Cai Wei, as a martial arts practitioner who was once nurtured by the spiritual energy of the space, has exceptional keen senses. Despite the soft voice of the shop assistant, she didn’t miss a word.
However, she’s not in the mood to dwell on his words at this moment. She was pondering over going to Zhang Biaotou’s home after the meal and teaching them the art of making dim sum. By the time she finished imparting skills to them, it would almost be time and her mother wouldn’t have time to force her to dance.
Delaying time was her habitual approach to evade her mother - the same tactic she used to avoid learning female workers’ tasks in the past!
Soon, the assistant served the ramen. The noodles, as thin as hair strands, were accompanied by rich chicken soup. The soup was topped with several pieces of chicken, sprinkled with bright green scallions, coriander, and bright red chili oil. The color, aroma, and taste were all in place, stirring one’s appetite at first sight.
Since it was an independent private room, she bravely called out The Great Immortal Turtle and Chang Mei after the assistant left, and had them sit at the table to dine with her.
Mid-meal, she suddenly noticed that Chang Mei’s smooth and straight fur was a bit dim, and the lines on the neck of The Great Immortal Turtle had increased a lot too. She couldn’t help asking, "What happened? I haven’t seen you for a few days and you all look so drained."
The Great Immortal Turtle, while slowly eating the ramen, said, "We all have always looked towards the spiritual energy of the space to survive longer. Now that the energy is decreasing, we’re growing according to natural laws. We’re all over a hundred years old. It’s natural for us to begin showing signs of aging."
Hearing this, Cai Wei was secretly alarmed. Considering that everyone is over a hundred years old and growing naturally, Chang Mei, Brother Ying and the White-Haired Tiger are all nearing the ends of their lives. Even The Great Immortal Turtle’s life might be ending. If any of them passed away, wouldn’t she be to blame?
The more she thought about it, the more frightened and upset she became, slowing down her eating in the process.
Seeing this, Chang Mei comforted her, "Master, you don’t need to be sad. We’re all growing according to natural laws now, but we have been nurtured by the spiritual energy for hundreds of years. It will take some time for any problems to occur. Also, the spiritual energy in the space has not been cut off, but is slowly recovering. It may take a few years, but once it’s back to its original strength, everything will be fine."
Looking at The Great Immortal Turtle, Cai Wei said with despair, "Great Immortal, isn’t there any other way to recover the spiritual energy in the space sooner?"
She was genuinely worried about losing them before the spiritual energy could recover. If that happened, she would feel guilty for the rest of her life and wouldn’t be able to face the other Divine Beasts.
The Great Immortal Turtle slowly said, "Find a place where spiritual energy is gathered, open the space, and absorb the energy there to replenish the spiritual energy of the space. Although such a spiritually rich place like Fu You Island is hard to find in this world, having something is better than nothing. Even if the energy collected from other places is not as good as Fu You Island, after several years of nurturing, it can still become as rich as the original spiritual energy of Fu You Island."
"So that’s how it is!"
Cai Wei fell into deep thought. To restore the space as soon as possible, the only way was to find a cultivation land bathed in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and the moon, and then collect its energy to accelerate the recovery of the space.
But where could she find such a place?
After the meal, Chang Mei and The Great Immortal Turtle returned to the space. Seeing their movements slower than usual, Cai Wei felt an unparalleled heaviness in her heart.
Now, inside the space was filled with monotonous grays and barren of life. All the living plants had disappeared. Non-living objects still made a presence, though they too were coldly settled in the weathered, lonely small bamboo house.
Although the Divine Beasts said nothing, Cai Wei could feel their suffering inside the space.