It turned out the tablet was there to tell Su Jin more about the dimension.
The Wood Spirit Dimension was created by one of the Lu family's cultivator ancestors. Before Immortal Lu ascended, he passed the dimension down to his descendants and put a lock on it such that only Lu family descendants and their spouses could unlock the dimension. No one else could activate it. The place came with fertile fields and a mansion, and even a well with clean drinking water.
Immortal Lu also left some of the pills he refined in the pill workshop inside the mansion. The pills were rare and precious, so in order to prevent his descendants from growing complacent, Immortal Lu made it such that the pills could not be taken out of the Wood Spirit Dimension. They had to be used inside.
On the other hand, the owner of the Wood Spirit Dimension could use contracts to allow others to enter. Su Jin was over the moon when she read that part, because it meant she could bring her family members in here. The method was easy enough too. She just had to bring the jade tablet out of the dimension and have all potential visitors drip a drop of their blood onto the tablet's surface.
As the tablet's glow began to fade, Su Jin learned more about the dimension's mechanisms. Time in here flowed differently than it did outside, as one day outside was equivalent to ten days in here. That meant plants grew faster in here, and people who cultivated in here would find their training ten times more efficient than it would be outside.
Nevertheless, the Wood Spirit Dimension also relied on spiritual energy for its maintenance. If it ran out, it may not be able to function properly. As for the method to recharge the dimension with energy, well, that was up to the Lu family descendants to discover for themselves.
This was truly game-breaking! Su Jin put the jade tablet aside. With this portable dimension, she did not have to worry about anything anymore. There was plenty of dimension in there, with fields and even a stream. She could pack the mansion with a ton of things. As for the spiritual energy, Su Jin could hazard some guesses. What the dimension required might very well be the crystal cores found in the zombies' brains.
Su Jin took another walk around the entire mansion. She did not know the technical terms for the mansion's design and layout, but she did see that there were a few smaller side halls aside from the main building. Each hall had a few rooms, complete with a kitchen and outhouses.
Finally, Su Jin walked into the pill refinery mentioned on the jade tablet. The first thing she saw when she pushed open the door was an engraved copper pill cauldron, so tall it was twice her height. The pill refinery was huge, with rows of cupboards beside and behind the cauldron. Each cupboard had many smaller drawers, and each drawer held bottles of pills.
The drawers were labeled with the names of the pills too. Su Jin glanced across them and saw Blood Circulation Pills, Spirit Enhancement Pills, Qi Revitalization Pills, Pulse Protection Pills, Metal Regeneration Pills, Wood Regeneration Pills, Water Regeneration Pills, Fire Regeneration Pills, Earth Regeneration Pills… even Marrow Cleansing Pills. Although she did not know exactly what each pill did, she had at least heard of marrow-cleansing.
Was this the type of Marrow Cleansing Pill she read about in novels? If she ate them, could she cultivate her powers and eventually become an immortal? Everything here seemed like a treasure to Su Jin, and she was confident that Immortal Lu would not harm his descendants, so she took out the bottle of Marrow Cleansing Pills and poured out a pill, which she then ate.
The pill melted in her mouth instantly. Before Su Jin could even taste it, she felt as though all of her bones had been shattered by hundreds of metal hammers. The pain was unbearable, and she collapsed to the ground, rolling around in agony.
Just then, the wood-type energy inside her body seemed to finally find an outlet, surging out of her all at once. If Su Jin could open her eyes now, she would be able to see that the entire refinery was now covered in green vines. Some of the vines even stretched out of the refinery door!
The vines were of differing thicknesses, too. While she was in pain, Su Jin could feel a thin, long, and soft vine gently enveloping her body and emitting a comforting wave of energy. This energy flowed down Su Jin's nerves and joints, ironing out any knots and letting her qi flow smoothly.
After some time, Su Jin finally opened her eyes. She had passed out from the pain. There was no way she could have known that the pill was so potent. In a way, it was her fault for swallowing it without a second thought or any prior preparation, just because she knew it was a priceless treasure.
