As a newcomer, my control over the plot is a bit lacking. The transitional scenes in these two chapters today were a bit drawn out. I will pay attention to correcting this in the future and try my best to avoid such incidents from happening again.
I hope everyone can understand. To make up for it, I'm posting another chapter now.
Thank you for your continued support and encouragement!
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"Yao'er, Mayor Zhan mentioned the family banquet again recently. He asked if you'd be free to go to his house for a meal sometime." Luo Jimin and his wife Lin Hongmei were in the back of the car when Luo suddenly remembered something, so he stopped to ask Lin Yao.
"Let's wait a while. I'm very busy lately and can't get away." Lin Yao hesitated for a moment before replying to his father. He really didn't have time to go to Duan Qing's house for dinner, even if he didn't have to consider the other party's purpose at the moment, he still didn't have the extra time.
More and more disabled children from the Yi family gathered in Chengdu. These children, who had undergone special treatment, needed frequent acupuncture and medication, otherwise it would affect their future achievements. This was because intermittent treatment was far less effective than a full-fledged treatment. Lin Yao was unwilling to let such trivial matters delay anyone's future.
“Alright, I’ll tell him that tomorrow. Anyway, he’ll know who you are, so he’ll probably understand. Our angel isn’t exactly free.” Luo Jimin laughed and accepted his son’s reply.
Luo Jimin had heard about what was happening at the garment factory and knew that Lin Yao must be very busy. If it weren't for Lin Hongmei's insistence on seeing her son and the increasingly serious situation requiring Lin Yao's participation in decision-making, he wouldn't have forced Lin Yao to come back.
"Yao'er, you should visit your son when you have time. My dear grandson has cried several times. Grandma is asking me to find him a father." Lin Hongmei also remembered something important. Now that the official business was finished, everyone thought about their personal matters.
"How is Lili? Is he behaving well at kindergarten? Does he come back often on weekends?" Lin Yao asked three questions in a row, showing his anxiety. He hadn't seen Xiao Guli for a long time and missed him. He was also concerned about whether Xiao Guli could adapt to boarding school life. After all, in the past, even being away for a day would make the little guy cry.
"Fortunately, my good grandson is very sensible and obedient. I heard he often gets little red flowers at kindergarten, and he even brought them home for your dad and me to see, which made everyone very happy. Your dad even said that you should find a wife soon, because he wants to hold his grandson." Lin Hongmei smiled and looked at her husband beside her. After getting used to it, she had completely accepted her grandson, Xiao Guli, and didn't feel embarrassed to mention him anymore.
"Nonsense! When did I ever say such a thing? You're the one who wants to have grandchildren, aren't you? You're still young, yet you have such old-fashioned thoughts!" Luo Jimin immediately retorted.
Lin Hongmei glared at her husband, cursing him inwardly for being so uncooperative and lacking in romance.
“On weekends, Ruan Lingling would bring Lili and Nannan to the pharmaceutical factory to play for half a day. Lili is very obedient and has become much more sensible. Although he cries every time, he can hold back his tears and not call you. He says that his father is busy and he has to be more obedient.” Lin Hongmei ignored her husband’s protest and continued talking to her son, “You should take some time to comfort the little guy. I feel sorry for him. Although he can hold back his tears, his appearance makes me want to cry.”
"Okay, things have improved a bit over there recently. This weekend, after Lili and Nannan have their day off, invite them to come to the garment factory for half a day. You can call Yifei afterward. Lin Yao has agreed to his mother's suggestion; he really misses the little one."
Recently, the treatment work for the Yi family members has become a little easier. The next batch of people will not arrive for a while. The children with serious illnesses were arranged to come to Chengdu first. It will only get easier in the future. Although the number of people is larger and the total workload has not decreased, the intensity and the tension of the therapists have decreased a lot. They can also occasionally take some time to spend with the little ones.
It would be good to let Xiao Guli and Nannan interact with the children of the Yi family. They could learn from the children's perseverance. Lin Yao suddenly remembered the benefits he could gain.
"Oh, right, Yao'er, there's one more thing." Lin Hongmei kept squeezing out things like toothpaste, "Your Uncle Wen mentioned to me that Grandpa Wen hasn't been feeling well lately, and he'd like you to take a look at him. When are you free?"
