Chapter 919: Mysterious Card

Just then, his eyes caught something at the very corner of the storage ring. A small, unassuming box sat there, almost hidden under the piles of cores and spiritual herbs. “Huh? What’s this?”

Max reached out, pulling the box into his hand. It was cold to the touch, unnaturally so, as though it carried a chill from some distant realm. Carefully, he opened it.

Inside was a single object—a card, pitch black and faintly gleaming with an eerie light. It wasn’t metal, wood, jade, or stone. It was… something else entirely. Its surface was smooth yet unsettling to look at, as if it absorbed the light around it.

Max stared at it, tilting his head slightly. “What’s this supposed to be…?” he muttered, feeling a strange, almost ominous sensation crawling along his fingertips just from holding it.

Max held the black card in his hand for a long moment, his eyes narrowing as he studied it carefully. The material was unlike anything he had ever seen before—it looked like wood, but it wasn’t wood; it had the sheen of iron, but it wasn’t iron; and it held a weight similar to copper, yet it wasn’t copper either.

It was a bizarre mixture of textures and density, as though it had been forged from an unknown material not found in the present world. The fact that the big-bellied monk had stored it so carefully, hidden deep inside his storage ring, meant it was definitely extraordinary.

Upon closer inspection, Max noticed faint markings etched across its surface. Strange, intricate symbols stretched from corner to corner—dense and orderly yet chaotic in nature.

When he tried to focus on them, he saw shapes that looked like runes, odd lines that resembled letters of an ancient script, and overlapping patterns that twisted his vision.

Suddenly, his pupils contracted, and a sharp pain pierced through his eyes. “Ah…” Max flinched and quickly looked away, blinking repeatedly until the pain faded. He glanced down at the card again, this time keeping his focus away from the strange carvings.

A sense of unease and curiosity churned inside him. ‘What kind of terrifying thing is inscribed on this card that it can cause pain with just a glance?’

“Max, let me take a look at it,” Blob’s voice rang out from within the Dimension of Spirit, calm but carrying an undertone of intrigue.

“Alright,” Max said, hesitating slightly before warning, “but be careful, Blob. Whatever is carved on it seems dangerous to the soul itself.”

He channeled his energy and sent the black card into the Dimension of Spirit where Blob resided. For a moment, silence lingered until Blob finally spoke again, his voice more serious than usual. “You’re right, this thing does carry something that can harm the soul. It’s subtle, but it’s there. What puzzles me, though, is what exactly is on it.”

“You don’t recognize it either?” Max asked in surprise.

“No,” Blob admitted bluntly. “It looks like some form of writing, and yet it’s also similar to a rune array. My guess… this thing is most likely something from the ancient era.”

Max’s expression darkened slightly. ‘From ancient times?’ That meant it could be tied to forgotten civilizations or even ancient powers that had long since disappeared from the world.

Blob then added after a pause, “I examined it thoroughly, and there’s another thing worth noting—the material itself. It’s incredibly hard, Max, almost unnaturally so. Its toughness is not inferior to top-grade Legend Rank weapons, perhaps even stronger.”

Max froze at those words. ‘As hard as top-grade Legend Rank weapons or even the Demigod Rank weapon’ That level of craftsmanship was already beyond most smiths in the Middle Domain. “Could this… be a fragment of some kind of weapon?” he asked, his tone carrying both doubt and awe.

Blob thought for a while before replying, “It’s possible… but unlikely. If it was a weapon fragment, it would be nearly impossible to carve those inscriptions into it. Only someone at Divine Rank or above could achieve that level of precision and stability. That makes this even stranger.”

Max fell silent, his thoughts spinning. ‘A card from ancient times, harder than top-grade Legend Rank and Demigod Rank weapons, inscribed with unknown runes capable of harming the soul itself?’

The more he thought about it, the heavier the card felt in his hand. Eventually, he closed the box and placed the black card back inside for safekeeping.

Shaking off his unease, Max continued his search on the other side of the Black Dog Abyss, sweeping the area for anything valuable. Hours passed as he scoured through the abyss, but he found nothing that caught his attention—not a single treasure that rivaled the Nether Stone or the big-bellied monk’s storage ring haul.

Finally, with nothing left to pursue in the Black Dog Abyss, Max turned his gaze westward, toward a new destination. “Falling Dust Valley…” he muttered, recalling its location on the other side of the abyss. Without hesitation, he leaped into motion, black flames trailing behind him as he sped toward his next search for treasures.

Max’s figure flickered as he landed softly on the rugged ground, leaving behind the eerie darkness of the Black Dog Abyss. Even now, as his boots touched solid earth, a faint chill lingered in his heart.

The memory of the Nether Stone’s terrifying spirit and the Black Dog King’s overwhelming power still gnawed at him, making him more cautious than ever.

Falling Dust Valley lay ahead—a place that sat deep within the inner region of the secret domain, almost at its very heart. It was said to be the most abundant region for magical medicines and natural treasures, a paradise for any expert willing to risk their life. This was precisely why Max had chosen this destination, despite knowing it would also attract the strongest forces within the domain.

He whistled lightly, and from within his Dimension of Spirit emerged the Little Rat. The small creature yawned lazily and glared at Max with a look that clearly said you owe me for this.

Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!