Anna looked around for a good source of meat. The wolves from earlier had been killed by her, leaving no body for food. However, she quickly detected a large bear, standing five meters tall, with her soul sense.
"A bear will work for tasty meat, right?" Anna asked Tania, unsure if a spiritual creature like this would have good meat. Although Tania was an otherworlder, she retained the memories of the Tania from this world, so she could provide valuable insights.
"Yes, ma'am, it is edible," Tania replied. After receiving a positive answer, Anna stretched her hand in the direction of the bear, made a grabbing motion in the void, and then retracted her hand. To Tania's shock, an extra bear appeared beside her.
Tania was frightened by the sight of the bear, as her memories told her this creature was involved in a beast tide and was a nascent soul beast. Yet, Anna had summoned it as if it were nothing.
Anna killed the bear without any problem, but she didn't want to eat outside. Instead, she took out her bamboo house, set it on the ground, and erected a barrier around it so no one could find it. Even if someone came near, they would walk around the barrier without noticing anything.
"Let's go inside; I don't want to eat outside," Anna invited Tania, then walked into the house with the bear. Tania followed, once again shocked by the treasures Anna casually produced. She was also eager for the reward Anna had promised her. This was part of Anna's plan: to make Tania think about the reward after showcasing her treasures.
They headed directly to the kitchen, which had not been used until now since Anna didn't know how to cook. However, she had many ingredients prepared in her spiritual herb garden, so the kitchen was fully stocked with various types of spiritual vegetables and fruits.
While Tania began preparing the food, Anna went outside to do some alchemy until the meal was ready. Tania looked at the spiritual vegetables and reflected on how, in her previous life, she could obtain what she wanted with money. The previous owner of this body had never seen so many spiritual vegetables, as they were very expensive and not something the average person would eat regularly. These vegetables contained a small amount of spiritual energy, which helped in cultivation and did not increase impurities in the body. She would enjoy all of this once she started cultivating, and she would also seek revenge for the previous owner.
Soon, the aroma of the food spread throughout the house. Anna teleported into the kitchen and saw that Tania had made many different dishes, many of which were from Earth. Anna swallowed her saliva and complimented Tania, "I can't wait to eat such delicious food! The food from your previous world really looks tasty."
But Tania froze, her eyes widening in shock when she heard the compliment from Anna, as she had inadvertently disclosed her most important secret.
"How did you...?" she asked in a shocked voice. Only then did Anna realize her mistake, but she didn't take it seriously and answered in the same casual tone while eating, "Well, I saw your soul travel to this body after the previous owner died. Actually, we can't say she died, as it was the other half of your own soul. When it was about to leave this body, you came and merged with it. So, basically, both are your souls, but they were divided into two: one reincarnated here, and the other went to another world. The part that came from the other world carries an aura of that realm and space-time, making it easily recognizable. Of course, you need to be at least at my cultivation level to see that. So don't worry; it's not a big deal."
Generally, Anna wasn't going to share this information with her, as the Heavenly Dao had designed it so that Tania would discover these things herself in the future. The Heavenly Dao was seriously following a script; to think it would divide a soul and send it to a different world just to increase luck. But Anna decided to reveal it anyway, as she intended to recruit Tania into her clan. She looked at the ring on Tania's finger, which was slightly glowing red. 'I guess the Heavenly Dao can't take it anymore,' she mused.
On the other hand, Anna's answer overwhelmed Tania; it was too much to process. So she was Tania herself, and this was her own body. Although she had initially planned to take revenge for the previous owner, now that she knew this was her own body, her rage and desire for vengeance peaked. She wanted to kill everyone who had bullied her. Since when had she, the assassin queen, been bullied?
Then she looked at the mysterious woman whose name she didn't know. Now, this woman was her hope to cultivate and become powerful quickly. Although she didn't like depending on others and was confident that she could start to cultivate on her own, she didn't have the option to deny this powerful entity. The reward Anna offered was a fatal attraction for her revenge.
Anna finished her first serving of dishes and wanted seconds, as the food was delicious. She asked cheerfully, "Hey, I want seconds."
Tania was brought back from her thoughts and went to give Anna a second serving. As she did, Anna asked, "Why don't you tell me about yourself? I don't even know your name. Why were you being hunted in the forest? Tell me about this continent."
Hearing her question, Tania's eyes filled with hatred, which she quickly concealed, but Anna detected it easily. Tania introduced herself and shared her story about why she was hunted down, then started talking about the continent.
"I don't know much about the world outside my country, as I was unable to cultivate and had to focus on surviving. So I will tell you what I know. This continent is called the Apple Continent. There are many countries here, and they are divided into tiers according to their power levels. The Dragon Country is a tier 9 country. I don't know about countries and kingdoms other than these, but I know that 1st tier countries are the most powerful. Right now, we are in the Dark Forest, near the border of the Dragon Country. The Dark Forest is known as one of the most dangerous places here."
"Wait, wait! Then how were you able to come here from the capital city?" Anna interrupted her and asked.