Nevertheless, despite all the pain she had suffered for so long, Su Jin now felt wide-eyed and energetic, her body full of limitless power. Still, the smell… was more than she could stand. The white towel enveloping her body was now dark brown, almost black. There was even a puddle of something suspiciously like mud on the ground.
Yeah, she could not bear this. With nothing more than a thought, Su Jin transported herself out of the dimension and buried that suspicious substance while she was at it.
If she stayed in there any longer, Su Jin thought, she might end up too ashamed to meet the ascended Immortal Lu. Would Immortal Lu bring down a storm of thunder to punish her for her rudeness…?
Now that she was out of the Wood Spirit Dimension, Su Jin noticed that the shower was still going, so she cleaned herself off under the pelting water. She only stopped when she felt as though she had scrubbed a layer of her skin away.
Su Jin then stepped out of the washroom and looked at the time. Even if she took her shower time into account, only slightly over half an hour had passed. That showed just how slowly time moved in that dimension. As she dried her hair, Su Jin stared dazedly into the mirror. Who was this beautiful woman with the rose-red lips and pearly-white teeth? Was it really her?
Su Jin had never been an unattractive woman. In fact, she had been a beauty before too, but her skin was just a tad dark and lifeless. She often had bags under her eyes, too. Now, Su Jin's reflection in the mirror was perfectly oval, her eye bags were gone, and her smile was utterly dazzling. Her skin was fair and rosy, perky and moist.
It seemed like the Marrow Cleansing Pill had done more than just clear out the impurities in her body and strengthen her body. It had done miracles for her looks too. Was this why there were always legends about immortal fairies throughout history? Starting today, she had become a fairy too~~
Su Jin picked up her phone, wondering if she should give her mother a little surprise. When she saw that Lu Hao had sent her a text saying that his mission was complete, Su Jin finally remembered with a jolt that he was the real owner of all these treasures. He had given her the dimension and lent her all that money, but she had not contacted him all day!
Oh no, this was bad! They were married, yes, but what if he suddenly threw a fit and decided to take the dimension back? Su Jin hurriedly clicked Lu Hao's profile photo and started a video call.
Lu Hao had just gotten home. When he saw an incoming video call from his dear wife, he instinctively relaxed, sitting on the couch as he accepted the call.
The person on the screen smiled at him and called him 'Honey', taking Lu Hao completely off-guard for a second there. They had called each other last night as well, but Su Jin had been a bit pale after spending a whole day traveling on the plane. Right now, however, Su Jin looked as though she had turned on the strongest filter her phone could handle. She was devastatingly, impossibly beautiful.
'Did WeChat have a new function?' Lu Hao thought to himself.
He did not say anything, but Su Jin was not deterred. She asked him how his mission went and whether he was hurt anywhere, expressing her concern.
Finally, Lu Hao responded with a smile, telling her that the job was done but they had accidentally let a suspect escape. Thankfully, there were cameras on the scene, so they had captured the suspect on film and were now scouring the entire city for him.
"Does that mean you'll be able to rest now? You've been so busy cracking cases every day for some time now."
"I… I'll wait until you get back."
Even if he took some time off now, there would be no point without his wife by his side.
"Lu Hao, do you remember the pendant you gave me back then? Did your parents say anything about it?" First, Su Jin wanted to find out how much Lu Hao knew about the dimension.
"I remember. My grandfather gave it to my father as part of his inheritance, and then my father gave it to my mother." Lu Hao did not understand why Su Jin was asking this, so he looked somewhat confused.
As expected, Lu Hao did not know the pendant's secret, and apparently neither did his parents.
Su Jin was a little curious as to why the Lu family did not pass the secret down the generations as well. There was no way to find out now, though.
"Honey, thank you for that transfer yesterday. Aren't you worried that I won't return the money to you, though?"
