"Hahaha! Good? This isn't just good, this is amazing! I knew I could count on you!" Leyvi praised, his voice booming with genuine admiration as he gave Bodo's back a hearty pat.
Anda, watching from the sidelines, offered a warm smile and a thumbs-up. "If you were to show off that kind of strength to a crowd of ladies, I am certain some would be very interested in you, perhaps even wanting your babies."
"Dohehe..." Bodo responded, a wide, foolish grin spreading across his face as he rubbed the back of his head. The simple, warm feeling of having his efforts appreciated washed over him.
"Alright, everyone, this is just the beginning! Let's get digging!" Leyvi declared, his own excitement palpable. As he spoke, two large, glowing brown hands materialized by his sides, ready for work.
The group began the meticulous process of excavating the earth to harvest the Void Crystals. What they had not anticipated, however, was the taxing environment created by the crystals themselves. The sheer concentration of them not only absorbed ambient spiritual energy but seemed to sap their personal vigor as well, leaving them feeling drained and fatigued far more quickly than usual. This meant their progress was constantly interrupted by the need to take frequent rests to recover their strength.
What they had initially expected to be a week of work was steadily extended, the days stretching into a full month of laborious effort. Of course, toward the end of their excavation, the work became easier and faster as the amount of Void Crystals dwindled.
"Hahaha! Finally! This is the last one! We are done!" Leyvi's triumphant laugh echoed from within the hundred-meter-deep pit they had carved into the earth, a single, glimmering Void Crystal held triumphantly between his fingers.
By now, the spiritual energy in the area had fully returned, its presence thick and dense, indistinguishable from any other part of the island. Leyvi had first noticed its slow trickle about a week prior, a gradual return that had steadily gained momentum with each passing day until the atmosphere was once again saturated with power.
"Dohoho! Are we done? I wish there were more treasures to dig. This is fun!" Bodo exclaimed. His enjoyment came less from the excavation itself and more from the simple, shared camaraderie of the task.
"This already took longer than we planned," Leyvi said, stretching his back with a faint groan. "It's time to go back."
A satisfied smile graced Anda's lips. "Now that we have no further business on this island, it is time to prepare for our departure. I will let everyone know they have a month to conclude their affairs or complete any unfinished tasks. After that, we leave."
Throughout the long excavation, Anda had contributed little to the physical labor, as her abilities were not suited for such a task. The bulk of the work had fallen to Leyvi, Ava, and Bodo. Instead, she had used the time productively, often wandering the vicinity or soaring through the skies on her Celestial Cloud. She dedicated these hours to practicing her fire control under various conditions, testing its limits and her own.
The Fire Essence Beads Leyvi had given her had borne remarkable fruit. Her affinity with flame had reached an unprecedented level, which in turn had elevated her alchemy to new heights. While borrowing Little Fiery's power, ingredients that had once been beyond her reach, requiring a temperature she could not sustain, now yielded to her refined control easily. She found she could maintain a perfect, consistent flame for a prolonged period, allowing her to confidently undertake alchemical processes that would have been unthinkable mere months before.
"We are leaving already, huh? That's too bad. We haven't harvested most of the top-grade spirit stones yet," Ava remarked.
Anda chuckled softly, shaking her head. "That's perfectly fine. We have already secured something far superior for our cultivation needs. In comparison, top-grade spirit stones have suddenly lost much of their value. Furthermore, we can't even use them as currency. You know our Cloud Continent operates on low-grade and middle-grade spirit stones, with only a handful of high-grade stones still in circulation. If we were to bring out top-grade spirit stones, we would attract nothing but trouble." She explained the practical reality with her usual calm logic.
With the immense haul of Void Crystals now in their possession, Anda felt little heartache over leaving the spirit stone deposits behind. The Nascent Soul breakthrough grounds they would create promised to become a steady and substantial source of income for years to come.
Ava considered this for a moment, then gave a slow nod. Now that she thought about it, Anda was right. If she could not easily spend them, the top-grade stones were of limited use to her personally, especially since her body cultivation relied primarily on alchemical solutions. And even that expense might diminish if the Leyan Family could maintain control of the Spiritual Vein.
