Interstellar Farming: I Make Potions and Climb to the Top

She Jin recalled the feeling of drinking the medicine the day before. The pain had been so intense his consciousness had blurred, and he thought he was going to be torn apart by the agony. To his surprise, he had woken up. That young lady was his savior. He’d been abandoned by the teammates he trusted, only to have his life saved by a complete stranger.

After collecting the Purple Marrow Star Pattern Grass, Ning Xuan had planned to leave, but She Jin’s situation caused a delay. While waiting for Lin Mo, she grew bored, and her gaze fell upon the ground, which was littered with the corpses of Flying Elephant Ants.

The swarm of Flying Elephant Ants had died from various attacks: some were poisoned, others burned, some killed by sonic waves, and the rest cut down by sharp weapons. Each method of death left a different kind of mark, but regardless of the cause, most of the Flying Elephant Ant corpses were mangled beyond recognition.

The Flying Elephant Ant, a social, flying Exotic Beast, was a species unique to the Lingxiao Secret Realm. There was no information about them on the Star Network. The only reason they recognized this Exotic Beast was because they possessed two maps of the Lingxiao Secret Realm; people who had previously been in and out of the realm had mentioned it.

Looking at the crimson ant carapaces covering the ground, Ning Xuan grew curious. She picked up a Flying Elephant Ant and gathered the broken fragments of its carapace in her palm. In the sunlight, she suddenly noticed a faint glint refracting from within the debris.

She focused her power into her fingertip and gave it a light flick. A transparent, cicada-like wing suddenly floated up, humming softly in the gentle breeze.

’What is this...’ She held her breath and leaned in to observe. A membrane-like wing, as thin as mist and shaped like a folding knife, was hovering three inches above her palm. Under the sunlight, its ice-blade-like edges shimmered with an iridescent sheen. Looking closely, she could see fine textures on its surface. When she reached out to touch it, the thin wing retreated as if repulsed. Ning Xuan gathered her Fire Element Energy to her fingertip and gently heated it. The wing suddenly erupted with a silvery light before returning to normal in the blink of an eye.

She suddenly recalled a foundational book on Artifact Refining, the *Hundred Refinements Atlas*. ’It mentioned that any material naturally immune to energy attacks is an exceptionally fine and precious material for Artifact Refining.’

Ning Xuan used her finger as a blade and chopped toward the wing membrane. This time, she used a bit more energy, only to see the thin wing abruptly retreat backward and disappear.

Ning Xuan quickly found over a dozen more of the transparent, thin wings among the shattered carapaces. They were also shaped like folding knives, identical to the first. She then searched for more in the areas that had sustained different attacks, finding dozens in total. She discovered that no matter what kind of assault they had endured, these lightweight Exotic Beast wings were completely undamaged. Poison hadn’t corroded them, and neither scorching flames nor sharp blades had harmed them in the slightest. Furthermore, they could even deflect some attacks, using the rebound force to propel themselves away and evade the blow.

’What a potent natural material,’ Ning Xuan thought, her eyes lighting up with excitement. ’It’s light but durable, immune to Fire Element Energy, has innate stealth properties, and can even deflect some attacks.’

She carefully performed the Object Control Technique, pinching the thin wings to observe them closely. The surface of each wing membrane was covered in a honeycomb-like pattern. When she held one and infused it with her own energy, it let out a BUZZ and emitted a gleam of red light.

"Excellent, it can even hold energy," Ning Xuan muttered to herself.

Seeing Ning Xuan pacing around the field of ant carapaces, Leng Yue couldn’t help but speak up. "Miss Ning, these Flying Elephant Ants are small, shelled Exotic Beasts. They have no meat, no feathers, and their shells are brittle. They’re completely useless. You aren’t actually thinking of collecting them, are you?" Leng Yue said, looking at the shattered carapaces with disdain.

Ning Xuan glanced at him but ignored him. She called Chen Nan aside and gave him a few instructions. After that, Ning Xuan and Chen Nan got busy. The transparent wings were mixed in among the carapaces, and it would be too troublesome to separate them one by one. So, Ning Xuan simply instructed Chen Nan to help her collect all the ant carapaces and corpses in Space Buttons. She had brought plenty of them, so she wasn’t worried about running out of space.

When Leng Yue saw Ning Xuan actually start collecting the useless carapaces and ignoring him, he felt a bit awkward. After watching the two of them bustle about for a while, he couldn’t resist sidling up to them. "Uh, Miss Ning, there’s still so much left. How about I help out?"

’I finally managed to help a little in the battle today and barely earned a sliver of goodwill. How can I just stand by and do nothing now?’

"You took part in the battle just now," Ning Xuan replied. "If you want any of this, feel free to take it for yourself."

"I don’t want them, Miss Ning! I just want to help you collect everything. Give me a Space Button, and I’ll start right away," Leng Yue said quickly, relieved that she was talking to him again.

"Are you sure? These might be valuable," Ning Xuan said, pointing to the dense layer of red carapaces still on the ground.

"No, really! I said I’d help you collect them." Seeing that Ning Xuan was set on taking all the carapaces and corpses, Leng Yue didn’t dare call them a pile of useless junk again.

"Here," Ning Xuan said, tossing Leng Yue an empty Space Button. "I won’t have you work for nothing. I’ll compensate you."

Most of the transparent wings Ning Xuan wanted were still attached to the ant corpses. However, some had broken off and were mixed in with the shattered carapaces. These detached wings tended to float in mid-air during collection, making them easy to miss. Therefore, after sweeping all the red carapaces and corpses into the Space Buttons, Ning Xuan had Leng Yue and Chen Nan stand back. She formed a Finger Technique with both hands, bit her fingertip, and flicked a drop of blood into the air. Then, channeling Fire Element Energy to her fingertips, she drew a Fiery Flame Talisman in the air with several quick strokes. The talisman spanned a full three meters. The moment it formed, a raging fire ignited in mid-air with a BANG and spread out rapidly.

Specks of silver light scattered out from within the flames. Ning Xuan’s eyes were sharp and her hands were quick. Whenever she spotted a silver glint, she reached out and snatched it. In no time, she had collected several hundred more Ant Wings.

Just as Ning Xuan finished searching the entire central area, Lin Mo returned. It was getting late, and if they wanted to make it back to the cave dwelling for the night, they needed to leave immediately.

Ning Xuan gave Leng Yue two vials of refined Dragon Saliva Clearing Miasma Potion, explaining it was his payment for helping. Then, she and the others headed back toward the cave dwelling.

Knowing his place, Leng Yue didn’t ask to enter the cave dwelling with them. Instead, he found another spot to rest nearby. Just as he was eating dinner alone, Yan Fuzhen arrived with several people in tow.

Yan Fuzhen looked at him and sighed. Leng Yue couldn’t help but rub his arms. "Housekeeper Yan, why the sigh? It makes me nervous when you sigh."

Yan Fuzhen was General Ying’s housekeeper—an immensely capable man, calm and reliable. No matter how difficult the task, he always handled it with an air of effortless competence. ’When has anyone ever seen him sigh?’