"What's mine is yours. I have some more funds that a friend of mine helped me invest in stocks. If you need more money, you can just sell those," Lu Hao said with a straight face. He did not seem upset in the slightest, as though money meant nothing to him.
Su Jin was hopelessly touched once more. She waved her hand frantically at the camera, telling him it was fine.
Lu Hao just laughed.
"..."
What was up with this rose-colored atmosphere? She was drowning in love here. Su Jin felt her heart melt into a puddle of warmth, and now she wanted nothing more than to just stay here in this marital bliss. Forget the apocalypse, or leveling up, or cultivation.
"Lu Hao, I'll be going back ahead of schedule next week. Once I get back, there's something I need to tell you. It's something I can't properly explain over the phone." The fewer people knew about the dimension, the better. Su Jin was not too worried about eavesdroppers, but she knew that phones these days were not that secure either.
Her best friend had already told her before that most modern phones had listening devices attached. If you discussed watches with your friend over lunch, she said, you would end up finding recommendations for all sorts of watches later that evening as you scroll through your online shopping portals.
Bearing that in mind, Su Jin made a few observations of her own and realized that it was true. That was why she did not plan to say anything over the phone.
"Alright, I'll pick you up from the airport next week."
It was as though Lu Hao could unconditionally accept anything Su Jin told him, hardly ever asking her why.
Over the past couple of days, Su Jin had gotten used to the way Lu Hao talked. She lay in bed and chatted with him until the sun went down. It was only when he reminded her it was time for dinner that she realized it was seven in the evening.
After she hung up, Su Jin changed into some casual clothing and headed down to the streets. She was going to talk a walk around and see if there were any supplies she could hoard in her newfound dimension.
When Su Jin went out today, she purposely brought a backpack with her. There was no way she would do something as blatant as putting something directly into her dimension from outside. With this, she could pretend to put her things into her backpack but slip them into the dimension instead.
She returned to the food street again, buying more deep-fried skewers. She watched intently as the hawker shook chili flakes and cumin powder all over the glistening skewers, fresh out of the oil. When he put the skewers into an equally-crispy fried bread, Su Jin barely stopped herself from drooling.
She was obsessed with these light snacks, and she preferred bold flavors too. In the past, she used to worry that her skin would break out or turn sallow if she ate anything too oily or spicy. Now that she had the immortal pills from the dimension, though, she could throw those concerns away.
The stall owner handed Su Jin the flatbread, stuffed to the brim with other ingredients. As she paid him, he could not help but give her another glance or two. The girl was way too pretty! Her skin was all soft and supple, even fairer than tofu. Tsk-tsk.
Su Jin had no idea what he was thinking, though. Throwing all appearances aside, she stuffed her face with the bread and fried skewer snacks. It was just spicy enough and sooo tasty!
The beef noodles she had last time were pretty good too, so Su Jin returned for seconds. Just as before, she ordered two extra slices of beef with her noodles, and she was quite satisfied with the whole experience.
Next, she followed her navigation app to the nearest supermarket. Su Jin did not hold back, filling up her cart as she browsed the aisles. She made especially sure to take more preserved foods like vacuum-packed biscuits, ham, sausages, and canned foods. Finally, she reached the cold section and stared at the ice cream in the freezers. Cravings aside, a plan was gradually coming to her, so she decisively two large tubs of ice cream as well.
At the cashier, Su Jin looked at her piled-up cart and asked for two plastic bags for camouflaging purposes. After all, it was impossible for her to fit all that into her backpack.
Su Jin paid with her e-wallet. She had borrowed money from Lu Hao, yes, but she was by no means poor. In fact, she had quite a sizable nest egg of her own. She had been working and saving up for a few years, plus she had received tons of monetary gifts from her relatives before her wedding. Even the dowry her mother had prepared for her was still firmly within her grasp.
