"Spiritual vein?" Ava repeated. It sounded familiar. Where had she heard it before?
"Yes, spiritual vein. They are the ultimate source of spiritual energy in the world! The natural spiritual energy reservoir birthed by the world! Better than any spirit stones! Ethereal, mystical, and endless! We wanted to find more of them, but even my institute's method to sense energy can't detect its presence," Barbara said.
"Endless? Impossible! How can it be endless?" Ava was shocked.
"Hehehe," Barbara giggled. "That's a hyperbole, but at the same time, not as well. You see, spirit stones can be mined and distributed to countless people, right? That means they can be easily depleted, even though spirit stone mines can replenish themselves over a long period of time."
Ava nodded, listening attentively.
She knew how spirit stone mining worked since the Clover Family was in charge of one. Long ago, people discovered ways to maximize the output of spirit stone mines without ever fully depleting them. Unlike other minerals that take millions of years to form, spirit stone chunks can regenerate in the same mine after only a few decades. However, for reasons no one fully understands, if a mine is completely mined out, no new spirit stones will ever form there again.
Why? No one knows for certain. The most widely accepted theory is that mining a site to exhaustion destroys the precise atmospheric and environmental conditions needed for spirit stones to materialize—conditions that are somehow unique to each mine. Once those conditions are lost, the mine is said to be "dead." But this idea remains speculation. Attempts to artificially recreate these conditions in controlled facilities have never resulted in the formation of even a single spirit stone.
In the end, through centuries of trial and error, people developed the most optimized mining management system. This delicate balance allows them to harvest spirit stones at high efficiency without ever risking total depletion.
Barbara continued. "But we can't do that with spiritual veins. You can't just take a tiny strand and use it for cultivation. It won't work. Well, you can't even physically grab it. You can only cultivate near a spiritual vein, in its presence. And that means only a limited number of people can be around it at a time. Not only does it contain an enormous amount of spiritual energy, but it also replenishes itself very quickly! Since the consumption rate can't even exceed the rate of replenishment, it's basically endless, right? Hehehe."
"I see… I'm afraid this spiritual vein is even more valuable than top-grade spirit stones. If people know about it… Wouldn't it be more disastrous?" Ava gulped.
"Exactly!" Barbara nodded, eyes wide. "So, can you keep it secret? It's supposed to be top-level classified info, tied to Cloud Continent security. We don't want people starting wars over this. I'm not even supposed to tell anyone." She stared at Ava, her innocent gaze practically sparkling.
Ava was dumbfounded. Girl, what? What do you mean by Cloud Continent security? Are you serious? This naive girl! If it's top-secret classified information, then why are you telling me? Are you trying to make me a target for the Protectors? Ava's mind was in a mess.
"Uh… but don't worry!" Barbara added quickly, waving her hands. "I can tell you since you already found the spiritual vein. It's an exception to my oath. I had to warn you about the risks it could bring to the Cloud Continent. Once we get back, I'll report it to the envoys or the Protectors, and they'll probably come find you…"
"Find me? Find me for what? I didn't do anything wrong," Ava interrupted. She was nervous. She didn't want to implicate the Leyan or Clover Family.
"Hehehe," Barbara giggled. "Calm down, Ava. They're only going to make you take the same oath as everyone else… to keep the secret."
Ava let out a long breath, tension easing from her shoulders. Okay, fine. She wasn't sure if Barbara was messing with her on purpose or just clueless, but that scare had her heart racing. For a second, she'd pictured the Protectors pulling some ruthless move, like silencing her and everyone she knew forever. But she forgot that the Protectors were a group of righteous people who saved the entire continent a thousand years ago, so they probably wouldn't do something like that.
However, this wouldn't always continue. Maybe things would change in the far future after the original Protectors retired or passed away, replaced by new ones. There have been many examples in history where originally good organizations turned disastrous after changing leadership. This was why finding suitable successors was always a great deal in any organization.
