Interstellar Farming: I Make Potions and Climb to the Top

Eight years ago, just as he came of age, Zhang Nan was targeted during his first heat. Hua Ziyin, who had been plotting for some time, forcibly abducted him. They had relations, and she established a Spiritual Link Channel, making him her Contractor. Due to Federation laws protecting women and Hua Ziyin’s family connections, Zhang Nan tried many times but was never able to escape her.

This time, he finally managed to terminate the contract by borrowing Ning Xuan’s influence.

With Zhang Nan’s matter resolved, Chen Nan turned to see Ning Xuan looking at him with a half-smile, and his knees instantly went weak.

Everything had happened so suddenly. After seeing Zhang Nan’s silent plea for help, he had used Ning Xuan’s name to summon people from the Information Registration Center. He had spoken with Ning Xuan before calling them and had, in a way, received her approval. Still, he had intended from the very beginning to use her influence to help his friend. ’I definitely can’t escape the charge of serving my Contractor with impure intentions,’ he thought. ’It looks like Ning Xuan isn’t going to let me off easy.’

Lan Xin was both surprised and delighted to learn she could accompany Ning Xuan to the graduation joint exam. Nine-tailed looked quite dejected, knowing he couldn’t go. However, the Little Fox was very well-behaved and sensible, and he quickly perked up again.

There were still two months until official registration began. Over the next ten-plus days, a constant stream of students and teachers from Central Star’s major universities, and even the heads of various great families, came to visit. Without exception, they were all asking to team up.

Most of these people knew about Ning Xuan’s situation. Some were drawn by her title as an Alchemy Master, others knew she was accompanied by an extremely powerful expert, and some had witnessed her abilities as the Federation’s number one Purification Master. In short, all the well-informed major families on Central Star wanted to squeeze their children into Ning Xuan’s team.

Ning Xuan met with a few people in the first couple of days, but then she used the excuse of entering closed-door Cultivation and handed over the task of dealing with visitors to Yan Fuzhen and Lin Mo. At the same time, she also gave them the authority to make the initial selection of teammates.

A month later, Ning Xuan’s closed-door Cultivation came to an end. At dinner, Nine-tailed attentively served her dishes. Among them, a salt-and-pepper pork rib dish and a crispy fried pancake were new items she had never had before, and they were perfectly to her taste.

This time, the crispy fried pancake was perfectly flaky. With a light bite, the outer layer shed fine, crumbly flakes, while the inside remained tender and layered. The shortening separated the pancake into distinct layers, and the savory, oily fragrance melted on her tongue without being greasy, carrying instead a faint, milky aroma. Ning Xuan’s eyes lit up, and she couldn’t help but pick up another piece. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Who made these pancakes? Did the kitchen hire a new head chef?" she asked, looking up at Nine-tailed with a questioning gaze.

Some time ago, Ning Xuan had a strong craving for flour-based foods, especially crispy fried pancakes. She had found a substitute for wheat in this world—a grain she’d dubbed ’black wheat’—that could also be ground into flour to make all sorts of dishes. To recreate a familiar taste, she had even written down a detailed recipe for the crispy fried pancakes and given it to the kitchen. Unfortunately, the version the kitchen staff made never quite tasted the way she wanted.

Seeing that she liked it, Nine-tailed beamed and served her a bowl of lotus seed soup. "Can you guess who made it?"

Ning Xuan looked at his smug little expression and had a thought. Nine-tailed seemed to be spending a lot of time in the kitchen recently. "Did you make these pancakes?" Ning Xuan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Master, it’s not just the pancakes. The salt-and-pepper pork ribs and the lotus seed soup... this little slave made them all," Nine-tailed said with a proud smile.

At the Training Institute, there was only nutrient fluid to eat. When he first arrived, he was amazed by the food in the villa. Driven by his interest in fine cuisine, he often went to the kitchen to secretly learn from the chefs.

Ning Xuan was a very tolerant and kind master. After coming to the villa, he had much more free time to do as he pleased compared to his days at the Training Institute. Because of this, he had learned a great deal in the kitchen.

Recently, he had gotten a few of the recipes Ning Xuan had written from the head chef. He studied and practiced them repeatedly, finally succeeding in creating these dishes that amazed her.

Ning Xuan noticed the faint dark circles under Nine-tailed’s eyes. She knew he probably hadn’t been resting well, and she also knew why he had gone to such great lengths to practice his cooking. Her heart softened. "You’ve worked hard. Do you want to come with me to the New Star Body for the exam?"

"I do, I do!" Nine-tailed said excitedly.

"The New Star Body is very dangerous. If we run into trouble, someone of your and Lan Xin’s status won’t receive any protection. Aren’t you afraid?" Ning Xuan asked.

"Master, I’m not afraid. As long as I’m by your side, I fear nothing! The greatest danger for us Half-beastmen is a high Mutated Degree and unstable spiritual power. As long as I’m with you, those problems won’t exist. I promise I won’t hold you back!" Nine-tailed knelt on both knees and held up two fingers as he spoke.

Ning Xuan chuckled and patted his head. She sent a communication to Tang Xue, telling her they could team up, but asked her to add one more person to the roster for her.

After dinner, Ning Xuan gathered Yun Han and the others to discuss the supplies they needed to purchase for the exam. Yun Han was the first to speak. "Space Buttons don’t work on the New Star Body, so we can only carry what we can on our person. We need to prioritize food, medicine, and basic weapons."

Lin Mo also offered his opinion. "High-tech equipment will be useless. We can bring things like bows, arrows, ropes, and tools. We have someone on our team who is skilled in mechanical engineering, so we could also bring some suitable, portable materials. But we’ll have to consult a professional for what exactly to bring."

Everyone shared their thoughts. Ning Xuan suggested they find someone to design a set of high-quality combat suits capable of carrying various weapons, as well as large-capacity, easy-to-carry backpacks.

Another month passed, and the official registration day for the joint exam arrived. Ning Xuan led her selected team members to the registration point and submitted their team roster and related documents. The staff at the registration point carefully verified everyone’s identification and Spiritual Power Level. Once everything was confirmed, they handed them a detailed guide for the joint exam.

The guide detailed the procedures and rules for the joint exam. The exam was divided into three stages: The first stage was a survival challenge, where candidates had to find designated resource points and complete tasks within a set time. The second stage was combat record accumulation, where the more Exotic Beasts a team killed, the higher their score. The third stage was the final trial, which only teams that passed the first two stages could enter. The specific details of the final trial had not yet been announced.

Ning Xuan distributed the guide to her team members, reminding everyone to read it carefully and prepare accordingly.

She had heard that the spiral nebula on the New Star Body could enhance one’s spiritual power and improve their genetic lineage. Ning Xuan was very curious about this substance. ’If it can really improve genetic lineage,’ she wondered, ’does that mean I can reach the pinnacle of power in this world even faster?’