Chapter 283: Reclusive Life
Chapter 283: Reclusive Life
Ji Xinghu knew that Ren Jie might have sensed something.
The Star-Falling Astronomical Phenomenon was far enough away that she shouldn't have been able to see it, but all the plants in Peach Blossom Gully were under her control. He had flown in a bit too fast.
"I flew around the area," he replied with a smile. "It feels so good to be able to fly!"
Ren Mian nodded, not pressing the issue further.
"Dinner's ready. Come and eat."
The two entered the wooden cabin. A cozy fire burned in the fireplace, and a simple meal was laid out on the table, covered to keep it warm. Ren Mian brought out two bowls of rice from the kitchen and sat down. Little Sunflower, riding on Green Rainbow, suddenly appeared on the table and exclaimed, "Sister, I want to eat too!"
"I've prepared something for you."
Ren Mian's face softened as she brought out a set of delicate tableware and placed it in front of Xiao Kui.
"It smells so good!"
After tasting the food, Ji Xinghu exclaimed, "I never knew Ren Jie could cook so well! This is my first time tasting your cooking."
"I don't cook often, but since you're here, I wanted to show off a bit." Ren Jie smiled. "If you like it, eat more."
"Then I won't hold back," Ji Xinghu said unabashedly.
Qinghong protested from the side.
Ji Xinghu glanced at it and took out a whole roast pig from his dimensional stomach bag. This was one of Qinghong's favorite foods, bought at Tianzui Cliff, and he immediately dug in.
Xiao Kui caught a whiff of the roasted meat and took a bite. After chewing for a few moments, she spat it out in disgust. "Yuck! Qinghong, how can you eat this?"
Ji Xinghu couldn't help but laugh.
"Xiao Kui and I prefer lighter flavors," Ren Mian explained. "Usually, when I don't cook, she eats flower nectar and fruit."
"Just like a fairy, untouched by the mortal world and so mysterious," Ji Xinghu teased.
Ren Mian laughed and denied it. "I'm not a fairy or anything like that."
"I am, I am!" Little Daisy exclaimed excitedly. "Brother Xinghu, I'm a little flower fairy!"
"Hahaha..."
Ji Xinghu burst into laughter.
After the heartwarming dinner, Ji Xinghu volunteered to wash the dishes. He efficiently cleaned up the kitchen and returned to find Ren Mian sitting in a wicker chair by the fireplace, wrapped in a thin blanket, leisurely flipping through a book.
The warm scene made Ji Xinghu's heart skip a beat, and he felt an inexplicable urge.
However, he controlled himself. There was only one wicker chair in the room, so he simply sat cross-legged on the thick carpet, admiring the peerless beauty before him.
"Why are you staring at me?" Ren Mian had no choice but to close her book.
"I'm bored," Ji Xinghu shrugged. Suddenly, he asked, "Have you successfully fused with the Rubber Body, Ren Jie?"
"Yes, this fusion went quite smoothly." Ren Mian felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze, but she replied, "The Rubber Body is one of the Crystal Light Attendant's innate abilities, so the success rate of fusion is very high."
As she spoke, she demonstrated her ability.
Her arm stretched out like a spring, extending several meters in an instant. It reached through the second floor and placed the book she was holding on a shelf in the bedroom before retracting back to normal.
"Congratulations, Ren Jie," Ji Xinghu smiled. "You're one step closer to becoming a legend."
Ren Mian stood up. "Come with me."
"Where are we going?"
"You said you were bored, so I'll give you something to do."
Ji Xinghu followed her out of the cabin, puzzled. The cold night outside made him reluctant to leave, but seeing Ren Mian walk through the garden, he had no choice but to follow.
The space within this secret realm was small, with a maximum distance of less than three kilometers. The terrain was identical to the lakeside outside, with a slight slope, and it was filled with countless rare and exotic flowers and plants. Each and every plant here was extraordinary, categorized and cultivated in separate areas.
Ren Mian walked into a grove of trees, and the glowing grass beneath them lit up.
"Qingkong Trees!"
Ji Xinghu recognized this grove. Every tree here was a Qingkong Tree, slightly taller than the one planted in Olympia, but none exceeded a height of ten meters.
There were at least two to three hundred Qingkong Trees in this grove.
Moreover, each tree bore Qingkong Fruits. Some had only a few unripe fruits, while others were laden with ripe, golden orbs, resembling loquats in their abundance.
Holy crap!
Ji Xinghu was stunned. The value of so many Qingkong Fruits was immeasurable.
Even though Qingkong Fruits were only effective for those at the third-stage and below, their market demand was enormous. There was no need to worry about sales, and they could easily monopolize the market without lowering the price.
A single Qingkong Fruit could be exchanged for one or even two Ether Crystals.
And once the fruits were sold, more would grow back.
"No wonder Ren Jie is so rich!" Ji Xinghu couldn't help but exclaim. "If all these Qingkong Fruits were exchanged for Ether Crystals, you'd truly be wealthy beyond measure."
However, Ren Mian shook her head. "It's not that simple. There's no channel to sell such a large quantity of Qingkong Fruits, and there aren't enough Ether Crystals to exchange for them, at least not in the Thousand Peak Abyss or the Bloody Highlands. Converting them into Asia Dollars or other currencies wouldn't be worth it and wouldn't make much sense."
"That's true," Ji Xinghu agreed. Regular currencies didn't hold much use for her anymore.
Suddenly, he thought of the Spirit Guest.
The Spirit Guest's trading list included Qingkong Fruits, and they were willing to exchange one fruit for three Ether Crystals! However, the existence of the Spirit Guest could not be revealed without permission. The fact that Ren Mian said she had no channels suggested that she might not know about the Spirit Guest, or she would have traded the fruits already.
