The City in the Ring

City of the Ring is an urban supernatural web novel by Xuan Jin Ru Shui, serialized on Qidian from 2014 to 2015 and completed in 621 chapters. Set in a modern metropolis, it follows Chu Feng, a destitute young man whose harrowing encounter by the sea leaves him in possession of a mysterious ring connected to a "Heavenly Junkyard." From then on, the scrap discarded by immortals and Buddhas becomes, in his hands, a trove of miraculous treasures unmatched in the mortal world.

The novel thrusts mythological artifacts straight into contemporary daily life: the Nine-Toothed rake doubles as a hair comb for the ladies, the Wind-and-Fire Wheels become his ride for chasing sunsets, and legendary wish-granting weapons that cultivators battle to the death over are, in his eyes, mere playthings to win a beauty's smile. Alongside this, absurd episodes unfold in quick succession—an expired marrow-cleansing pill and its "infuriating side effects," the lucrative resale of elixirs, cooking contests and betting schemes. The main plot gradually expands from scattered urban adventures into the power struggles and clan rivalries of the cultivation world, with formidable foes and ancient factions entering the fray, before culminating in the Chu family's establishment as supreme rulers under heaven.

Riotously funny and irreverent in tone, the story leavens its lighthearted pacing with combat and magical duels, making it a representative work of the mid-2010s "urban + cultivation + artifacts" genre.