Chapter Twelve: Warehouse Collection

The spiritual spring water was immensely beneficial to the body, gradually expelling impurities from within. Though there was plenty of water, Tang Wei had no intention of bathing directly in it. Even soaking in the sea wouldn’t use much water or be particularly dirty, but the thought of drinking her own bathwater unsettled her. She preferred to expend a little extra effort.

Tang Wei asked Little Ling to help her craft a wooden tub for bathing. She soaked leisurely in the spiritual spring, while her two babies were cared for by Little Ling nearby.

The babies were easy to look after: eat, relieve themselves, sleep, then eat again upon waking. They rarely cried, which allowed Tang Wei to breathe a sigh of relief.

Few knew Tang Wei had just done something rather amusing. She’d once read online that drinking spiritual spring water in a spatial realm could cause diarrhea to expel toxins, so before bathing, she downed a bowl of spring water, expecting to purge her system. Yet, nothing happened despite waiting a long while. Little Ling urged her to hurry up and take her bath, and Tang Wei puzzled, “The toxins in my body haven’t been expelled yet!”

Little Ling grew even more confused and asked anxiously, “What do you mean?”

Tang Wei explained what she’d read in the books. Upon hearing this, Little Ling laughed for a long time before replying, “Sister, that's impossible. For cultivators, impurities can only be gradually expelled as one’s cultivation increases. The spiritual spring merely assists in this process. Of course, ordinary people who drink it can strengthen their bodies and slowly rid themselves of toxins, and martial artists may enhance their internal energy as well. But it’s not as miraculous as you described. If it were, I could just give you a celestial fruit and you’d ascend to immortality instantly! Forcing spiritual energy to cleanse your system isn’t beneficial for your future cultivation; the process of cleansing and refining the body can only be gradual!”

“Sister, you’ve been here for so long and haven’t started cultivating?” Little Ling asked curiously.

Tang Wei opened her eyes and replied nonchalantly, “Cultivation is nowhere near as comfortable as a bath. That can be taken slow. Besides, I’m just being treated as a test subject—I have no desire to follow his arrangements. I’m quite content; I want to seize more benefits for my family and enjoy myself while I can. When the time comes, even if I die, it’ll have been worth it.”

Little Ling anxiously asked, “Sister, who treats you as a test subject?”

“It was in my mind when I woke up—wasn’t it all to save his son? I understand,” Tang Wei answered matter-of-factly.

“That’s not it, Sister. Since you activated the formation, you and he can only live or die together. So now you’re the former master’s daughter-in-law!” Little Ling dropped this bombshell, startling Tang Wei so much that she leapt from the tub. “What! I’m that old man’s daughter-in-law? Has he lost his mind? How can you randomly accept someone as your daughter-in-law?”

“To save his son’s life, of course he had to make you family,” Little Ling agreed earnestly.

“What nonsense! It’s outrageous. I’ve become someone else’s wife for no reason—what about my rights? Who knows what his son looks like? If he’s hideous, has a bad temper, or is a villain, I’d be ruined for life!” Tang Wei, regardless of her life being saved, voiced her grievances indignantly.

Little Ling hurried to comfort her, “Sister, don’t worry! Brother isn’t ugly—you’ll see for yourself. Besides, his soul suffered tremendous trauma. When he wakes, he’ll remember nothing; his mind will be a blank slate, and you’ll have to teach him everything.” Of course, once his cultivation improves, he’ll recover, but Little Ling dared not say this aloud.

Hearing this, Tang Wei’s mind spun a few times, and she thought gleefully, “That old man dared scheme against me. I’ll train his son to obey his wife’s every command! After reading so many stories about heroines nurturing their husbands after transmigrating, I finally get to try it myself. Watch me! I’ll raise the ‘greatest wife-lover in the world!’” Unconsciously, Tang Wei began to laugh with delight.

Little Ling was frightened and called out, “Sister, are you alright? You’re not angered to madness, are you? I really didn’t lie; when Brother wakes up, he truly won’t remember anything!”

Tang Wei pondered for a moment before saying, “Little Ling, swear that when your brother wakes, you won’t tell him anything! Of course, except matters of cultivation.”

Little Ling hesitated, “But…”

Tang Wei pressed, “But what? If you don’t swear, I’ll never call you out again or pay you any attention. You’ll die of boredom! Hurry and swear!”

After considering, Little Ling finally agreed, “Alright, Sister! I swear not to tell Brother anything about his origins. The rest, I can’t promise!” She thought quietly to herself, “I never intended to anyway!” Clearly, someone was turning mischievous!

“That’s fine. It’s for his own good. Knowing his origins does him no favors,” Tang Wei mused. If that little naïve soul knew how powerful his background was, he might become arrogant and hard to control! Suddenly feeling a weighty responsibility, Tang Wei declared, “I need to start cultivating soon. Then, I’ll treat him like an ant, picking him up whenever I want. Quickly, Little Ling, where’s the best place to cultivate? Oh, and you need to find some cultivation techniques suitable for my family!”

Little Ling was delighted to hear Tang Wei wanted to cultivate and replied promptly, “Sister, the best place is where the five elements converge, but the main hall is off-limits for now—it could disturb Brother’s spiritual consciousness. You’ll have to go near the entrance. As for your family, we’ll need to check if they have spiritual roots and which kind, so that each can cultivate the proper technique. Blind cultivation only leads to failure.”

