Isabella and the others parted from the ruined town and headed east towards the prairie.
The ruined town slowly disappeared behind them.
As they walked on the emerald-hued prairie, rich in earth and wood energy, they inhaled a refreshing aroma. The grass here was knee-high and flowed in gentle waves, rippling like silk under the soft breeze of the wind while caressing their legs.
The sky had brightened somewhat, though pale auroras still glimmered. Every breath they took was filled with rich elemental essence, yet there was a certain stillness here, like the land itself was in quiet mourning.
Everyone kept a vigilant eye while passing through this prairie.
Occasionally, they would pass patches of disturbed earth. Clearly, many battles had taken place in this flatland.
It was flatlands for a while until they reached a forest.
"This is marked as the Mystic Whispering Forest on the map…"
Shirley pouted, "Who came up with such a name? Forests are always whispering winds and mystic poems…"
"Hehe~"
She made the others giggle before as they continued on without even passing.
Isabella closed the distance between her and Shirley before she placed her hand on her shoulder.
"Shirley, don't get too excited. We don't even know if that marker means a treasure or a danger zone. We didn't even confirm it with that person."
Shirley's lips curled, "Elder sister, it's not like we're Davis to be able to determine whether he was saying the truth or not unless we're going to torture him, so there's no point in asking."
Her eyes flashed with a cunning glint.
"As for whether it's a treasure point or a danger zone, that's the adventure~ The result is merely a fruit of our journey." She looked straight and smiled as though she was innocent.
"…"
Isabella couldn't help but smile, "As long as you understand. Still, just be careful. There are too many unknowns about this place and we don't have a physician, an apothecary, or a Saint. Only pills…"
"Alright, but there's no need to worry~ I have nine- no, eight lives, after all. Hehe~"
"…"
Isabella didn't know what to say as she went speechless. She turned to look at Flamerose and Frostrose, whose aura couldn't be perceived because they were suppressing it perfectly, but she knew they had entered Emperor Tier.
An Emperor-Tier Fire Phoenix was said to be capable of reviving nine times from its ashes.
Hence, Shirley, who had once inherited their true soul essence also possessed nine lives, although she already used one on Davis. That stays that way even if the soul essence improves. It was a karmic bond with the majestic ability of the phoenix.
"We'll protect her."
Flamerose smilingly apologized, but Shirley fumed.
"Fmph~ I'm probably the strongest here in terms of killing power, so why would I need protection? Attack is the best form of defense!"
Shirley waved her hand.
She appeared aggrieved to be treated like a child, causing the others to laugh. While they traversed, Shirley kept the group alive, garnering giggles and holding conversations. Everyone could see she was the happiest when it was a girl's outing.
It as was as though she didn't miss Davis at all.
However, Isabella knew she was behaving like this to quell the worry in her heart. After all, Davis was going to face the Venerable Knights. Although they had confidence he would win, they had no idea what the result would be like. They feared for him but continued on.
That was the trust they had in him, full of faith and to also fulfill their mission of gathering resources for the family.
They knew the Realm Core wasn't going to help everyone in the way they wanted, so resources were still important. They heard the Elemental Dimension contained resources that are not even recorded, so if they chanced upon such an even more marvelous resource than what they found in the Candidacy, she felt it would be fantastic.
However, she could only hope.
Isabella turned to look at Dalila, "Please make a list of the resources and their uses."
"Already on it~"
Dalila went through the rings one by one, sorting out the treasures while recording using her avatar, who followed her behind.
She didn't mind. This was the major reason she was here anyway.
"Many thanks~"
Isabella bowed lightly to Dalila while walking. She couldn't imagine having to sort out thousands of resources and then write a three paragraph description of what they are and who might gain the most out of it while being categorized by Laws so they could make it easier for the family to check.
She would sleep before she could pull off such a thing, but Dalila seemed too familiar with this kind of stuff. She was also the one who helped the Treasury sort resources along with Mingzhi and Sophie, so she didn't find it strange but still found their skills immensely helpful.
Although she didn't want to go through the process, she was excited to hear the results.
How much wealth had they exactly plundered…?
Dalila suddenly crouched beside one such spot and narrowed her eyes.
"There was a Whiteflame Tulip here, a Low-Level Empyrean Grade fire-attribute ingredient." she murmured, brushing the soil between her fingers, "It bloomed recently. The mark of white dust was left here with flame aura…"
"But someone already picked it," Shirley said from behind her, arms crossed, "Cleanly."
"It seems so… but it's back in our rings probably. I just found a Whiteflame Tulip while sorting…"
"Pfft~" Shirley giggled, appearing amused.
They continued on and noticed more-
"This area already seems cleared…" Isabella said, her soul sense constantly scouring the surroundings.
Wilted petals. Stray roots. Scorched impressions left behind by harvesting techniques or battle techniques. There had once been spiritual herbs and heavenly resources all across this forest, yet now only the scars remained.
"The treasures here were already harvested…" Freya pouted.
She was sad she couldn't pick something from the ground.
"Well, the geniuses have been for nearly a year already…" Niera stated the obvious that others failed to remember at that moment.
They nodded, looking quite sad.
They had only looted treasures so far. They hadn't harvested, so there was still no sense of gain or happiness within their hearts. Of course, they were glad to have made wealth but as cultivators who wished for a grand adventure, finding something first gave and obtaining it gave them more happiness than looting it from others.
"It's still not a problem." Shirley sounded confident as she looked at the multitude of maps across her two arms, "According to these maps, they have not explored many regions. They said it's the size of a Lower Realm, but I'm not sure how much weight there is to those words. But if that's true, then the areas explored aren't even seven percent…"
"…" All of their expressions lit up.
"Isn't that good? In that case, more opportunities for us to get treasures."
"More opportunities for us to die, too~"
Flamerose and Frostrose uttered and glared at each other.
Between these twins, it could be seen the fiery one was optimistic, and the cool one was pessimistic.
Shirley giggled, "Well then- let's get to this point before the others could make it. We still have to cross two places marked on the map before we can make it there."
"Understood~"
The group responded.
It was Isabella who was supposed to lead them, but with Shirley so hyped, they all followed her.
While they ventured further, Isabella noticed that Aila was strangely silent. She didn't think that this cheerful fairy could be so silent unless something happened, so she closed the distance and patted her shoulder.
"Little sister~ Are you fine?"
Aila heard a physical soul transmission, causing her to come out of her reverie and look at Isabella.