"Follow me." Xi Meili said to the two of them before walking into the cave that was brightly lit despite having no obvious sources of light, almost like the walls themselves were glowing.
The cave was incredibly long, as they'd walked for over ten minutes without seeing anything.
"How deep is this cave?" Wang Xiuying couldn't help but ask.
"A few thousand miles, I guess," she casually responded.
"What?! That's incredibly long! How is that even possible?"
"Do not underestimate Spirit Stone Caves. Each of them is incredibly spacious but only contains a few hundred thousand spirit stones, and if you mine them all, it will require 100 years for them to return." Xi Meili said.
"Did you realize that the spiritual energy in here is vastly different from the outside? This is a special type of spiritual energy that gives birth to spirit stones. If you ever come across this kind of spiritual energy, make sure to look around, as there will be a Spirit Stone Cave nearby, and those are worth a fortune, so make sure you remember this feeling." Xi Meili said to them.
Wang Xiuying and Yuan nodded before engraving this spiritual energy into their heart. Hopefully, they'll run into a Spirit Stone Cave of their own one day.
About half an hour later, they could finally see some spirit stones, and they were sticking out of the wall like crystals.
"Wow, so this is what spirit stones look like in nature… How cool."
Both Yuan and Wang Xiuying stared at them as though they were fascinated.
"We make sure to leave some behind so that they can regrow in the future."
"They can regrow?" They looked at her with raised eyebrows.
Xi Meili nodded and said, "As long as we don't mine everything, they will eventually grow back. Though, that will take at least 100 years."
"Anyways, this is the furthest we should go. But it's not because we cannot be there. It's simply because there won't be anything to see unless we travel a few hundred miles out, which could take hours, and I don't want to waste your time." Xi Meili said.
And she continued, "If you really want to see it, just imagine a large chunk of spirit stones stuck in the wall."
"Do you have any questions?"
Wang Xiuying then asked, "Does mining a larger chunk of spirit stone increase its effectiveness? Why do I only see spirit stones the size of a pebble?"
"Great question. There's actually a reason why they're so small and not bigger, and it's simply because having a bigger size doesn't mean it'll have more spiritual energy. A fist-sized spirit stone and a pebble-sized spirit stone will have the same amount of spiritual energy; it's just how the heavens made it work."
"However, that doesn't mean you can make the spirit stones extremely small, as spirit stones will lose effectiveness if they become too small. After millions of years of practice and experience, the cultivators have figured out the perfect size for spirit stones, and that has become the standard."
"I see…"
Sometime later, they left the Spirit Stone Cave.
"What should we do now?" Yuan asked her.
"There's nothing to do besides looking around the city." Xi Meili said.
"Then what do you normally do?" Wang Xiuying asked her.
"I train— all day. I rarely go outside," she said, surprising them, as she looked like the type that really enjoyed going outside.
"In fact, I haven't explored the city like I have with you guys for many years. If I ever go outside, it would be to fight the others at the Ancestral Dragon Temple. It sounds boring, right? But I really love training and improving myself." Xi Meili said with a smile on her face.
"I see, since this is such a rare chance, let's go look around the city some more," Yuan said to her.
"Okay!" Xi Meili nodded with excitement.
Thus, they made their way towards the city and began another round of exploration whilst trying new food whenever they would encounter them.
Time passed extremely quickly, and in what felt like the blink of an eye, it was already dark.
Yuan logged off the game after eating dinner with the Royal Family.
The moment Yuan logged off the game and returned to his room, a strong and rich aroma assaulted his nose, making his mouth immediately salivate.
'Wow! What an amazing smell! What could Meixiu be cooking?' Yuan wondered inwardly, his imaginations running wild.
Sometime later, Meixiu entered his room and helped him sit up on the bed.
"What's for dinner?" Yuan quickly asked her.
"Beef stew," she responded in a calm voice.
And she continued, "Although it's still somewhat like soup, there are large meat chunks in there, and it comes with rice."
"As long as I can chew on it, I won't complain!" Yuan said.
"Give me a moment…" Meixiu then placed a blanket in front of him just in case any food was to fall, and she proceeded to feed him beef stew.
"This food is amazing! The meat is tender, like that Dragon Meat Skewer I had not long ago! I didn't know you were such a good cook! Of course, your soup tastes good too, but this is a different level!" Yuan praised her after a single bite.
"Thank you..." Meixiu said with a slight smile on her face, as she couldn't help but feel happy after hearing his praises, especially when she'd worked her butt off during training to reach this level.
After dinner, Meixiu asked him, "How do you feel?"
"Well… To be completely honest, I am not full. However, the food was great." Yuan said.
"Not full, huh… Well, this is what Doctor Wang advised, but I will let him know that you're not full. By the way, for reference, how much do you think you can still eat?"
"I can probably eat two to three more meals of this size no problem," he said.
"T-That much?" Meixiu looked at him with wide eyes. Fortunately, they have plenty of money from selling the treasure, or it would be a struggle feeding him.
"Okay."
After dinner, Meixiu relayed the news to Doctor Wang.
Of course, Doctor Wang wasn't surprised that the meal wasn't enough for Yuan, as he'd purposefully made it so that Yuan wouldn't be full so that his stomach would adapt to the new diet.
"Continue feeding him this amount for the next three days, then you can slowly increase the amount." Doctor Wang instructed her over the phone.
"I understand. Thank you." Meixiu said to him.
The following morning, Yuan and Wang Xiuying followed Xi Meili around the city again.
And in the blink of an eye, another day passed.
The three of them continued this until an entire week had passed.
"The teleport formation should be ready in three days." The Dragon Emperor said to them.
"Three days, huh? What do you guys want to do? Continue looking around the city? But we've looked at pretty much everything. If only you guys had more time here, we could've gone further." Xi Meili asked them.
"This may sound weird, but I'd like to practice my Dragon's Gaze with you." Yuan suddenly said, dumbfounding her.