Passing through this garden, Ling Tian and others arrived at the second courtyard. Those following behind did not enter; only Ling Tian and A Li followed the steward into a reception room.
This reception room covered an area of over 200 square meters, decorated in an antique and elegant style.
Specially blended incense sticks were lit within, emitting a fragrance that invigorated the mind and made one feel incredibly comfortable.
Both parties took their seats as host and guest. The steward instructed the servants to prepare tea, and soon, two young maids, appearing to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, brought tea and some pastries, placing them before Ling Tian and A Li.
A Li tilted her head, scrutinizing the steward and the two maids, and murmured, "Ling Tian, why do I feel like these people aren't human?"
To her surprise, the steward did not get angry upon hearing A Li's words. Instead, he burst into laughter.
"That's right, Miss A Li is absolutely correct. We are indeed not human; we are the spirit entities of the Spiritual Realm space!"
Thus, the steward began to tell Ling Tian the truth of the matter.
In ancient times, this period corresponded roughly to the stage in Chinese history from the rise of tribal alliances to before the Shang Dynasty, spanning several thousand years.
However, in the archaeological excavations of historians, there was almost no written record of these millennia.
Yet, in reality, the myths and legends surrounding this period were incredibly rich and colorful.
Tales like the battle between Yan and Huang, and the various strange creatures described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, primarily belonged to this era.
At that time, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was extremely dense, and the areas developed by humans were very limited. Natural treasures were abundant, and thus, many powerful cultivators emerged among humans.
These cultivators, when reaching the pinnacle of their cultivation, possessed abilities such as summoning wind and rain, and soaring through clouds and mist.
The owner of the Spiritual Realm Key in Ling Tian's hand, an ancestor of the Ling family, was a cultivator who had reached the Golden Immortal level.
Only cultivators at this level had the ability to create spatial artifacts. At that time, many cultivators began to cultivate such artifacts, using the space within them as their personal abodes.
Some stayed in their abodes to cultivate, never emerging for years, while others used their abodes as storage warehouses.
However, most of these cultivators were so engrossed in their cultivation that they had no time to manage their spatial abodes. Moreover, these abodes were very private spaces for cultivators, and they could not allow other humans to enter and serve them.
Therefore, to make their lives more convenient, these cultivators employed various means to equip their spaces with servants, each using their own unique methods.
The most common method was refining various puppets. These puppets were essentially complex artifacts. Although their intelligence was limited, they could perform the simplest tasks and were loyal, eliminating any worries about betrayal.
A higher level of practitioners would subdue various spiritual beasts, sign contracts with them, and then feed them rare treasures, causing the spiritual beasts to transform into human form and become their servants.
Of course, servants transformed from spiritual beasts were too costly, took too long to cultivate, and had limited lifespans.
The most critical issue was that these spiritual beasts possessed their own consciousness. Some harbored impure intentions, especially those subdued by force, with a high probability of rebellion and turning against their masters.
The highest level involved utilizing the spiritual energy within the space and employing special formations to nurture spirit entities. In other words, these spirit entities were physical manifestations of concentrated spiritual energy.
Spirit entities possessed extremely high intelligence and could obey any command issued by their masters. Furthermore, they could even cast spells within the space.
Compared to servants transformed from wild beasts, spirit entities were more loyal. They only served the owner of the Spiritual Realm space and posed no risk of betrayal.
The steward and other servants before Ling Tian were the spirit entities created by the original owner of the Spiritual Realm space, and the Spiritual Realm Mansion was the place where the owner of the Spiritual Realm space originally resided.
As Ling Tian's cultivation and realm had continuously grown over the past two years, he had, by chance, unlocked new buildings within the Spiritual Realm space, including the Spiritual Realm Mansion.
The steward was the first spirit entity created by the owner of the Spiritual Realm space. Within this space, he possessed vast powers and managed all things within it.
The steward even managed the formation for creating spirit entities. As long as there was a need and sufficient heaven and earth spiritual energy, he could continuously create spirit entities.
The knowledge and skills possessed by these spirit entities were derived from the Pavilion of Myriad Laws within the Spiritual Realm space.
Each spirit entity possessed different knowledge. For instance, the one named Si was specifically in charge of the Beast Taming Garden; he understood the living habits and feeding methods of various wild beasts.
The chef in the Spiritual Realm space, named Chu, mastered numerous cooking methods.
There was also the blacksmith in the Spiritual Realm space, named Duan. This individual was skilled and dexterous, capable of forging all sorts of weapons recorded in the Pavilion of Myriad Laws.
What astonished Ling Tian even further was that these spirit entities could even draw talismans, craft magical artifacts, and set up magic arrays.
Of course, this also required Ling Tian to continuously improve his strength and realm to unlock more functions and obtain higher-level spirit entities.
Subsequently, Ling Tian learned from the spirit entities that the Spiritual Realm space was actually a vast circular area covering 100,000 square meters.
This space was surrounded by oceans, and in the center was a circular island with an area of 10,000 square kilometers – this was the region where Ling Tian and the others were located.
Next, under the guidance of the steward, Ling Tian met the other twenty-odd spirit entities one by one and learned about the skills they possessed.
Ling Tian was now extremely delighted. With the existence of these spirit entities, he felt as if he possessed a personal factory. Many tasks, such as drawing talismans, forging weapons, crafting artifacts, and preparing medicinal ingredients, could be delegated to the spirit entities, saving him a considerable amount of time.
After Ling Tian fully understood the capabilities of these spirit entities, he was overjoyed.
"Steward, I need to get some things made now. Who should I look for?" Ling Tian shared some of his ideas with the steward, who smiled and nodded. Soon, a bald man walked in.
This man's hands were calloused, indicating he was a craftsman.
"Master, this person is named Zhuan. He excels at carving. Regardless of the material, he can carve on it; even carving flowers on tofu is no problem for him!"