Chapter 51: The Sudden Rise!

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: The Sudden Rise!

Mira looked up. The question was not a casual one. They had to enter the Hunting Ground eventually.

For Mira, there was the obvious danger threatening Valemont, and for Lydia, there was something even more important, because one of her missing soul fragments was supposedly inside that secret realm.

If they wanted to discover the truth about Lydia’s past and eventually free her from Mira’s body, the Hunting Ground was unavoidable.

Mira had already stopped attending regular classes during the day, and instead she spent most of her time gathering information about the newly discovered realm.

The Extraordinary Affairs Department had organized repeated expeditions, and Foundation Establishment martial artists were entering the Hunting Ground every day, bringing back a steady stream of information about its terrain, monsters, resources, and dangerous areas.

"The principal told me to enter in three days," Mira replied. "I’ll be going with the martial artists assigned by the Extraordinary Affairs Department."

Xavier nodded. Today was Friday, which meant Mira would enter the Hunting Ground on Tuesday.

Originally, Tuesday was supposed to mark the opening of the Valemont Martial Arts Academy’s annual Cup, but the tournament had been postponed indefinitely because of the sudden appearance of the secret realm, and nobody knew when it would resume.

"Alright," Xavier said, nodding. "Three days should be enough. It’s getting late. Take these and continue cultivating."

He reached into his spatial ring and took out three pills along with a spirit stone.

The three pills were the Marrow Cleansing Pill, the Lesser Enlightenment Pill, and the Saint Essence Pill.

"These won’t do much for me," Xavier explained. "They’re yours."

Mira looked at the pills in surprise. High grade pills like these were extremely difficult for ordinary martial artists to obtain, and Xavier had simply handed them over as though they were nothing special.

"I don’t want you wasting time trying to find these yourself," he said. "Use them properly and focus on recovering your strength."

Mira nodded gratefully.

Xavier’s expression then became slightly more serious.

"There is something else," he said, glancing toward her abdomen. "Your injury."

Mira’s expression changed subtly. The wound left behind by the removal of her Celestial Core was still there.

Although the Frost Phoenix bloodline and the various healing pills had greatly improved her condition, the injury remained far from healed.

Xavier had seen it himself the previous night, and the wound was deep enough that the exposed bone had once been visible.

Even now, after everything they had done, it had only partially closed.

At least Mira could now withstand strenuous movement without the injury reopening and bleeding immediately, but that was hardly the same as being healed.

Xavier frowned.

The wound seemed almost unnatural, as though the damage inflicted when her Celestial Core had been forcibly removed had left something deeper behind than an ordinary physical injury.

Ordinary healing methods simply were not enough.

Fortunately, as Mira’s cultivation recovered, the injury was becoming less disruptive. Still, Xavier was not satisfied.

"I’ll find a way to treat it," he said.

Mira looked at him.

"You don’t have to worry too much," she said gently.

"I know," Xavier replied, smiling faintly. "But I’m still going to find a solution."

He did not know what kind of treasure could completely repair an injury like hers. Perhaps it was a rare healing pill, perhaps a special treasure hidden inside a secret realm, or perhaps something even more extraordinary.

But there was no point giving up simply because he did not have the answer yet. As long as they continued becoming stronger, they would eventually gain access to resources they could not even imagine possessing now.

"There will be a way," Xavier said, gently squeezing her hand. "We just haven’t found it yet."

With that, he left Mira to continue her cultivation.

The Hunting Ground was only three days away, and before they entered it, Xavier still had several things he needed to prepare.

Back in her room, Mira closed the door behind her and looked down at the treasures Xavier had just given her.

A smile slowly spread across her face.

"With a husband like this, what else could I possibly ask for?" she murmured.

She glanced at the collection of pills in her hand, then at the fresh spirit stone resting beside them.

A few days ago she would have been stunned by such a generous gift, but now she was beginning to realize that Xavier had a habit of completely ignoring the concept of moderation.

