Interstellar Farming: I Make Potions and Climb to the Top

As the drumbeat quickened, he arched backward before spinning into the air. His jet-black hair swept across the cold floor tiles like splashed ink, his waist twisting into an incredible arc. The entire sequence was full of power, yet supple and elegant, showcasing immense core strength and nimble agility.

The dancing youth before her reminded Ning Xuan of the Nine-tailed Fox stealing the celestial fire in the Dunhuang murals. She grew lost in thought, her gaze fixed on him for a long time.

It wasn’t until Nine-tailed knelt gracefully before her, a flower stem held gently in his mouth, that she was roused from her thoughts. The youth’s face was flushed, his eyes glistening with pure reverence.

She leaned forward, casually plucked the flower from his mouth, and tucked it into his hair. Spiritual Power Threads swirled at her fingertips as she lightly tapped the spot between his eyebrows. Nine-tailed felt a pure yet domineering spiritual power enter his mind. The black mist that had long shrouded his Spiritual Sea instantly thinned, and the subcutaneous Mutated Degree detector on his right wrist gradually turned from red to green, its reading dropping from 75 to 50.

Nine-tailed was stunned, finding it hard to believe. Although he was young, his Talent Ability was very high, and his Spiritual Power Level had reached S-Class long ago. Correspondingly, his Mutated Value had always been high. The Controller Protection Association would regularly invite Purification Masters from the Purification Master Association to lower the Mutated Value for the half-beastman trainees.

The Purification Masters’ methods varied, but the principle behind the treatment was similar. The problem of an excessively high Mutated Degree stemmed from their genetic bloodline. To lower it, certain substances had to be eliminated from their blood. Therefore, each treatment felt like having their very marrow scraped from their bones. Furthermore, it was followed by a one to two-month period of weakness. And even with all that, each session could only lower their Mutated Value by 5 to 10 points.

’But Master... she just gave me a mere wisp of her spiritual power, and it dispersed most of the black mist in my Spiritual Sea, lowering my Mutated Value by 25 points.’

Nine-tailed was ecstatic. If not for the two years of training at the Association that had taught him to control his emotions, he would have started jumping for joy to express his overwhelming excitement.

"Thank you for your gift, Master." Nine-tailed prostrated himself. When he looked up, his sparkling eyes gazed at Ning Xuan with longing. Ning Xuan easily understood what he wanted—he wanted to stay here with her.

Ning Xuan looked at the two fluffy ears on Nine-tailed’s head. ’They look so soft,’ she thought, ’I want to give them a squeeze.’ She beckoned to him. Overjoyed, Nine-tailed shuffled forward on his knees to her side, where he knelt and rested his fluffy head on her lap.

Ning Xuan waved her hand, and the performance continued.

Lin Mo stepped onto the stage, holding a guqin. He had taken a guqin course as an elective back in school simply out of interest and had done well. But it had been a long time since he’d last played. ’I’m not sure if I can still play it well,’ he thought.

Lin Mo was dressed in a light purple, wide-sleeved long robe. He set down the guqin and knelt before it, his long, slender fingers pressing against the strings. A deep and resonant note split the air. At first, the music was like a clear spring washing over stones in a pine forest, but it gradually transformed to evoke a lone plume of smoke rising from a vast, empty desert. The melody was beautiful and majestic, its mood distant and expansive. Ning Xuan listened, captivated. ’I never knew Lin Mo had such a talent,’ she thought. When the piece concluded, Ning Xuan praised him generously and gifted him a Purple Crystal Bracelet.

Afterward, everyone presented their best acts—dances, songs, and puppet shows. Lan Xin performed his miraculous Water Mirror Technique. A screen of water, condensed from Spiritual Power, displayed verdant mountain ranges and sprawling pine branches. The view zoomed in, close enough to reveal a squirrel hidden beneath the branches, clutching a pinecone. Ning Xuan watched in amazement. After the performance, she asked Lan Xin if the scenery in the water screen was real or an illusion.

Lan Xin respectfully replied that it was real, though he added that he could also conjure illusions.

The Water Mirror Technique was Lan Xin’s Talent Ability. It could be used as a surveillance monitor, but it could also invade a person’s Sea of Consciousness and drag them into an Illusion Realm. It was quite a miraculous power.

Finally, Yan Fuzhen performed a sword dance. The cold steel of his blade glinted chillingly. As he began to move, the hall was instantly filled with the afterimages of his sword. The great hall, just moments before a scene of peaceful song and dance, was transformed into a battlefield under a rain of flashing blades.

Over the course of the banquet, she had kneaded the ears of the youth in her lap until they were bright red. Now, as Yan Fuzhen performed his sword dance, Nine-tailed seemed to sense the piercing sword energy. He fearfully buried his head in Ning Xuan’s embrace, closing his eyes and remaining perfectly still in her arms, looking both obedient and pitiful.

After the sword dance concluded, Ning Xuan gifted Yan Fuzhen an item as she had the others, thanked everyone for their wonderful performances, and announced that the gathering was over.

The performances had allowed Ning Xuan to relax, and they had deepened everyone’s understanding of one another, bringing them closer emotionally. This was especially true for the newcomers, Lan Xin and Nine-tailed, who lost much of their initial unfamiliarity and seemed to blend in at once.

The night had grown deep. As the others watched, Ning Xuan called Lin Mo to her side and led him back to her personal residence in the main courtyard. Inside, behind warm, red silk curtains, Lin Mo, now sporting a pair of white tiger ears, lay panting on a pillow, his back bare. Old scars crisscrossing his back were flushed red with blood, painting an alluring scene within the room.

The next day, it was time for Ning Xuan to go to school.

The Federal Central Star Military Academy, where Ning Xuan was about to enroll, was also Lin Mo’s alma mater.

Having won the alchemy competition and obtained the Guiding Key to the Chaotic Divine Domain, Ning Xuan had long since become a person of interest. It was impossible for her to keep a low profile even if she wanted to. So, she simply brought Lin Mo and Chen Nan along with her to the academy as study companions.

Although Ning Xuan drew many stares upon her arrival, she wasn’t swarmed by onlookers. After all, everyone who could enter this academy was one of heaven’s favored children. The Central Star Military Academy had produced countless geniuses and monstrously talented individuals; many of the most powerful figures in the Federation were its alumni. In comparison, Ning Xuan’s fame was largely due to her status as a female Controller and her origins on a Low-class Star.

Ning Xuan’s major was still in the Alchemy Department. She was there to learn how to create High-star-grade potions. Her instructors for this subject were primarily the two vice presidents of the Alchemist Association, one named Fang and the other Yang. Besides the two teachers, there were over twenty other students in the program. However, apart from Ning Xuan, only two others were currently attending classes on campus, and as it happened, neither of them was present today.

After speaking with Teacher Fang, Ning Xuan learned that her current course was the final, most advanced program in the Alchemy Department. The format wasn’t a traditional lecture style but instead focused on research and discussion.

The relationship between instructor and student was more like that of teammates on a research project. The academy provided all project funding. If the research yielded results, whoever made the breakthrough could apply for a patent, and the academy would handle all subsequent matters, such as promotion.