“How do I check someone’s spiritual roots, Little Ling?” Tang Wei asked, curious.

“Normally, if you had cultivation, you could check yourself, but who knows when that’ll be. Better use a Spirit Testing Orb—it measures spiritual roots. Just place your hand on it, clear your mind, and the orb will reveal the root type. Gold, wood, water, fire, and earth correspond to gold, green, blue, red, and yellow. The number of flashes indicates aptitude—the more flashes, the better the talent, and the deeper the color,” Little Ling explained carefully.

“Does the space have one of those?” Tang Wei asked.

“Of course! The main hall has everything—techniques, pills, weapons, all levels. You could open a major sect in the Immortal Realm; there might even be more here than in some big sects. But until your cultivation is up, I won’t let you take anything out. The former master was generous to you,” Little Ling said proudly.

Tang Wei responded sourly, “Of course he was. His son’s life is here; he had to give valuable things. Show me around, then—let’s go!” Without waiting for Little Ling to grab the babies, Tang Wei went straight to the main hall.

Standing in the study where she’d entered before, Little Ling appeared beside her and led her to a shelf, pointing to the first row. “This row contains techniques for cultivating to the Divine Realm. The top shelf is high-grade, the middle is mid-grade, the bottom is low-grade. All root types are covered. The master instructed that these techniques should rarely be given out.”

Tang Wei picked up a jade slip from the top shelf. Seeing this, Little Ling quickly said, “Sister, don’t underestimate the lower shelf. All the techniques here are excellent—any one of them would spark fierce competition in the Divine Realm. Don’t take them lightly!”

“My old man Ziyang really doesn’t understand people. No matter how good these techniques are, they’re displayed like street wares—how can I be impressed? So, is the second row techniques for cultivating to immortality, the third row for the Cultivation Realm, and the fourth… what is it? Tell me!” Tang Wei spoke confidently.

Little Ling giggled, “Sister, you’re mistaken. The second row is for cultivation to the Immortal Emperor, the third is for artifact and pill refinement—the Cultivation Realm’s techniques aren’t worthy of collection here. The fourth row is formations, the fifth holds regional records, unconventional techniques, travel notes, and miscellaneous records. Everything is categorized by grade for easy reference.”

After a short pause, Little Ling pulled Tang Wei toward another room. “Sister, remember: Cultivation Realm’s stages are Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Fasting, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Division, Integration, Tribulation Crossing, and Ascension—nine stages. Immortal Realm has Lower Immortal, Upper Immortal, Golden Immortal, Immortal Lord, Immortal Emperor—five stages. Divine Realm has Divine Person, Heavenly God, God King, God Emperor, God Sovereign—five stages. Each stage requires its own items; don’t use pills or weapons above your level, or you’ll damage your meridians or be unable to control them.”

Tang Wei asked curiously, “Is this space’s level high? Why can I use it?”

At this, Little Ling looked proud and declared, “This space is a divine artifact, which is why I, such a clever artifact spirit, was born. As long as I recognize someone, even ordinary people can use it. Otherwise, why would it take four God Sovereigns to forge it, costing the master his entire cultivation? He can recover, but it’ll take tens of thousands of years!”

Tang Wei laughed, “That’s right, our Little Ling is amazing! She can explain cultivation techniques, grow crops in the space, and care for babies too—how impressive! But I heard even immortal artifacts can produce spirits; is that true?”

Little Ling, not feeling mocked at all, proudly explained, “Immortal artifacts can develop intelligence, but it’s just that—intelligence. None as powerful as me! I can cultivate and, eventually, move about like a normal person, as long as I don’t stray too far from Sister.”

The two entered the pill room, where a large furnace sat in the center and shelves brimmed with jars. Pointing to them, Little Ling said, “Sister, these pills are protected by restrictions; only your cultivation level can open the corresponding pills. Right now you can only use the Spirit Induction Pill, but it’s best not to take too many—cultivation done naturally is more stable.”

Tang Wei was uninterested and urged, “What else is there? Hurry, I need to leave soon—my mother will be entering my room.”

“No worries, I’ll notify you if anyone comes in. There’s also the armory—let’s take a look!” Little Ling replied casually.

“Is it just like the pill room, where weapons match the cultivation level?” Tang Wei muttered as she followed Little Ling into the armory. Inside, rows of shelves lined the room, but the most striking was a pile of scrap metal in the corner. She pointed at it and asked, “What’s all that junk for? Why not throw it away?”

Little Ling burst out laughing, “Sister, those are what you can use right now.”

Tang Wei, indignant, protested, “You’re giving me this pile of junk? You treat it like garbage—I don’t want it. Aren’t there any immortal artifacts? Let me see.”

“To the master, they’re trash, but in your world, even that junk would be fought over. You don’t recognize their worth. Not just immortal artifacts—even divine artifacts are here, but it depends if they acknowledge you! However, Sister, you won’t have the chance today; your mother is about to enter—she’s right at your door,” Little Ling warned.

“Why didn’t you say so earlier? Oh no, the babies are still in the study!” Tang Wei didn’t finish her sentence before rushing off.

Just as Mother Tang opened the door, Tang Wei emerged from the space, smiling, “Mom, see how well I take care of the babies! Not a single cry—how peacefully they sleep!”