And so Ava got to work, clawing at the wall with precise, relentless strikes. Unfortunately, the wall had become extremely tough due to long-term spiritual energy enhancement, and without proper tools to dig, she was moving at a snail's pace. Still, she kept at it, chipping away bit by bit.
After what felt like forever, a bowl-sized hole was dug out of the wall. And sure enough, more flowing light could be seen now, adding to her excitement. Maybe there was enough flowing light to fit her entire body after all. Continue digging!
Ava swore she would dig a hole big enough to fit herself, no matter what. Her plan? Carve straight into the wall, following the light, then lie down inside like it was a bath of pure energy. Sounded ridiculous, sure, but it was the best shot she had to cultivate right now. Whatever it took to soak in that light, she would do it.
Five days later, the hole was deep enough to fit half her body, but Ava looked like a wreck. Her delicate frame was gone—eyes bloodshot, fingers crusted with dried blood, hair a tangled mess, breathing ragged. Every time her claws snapped, she forced them to regrow, pushing her body to keep up. She was a mess, but she didn't care.
As the hole became deeper, it became harder for her attacks to reach the end of it. Not to mention, she had not rested even once in the past five days. However, there was nothing else on her mind right now other than digging and keeping digging! Deeper and deeper!
Then, out of nowhere, her vision blurred. Her eyes rolled back, showing white, and she crumpled to the ground, out cold.
Although her body could keep going, her mind had reached its limit. Ava passed out from mental exhaustion.
The mine fell silent, the flowing light still waving gently, unbothered, as Ava lay there.
The next day, Ava woke up. However, she wasn't in the mine anymore.
Eh? Where? she thought as she took in her surroundings.
"Why am I back in the mansion?" she muttered after recognizing the place. The last thing she remembered was passing out in the mine, surrounded by spirit stone chunks and that glowing light.
"My flowing light!" she gasped, bolting upright. "I gotta get back to the mine!" She didn't even care how she got here. She only wanted to finish digging the hole and resume her long-stagnant cultivation.
She hopped off the bed hurriedly, but at that moment, a lady in a white dress entered the spacious room.
The lady was none other than Barbara.
"Ah, you're awake. Great!" Barbara beamed. "Hello there, I'm Barbara. What's your name?"
Ava halted in her tracks as she scrutinized the familiar lady. Isn't this the girl Protector Alexandra introduced? So she was the one who brought me here.
Wait! She found me in a top-grade spirit stone mine. All that wealth, plus the flowing light… why didn't she kill me and take it all? Ava's frown deepened, her gaze turning sharp.
Barbara caught the look and flinched, her smile wobbling. "Y-you… why're you staring like that? Please don't kill me! I-I still wanna get married…" She took a shaky step back, hands raised like she expected a fight.
"Did you bring me here from the mine?" Ava asked, voice low and pointed.
Barbara nodded, relaxing a bit. "Yup! Hehe, you were out cold, so I brought you here and cleaned you up."
"So you saw it? The top-grade spirit stones?" Ava pressed, watching her closely.
"Right, right!" Barbara's eyes lit up, and she started rambling. "I didn't expect to see a top-grade spirit stone mine here. I can't wait to go back and study the spirit stones! This is a big chance for me. I want to study their energy composition. I want to compare how different they are from other spirit stone grades. After that, I want to study why they took that shape and how much localized force they can take before detonating. Waa… so many things to do! Since you're fine now, how about we go back there? I'm afraid to go alone, you know…" Her voice bubbled with excitement, all trace of fear gone.
Ava was dumbfounded. Barbara suddenly became way too talkative. Also, is this what people usually think of when they find enormous wealth like that? Not grabbing the wealth, but… studying it?
Ava immediately figured out what kind of person Barbara was from this short interaction. A naive girl. Probably grew up sheltered and never saw the real world.
That mine contained wealth that could cause wars among kingdoms. This Barbara girl should have taken the chance to kill her while she was unconscious and take the wealth for herself, because if not, the opposite might happen to her.
