NOVEL NEXT 138. Nouveau Riche
The innate space is a unique phenomenon. It forms its own small world yet depends on the divine beast for existence, serving as their most private domain. Consequently, divine beasts entering their own space often adopt their most relaxed state.
Take Divine Lord Zhiming, for instance. He maintains a human form publicly, presenting a dignified appearance befitting his status. However, once inside his innate space, Zhiming sheds these constraints, reverting to his true Black Tortoise form, relaxing and sleeping as he pleases, unconcerned with posture.
A divine beast’s human form is like wearing clothes—not too restrictive, but not entirely comfortable either. Thus, shedding these constraints upon entering their innate space is a universal practice among divine beasts.
Logically, the white tiger should follow suit. Upon reaching adulthood and maintaining human form consistently, she would rarely reveal her true self.
However, this little white tiger was different. Setting aside her immaturity, she couldn’t maintain her transformed state constantly outside. Yet, upon entering her innate space, instead of revealing her true white tiger cub form, she became a chubby toddler… If other divine beasts knew, they might be shocked, thinking this white tiger cub had lost her mind.
But Jiang Mo understood clearly. Divine beasts revert to their original form in their innate space due to authenticity. In their minds, they are divine beasts, naturally most comfortable in their true state.
But she was different. Originally human, she had become a white tiger through transmigration. Having lived as a human for over twenty years before spending just over a year as a tiger, her subconscious still identified as human, most comfortable in human form. However, with her innate space newly opened and not yet having learned to transform, this hadn’t affected her previously.
Until she stole and ate that Transformation Grass from the iron-armed apes’ nest.
Transformation Grass wasn’t meant to help beasts transform, but it could refine one’s physique and enhance bloodline. The iron-armed apes valued it highly, as do all beasts who seek bloodline improvement.
But the white tiger was different. Born a divine beast, her bloodline was already pure. Even a ninth-grade spirit grass wouldn’t enhance her bloodline further. So she directly absorbed the immense spiritual energy from the Transformation Grass, sleeping deeply for days and accidentally unlocking the transformation skill.
She hadn’t used this skill, only understanding she could do it, somehow knowing her transformed appearance… A chubby toddler—who would face their senior sister like that?!
If the little white tiger’s mindset hadn’t changed, if she were still the same cub who first met her senior sister, perhaps she’d use the toddler form to soften her senior sister’s heart for some advantage. But now, harboring unspoken feelings for her senior sister, she only wanted to grow up and transform quickly to be worthy of her—she had imagined appearing before her senior sister in a beautiful form, and a toddler was absolutely unacceptable.
So, upon learning she could transform, she kept it secret. She planned to wait until she grew up, at least to the appearance of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, before revealing her transformation to her senior sister.
Unfortunately, plans change faster than anticipated, and she hadn’t kept the secret long before having to appear in this form…
The toddler Jiang Mo’s feelings were incredibly complex, not even glancing at her pudgy little arms and legs. She guided her senior sister into her innate space, clearing away piles of snacks to make room for her to rest, while carefully watching her senior sister’s eyes, fearing she might suddenly wake up in the innate space when she couldn’t be roused outside.
Fortunately, this didn’t happen. Her senior sister was indeed severely injured and wouldn’t wake soon—realizing she thought this way, Jiang Mo grew more frustrated, slapping her chubby little arms against her head before hastily escaping her innate space.
Upon exiting, the chubby toddler transformed back into a little white tiger, though the dejection on her tiger face was evident to all.
The system was released again, potentially needed for exploring the palace. However, seeing its host’s gloomy expression, it couldn’t help but ask, “Host, what’s wrong? Why do you look like that? Is your senior sister settled?”
The little white tiger raised her sullen face, countering, “What do I look like?”
The system hesitated, then whispered, “Like someone who owes you eight million.”
Hearing this, the little white tiger rolled her eyes at the system, not wanting to talk more, only wishing to grow up quickly. She looked up at the palace before her, golden tiger eyes filled with eagerness, like a cat eyeing fish or a dog spotting meat…
For divine beasts, growing up is both easy and difficult. Typically, they spend three thousand years eating, drinking, and idling about. As their bodies grow and cultivation accumulates over time, they naturally reach adulthood. Most divine beasts choose this path, like Xuanqing Sect’s Divine Lord Zhiming, who wasn’t in a hurry to grow up and waited the full three thousand years to reach adulthood despite his exceptional talent.
However, besides the conventional method of waiting, divine beasts have another path to adulthood. By diligently cultivating until reaching the realm befitting an adult divine beast, then consuming a Heavenly Heart Nine-Leaf Grass, they can directly mature and transform!