"It was through the help of my good stepmother and fiancé," Tania's tone was full of sarcasm. The previous Tania had only her engagement with the prince as her hope for a good life, and she had always dreamed of marrying him. Just thinking about it deepened her desire for revenge. She continued her explanation, "The Dark Forest borders many low-tier countries around it, and I have heard rumors that if you can cross it, you can reach higher-tier countries. But I don't know if it is true or not, as it is mainly impossible for people from lower-tier countries to cross it due to the many powerful spiritual beasts inside."
"Well, there are many beasts inside; I have seen them. But crossing is not that difficult if you are at least at the Golden Core realm or above. I guess I was wrong to assume that the Nascent Soul realm is the highest here. Maybe tier 1 countries have a few Transformation-level cultivators there. Hmm, I guess I will explore it there then."
Tania's knowledge of the outside world was indeed limited, as she had said. Anna could have spread her soul sense to cover the whole continent and know its situation, but there was no fun in that.
"So how was the food? Was it able to satisfy you?" Tania asked hesitantly.
To be honest, the food was really good. Or maybe this was the first time Anna had eaten food in this world, and that's why she had nothing to compare it to. It tasted good, so Tania deserved an extra reward for it. 'If I find that her food is really good compared to the outside, then maybe after she joins my clan, I will have her make food for me regularly,' Anna thought. But right now, it was only about finding a reason to power level Tania, so she answered, "Of course it was great! You have greatly satisfied me, so you can ask for one thing from me. If it is within my means, I will fulfill it."
Tania's eyes shone with determination as she answered. She had thought a lot about what to ask from Anna, but she came up with this answer because she didn't want to be indebted to this mysterious woman, as she didn't know her motives. Tania had always preferred to depend on herself for the things she wanted to do, so she asked for something that would help her immediately. "Ma'am, I also want to cultivate, and I know there are pills in the outside world that can clear blocked meridians and allow one to cultivate. Can you give me one such pill as a reward?"
Anna was dumbfounded by her answer, as this was not what she had expected. She thought Tania would ask for something to train her or for immediate power for revenge, but she only asked for a pill. Now, how would she find a reason to have the daughter of luck around her and ask her to join the clan? Now she had to reevaluate the girl in front of her. 'I guess she is a more independent girl than I thought, and she is suspicious of me and doesn't want to be indebted to me. I will have to change my approach; otherwise, I won't be able to see more fun things happening around the Heaven's Chosen.' So Anna revealed a little more information about Tania.
"Hey, I was going to help you with that by giving you the reward directly, as I said what you needed most right now. The promise for one thing from me is different from that, so ask for something else."
Anna continued, seeing the expression of suspicion on Tania's face. "And the pill you are asking for is not that good for improving your physique. You could have started cultivating by yourself in no time with the help of the ring on your finger."
Tania looked at her finger and was shocked to see the ring, which was slightly glowing red. It was so dim that she wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't looked carefully. But what shocked her was that the ring was something she had in her previous life as a family heirloom. Then she remembered that this body also had a similar ring, but it was very rusty. "How could this ring be here?"
"I thought your other half here knew about it," Anna asked.
"No, I don't have any memories about the details of the ring. I only know that this ring was something my mother left me. All the other things were taken away from me by my stepsisters. Only this ring was left, as it was rusty and couldn't be used." Tania once again tried to remember but couldn't recall anything. She asked Anna, "How could this ring help me cultivate?"
"This ring is an immortal artifact that contains a small pocket dimension inside it. It also has a spirit-gathering array and a time array, so there's a time difference between inside the ring and outside, and it is full of energy. This ring is what brought you here; the two rings are part of one artifact, and I think it has the inheritance of the previous owners and can only be opened by your blood. As for the blocked meridians..." At this point, Anna paused and stared at the ring, her eyes glowing red as if she could see through everything. Then she continued, "There is a medicinal pool inside that can remove impurities from your body and improve your physique, and there is something more inside to guide you. Everything is arranged for you there." The last sentence was said in a deep, mocking voice. "That's why I said I was going to help with that and not to directly use a pill to improve your physique."
At this point, Tania had some doubts and suspicions that there was something big going on behind her rebirth and that Anna knew about it and was planning something different. The clues provided by Anna made her think this way, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. She knew that angering Anna could be her worst mistake in life, and she could be killed by her. But she didn't want to be anyone's puppet, doing things she thought she had done herself but were actually planned by someone else. She was a person with a strong will, so she would live by her own decisions.
Tania thought Anna wanted her to ask about it, as she had hinted at a possible conspiracy. Tania didn't fully believe Anna, as she suspected that Anna was also planning something regarding her or maybe was behind her rebirth. However, Tania was alone in the world right now, with no cultivation and power, so it would be better to gain power first and bide her time to figure out everything and act accordingly. So she asked Anna directly, as Anna had hinted, "Why do you want to help me, ma'am? I am a nobody with no power, so how could I be worthy of your help ?"
This was the exact moment Anna was waiting for.