Although it was daytime and the lights were switched off, the house appeared to be pitch-dark.
Li Yuan switched on the lights before moving swiftly to the kitchen to boil a pot of vegetable porridge. Mixed with white rice grains were plenty of green vegetables of varying sizes. Although he had only added salt, the rice grains and vegetables' aroma was already making Lin Yuan's stomach grumble as he had not eaten for an entire day.
Chimney was eating its Usnea as usual. However, since the Usneas had evolved to normal-grade, and Chimey had never tasted such nice food before, it ate much more than usual. While Chimey was eating, it used its wings to rub on its bulging tummy.
Lin Yuan had a big bowl of vegetable porridge, while Genius had a small one. They were both enjoying their food.
After Auntie Zhang's departure, Chimey no longer needed to restrain itself anymore, so it had been singing for the entire night. Chimey might only know one song, but its singing voice was enjoyable.
Genius behaved the same, resting on Lin Yuan, while he was working hard to guide the three pots of Jasmine Lilies to evolve.
…
Three hours after breakfast, Lin Yuan's efforts finally paid off as the three pots of Jasmine Lilies had successfully evolved from normal-grade to elite-grade.
Lin Yuan realized that after a fey evolved to elite-grade, it would take much more time for it to make any progress in evolution. After two more hours of hard work, the Elite I Jasmine Lilies levelled up by 1 grade. There was no difference in quality.
It seems like, with my current strength, I will need very long to evolve the feys from Elite to Bronze. The feys' evolution speed is dependent on my spirit qi absorption speed. If I wish to increase my spirit qi absorption speed, I will need to become a spirit qi professional.
Now that he had evolved three more Normal feys to Elite ones, Lin Yuan felt that his stamina and spiritual power were much stronger. If this carried on, and if he evolved 200 more pots of Jasmine Lilies from normal-grade to elite-grade, he might be able to become the lowest-ranked, D-rank, spirit qi professional.
By then, his spirit qi absorption would be much faster, and it would be easier for him to evolve feys.
Lin Yuan was about to evolve a pot of Normal Usnea to become his store's first Elite Usnea when his old-fashioned mobile phone rang.
Lin Yuan looked at the mobile phone screen and revealed a warm smile. The moment he picked up the phone, he heard a clear and pleasant voice.
"Elder brother, it has been two days since I called you. How is your body now?" It was a familiar opening statement. Whenever Lin Yuan answered his younger sister's phone call, she would always ask this as though it was a habit.
"My body is much better than before. You don't have to worry! I have even cleaned up our house's courtyard at the back."
"Elder brother, why are you cleaning our house's courtyard for? Your body…"
Chu Ci sounded anxious as she knew clearly about her elder brother's body condition.
From the tender age of 8 and 6, Lin Yuan and she had been relying on each other to survive.
The 8-year-old Lin Yuan had spared no effort to ensure their survival. They had already tested the 6-year-old Chu Ci, who had an exceptional talent to become a spirit qi professional, so he had been determined to support her studies. It had been nine years since then.
One could imagine how much hard work an 8-year-old frail child had to put in order to endure when he actually required care from others.
After hearing that Lin Yuan had cleaned up the courtyard, his sister knew he was planning to expand the store's scale to earn more money. But how could his body take it?
Chu Ci had thought about stopping school in order to help Lin Yuan at home. In fact, she had even protested by doing her homework poorly and getting bad grades on her tests.
However, during one rainy night, Lin Yuan looked at her with red eyes and said, "Chu Ci, you are my only family, do not disappoint me."
Chu Ci could still remember that when Lin Yuan had made that statement, he had been actually yelling, and this yell had woken up Chu Ci. She had discarded all of her rebellious behavior and turned into a top-class student that always ranked first in the exams from that day onward. It was all because she didn't wish to disappoint Lin Yuan.
After listening to Lin Yuan's plans, Chu Ci got anxious. At the same time, Lin Yuan could sense his younger sister's emotional state through the phone.
"I am just packing up a little. The store is still the same."
Lin Yuan did think of telling Chu Ci that he could sense spirit qi, but he was afraid that she wouldn't be convinced and would still be anxious. He thought that he would talk to Chu Ci during the school holidays.
However, Lin Yuan wouldn't tell Chu Ci about the fact that he could evolve feys. It wasn't because he didn't trust her. He simply didn't wish for this secret to be exposed and bring danger to Chu Ci.
When Chu Ci heard Lin Yuan speaking like this, she finally relaxed. This pair of siblings wasn't adept at expressing their hidden feelings, and they were both people that had a burning passion in the depths of their hearts. Therefore, after they mutually informed each other that they were fine, the conversation ended quickly.
After Chu Ci ended the phone call, she heard her roommate's envious voice from behind. "It seems like you have a rather good relationship with your elder brother! Unlike my younger brother and I that are at loggerheads whenever I get home. But you have the surname of Chu, while your elder brother has the surname of Lin. That is rather strange."
Chu Ci smiled and reflected a warm atmosphere in the room. Lin Yuan had taken the Lin surname from their father, while she had taken the Chu surname from their mother. This was the love between their father and mother. It was also the parental love from her parents that had left a very vague impression in Chu Ci's memory.
"Chu Ci, we are going to contract feys tomorrow. Why don't you go out for a walk with me to relax?"
Chu Ci shook her head, pointed at the revision book on her table, and shook her hands.
The roommate used a habitual tone and said, "You! Do you only know how to revise in the room? If I had your looks, I would be going out every day! Do you know how many students in the school fancy you!?"
When the roommate saw that Chu Ci wasn't interested in going out, she left the room herself thinking that she might find some nice man.
Chu Ci picked up her pen and started to write neatly on the revision book. She didn't even pause as she memorized this question by heart.
Chu Ci didn't repeatedly practice these questions for herself. It was for a part-time job. For each revision book she did, she could earn 20 Federation dollars. It wasn't any problem for Chu Ci to write out two to three sets of revision books.
In fact, this was also Chu Ci's study method. Each revision book cost 40 Federation dollars, and Chu Ci couldn't afford it. Due to her part-time job, she simultaneously could practice and earn some allowance. It was truly killing two birds with one stone.
This was also the first year Chu Ci had a part-time job, and it was something that she didn't dare to let Lin Yuan know. If Lin Yuan found out, he would probably be angry!
What's more, Chu Ci didn't use the money to pay for her school fees. She was planning to buy some medicinal health products for Lin Yuan when she returned during the holidays.
While having this motivation, she started to fill the revision book. Her hand might be feeling sore, but Chu Ci didn't feel tired at all.
At that moment, a banging sound came from Chu Ci's drawer.
When Chu Ci opened the drawer, she glanced at a box with a thick shell inside. There was a gray-colored and ugly beetle that was the size of half a palm.
Tomorrow they would learn how to form a contract with a fey and then apply the knowledge with their first fey.
Naturally, Chu Ci didn't inform Lin Yuan about that. She had used her own hard-earned money to find a Gray Beetle, who no one in the entire federation would wish to form a contract with.
Chu Ci looked at the Gray Beetle and gripped her fist tightly. She had a calm and determined expression as though she had made a decision.