"These next few items seem to be the woman in white's personal items... and... well... I'm not sure if I should even bother going over some of these..." Pan Tian said.

"This one thought they were interesting," Ithilix said.

"I suppose that's true..." Pan Tian said.

"Well now I have to know, so just spill it already," Jie said.

"There's what seems to be her personal journal. I didn't read much of it, but it's mostly semi-coherent ranting about being trapped here and forced to serve in the garden. She even wrote over parts she's already written... I imagine she ran out of space and wanted to keep going. And there's a letter from a man telling her he loves her but that he's marrying a richer, stronger woman so his children will have a better life... there are tear stains on the letter..." Pan Tian said.

Great... as if I wasn't feeling guilty enough already, Jie thought.

"Well... that's depressing," Jie said.

Pan Tian shrugged. "That's life," she said.

"This one thought the letter was romantic," Ithilix said, "he said he would always love her."

"That just makes it more tragic," Jie said.

"Yes," Ithilix said with an almost dreamlike note in her voice.

Jie shook her head. I'll never understand why people like tragedies so much, she thought.

"Anyway," Pan Tian said, "she also had some useful treasures. Those five icy spheres are essences of frost. Each one is at the sixth star of the Elementalist rank. These are... incredibly valuable. We can't cultivate them yet, but I say we keep them for ourselves and use them when we can. Jie, since you're so close to breaking through, Ithilix and I thought the three of us would take one and you'd get two. We can't split them effectively and you'll be able to use them long before us."

"Are you sure we can't split them at all? Or maybe I'll take a lower share of the overall treasure?" Jie said.

"This one and Pan Tian discussed it already. We are happy for you to have two spheres and one for Xue of course. This one recommends you 'shush and enjoy it,'" Ithilix said with a smirk.

"Using my own words against me? What happened to the sweet Ithilix I knew only a minute ago?" Jie asked.

"This one is learning from you, Pr... Jie," Ithilix said, "so take the spheres."

Jie chuckled. "Alright. Thank you," Jie said as she stored her two spheres and Xue's in her storage ring.

"Oh, I should mention that they're especially good for people with water affinity. I don't know what affinities you'll have and they're still good regardless, but just so you know," Pan Tian said.

Jie nodded.

"And, finally, we have another thirty seven bloodfruit at the ninth star of the Expert rank," Pan Tian said.

They divided the loot between them as best as they were able with Jie holding onto Xue's share of the loot. Despite Pan Tian saying she wanted them to split things more evenly, it seemed to Jie that both the other girls viewed her as the least likely to die given her strength, and were happy to have her hold onto a larger percentage of the loot.

Ithilix and Pan Tian quickly bathed, and Jie decided to cultivate and consume a few of the new body conditioning resources while she waited.

She was curious what the rarer, more powerful body conditioning resources Pan Tian had been so excited about would be like. So, she made a note of what she was using, then did exactly that. Jie consumed an iron orb, a dose of dune cat bone powder, one container of mindworm jelly, and a Yang Asha's blessing pill as well as a tireless endurance pill.

Consuming all of the resources at the same time made Jie sweat and grit her teeth against the twisting agony in her body. Her bones and muscles suddenly felt like they were being shredded and burnt while her skin prickled and her organs felt like they were liquifying. But she endured the effects as best she could. Even with her muscles twitching and spasming.

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Once she felt the strain was at a tolerable level, Jie took out a ninth star Expert ranked bloodfruit. It was about the size and shape of a human heart with veins of dark red energy pulsing through it.

Jie took a bite. It tasted sweet, with a tang that made her tongue tingle and throb. Her teeth sank easily into the dark red tissue as thick, blood red juice trickled down her chin and crimson energy flowed into her. The energy streamed into her dantian where she began the process of refining it into dragon lightning qi.

As when she'd cultivated the fleshy bulb, the process quickly became painful. With a sharp spike of pain digging its way through her as though she were being stabbed from the inside out.

Jie endured, however, cultivating the blood red energy of the bloodfruit until it was entirely converted to dragon lightning qi. It came as a relief when she'd fully consumed the bloodfruit's energies.

Her dantian continued to ache but Jie directed her attention to her friends who had now finished cleaning up.

