Chapter 257 - 170: Exchange

Rhonda Rhodes made his impatience obvious. If Paige had any social grace, she would have left at once.

But she clearly wasn’t that thin-skinned.

She had no intention of leaving empty-handed. How could she possibly go without achieving her goal?

So she just feigned ignorance and smiled. "Don’t be in such a hurry. I still have questions for you."

Rhonda Rhodes frowned. "If this is about the body’s original owner or his family, don’t bother asking. I wouldn’t know even if you did. I didn’t inherit his memories."

Paige Summers watched him for a moment, then slowly shook her head. "No. I’ve already taken care of his family and avenged him. I never expected him to come back to life. Well... no, he really is dead. You’re not him. I know that."

A flicker of surprise showed in Rhonda Rhodes’s eyes before he masked it. His tone softened slightly. "Then what is it you want to ask?"

Paige Summers glanced around the room. "I want to know why I felt this incredibly comfortable energy the moment I walked in. What’s going on?"

Rhonda Rhodes considered this for a moment. He decided it wasn’t a big secret, so there was no harm in telling her. "This cabin is built from hundred-year-old Axis wood. The Spiritual Energy it contains is quite rich, and you seem capable of absorbing some of it. That’s why you’re benefiting."

"Spiritual Energy... So you’re saying not everyone can absorb it?"

Rhonda Rhodes stated as if it were common sense, "Of course. Normally, only Cultivators can absorb Spiritual Energy. Once someone awakens a superpower, they can no longer pursue Cultivation and thus can’t sense Spiritual Energy. Ordinary people can’t either, unless they’ve undergone Energy Introduction. You, however, are an exception."

Paige Summers fell into thought.

’This must be because my body was refined by the Jade Pendant Mark,’ she mused. ’The person who made that Jade Pendant and earring might have been a Cultivator!’

After a moment’s thought, she couldn’t help but ask, "Are there other things that contain Spiritual Energy?"

At this question, Rhonda Rhodes’s spirits seemed to dampen. "Very little."

’Little? But that doesn’t mean none.’

’Judging by his reaction, those things must be rare. And he seems desperate to advance his Cultivation...’ Paige Summers smiled faintly. "If you’re willing, why don’t you tell me what they are? I’m often out on missions, traveling between the wilderness and the base. I might just come across them. If I do, I can bring them to you."

"You’d do that?" Rhonda Rhodes looked doubtful. He didn’t trust Paige Summers, but the offer was simply too tempting.

"Why wouldn’t I?" Paige Summers countered, then added a caveat. "Of course, whether I can actually get my hands on them is another story. It depends on what they are."

"Jade!"

Paige Summers raised an eyebrow. ’That’s not surprising. Isn’t that how it always is in novels? The purer the jade, the more Spiritual Energy it holds.’ Before the apocalypse, jade might have been valuable and highly collectible. But now, as far as she knew, most of it had been destroyed. What little remained was worth less than a strip of Mutant Beast jerky!

’To be honest, I actually have a few pieces in my storage space.’

She’d picked them up unintentionally while scavenging for supplies. Not thinking much of it at the time, she’d tossed them in just because they looked pretty.

Still, to be on the safe side, she didn’t want to take them out in front of Rhonda Rhodes. She just nodded. "Alright, I’ll keep an eye out. If I find any, I’ll be sure to bring them back for you."

Rhonda Rhodes hesitated for a long moment before suddenly saying, "That stuff is only useful to me. You and everyone else can’t use it."

Paige Summers froze for a second. ’That’s right,’ she thought. He’d just said she could absorb the Spiritual Energy in this room. If he hadn’t brought it up again, she would have forgotten all about it.

’It’s all Spiritual Energy, so why is he now saying I can’t use it?’

"It’s true!" Rhonda Rhodes insisted. "While you can absorb Spiritual Energy, it’s limited to things like these plants that naturally radiate it. The Spiritual Energy in jade, however, is mostly contained within. Even if you carried it around, it would have very little effect. You’d be better off giving it to me!" He added emphatically, "I can trade you for something suitable."

’So that’s how it is! But a trade...’

Paige Summers’s heart skipped a beat. ’It seems he has other valuable things. Could he have brought them with him when he crossed over?’

’Being a Cultivator sure is convenient!’

’I wonder where he could have hidden things to bring them with him.’

However, despite her suspicions, she didn’t get greedy. She just said, "I said I’d bring them to you, and I won’t go back on my word. Hmm, but if you insist on a trade... how about you tell me why those plants outside are growing so exceptionally well? A lot of people are eating them now, but unfortunately, none are as good as the ones you’ve grown."

The corner of Rhonda Rhodes’s mouth twitched. He glanced outside. "You mean those? Judging by your appearance, you’re not doing too badly. I’d advise you to eat less of that stuff."

Paige Summers’s expression shifted.

She knew these mutant plants weren’t poisonous and didn’t have much nutritional value, but she had no idea they had other harmful effects.

Rhonda Rhodes shot her a look and continued, "Eating too much of those weeds will harm a person’s fertility. Especially a woman’s."

Paige Summers was stunned for a long moment before she heaved a sigh. "There’s nothing to be done about it. People are barely surviving as it is. Even if you can have children, it’s nearly impossible to raise them in this day and age. The most important thing is to stay alive."

Rhonda Rhodes fell silent at her words.

He knew... all of this.

When he’d first arrived in this world, he too had suffered greatly.

He had a mind full of Cultivation Techniques and Spells, but his flesh was that of an ordinary mortal. Although he had used a Supreme Treasure to repair this broken-down body and bestow it with a Spirit Root, he had to start his Cultivation all over again.

Unlike the magnificent Nascent Soul Cultivator he had been on Aethelgard, now he needed to eat and drink. He was bogged down by the most basic of needs.

He had his Pocket Realm, but the journey from a stumbling outsider in the wilderness to where he was now—a place where he could at least cultivate in peace—was paved with hardships that no one else could possibly understand.

So while he couldn’t claim to know everything about the world’s hardships, he understood enough.

But, he was a Cultivator.

He sought immortality, the Great Dao.

’What did the lives and deaths of these worldly mortals have to do with him?’

He would help where he could, if it was convenient, and consider it a bit of good karma. But he was unwilling to involve himself in anything too troublesome that might interfere with his Cultivation. He didn’t have that kind of time.

’This was not his world.’

His sole desire was to reach the Nascent Soul stage before his lifespan ran out, draw a transportation Array, and return to Aethelgard!

Reaffirming his goal, he let out a breath. "I’m afraid that’s not something I can trade. I only grow these things to practice a Spell for controlling Spiritual Power. There’s no method anyone else can use."

Paige Summers was taken aback. "You mean, the plants in your yard grow so well because you use a Spell on them?"

"That’s right." This was why, to others, he appeared to be a support-type Wood Element Superpower User, which made it inconvenient for him to join a Hunting Party to scavenge for supplies. But with his low cultivation, going out of the city alone was a serious risk. If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t have had to travel thousands of miles just to find this small town, a place where the Spiritual Energy wasn’t quite so thin, to continue his Cultivation.

’So it really is a method that can’t be replicated!’ Paige Summers sighed in disappointment.