Ye Qin channeled his divine sense again, intending to move the sand grains into the Floating Island. Unexpectedly, he failed. While he could move these ordinary grains out of the island, it was bizarrely impossible to move them back in.

A glimmer of bewilderment crossed his gaze as his mind raced, processing a flurry of deductions.

The Little Dew Grass needed sustenance to grow. They could consume light. Therefore, they should certainly be able to absorb nutrients from soil. Herbal medicines inherently grow in soil, relying on the sun to thrive!

Ye Qin snapped his fingers, a sudden realization dawning. Ah, after all that thought, he hadn't considered this. Perhaps he needed to dig up some actual earth and let them have a taste.

He hurried to the mountaintop, amidst the rubble and weeds, and dug out several handfuls of rich, thick soil. Then, he attempted to move them into the Floating Island. Again, he met with failure. This seemingly rich earth refused entry; not a single clod could pass through.

What in the world was happening?

Ye Qin was genuinely perplexed.

This puzzle, however, didn't stump him for long. He soon recalled something crucial. The Little Dew Grass had been collected from a protruding rock face near an eagle's nest on the back mountain cliff. The soil that entered the Floating Island along with the grass must have also originated from that very protrusion. That specific patch of earth on the outcropping must be movable.

Glancing at the sky, he noted it was mid-morning; the sun had only recently risen high.

Ye Qin acted instantly. He gathered two bundles of rope, a small herb basket, a hatchet, a small shovel, his herb-gathering knife, and other tools, then headed to the back mountain cliff. He began his descent, rappelling down the thick rope.

The Grey Eagles circling the peak still posed a significant threat, demanding extreme caution.

Half an hour later, Ye Qin reached the protruding rock on the cliff face and secured his footing. He surveyed his surroundings and noticed several new eagle nests built onto the nearby cliff walls, prompting a wry smile; he had destroyed the previous ones, yet they had already been rebuilt.

Two or three distant Grey Eagles spotted Ye Qin. They shrieked, "Chirp—!" and flew towards him, but abruptly halted mid-flight, circling anxiously without closing the distance.

Ye Qin, who had already gripped his hatchet, ready to fight, let out a sigh of relief when they dared not approach. He mused silently, Could these be the same Grey Eagles I encountered before? They must recognize me? These feathered beasts have remarkably good memories.

This saved him considerable trouble.

Since the eagles were keeping their distance, Ye Qin quickly swapped his tool for a shovel and began digging at the edge of the outcropping, exactly where the Little Dew Grass had once grown. Soon, he unearthed a substantial amount of soil.

Ye Qin scooped up a handful, rubbed it, and hesitantly brought it to his nose for a sniff. He couldn't detect any difference between this soil and the ordinary dirt on the mountaintop, apart from an overall feeling of pristine purity; it seemed unremarkable.

He then attempted to use his divine sense to transfer it into his Purple Mansion Floating Island.

Huh?

Most of the soil vanished from his grasp, leaving only a scattering of grit in his hand.

Ye Qin was stunned, unable to believe his success. An overwhelming surge of euphoria flooded his heart almost instantly. This earth could indeed be moved inside. This meant the Little Dew Grass in the island finally had absorbable sustenance.

He dared not immediately sink his divine sense into the island to check the specifics. After all, perched on this perilous cliff face, a Grey Eagle could launch a surprise attack at any moment—a potentially fatal event.

He continued to excavate more soil, packing it into the small herb basket, before climbing back to the peak.

Upon reaching the open-air camp beneath the giant rock at the summit, Ye Qin set down his gathering gear, sat cross-legged, and projected his divine sense into the Purple Mansion Floating Island suspended in the endless void.

On the Void Floating Island:

A faint, small sphere of white light, perhaps one-tenth brighter than a year prior, swiftly drifted out from the protective aura of the Natal Primordial Spirit Tablet, flying eagerly towards the area where the Little Dew Grass grew.

The handful of light, ethereal soil he had transferred was deposited near the five stalks of Little Dew Grass.

Within this island, Ye Qin, as the light sphere, possessed far more acute spiritual perception. He could clearly sense that this soil carried a trace of faint spiritual energy. Though not dense, the feeling was undeniable.

He carefully placed the soil around the roots of the five Little Dew Grass stalks.

The moment the root systems touched the earth, the Little Dew Grass began to move, rapidly 'drilling' into the soil. Then, at a speed visible to the naked eye, they began to grow, blossom, bear fruit, and sprout new seeds, rapidly generating stalks of new Little Dew Grass.

Meanwhile, the spiritually imbued earth quickly lost its energy, transforming into ordinary sand.

Ye Qin watched without blinking, meticulously observing the entire process, nearly unable to contain his inner ecstasy. His hypothesis was correct: with sufficient "food," the Little Dew Grass could be cultivated and grown rapidly within the island.

All his previous doubts were finally resolved by this scene. The initial single stalk of Little Dew Grass turning into five was entirely due to this soil. Solving the cultivation issue meant that rapidly advancing his cultivation of the Sit-Forget Sutra: Contemplating the Void of Non-Self was no longer an impossibility.

For the next few days.

Ye Qin climbed the cliff daily, excavating Spirit Soil from the protrusion to transfer to the Floating Island for cultivating the Little Dew Grass.

Even though the rock on the cliff face was hard, it could not withstand his continuous digging, visibly shrinking over time. The outermost layers of the protrusion contained only soil, but the deeper he dug, the more Ye Qin was surprised to find solid, bluish-green rock inside. The quality of this Azure Rock seemed even better, as the Little Dew Grass grew more robustly in it.

Especially at the very center of the Azure Rock, Ye Qin discovered a thumb-sized piece of pure green, spiritually saturated Azure Rock Marrow.

He took a liking to it, carefully placing it within the Floating Island for safekeeping, choosing not to use it for cultivating the spirit herbs immediately.

It took him three full days to transfer every piece of Azure Rock on the mountain that could be moved into his Purple Mansion Floating Island. After scouring the entire peak and finding no more Azure Rock, he departed, moving on to other locations to gather herbs and continue his cultivation.

Thus, Ye Qin settled into intensive cultivation deep within the thousand-mile wilderness surrounding Zhuqi County.

He relocated all the Little Dew Grass and Azure Rock to the absolute center of the Purple Mansion Island, designating an area about ten feet square near the Natal Primordial Spirit Tablet as an herb garden for intensive, small-scale planting. He sowed over a hundred stalks at once, their verdant glow a source of immense satisfaction.

Ye Qin did not deplete all the Azure Rock. Most of it was stacked nearby, reserved for future herb cultivation.

This patch of the endless void—the perpetually gray Floating Island—finally displayed a vibrant, incredibly vivid swath of green.

Ye Qin would no longer find his time on the Purple Mansion Floating Island tedious.

.