Even so, warmth filled her heart.

Ever since returning to Arcadia Academy, her life had changed dramatically.

The Vice principal had transferred her back into her former class, and with the awakening of her Frost Phoenix bloodline becoming known, the people around her once again treated her as the extraordinary genius she had once been.

That also brought an old problem back with it. There were still plenty of young men who tried to approach her, and some had even started pursuing her again despite knowing she was married.

Mira found the whole thing irritating. Compared with Xavier, those men had nothing worth looking at. Not even close.

It was Xavier who had reached out to her when she was at her lowest.

He had pulled her out of the darkness and given her hope when she had almost nothing left, and now he was constantly providing her with precious pills, spirit stones, and other cultivation resources.

She had no idea where he obtained so many treasures, but she knew one thing.

Getting all of this could not have been easy, and Xavier must have paid a considerable price for every resource he brought back.

Her fingers tightened slightly around the bottles.

In this life, I only want him.

She had already made that decision. No matter what happened in the future, she would never give her heart to another man, and even if the path ahead became dangerous, she would stay by Xavier’s side.

But then another thought crossed her mind.

The Carter family. And the Sinclair family. Both were powerful forces in Valemont, and both had reasons to resent her husband.

If she remained weak, Xavier would have to bear the pressure from both sides alone.

That thought immediately wiped the softness from her expression.

"Enough," she said, taking a deep breath. "I need to become stronger. If I want to protect him, I can’t keep relying on him to protect me."

With that determination, she sat down cross legged, and the next moment she swallowed the Creation Pill.

A powerful wave of energy immediately spread through her body, and Mira closed her eyes and began circulating the Great Evolution Spirit Absorption Technique.

She had spent the past several days gathering information about the Hunting Ground while simultaneously rebuilding her cultivation, so she had been largely isolated from everything happening outside.

As a result, she still had no idea that the Sinclair family had already been thrown into chaos, and she certainly did not know that the disappearance of Pete Carter and his wife had already lasted three days.

For now, all of her attention was focused on cultivation. She needed strength, and she needed it quickly.

* * *

At the same time, Xavier had returned to his own room, and he too had no intention of wasting the night.

He sat down and took out the cultivation technique he had previously purchased, one similar to the Great Evolution Spirit Absorption Technique.

Unfortunately, when he had tried investing it in Mira, the technique had proven incompatible with her constitution, so for the time being Xavier still had only one cultivation technique he could actually rely on, the Everlasting life force.

Fortunately, his cultivation did not depend entirely on conventional methods.

The Chaos Body itself was capable of continuously strengthening his physical body and pushing his realm forward, and even the Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger, despite being primarily an offensive technique, contributed to his cultivation as he continued mastering it.

Xavier looked at the resources he had accumulated, and his eyes gleamed.

I’ve gathered enough. It’s time to make another breakthrough.

He immediately retrieved the Grade Five Creation Pill he had obtained from the system and swallowed it.

The pill dissolved almost instantly, and a tremendous surge of spiritual energy rushed through his throat and poured into his body.

His meridians trembled, and every cell seemed to awaken at once.

The chaotic energy already circulating inside his body reacted violently to the sudden influx of spiritual energy, spreading through his limbs and bones like an enormous tide.

Xavier remained completely still, focusing his mind as he began refining the energy.

Absorb. Refine. Transform. Then refine it again.

Time gradually lost meaning, and eventually the overwhelming spiritual energy was completely converted into chaotic energy.

Compared with before, the amount of chaotic energy within his body had increased by nearly half.

Xavier immediately turned his attention inward. Two of the energy points within his body had already been completely illuminated, and the third was rapidly brightening. His aura surged.

Foundation Establishment Realm, First Star. Second Star. Third Star!

Xavier opened his eyes, a trace of excitement flashing across them.

"As expected of a Grade Five Creation Pill," he murmured. "The effect is incredible."

But he was not finished.