As they resumed their journey, Xia tried to share stories about her brother and growing flowers with her mother in their village. Expressing her love for flowers, Xia eventually began to talk about the blood flower she had discovered. Mei Lin, still not thinking clearly, didn't mind Xia talking about the blood flower, even though she was usually strictly against it. Compared to yesterday, their movement was much slower and more difficult than when fleeing the bandits. Mei Lin kept tripping, and Xia had to carry her weight constantly.
They stopped more frequently along the way because Mei Lin could not walk. Early in the evening, they found a small cave on the side of the canyon where they decided to rest. Xia chose this spot because she was exhausted from carrying Mei Lin and didn't have the strength to set up the tent.
After setting a fire, Xia started talking about the flower once again, so Mei Lin stopped her.
"Xia, do you want to read a book about the flowers?"
"Yes, I would like to know more about the flowers. I know myself w quite a bit, you know. My mother taught me everything she knew about flowers, and I can recognize many different kinds of plants."
Mei Lin, not very skilled in the subject, showed Xia a book about flowers. Despite being unable to read, Xia immersed herself in the images and illustrations, captivated by the beauty of the flowers.
Throughout the day, Mei Lin read aloud to Xia about various plants from the book. As evening approached, they set up camp and prepared for the night. Xia spent a few hours flipping through the book, enchanted by its pages that seemed to unfold endlessly.
Mei Lin lay on a mat beside the fire, reflecting on her cultivation. She hadn't practiced since acquiring the blood flowers and felt a sudden emptiness without it. It dawned on her that cultivating had been much more fulfilling, and Mei Lin experienced a sudden enlightenment.
"Xia, let me sit up, I need to cultivate. Before I started my way into Peng City and found you, we were attacked by the bandits and I was injured."
"Will it be better for you to cultivate? You are still injured."
"Yes, please help me up, I will cultivate for a while a then go to sleep."
"All right, should I take a guard if someone will discover us?"
"I don't think we will be able to escape either way, so you can just go sleep. I don't know how long I will be cultivating."
Once Mei Lin entered into the cultivation state, Xia watched Lin for a long time, until night came and after adding some more wood to the fire Xia went to sleep.
*****
Mei Lin entered a state of cultivation, experiencing bliss from her new stage. Her deeper understanding of blood cultivation made her feel different. Her absorption speed of natural energy increased, and she could sense the natural energy from her cultivation more clearly.
Mei Lin felt the natural energy slowly entering her body and then into her cultivation sea. This surprised her, as she couldn't perceive this process before reaching the first stage of BT. Previously, she was unable to feel the flow of natural energy.
Fascinated by this discovery, Mei Lin realized that while observing, she expended more natural energy from her cultivation sea than she absorbed. 'So this is the power of the QI Cultivation realm. It's amazing, but I can't do this for long, as I lose more energy than I collect. It also feels like I've been cultivating for hours, not just minutes. Maybe I'll be able to use natural energy from my cultivation sea more efficiently. I need to try once we reach the city.'
Without wasting more time and mental power, Mei Lin stopped observing the natural energy flow and resumed cultivating. Time flew by quickly, and after a few hours, Mei Lin stopped her cultivation. It was late at night, and the fire had burned down to embers, smoking lightly. Mei Lin added a few more pieces of wood to the fire and then took out the blood flower. Sensing nothing wrong with it, she cut her hand with a crystal knife and began feeding the flower her blood. As the drops of blood dripped onto the blood flower, Mei Lin started to feel dizzy and stopped. After feeding the blood flower, she stored it and went to sleep.
The next morning, Mei Lin woke up much later than Xia, who was already prepared to continue their journey to Peng City. After they prepared everything, they quickly left the cave and set out on their way.
*****
Thirty days later.
Both Mei Lin and Xia finally left the canyon and entered the vast plain before Peng City. The giant city, situated on an elevated plateau more than ten kilometers away from the canyon, was surrounded by high walls and a shining golden barrier emitting a faint glow. Neither of them had ever seen such a large city.
"So, we are finally here," said Xia, still helping Mei Lin, who was struggling to move due to her broken ribs.
"Yes, we are finally here. It was horrible. Let's go in and take a bath."
Xia giggled. Mei Lin put on her bamboo hat, and they both hurried toward the city. After a few hours of walking, they approached the massive gate and saw two glowing swords closing swiftly. Two cultivators descended in front of them, their robes fluttering as the swords' shining colors faded.
"Welcome to Peng City. This is the East Gate, located on the eastern side of the city. Are you staying here for long?" one of the cultivators asked, curiously eyeing Mei Lin, who was trying not to lean too heavily on Xia.
"Yes, we will stay here for a while," Xia replied.