CHAPTER 132: RING’S REACTION

The Diamond Bus continued driving onward.

Monsters along the way, of course, weren’t spared. Every single one they passed by died brutally, turning into experience and loot for Xu Tao’s party.

Though safe inside, they weren’t entirely unshaken.

As the bus ventured deeper into the desert, the monsters not only grew higher in level—their appearances became fiercer and more grotesque, turning into pure nightmare fuel. Still, they were no match for the bus.

Even just passing near them, without a direct hit, was enough to shred them into pieces.

Just like that, more hours passed.

Just as Xu Tao finished distributing his stats after reaching level 900, a new notification suddenly popped up.

"Hmm?"

Curious, he checked it immediately, but...

[Urgent Notice! The Ring of ?????? is reacting! Will you check it now? Yes/Yes]

"The fuck is this...?" he muttered, raising a brow. "I can’t refuse?"

With no choice, he tapped one of the "Yes" buttons. As soon as he did, a ring appeared before him. The accessory seemed familiar, but Xu Tao couldn’t remember the minor detail from over a hundred Chapters ago when he’d first obtained it. Still, that wasn’t the point.

The "Ring of ??????" was glowing faintly green. A mysterious light radiated from it, drawing Xu Tao’s attention for a few seconds...

Until another event suddenly started.

"L-Look outside! Something appeared!"

A random voice shouted, pulling Xu Tao’s gaze toward the window. "Huh?" Reflexively, he turned and checked.

In the distance, the sand bulged—something was rising fast from beneath. It didn’t take long before it broke through the desert floor and continued rising, towering into the sky.

A massive, circular tower—almost as tall as a mountain, yet seemingly unfinished. It looked like a colossal building project that had been halted halfway through construction.

Yifa was the first to whisper. "That tower... Looks familiar... Where have I seen it?"

"I can feel strange Qi coming from that place," Wu Zetian added, frowning as she studied it.

"What a huge tower..." Jehanne muttered, staring in awe. "Is it some kind of ruins?"

"I’m not sure..." Xu Tao groaned, confused.

It wasn’t the sudden appearance of the structure that puzzled him—it was the green glow covering the tower, matching the same hue radiating from the ring in his hand.

There was no doubt about it—the building was somehow connected to the ring he was holding!

If possible, he would’ve liked to get off the bus and investigate. However, given their current speed and the dangers outside, stepping out now would’ve been suicide. Instead—

"Hmph!"

Exerting a bit of his power, Xu Tao placed a marker on the location.

A simple formation that could "pin" a place, allowing him to revisit it later. It was even backwards compatible with the Thousand Li Step, meaning he could teleport to the marked spot whenever he wished.

Soon, the bus drove past the giant tower until it vanished from sight. As it did, the ring’s glow faded and settled into a peaceful silence, as if the previous phenomenon had been an illusion.

"Sister Nadi," Xu Tao asked curiously, "do you perhaps know what that tower was?"

But as if expecting the question, Nadi shook her head immediately.

"Sorry, Elder Tao, but I’m under restriction. I can’t divulge any details that don’t pertain to the Diamond Bus Experience," she said, bowing her head apologetically.

"Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine." Xu Tao waved a hand. "Forget I asked."

Though he didn’t get the answer he wanted, her response told him two things:

One—she knew what that building was, and two—

’It’s not something native to this world...’

On multiple occasions, when they passed visible ruins from Alkryon’s past, Nadi would gladly provide commentary. Even the locals were intrigued by her insights, as many of those relics were ancient to them—some they didn’t even know existed.

But this tower, she couldn’t speak about. That meant it wasn’t a part of Alkryon at all. It came from somewhere else entirely.

"Sir Tao?"

Jehanne, noticing the serious look on his face, asked with concern.

"I’m fine." He smiled and shook his head.

Pondering over the tower’s identity right now would be a waste of energy. He relaxed into his seat, sighing deeply.

’Either way... I’m sure we’ll be visiting that place soon enough.’

🔷🔷🔷

The duration of the Diamond Bus Experience was running out.

In the last five minutes, Xu Tao handed over two SSR Storage Rings to Nadi to transfer all the loot the bus had collected. Yes—there was so much that he needed two whole rings just to store it all!

He didn’t have time to check every item, but with a quick glance, he noticed hundreds of items with golden borders. That meant even more SR-grade loot and higher-tier gear!

After the transfer, only one minute remained before time was up.

The bus began to swerve, drifting in circles, clearing out a wide area of monsters. Xu Tao, seeing this, exhaled in relief.

"So we wouldn’t just get dropped into a monster swarm..." he muttered.

"Of course not, Elder Tao," Nadi said with a chuckle. His remark seemed to amuse her. "Still, that doesn’t change the fact that you’ll be left in a dangerous area."

"Yeah..." He shrugged. "But we should be fine."

Outside, the monsters were around level 900 to 920. Xu Tao opened his system to check his current stats, just to be sure:

[

Name: False Fisherman

Level: 950

Stats:

STR: 556

INT: 555

VIT: 555

AGI: 556

DEX: 555

Cultivation: 10,400

Bonus Points: 0

Currency:

Money: 1,890,505 Gold

System Points: 514,709 Points

]

The experience was split among all 50 passengers, but all the money and system points from kills still went to Xu Tao—the one who used the ticket.

"I became a millionaire..." he whispered in awe.

"Yes, Elder Tao. Congratulations," Nadi replied, having overheard his mumbling.

Right then, the bus came to a full stop. The surrounding area had been completely cleared of monsters, with only dust clouds lingering in the air.

"You now have five minutes to disembark the bus. Thank you for using our Diamond Bus Experience. I hope you enjoyed the ride."

Xu Tao stood up, cupped his fists, and bowed lightly. "It’s been a fortuitous journey, Sister Nadi. If the opportunity arises, I’ll call upon your services again."

"No, the pleasure was all mine, Elder Tao."

Nadi returned the bow, pausing briefly before extending an item toward him—a glowing tablet with letters and interface lines on its surface.

"If you would, please leave us a review. I’d appreciate it," she said sweetly.

"...Alright." Xu Tao nodded, smiling wryly while accepting the tablet from her.

As he filled out the form with a glowing "Great" review, the other passengers had already disembarked. They stood in a loose circle, keeping an eye out for monsters or danger.

Once he was done, Xu Tao returned the tablet to Nadi and got off the bus.

"Thank you for the great review." She bowed once more, hugging the tablet to her chest. "Well then, my time is up, so I shall take my leave."

PSSSSH!

The bus doors shut with a hiss. Its engine roared to life, and a golden portal appeared ahead of it, sucking the vehicle inside before vanishing in a blink.

Silence settled around them—until Xu Tao moved.

"Now then..." he muttered, cracking his knuckles before pulling out his Celestial Fan of 108 Formations.

"Time to carve us a way back home!"