Chapter 8: Plucking A Star
Actually, Ning Qiu Tong has wronged Chen Xi.
Because
after buying the medicinal supplies, that 10,000 Yuan was left with around 800
Yuan.
Normal medicinal supplies were not expensive, however, for those extremely old Ginseng,
velvet and cordyceps, they were all extremely expensive.
Due
to the scarce amount of Qi on Earth, Chen Xi could only source for Qi using
these old medicinal ingredients which contained a small amount of Qi.
The injuries on Ning Zhong Guo was very severe and it was impossible to cure it
via the normal way. Hence, Chen Xi decided to refine a simplified version of
the Qi Replenishing pill, using the methods of cultivators to save his life.
It
was past five in the evening when Chen Xi reached Kang Ju district with a big
bag of medicinal ingredients.
Same
location, same time, same person.
However,
his state of mind was largely different from that of yesterday’s.
With
a tinge of anticipation, Chen Xi sped to the house door.
The familiar apartment building, the familiar metal gate; It was the sort of
familiarity where space-time got mixed up and then rearranged itself.
Just
like yesterday, he gently knocked on the door.
This time however, there was some movements in the house once he finished
knocking.
“PAPA!”
“PAPA!”
“Papa
is back!”
The
little kiddo shouted excitedly. Even if Chen Xi stood outside the door, he
could still clearly hear the soft and gentle voice of the little kiddo.
Following
behind was a couple of hurried footsteps, and the door opened.
The
little kiddo placed her hand on the door handle as she tilted her head. Her
big, bright eyes silently observing the outside of the house.
When
she saw that the person outside was really papa, she immediately started to
shout excitedly, and directly hugged onto Chen Xi’s legs after pushing opened
the metal gate with much difficulty.
“Papa!”
Chen
Xi instantly squatted and used his left hand to hug his daughter. After
lowering his head, he rubbed his head against her and asked happily, “Nian
Nian, did you miss papa?”
“Miss!”
As
if to show that she missed papa, the little kiddo actively kissed Chen Xi on
the face with a squishing sound, instantly setting Chen Xi into fits of
laughter.
“Let’s
go into the house with papa.”
After
saying that, Chen Xi lowered his hands to the little kiddo’s thigh level.
The
little kiddo was very co-operative as she sat on Chen Xi’s arm and used her
hands to hug his neck, letting Chen Xi carried her into the house.
However,
it must be because of not seeing papa for so long, once Chen Xi brought her
onto the sofa, the little kiddo was extremely reluctant to leave him; She
tightly hugged Chen Xi’s neck, wanting papa to watch cartoons with her.
Aunty
Zhang has long heard the commotion outside, however, once she heard that it was
Chen Xi who was knocking, she re-entered the kitchen to prepare dinner.
“How
was it finding a job?”
While
washing the vegetables, Aunty Zhang asked Chen Xi about the job issue across
the kitchen.
“Still
alright. I met with an old classmate and he introduced me to a pharmaceutical
company.”
On
the way home, Chen Xi had already thought of a reason and hence, when Aunty
inquired, he could just fabricate some wild tales.
After
all, everything that happened to him was really outlandish and naturally, he
could not tell Aunty Zhang the truth.
“Pharmaceutical company? That’s pretty good. When will you officially start
work?”
“3
days later.”
“Oh?
Why don’t you bring Nian Nian out to play since you still have a few days left
until you start work? An old woman like did not dare to bring Nian Nian out to
play, fortunately, you are back now so bring her out to play.”
After
hearing Aunty Zhang’s words, Chen Xi gazed at his daughter and asked, “Nian
Nian, papa will bring you out tomorrow to play, okay?”
“Ok!
Papa bring me to play! I also want to go to amusement park and zoo!”
Instantly,
the little kiddo shouted excitedly.
With
his extreme level of sensitivity, he noticed the little kiddo used the word
‘also’ in her speech.
After
pondering for a while, Chen Xi understood.
It must be that when the little kiddo was playing with her friends in the
neighborhood, she heard from them of the amusement park and the zoo.
Since
Aunty Zhang was not that young anymore, she could not carry Nian Nian for too
long. However, if she allowed Nian Nian to walk by herself in crowded places,
the little kiddo might get lost.
Hence,
for the consideration of her safety, Aunty Zhang did not bring her out to play
till this age.
Other
kids were showing off their experiences while his daughter could only dully
listen to their stories, making her seemed miserable.
When
he thought of it, a strand of guilt appeared in his heart,
Hence,
he hugged his daughter and detected a faint milk smell coming from her body. He
then solemnly said, “Nian Nian, you have to eat more and grow taller. In the
future, papa will bring you to pluck the stars and scoop the moon. Okay?”
“Ok!
Papa will bring me there!”
***
Night.
After
waiting for Aunty Zhang and Nian Nian to sleep, Chen Xi stealthily took out the
medicinal ingredients and went into his bedroom.
He
was going to refine a Qi Replenishing pill, a very common pill in the Tian Xuan
World.
This
kind of pill was the fundamental pills a sect must have in order to improvise
the constitution of new disciples. At the same time, it could recover organs
that were damaged by diseases and hence, boosting their Qi absorbing rate,
allowing them to officially step unto the path of cultivation.
Alchemy
was very skill based. It was extremely strict on intensity of fire, types of
ingredients and the timing the ingredients was placed in.
Ever since his cultivation stage was damaged, Chen Xi had been trying for days
and managed to cultivate a strand of Qi. However, it was still not enough to
cast the most basic spell, much less the ability to control fire.
Fortunately,
the grade of the Qi Replenishing pill was so low, such that it did not require
any complicated alchemy techniques.
Moreover,
the pill that Chen Xi was going to refine was not the traditional Qi
Replenishing pill but the simplified version using resources found on Earth.
Naturally, it would not require any more spells.
Chen
Xi did not have high hopes for his simplified version of the pill as quite a
few main ingredients were missing. He would be satisfied even if the refined
pill had one tenth of the traditional one…
Even
if he was an Alchemy Master, it was still impossible for him to refine a God
pill from nothing.
After
taking a metal tray from the kitchen, Chen Xi crossed his legs as he sat beside
it.
Soon
after, he set up a Qi Gathering Array to prevent any Qi from leaking out.
Chen
Xi slowly placed the most common ingredients in the metal tray. Once the most
common ingredients have covered the metal tray, he placed a Ginseng in the
middle; This was the most expensive out of all the expensive ingredients.
As
quoted from , “Ginseng, able to heal the viscera, calm and strengthen the soul,
prevent and exterminate evil Qi, improve acuity of vision and increase one’s
happiness and intelligence. Prolonged consumption, reduce body weight and
prolong one’s life.”
Ning
Zhong Guo suffered from damaged viscera and using Ginseng as the main
ingredient was the best bet.
After
arranging everything in order, Chen Xi silently felt the surrounding Qi as he
converged the Qi together.
About
81 breaths later, a strange wind started to gush in the room, though the
windows were closed.
At
the same time, Chen Xi opened his eyes.
In
the dark room, his eyes faintly shone like a pair of fireflies, flashing in the
dark. It looked extremely eerie.
“Converge!”
The
medicinal ingredients in the metal tray started to tremble slightly.
Up
next, a faint vortex rose up from within the ingredients, and just like a
tornado, it viciously swallowed everything in its surroundings.
Chen
Xi’s arms moved continuously, casting out several spells in an instant.
“Rise!”
Immediately,
a pale blue ball of fire floated out from the bunch of medicinal ingredients.