Chapter 138 : Nouveau Riche
An innate space is a very special existence. It can form its own small world while simultaneously depending on the divine beast's existence—one could say it's a divine beast's most private domain. Consequently, when divine beasts enter their own spaces, they typically adopt their most relaxed state.
Take Divine Lord Zhiming, for instance. In public, he maintains human form and presents himself with the dignity befitting his status. But once inside his innate space, Zhiming completely sheds these constraints, reverting to his true Black Tortoise form, relaxing however he pleases, sleeping however he wishes, without concern for his posture.
The human form manifested by divine beasts is like wearing clothing—not terribly restrictive but not particularly comfortable either. Thus, removing these constraints upon returning to their innate space is practically universal among divine beasts.
Logically, the White Tiger should be the same—once mature enough to maintain human form consistently, she would rarely reveal her true form again.
But this little white tiger was different. Setting aside the fact that she hadn't yet reached adulthood, in the outside world she couldn't maintain her transformed state continuously. Yet upon returning to her innate space, rather than revealing her true white tiger cub appearance, she had instead become a small infant with childlike proportions... Had other divine beasts witnessed this, they would likely have been astonished, thinking this white tiger cub had lost her mind.
However, Jiang Mo understood perfectly why divine beasts reverted to their original forms in their innate spaces—authenticity. In their consciousness, they were divine beasts, so naturally they were most comfortable in their true beast forms.
But she was different. She had originally been human, transforming into a white tiger only after transmigration. Calculating the time, she had been human for over twenty years before becoming a tiger for just over a year. Comparatively, in her subconscious, she was certainly human and naturally most comfortable existing in human form. However, when her innate space had first activated, she hadn't yet learned to transform, so it hadn't mattered.
Until she stole and ate that Genesis Herb from the Iron-Armed Apes' nest.
The Genesis Herb wasn't specifically meant to help spirit beasts transform, but it did refine one's constitution and enhance bloodline power. The Iron-Armed Apes greatly valued this herb—or rather, no spirit beast would undervalue bloodline enhancement.
But the White Tiger was different—she was born a divine beast with the purest bloodline possible. Not just a single sixth-grade Genesis Herb, even if baskets of ninth-grade spiritual herbs were placed before her and she devoured them all, her bloodline couldn't be further enhanced. Consequently, she directly absorbed the immense spiritual energy contained in the Genesis Herb. After sleeping hazily for several days, she accidentally unlocked the transformation ability.
However, she had never used this skill, though she understood that she could do it and somehow intuitively knew what her transformed appearance would be... A small infant with childlike proportions—who would want to face their Senior Sister in such a form?!
If the little white tiger's feelings hadn't changed, if she were still the same little white tiger who first met her Senior Sister, perhaps she would have willingly used an infant's appearance to soften her Senior Sister's heart and gain some advantages. But now she harbored certain unmentionable feelings for her Senior Sister and only wanted to grow up and transform quickly to be worthy of her—she had already planned how beautifully she would appear before her Senior Sister, and an infant form was absolutely unacceptable.
So after discovering she could transform, she had deliberately concealed this fact, planning to wait until she had grown up—at least to the appearance of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old young woman—before revealing her transformation to her Senior Sister.
Unfortunately, plans can't keep pace with change, and she couldn't conceal it for long before being forced to appear in this form...
The infant Jiang Mo's feelings were extremely complicated. She didn't even glance at her small, chubby arms and legs. While guiding her Senior Sister into her innate space, she moved aside piles of snacks to clear a large area for her Senior Sister to rest, all while carefully watching her Senior Sister's eyes, fearing that the Senior Sister who couldn't be awakened outside might suddenly wake upon entering her innate space.
Fortunately, this didn't happen—her Senior Sister was indeed seriously injured and wouldn't wake anytime soon. Realizing the nature of her thoughts, Jiang Mo grew increasingly frustrated, slapping her plump little arms against her head twice before hastily escaping from her innate space.
Upon exiting the space, the small infant transformed back into a little white tiger, though the gloom on her tiger face was evident to all.
The system was released again, as it might be needed for the palace exploration. However, upon emerging, it immediately noticed its host's dejected expression and asked: "Host, what's wrong? Why do you look like that? Is Senior Sister properly settled?"
The little white tiger looked up with a sour face, responding with a question: "What expression am I wearing?"
The system paused before saying softly: "Like someone who owes you eight million."
Hearing this, the little white tiger gave the system a withering look, not wanting to talk much, just wanting to grow up quickly. She raised her head again to look at the palace before her, those golden tiger eyes seemingly filled with greater eagerness, as if a cat spotting fish or a dog spotting meat...
For divine beasts, growing up can be both easy and difficult. Typically, idling away three thousand years, their bodies grow, and their cultivation naturally accumulates over time, leading to adulthood. This is the path most divine beasts choose, like Xuanqing Sect's Divine Lord Zhiming, who wasn't at all hurried to grow up—despite his exceptional talent, he waited the full three thousand years before reaching adulthood.
