[Inorin's Note:
Hey everyone, so sorry for the lack of updates these past few days! Four days ago, I randomly got the idea to build my own novel website, and I immediately hyperfocused on it. I got so caught up in the process that I completely forgot to queue up the scheduled chapters on Webnovel and only just realized it now. The good news is, my 78-hour coding binge wasn't for nothing—the website is already 50-75% done!]
Chapter 53: A Rich Harvest
Dan Heng extended a single, slender finger. He moved with the extreme caution of a researcher conducting a highly volatile scientific experiment. An aura of indescribable awkwardness hung over him as he reached out, extremely gently and with lightning speed, to symbolically press the very center of Pom-Pom's fluffy head.
The very millisecond his fingertip made contact with the conductor's plush fur—
Click!
A blinding flash of white light illuminated the carriage, accompanied by the crisp, unmistakable sound of a camera shutter.
March 7th had flawlessly captured a historic masterpiece. The photograph immortalized the fleeting, deer-in-headlights stiffness on Dan Heng's perpetually stoic face. Right below him sat Pom-Pom, eyes squeezed shut in sheer endurance, their furry cheeks flushed a deep crimson. And connecting them was that single, awkward hand resting on the conductor's head, glowing as if imbued with the holy light of scientific inquiry.
"Passenger March 7th! Passenger Stelle! What are you doing, Pom-Pom?!"
Pom-Pom's large eyes snapped open. The conductor's gaze darted from the camera clutched triumphantly in March 7th's hands to Stelle, whose face was currently contorted in a desperate, trembling effort to hold back explosive laughter. Comprehension dawned instantly. A fiery wave of absolute indignation and embarrassment rushed from Pom-Pom's cheeks all the way to the tips of their long, drooping ears.
The supreme authority of the Astral Express Conductor was being challenged like never before!
"Ahhh! How dare you secretly photograph Pom-Pom in such a shameful state, Pom-Pom! Unforgivable! Stop right there, Pom-Pom!"
The furry conductor transformed into a literal bolt of furious lightning, launching across the parlor car. March 7th and Stelle shrieked, clutching the photographic evidence to their chests as they burst into wild, chaotic laughter and scrambled to escape.
"Wahahaha! Pom-Pom is actually mad! Run, March!" Stelle cackled, grabbing the archer's wrist and dragging her toward the hallway.
"Save us, Dan Heng! The Conductor has gone berserk!" March 7th hollered over her shoulder, her hands moving in a blur as she securely stuffed the precious photo deep into her pocket.
Dan Heng remained frozen in place. He watched the parlor car descend into absolute anarchy, tracking the furious blur of Pom-Pom chasing the two cackling culprits in circles around the sofa. He closed his eyes and let out a long, deeply exhausted sigh.
The price paid to verify a metaphysical proposition regarding his luck... seemed a bit too high.
Still, despite the background noise of crashing furniture and squeaking protests, he had a task to finish. Dan Heng took a steadying breath. Tuning out the distant sounds of Stelle and March 7th begging for mercy, he submerged his consciousness directly into the chat group interface.
As his mental finger hovered over the [Ten-Pull] button, a faint, unfamiliar sense of anticipation fluttered in his chest, so subtle he barely registered it himself. He pressed down.
[Ding! 1280 points deducted.]
The visual explosion that erupted across his vision was entirely different from his previous attempts. Two pillars of deep, concentrated blue light shot upward, piercing the virtual sky. They were immediately followed by two equally vibrant beams of emerald green. The remaining six streaks settled into a familiar, ordinary white.
As the blinding glow receded, four distinct items materialized, dropping heavily into Dan Heng's waiting palms. Each one emanated a faint, extraordinary aura. He focused his gaze on the loot. For a man who prided himself on maintaining a perpetually unruffled expression, his pupils contracted sharply.
The first blue-tier reward was the [Spirit Condensing and Nourishing Pill]. It came contained within a warm, white jade vial, its surface carefully carved with flowing cloud patterns. Popping the cork revealed ten perfectly round pills, each the size of a longan fruit. They were a flawless, translucent jade-green, immediately releasing a refreshing, medicinal fragrance into the air.
The system description noted that these pills possessed the ability to nourish the soul and clarify the mind, significantly enhancing the sheer strength and resilience of a person's mental fortitude. Long-term consumption would strengthen a cultivator's foundation, effectively blocking external evils from eroding their sanity. Crucially, it boasted a powerful suppressing effect on severe negative mental states.
Dan Heng's breath hitched. This item could potentially delay the onset of the mara-struck condition for the long-life species of the Xianzhou Alliance. Several familiar faces flashed through his mind, resulting in the image of Jing Yuan, with his perpetually lazy yet dangerously sharp gaze.
It was a deep pity that the system had only provided the finished product and not the actual alchemical recipe. If he had the formula, he could hand it over to the Alchemy Commission. With their vast resources, the tragic inevitability of the mara-struck might have been permanently cured.