"Is it serious? If it's not serious, I'll come next time. If it's urgent, I can come tomorrow." Lin Yao was taken aback, thinking that Grandpa Wen's health was very important, and he had to make time to see him no matter what.
"I don't know the specifics, I'll call you tomorrow." Lin Hongmei smiled. "Speaking of which, Grandpa Wen is still your idol, how can you be so indifferent? You were so eager to see your idol before that you tricked your Uncle Wen into coming, and then nothing happened. Your Uncle Wen even laughed at you for it, saying that you were a little fox who fooled him, and that he no longer believed your idol's claims."
Lin Yao smiled sheepishly, thinking that he had indeed pretended to be Wen Youmin's FAS in order to curry favor with Wen Youmin. He couldn't admit it, or he would be scolded. "I am an idol, I am an idol. But you don't necessarily have to meet your idol. For example, my dad admires Qin Zuying, but he didn't necessarily have to meet her. I'm not the kind of fanatical star chaser. You can keep your idol in your heart."
"You brat! You're trying to stir things up again!" Luo Jimin walked over, pretending to raise his hand to hit someone, and said with a laugh, "You're not happy unless your dad can live a comfortable life, are you?"
"Mom, I'm reporting this!" Lin Yao dodged his father's clutches and hid behind his mother, Lin Hongmei. "My dad has another idol, Liu Liping. Last time I saw him drooling while watching TV."
"Get lost, you little brat, you want a beating, don't you!" Luo Jimin, enraged, chased after him, ready to strike.
"Don't be afraid, Mom will protect you. Tell me everything that's inside, and let's see how bold your dad really is." Lin Hongmei played along with the father and son's banter, feeling that life was truly wonderful.
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"What's going on? My inner fire..." Lin Yao stopped meditating and practicing in shock, muttering to himself in surprise.
At this time, he returned to the clothing factory in the suburbs. After treating dozens of Yi family members who needed acupuncture and medicine, he began his routine cultivation. However, he suddenly discovered that the pseudo-dan fire nurtured in his true qi had changed. The pseudo-dan fire had even left the chest area and was circulating through the meridians of his body with the medical true qi. Although the amount of this pseudo-dan fire was very small, the effect was quite good. Lin Yao clearly felt that with the participation of the pseudo-dan fire, the speed of the true qi in the meridians had increased a lot, and he had a feeling of unobstructed flow.
Martial artists cultivate the lower dantian, which is a central acupoint located three inches below the navel. The dantian commonly referred to is the lower dantian. The Yi family's "Yi Jin Jue" cultivates the lower dantian, as do other aristocratic families.
Lin Yao cultivates the Luo family's medical true qi, which is located in the middle dantian, in the Tanzhong acupoint on the chest. However, it is different from the Tanzhong acupoint, as if it is another space opened up in this location. Xiao Cao lives in the middle dantian, but her existence does not affect Lin Yao's true qi and cultivation.
According to Xiaocao, there's another cultivation method that involves cultivating the upper dantian, which is located about one centimeter above the center of the forehead, extending deep into the skull. This upper dantian, almost at the location of the pineal gland in the brain, is mainly used for cultivating mental techniques, and its abilities lean towards mental manipulation. Lin Yao had only heard about this from Xiaocao; she didn't know the specifics, so she treated it as a curious anecdote.
The vast majority of the pseudo-dan fire remained in Lin Yao's middle dantian in his chest. The color of his eyes changed, no longer containing any red components, but becoming a completely white color, as if constantly emitting a dazzling light. In Lin Yao's perception, the color was quite conspicuous even among the milky white medical true qi.
However, there was no obvious change in the medical true qi; the only change was in the pseudo-dan fire. What's going on?
"Wow, Yao Yao, you're amazing." Xiao Cao woke up at just the right moment, making Lin Yao feel that she was really free. "The pseudo-dan fire has advanced, and now we can really start refining pills."
Huh? ... Lin Yao was taken aback. Could it be that he hadn't been practicing alchemy before, and that only when the pseudo-elixir fire reached its current state could he begin "real" alchemy?!
