The more her body refined, the greater the cost of progress.

  But she wasn’t stopping here. Not when she could feel the bottleneck within reach.

  The ambient spiritual energy in the cave wasn’t enough.

  The ice crystals surrounding her began to dim, their inner light siphoned away. Lauren’s eyes flashed. She waved her hands, shattering the depleted crystals to dust and replacing them with fresh ones from her storage ring.

  One after another.

  Each new crystal ignited in radiant blue light, its power pouring into her.

  Her meridians stretched again, groaning under the flow. The pain was sharp, but her determination sharper. She wanted to push her limits—to make her foundation so strong that nothing could shake it later.

  The spiritual energy coursed through her like rivers feeding a boundless sea. At the center of that ocean, her golden core spun faster and faster, reaching its threshold.

  The edges of the core blurred, its perfect spherical shape beginning to distort. It pulsed with unstable light, expanding, shifting, ready to evolve.

  Within her inner world, Edmund quietly observed the transformation.

  When he’d first entered this spiritual space, it had been nothing—empty, fragile.

  Now, it had changed completely.

  The once-barren space had solidified around the Weak Tree, roots anchoring themselves deep into the soil of her inner realm. What was once a radius of a single foot had expanded tenfold… a hundredfold. The space stretched outward for miles now, vibrant and alive, infused with her essence.

  He couldn’t help but be impressed.

  The rate of expansion, the sheer force of it—it was astonishing.

  This girl wasn’t just talented. She was someone who could shatter limits, who could rewrite what cultivation meant.

  This one, really is different. She’s the one who can break through the impasse.

  Reaching the Nascent Soul stage wasn’t something that could be rushed. It wasn't like the Foundation Establishment stage— it was tedious, consuming, and unpredictable. It could take a year, or three, or even five.

  Lauren had widened her meridians far beyond the norm, so her path would naturally take longer.

  Meanwhile, Edmund stood in her inner world, staring at the barren, cracked soil beneath his claws.

  “Well, this won’t do,” he muttered, transforming into his true draconic form. His wings rippled with energy as he flew out of the Ice Cave and scanned the surrounding area. After a moment’s search, his sharp eyes caught sight of a delicate Fairy Flower swaying gently in the snow.

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  He grinned, dug it up—roots, soil, and all—and hauled it back into Lauren’s inner space. There, he carefully planted it in the dry ground.

  The little blade of grass looked pitiful—barely the size of his palm—but it was something.

  A desert becomes an oasis, one blade of grass at a time.

  With nothing better to do while Lauren meditated, Edmund made a routine of it. Each day, he ventured out, digging up spiritual herbs, flowers, and anything that looked halfway decent, dragging them back into her inner realm.

  Two months later, he had stripped the entire mountainside bare. The area outside the Ice Cave was riddled with pits and holes—like someone had shelled it with divine artillery. Only two fairy peach trees remained standing, and that was only because he hadn’t been able to uproot them.

  When Tarot finally came by to check on Lauren’s progress, he froze at the sight.

  “What the hell happened here?”

  The once lush garden outside the Ice Cave was gone. The flowers and herbs were missing, the soil was uneven, and massive holes pockmarked the landscape.

  Starfell Summit only had three people—Master, himself, and Junior Sister. Lauren was in seclusion, and he hadn’t done this. So that left…

  Master?

  Maybe Master decided to replant everything and personally tilled the soil?

  That must be it. But—Master, are you sure you know how to use a shovel? Why are there holes the size of spirit beasts everywhere?

  Sighing, Tarot grabbed a hoe and started leveling the ground.

  “Can’t just leave it like this,” he muttered. “Master will probably want to plant new seeds later anyway…”

  But just as he started digging, something darted past him—a pitch-black shadow, dragging a spiritual herb in its tiny claws.

  Before he could blink, the thing vanished into the grass.

  Tarot blinked. “...What the hell?”

  He stepped closer, raised his hoe cautiously, and peeled the grass aside. Another shadow shot out from beneath his feet, plunging straight into the soil.

  “Shit—was that a giant earthworm?!” Tarot jumped back, gripping the hoe like a weapon.

  Just then, Drake appeared silently in front of him.

  “Master—!” Tarot yelped, nearly dropping the hoe again.

  Drake’s calm eyes swept over the ruined clearing. “What are you doing?”

  Tarot quickly raised his hands in defense. “It wasn’t me, Master! The ground was already like this. I think... I think it was an earthworm.”

  Drake’s brow twitched. “An earthworm?”

  “Yes! A huge one. Black, fast, and... uh, kind of spiritual-looking.”

  At that moment, Edmund couldn’t take it anymore. He poked his tiny dragon head out from behind Drake’s shoulder, scales glinting faintly.

  His slitted eyes glared daggers at Tarot.

  Tarot froze. “That’s him! That—wait…”

  He leaned closer. “Huh. Not an earthworm. Oh. So, uh, that’s your... friend, Master?”

  Drake’s gaze didn’t waver.

  “This little creature is so... unique,” Tarot said quickly, forcing a smile. “Very, uh, charming. But Master, with Junior Sister cultivating inside, isn’t it a bit... inappropriate for him to be digging up the whole mountain?”

  “No problem,” Drake said evenly. “Just replant the empty patches with spiritual herbs when you’re done.”

  Tarot: “...”

  Inside the Ice Cave, Lauren remained completely oblivious to the chaos outside.

  Her focus was wholly inward—on her Nascent Soul, which, to her frustration, was forming at a glacial pace.

  Months of meditation, oceans of spiritual energy, and still the damned thing only barely had a humanoid shape.

  She sighed inwardly. How much longer will this take?

  Was cultivating a Nascent Soul harder than giving birth? At least with childbirth, there was a clear endpoint.

  But here? Who knew when this thing would be “born.”

  .......

  In the blink of an eye, several months slipped away.

  Edmund sat cross-legged beneath the Weak Tree, watching as the once-barren soil beneath him slowly transformed—yellow earth turning green, then bursting into a riot of colors. Flowers bloomed, vines crept upward, and for a moment, it almost looked like a proper garden.

  Almost.

  Still, it was nothing compared to his home.

  Back in his true form, he had lived in a mountain valley veiled in mist, where every flower was perfect, every stone gleamed like jade. The cold pool in the heart of the valley shimmered with aura so thick it was practically liquid.

  And here?

  He wrinkled his nose. Ugh. Primitive.

  He glanced at Lauren’s Nascent Soul—it was still stabilizing, the tiny, translucent figure suspended within her core not yet solid.

  He sighed. “This is going to take a while.”