The second blue-tier reward was listed as [Mid-Grade Spirit Stone x9999]. It manifested as a plain, unassuming gray pouch that felt deceptively heavy in his grip. When Dan Heng extended a thread of his consciousness inside the spatial bag, he was greeted by the sight of neatly stacked, towering mountains of glowing stones. Each piece was roughly the size of a human palm, gleaming with a warm, jade-like luster and radiating a pure, majestic wave of natural spiritual energy.
These were raw ores packed with dense energy. According to the system, they could be used to power complex formations, fuel magical artifacts, assist in martial cultivation, and rapidly replenish depleted spiritual reserves. If worn close to the skin over long periods, they would passively nourish the mortal body, strengthening bone and muscle while extending the wearer's lifespan.
There was a catch, of course. Dan Heng did not possess any Xianxia-style cultivation techniques. Without a method to process the raw energy, these stones could only serve as glorified batteries for future formations or magical tools. Being entirely unable to absorb the spiritual power directly into his own meridians drastically reduced their immediate personal value.
The two green-tier items, however, proved to be surprisingly practical.
The first was the [Ice Heart Technique]. It presented itself as a thin, durable booklet bound in an unknown, silken material, with ancient, elegant calligraphy stamped across the cover.
The manual detailed a mental pacification method originating from another universe. Its core philosophy was simple: If the heart remains as clear and cold as ice, even the sky collapsing will not cause it to shatter. Silently reciting the mantras within this technique could forcefully stabilize a fracturing psyche. It was designed to anchor the user during moments of extreme emotional turbulence, severe psychic trauma, or the exact moment the symptoms of the mara-struck began to manifest.
It forced the practitioner into a state of hyper-focused tranquility, severing all distracting thoughts and violently suppressing the outbreak of negative mental corruption. While it was strictly an emergency stopgap rather than a permanent cure, its value to the Xianzhou Alliance was immeasurable. A reliable method to manually suppress the mara-struck condition was worth its weight in stellar jade.
This would buy Dan Heng the precious time he needed to scour the chat group for a permanent solution.
The final green-tier item was a packet of seeds labeled [Clear Spirit Grass]. It was a bulging, small green cloth pouch woven from durable plant fibers, giving off a faint, earthy scent of morning dew. Dan Heng untied the drawstring, peering inside to find thousands of dense, verdant seeds pulsing with a tiny, vibrant life force.
The system categorized [Clear Spirit Grass] as a low-grade but highly practical agricultural resource. Once fully matured, the plants contained a gentle, nourishing energy. Consuming the leaves, whether chewed fresh or dried and steeped into tea, would slowly mend a damaged soul. It provided a minuscule but continuous increase to mental fortitude, and long-term consumption would solidify the user's sanity.
Under normal environmental conditions, the grass required three to six months to mature for harvest. However, if planted within a [Small Spirit Gathering Array] or a [Growth Acceleration Array] powered by spirit stones, the botanical cycle could be violently accelerated. With enough energy, a full crop could be harvested in a mere seven days.
The raw grass was mild and slow-acting on its own. But if handed over to a master alchemist, it could be processed, purified, and combined with other medicinal catalysts to forge proper pills. The resulting medicinal efficacy would multiply exponentially.
Dan Heng's gaze swept over the four items resting in his inventory. His analytical mind immediately began categorizing, calculating, and weighing the strategic value of his haul.
The [Spirit Condensing and Nourishing Pill] was a top-tier strategic asset. It could directly intervene in the biological degradation of the Xianzhou's highest-ranking generals and officials, pulling them back from the brink of the mara-struck. Ten pills was a painfully small number, but it was enough to extinguish the most immediate, critical fires.
He had to be careful, though. The political landscape of the Xianzhou Alliance was far from a unified utopia. Where there was immense power, there was inevitable factional conflict. Dropping a miracle cure into the laps of ambitious politicians would spark a bloodbath. He needed to restrict knowledge of these pills to a very select, deeply trusted few.
Then there was the massive stockpile of spirit stones. He couldn't cultivate with them, but they were the perfect fuel source to accelerate the farming of the [Clear Spirit Grass].
If he could establish a large-scale agricultural operation for the grass, the sheer volume of the harvest would offset its low grade. If he managed to pull a compatible pill recipe from the chat group later, or better yet, if he outsourced the research and development to the Alchemy Commission, they could mass-produce a sustainable, low-cost mental health supplement for the entire Xianzhou population.
It was a brilliant, material foundation for a long-term war against their genetic curse. And the [Ice Heart Technique] would serve as the ultimate frontline first-aid manual, a psychological tourniquet to save lives in the heat of battle.
"It is just..." Dan Heng muttered, his brow furrowing as the logistical nightmare dawned on him. "Farming requires dedicated land and constant botanical care. Accelerating the growth requires the Divination Commission to calculate and construct the spirit stone formations. And refining the raw materials requires the Alchemy Commission to dedicate their cauldrons to the process..."
The exhausted, overworked faces of Lingsha and Master Diviner Fu Xuan flashed vividly across his mind's eye.
A rare, dryly amused smirk tugged at the corner of Dan Heng's mouth. "I sincerely hope those two, and the rest of their respective commissions, do not mind a little mandatory overtime."
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