Hearing Lin Yao's question, Xiao Cao said matter-of-factly, "Of course that's how it is. However, what you did before could barely be considered alchemy. It's just that the quality of your pseudo-alchemy fire was not high, so the alchemy effect was not good. Firstly, it consumed too much alchemy fire, and secondly, the effects of your alchemy techniques were not fully explored. You could only barely extract the medicinal energy from the herbs and condense it into pills, but you couldn't rely on these techniques to incorporate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the pills, which greatly reduced the effectiveness of the pills."
Such a good thing? Lin Yao was overjoyed.
In the past, even non-"real" alchemy could produce good results. Now that we can start "real" alchemy, wouldn't the pills produced be even more effective? That would be truly exciting...
“That’s right, Yaoyao is very smart.” Xiaocao praised Lin Yao with a smile. “Just by slightly adjusting the method of refining the ‘Life-Giving Pill’, you can make it have the real effect of prolonging life. Of course, the specific effect depends on how much spiritual energy of heaven and earth you incorporate into it.”
Lin Yao was puzzled, and Xiao Cao continued to explain, "The ability of alchemy is very special. It can integrate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth that the human body cannot directly absorb and utilize into the pills. By taking the pills, the energy gathers in the body and exerts a magical effect. It is not easy to dissipate, which is why the pills have such miraculous effects and are sought after by everyone."
"What if I don't use the new method to refine pills? Will this pseudo-elixir fire also produce pills different from the ones before?" Lin Yao was very thoughtful and immediately raised this question.
"The effects of pills refined using the old cultivation method will not change. However, because your pseudo-dan fire has advanced, the efficiency and success rate of pill refining will be greatly improved, and less medicinal material will be wasted." Xiaocao's voice was very gentle. She could feel Lin Yao's excitement and joy. "The new cultivation method is very slow. The better the effect you want, the longer it will take to refine pills. Shi Nian once refined pills for 49 consecutive days without sleep. I felt very tired watching him."
"Oh..." Lin Yao automatically ignored Xiao Cao's last sentence. Shennong was a great ancestor, and he didn't compare himself to his ancestors. As long as he could improve the efficiency of alchemy, that was enough. As for those pills infused with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, he would only refine a few occasionally. Xiao Cao had also said that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the world was extremely scarce nowadays. To infuse enough spiritual energy, even forty-nine days would be far from enough. He didn't want to become a wooden figure guarding the alchemy furnace all day long.
"Help me refine those snow lotuses. It's too much trouble for me to eat them myself. Besides, they'll be even more helpful to me after you refine them. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth refined using alchemical fire is even better than the spiritual energy in spirit stones. My leaves are in your hands." Little Grass made her request without any hesitation. Lin Yao naturally agreed without hesitation. He was willing to do anything that would benefit Little Grass, even if it was hard and troublesome.
"Little Grass, why did my pseudo-elixir fire suddenly change? But my healing true energy isn't moving at all. What did you do?" After finishing discussing the important matter of helping Little Grass, Lin Yao raised his own doubts.
"Well..." Xiaocao's tone was somewhat uncertain, "It might be related to your state of mind, but I'm not really sure."
“Cultivation is inherently defying the heavens. Yaoyao, you used to be so timid and cowardly, not manly at all. Dan Huo is the essence of fire between heaven and earth. With your cautious and timid mindset, of course you can't encourage its growth.” Xiaocao analyzed to herself, using new vocabulary she had recently learned from Yi Liang and a few other children. “Your mindset has changed a lot these past few days. For example, today you finally agreed to let me harm people. It's normal for Dan Huo to change.”
"Your healing true qi is also extraordinary, but don't think it can only cure diseases and save lives. You told me before that in your Luo family's records, this kind of technique is very powerful, but it can only be used after you form your core. You can't improve your true qi that quickly. It relies on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. If there isn't enough spiritual energy, you won't improve. If your mental state isn't good enough, you won't be able to absorb and utilize enough spiritual energy."
"That's what I think, I don't know if it's right." Xiaocao concluded, then changed the subject, "Yaoyao, I think it's good for you to let me harm people. Let's harm more people in the future. It's really boring to keep it to yourself all the time. Back when I was with Shinian, he was very decisive in killing people."