Grace sat on the back of Ruby as they continued their journey. The energy Grace could feel in the air was becoming more discernible. Grace wondered if she was becoming more sensitive to Mana or Qi; it could be either one at this point. But with the changes Ruby experienced after eating those demon cores, it became obvious that this world is not a normal one. Ruby is clearly showing signs of evolving more and more as time progresses. Although Grace has her suspicions about the direction of Ruby's evolution.
With Ruby's speed increasing every day after her meals of demon cores, both Grace and Ruby made quick progress out of the Desert Of The Rising Sun. However, neither of them are aware that The Desert Of The Rising Sun is considered a no man's zone, a forbidden zone in cultivation novel terms, with no one having ever come out of this place alive before. If the monsters did not get to you, then the heat would. Finally, Grace and Ruby left the desert as they came upon a dense jungle surrounding the outskirts of The Desert Of The Rising Sun.
The geography of a cultivation world never follows common sense, with the weather patterns it experiences. This is not something surprising to Grace who considers herself an otaku expert. The demons here are noticeably less strong and numerous than in The Desert Of The Rising Sun.
With nowhere else to go, Grace decided to look for a nearby river and follow it downstream. As anyone in an isekai situation is aware, to find civilization, follow the flow of the river. Water is life in this world, so it only makes sense to find civilization follow it. The same holds true on Earth, as the biggest cities are usually by a body of water.
Moving through the dense jungle, Grace and Ruby spent several days looking for a river. Finally, they found one three days into their journey. As Grace and Ruby started to travel along the river, the energy that Grace sensed only became stronger. Finally, Grace came to the conclusion that this is a cultivation world. Since starting yesterday, Grace has felt a foreign energy in her body, centering around where her dantian should be in the lower stomach area, according to the Wuxia novels Grace has read in her personal library.
Grace felt satisfied with herself and said to Ruby, "Well Ruby, if my guess is right, then I've now entered the first level of the Qi Condensation Realm." Grace looked at Ruby's changes and concluded, "Then Ruby, you would probably count as becoming a level one demonic monster. From the changes I've observed in you so far, you have grown at least three times bigger than before."
With that said, Grace definitely felt the energy in her body becoming stronger with every moment, slowly making Grace's body stronger both on the inside and outside. "Ha ha, I'm a cheat existence. I'm cultivating automatically without even needing a system or a proper cultivation technique."
"Oh no, Ruby, I better not become an immortal eight-year-old. I want to get older so we can watch those PG-13 movies we collected someday." Grace is always stopped by Ruby when she tries to do something she is not old enough to do yet. Well, most of the time that is.
Towards Grace's statement, Ruby just ignored her as usual. As Grace and Ruby continued to travel downriver, they came across faint signs of human activity in the form of deceased people. Sadly, Grace is quite used to the presence of death from living on the streets for several years. So, to this death scene in front of her, Grace was indifferent but followed the rule of minding her own business in a cultivation world.
"Ruby, remember this golden isekai rule: mind your own business and don't get involved." Ruby nodded in agreement to Grace's words. "As long as it's not that dreaded Truant Officer. I would like to see him push me around now and make me go to school. Ruby, if you see him, take a big bite out of his butt for me."
Looking to the sky, Grace noticed that of course, Mr. Cloud was still following her. Grace knew that Mr. Cloud was now an important member of her family like Ruby. How can Mr. Cloud not be important when he kept giving Grace delicious ice to eat? With the signs of humans fighting demonic beasts around them, Ruby raised her vigilance to the max.