Chapter 528 - 480: Space, Heaven and Earth

Chapter 528: Chapter 480: Space, Heaven and Earth

Chu Mu casually ruffled Wangcai’s head. The skull, as hard as metal, offered no satisfying texture and even felt a bit rough against his hand.

"How about I make a den for you, little guy?"

Chu Mu mused for a moment, his words coming out like a casual question.

"WHIMPER WHIMPER..."

Wangcai whimpered twice, his tail stopped wagging, and he put on a look of utter reluctance.

"If you don’t say anything, I’ll take that as a yes."

Chu Mu paid him no mind, patting Wangcai’s head again with a smile he couldn’t quite suppress.

Wangcai grew even more anxious, circling Chu Mu ceaselessly and rubbing his head against the corner of Chu Mu’s robes.

"Alright, you’ll just hide in there when it’s necessary. It’s not like you’ll be cooped up in there all the time."

Chu Mu gave him an exasperated kick. Wangcai took the blow but was clearly still unwilling, letting out two whimpers as if in protest.

Chu Mu couldn’t be bothered with him. After all, ever since Wangcai’s evolution to Tier Three and the great leap in his Spiritual Wisdom, he had basically become a rebellious little brat. He had never been quiet on the Demon Suppression Islands, and upon returning to the True Understanding Pavilion, he had become the local tyrant, acting as if he were second only to the heavens.

If Chu Mu were to let him follow him everywhere as usual, he’d get nothing else done all day; he’d just be cleaning up after this pup’s messes.

Refining a Spirit Beast Bag and tossing him inside when needed would finally grant him some peace and quiet.

As for the Spiritual Materials needed for Refining the Spirit Beast Bag, thanks to that woman Qing Ling, who had provided a double portion of materials for her Lifebound Treasure, he had managed to gather everything required, supplemented by his own collection.

Just as he reached the cabin, Chu Mu frowned. A problem had suddenly occurred to him.

He didn’t seem to need to refine two separate Spatial Bags at all.

A Spirit Beast Bag and a Corpse Puppet Bag. Though their names and effects were different, their purpose was identical.

Both were Spatial Treasures meant to contain living beings. The only difference was the environment within—one was suited for a Spirit Beast to live and grow, while the other was suited for a Corpse Puppet.

Tossing a Corpse Puppet into a Spirit Beast Bag wasn’t a huge issue. The environment, rich with Spiritual Qi, was simply not optimal for its growth; it wasn’t as if the Corpse Puppet couldn’t survive in it.

"In that case, you’ll just have to put up with it, little guy..."

Chu Mu smiled. Ignoring Wangcai’s continued howls of complaint, he waved a hand, sealing the cabin with a Restriction. The barrier between inside and out cut off the racket, and the howling instantly vanished.

In the silence, Chu Mu sat cross-legged. With a flick of his finger, a wisp of True Flame appeared, its brilliant light reflecting off his face and revealing the profound depths of his Spiritual Radiance.

He waved his hand, and numerous Spiritual Materials appeared before him. The True Flame billowed and surged, melting them down. For an Artifact Refining Master like him, Refining a Spirit Beast Bag was now an effortless, almost casual affair.

Meanwhile, outside, the Flying Boat continued its swift journey. Time and again, it plunged into space, flickering across the sky as if by Instant Teleportation. At other times, it would vanish into the spatial void for long periods, only to reappear hundreds of miles away.

The wonders of space were on full display aboard this single Flying Boat.

About a month later, the layers of Array Prohibitions surrounding the Flying Boat’s cabin finally dissipated.

Outside, Wangcai, who had been warily eyeing the Corpse Puppet, seemed to relax slightly. After one last glance at the puppet, he wagged his tail and darted into the cabin.

But in the next instant, the still-excited Wangcai let out a terrified roar, and then, his figure was nowhere to be seen within the small cabin.

Only Chu Mu remained, studying a palm-sized cloth bag in his hand with great interest.

The bag was a reddish-green color. Though only the size of his palm, its entire surface was covered in faint golden patterns. As they crisscrossed, the golden lines flickered in and out of view. The entire bag seemed to have a life of its own, breathing the external Spiritual Qi in and out.

