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.