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Chapter 311 - Chapter 311 - Powerhouse of the Cell

This time, Ava didn't rush the digging but took her time striking the wall. At the same time, Barbara used her energy-sensing technique to observe the energy distribution, flow, and output for each of Ava's strikes.

When she had collected enough data, she calculated the optimal way to maximize the force of each strike while minimizing the force dispersal to her arms, meaning less strain. Barbara called this number the ideal number.

Initially, Ava was completely clueless about translating Barbara's data into action. All the graphs, tables, and symbols felt like seeing those highly complicated inscription symbols made by formation experts. She couldn't understand any of them, and they made her head dizzy.

So, they had to do it by trial and error. Ava started by slightly adjusting the angle of her strikes, shifting her wrist a fraction, or changing the twist of her shoulder. Barbara observed each attempt with her energy-sensing technique, noting the readings and comparing them to the ideal numbers. If the energy output was too low, she'd tell Ava to increase the force or adjust her stance. If the strain on her arm was too high, Barbara suggested relaxing certain muscles or altering the follow-through.

They repeated this process, Ava making small tweaks—sometimes bending her elbow more, other times planting her feet differently—while Barbara tracked the energy flow, calling out whether the numbers were getting closer or further from the target. Slowly but surely, the readings improved, inching toward the ideal numbers with each adjustment.

Tens of thousands of strikes later, Ava could now consistently strike the wall, producing energy readings very close to the ideal numbers. Her striking power almost doubled, and the strain on her arm halved. Additionally, her clawing nails had also stopped breaking.

Ava was seriously impressed by Barbara's ability. Never in a million years would she have thought that her strength could be increased like this. Her attack power doubled simply by becoming more efficient. What was even more impressive was the fact that this was Barbara's first time using her energy-sensing technique to do something like this.

She now realized why Barbara was tasked to conduct energy research on the portal. The girl was definitely an amazing genius in her field.

At first, when Barbara said she would try her best to help, Ava thought it was just out of kindness and nothing really significant would result from it. But now, her opinion on Barbara's help has completely flipped. This naive girl might actually bring change to the stagnated body cultivation path.

Suddenly, Ava felt a strong urge to keep Barbara by her side forever so she could always help her with body cultivation. And the most likely way for that to happen was to make Barbara marry Leyvi.

When she became part of the harem, they would both always have a reason to meet, even if she decided to stay at the institute. With a connection like that between them, Barbara might even put body cultivation research at the top of her list, pouring her genius into it over other projects.

Gasp!

No, no, no! Was she actually scheming to feed another woman to that sex fiend? She shook her head vigorously, as if the motion could dislodge the thought like a pebble from a shoe. That panda's brainwashing was sinking its hooks deeper every day, twisting her mind into some harem-recruiting nonsense.

Ava, you must resist the temptation! Barbara is a precious, sweet, naive lady I must protect at all costs! I can't lose to the panda and the sex fiend! Shoo, panda, shoo, sex fiend, get out of my head! Ava thought, waving her hands in a frantic, almost comical dance to banish the mental intruders.

Barbara watched Ava performing the weird dance again with curiosity. Every time she did this, she used quite a lot of her mental energy. Barbara wondered what Ava thought so hard about.

Three weeks later, Ava finally dug a hole large and deep enough for the two of them to sit comfortably inside. What surprised Ava was the spiritual vein's size. It was a massive, radiant river of pulsating light, thick and vibrant, weaving through the rock like a living thing. Only at the far end did it taper into a delicate, threadlike strand. If she sat at the end of the hole, her entire body would be enveloped in its shimmering glow, every inch bathed in its potent aura.

And so began Ava's many experiments with Barbara.

The first thing they did was let Ava meditate in the spiritual vein, and Barbara would observe the interaction between Ava's cells and the ethereal spiritual energy provided by the spiritual vein. To do this, Ava permitted Barbara to use her spiritual sense freely inside her body so she could conduct thorough inspections and observations.

It was widely known that if a cultivator used their spiritual sense to invade another person's body while the owner remained conscious, the intruder's spiritual sense would become highly vulnerable to retaliation. Should the owner counterattack with their own spiritual sense, the invading presence could even be destroyed on the spot.

