As the Huang n ship departed from the shores of the Crystal Ind, the ind chief let out a visible sigh of relief, his face contorted with a mix of panic, fear, and anger.


    Beads of sweat dotted his forehead, and his trembling hands wiped them away as he attempted to regain hisposure.


    "What a terrifying woman," he muttered to himself, his voice quivering with anxiety. He pressed a hand to his potbelly, as if trying to reassert his dominance, even though the fear still loomed in his eyes.


    Approaching the ind with a sycophantic smile was a middle-aged man, his demeanor oozing deceit.


    He stopped a few feet away from the ind chief and bowed with excessive respect, hiding the apprehension that danced in his eyes.


    But the ind chief''s patience was wearing thin, and his anger erupted like a volcano. "Humph! When I was in trouble, I couldn''t find you? Now you dare show your face. What''s stopping me from throwing you into the sea to be food for the ferocious sea beasts?"


    The crooked middle-aged man, with a false, ingratiating smile, responded, "Haha, Chief, you can''t do that. I was attempting to protect everything you''ve worked for when I heard of the arrival of the Huang matriarch."


    The chief''s anger started to subside as the man continued, his voice dripping with ttery. "You know the stash of gold coins and high-grade image crystals? I hid them in a secure location, far from prying eyes."


    A pleased smile began to rece the anger on the ind chief''s face. "Haha, that''s good, that''s good," he nodded enthusiastically.


    "With the image crystal taken away from us... those gold coins will be enough for me to lead a fulfilling life," he mused as he strolled deeper into the ind, his hands folded behind his back.


    "Chief, what do you mean?" The crook''s face contorted with fear and confusion.


    But the chief''s thoughts were elsewhere. Sorrow clouded his mind as he pondered the implications. "What did they give us in return? An alliance with the Celestial Heavenly Sect and new inventions? Can I eat an invention? Who cares about the Celestial whatnot?


    They should just leave us be."


    His silentment echoed inside his heart as he clenched a small ring from his storage, inspecting it with growing fury. "That damned woman was only oppressing us because she was stronger. How dare she give me this useless piece of junk and call it a great invention."


    Fury welled up within him, and he gnashed his teeth while veins bulged on his forehead. In a fit of rage, he threw the small ring toward the crooked man in annoyance, then stormed toward thergest building on the ind, his face twisted in anger.


    The crooked man, perplexed by the chief''s actions, picked up the fallen ring and wondered why the Huang n would give them such an ordinary item. His mind swirled with confusion as he contemted the strange gesture.


    However, after a few moments of trying to decipher its significance, he decided to follow the ind chief and ask for an exnation. The ring was far too ordinary for a n as powerful as the Huangs.


    He found the ind chief and blurted out his question, "What did they say is special about the ring?"


    The chief, now in a state of brooding contemtion, responded without looking back, "She said it could allow us tomunicate as if facing each other when we send our consciousness inside it. Do you believe that nonsense?" With a dismissive click of his tongue, he continued into the building.


    The crook halted in his tracks, his mind processing the information. "ording to the Huang n, this ring could allow people tomunicate as if they were face-to-face when they send their consciousness into it."


    His curiosity piqued, he decided to send his consciousness into the ring, although he held little hope that it would work.


    But to his shock, as he entered the ring, a mechanical voice resounded in his mind, and an interface appeared, leaving him frozen in disbelief.


    "F***!" he eximed in his thoughts, his eyes wide with astonishment. He rushed into the ind chief''s building, shouting at the top of his voice, "CHIEF, IT WORKS!"


    Unbeknownst to both the ind chief and the crooked middle-aged man, a mysterious silhouette had been monitoring their conversation from a distance, closely listening to their every word.


    Wang Baozhai observed the scene from a concealed vantage point, her expression a mix of curiosity and slight confusion. The thought of a ring that could facilitatemunication as if people were in the same room was intriguing but puzzling.


    Her initial instinct was to dismiss it as improbable, but something made her reconsider. The memory of the crook''s exultant scream stirred her interest, suggesting the ring might be more than it appeared.


    "I don''t need to guess," she thought, determination in her eyes. She decided to investigate further and confirm its capabilities. "I just need to capture one of them."


    Leaving her observation post, Wang Baozhai blended into the crowd, her purpose clear: to capture either the chief or the crook middle-aged man and get to the bottom of this perplexing ring.


    Meanwhile, the barrennd remained peaceful, with the citizens awaiting the Celestial Heavenly Sect''s citizenship registration.


    The eight ordinary ns that had pledged their allegiance to the sect became increasingly popr, while other ns eagerly sought simr affiliations.


    Out from the sect''s ancestralnd emerged Su Yen, holding a peculiar rectangr metal object.


    One side of the rectangr metal was adorned in silvery patterns of interconnected lines, while the other side resembled a mirror yet held an enigmatic quality.


    "With the Spirit Mirrorpleted and the image crystals, registration can now start," Su Yen announced with a grin, his excitement evident.


    As he celebrated a step closer to his goal, an ordinary middle-aged man ventured deeper into the vast Endless Mountain Range within the Western Barren Land, his face devoid of expression and his eyes vacant.