番茄乐园

…boom!

Rumble!

…boom!

Distance explosions reverberated through the land, which, for some reason, seemed to be in the direction she felt Mira. Rhydian could only imagine what sort of trouble she was in now.

\'...Fortunately, I made a breakthrough recently, or else she might really kill me for being too lazy.\'

During her solo journey, she encountered numerous useful treasures, most of which were bones of ancient beasts. They were usually buried under hundreds of meters of snow, ice, and stone, but her senses were abnormally sharp when it came to things like this.

It wasn\'t so pronounced before, but after she broke through to Rank 8, she gained something akin to super smell that allowed her to sniff out almost anything beast-related as long as she desired it.

Of course, this ability wasn\'t omnipotent, as the range was limited, but this continent was like a treasure trove, so it didn\'t matter. There were immense numbers of strong beasts buried deep in the ground. Which made sense, as from her point of view, the humans were vastly in the minority here.

Beasts ruled most of the land like they were evolutionarily suited for it.

After consuming so many, both living and dead, she had finally broken through to Mid-Stage Rank 8, which showed no signs of stopping as it slowly increased with every bite of the leg bone she chewed on.

Just then, she felt a pull toward a location deep in the ground and understood she found another dead beast, but she soon frowned.

\'Now that Mira\'s nearby, the chances of me being able to search this area freely is basically nil.\'

\'Should I just move somewhere else?\'

She knew that moving to another area would be best for her safety, but she still felt reluctant. This central area of the blizzard housed the most hidden resources, even if it was the most difficult to traverse.

After a few moments of pondering, Rhydian sighed. \'...I might as well go see what\'s going on. My carefree treasure-hunting spree is coming to an end anyway.\'

Turning in the direction she sensed Mira, she began walking at a leisurely pace, not in a rush to jump right into danger.

***

"HAP!" A burst of fire shot out of a woman\'s hands, incinerating a Behemammoth, a giant icy Mammoth, and lighting her way in the blizzard. However, she made sure not to damage their tusks. She then proceeded to walk through the rest of its \'nest,\' killing every one of its species until none were left behind.

She stored their remains inside her Spatial Ring. After cleaning the place dry, she reluctantly searched around for their dung.

\'Ugh! Why do I have to do this shit?\' She grumbled, using her Qi to levitate their feces before shoving it in a separate Spatial Ring.

Of course, she knew why: Behemammoths were incredibly valuable resources. Every part of their bodies could be used in some way, whether it be creating powerful weapons, arrays, or pills. Just this pack of a few hundred could provide her Sect with decades of high-level resources, but it still annoyed her that someone of her strength and status still had to go digging for shit.

That\'s what subordinates are for, after all!

"Tsk! I should\'ve chased after that bitch. Then, I wouldn\'t even need to think about gathering more resources." Thinking of a troublesome fox woman, she couldn\'t help but scowl.

Yanira still felt aggrieved at letting someone so much weaker than her get away with half her loot!

In fact, ever since their meeting, she felt like she was plagued with bad luck. After she left the valley, she suddenly got caught up in a storm and was smacked around by a Rank 10 beast of unknown origin before being throne to another part of the continent.

Now, she could only wander around blindly, running into either weaklings, stalkers, or traps.

These Behemammoth\'s were the first lucky encounter she had ever since she separated from Mira!

\'I knew she was a witch!\'

Just as she finished picking up all the dung, an explosion went off in the distance, stopping the blizzard for a moment, followed by a thunderous shout.

..."Die for our Lord!"

"What the hell?" She turned toward the source. "Who\'s strong enough to affect an entire section of a continent?!"

Yanira\'s mind went into overdrive as she thought of all the powerful people who were either on the Northern Continent or were connected to it in some way. However, most weren\'t even as strong as her, while the others were either at the same level as her or slightly stronger.

As far as she knew, nobody had such power.

\'The peak of the Divine Sea Realm?\' She shook her head. \'No, it must be Half-Step Ascension Realm! Did one of those bastards find a lucky encounter?!\'

Yanira\'s eyes gleamed greedily as she licked her lips.