But besides the conventional method of waiting, divine beasts actually have another path to maturity: diligent cultivation until reaching the level appropriate for adult divine beasts, then consuming a Nine-Leaved Heavenly Heart Grass to directly mature and transform!
Nine-Leaved Heavenly Heart Grass is extremely precious, but the little white tiger knew Divine Lord Zhiming possessed one, which had remained unused. Moreover, she had now joined Xuanqing Sect, and with Divine Lord Zhiming about to ascend, if she expressed her desire to mature early, Xuanqing Sect would undoubtedly help her obtain the Nine-Leaved Heavenly Heart Grass without hesitation—this was not a concern at all.
The only remaining issue was improving her cultivation. Self-cultivation was too slow; even with the game system's assistance, Jiang Mo had once asked the system to calculate, and she would need at least eighty years of cultivation to reach maturity!
Eighty years—her teeth would fall out by then...
Well, in the cultivation world, eighty years was still quite young. At that age, with some achievements, one could even be considered a talented youth, and eighty years for a divine beast was nothing. But for Jiang Mo, who had once lived earnestly as a human for over twenty years, eighty years seemed terribly long—so distant she could hardly imagine it, long enough to make her consider taking shortcuts.
And this palace before her might provide not only medicine to heal her Senior Sister but possibly a shortcut as well!
༻༺❀༻✧⋆｡°✩☽༓☾✩°｡⋆✧༺❀༻༺
The little white tiger approached the palace with great anticipation. Upon entering the hall, she was greeted by dazzling splendor. Something shiny caught her eye, and squinting for a closer look, she discovered the walls were inlaid with numerous spirit stones.
Yes, spirit stones, and high-grade ones at that!
White jade floors, golden stone bricks, walls inlaid with spirit stones—it didn't seem extraordinary... the entire place screamed nouveau riche taste. Nevertheless, the little white tiger's eyes brightened. White jade and gold might not be valuable in the cultivation world, but spirit stones were hard currency. Moreover, even if not used for purchases, high-grade spirit stones contained significant spiritual energy, undeniably beneficial for cultivation assistance in certain situations.
Thus, to the system's astonishment, the little white tiger slapped the ground with her paw, and her entire tiger form exploded—golden radiance burst from her small body like a tornado sweeping through the great hall.
In an instant, the once spacious, magnificent hall was transformed. The walls were now pitted and scarred, the previously inlaid spirit stones completely vanished, as clean as if locusts had swept through.
The system stammered as it found its voice: "H-host, we just arrived. Isn't this a bit... inappropriate?"
The little white tiger showed no guilt about prying apart someone else's walls, responding righteously: "It's just a few spirit stones. What's inappropriate about that?" After a pause, she added: "My innate space has only recently activated and remains chaotic, lacking the Five Elements' generative cycle. The only bit of spiritual energy comes from spirit stones. Senior Sister is now recovering in my innate space—how will she improve without some spirit stones in there?"
Fair enough—making poverty sound so righteous left the system speechless. It was only concerned that its host's recklessness might trigger some mechanism in the great hall, but after waiting so long without incident, perhaps there was nothing to worry about?
The little white tiger was dismissive of the system's caution, not because she was rash or careless, but because in a palace meant for inheritance or treasure, those spirit stones were truly the most insignificant elements. Their purpose was probably just decorative lighting, and compared to the true treasures hidden in the palace, they were mere dust—who would care?
Indeed, the palace's owner didn't mind this small matter, considering it just a small treat for worthy future visitors. However, he probably hadn't anticipated that the first arrival would not only be destitute but also completely shameless, taking the phrase "pluck feathers from a passing goose" to new heights.
The little white tiger subconsciously lacked any sense of crisis and strode forward carelessly.
The great hall, now missing its shiny spirit stone decorations, remained spacious and imposing. Ignoring the pitted walls, the little white tiger walked on the white jade floor, looking left and right, but didn't find the chambers mentioned in the system mission. Unfamiliar with normal palace structures, she tilted her head in confusion—perhaps the chambers were behind this great hall?
Thinking this, the little white tiger walked forward a few steps and saw jade steps and vermilion walls—probably because her attention had been captured by the spirit stone-covered walls upon first entering, only now did she realize that there was actually a throne atop the hall.
The throne gleamed with gold, its material unknown, carved with nine coiling dragons. Each dragon held a different posture—some soaring, some coiled, some roaring majestically, others disdainfully proud. Each dragon's eyes were inlaid with different gems which, though seemingly chaotic at first glance, were revealed upon closer inspection to be rare treasures.
Truthfully, this gaudy throne perfectly matched the nouveau riche style of the great hall.
The system was once again speechless about this aesthetic, and in a moment of inattention, found its host seemingly bewitched, rushing toward the throne. Alarmed, it activated its scan and discovered a strange energy field around the throne, growing increasingly anxious.
The next second, it watched as the little white tiger extended her tender paw and hooked out a gemstone eye from one of the coiled dragons...
Well, its host had indeed been bewitched.