Chapter 5 – Scammed Victim Benefits from Florida Man's Fake Medicine
After the stone and the septic tank incident, Leo returned to his tent. He rested for the day.
The next day, Leo woke up late. He realized an important issue at hand - Aside from eating and sleeping, Leo had nothing to do!
He was bored!
As Leo sought something to kill time, he explored the new shop domain system to see what he could do with it. The menu showed a bird-eye view of his campsite and the shop domain as usual.
At the top right corner, there was a hammer icon. Leo pressed on it.
[Buildings]
"Oh?"
He checked the detail of what it was for. Upon tabbing it, the screen window changed from the 3D bird-eye view to the top-down view. The screen displayed the usual 1000x1000 grits of his shop domain, but half of the field was red. Only the cleared land was highlighted in green.
At the side menu, only one thumbnail picture of a modern one-story building showed up. Leo read its description.
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[Humble Store] – 500 Years of Lifespan
This building is popular among small grocery stores. It has limited room for shelves and walking space, but it's enough for a start-up business. Require 10x10 grits.
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Leo's eyes were bloodshot. He stared at the cost of this building.
"Five hundred freaking years?! Are you kidding?!"
Leo looked at his current lifespan. After eating all the mutated mandrakes and a shopping spree, he had only 300 years in stock. It wasn't enough to test the unknown feature.
Although Leo used to farm 2,000 years of lifespan easily from eating mutated creatures, he couldn't do the same in this world. He was afraid that he might destroy the ecology and turned this planet into another nuclear fallout wasteland.
Still, without the radiation, Leo had no other way of increasing his lifespan.
Without a choice, Leo took off his hazmat suit. He strolled in the forest barefoot. As Leo had predicted, the grass, flowers, and plants got polluted by the radiation from his body. The ones that directly touched Leo turned black while the surrounding plants changed color to blue.
Leo squatted and plucked black grass. He also searched for more mandrakes to eat.
"Woe is me. I guess pulling grass is now the only activity for me to kill time…"
Leo was depressed. He sulked and continued corrupting and pulling weeds in the forest.
While he was pulling black grasses, he thought of Gao Yan. He wondered if the boy would still be alive.
Leo snickered, "As long as you don't grow four arms or extra legs, you'll be fine, boy."
.
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Meanwhile, Gao Yan stared at the large cauldron that he had borrowed from the alchemy department. He kept throwing ice cubes into it to cool the water, but the temperature kept rising. The cauldron also shone in green light, basking Gao Yan every time he came near.
As Leo had instructed, Gao Yan cooled the black grass. It had been three days since he had started, and he began to feel nauseous.
Feeling sick, Gao Yan walked back into his dorm building. He looked at his colleagues.
"Can anybody help me cool that cauldron? I need to sleep. I have a headache."
Gao Yan's friends laughed at him, "Why should we?"
Another one teased him, "One spirit stone, and I'll do it for you."
The third guy agreed, "Yeah, nothing is free in this world. No pay, no gain!"
Gao Yan scoffed and flickered a spirit stone at the trio. He yelled at them.
"I don't care who! Just don't let the water boil! Put some ice into the water every time the water bubbles. I'm going to rest now."
"…"
The group picked up the spirit stone and looked at each other in astonishment. They gazed at how Gao Yan climbed onto his bed and fell asleep.
"He must be really sick."
"Yeah. The old Gao never spent a single dime. Whenever he had a spirit stone, he always used it to boost his non-existing inner energy. He never spent it on something trivial."
"I saw him doing chores for himself while the others simply hired random servants to do theirs. Who in the right mind spent all day washing clothes for others to get some food instead of cultivating? So, yeah. This guy is sick, alright."
The trio felt bad for Gao Yan, but they accepted the commission. They exited the dorm and visited the rumored cauldron. But when they saw the green smoke, they were stunned.
"Huh? Hey, bro. Do you think what I'm thinking?"
"How should I know? But, yeah. I guess so."
"S-Spiritual Qi? Not just regular Qi but the high-graded one?! What the hell is he cooking?"
They peeked into the cauldron and found a bundle of black grasses at the bottom of the pot. A few seconds later, their eyes and nose were so hot that they looked away from the cauldron.
"Ow! The smoke!"
"M-My eyes!"
"It burns! No, my nose is burning!"
They screamed and started causing a commotion. Several outer disciples came out of their barracks, houses, and dorms to see them.
"What's wrong?"
The trio pointed at the 5-foot-tall pot. The others also peeked into it and got the same reactions.
"AAAAHHH!! MY EYES!!"
"IT BURNS!! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"
Their loud noise caused a commotion. Soon, a deacon appeared and yelled at the disciples.
"What's going on here?! Who is boiling something in the public courtyard? Hmm?"
The deacon noticed the strange light from the pot. He instantly recognized it and exclaimed in shock.
"Spiritual Qi?! HOW?!"
He rushed to the pot and looked inside. Then, he found the source.
"Who the hell is boiling the precious immortal grass?!"
The deacon sent his Qi into the pot to bring it out. However, the light around the grasses repelled the deacon's Qi, preventing him from touching it.
"Ah!"
The deacon's Qi returned to the owner, and he coughed a mouthful of blood because of the backlash. He widened his eyes in astonishment.
"A-A high-graded immortal grass? Not just a sprout?!" He looked at the disciples in the area and yelled, "Who did this?! Who brought the grasses here?!"
The friends of Gao Yan struggled as if they got hit by tear gas. They pointed at their dorm barrack, "Gao Yan, sir. He said he was sick. He's resting inside."