"Girl, are you stupid?" Ava snapped, her eyes narrowing as she let out a burst of killing intent. "What if I kill you right now to keep all those spirit stones for myself?"
"Ahhh! Help!" Barbara yelped, tumbling onto her butt and scooting back, tears streaming down her face. "Lady, please calm down! I'm just a weak, frail girl! Don't kill me! I-I still wanna get married! Boo hoo!" She flailed, voice cracking.
Ava rolled her eyes. How many times did she have to announce that she wanted to get married?
Ava sighed, dropping her fierce act. "Alright, alright. Calm down, girl. I'm just kidding."
The fact that this naive girl didn't do anything to her while she was unconscious was proof enough that she was harmless. How was she chosen to enter the Mystic Realm anyway? Oh, right. She was supposed to be with her twin brother here, Ava recalled.
Looking back, Ava realized that she had made a huge mistake by obsessively forcing herself to dig the hole as fast as possible without any rest. She had put herself in a vulnerable position to be killed. If something else had found her unconscious at that time, it was highly likely she would have been murdered or eaten.
As a pure body cultivator whose every cell was packed with high-level energy, she was highly nutritious food for demonic beasts and demonic plants. They would be feasting.
In a way, Barbara actually saved her life.
Barbara stopped sobbing and blinked up at Ava, confused. She pulled out a cute little handkerchief, wiped the snot dripping from her nose, and tucked it away. Slowly, she got to her feet, puffing out her cheeks. "Eiii! Why'd you scare me like that? I thought I was gonna die!" She stomped her foot, looking more like a pouty kid than a scholar.
"If you know you could die, why did you drag a random stranger here?" Ava shot back. "You could've gotten yourself killed, especially with all that wealth in the mine. What if I were some lowlife?"
Barbara shuffled her feet, looking sheepish. "Well… you looked like a delicate girl, so I thought you'd be nice. Plus, I didn't wanna be here alone."
Ava rolled her eyes again. This girl was really gullible.
"Next time, don't save random people unless you're sure they're safe," she said, voice firm.
Barbara nodded like a bobblehead, grinning as she stepped closer. "Got it! So, what's your name?"
Ava sighed. Pretty sure that advice went in one ear and out the other. "Ava," she said, keeping it short.
"Hehe. Ava, did you know that we're on an island and that water out there is actually fresh water?" Barbara chirped, pointing outside the window.
"I know. Do you have any way to cross the lake? Can you fly?" Ava asked.
Barbara shook her head. "No, I can't fly. If I knew we would be trapped on an island like this, I would have bought a cute boat."
"How did you find me in the mine?" Ava was curious. Barbara didn't seem like a girl who was brave enough to venture out alone.
"Hehehe." Barbara giggled, perking up. "By using the method developed by our institute! I can sense energy fluctuations around me and track them. When I got here, I picked up some fresh energy trails, so I knew someone was nearby. I didn't wanna be alone, so I followed it and found you passed out. Good thing I've got a concealment spirit artifact, or I'd have been too scared to go by myself."
Fresh energy trail? How do you even differentiate that? By smelling or something? Oh well, who cares. She's from the Institute of Universal Energies, so that's her thing, Ava thought.
"One more question, do you know what that white, flowing light is? You should have seen it where I fainted," Ava asked. An energy nerd like her might know something about it.
"Oh? You don't know yet? I thought you knew about it already since you worked so hard trying to get it?" Barbara was slightly surprised.
Ava's eyes lit up. Bingo—this girl knew something! "What is it? Tell me, Barbara!" She darted forward, grabbing Barbara's hands, excitement spilling out.
"Ow, ow! Ava, my hands!" Barbara squeaked, wincing.
"Oops, sorry, Barbara. I'm too excited," Ava apologized, releasing her hands.
Barbara rubbed her wrists, eyeing Ava. "You look more delicate and frail than me, but you're so strong. As expected of a body cultivator."
"So what is that flowing light?" Ava ignored. She only wanted to know about the flowing light.
Barbara smiled. "That thing is a spiritual vein!"