Interstellar Farming: I Make Potions and Climb to the Top

After listening to Di Youlin’s account and Yan Fuzhen’s analysis, Ning Xuan’s heart grew heavy.

The security measures she had thought were foolproof had been easily bypassed by an intruder. Didn’t that mean her personal safety was at risk?

Ning Xuan’s finger traced a faint blue arc across the holographic screen in the monitoring room. The screen replayed the footage of the intruder appearing and then rapidly vanishing. If the surveillance equipment hadn’t been so responsive, it likely wouldn’t have even captured that afterimage.

"17, is there any room to upgrade the protection level?" Ning Xuan asked her smart butler.

"Master, the protection system has already completed a full self-diagnostic. No vulnerabilities were found, so an upgrade is not possible." The smart butler projected a stream of real-time back-end calculations onto the holographic screen. The system was running smoothly, with no flaws whatsoever.

"Send a copy of the surveillance footage to the Controller Protection Association and another to the Inspection Department. Have both departments investigate and see if they can uncover anything new. Alright, everyone except the staff on duty is dismissed for now," Ning Xuan ordered calmly.

Even if the intruder silently broke through layers of security and entered her bedroom, any attack would inevitably trigger the powerful liquid-metal shield she wore. This shield was extremely durable; it could block even the most powerful attacks for a moment or two—long enough to alert Yan Fuzhen and the others to rush over.

But this powerful shield had a weakness: if an enemy’s attack was too weak, the shield wouldn’t activate.

This was designed to avoid inconvenience in daily life. Otherwise, it would be a huge hassle if a light scrape or some playful roughhousing with friends and family could trigger it.

If the intruder had simply snuck up to her to collect a blood or hair sample, she might never have noticed if Di Youlin hadn’t seen through them.

"Family Head, the intruder hasn’t been identified yet. To ensure your safety, I believe it would be best to have Emperor General Di act as your personal bodyguard. Please consider it, Family Head." Yan Fuzhen blamed himself for what had happened. For now, however, Di Youlin was the only one who had detected the intruder’s presence. Besides, after this period of "training," the Emperor General’s condition was relatively stable.

Di Youlin’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Ning Xuan. Although he secretly hid in her courtyard every night, being able to accompany her openly would be much better, of course.

Ning Xuan looked at Di Youlin, nodded, and said to him, "I’m counting on you."

He couldn’t suppress the joy on his face. "It’s no trouble at all." ’This is much easier than secretly squatting in a corner.’

After everyone else had left, only one bed remained in Ning Xuan’s room: her own, which was over three meters wide. She thought for a moment, then with a wave of her hand, she retrieved another bed from her Space Button. She spread a soft blanket over it and said to Di Youlin, "You can sleep here tonight."

Di Youlin really wanted to sleep in Ning Xuan’s bed, so he felt a little disappointed. Still, he nodded and said, "Yes, Master."

Ning Xuan turned and walked to her own large bed, closing her eyes to sleep. But after all the commotion, she wasn’t the least bit tired. About ten minutes later, Di Youlin quietly slipped under her bed canopy. Just as he was about to find a corner to curl up in on the large bed, he saw Ning Xuan staring at him with a cold expression.

Di Youlin’s half-crouch shifted into a kneeling position, his beautiful eyes looking at her timidly. Ning Xuan sighed. "Come here."

Di Youlin scrambled over in a flash, hugging Ning Xuan and nuzzling against her. He loved her aura, her scent. Just one breath of it made his whole body relax.

The protection system managed by the smart butler was useless against Di Youlin. Despite learning so many rules during the day, at night, he would unfailingly sneak into Ning Xuan’s courtyard. Even though Ning Xuan had scolded, lectured, and even punished him for it several times, he never changed.

Di Youlin’s stealth abilities were simply too advanced. Even when they knew he was in the courtyard, it was impossible to find any trace of him.

But today, she had been lucky that he had spotted the intruder. Thinking of his persistence, Ning Xuan silently gave in.

「More than ten days passed.」

Ning Xuan continued to attend school as usual. The joint investigation by the Inspection Department and the Controller Protection Association had still yielded no information about the intruder. In response, both organizations assigned agents to protect Ning Xuan in secret.

Although there was no evidence, the methods capable of bypassing a protection system as advanced as the one at the Qingluan Mountain villa were extremely limited. Only an Extraordinary Influence or an incredibly powerful Spirit Controller would possess such means. Any Spirit Controller of that caliber would be on record upon arriving at Central Star. Therefore, Ji Wuchen—who hailed from an Extraordinary Influence and had repeatedly tried to approach Ning Xuan—was listed by both the Inspection Department and the Controller Protection Association as the prime suspect.

Yan Fuzhen knew that Ning Xuan had awakened a Legendary Level Companion Spirit. He also knew that as her Spiritual Power Level increased, her Bloodline Power would grow stronger, inevitably attracting covetous eyes from all sides. But Ning Xuan’s Spiritual Power Level was only A-level, and people from the Myriad Phenomena Star River were already showing up. This filled Yan Fuzhen with a profound sense of crisis.

「On Seven Star Divine Mountain」

Yun Tianye paced back and forth in his son’s room, watching Yun Han’s condition worsen by the day. They had invited an acupuncture master from the Starry Sky Academy to treat him. However, the master had been performing acupuncture on Yun Han for thirteen consecutive days, and his condition was visibly deteriorating.

Last night, Yun Tianye couldn’t resist any longer. He had secretly turned on the life monitoring equipment to check Yun Han’s vitals. He discovered that the data on the Life Monitor was much lower than it had been thirteen days prior.

As the time for the next treatment approached, Yun Tianye couldn’t hold back and went to the courtyard where Zhu Hongying lived.

This was the first time Yun Tianye had set foot in Zhu Hongying’s courtyard since she had agreed to Ning Xuan’s terms and beaten him half to death. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Zhu Hongying wasn’t particularly surprised to see him. After all, she was well aware of Yun Han’s condition. Seeing it worsen daily, the fact that Yun Tianye had waited this long to come to her showed he had a great deal of self-control.

"What are you doing here?" Zhu Hongying asked, her tone somewhat cold.

Zhu Hongying’s cold attitude made the expression on Yun Tianye’s face crumble. "Zhu Hongying, what’s with your attitude?"

"What kind of attitude do you want from me?" The two had been giving each other the cold shoulder for so long that Zhu Hongying’s initial patience had long since worn thin.

Yun Tianye’s eyes were bloodshot as he stared at her, gritting his teeth. Inwardly, however, he was in a panic. Zhu Hongying had always been gentle and considerate toward him. He had been throwing a tantrum and avoiding her, expecting her to come and coax him. Who would have thought she wouldn’t come even once?