Calming himself down, he looked away from the time artifact and looked at the direction the soul ripple came from. He closed his eyes and entered meditation as he released his divine sense.
Instead of spreading it in every direction, he focused it into a beam as it traveled in a straight line. The beam traveled near the skies and gradually approached.
Sweat began to roll down his forehead once more as veins appeared in his face. His console was blaring again, warning him of stress on his body.
As his skin was flushing red and emitting steam, his divine sense flew closed to the sky ceiling before heading towards the land once more, approaching some large metropolis.
The last attempt had already drained his mental power, so didn't dare push himself to the limits for fear of permanent soul damage.
His divine sense beam came to a halt before vibrating, releasing soul ripples into the air. His face turned pale as he did this a few times before quickly bringing back his divine sense.
Upon returning to his soul, his body shook as blood ran down his mouth. He fell to his side panting once more as his console blared.
[Warning! Owner has suffered moderate injuries! Releasing nanobots!
[Warning! Owner's energy reserves are running low! Do you wish to use available nutritional liquids in storage? Yes/No]
As the tiny robots healed up his body, he struggled to stay awake from the over-consumption of mental energy. Biting his tongue, he regained clarity a little as he looked at the hologram interface with his bloodshot eyes.
"Yes." He said in a coarse voice.
A needle pricked his wrist once again as a liquid solution entered his vein. The seconds ticked by as his tired body gradually regained energy. When he felt good enough, he slowly sat cross legged with drenched clothing. His rapid breathing stabilized as he struggled to stay awake.
"System, is there any anti-sleep stimulants?" He asked.
[Owner's storage does not have anti-sleep stimulants. Console's emergency med-kit has three anti-sleep stimulants. Do you wish to use one of them? Yes/No]
"Yes please." He said in a low voice.
[Command received. Using 1 anti-sleep stimulant...]
Ten seconds later, his sleepiness gradually cleared away as he regained clarity. However, it could not help the deep exhaustion his mind was experiencing.
[Anti-sleep stimulant has been successfully injected. Emergency medicine supplies are running low. System recommends refilling at your online pharmacy]
[System recommends not using the console's emergency med-kit in case of emergencies and to purchase medicine at your online pharmacy]
"I know!" He said tiredly with a sigh.
Even though the AI of his console is a basic one without any emotions, it is still highly intelligent.
Even if he had the console, without the system AI, he would've likely died out here physically. He'd have to stay in the Virtual Realm and get a new body which would take some time and make him loose his chance of getting a better promotion.
Not only that, but he'd have to take out a loan to afford the fees associated with making a new body.
Hong couldn't help but feel grateful towards the system AI even if it doesn't feel anything.
"I need to upgrade my AI in the future." He thought with determination.
He closed his eyes and calmed his mind before going back to his dantian.
The ring was still there, emitting a golden brilliance and a mysterious aura. The runes on it's exterior were complex and mystical to even his eyes.
Hong has had plenty of experience with spiritual artifacts and even had a rare low-tier Immortal-Grade artifact that was his sect's treasure. It had saved him countless times against cultivators above his original cultivation of peak Divine Qi Archduke, allowing him to kill Immortal Qi Mortals and defend against Immortal Qi Demi-Angels.
Not only that, but it allowed him to kill early stage Golden King cultivators and defend against mid-stage Golden King cultivators. It has defended his sect against greedy people who coveted his sects' treasures, wealth, and artifacts.
Spiritual artifacts are graded from Earth, Heaven, Divine, Immortal, God, and Dao with three small tiers of low, medium, high, and peak in each grade.
Earth grade artifacts are everywhere and common.
Heaven grade artifacts are not as common and more expensive, but are generally used by low-grade sects as trump cards in the outer regions.
Divine grade artifacts are rare in the outer regions, and medium grade outer sects generally kept them as trump cards.
Immortal grade artifacts are extremely rare in the outer regions, and very expensive and uncommon in the inner regions. Most of the large sects only had pseudo-grade Immortal artifacts, but he managed to get a complete low-tier artifact. It's the reason why his sect prospered and grew to a very large sect.
God-grade artifacts are extinct in the outer regions, and rare in the inner regions. Wars are generally fought over artifacts like these.
As for Dao-grade artifacts, they are almost extinct. Every time one pops up, the entire inner regions go crazy and blood rains from the devastating wars.
Generally, the inner regions have way more of each time compared to the outer. So while many covet Immortal artifacts in the outer regions, they aren't as coveted in the inner regions.
Unfortunately, the large sects in the outer regions have no chance of fighting the clans in the inner regions. All the clans are very large and powerful, maintaining a delicate balance while hogging the rich spiritual energies and coveted herbs. They only enter the outer regions if they are scouring for new talents, and are generally disdainful towards cultivators from the outside.
Looking at the ring, he could no discern it's grade despite probing around it. He could only tell that it was a little dim, probably from using energy to time travel. Even so, he couldn't help but get excited again! Artifacts above Immortal grade are always mystical and powerful!
As soon as he passed his divine sense through the ring hole, the ring suddenly buzzed as if it was coming to life.
The ring flew out of his dantian and rapidly expanded to its original huge size before falling towards the ground.