Pan Tian beckoned them over to the table they'd used earlier as she waved her hand and brought out half a dozen large plates and bowls, and three sets of utensils with another even larger bowl that Pan Tian slid toward Jie.

"That should be suitable for Xue, right?" Pan Tian asked.

Then, without waiting for a response, Pan Tian brought out a large cylindrical container which she placed in the center of the table.

Pan Tian then twisted a mechanism at the top of the cylinder and it opened with a click into two half cylinders with trays of food like shelves on the walls of the cylinder. The base plate held a large platter with a fruit that looked something like a cross between a mango, a pineapple, and an orange.

Multiple long skewers with delicious-looking meat and what looked like alien caramelized onions were impaled into the peculiar fruit, using it like a stand to hold the skewers up.

The tent filled with the scent of delicious food and Xue appeared beside Jie as though summoned by magic.

Aside from the meat skewers with meat and vegetable juices trickling down onto the strange fruit at the base, there were many other incredible dishes. Dumplings filled with meat and a strange yellow sauce.

A stack of omelets, a large lobster-like creature steaming on a silver dish. A vegetable stew, some kind of fruit salad. Bright blue, jiggling, flavored gelatin, toffee apples, and seared steaks with eggs sizzling on top of them. As well as fruit and vegetable salads.

There were even several jugs of water and fruit juice.

"I hope you like it," Pan Tian said.

"It looks amazing," Jie said as her mouth watered, "thank you."

"This one must concur," Ithilix said.

Xue nuzzled Jie's hand then rose up on his hind legs, placed his paws on the table, and nuzzled the bowl Pan Tian had given Jie for him. He meowed.

Jie laughed. "Alright, I'll take care of you first," she said, "which do you want? Nod for yes, shake your head for no."

Jie pointed at each of the dishes in turn. Unsurprisingly, a meat skewer, and one of the sizzling steaks with an egg on top both got a nod. Jie then added some raw meat, bones, and a cube filled with vitamins and minerals made by alchemists to ensure that Xue got everything his body needed. His large bowl was almost overflowing with food when Jie placed it in front of him. He dived into it face first and began wolfing it all down.

Jie then dished up for herself alongside her friends as they talked and laughed together.

The experience was bittersweet in a way as for some reason it reminded Jie of her meals with Ming when she first arrived on this world. But, she did her best to enjoy it.

The food was succulent, juicy, and fresh and every bite tasted like heaven. Particularly after the incredibly long day filled with keeping her friends an inch away from death. Jie found herself relaxing and as she did so, it was like another layer of exhaustion caught up with her.

But, she did her best to stave off her weariness as she wanted to enjoy this moment with her friends. As she did so, she felt the tension in her body slowly uncoil, making her feel as though she were melting into her chair.

Jie enjoyed talking with her friends as they discussed the valley. Pan Tian praised them all and Jie and Ithilix returned that praise. Jie was glad to have the older satyr girl leading them as she was certain that without her it would be all too easy to blunder into something deadly. And, so far, the valley had indeed been incredibly beneficial for her cultivation. Even if she had this strange blockage preventing her from breaking through...

Soon, the conversation turned to more personal matters.

"Oh, come on," Pan Tian said, "you never share anything about your life. You can't tell us anything about your family? What it was like with them? Not even a little detail?"

"This one is curious too," Ithilix said.

"I just... I don't like talking about myself," Jie said.

"So, tell us something small. It doesn't have to be a big secret... like... what are your parents like? I don't know... just something. You don't have to be so secretive..." Pan Tian pressed.

Jie gnawed on her lip softly as she considered that.

Perhaps I should tell them something... but what can I say without giving away secrets I need to keep to myself? Jie thought.

Pan Tian sighed and looked to Ithilix as though she'd given up on trying to pry anything out of Jie.

"I... my parents were killed," Jie said.

Pan Tian and Ithilix turned to Jie then.

"Oh... I'm sorry, Jie. I didn't know. What happened?" Pan Tian asked.

"They were murdered for their... their treasures," Jie said, "and the men who did it they... cursed me. My master cured my curse. It's a debt I'm determined to repay."

"Wow... no wonder you revere him so much," Pan Tian said, "and what about your clan? Your family? What were they like? And your master?"

"That's a lot of questions," Jie said.

"It's rare to get you to talk about your life, I won't let the chance go to waste," Pan Tian said with a smile.