CHAPTER 106: MAGIC CUBE SPACE’S SECOND FORM

Jing Shu’s consciousness grew increasingly clear. She felt that after the Magic Cube Space’s upgrade, she and the Magic Cube Space were on the verge of merging.

Previously, entering the Magic Cube Space required her to summon it with her consciousness. This would lead her into a pitch-black world with white, glowing cubicles at its center—a process she called "conscious summoning." Now, however, this was no longer necessary.

Although Jing Shu stood by her bedroom bed, she felt as if she were simultaneously inside the Magic Cube Space.

It seemed she could simply raise her hand to touch the Spiritual Spring. Fields stretched before her, alongside coconut trees. Domestic Poultry were to her right, and an abundance of materials to her left. This clearly indicated a heightened level of control over the Magic Cube Space.

However, these elements appeared like ghosts, ethereal and overlapping with reality. Yet, the sounds of pigs, cows, and sheep were incredibly clear; even the buzzing of bees flying around the fields could be heard.

The Magic Cube Space’s biggest drawback was that people couldn’t enter it. Jing Shu wondered if, as the Magic Cube Space continued to upgrade, it would eventually merge completely with this world. Would humans, including herself, then be able to enter it?

It’s too noisy. Just as Jing Shu had this thought, the sounds from the Magic Cube Space vanished, though the visuals remained.

Can it be restored to its original state? As soon as the thought formed, her surroundings returned to normal, and the ghostly space completely disappeared.

Jing Shu named this upgraded, six-tiered Magic Cube Space the Second Form. The previous version, requiring conscious summoning, was the First Form. Now, she could switch freely between the two forms at will.

The advantage of the Second Form was the ability to see inside the Magic Cube Space at all times. It offered an immersive overlap of the Magic Cube Space with reality, even allowing her to observe plants growing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

This way, Jing Shu could practice with the Magic Cube while simultaneously inspecting any changes within the space. The Second Form was ideal for times when nothing important demanded her attention, allowing her to dedicate some focus to better care for the crops and Domestic Poultry.

The spatial expansion Jing Shu had most anticipated had indeed occurred: from 5x5x5 to 6x6x6, totaling 216 cubic meters. The number of fields increased from 12 to 18. Excluding the one-cubic-meter Spiritual Spring in the center, Jing Shu had 197 cubic meters remaining. This was immensely satisfying. The original 125 cubic meters had simply been insufficient; now, with so much more room, Jing Shu was thrilled beyond measure.

After a quick wash, Jing Shu ate the breakfast Grandma Jing had warmed for her alone in the dining room: six boiled eggs, three bowls of soy milk, five fried dough sticks, five corn pancakes, and a plate of vinegar-soaked garlic sprouts. Jing Shu suspected her appetite might have grown again, as she still felt unsatiated after eating so much.

Mr. Jing, Mrs. Jing, and Third Aunt had already left for work, managing to secure positions within the early apocalyptic system. It wouldn’t be half a year before everyone would be desperately seeking a job.

Due to low productivity caused by the darkness, few people with jobs could afford to eat. Most did whatever the government commanded, desperately exchanging their labor for a meager amount of food. In her past life, Jing Shu’s family had struggled this way for ten years during the apocalypse.

Mr. Jing was the one person amongst them who practiced most diligently with the repeating crossbow, currently in the backyard practicing on a target he had set up himself.

Grandma Jing was cleaning lotus roots. A large quantity had ripened in the pond, and Jing Shu had strongly requested honey-glazed lotus root.

So, Grandma Jing decided to make a larger batch, as a small amount wouldn’t last Jing Shu even two meals. To achieve lotus root that was both sweet and tender-chewy, it needed to be pressure-cooked for several hours. This dish truly deserved its place as one of the eight famous cold dishes due to its unique characteristics.

After her meal, Jing Shu finally had some free time. She decided to help Grandma Jing make the honey-glazed lotus root while simultaneously activating the Second Form of her Magic Cube Space to organize the new area.

