Chapter 83 - 82: Planting ’Crops
With a *whoosh*, he finally broke free from the state of contemplation within the Side of Truth.
*THUD.*
Qin Xiaoxia collapsed to the floor. Between the mental assault and the massive blood loss, his face was so pale he could have passed for a ghost and scared someone to death.
His mind felt dazed, as if his soul was slowly being drawn back into his body. Though he had relied on an external force, Qin Xiaoxia felt he had finally pulled through.
He shook his head, unable to stop himself from clutching his throbbing forehead.
"Damn, that was a close one. I almost completely fell apart... Doudou, I owe you one for this."
Qin Xiaoxia’s voice was weak, but he didn’t blame Doudou for failing to explain why using the Statue of Comir would have such consequences.
In Magson, the creators and users of the Images of Order must have possessed considerable power. For them, it probably wasn’t much of a burden.
News of such an unusual side effect had probably never gotten out, so it was only natural that Doudou didn’t know about it.
Qin Xiaoxia couldn’t help but feel a wave of relief. ’If I weren’t some kind of "genetically mutated" freak, anyone else would’ve probably had their head explode.’
Doudou scampered over to the round table in the corner and dragged a chair over.
"Quick, Big Bro, sit down."
Once Qin Xiaoxia was seated and his breathing had evened out, Doudou ran off and poured him a glass of water.
After resting for ten minutes or so, Qin Xiaoxia finally started to recover.
’Next time I try something like this, I have to channel the Secret Realm Power.’
At this thought, he looked up at the Shadow of the Red Demoness beside him. The Magic Language he had heard in that state had come from her.
She was still the same elegant and bewitching Red-haired Sea Siren, her form now seemingly tangible thanks to the significant boost to the Secret Realm’s power. However, she cast no shadow on the ground.
Doudou and Qin Xiaoxia suddenly looked at the Shadow of the Red Demoness in unison, then, with a silent understanding, turned their gaze to the Statue of Comir.
Their gazes flickered between the two a few times before they looked at each other.
Even though neither the statue nor the Shadow of the Red Demoness moved, both Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou felt that something was off.
Without a word, he silently channeled the Secret Realm’s power and made the Shadow of the Red Demoness fade away.
Then, with Doudou’s mostly useless attempt at supporting him, he left the empty hall.
Back in his room and lying on his bed, Qin Xiaoxia let out a long sigh and said to Doudou with a smile.
"It was a success!"
"YAY~~~"
Doudou jumped what seemed like two meters into the air, performing the difficult maneuver of clapping his hands and clicking his heels together at the same time.
His biggest fear had been going through all that danger without getting the answer they needed. Now, Qin Xiaoxia’s words were basically telling him that he would soon have his very own Magic Energy Crystals.
And not just a few, but an entire mine that could generate them.
With Magic Energy Crystals, Doudou was absolutely certain he could forge Wishing Gold Coins, and it would be far more efficient than when he had to secretly use the Magic Spring back in Magson.
In his entire life, Doudou had only seen a real Magic Energy Crystal once, and only from a great distance.
"B-Big Bro, when the time comes, can I, um..."
"When the time comes, besides the ones for forging the Gold Coins, I’ll give you two for yourself to play with. Consider it a reward."
"YAY~~~"
Doudou once again performed his high-difficulty celebratory maneuver.
...
The next morning, South Wind and his two companions woke up whenever they pleased and naturally made their way back to the empty hall.
Breakfast was already laid out on the small round table, where Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou were already seated.
Gazing at the fruit of their painstaking labor over the past several days, the trio felt a gratifying sense of accomplishment, but also a hint of loss.
’After completing a masterwork like this,’ they thought, ’we might never reach this level of skill again.’
Sighing with emotion, they sat down. Just as they were about to start breakfast, they saw Qin Xiaoxia’s frighteningly pale face.
"Er, Mr. Qin, your complexion... it’s not looking so good..."
Gu Hao had wanted to say, "You look as pale as a corpse," but considering the being sitting across from him, he quickly changed his tune.
The other two nodded in agreement.
"Oh, it’s nothing. Just a bit of a nosebleed last night. I just need to replenish some blood and I’ll be fine. I’m not gonna die."
