichen sigh.
Even the strongest cultivators would eventually fall, either due to old age, death at the hands of enemies, or their own recklessness. Like Ning Beichen, if he were unlucky by venturing into the Falling Star Sea, he and Luo Yingying would suffer the same fate as this Venerable.
"Senior, I took your belongings. Although it is not right, it would be a waste to leave them on your remains. If you have any unfulfilled wishes, I, Ning Beichen, am willing to help you fulfill them."
Ning Beichen said to the skeleton.
In fact, he was just saying that. It was like a thief saying to the victim in a feigned manner:
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to steal your things, but if I don't steal, I won't have money to eat. You have so many things, and I'm just taking a little to survive."
Ning Beichen said this to ease his conscience. The person in front of him had already turned into a pile of bones; could he come back to life?
However, just as Ning Beichen finished speaking, the skeleton suddenly shattered with a clang, and the scattered bones arranged themselves into a few words on the ground.
"Luoyue."
Luo Yingying read out the words formed by the bones on the ground.
"Luoyue, does it refer to the moon in the sky or a person's name?"
"If it's a name, does this name refer to his enemy? Or his family? It sounds like a girl's name."
Luo Yingying said with doubt.
Ning Beichen couldn't understand either. However, this skeleton was too strange. He had just said it casually, but he didn't expect the skeleton to react immediately.
"Whatever it is, if it is truly your unfulfilled wish, senior, if we can both get out alive, I, Ning Beichen, will do my best to help you fulfill your wish."
Ning Beichen said to the pile of bones on the ground.
This time, the skeleton did not react, but the place was too strange, and neither Ning Beichen nor Luo Yingying wanted to stay there any longer.
After leaving the secret chamber, they also dug up the Star Stones outside. Now, with this large-capacity storage artifact, they no longer had the anxiety of storage.
"Ning Beichen, we have so many Star Stones now, can we leave here?"
Luo Yingying said to Ning Beichen.
Ning Beichen nodded. He also felt that they should leave. Although there should be more ores in the mine, the death of that Venerable made him feel danger.
Anyway, they had found a lot of Star Stones, so there was no need to take further risks.
Soon, they left the mine and returned along the same path. The journey was very safe, and they did not encounter any danger.
However, as soon as they emerged from the abyss black hole, they saw a group of people.
These people were all cultivators. They didn't know what they were doing there, but when they saw Ning Beichen and Luo Yingying, they surrounded them.
"Hand over all the storage artifacts on your bodies."
One of them said fiercely to Ning Beichen and Luo Yingying.
"Robbery?"
Ning Beichen and Luo Yingying were both stunned.
"You two just came out of the abyss black hole, and you must have Star Stones on you. If you obediently hand over all the Star Stones, we can spare your lives!"
These cultivators, or rather, bandits, threatened Ning Beichen and Luo Yingying.