If Ren Mian gave him the Qingkong Fruits and he sold them to the Spirit Guest...
Ji Xinghu considered the possibility.
Although the Spirit Guest repeatedly emphasized their lack of malicious intent and adherence to fair trade principles, faced with such enormous profits, Ji Xinghu dared not guarantee that they wouldn't harbor ill intentions. Against a Star Shepherd, even if he and Ren Jie joined forces, they would only have a dead end.
He had never liked the idea of entrusting his safety to someone else's moral standards.
This matter needed to be carefully considered over the long term.
Unaware of Ji Xinghu's thoughts, Ren Mian led him to the center of the grove. There stood a tall Qingkong Tree, the tallest among the surrounding trees, reaching a height of over twenty meters. Its trunk was thick, resembling a cassia tree, with lush branches and leaves, laden with hundreds of Qingkong Fruits that exuded a refreshing fragrance.
Under the tree was a spacious clearing, where flat stones were laid out around the trunk, along with various training equipment, all very complete in variety.
"You can cultivate here," Ren Mian said.
When Ji Xinghu entered the grove, he immediately sensed the anomaly. The density of etheric energy here was significantly higher than in other places.
"It's almost double the average density!" he marveled to himself.
The higher the density of etheric energy, the higher the absorption efficiency. This was a pattern long discovered by Earth's research institutions.
The greater the density, the faster the efficiency.
There was a positive correlation between the two. While a two-fold density increase wouldn't double his cultivation speed, it could at least enhance efficiency by 50%.
With Earth's technological level, only a small area could be altered to change the distribution of etheric energy, and it would come at an extremely high cost, requiring an enormous amount of manpower and material resources. Only the top billionaires and the strongest could afford to cultivate in such a high-density environment.
"What a great place!"
Ji Xinghu exclaimed, "Ren Jie, did you create this cultivation treasure land?"
"That's right." Ren Mian nodded slightly and introduced, "The Qingkong Tree is an extremely magical plant. Not only can it bear Qingkong Fruits, but it also has an adsorption effect on etheric energy. The more trees and the denser they are, the higher the density of etheric energy gathered. Cultivating here will increase your efficiency by half."
Ji Xinghu couldn't help but praise her.
Doubling his cultivation speed was indeed remarkable.
"If people were to know about this grove, countless individuals would be willing to go bankrupt just to cultivate here." Ji Xinghu was deeply touched. "And with so many Qingkong Fruits, Ren Jie, aren't you afraid that I'll reveal this place?"
"I trust you, that's why I brought you here." Ren Mian smiled softly, "If you like them, feel free to eat as many as you want."
"Then I'll pass. They're too valuable!"
Ji Xinghu quickly shook his head. In his eyes, each fruit on the tree was like a sparkling ether crystal; he couldn't bear to eat them.
"Do you have any auxiliary cultivation potions?" Ren Mian asked again.
"I have this."
Ji Xinghu took out a bottle of "Ether Refining Solvent."
Ren Mian recognized it at a glance. "The Ether Refining Solvent is quite effective. I don't have anything better than this. Before you cultivate, you can eat a 'Royal Blood Mushroom' to further speed up the absorption of etheric energy. The increase will vary from person to person, and the effect will last for six hours."
She pointed to a cultivation area outside the Qingkong grove, where a transparent greenhouse was built, housing a species of bright red mushrooms.
Apparently, these mushrooms were cultivated specifically for cultivation purposes.
Ji Xinghu had never heard of Royal Blood Mushrooms before, but seeing how seriously Ren Mian introduced them, he knew they must be good. Suddenly, he asked, "Do they taste good?"
"The taste is average. You can cook it before eating; it won't affect the effect." Ren Mian replied half-jokingly.
"I'll try it now."
Ji Xinghu flew into the grove, entered the greenhouse, and plucked a Royal Blood Mushroom.
The mushroom's cap was a vivid red, and its stem was white as jade.
This thing looked exactly like a "red umbrella and white stem," making him hesitant, but under Ren Mian's expectant gaze, he popped it into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed it.
After just half a minute, Ji Xinghu felt his body heating up.
"Whoosh..."
He exhaled a breath of hot air.
Even before he started cultivating, Ji Xinghu felt a change. He drank the Ether Refining Solvent and then immersed himself in cultivation.
Soon after.
Ji Xinghu felt the effects, and he became immersed in his cultivation.
Ren Mian watched for a while before returning to the wooden cabin.
Six hours later, when Ji Xinghu checked his interface, his starlight had increased by exactly 6 points! In the Star Realm, one could cultivate for over 40 hours a day, which meant he could gain over 40 points of starlight, and his cultivation efficiency was more than three times faster than before. In just over 200 days, he would reach the superpower bottleneck.
Ji Xinghu was filled with enthusiasm. He went to pick another Royal Blood Mushroom, ate it, and returned to the Qingkong grove to continue cultivating.
It wasn't until the latter half of the night that he returned to the treehouse to rest.
After sleeping for only two or three hours, Ji Xinghu woke up, feeling refreshed. As he stepped out, the cold hit him, and he saw that the world had turned into a winter wonderland.
The snowfall from the previous night had transformed Peach Blossom Gully into a snow-covered landscape.
Ren Mian was already up. Through the kitchen window, he could see her slender figure, and smoke was rising from the chimney, carrying the aroma of breakfast.
With the snowy scenery and Ren Mian's company, Ji Xinghu suddenly felt that this reclusive life was pretty good!
"Then I'll stay for a while and take it as a break." He made up his mind.
(End of Chapter)
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