Starry Sky Professional Directory 16
Chapter 16: Jade Skin (Seeking Collections)
The night in this alien world was exceptionally quiet, the stars unusually brilliant.
Inside the temporary camp, Fang Xing finished a large pot of fish soup and began practicing the Great Dragon Stake. Under the combined effects of the mysterious alien environment and the highly nutritious fish soup, his body refinement progress increased rapidly.
After an unknown amount of time, the flickering computer screen suddenly froze, emitting a mechanical voice:
[Beep, task completed!]
“As expected, adding the book as a sample significantly sped up the decryption process…”
Fang Xing went to the computer, opened the file, and saw alien characters, alongside their Federation equivalents and pronunciation guides. He had essentially acquired an alien dictionary, complete with audio.
“In addition, I can understand information from the farmers’ daily conversations, gaining a general outline to better understand this world…”
His eyes lit up, and he began learning the alien language. For Fang Xing, learning a foreign language was a joyful experience, especially when it represented immense benefits!
“First, this is the Great Wilderness, where beings called ‘Cultivators’ exist!”
“Cultivators! They can refine talismans, pills, and magical artifacts; they can cast spells… and at higher realms, they can extend their lifespan, even to the point of moving mountains and filling seas, achieving immortality?”
“Even a Qi Condensation Stage Cultivator is stronger than an Innate Martial Artist… hmm, the Jadeite Level Martial Artist in this world is called ‘Innate’ locally…”
“A hundred miles away, there’s a cultivator market town called ‘Qinglinfang,’ with tens of thousands of cultivators and countless ordinary people…”
“It is said that ‘Qinglinfang’ was recently established. A powerful cultivator faction, to develop the Great Wilderness, relocated a large number of cultivators and ordinary people, forcibly establishing it… therefore, the surrounding environment is extremely dangerous. Without being a Martial Artist, survival is almost impossible.”
“The Martial Dao here is quite simple: Acquired and Innate…”
“But even the strongest Innate Martial Artist, facing a prepared Qi Condensation Stage cultivator, has only one way out—death…”
“Speechless, when will the Martial Dao stand up again?”
This was roughly the information gathered from his recent monitoring, leaving Fang Xing quite speechless.
After understanding the background, he immediately turned to the ancient book.
According to the decryption, the cover bore the four characters 《Dan Dao Ping Jian》 (Dan Dao Appraisal). The contents described the appearance and properties of some common pills in Qinglinfang, along with simple identification methods.
Fang Xing took out the three jade bottles and compared them, finding one to be a wound medicine, and another a detox pill. The last unopened bottle contained Qi Blood Pills!
“According to the book, Acquired Martial Artists who consume Qi Blood Pills can strengthen their Qi and blood, refining their skin, muscles, and bones… resulting in rapid progress…”
“I still don’t believe it. I’ll test it with a toxin test strip and lab rats first…”
Fang Xing turned a page, his breathing becoming slightly rapid. He saw the description of a new pill: “Innate Pill! White in color, fragrant in taste… upon consumption, it strengthens the Qi of the five internal organs, assisting Acquired Martial Artists in breaking through to the Innate realm?”
“This ‘Innate Pill’ can actually help break through to the Jadeite realm?”
Fang Xing’s eyes lit up.
The Martial Dao stages in the Blue Star Federation are: the first stage, skin and flesh; the second stage, muscles and bones… almost equivalent to the Acquired realm in this alien world.
After reaching the peak of the Muscle and Bone realm, Martial Artists must refine their five internal organs, strengthen their inner Qi, and polish their inner and outer bodies to perfection, becoming pure as jade, hence the name ‘Jadeite’ realm!
But this step is extremely difficult! So difficult that even Xia Long thought it was hard for his class to produce a single university student!
“But now, all it takes is one pill…”
“The Blue Star Federation certainly has potions and other equipment to assist second-stage Martial Artists to break through to the third stage… but I can’t get them! The resources needed are too great, it’s not cost-effective…”
“But in this alien world, it may be different.”
A certain flame ignited in Fang Xing’s eyes as he looked at the Qi Blood Pill: “First… I need to verify the medicinal properties and toxicity of this world’s pills…”
He thought for a moment, put on his mask, and opened the bottle stopper. Inside the jade bottle, there were ten pills, crimson red like blood.
“Qi Blood Pills, Martial Artists only need to take one pill per training session, and the effects can last for several days!”
“I have a feeling that the pills in this world are incredibly potent. This isn’t because of advanced technology, it’s simply because they don’t fear waste, using resources to force the effect.”
Fang Xing first took out a Qi Blood Pill and identified it using the method described in the 《Dan Dao Ping Jian》.
“According to the book, many cultivators and Martial Artists dare not eat pills of unknown origin. Therefore, truly good pills have marks on the bottom of the bottle, and spirit talismans or wax seals on the body… once opened, there will be traces left, serving as a simple anti-counterfeiting mark.”
He looked at the bottom of the jade bottle and indeed found a green leaf mark.
“This should be the mark of a well-known merchant in the market town, representing credibility… but I don’t believe it!”
Especially since this 《Dan Dao Ping Jian》 came from that unlucky guy, there was the possibility of forgery.
Turning a poison pill into a Qi Blood Pill, then adding an instruction manual!
If that were true, that female Martial Artist was a real talent!