Experts theorized that a cultivator's spiritual sense was at its strongest within their own body, or within their personal domain, due to a phenomenon known as spiritual resonance. Each individual possessed a unique spiritual frequency, and within the space that matched their frequency, most notably their own body, their spiritual sense gained a powerful boost. In contrast, a foreign spiritual sense experienced dissonance, which not only weakened it but also made it unstable and more easily disrupted.

So it was extremely important to have an agreement between both parties first before using the spiritual sense to explore another person's body, whether due to privacy or the danger it posed. For example, if Barbara sent her spiritual sense in without notification, Ava might retaliate reflexively and damage Barbara's spiritual sense.

As Barbara's spiritual sense flowed into Ava's body, a gentle, probing warmth spread through her, like a soft current weaving through her veins. Barbara's voice bubbled with excitement from where she sat, her eyes half-closed in focus. "Amazing! So this is what another person's body looks like from the inside! Honestly, it's not that different from mine. Same muscles, same bones, same… everything. Hehe!" She giggled, her tone light, as if she were exploring a new toy rather than a living person.

Ava, meanwhile, fought a flush of embarrassment. Barbara's sense roamed freely, brushing against her organs, her blood vessels, her very core, with no restraint. It was like standing stark naked in a crowded marketplace, every inch of her exposed to scrutiny. Her skin prickled, and she had to swallow the urge to squirm. Get over it, she told herself. If she wanted to break through her cultivation wall, she'd have to endure this. Besides, they were both women—no need to get all shy about it. Still, the sensation was unnerving, like an invisible hand tracing her insides.

Barbara's voice piped up again, tinged with surprise. "Oh, wait! I see a difference now. You really don't have a spirit root! It's so weird, just… nothing there where it should be."

Ava rolled her eyes. Obviously. If I had a spirit root, we wouldn't be doing this right now.

After Barbara was done with her adventure in Ava's body, she manipulated her spiritual sense to zoom in more and more until she finally saw countless cells lining up. All cultivators could manipulate their spiritual sense to zoom in and magnify very small things, but the degree depended on each individual. The more they practiced, the greater their ability to magnify.

As a genius researcher, Barbara had used her spiritual sense to magnify small things so many times that now she could even magnify a cell and see the organelles within it.

Next, she activated her energy-sensing technique and merged it with her spiritual sense, but doing this required her to be extremely focused.

"Wow, so these are the cells of a body cultivator. They are packed with power! Oh my lord, look at those mitochondria! Such a big difference from mine. Amazing! What kind of pain did body cultivators go through to make them evolve to hold this amount of energy? Hmm… let me see… about a thousand times more energy than a normal mitochondrion. With so much energy contained in such a small thing, they are truly the powerhouse of the cell!" Barbara exclaimed.

From Barbara's perspective, the mitochondria in Ava's cells were a revelation. In a normal human's cells, mitochondria were small, modest structures—oval-shaped, with a wrinkled inner membrane that looked like a series of soft, undulating folds. They glowed faintly with a dim, steady hum of energy, just enough to sustain basic life processes.

In a Qi cultivator's cells, like Barbara's own, the mitochondria were a step above. Nourished by years of Qi absorption, they were larger and more robust, their outer membranes smoother and tougher, like polished stone. The inner folds—cristae—were denser, packed tightly in intricate, maze-like patterns that shimmered with a gentle, silvery light, reflecting the Qi's influence. Their energy output was brighter, more dynamic, pulsing in sync with the cultivator's Qi flow.

Ava's mitochondria, however, were a different beast entirely. To Barbara, they looked like fortresses forged in fire. They were massive compared to a normal human's, their outer membranes thick and rugged, scarred with faint, jagged lines as if they'd been tempered by relentless pressure. The cristae inside were not just dense but chaotic, a wild tangle of sharp, angular folds that seemed to vibrate with barely contained force. They glowed with a fierce, molten gold hue, crackling with raw, untamed energy that felt almost alive, as if each mitochondrion was a tiny furnace roaring with power.

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