Theoretically, as long as his injuries weren’t too severe and his Magic Power wasn’t completely depleted, Qin Xiaoxia could survive for a while even if he were drained of all his blood in a short period.
Doudou pointed to a blood-soaked shirt in a washbasin on the other side of the hall.
"If you call that ’a little,’ then I’ll eat my own food bowl! And what’s worse, he still expects me to wash it clean!"
It was a shirt soaked completely through with blood; it was impossible to tell how much he had lost.
*GULP.*
Watching Qin Xiaoxia eat his breakfast as if nothing was wrong, the three of them unconsciously swallowed hard.
Though, the idea of Doudou actually eating his food bowl didn’t seem all that surprising.
At the table, Qin Xiaoxia promptly settled their payment, a total of 9,000 yuan, and even threw in an extra 1,000 yuan as a "bonus." He lavished praise on their incredible work ethic and their potential great contributions to the future of humanity.
The gist of it was:
You worked day and night, demonstrating your inhuman talents and creating something of immense value—something that can’t be measured in mere money. Money would only tarnish such greatness.
He also made the promise that South Wind and the others were most eager to hear: he recognized the three of them as official candidates for his association.
The association currently had fewer than ten candidates worldwide, making the chance of receiving this qualification less than one in a hundred million.
The three were so excited they could hardly eat. They accepted the mobile transfer of over 3,000 yuan each, overjoyed.
Little did they know, Qin Xiaoxia had already planned for the three of them to become the association’s future "dedicated Artisans." This role likely had very little to do with the mysterious, robed figures striking cool poses that they were imagining in their heads.
「Two days later」
South Wind, Gu Hao, and Zhang Ruliang all returned to De Town to pack up the small workshop they ran, preparing for the future.
Meanwhile, Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou had made their way to a field a full kilometer from the old house.
The strengthening of the Secret Realm had expanded its range considerably, enough to cover even this area.
The Jiangnan Region was known for its rice paddies. Even though many fields in the area had been repossessed for development, leaving less and less farmland, the nearby villages still retained a considerable amount of arable land.
It wasn’t yet the season for the rice to ripen, so the fields were covered in lush green seedlings.
However, within the Secret Realm, this vegetation was merely a reflection of the real world.
If they were destroyed here, they would return to their original state within a few hours or a day or two. The only way to permanently alter them would be to uproot the real seedlings in the outside world, which would cause an immediate change within the Secret Realm.
The solution Qin Xiaoxia had obtained from the Side of Truth was actually quite simple.
He had to bury the Mother Crystal Ore of the Demonization Crystal in a place cut off from all living things. Then, by regularly nurturing it with Magic Power, or Alien Energy and special souls, it could be made to evolve back into a mineral vein.
By carefully controlling the proportion of nurturing Magic Power, he could reduce the high probability of the vein undergoing Demonization, instead transforming it into a Magic Energy Crystal Ore.
A high-level Secret Realm happened to be one of the required environmental factors, and providing the nurturing Magic Power shouldn’t be a problem either.
As for the so-called Alien Energy and special souls, one option was definitely viable: human souls. But Qin Xiaoxia wasn’t a complete monster, so he immediately passed on that idea.
The only other suitable candidates were likely those foreign entities that invaded from the Outer World. But such things could only be chanced upon, not actively sought, and were currently far too dangerous to deal with.
The method of burial was extremely simple.
Ignoring Doudou’s frightened expression, Qin Xiaoxia wound up like a baseball pitcher, then whipped his arm downward in a flash.
*WHOOSH!*
The Mother Crystal Ore transformed into a streak of blue light and slammed into the ground.
"Wait for it to sprout, wait for it to sprout, planting our crops in a row~~"
Doudou mumbled his newly invented ditty, then added in a quiet voice,
"I told you we just had to bury it!"
*BONK.* A knuckle came down on his head from above.
P.S. Thank you to reader "Human Worker Ant" for the 5,000 coin donation, thank you to reader "Bubble Teapot" for the 1,000 coin donation, and thank you to readers Blood Race Night Blade and "The Big, Clear Ocean" for the 100 coin donations~~