Chu Xiu dug quickly. His Wolverine Claws were so sharp that cutting through earth was barely harder than slicing tofu.
He dug at the front while the girls took turns hauling soil out of the ever-deepening hole.
Without a wheelbarrow, they had to use tough leaves to carry it.
Each leaf was two or three meters long. Even piled short of full, it held over a hundred pounds of soil. Dragging that much weight was hard work for the girls.
But none of them complained.
After several days on the Deserted Island, they understood how hard survival was. There was no danger now; they were only a little tired.
They could all keep going.
"Rongrong, boil some Spirit Rice soup in a shell. Everyone could use the energy."
Chu Xiu could see they were exhausted.
Ning Rongrong, the most pampered of them, had even rubbed her palms raw.
Spirit Rice could heal injuries and restore strength, and it tasted better cooked into soup.
"Okay."
Ning Rongrong answered weakly. If Chu Xiu had not called a break soon, she might have collapsed from exhaustion.
It gave Chu Xiu a new respect for Ning Rongrong and the others.
They were all favored daughters of heaven, yet each had the grit to push herself hard. Not one complained about rough work.
Compared with the other girls trying to survive on the Deserted Island, the companions he had chosen were certainly unusual.
"Food's ready!"
The rice soup was soon cooked.
Ning Rongrong tasted a few mouthfuls herself. Once she had recovered a little strength, she called Chu Xiu and the others over.
They stopped working. Qian Renxue washed the mud from her hands with spring water, and the five of them gathered around the shell of rice soup. Using smaller shells as bowls, each scooped out a serving and blew on it before drinking.
Once the soup reached their stomachs, Chu Xiu and the others quickly regained their strength.
The scrapes on Ning Rongrong's, Shui Bing'er's, and Ah Yin's hands healed rapidly too. Soon, they were back in top form.
"That's amazing."
It was Qian Renxue's first time experiencing the effects of Spirit Rice, and her eyes widened in surprise.
Chu Xiu suddenly asked Ah Yin:
"Do you know where this rice came from? And that Golden Sword Fruit today—what does it take for a plant to become an Immortal Herb?"
The Douluo Continent had several kinds of Immortal Herbs, but no one had ever explained their origins.
One theory held that the corpses of the Water and Fire Dragon Kings lay buried beneath the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, and that their Soul Power had created the well and the nearby Immortal Herbs.
But the spirit plants on the Deserted Island clearly could not all be growing above dragon king corpses.
Ah Yin shook her head.
"I don't know much about the Immortal Herbs here either, but I think Spirit Beasts have something to do with them. I smelled the blood of several different Spirit Beasts near the Golden Sword Fruit. It may have been grown with Spirit Beast blood."
"But you probably can't grow just any plant that way. It likely has to mutate first, then be watered with beast blood to help it grow."
Chu Xiu's eyes lit up.
He had not expected to learn something so useful.
Could he transplant the Golden Sword Fruit tree here, then use the blood of any Spirit Beasts he hunted to grow a second fruit?
He could transplant the Wild Apple tree he had found earlier, too.
As for Spirit Rice, the field was already nearby.
"Too bad I learned this so late. The weeds have already absorbed all of Luo Sanpao's blood. If I'd used it to water the Spirit Rice field, I might have gotten another crop."
After eating, they went back to digging.
By the end of the day, Chu Xiu had dug a cave five meters across. The entrance sloped upward before descending, so rainwater would not pour in.
He also dug a hole at the back of the cave, just wide enough to crawl through. It would serve as a vent and an emergency escape route.
Qian Renxue had made dozens of earthen bricks, but they needed a few more days to dry. Otherwise, they might crack when heated.
"Let's make dinner first."
Wiping sweat from his face, Chu Xiu said, "We don't have much Spirit Rice, so we won't eat any tonight. We can recover our strength by sleeping."
"Sister Xue, light a fire in the cave. Keep it burning hot to dry out the damp."
Everyone split up.
Shui Bing'er and Ah Yin prepared dinner, while Qian Renxue went into the cave to feed the fire.
After digging all day, Chu Xiu had soil all over himself and in his hair. He bathed in the Spring Pool, and when he was done, the others went to wash up too.
Clean again, they even enjoyed dinner more.
Of course, Luo Sanpao's meat was delicious to begin with. Chu Xiu ate a full five pounds of roast meat, and the girls each ate two or three times their usual amount.
They all had round bellies. Anyone who did not know better might have thought they were pregnant.
"That roast meat was so good, but it gets a bit rich when you eat too much."
Ning Rongrong let her tongue hang out, looking as though she had eaten more than she could digest.
Holding her round belly, Shui Bing'er said, "It would be nice to have some vegetables. Even wild greens would do."
"You want wild greens?" Ah Yin suddenly asked.
Ning Rongrong nodded at once. "Yes! Do you know which ones we can eat?"
Shui Bing'er and Qian Renxue looked over too. Neither of them knew their wild greens.
Ah Yin gave a rueful smile. "Of course I do. Aren't they growing everywhere?"
She pointed around them. The "weeds" scattered through the woods and at the foot of the mountain were all edible.
"This is purslane, this is sow thistle, and those are young dandelions. When animals are injured, they chew on many of these plants to help prevent infection."
Chu Xiu had not realized wild greens were growing all over the place.
He had thought they were just grass.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"You never asked."
"..."
The greens sounded good, but they were already too full to eat any. They would have to pick some tomorrow.
Night fell.
Once the girls had digested their food a little, they got ready for bed.
Qian Renxue moved the fire to the cave entrance, while Shui Bing'er and Ah Yin spread straw across the cave floor.
Chu Xiu told the others to sleep first. He would take the first watch.
The Spirit Beasts at the foot of the mountain and in the woods had been wiped out, but no one knew whether beasts from farther away might come.
There were also the Spirit Beasts on the mountain, each tens of thousands of years old, perhaps even a hundred thousand.
If one came down and they noticed it too late, someone could die.
Without Spirit Rice that evening, everyone was worn out.
Before long, the sound of steady breathing came from inside the cave.
Chu Xiu sat beside the fire, adding wood now and then. The flames crackled as the rising heat carried damp air out through the vent.
After who knew how long, he heard a rustling behind him.
Chu Xiu turned and saw that Qian Renxue had woken to relieve him.
"I'm dead tired."
Chu Xiu stood, stretched at length, and said through a yawn, "It's yours now. I'm going to sleep."
He was about to head inside when Qian Renxue spoke.
"Wait."
"Could you stay with me for a while?"
Before you continue