Chapter 291

Several days later.

White Bird Star.

Star River Island, villa.

Fang Xing sat on the sofa, legs crossed, holding a glass of juice.

This juice came from a "Gourmet Planet" cultivated by the Federation, resembling a rainbow with nine colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, black, and white.

"Nine-color juice… the flavor is truly excellent."

He took another sip, then opened an email.

"Master!"

Xiao Lan, beside him, had somehow donned a teacher's uniform, gold-rimmed glasses, and held a teaching rod:

"Your contribution has been officially recorded and recognized by the Federation."

"And, per the promise of Wu Sheng Zhou Zhou Yehua, you may exchange it for rare resources… such as the flesh of this Chaos Offspring."

The Chaos Offspring was enormous; its corpse contained many usable parts.

Even, several vials of "Nerve Essence" to aid in breaking through to Wu Sheng!

Of course, Fang Xing's contribution was far from enough to exchange for that.

"Then exchange it all for Chaos Offspring flesh… my mecha is severely lacking in this material."

Fang Xing made his decision.

In truth, the amount of flesh he could exchange likely wouldn't even reach one-thousandth of what his bio-mecha required.

But regardless, it was a decent start.

"The design schematics aren't fully understood yet… no need to rush into action."

"Besides… a mecha factory isn't like the old cultivation fields or labs—it demands massive investment… I'll need to sell more suppressants to accumulate funds and recruit talent…"

He pondered a moment, then scrolled through other emails and found one from a female operative he'd teamed up with previously.

Fang Xing glanced at it and immediately dialed the communication.

"Captain!"

On the screen was a hospital room; Xi Ling lay inside a repair pod, eyes closed.

"You took Xi Ling to the hospital? That was thoughtful."

Fang Xing smiled at a tall, leggy white woman in a black bodysuit beside her.

They'd all been in mecha before, so they hadn't known each other well.

Now he saw: the female operative had a voluptuous figure, long legs, wine-red curls, and striking looks.

Yet her sharp features carried a trace of worry: "Captain… I just heard word that the Aoweigroup has quietly spread word that they're dissatisfied with us…"

"Because the hostage rescue ultimately failed?"

Fang Xing smiled, utterly unconcerned: "We were doing voluntary rescue—when did failure become a crime?"

"Officially, yes—that's why our rewards and contributions remain unchanged… supposedly due to Wu Sheng Zhou Zhou Yehua's advocacy. But privately, a little princess of the Aoweigroup died there…"

The female operative's expression held a hint of grievance: "We did our best… Xi Ling nearly died there, and other teams had fatalities… Never mind. I'm just warning you, Captain—be careful."

"Don't worry—I'm a current Ph. D. candidate at Blue Star University, backed by several Wu Sheng."

Fang Xing laughed heartily.

Besides, he'd already decided to lie flat and be a lazy fish.

How could the Aoweigroup suppress him?

In fact, this situation only confirmed his earlier decision to hold back.

A whole shipload of commoners died—why shouldn't a conglomerate die too?

There's no logic to that.

Before death, noble or common, all are equal.

"Though… the Federation's elite have top-tier gene surgery and other methods to live far longer than commoners—but they still die…"

"Only when death itself becomes unequal does true despair arrive."

"Captain, you're awesome!"

The female operative fell silent, then spoke: "I want to work for you!"

She was smart—knew she was only a Level Six operative with average background, unable to resist the Aoweigroup, and sought a patron.

"Fine. Send your resume to Star Sea Corporation on White Bird Star… I'll hire you if it's acceptable."

Fang Xing studied her again, noticing her resemblance to a black widow from his past life, and asked: "By the way, your name?"

The operative sighed: "Vijali… Boss!"

"Alright."

She acted quickly; Fang Xing reviewed her resume: "Congratulations—you're hired. Report to the company first as my secretary."

"Also… Xi Ling is actually a good person."

Vijali said: "Her condition is poor—she may need a Source Sea-class healing pod… I'm sure she'll be deeply grateful once healed."

"Hmm… she graduated from Nine Sword Academy—indeed, a fine person. I'll apply for her treatment. Later, you can come work for me to repay the debt."

Fang Xing agreed indifferently, treating it as a simple act of kindness.

After all, he'd once mooched off Nine Sword Academy—of course he'd show leniency to its graduates.

…

The Immortal Realm.

Mount Mount Baihua, fourth-rank cave dwelling.

Fang Xing's eyes gleamed as he gazed at the Wan Hua Cauldron before him, occasionally flicking his hand to cast several spell seals.

Inside the Wan Hua Cauldron, numerous herbs instantly liquefied; countless strange powders and medicinal liquids, barely blended under the spewing of nine fire dragons, formed several lumpy pills.

The medicinal power had not yet fully settled—it was undergoing its final transformation.

"Open!" After another half-hour, Fang Xing clasped his hands, pouring vast Nascent Soul cultivation energy into the Wan Hua Cauldron.

Boom!

The Wan Hua Cauldron burst open, launching four pills into the air—each brimming with unimaginable energy.