The cashier wondered for a second how such a petite lady could carry all those things by herself. The cans were not light, after all. Nevertheless, when she saw how easily Su Jin picked up the two bags, she could not help but admire her. This lady was both pretty and strong, what a rare sight! She was much better than those pretend princesses.
Su Jin did not know that strangers were already labeling her a 'strong independent woman'. She simply went to a corner of the lounge, which happened to be part of the surveillance cameras' blind spot, and pretended to transfer the ice cream from the plastic bags into her backpack.
She wanted to see if food deteriorated slower in the dimension.
It was nine o'clock at night by the time she finished eating and strolling around. Su Jin eventually decided to head back to the hotel.
Since it was in the middle of May, G Province was getting hotter and stuffier by the day. When Su Jin opened the remaining box of ice cream in her room, she was a little miffed to see that it had almost melted away completely. Only a tiny part at the very center was still solid. The mini-fridge in the hotel room could refrigerate but not freeze anything.
Still, though most of it was now ice-cream soup, Su Jin ate the whole thing anyway. She understood the importance of zero wastage more than anyone.
Once she was done, Su Jin remembered the rest of the supplies she had bought that day, and she whisked them all into the Wood Spirit Dimension with a wave of her hand. After that, she entered the dimension herself and found that everything she had put away was standing properly on the stone platform she had first landed on.
Did that mean she would have to manually rearrange everything she kept into the dimension? Su Jin remembered reading on the jade tablet that the owner of the dimension could categorize the items inside with nothing more than a thought, though.
Su Jin looked at the small pile of supplies on the stone platform and thought of the stone table in the mansion's courtyard. The next instant, the supplies vanished. Su Jin hastily ran into Lu Mansion and, as expected, all the supplies were on the stone table. Phew, thank goodness, that meant she did not have to carry everything herself. If she brought in a large machine or a car or anything like that, it would be a real pain if she had to move it manually.
This time, Su Jin's main objective in coming here was to survey the land in this dimension and figure out just how big it really was.
The land was neatly tilled in squares. Su Jin used her mind to teleport to the bank of the small stream running through the dimension. The water was crystal clear, and there were many shiny round pebbles at the bottom of the stream. Seriously, the stream looked like it came right out of a fairy tale. Also, the water never stopped flowing, but where exactly was the source?
Su Jin did not know where the source was, so she could not just teleport there on a whim. When she looked upstream, all she saw in the distance was a thick fog. It looked like the fog she saw in Lin Xiuyuan's Red Alert game, indicating that the area up ahead had yet to be unlocked.
In that case, it seemed like the areas within this dimension had to be slowly explored and unlocked too. The jade tablet had not stated how to unlock the dimension, though, so she had to take it one step at a time.
Su Jin teleported herself back to the pill refinery. She had not paid attention to the lower shelves beneath the square pill drawers before, and now she found that there were old books inside the shelves explaining how to make and use every type of pill.
If she had noticed these books earlier, she may not have had to suffer through all that pain. Thankfully, things turned out alright in the end. The books introduced the elemental pills and how to use them as well. Once a cultivator took the Marrow Cleansing Pill and cleaned out the impurities in her body, they could start using these pills to draw out their internal energy. Someone who wanted to cultivate fire-type abilities, for instance, should take the Fire Regeneration Pill. At the same time, each method and cultivator's chances of success differed. If someone failed after taking the Fire Regeneration Pill, they could take another elemental pill that was not fire-based seven days later. It was crucial that they did not take the same type of pill twice, because it would damage their nerves and render them unable to keep cultivating.
These elemental pills were somewhat similar to the special abilities some people awakened to after the apocalypse. If her family members did not gain any abilities, they might be able to train themselves anyway using these pills. It was truly a real-life cheat code!
Su Jin already had her wood-type special ability. If she ate another pill now, could she perhaps awaken another cultivation method? Then again, there were benefits to specializing in one element. Su Jin was more than happy with her wood-type, so she decided not to try anything else. Her wood-type ability was good for both offense and defense, and now she had a trump card in the Wood Spirit Dimension too. There was no need for her to risk trying anything else.
