Kapitel 19: It’s...Good?

5:00 PM.

[Cultivation]

Qi Element: Life Flame

Qi Storage: 50 / 333

Realm: Foundation Establishment

Refinement Level: 3 [22 / 300]

Potential Core: 3

For five hours total, Lin Shen did nothing but repeating the cycle between foundation refining, Dantian Refinement, and Mental Capacity.

While doing so, he'd check his stats every once in a while and noticed that his maximum Qi storage rose the more he exhausted them. This sped up his refining speed and he quickly unlocked level 3, but the maximum amount of exp required also increased by 100 every level.

His current refinement level was 3, at 22 experience points out of 300. The potential core scaled with the refinement level so they were the same.

Right now, he could actually breakthrough to Core Formation anytime he wanted, but with such a tool on hand, it'd be a waste to not exploit it more. Although the pain...meh. He just hoped it wasn't too much that he wouldn't be able to handle it.

Wait no, couldn't he just ask the 'system' what his pain tolerance is?

'System?'

(Your pain tolerance isn't high but it isn't low either. At your current level, you can handle a maximum of 6 assimilated cores without fainting.)

Lin Shen had a thought. 'What would happen if I assimilate more than 6 cores?'

(Then you will die. Fainting in the middle of enduring extreme pain can kill your cells slowly, so without any resistance, your body will die. You will need more regeneration if you want to survive the assimilation while fainting, possibly around 4 more Phoenix blood.)

'Then how do I obtain more Phoenix Blood?'

(Complete missions.)

'...' The only mission available was the exam mission which would only begin when he took the exams. The rewards would probably be given to him only when the results were out as well, considering the mission info.

Since obtaining more Phoenix Blood was out of the question, he could only go with six cores.

No wait, maybe he could pause at refinement level six before he underwent assimilation to breakthrough to Core Formation? The exams were tomorrow so it wouldn't be a long wait for him.

Growl…

He had been training for the last few hours and had forgotten to eat some food. Thankfully his stomach reminded him.

'This cultivation is making me become less mortal that I've forgotten to eat...nope, just a shut-in's lifestyle.'

Lin Shen left the room for the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, there really weren't any ready-made food, and the ingredients were few. He only found the eggs he bought the day before inside the fridge and some onions in the cabinets.

'I'll just make a basic meal.'

Ding Dong!

Just as he was about to grab the eggs, the doorbell rang as he went to check it out. Through the peephole, he could see Jie Xiulan standing on the other side of the door, her blue hair unique to the eyes.

Lin Shen opened the door and greeted her. "Xiulan, what are you doing here? Where's your father?"

Today Xiulan was wearing a long sleeved denim jumpsuit outlined with white fur on the ends of the arms and legs. The jumpsuit had buttons in the middle with the first two unbuttoned, displaying a v-shaped neckline and a black T-shirt underneath.

The jumpsuit's legs were rolled up to reveal her pearly white ankles that glistened in the sun, her two feet encased in blue laced blaire sandals.

"I was cooped up all day so I wanted to get outside. I was only able to leave after persuading him a bunch of times, and since it wasn't safe for me to be out by myself, I came here instead."

"He just let you leave?"

She pouted her mouth slightly in reply.

"He stuck a bunch of talismans onto me before I was allowed to leave."

Lin Shen chuckled and guided her into the kitchen. "I was just about to cook some food before you came."

He grabbed a few eggs and one white onion before preparing them. For the onions he just removed the outer layers before slicing it down to a good enough size.

He didn't forget to prepare a frying pan with cooking oil before stuffing the onions to get the aroma sizzling.

Next, he cracked four eggs into a bowl and added a pinch of kosher salt before stirring the eggs. Only when the egg's yellow yolk remained from the mixing did he fill the pan. Now he only needed to wait a bit to let the eggs cook.

Jie Xiulan sat down besides the dinner table and watched as Lin Shen cooked the eggs. She could smell the scent of the onions which enriched the flavor and made her stomach grumble.

Brr…

She heard a slight chuckle coming from Lin Shen as her face flushed. The food probably wasn't that good, right? It was just eggs and onions after all. With her position as the sect leader's daughter, she had seen and eaten many fine culinary artworks and exquisite delicacies, all of which were made by 5-star chefs.

Then here was a simple fried egg that Brother Lin was cooking. He only used eggs and onion with salt. Salt really didn't have a smell, so she concluded it was all the onions that aroused her appetite. Were onions so powerful?

Lin Shen turned off the stove as the eggs were finished. The eggs were yellow and covered the entire inside of the pan, with a few pieces of onions sticking out. He used a spoon to divide the egg in half before placing them in two bowls of rice that he had scooped.

"Eh?"

Jie Xiulan stared dumbly at the bowl that Lin Shen placed before her.

"Brother Lin, you made this for me?"

Lin Shen had already sat down on his seat and began eating his food. He was still chewing so he only nodded at her question, keeping table manners in mind.

Since he had already confirmed it, it would be rude to decline the food. Jie Xiulan picked up the chopsticks Brother Lin had placed beside the bowl and picked up a piece of the egg she had broken off.

She placed the egg into her mouth before chewing. The squishy texture of the egg suffused the insides of her mouth as her teeth munched on them.

"It's...good?" She couldn't tell if it could be considered delicious but it wasn't bad either, so it was just alright. It was very filling however so she didn't have many complaints.

Lin Shen ate his food and glanced at Jie Xiulan, who continued eating. He was amazed she could continue eating. Lin Shen could remember his Dad's reaction every time he was cooking. His face was pale every time he saw his food and always seemed to go to the bathroom after eating?

Anyways, after many occasions his Dad was always the one who cooked, never allowing Lin Shen to touch the kitchen except for when he was about to make coffee.

He wasn't stupid. His food was bad but his coffee was good. However this time Jie Xiulan, the unfortunate test subject, seemed to be enjoying the food? At least she wasn't barfing the food up.

'Did my skills get better or something?' Lin Shen could remember that his perception was exceptionally clear as he cooked and seemed to be able to accurately control the egg in the pan, getting the right amount of heat into the eggs.

If that was true, then it seemed cultivation had more effects than just getting stronger and learning magical abilities. Maybe he could use his Qi to cook? He should really try that next time.

"Brother Lin, is this all you're eating? Just rice and eggs?" Jie Xiulan was craving some dishes but she didn't see anything else on the table.

Lin Shen nodded. Only when his mouth was empty of food did he speak. "We ran out of ingredients so this was all I could make."

Jie Xiulan suddenly felt bad for eating his food. She reprimanded herself for eating without thinking. However, she had already eaten half of the food and couldn't just return it, could she?

'I'll bring Brother Lin to eat any type of food that he wants when Wolf's Bane is destroyed.' She silently made a vow to herself as she continued eating the food.

Perhaps as if noticing the worry on her face, Lin Shen smiled and reassured her. "My Dad usually restocks all the food and ingredients on Sunday, today. However he got called in for work so he couldn't."

Jie Xiulan was glad that Brother Lin at the least wasn't starving. She continued eating until her bowl was empty and waited for Lin Shen to finish.

When Lin Shen finished the food, Jie Xiulan quickly offered to clean the dishes. It was the least she could do since she ate his food. Lin Shen didn't refuse since he really hated doing the dishes, besides he also understood her intentions.