\'Whoever it is, it sure sounds like they\'re fighting something powerful.\' She smiled sinisterly, just thinking about getting her hands on whatever treasure made them so strong. "I\'ll kill them while they\'re down and immediately flee, so none of those other assholes can take what\'s mine!"

Jumping into the air, her body was lit ablaze as she shot through the air like a comet, dialing in on the source of the explosions.

\'Wait for me, my precious!\'

***

Yanira wasn\'t the only one who felt the earthquakes. Anyone at the Mortal Shedding Realm or above stopped what they were doing and took off. This could be the opportunity of a lifetime! Even if it wasn\'t, they were sure to see something extraordinary.

Even those at the Soul Transformation Realm and below were interested. Despite how unlikely it was for them to gain anything with so many powerhouses around, there was always a slim chance.

And as cultivators, that chance was worth a lifetime!

In Sylphidia, Maria, Celaine, and Linnea were talking. After the scene at the tavern, they went back to the place Linnea was staying to talk. It was then that she finally believed that the two were connected to Mira in some way.

The idea of Maria being Mira\'s fiancee was still up in the air, but she decided not to dwell on that for now. More importantly-

"Your dantian is broken, right? You\'ve been crippled, huh."

Maria blurted out of nowhere, staring at Linnea\'s stomach. The latter\'s expression changed, feeling naked under those eyes. She tried to \'cover\' herself, but with Maria\'s experience, there wasn\'t anything she could hide.

"Hehe~ No need to be nervous. I\'m not judging. I\'m just curious how you\'re still alive. I mean, Mira can be pretty… rough~ after all~"

"..."

Linnea wondered the same thing. "A-Ahaha… I guess I\'m just lucky? I mean, part of me thinks she doesn\'t even know I exist, so…"

Maria smiled wryly, shaking her head. "Yeah… that sounds like her." Coughing lightly, she changed the subject. "Anyways, it seems like you\'re looking for a way to heal yourself, right?"

Linnea hesitated for a moment before nodding. It wasn\'t really a secret, but she didn\'t exactly like telling people that she was crippled. It felt like she was accepting her current pitiful state–something she refused to do.

"What if I said I could heal that for you?"

"..." At first, Linnea thought the woman before her was an idiot speaking nonsense, but seeing the calm smile on her face, she started thinking otherwise. However, she inwardly shook her head, refusing to place her hope in that.

It was commonly known that healing broken dantians required miracle pills or rare treasures. That was the lifeblood an any true cultivator. Like how humans needed a heart to live, cultivators needed a core(dantian) to cultivate. Without it, the possibility wasn\'t even there.

Without a working dantian, the meridians would be all messed up, making them essentially useless. Even breaking through to the Qi Condensation Realm would be difficult. Rather, the Meridian Opening Stage in the Body Tempering Realm would already be a near-impossibility.

Needless to say, just as the items that could heal a broken heart were so exotic, the same was for a dantian, perhaps even more so.

"...You… You\'re not messing with me, right?" Linnea asked shakily. "How could you-"

Maria smiled gently. "I haven\'t tried it before, but I\'m pretty confident in my healing techniques."

"What?! Techniques?!"

…Rumble… BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Distant explosions and earthquakes shook the city, alerting everyone in it. Most took cover, afraid that some giant monster was approaching, but the truly strong all narrowed their eyes, looking toward the center of the blizzard.

"...Mira," Maria muttered, clutching her heart, which started pounding in her chest. "...Mira\'s over there. I know it!"

Celaine\'s expression turned serious. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely!"

"Then, what are we waiting for?"

"Right! Let\'s go!"

Nodding, the two stood up and began to head out before Maria turned around to look at Linnea. "I\'m sorry, but it looks like we\'ll need to put this conversation on hold."

"Wait-!"

Linnea shouted, but the two were already gone. She slumped back in her chair, feeling dizzy, her emotions tumultuous. "...W-Why does everyone around me just do whatever they want?"

\'Now, what should I do?\'