Grandma Jing had already cleaned, peeled, and sectioned the lotus root. Number 1, aside from Jing Shu, had grown closest to Grandma Jing because she fed it all the scraps, which Number 1 devoured with great enjoyment.

Yes, that’s right. Number 1 had gained another function in Jingshu’s house: waste processor.

Any food scraps—be it bones, other food waste, or even almond shells—as long as it was remotely edible, could be fed to it. It currently weighed 22.5 kilograms, making it larger than an average medium-sized dog.

After finishing a box of lotus root peels and nuzzling affectionately against Jing Shu, the fat chicken puffed out its chest, raised its head, and continued patrolling its territory. It permitted no insects to live on its land and was also responsible for maintaining harmony among the Domestic Poultry in the coop. As a chicken, its responsibilities were enormous. This generation’s master was really not easy to look after!

Now, Jing Shu only needed to open the "top of the skull" of each lotus root segment, fill it with soaked glutinous rice, and secure the "lid" back with a toothpick. Then, she could place them in a pressure cooker with red dates and brown sugar to cook. After two hours of cooking and subsequent cooling, the lotus root could be sliced, drizzled with syrup, and sprinkled with Guihua petals. The result: sweet, tender-chewy honey-glazed lotus root. SLURP... so delicious!

Due to the sheer quantity of lotus roots, it took Grandma Jing and Jing Shu an entire day to prepare them all. Jing Shu quietly stuffed the extra portions into her space, planning to sneak bites whenever she wanted. The remainder was refrigerated and sealed, intended to be served as a delightful cold dish each evening.

Jing Shu also finished organizing her space. Over the past six months, she had consumed some items, and there had been changes to the Domestic Poultry’s area. Let’s give a simple explanation now.

1 cubic meter Spiritual Spring + 18 cubic meters for fields + 2 cubic meters for the fish school + 18 cubic meters for Domestic Poultry.

The remaining 177 cubic meters constituted Jing Shu’s current storage, occupied by the following items (each taking up 1 cubic meter): Seeds, daily necessities and clothes, backup feed, Fish Worm Food, Bees, Bee Water, Haagen-Dazs, Yogurt Shaved Ice, honey lemon, Potato Curry Chicken, spicy duck blood, Braised Pork Ribs, tomato shrimp, Steamed Crab, Fried Fish Cubes, Fried Chicken, Seafood Shrimp Porridge, Carrot Corn Mutton Soup, Shiitake Chicken Soup, Pork Ribs Lotus Root Soup, Crucian Carp Tofu Soup, and corn pancake, totaling 22 cubic meters.

Each of the following items occupied 2 cubic meters: Steak, Chicken Nuggets and fries, coconut milk, and eggs from chickens, ducks, and quails, totaling 8 cubic meters.

The remainder consisted of: 9 cubic meters of various dried fruits, 14 cubic meters of gasoline, 11 tons of mineral water, 15 cubic meters of rice, flour, and oil, and 20 cubic meters of conical boulders. Jing Shu currently had 78 cubic meters of space left. She planned to grow more vegetables to stock in the space; otherwise, if she waited until she craved something before planting, she would have to wait for several days.

In the past six months, Jing Shu had eaten all the steak, beef jerky, various cooked meats, and the contents of 1 cubic meter that held hot pot, fish chunks with fried rice, roasted quails, and soy milk. She needs to stock up again when she has time. There’s no helping it; she was terrified of hunger in her past life, and not having enough food in her space caused her great anxiety.

Oh, right. Jing Shu had planted medicinal herbs in all six of the extra fields in the Magic Cube Space. Hospitals had currently stopped providing medicines. There’s no urgency because she imagines that after the Artificial Sun appears, all these herbs can be cultivated.

But while imagination was pleasant, reality was harsh. This had led to a severe shortage of medicines during the ten years of the apocalypse, forcing the country to allocate vast resources to cultivating medicinal herbs. She needs to stock up on these herbs in advance. It’s also a way to test her theories about the Magic Cube Space Field by comparing the growth of coconut trees with that of medicinal herbs.