The spirit stones at the end of the mine were crammed together tighter than anywhere else, chunks packed so dense they seemed to hum with energy. Probably never got mined before the place was ditched, Ava figured. It was like the deeper she went, the richer it got.
She couldn't help but wonder what went down to make everyone abandon a haul like this. From what she had seen—ruined towns, empty mansions, overgrown roads—there was no hint of a big fight. No scars of battle, no busted-up walls or weapon marks. Nothing. Back in the Cloud Continent, a top-grade spirit stone mine sparked wars that leveled kingdoms. And here? They just walked away? That didn't add up.
Maybe that old rumor had some truth—the one about the Mystic Realm being a chunk of the Cloud Continent that vanished long ago, taking everyone with it. But that idea fell apart quickly. If something killed all the people, why were the plants and animals still alive? Why just humans? It made no sense.
Ava shook her head, brushing off the questions. She wasn't here to play historian. Whatever happened, it was long gone, and she had bigger problems—like being stuck on this island.
Mid-shake, something caught her eye—a flicker in the corner of her vision. She froze, her head turning toward it. What was that?
The mine was quiet, lit only by the soft glow of spirit stone chunks embedded in the walls. But there, against the wall, something moved. A glowing tentacle? No, not quite. It was a thick strand of flowing white light, sticking out from the wall like it was leaking through from somewhere else. It waved slowly and smoothly, like a flag drifting underwater, pulsing with a faint rhythm.
Ava came closer, crouched down, squinting to get a better look. Up close, it was weirder. Not one solid beam, but a tangle of tiny threads, each thinner than a hair, twisting and weaving together in a dance that was almost hypnotic. It didn't feel like it belonged here—like it was slipping between worlds.
She reached out, half-expecting to grab it, but her fingers passed right through. The light didn't flicker, didn't waver, just kept flowing like she hadn't touched it at all. But Ava felt it. The second her hand brushed those threads, a rush hit her—pure, thick spiritual energy, so dense it made her skin tingle and her breath catch. Her eyes went wide, heart pounding. Whatever this was, it was no ordinary glow.
What? How? This sensation!
It was a feeling similar to how she felt when she cultivated her body! But it was purer and more soothing, without the mind-numbing pain that came with her cultivation method! Touching that flowing light felt soothing, like her whole being was sinking into the rhythm of the world, tuning into nature itself. What was this flowing light?
Apart from continuous physical training, her body cultivation method involved immersing herself in alchemical solutions crafted from rare herbs, demonic beast materials, and spiritual minerals. These concoctions forced her body to absorb spiritual energy directly into her cells while evolving them over time.
The method had seven stages, which enhanced different systems of the body, meaning seven different alchemical solutions.
The Bone Priming Stage, the Muscle Chain Stage, the Blood Infusion Stage, the Organ Tempering Stage, the Nerve Awakening Stage, the Skin Refinement Stage, and lastly, the Cellular Integration Phase.
The first stage enhanced the skeletal system, the second stage enhanced muscles, tendons, and ligaments, the third stage enhanced blood and circulatory system, the fourth stage enhanced internal organs, the fifth stage enhanced the nervous system, the sixth stage enhanced the external layers such as the skin, and the last stage enhanced all cells in the body, enabling them to store higher-level energy beyond the limit of mortals. At complete mastery, the countless cells in the body would be totally under the owner's control.
Well, supposedly. Since even now, Ava still couldn't do it. There was a myth that if body cultivation reached a far higher level, even a flicked booger could become a terrifying bomb. Ava could only roll her eyes at this myth. Why booger?
Also, most of her pain came from the cells stretching their capacity and resisting collapse. One cell under stress, people wouldn't feel anything from it. But imagine trillions of cells under stress all at once.
Ava unlocked her spiritual sense at the fifth stage, the Nerve Awakening Stage. The brain, part of the nervous system, got enhanced enough, similar to a cultivator who just reached the Foundation Building Realm, that it unlocked spiritual sense.
Most importantly, it was crucial for her body to go through every single enhancement stage before beginning the Cellular Integration Phase because, without the enhancements, her body couldn't endure the higher-level energy, leading to rupture, internal injuries, and possibly death. Her body needed to be ready to handle that kind of power.
At this level, even though she didn't have a spirit root to sense spiritual energy, all her sensory awareness had leveled up to a high degree, and her entire being was basically countless vaults carrying spiritual energy, so she could definitely differentiate and control the Qi in her body. The difference was, she didn't channel and direct Qi through meridians but transferred Qi from cell to cell.
Cultivators detected others' cultivation levels through the Qi leaked from their body, which unconsciously flowed out through their meridians. But it wasn't the case for body cultivators. They stored Qi at the cellular level, meaning no leakage. So, normal cultivators had no way to estimate their level unless they fought. This was one of the few advantages body cultivators had over Qi cultivators.
Unfortunately, Ava had long reached the maximum limit of Qi her cells could store. If she wanted to progress further, she had to find a better alchemical solution that could expand the maximum limit of each cell even further, or some other method beyond just increasing the energy storage limit.
Most body cultivation methods available in the Cloud Continent all pretty much had similar principles to this, with branches to different variations. Hers leaned hard into flexibility, letting her twist and coil like a snake. Others went for brute strength or iron-tough skin. Same idea, different paths.
In the past two hundred years, she had spent countless money and resources to make these alchemical solutions and soaked herself in them day after day, enduring painful, extremely slow transformation, which had affected her personality. Her temper easily flared, injuring people who annoyed her. This made her even more disliked in the Clover Family.
All of this was possible with the help of her annoying brother, Vitali. Although she was still a bit angry with him for marrying her off, it was undeniable that the only reason she managed to cultivate her body cultivation method till now was because of him. Throughout the years, he had to endure countless complaints from the family elders because of the money wasted on her.
The only reason he was still the family patriarch was due to his talent for bringing great wealth to the family. He was very good at utilizing his shamelessness to his advantage and obtaining the best deal out of any business. Without him, there was no way she could get her hands on that many resources and reach her current level.
And for that, she was extremely thankful to her brother. But this was also why she was angry at him. How could she repay all the grace he had bestowed upon her while being separated like this?
The flowing light continued waving through her hand, invoking a familiar feeling. The only other time she could invoke this feeling was when eating the meat of an awakened demonic beast. However, she had to eat a whole bunch of them to have this effect.
Ava had a strong feeling that this might be the huge chance she had been waiting for. The chance to continue forward on her body cultivation path!
She could feel it. She could feel the excitement in her cells breaking through the barrier of energy capacity limit! No, it wasn't just that. She felt the energy transfer between cells becoming easier. The Qi flowed smoother between cells, faster, like the pathways were widening. What did this mean? That meant more power in every hit, bigger explosions behind her punches and kicks. Her heart raced just thinking about it.
Ava was dying to know what exactly the flowing light was. But was it only this small? Only half of her hand could enjoy its effect. Would it disappear later? Please don't!
Ava wished that the amazing flowing light was big enough for her entire body to experience the effect.
Wait a minute! Since the flowing light phases through things, maybe it went through this wall as well. Ava's eyes brightened.
She raised her hands, focusing hard. Her nails sharpened and toughened, growing out like tiny blades. Although she still couldn't control her cells at will, she was able to make her nails and hair grow faster when she wanted them.
Quick as a flash, she drove her hand into the wall. A grunt slipped out. So hard! Even her reinforced claws only chipped a tiny piece of the wall.
Hmph, as long as it can be dug, it doesn't matter how long it takes. Ava's eyes flashed with determination!