She practiced her wood-type special ability for a while in the dimension and realized that she had reached Level 4. The vines she whipped out were not quite the same as the ones in her past life, though.
In the past life, her wood-type ability was stronger than everyone else's, but she could only produce one type of vine. Now, she had two types of vines, a thick one and a thin one. Su Jin poked at them and was surprised to find that the thicker one had a surface as hard as concrete. No matter how hard she tried, she could not break it. As for the thin vines, when Su Jin gripped them, she could feel something like an endless stream flowing into her body. She had had the fortune of experiencing this once before in the past life– it was the power of healing-type ability users.
Could her vines heal now? Su Jin was not afraid of pain, so she ran her finger down a leaf from the thicker vine. She realized that the leaves had barely noticeable ragged edges, and the leaves themselves were as solid as blades.
With just a bit of force, Su Jin cut her skin on the leaf's edge. Just then, Su Jin wrapped the thin vines around her finger and felt a soothing energy flow over her. To her pleasant surprise, it was just as she hypothesized. Her wood-type ability could heal now!
Perhaps it was because wood represented life to begin with. Nevertheless, there were so many wood-type ability users in her past life too, but no one discovered anything like this.
Su Jin was quite happy with the fruits of her training today. No matter how strong the dimension was, nothing beat the feeling of satisfaction that came with making herself stronger. Although she was the owner of this dimension for now, anything could happen in the future. The best and only way was to keep strengthening herself.
Su Jin stepped out of the dimension and saw that it was not even ten o'clock at night yet. As a bonafide night owl, Su Jin turned on her laptop and went online to buy more supplies.
Things were so much cheaper online, and if she bought a lot at once, she could score bulk prices and extra coupons. It felt so good to just buy more and more things with pure abandon like this.
The first thing Su Jin did was to choose some rice and flour from the basic groceries section. Her grandparents liked noodles, so she added a few more bags of flour. Next, she got several dozen barrels of peanut oil. She did not dare to buy too much at once, though, because she might end up giving her family a heart attack when the supplies arrived. For now, Su Jin just wanted to scratch her online shopping itch.
Lu Hao was busy and away from home these days, so Su Jin entered her grandparents' address for the delivery. Her parents went there for free food almost every day, anyway.
After that, she went to the outdoor section and chose a few hardy truck tents, followed by some portable stoves and gas canisters. She had used these before when she went camping, and they were both cheap and convenient to carry around. She could use them when she was with outsiders and could not enter the dimension. Oh, and she got some heavy-duty windbreakers too. They were great as a shield against the zombie virus.
Su Jin counted her family members on her hands and decided to go for 500 sets first. To be honest, she could have easily bought 2000 and that would not have been enough, but the seller said that they only had 500 in their warehouse right now, so Su Jin could buy them again later if she was in no hurry. If she bought in bulk again, they offered her a great price too. Su Jin agreed, telling them that she wanted to open a camping supplies store and asking the boss to give her a wholesale discount.
The bald boss on the other end of the transaction grabbed his customer service guy's hand excitedly. This customer was not starting a store here, a warehouse was more like it. The bald boss emphasized again and again that they had to score this huge fish. This customer was quite a big deal, and the customer service guy was equally excited. If this deal went through, he would fill his monthly quota all at once. What a wonderful day! He could afford to add another chicken drumstick to his supper that night.
Age and body type did not matter when it came to buying windbreakers. Even the size could be estimated, and the jackets were practically unisex. They were great for keeping the cold out and the heat in, so Su Jin could not get enough of them.
As with before, Su Jin entered her grandparents' address. She had to remember to warn her family tomorrow, or they might think she had gone bad when they started receiving all these goods.
Having finally satiated her thirst for online shopping, Su Jin began to feel sleepy. As she continued to list out which supplies she had to hoard, she inadvertently fell asleep.
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