"But, they are not entirely without use," Anda continued. "We can still use them to power arrays, formations, and high-tier spirit artifacts. My panda, for instance, can now operate for much longer periods thanks to the top-grade spirit stones." She raised her panda plushie spirit artifact for everyone to see, giving it an affectionate little shake.
"Oh, right. Arrays and formations. I forgot about that," Leyvi said, his expression brightening as a new plan formed. "Alright then! I will extract as many of those stones as possible before we depart! I want to give them all to Sawi later. As our future Array Formation expert, she will definitely need a vast supply of them."
With their new objective set, the four of them made their way back to the mine.
Upon their return, Anda immediately gathered everyone and announced that they would be departing the island in one month's time. As expected, the news sent a wave of activity through the camp as they immediately began their preparations to conclude their business on the island.
Meanwhile, Leyvi, Dastan, and a few others gathered at their usual sparring ground for their long-delayed match.
Leyvi and Dastan stood facing each other a hundred meters apart, the air between them already crackling with anticipation. Bodo, Ava, Valenia, and Slashy watched from a safe distance further back, all four keenly interested in witnessing the clash.
"Daa hahaha! Don't think it will be easy fighting me this time, Leyvi!" Dastan shouted, his voice ringing with confidence across the field. "Aside from greatly enhanced abilities in all aspects, Nascent Soul Realm experts have more freedom in a fight. We no longer need to rely solely on our meridians to channel our Qi if we don't wish to."
"Is that so? That is great! I am looking forward to it!" Leyvi replied, his voice just as loud, not out of bravado but pure, unadulterated excitement. He didn't care about beating Dastan, he was simply thrilled to test himself against a true Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.
A confident smile played on Dastan's lips. He was ready to demonstrate the vast gulf between a Nascent Soul Realm expert and a Core Formation Realm cultivator.
"Nascent Soul Body."
As he spoke, the crown prince's body began to emit a brilliant light. A thick, luminous layer of energy condensed around his physical form, perfectly mirroring his body's shape. Though composed of pure light, it replicated his facial features, his attire, and every detail, like a radiant, overlaying twin. Simultaneously, his Nascent Soul aura erupted, skyrocketing to a level that pressed down heavily on the surroundings.
Yet, even under the weight of that suppressive aura, Leyvi's eyes only brightened with interest, completely unfazed. He had, after all, experienced far stronger pressures. "Is this called the Nascent Soul Body? Amazing," he remarked, his tone one of genuine appraisal.
The only other time he had seen Nascent Soul Realm cultivators in true combat was during the Holy Cat City catastrophe. Every expert fighting at that time had been shrouded in this very same kind of luminous body.
"Daa hahaha! That's right. Since you are a country bumpkin who loves to be ignorant, this prince bets you don't really know what this is yet, right?" In his Nascent Soul Body form, Dastan's voice was imbued with soul power, making it resonate clearly across the distance without any need to shout.
"That's right! I learn as I go. You know me well. How about you explain a bit to me? Hahaha!" Leyvi laughed loudly, utterly unabashed.
From the sidelines, Ava and Valenia could not help but shake their heads in unison. How does he not know about this yet?
"Dohoho! Brother Leyvi is the same as me. I don't know too. We both do not know!" Bodo chimed in, his voice booming with excitement.
Ava and Valenia were left speechless. You too? And why are you so excited about it? Is it because you have found a fellow ignoramus?
"Listen to this prince, Leyvi," Dastan began, his luminous form radiating authority. "The Nascent Soul Body is an innate power that all Nascent Soul Realm cultivators can use. It is this form that allows us to bypass our meridians and manipulate our Qi freely, enabling more powerful and complicated martial skills. But of course, our Qi exhausts faster like this." He explained with a touch of princely grandeur.
"Hahaha! Interesting! I can't wait to get this power in the future! Alright, I am going to test your power now!" Leyvi shouted, his anticipation palpable.
In the next moment, Qi surged around his body, and he formed and equipped his Volcanic Armor, the familiar plates of earth and fire locking into place around him. Simultaneously, two huge, invisible hands materialized on his left and right. However, they were not coated with their usual brown, earthy glow, but with a rippling, intense red energy.
This time, Leyvi had chosen to coat his invisible hands with fiery Qi instead of earth Qi.