As it breathed, the bag’s color deepened, and its weight seemed to increase by a fraction.

This, of course, was the Spirit Beast Bag he had just finished Refining.

With a flicker of his Divine Sense, Chu Mu sent it probing into the bag. A pocket world immediately appeared in his Divine Sense Perception.

The palm-sized bag contained a world of its own—a space where living creatures could thrive and multiply. However, this space was not large, only about a mu of land and just over ten zhang high. If the Corpse Puppet were to reveal its true form here, it would probably be unable to even stretch its limbs.

Wangcai’s own body wasn’t large. He had already reverted to his original Demon Body form and was warily surveying this strange new environment.

It wasn’t until Chu Mu’s Divine Sense entered and Wangcai detected his Divine Soul Aura that he realized what had happened. He immediately began to let out a series of indignant roars, clearly complaining.

With a thought, Chu Mu’s physical body, along with his Divine Soul, entered the Spirit Beast Bag as well. When his feet touched solid ground, he was standing in the narrow pocket world.

At that moment, outside, the now-uncontrolled Spirit Beast Bag drifted down and landed softly on the cabin deck.

Outside the cabin, the previously motionless Corpse Puppet seemed to sense its master’s disappearance. It slowly turned its head, its gray-white eyes devoid of any emotion, and surveyed the cabin. Soon, its gaze locked onto the Spirit Beast Bag lying on the deck.

At this moment, the Slave Seal seemed to activate. Strands of sharp Sword Intent suddenly burst forth. The Corpse Puppet’s face twisted, the indifference in its gray-white eyes instantly replaced by a contorted mask of unwilling resentment.

In the end, the Corpse Puppet actually forced its way forward against the Slave Seal’s suppression, stumbling step by step until it reached the cabin door.

"ROAR!"

It let out a roar, and a tide of gray-white Corpse Qi flooded into the cabin. Opening its mouth, it spat, and the Corpse Qi transformed into dozens of thin snakes that all shot toward the Spirit Beast Bag on the deck. It seemed to be trying to obliterate the bag in one strike, and with it, the man and beast inside, erasing them from the world.

"Hmph!"

Just then, a cold snort suddenly echoed. The Corpse Puppet reeled as if struck by lightning. Crying out in pain, it staggered back several steps before toppling to the ground. It clutched its head, screaming in agony, its Demon Body seeming to twist and deform.

"ROAR!"

Inside the cabin, Wangcai suddenly appeared. His beastly eyes were savage, locked onto the writhing Corpse Puppet. With a furious roar, Wangcai lunged forward, his gaping maw open wide as he went to tear into the puppet.

The bag still lay on the cabin deck. Inside the narrow pocket world, Chu Mu strolled about, carefully observing its mysteries.

As its Refiner, he naturally understood the principles of this space’s construction.

Or rather, the principles of this space were no different from those of the East Lake Secret Realm or even the Demon Realm. All of them existed attached to this Cultivation Immortal Realm, and their workings were all reflections of this greater world.

He didn’t fully understand the mysteries involved.

After all, his role was merely to refine a space sturdier than a standard Storage Space and add the Array Prohibition Inscriptions that allowed it to integrate with the outside world.

The rest had nothing to do with him.

It was as if he had only crafted a vessel; the core mystery stemmed from the creative power of the world’s natural cycles.

It was like the most common Storage Space. Even a single-use Storage Talisman’s internal space wasn’t incapable of holding life; the question was simply whether the space was strong enough to withstand it. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

It had to be able to contain mortal beings, Tier One Creatures, Tier Two Creatures, Tier Three Creatures... The higher a creature’s level of existence and the greater its power, the stronger the space needed to be.

As his thoughts flowed, Chu Mu couldn’t help but let his imagination wander.

’The East Lake Secret Realm and the Demon Realm are clearly man-made.’

’So how did this Cultivation Immortal Realm come to be?’

’The world-creation myths from my past life...’

’Looking at this Spirit Beast Space, in a Cultivation Immortal Realm where individuals possess such immense Divine Power, it doesn’t seem impossible...’

’Storage Space... Spirit Beast Space... Secret Realm Heaven and Earth... the greater Cultivation Immortal World...’

’It’s a very clear progression. Levels of existence, levels of worlds...’

...