Bao Gu said, “Little Martial Aunt, do you think there might be something hidden inside that I can’t see due to my low cultivation level, making it seem like there’s nothing there? Could you check it out for me?”
Little Martial Aunt thought it was very possible, so she agreed.
Bao Gu said, “Little Martial Aunt, I’m going to put you in now, don’t resist, okay?”
Little Martial Aunt nodded, feeling both amused and helpless. It was indeed… for a Nascent Soul cultivator, a transformed major demon, to be collected by a minor cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining without any resistance.
Bao Gu used the method of collecting items with a storage bag, and with the small world in her arm, she put Little Martial Aunt inside.
At first glance, this small world really seemed like nothing, as Bao Gu had said, not connected to the heavens above or the earth below. Rather than calling it a small world, it was more like a super-large storage bag that could accommodate living beings. The biggest difference between a small world and a storage bag is that it must have relatively complete spatial laws, at least having laws that construct something similar to the stars, sun, and moon in the real world. Of course, there is also a type of world called the Void World, which is divided into stable and unstable. This place seems like a very stable Void World.
Little Martial Aunt carefully observed her surroundings. With her level of cultivation and strength, she couldn’t see anything, or rather, she couldn’t see the laws that supported this world, nor could she see the existence of anything—wait, there was light!
Little Martial Aunt was overjoyed and hurriedly ran towards the light.
She was very fast, and it didn’t take long for her to reach the source of the light, only to find a pile of medium-grade spirit stones and low-grade spirit stones, along with a large pile of dried wolf skins, tiger skins, and some miscellaneous items, including the bunch of odds and ends her fellow disciples had given to Bao Gu.
Little Martial Aunt was speechless. She had thought there would be treasures, but it turned out to be Bao Gu’s storage place. Looking at Bao Gu’s pile of items, although none were top-notch treasures, in the world of cultivation, not to mention Qi Refining stage, even Foundation Building cultivators wouldn’t have as much wealth as Bao Gu.
Little Martial Aunt looked around again, found nothing, and asked Bao Gu to let her out.
After releasing Little Martial Aunt from the small world, Bao Gu asked, “Did Little Martial Aunt find anything?”
Little Martial Aunt replied, “I noticed something.” After thinking for a moment, she said, “Are you saying this small world is inside a piece of skin?”
Bao Gu replied, “Yes, a piece of skin the size of a palm.” She described the skin’s appearance in detail again.
Little Martial Aunt said, “I think I might know a bit about the origin of this skin.”
Bao Gu exclaimed, “Little Martial Aunt, please tell me.”
Little Martial Aunt slowly said, “There is a mythical beast known as the Void Beast, rumored to be able to penetrate the void, coming from another realm unknown to us. Very few people know about the origin and appearance of the Void Beast, and many cultivators even consider it a mythical beast born from baseless speculation. It’s said that the skin of the Void Beast can be made into a treasure that traverses the void, allowing one to travel freely through it. Another rumor is that the Void Beast’s body can contain a space, which sounds somewhat similar to the Duobao Spirit Monkey.” As she spoke, she turned to look at the Duobao Spirit Monkey, only to receive a disdainful roll of its eyes.
Little Martial Aunt asked, “Little monkey, you disagree?” Suddenly, she had an idea and said, “Hey, this wouldn’t happen to be the skin of one of your Duobao Spirit Monkey clan, would it?”
The Duobao Spirit Monkey bared its teeth several times in a row, turned its back to Little Martial Aunt, and even swept its tail.
Little Martial Aunt laughed and said, “Why are you baring your teeth? I’m not going to peel your skin to refine a treasure!”
The Duobao Spirit Monkey turned back, glared at her, and hid in Bao Gu’s hair behind her neck.
Little Martial Aunt told Bao Gu, “Don’t mention the origin of this skin to anyone else.”
Bao Gu replied, “I understand. I won’t even tell the acting sect leader or Master Feng.”
Little Martial Aunt smiled and asked, “Then why did you tell me?”
Bao Gu widened her eyes and exclaimed, “Little Martial Aunt is not an outsider.”
Little Martial Aunt happily pinched Bao Gu’s tender cheeks and laughed, “Good girl!” The more she looked at Bao Gu, the more she liked her, and said, “Bao Gu, you know Little Martial Aunt just survived a tribulation, and all my treasures, spirit stones, spiritual medicines, and pills were destroyed in the heavenly tribulation. Little Martial Aunt has been really poor lately, could you lend me some spirit stones to get by? After all, Little Martial Aunt is not an outsider, right?”
Bao Gu: “…” She wanted to slap her own mouth!
Seeing Bao Gu reluctant to lend, Little Martial Aunt began to list her treasures with a smile, mentioning when and where Bao Gu’s defensive jade bracelet, the jade pendant hanging from her ears, and the hairpin on her head were refined, and what materials were used. She concluded by saying that all the Golden Core stage treasures Bao Gu wore were crafted by her.
“You see, Little Martial Aunt, with so many Golden Core stage treasures on you, how could you not lend me some spirit stones?”
Bao Gu really had the nerve not to lend. She weakly looked at Little Martial Aunt and said, “Little Martial Aunt, all the top-grade spirit stones I had were used to bribe Master Feng. Now, I only have some medium-grade spirit stones left for cultivation. Sister’s top-grade spirit stones haven’t been touched, and there are several thousand of them.”
Little Martial Aunt’s eyes narrowed with laughter. She turned to look at the Duobao Spirit Monkey and beckoned with her finger, saying in an incredibly tempting tone, “Little monkey, come here.”
Sensing trouble, the Duobao Spirit Monkey swiftly darted away!