"Get him out! Make him stop this madness!"
Everybody jolted in fear. They rushed into Gao Yan's barrack to bring him out.
As soon as they entered the barrack, they saw the sleeping man. However, his body glowed in green light.
"Eh?"
"A breakthrough?!"
Whenever cultivators advanced from the muscle tempering stage to the Qi condensation stage, their bodies always glowed a color, depending on their aptitude and talent - A cultivator with high impurity always emitted black smoke. On the other hand, a cultivator with a good foundation usually emitted a bright colorful aura during the breakthrough.
Green aura indicated that Gao Yan's had a high aptitude for Wood Qi. His talent in sword arts might be lacking, but the botany and alchemy schools would be crazy over this disciple. If he could enroll in an alchemy-related sect, he would surely become one of the prominent figures in the future.
The disciples stood there, watching the green aura of Gao Yan. On the other hand, Gao Yan sweated profusely as the temperature in his body rose.
"S-Should we wake him up?"
"And destroy his cultivation base and opportunity? Hell no. I don't wanna offend the alchemists."
"That's right. Anybody that disturbs an alchemist's breakthrough will face the wrath of all alchemists on the continent! They worship cultivators with Wood Qi since these people can refine spiritual herbs and plants! If we mess with Gao Yan now and they find out about us, no alchemist will sell us pill!"
"This is a shocker. Gao Yan is talentless in swordsmanship. Who would have thought that his true talent belongs in another field?"
Even bullies were afraid of the alchemists and Gao Yan. They watched him in silence.
As people gathered in front of Gao Yan's room, it caused a commotion. More disciples gathered around to spectate the green light. Then, they started pushing the people in the front.
"Hey! Don't push!"
"Get out! Gao Yan has green aura! If we touch him, his breakthrough will fail!"
"OUT! OUT!"
The outer disciples in the room pushed the crowd outside. The people took the gesture and reluctantly left.
On the other hand, the deacon pushed through the crowd and got into the room to see the commotion. Then, he saw Gao Yan and his aura.
"G-Green aura breakthrough?! He is compatible with wood Qi?!"
The deacon was astonished. He inspected Gao Yan for a moment to check his condition without touching him.
The overall condition of Gao Yan was not good. He had absorbed too much wood Qi, causing his blood vessels to swell. At this rate, all meridians in his body would explode.
"Disciples, go inform an elder from the pavilion quick. Tell them that I need a Qi Stabilization pill and a meridian nourishment pill. I'll help him suppress the rampaging Wood Qi."
The disciples gulped and scrambled out of the dorm. A dozen of them ran toward nearby deacons and contribution building at the center, hoping to find an elder.
Meanwhile, the deacon in the room sat in front of Gao Yan. He gathered his Qi in his fingertip and was about to absorb excess Qi to relieve the disciple's pain.
Suddenly, Gao Yan snapped open his eyes. He sat up and vomited green liquid on the floor. The fluid corroded the ground and released the greenish odor of wild plants.
COUGH
Gao Yan coughed and clenched his stomach. He had severe stomach pain and a high fever. However, he sensed something strange inside him.
He looked at the deacon in front of him, "S-Sir, I don't feel so good."
As Gao Yan had completed his breakthrough, he was no longer in danger. The deacon grabbed the disciple's wrist and checked his pulse.
He sensed thick wood Qi in Gao Yan's swollen blood vessels. Fortunately, the boy's physique was sturdy as he had been training hard for years.
The deacon wryly smiled and gave him a piece of good news, "You've just advanced to the Qi Condensation Stage. Obviously, you need a few days of rest to stabilize your cultivation."
"Huh?" Gao Yan was confused, "I did what?"
"You're now a second-stage cultivator, you fool!"
"EEEHHH!?"
Gao Yan couldn't believe his ears. He pinched his cheek and looked at his stomach.
As the deacon had said – He advanced to the Qi Condensation Stage. Gao Yan sensed his inner energy in his blood circulation system. However, they had no place to go, so they flowed aimlessly.
Although the condition looked troublesome, Gao Yan was overjoyed. He wouldn't be expelled from the sect anymore!
The deacon noticed Gao Yan's happy expression. He smacked the guy's back, "Stop boiling immortal grass for now. Wait here. I'll go get you some Qi Stabilization pill, a painkiller, and a Wood Qi cultivation method from the treasure pavilion."
"Eh? Alchemy?"
"Your primary element is wood. You need that method since the regular ones are no longer suitable for you."
Gao Yan was over the moon. He didn't know how to respond to the deacon's kindness and his new power.
The deacon stood up and canceled his Qi. He glanced at the wet floor.
"Don't worry about the vomit. I'll ask someone else to clean it."
"…"
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After the decon had left, Gao Yan was alone in the room.
Because of excitement, Gao Yan forgot about the headache, stomach pain, and fever. He sat there, contemplating how this had happened.
The face of the mysterious elder in the Sword Saint Boulder Forest appeared in his mind.
"Is this because of the grass? T-This is the effect of immortal grass?! I only tried to cool them for almost two days, but I…"
Gao Yan was moved to tears. One year of lifespan for this opportunity was worth it!
He made up his mind. Once he could stabilize his cultivation, he would revisit the elder to thank him.
Later that day, a deacon came and asked Gao Yan to follow him. He brought Gao Yan the alchemy department, where alchemists from the other sects resided. As for the black grasses in the cauldron, they were transferred along with Gao Yan to his new home.
Gao Yan's status changed forever.