‘Even if the powerful force with the forged mark investigated later, the person would already be dead…’
Fang Xing considered this, took out a toxin test strip, and tested each Qi Blood Pill, finding everything normal.
He then returned to Aquila Star and ordered a cage of lab rats online.
The delivery was swift. Fang Xing looked at the lively little rats and calmly scraped some crumbs from the pills. He then calculated the dosage based on the weight ratio between humans and rats.
This step was crucial! Otherwise, a human dose, even a life-saving medicine, could easily kill a rat.
…
The next day.
Fang Xing woke up and checked the rats, finding them all lively and kicking.
Squeak! Squeak!
The little rats scurried around, biting and gnawing at the iron cage, seemingly overflowing with energy.
“Hmm, they’re all very energetic… I’ll send you to eat berries another day!”
He nodded, carefully put away the Qi Blood Pills, and went straight to school.
Although both tests showed no problems, Fang Xing decided to take the pill next to the infirmary just in case, so that if anything happened, he could be rescued immediately.
‘I seem to have… thought too darkly of human nature.’
‘But even so, my life is more important than anything…’
If it weren’t for the news about the Innate Pill and the intention to verify the effects of the alien pills, Fang Xing wouldn’t have been so aggressive.
He arrived at Yucai Middle School and skipped Lan Fei’s cultural class. The projected female teacher could no longer affect his state of mind in the slightest.
Outside the infirmary.
Fang Xing found an empty space and yawned. Silently, he used his palm to cover a Qi Blood Pill and sent it into his mouth.
“Hot, so hot!”
After swallowing the pill, Fang Xing immediately felt waves of heat surging from his lower abdomen, spreading to his limbs.
The continuous generation of Qi and blood caused his face to flush, his skin to tighten, and the veins beneath to writhe like earthworms. He felt like a Qi and blood furnace, urgently needing an outlet.
The next moment, Fang Xing immediately assumed the Great Dragon Stake posture!
The proficient Great Dragon Stake moved with a flowing grace. As the most suitable exercise for refining skin and flesh developed by the Blue Star Federation, Fang Xing immediately felt the difference.
The abundant Qi and blood in his body, like a flood finding an outlet, erupted violently. His skin began to crack, and blood beads seeped out…
On his attribute panel, the realm section, (Refined Skin: 99/100), flickered and instantly changed to (Refined Skin: 100/100)!
“Refined Skin is complete!”
Fang Xing’s heart stirred. His entire skin tightened, instantly becoming firm, like cowhide, yet radiating a bronze-like luster.
The next moment, a large amount of Qi and blood was continuously consumed, but the bronze luster gradually faded, transforming into a ‘jade-like whiteness.’
“This is… Jade Skin? My exercises haven’t broken through yet?”
“No, this is equivalent to forcibly breaking through using a massive amount of resources. It doesn’t matter if the exercises don’t keep up… the resources consumed by this one Qi Blood Pill may be equivalent to ten or a hundred D3-level nutrient solutions!”
“The resources in this alien world are truly abundant…”
The jade-like glow covering Fang Xing’s skin flickered slightly and then disappeared. The external manifestation of Refined Skin’s completion, Jade Skin, was simply slightly whiter skin, but Fang Xing felt as if he were wearing a layer of armor, capable of actively dissipating force.
“Just one Qi Blood Pill… and it has taken me this far in refining flesh?”
Fang Xing looked at his attribute bar:
【Name: Fang Xing】
【Age: 16】
【Profession: Martial Artist】
【First Realm: Skin and Flesh (Refined Flesh: 9/100)】
【Military Boxing Twelve Forms: 10/100 (Proficient)】
【Great Dragon Stake: 35/100 (Proficient)】
【Gate of All Heavens (Charging)】
…
“The Great Dragon Stake has also progressed rapidly, but the key is the refined flesh progress, which jumped to 9%?”
Fang Xing pondered: “This is probably because when exercising the skin, the muscles were also exercised. The key is still the effect of the Qi Blood Pill.”
“If one pill is like this, after consuming the whole bottle, refined flesh should be completed soon… After all, the Qi Blood Pill is for Acquired Martial Artists to cultivate with, and the so-called Acquired in this alien world actually encompasses the ‘skin and flesh’ and ‘muscles and bones’ realms of the Blue Star Federation!”
“In other words, the Qi Blood Pill is quite effective for second-stage Muscle and Bone Martial Artists. My current level is a bit wasteful…”
After a little exercise, Fang Xing felt he had undergone a rebirth. At least, with skin refinement complete and transformed into Jade Skin, his foundation was quite solid.
“Well, to be safe, I should still go for a check-up…”
Fang Xing made his decision and walked towards the infirmary.
Just as he reached the entrance, a classmate walked towards him. He looked closely, then raised his hand in greeting: “Awei?”
“A… A Xing?”
Liu Wei was startled to see Fang Xing.
“You’re going to the infirmary too?”
Fang Xing nodded: “I’m going for a check-up, what about you?”
“I… I have a stomachache!” Liu Wei suddenly clutched his stomach. “No, you go first, I’ll go to the toilet…”
“Uh…”
Looking at the other’s back, Fang Xing shook his head and calmly entered the infirmary.
He was already certified as a ‘genius’ by Xia Long, and the completion of Refined Skin was nothing. As for ‘Jade Skin’? As long as he didn’t do any related tests, the ordinary doctors in the infirmary wouldn’t notice anything unusual.
(End of Chapter)
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