Little Martial Aunt called out, “Little monkey, are you hungry? Do you want to eat some spiritual fruits?”
The Duobao Spirit Monkey turned its head and stared at Little Martial Aunt with its shiny black eyes.
Little Martial Aunt secretly transmitted to the Duobao Spirit Monkey, “Don’t think I don’t know that those ninth-grade sacred medicines and fruits in your stomach were entrusted to you by Grandmaster Xuantian for safekeeping, only to be seen and not eaten, making you drool in vain. Give me a few, and I’ll exchange them for fruits you can eat!”
The Duobao Spirit Monkey raised its little paw, took out an eighth-grade spiritual fruit, and stuffed it directly into its mouth. Silently retorting: Who says I can’t eat? Look! Am I not eating right now?
Little Martial Aunt was publicly embarrassed, biting her lip hard but refraining from lashing out.
Feeling guilty, Bao Gu gave Little Martial Aunt three hundred medium-grade spirit stones.
After receiving the spirit stones from Bao Gu, Little Martial Aunt went to find Yu Mi, who was healing, personally treated Yu Mi’s injuries, and then took three hundred top-grade spirit stones from Yu Mi before leaving Qingfeng Pavilion.
When Yu Mi came out of the healing chamber, she quickly found Bao Gu, grabbed her by the collar, and demanded, “Who told you to tell Little Martial Aunt I have thousands of top-grade spirit stones?”
Bao Gu blinked and said, “Little… but that’s Little Martial Aunt! She asked to borrow spirit stones from me, and since I didn’t have any, I had to let her borrow from you!”
Yu Mi exclaimed, “I’m telling you, people in Xuantian Sect never return what they borrow. Once you lend something out, don’t expect to get it back!”
Bao Gu said, “But that’s Little Martial Aunt! She… she said all the Golden Core stage treasures on me were refined by her.”
Yu Mi let go and said, “Well, that’s true!” She gritted her teeth and said, “Bao Gu, listen carefully, except for me, no matter who you meet, you must pretend to be poor!” Her words had just ended when she saw the head of Qingfeng Pavilion, Master Lu, and her Master Feng walking side by side.
Yu Mi quickly straightened up and greeted them with a smile, “Greetings to Master Feng and Master Lu.”
Master Lu looked at Yu Mi with a good mood. Brother Feng was generous, actually giving him two cups of Monkey Wine, which could be considered the best among the best. What’s more precious was that the wine contained countless high-grade spiritual fruits and medicines that could help in advancing to the Mahayana stage, treasures that couldn’t be bought with any amount of spirit stones! If not for their close relationship, who would be willing to give away such sacred wine!
Master Feng said, “I’ll be leaving now. You two can rest assured staying here with Brother Lu. I’ve already asked Brother Lu to help Bao Gu get a Primordial Token!”
Master Lu smiled and said, “It’s a trivial matter, not worth mentioning.” He handed a bronze token to Bao Gu.
Bao Gu took the token and saw that its material was neither metal nor stone, very heavy to the touch, with extremely complex patterns engraved on it, seemingly some kind of talismanic power. She used her divine sense to probe the token, but it was just a token.
Master Feng cupped his fists and said, “Thank you, Brother Lu.” He knew Qingfeng Pavilion had three spots, and for Master Lu to give one so quickly, he must have given up one of his own disciples’ spots for Bao Gu.
“Why be so formal between brothers! You can rest assured with your two nephews staying here. If even a hair is lost, you only need to ask me.”
Yu Mi saw the deep friendship between Master Feng and Master Lu and knew she didn’t need to worry about safety while staying here. After sending off Master Feng and Master Lu, she and Bao Gu settled down in the small courtyard arranged for them by Master Lu.
Yu Mi set up a Spirit Gathering Formation in Bao Gu’s room to let her rest well. After arranging the formation and seeing Little Martial Aunt return, Yu Mi quickly ran to Little Martial Aunt and told her she was preparing to refine her own Nascent Soul weapon but was missing some materials. She wanted Little Martial Aunt to accompany her to various shops in Xuan Yue Ancient City to select refining materials.
Little Martial Aunt frowned and said, “Isn’t it a bit too early for you to refine a Nascent Soul weapon just after breaking through to the Golden Core stage? Hastily refining won’t produce a good treasure. There’s no need to rush. I’ll find a way to get you some Fire Essence for your Nascent Soul weapon later.”
Yu Mi smiled and said, “I have a fire seed with initial spiritual intelligence.”
Little Martial Aunt’s eyes widened in surprise, exclaiming, “Where did you get it?”
Yu Mi asked, “You don’t know? It was auctioned off at Jubaoge not long ago!”
Little Martial Aunt suddenly realized and said, “Integrating the fire seed into your Lihuo Sword and refining it again is a great idea! Let’s go, I’ll accompany you to find auxiliary materials!” She eagerly pulled Yu Mi out the door, even more anxious than Yu Mi herself.
Bao Gu watched Yu Mi and Little Martial Aunt run out hand in hand like good sisters, and she too jumped out of the house shouting, “Sister! Martial Aunt!” She eagerly looked back at Little Martial Aunt and Yu Mi, wanting to follow and see what materials were used to refine a Nascent Soul weapon.
Yu Mi said, “Stay in the house and cultivate. The courtyard is protected by a formation, so you won’t freeze!” After saying that, she walked away with Little Martial Aunt without looking back.
Bao Gu softly sighed, deeply feeling the gap between them, and felt particularly lost for a moment. She took a deep breath and thought, “I’ll practice hard, so I won’t be afraid of the cold when I go out!” She secretly grumbled, “Aunt and niece going out hand in hand, huh! Don’t they care about seniority at all!”