The Heavenly Heart Nine-Leaf Grass is extremely rare, but the little white tiger knew Divine Lord Zhiming had one, unused and idle. Moreover, now that she had joined Xuanqing Sect, with Zhiming on the verge of ascension, if she expressed a desire to mature early, the sect would undoubtedly help her obtain the Heavenly Heart Nine-Leaf Grass without hesitation. This wasn’t a concern at all.
The only remaining issue was improving her cultivation. Self-cultivation was too slow; even with the game system’s boost, Jiang Mo had once asked the system to calculate, and it would take at least eighty years to reach a cultivation level suitable for adulthood!
Eighty years… her teeth would fall out by then…
Well, in the cultivation world, eighty was still young. Achieving success at that age might even be considered a young talent, and for divine beasts, eighty years was trivial. But for Jiang Mo, who had lived earnestly as a human for over twenty years, eighty years seemed too long—so distant it felt unattainable, long enough to make her consider taking shortcuts.
And this palace before her, besides potentially holding medicine to heal her senior sister, might very well be her shortcut!
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The little white tiger approached the palace with great expectations. Upon entering, she was greeted by a dazzling, opulent sight. Something shiny caught her eye, and upon closer inspection, she realized the walls were inlaid with spirit stones.
Indeed, spirit stones, and high-grade ones at that!
White jade floors, gold and stone bricks, walls inlaid with spirit stones—it seemed unsurprising… the entire place exuded nouveau riche taste. Nevertheless, the little white tiger’s eyes lit up. While white jade and gold held little value in the cultivation world, spirit stones were hard currency. Moreover, even if not used for purchases, the spiritual energy contained in high-grade spirit stones was considerable, undoubtedly useful for auxiliary cultivation in certain situations.
Thus, to the system’s astonishment, the little white tiger slammed her paw on the ground, her entire being exploding into action—golden sharp light burst from her small body, like a tornado sweeping through the entire hall.
In an instant, the once spacious and magnificent hall transformed. The walls were now pitted and scarred, with all previously inlaid spirit stones vanished, as clean as if a swarm of locusts had passed through.
The system stammered, finding its voice: “H-host, we’ve just entered. Isn’t this… not quite right?”
The little white tiger showed no guilt for prying apart the walls, righteously declaring, “It’s just a few spirit stones. What’s wrong with that?” After a pause, she added, “My innate space has only recently awakened and is still chaotic, lacking the generation of the Five Elements. The only bit of spiritual energy comes from spirit stones. With Senior Sister recovering in my innate space, how will she get better without some spirit stones?”
Well, when poverty is explained so righteously, even the system had nothing to say. It only worried that the host’s recklessness might trigger some mechanism in the great hall, but after waiting so long with nothing happening, perhaps all was well?
The little white tiger dismissed the system’s caution, not out of recklessness or ignorance, but because in such a palace meant for inheritance or treasure storage, these spirit stones were truly the most inconspicuous items. Their purpose was probably just decorative lighting, mere dust compared to the true treasures hidden within the palace. Who would care about them?
Indeed, the palace’s owner didn’t mind these trifles, considering them a small treat for worthy future visitors. However, he probably hadn’t anticipated that the first arrival would not only be a pauper but also shamelessly embody the principle of “plucking a passing goose” to the fullest.
The little white tiger, subconsciously lacking a sense of crisis, boldly took a few steps forward.
Without the glittering spirit stones as decoration, the great hall remained spacious and grand. Ignoring the pitted walls, the little white tiger paced on the white jade floor, looking left and right, but didn’t find the chambers mentioned in the system’s task. Unfamiliar with normal palace structures, she tilted her head in confusion, wondering if the chambers were behind this great hall.
With this thought, the little white tiger walked a few steps forward and saw several jade steps and vermilion walls—perhaps distracted by the spirit stones covering the walls upon entering, she only now noticed that above this great hall sat a throne.
The throne gleamed golden, its material unknown, carved with nine coiling dragons. Each dragon posed differently—some soaring, some coiled, some roaring majestically, others haughtily disdainful. Each dragon’s eyes were inlaid with different gemstones, appearing chaotic at first glance but, upon closer inspection, revealed to be rare treasures.
Truthfully, this gaudy throne matched perfectly with the nouveau riche atmosphere of the great hall.
The system once again found itself speechless at this aesthetic, then in a moment of distraction, saw its host seemingly bewitched, rushing towards the throne. Alarmed, it activated its scan, detecting an strange energy field around the throne, growing increasingly anxious.
The next second, it watched as the little white tiger extended her tender paw, hooking onto a gemstone eye of one of the coiled dragons…
Well, its host truly was bewitched after all.