Thinking about successors, Leyvi's goofy face suddenly appeared in Ava's mind. For some reason, this happened a lot lately, which irked her. Stop popping up in my mind, you sex fiend!
Although this particular topic was supposed to be a secret, it wasn't really a secret in the Leyan Family. Those ladies gossiping too much among themselves in the mansion, bragging about their man, including the big madam herself, Anda. Apparently, that sex fiend was a candidate to be the next Cloud Continent Protector. If this were true, what were the Protectors thinking, choosing a sex fiend like him to be a candidate? Were they trying to give him access to all the ladies in the Cloud Continent? He would just expand his sex fiend empire!
In the end, Ava couldn't confirm whether this gossip was true or not because those ladies were even calling him God Leyvi at some point, claiming that the miracle event in Bara City occurred because of him. Ridiculous! Just how much did they like their husband to exaggerate, giving him a title like that? Only the title sex fiend wasn't an exaggeration because it was true!
Wait a minute! Ava suddenly realized where she had heard about spiritual veins before, making her feel familiar with the term. It was from their gossip as well. She remembered they were talking about finding spiritual veins!
But how?
Wasn't a spiritual vein top-secret classified information? Then how did they know about it and were even seeking it? Could it be that Leyvi was really a candidate to be a Protector? But the way they talked about it casually didn't seem like they were under oath or something. So what was going on here? Where did they find out about it?
Ava's head spun, questions piling up. She shook it off. Forget it. If she asked the ladies directly, they'd probably spill everything. After all, they weren't exactly tight-lipped. No point stressing about it now.
Ava snapped back to reality, blinking as a delicate hand waved a handkerchief in front of her face.
"What are you doing?" Ava asked.
"Hehe!" Barbara giggled, twirling the cloth. "Just messing around since you zoned out. I waved my handkerchief ninety-seven times! New record!" Her voice was way too cheerful.
Ava was dumbfounded. What do you mean by a new record? Do you do this frequently?
This girl… isn't that the handkerchief she used to blow her nose just now? Sigh… why do I feel she fits very well in that weird family? Should I recommend her to Anda? This naive girl wants to get married anyway. But Anda has increased her standards for ladies. Will she accept her now? In the looks and figure departments, she indeed scores higher than me. And her weirdness is a plus too. So maybe Anda will accept her?
Gasp!
No, no, no! Ava shook her head. Why should I help that sex fiend score more ladies? And why has a lady's weirdness become the top criterion for this? Oh god, I'm slowly getting influenced by that panda brainwashing. Don't be influenced, Ava!
"Ahem," Ava cleared her throat, shoving the thought away. "Barbara, how do we bring the spiritual vein back? I need it to push my body cultivation further. I know it's top secret, so I probably can't keep it, but since I found it, the Protectors'll let me use it whenever I want, right?" She fixed Barbara with a hopeful look.
"Well…" Barbara hesitated, unsure how to break the news.
"Actually… if you found it on the Cloud Continent, that is an acceptable request, but…"
"But what?" Ava had a bad feeling about this, based on Barbara's reaction.
"But since you found it here, we can't even bring it back. Well… we are trapped here. That's a big problem itself. But even if we can escape this place and go back, we still can't bring the spiritual vein with us. Sorry," Barbara said, feeling bad for Ava. After all, she saw in that mine how desperate Ava was, digging with all her might to gain more access to the spiritual vein.
"Why can't we bring it back?" Ava frowned, disappointed by the answer.
"Because, unlike spirit stones, spiritual veins are not physical. They are similar to Nascent Souls. Since we can't physically touch it, we can't transfer it into our space ring," Barbara answered.
Ava blinked. Oh. Right. She'd forgotten that part. Her shoulders slumped.
Sigh… this was a huge problem. She found the greatest treasure to continue her body cultivation, but she had no way to bring it back. That meant she could only access it while she was here.