A strange medicinal fragrance spread through the air.

A golden hand of cultivation energy descended, snatching up the four pills and placing them in Fang Xing's palm.

"Fourth-rank Flesh-to-Bone Pill… even for Nascent Soul True Lords, it's an excellent healing pill."

"One batch of ingredients can yield up to eight pills… I only produced four: two inferior, two standard… not bad."

Though the Wan Hua Cauldron's power was undeniable, Fang Xing felt that with a superior furnace, he could still produce at least one standard pill.

Generally, cultivation realm skill standards were low.

As long as one could produce a single fourth-rank pill, one could modestly call oneself a fourth-rank Pill Master.

"My practice materials are exhausted—time to begin refining the 'Nascent Soul Pill.'"

These past days, Fang Xing had trained intensely; from late Golden Core to Golden Core peak, he'd faced no bottleneck—progress had been meteoric.

Besides that, he'd spent each day refining pills.

During pill refining, he discovered the Wan Hua Cauldron also enhanced fourth-rank pills—an unexpected bonus.

He stored the Flesh-to-Bone Pills, rested for several days, bathed, changed clothes, burned incense, and calmed his mind.

Only then did he enter the pill-refining chamber to inspect the ground fire and furnace.

Slightly closing his eyes, he pondered a moment, then slapped his storage bag.

A series of jade boxes floated out, each containing rare herbs impossible to find in the outside world.

Spirit Infant Fruit, Dragon Locust Vine, Azure Spirit Bamboo Heart, Thousand-Year Red Fruit… and the specially saved Ten-Thousand-Year Stone Milk.

"I only have five Spirit Infant Fruits… I'll use at most four; the last one as backup—if I fail completely, I'll just eat it raw."

Fang Xing silently planned.

Eating a Spirit Infant Fruit raw still offered slight aid in forming a Nascent Soul, though it was wasteful—true squandering—and far less effective than the Nascent Soul Pill.

But if all else failed, he'd have no choice.

If he weren't limited to consuming only one—eating more yielded no benefit—he almost wanted to swallow all five at once.

After all, if one Spirit Infant Fruit was inferior to a Nascent Soul Pill, wouldn't five be roughly equal?

What about taking them to another fourth-rank Pill Master?

Such masters would belong to either orthodox or demonic factions—equivalent to openly declaring himself Feng Shangren; even fools wouldn't do that…

Fang Xing stilled his mind, picked up a Spirit Infant Fruit.

The fruit resembled a ginseng fruit—pale, tender, exuding an irresistible fragrance.

"Spirit Infant enters the furnace, nine dragons soar—when azure bamboo streams flow downward, jade pot turns thrice, then nine times… quenched by Red Fruit, contained in jade…"

He silently recited the pill-refining incantation he'd studied countless times; a surge of cultivation energy enveloped the Spirit Infant Fruit and cast it into the Wan Hua Cauldron.

The first step of the Nascent Soul Pill: refining the main ingredient!

Fail here, and all is lost!

"One Spirit Infant Fruit can yield at most five Nascent Soul Pills… this first batch is uncertain—purely for practice."

Fang Xing's powerful spiritual sense surged, summoning the ground fire.

Roar! Roar!

Ground fire surged upward, transforming into nine fire dragons, continuously spewing flames to scorch the Spirit Infant Fruit.

Beneath the coiling dragons, the Spirit Infant Fruit did not char—it slowly melted, controlled precisely by the temperature…

"Good, I've finally mastered this first step of flame control..."

Fang Xing exhaled slowly.

He had practiced this flame-control incantation several times on previous fourth-rank pill formulas, so at least he hadn't messed up from the start.

The next moment, he pulled out the Blue Spirit Green Bamboo Heart and tossed it into the pill furnace.

"Hurry!"

With the incantation, a gentle breeze appeared, steadily grinding down the emerald bamboo heart.

"This raw material cannot be refined by fire—it must be ground by wind!"

Fang Xing guided his hand seal, and the unique power of the Wan Hua Ding descended, further purifying the powder, like a cascading emerald waterfall descending from the ninth heavens.

"Turn!"

Three fire dragons soared upward, catching the emerald waterfall and spinning continuously.

The medicinal liquid formed from the Divine Infant Fruit landed at the center of the vortex.

One turn, two turns, three turns...

After nine turns, the emerald waterfall had fully merged into the medicinal liquid, taking on a pale green hue.

Fang Xing immediately added Dragon Huai Vine, a thousand-year Red Fruit...

Inside the Wan Hua Ding, the furnace flames burned fiercely.

Suddenly!

The great cauldron trembled slightly, and a thick plume of charred black smoke rose.

Fang Xing, who had just retrieved the ten-thousand-year Stone Milk, froze: "Failed... but to hold out until the final step? It seems I have a real talent for pill refining. My earlier practice with other fourth-rank pills was the right decision."

Even the first batch of Ning Ying Dan held out until the very last step before failing.

Fang Xing now had full confidence in the remaining three batches!

That's two updates for today.

(End of Chapter)