Interstellar Farming: I Make Potions and Climb to the Top

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Di Youlin glared at the Little Fox, unhappy to see the pity in its eyes.

"Still laughing at me? If you’re so tough, then stop hovering around Ning Xuan. That whole ’life-saving grace’ thing? I bet you staged it yourself. You think I can’t see through you?"

"No matter where you came from, you’re by Ning Xuan’s side, so you have to suck up to her just like me. If you ever piss her off, let’s see how tough you can be then," Di Youlin said dismissively.

"SQUEAK..." the Little Fox chirped again.

"Stop squeaking at me. I don’t understand you anyway," Di Youlin said, waving his hand in annoyance.

The Little Fox gave him one last look, then turned and left.

Once it was gone, Di Youlin looked around to make sure no one was there. Recalling the phantom Exotic Beast he had manifested during his Cultivation today, he tried to mobilize his Bloodline Energy. Soon, the phantom of a crimson Fire Phoenix appeared behind him.

He carefully channeled his Bloodline Energy into the phantom. After a while, fine beads of sweat broke out on Di Youlin’s forehead. He controlled the magma-hot energy flowing through his blood, drawing it out of his body bit by bit and infusing it into the Exotic Beast phantom behind him.

Specks of crimson-gold light followed his meridians, peeling away from his spine and flesh. They exited his body from a major pressure point on his seventh vertebra and flowed into the Fire Phoenix phantom.

The Fire Phoenix phantom behind him gradually solidified. Translucent, golden-red flames began to sprout from the tips of its feathers, and the air warped into tiny vortexes from the heat.

"HISS—" His clothes were scorched to charcoal by the flames. Within a three-zhang radius at his feet, the green grass curled and blackened.

Di Youlin’s pupils contracted slightly. He could see crimson patterns flowing beneath his skin, spreading down his arms. In the orb of light gathering at his fingertips, he could faintly hear the clear cry of a Phoenix.

Suddenly, a tearing pain shot from both his shoulder blades. The loss of Bloodline Energy made it impossible for him to suppress the wings hidden within his body. With a BANG, a pair of crimson wings unfurled. The smoothly circulating energy abruptly stagnated, and the Fire Phoenix phantom dispersed with a WHOOSH.

’Not good!’ Di Youlin felt a piercing shriek erupt in his Spiritual Sea. The backlash from his Mutant Beast Gene was about to consume his sanity.

Di Youlin immediately bit his tongue to force himself to stay lucid, only to find the fiery energy rampaging through his meridians and blood like an untamed stallion.

He couldn’t control the energy within him. Searing flames erupted around him, engulfing his body. His crimson wings were also covered in rolling fire.

His scarlet eyes were filled with agony as the clarity within them was devoured bit by bit. Just as he was about to lose consciousness, a delicate hand pressed down on the crown of his head. A thread of spiritual power poured into his Spiritual Sea through his Baihui Acupoint, and the sharp pain within it gradually subsided.

The scarlet in Di Youlin’s eyes slowly receded, and the flames burning around his body gradually went out.

It was late. The temperature difference between day and night in the valley was significant. A cool breeze blew past. Di Youlin’s clothes had been completely burned away, leaving him stark naked. The chill wind made him shiver.

Di Youlin looked up at Ning Xuan. "Master, I’m begging you. Form the spiritual connection with me."

Seeing Ning Xuan frown, Di Youlin rubbed his aching knees and stood up. He spread the wings that drooped to cover his body. "Master, you like this body too, don’t you? As long as you form the connection with me, you can do whatever you want with me from now on."

Di Youlin moved closer to Ning Xuan, his outstretched wings closing like arms as he tentatively enveloped her. Fearing her displeasure, he didn’t dare to use any force.

Ning Xuan frowned in thought. Although Di Youlin’s genes weren’t in the gene bank, so they had never run a compatibility match, judging by the reaction of his Spiritual Sea, his genetic compatibility with her was likely very high.

"You’re begging me to form a connection with you? Aren’t you afraid you’ll never be able to get rid of me?" Ning Xuan sneered.

Di Youlin may have been locked away for three years on the seventh subterranean level in utter darkness, but he wasn’t one to follow rules by nature. Before Ning Xuan took him in, he was a dangerous individual who could have been forcibly eliminated at any moment.

When Di Youlin first came to her side, he ran rampant in her villa. Because being near her soothed his Spiritual Sea, he ignored all restricted area prohibitions and frequently trespassed in her courtyard, Alchemy Room, and Practice Room. Even when punished, it barely registered to him, and he continued to do as he pleased.

It was only after Ning Xuan used the control mechanism for the restraints in his body—transferred to her by the Controller Protection Association—a few times, threatened to send him back, and tempted him with fixed periods of close contact, that she slowly tamed him and taught him to obey the rules.

"I’m not afraid, Master. If you hadn’t appeared when you did, I never would have been able to remain sane after turning eighteen. When I met you, my Spiritual Sea was already in frequent turmoil. It’s only because I came to be by your side that my mental state has gotten better and better," Di Youlin said, looking at Ning Xuan with gratitude.

Ning Xuan nodded. When Di Youlin first appeared, his mental state had indeed been unstable.

"We’ll talk about the connection later. If you can master the transformation between your Exotic Beast and human forms, your spiritual power collapses and the crisis of mutation will be resolved. Then, your combat strength will improve, and you can return to the battlefield. You won’t need to follow me around anymore." Ning Xuan took a set of clothes from her Space Ring and threw them at him, telling him to get dressed quickly.

"No! Don’t say ’later’! I can’t complete the transformation without you, Master, I’m begging you." Di Youlin knelt and hugged Ning Xuan’s legs.

He had been by Ning Xuan’s side for a while now; he knew how to plead without arousing her disgust.

"Get dressed first." Ning Xuan removed Di Youlin’s hands and said.

Di Youlin quickly and obediently put on the clothes.

"What do you mean, you can’t complete the transformation without me? You’ve already refined a lot of the spiral nebula’s energy. Hasn’t that already improved your genetic issues?" Ning Xuan asked.

"The spiral nebula can indeed improve genetic issues and stabilize genetic information. However, I’ve tried. Without external support, I can’t complete the transformation from human to Exotic Beast form," Di Youlin said.

"Since your genetic issues have improved, the hidden dangers in your body have been temporarily eliminated. There’s no rush to fully transform. The person you establish a spiritual connection with is very important for you. You can take your time and look for someone," Ning Xuan said.

"There’s no need to look. You were the one who saved me. The only one who can connect with me is you. You might not know this, but before I turned fifteen and couldn’t suppress my spiritual power rampages and started causing trouble, my mother searched through Controllers of every Level and every age group in the entire Federation. She couldn’t find a single one who could soothe my spiritual power."