As spiritual energy revived, I, having acquired certain attributes, gradually ascended to immortalit

Chen Chen seemed to be in a hurry, sending several messages in a row.

"Aoko?"

"Brother Qing?"

"Godfather, say something! You're going back to school tomorrow for your thesis defense. How's your graduation project and dissertation preparation going?!"

Shen Qing glanced at the screen and casually replied, "It's already finished. I'm just waiting to go back and apologize like crazy."

He was about to put down his phone when he received a reply instantly.

"...Um, I feel like I might be going to be the second debater, and I'm just missing the closing remarks, but I haven't thought of it at all for the past month."

No, I already have a job, why would I still be worrying about this?

On the other end of the phone, Chen Chen looked desperate. He had originally wanted to find someone to sympathize with, but he forgot that Shen Qing was a stubborn person.

Although Shen Qing is not top-notch in her studies, she seems to have little interest in them.

Of course, he hadn't seen many people who were interested in going to school, let alone going to work, but Shen Qing was the type who always rushed ahead in everything.

"Alright, instead of wasting your time howling here, you should hurry up and clean up this mess."

Shen Qing, who was busy blow-drying the heroine's hair, had no time to listen to Chen Chen's wailing. After finishing typing, she put her phone back on the coffee table.

……

Meanwhile, in an underground research institute in the suburbs.

Li Jianghan, a specially appointed staff member, stood in front of the experimental table, looked at the newly extracted medicinal liquid in his hand, and shook his head.

The liquid inside the test tube seemed to be scorched by high temperature, constantly evaporating and dissipating at a visible speed.

"Shen Qing's blood has too much yang energy. Although it can eliminate negative energy, it will also directly refine the spiritual medicine, causing it to quickly lose its medicinal properties."

To resolve this, we need the energy of Jia wood.

Faced with the puzzled looks from the researchers around him, Li Jianghan explained, "Wood represents growth and contains vitality."

Jia wood is the yang stem of wood, and Jia also represents Zhen, which signifies thunder. It can restrain evil energy without causing an excess of yang energy, thus directly refining the spiritual medicine.

"Then how can one obtain the Qi of Jia Wood?"

At the very back of the crowd, Gu Jingshi, who was looking at the documents, looked up.

Li Jianghan thought for a moment and said, "There is one in Binhai City. There is an ancient tree in the suburbs that survived the lightning tribulation."

However, the injury was quite severe, and it hasn't recovered yet. Obtaining the Qi of Jia Wood from it in the short term is impossible.

"Is there no other way?"

Chen Xu frowned slightly. "We can't just sit here and wait, can we?"

"Besides that, there are those who awaken supernatural abilities that contain the innate power of Jia wood."

Li Jianghan glanced around at everyone and said, "He has a desire to lead and protect, but he is also stubborn and may be overconfident."

This type of person has a higher chance of awakening the power of Jia Wood. You can start from these two aspects.

"When Jia wood reaches the sky, it needs fire to be reborn."

He continued, "The flaws of Jia wood are that it is strong-willed, stubborn, and arrogant. If it wants to be transformed, it needs the help of fire."

They are strong to outsiders, but gentle to their own families.

Wood generates fire, and fire is like their child; it can not only resolve the problem of evil energy, but may even neutralize the yang energy, thus enhancing the efficacy of the elixir.

Li Jianghan continued talking to himself, completely ignoring the expressions of the researchers around him, especially Chen Xu.

This sounds more and more familiar the more you hear it.

They glanced subconsciously at Gu Jingshi, who was listening intently to the explanation.

Stubbornness, even arrogance—is this not a name-calling? And protectiveness, a desire to lead—wood fuels fire, fire?

Chen Xu's expression turned strange.

Is someone treating Shen Qing like a child? No wonder their attitude towards Shen Qing is different, but while showing concern, they also ignore her thoughts.

"But Engineer Li,"

Researchers have raised the question again: "Even if we find the right candidate, isn't there a chance that natural talent will emerge?"

Li Jianghan nodded.

"Yes, but not entirely. In theory, everyone is capable of developing innate abilities, but it's uncertain when they will be activated."

However, once subjected to extreme mental stress and pain, there is a high probability that it will trigger birth defects.

Everyone fell silent instantly. Mental stress and pain—wasn't this just asking for trouble?

Moreover, putting aside the fact that success is not guaranteed, is it certain that one will not be able to withstand the pressure and that their life will be threatened during the process?

It's better to try to find Jia wood in nature.

……

The next morning.

During her break, and because she had to go to school for her thesis defense, Shen Qing did not go to the base.

I planned to have breakfast nearby and then set off.

He originally intended to go check out the neighboring community, but as soon as he stepped out of the community, he saw a food cart parked all alone on the opposite street, which was quite conspicuous.

"What do you need?"

The food cart owner was a girl, and the Zhong Kui mask hanging on the side of her head instantly caught Shen Qing's attention.

Ok?

He paused, realizing that the food cart owner was the cat-like girl he had seen at the base before.

"Hey, are you here to buy breakfast or to look at women?"

The girl glanced at him. "It's only morning. Are you sure you don't want to control yourself?"

"Have we met before?"

"Uncle, your pickup line is so old-fashioned," the girl said again, her eyes showing a hint of disdain.

Shen Qing choked a little.

If you don't know him, you don't know him, but "uncle"? He's only twenty-two years old, how does he have anything to do with being an "uncle"?

He didn't want to upset himself so early in the morning, so his gaze fell on the food cart's sign.

"I want six servings of jianbing guozi."

The heroine gets one share, the rest is his. He has to go to the school for his thesis defense, and it's not on his way to the base. He has to spend a lot of money on his own meals.

Fortunately, he's not short of money now.

"Six portions? Uncle, don't waste food that you can't finish."

The girl's expression changed instantly, as if she were looking at some rare animal. "Cartilage sausage or meat sausage?"

"..."

Shen Qing fell silent and stared at the girl for two seconds.

"Are you really not familiar with me, or what? Is it abnormal for someone in my profession to have this much appetite?"

He even doubted whether the person in front of him looked exactly like the girl in the base, since she had waved to them earlier.

He dared not utter the words "supernatural being".

But the mask on his head and the ornaments on his body couldn't just be a coincidence, could they?

The girl looked up, stared at Shen Qing for a couple of seconds, and then had a look of sudden realization on her face. "Oh—it's you."

"You recognized me?" Shen Qing raised an eyebrow.

"no."

The girl said without changing her expression, "It would be impolite not to cooperate with you since you're so conflicted, uncle."

Shen Qing: "..."

He decided not to dwell on it. "I want sausage. Also, could you use a different term? What makes me look like an old man?"

The girl glanced at him, then looked down and said, "We're out of sausages."

"That cartilage sausage."

"We're out of cartilage sausages too."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qing was immediately filled with questions, feeling his blood pressure soar. Was he being played?

"So, what do you have here?"

He gritted his teeth and asked, feeling like he was sick. He had been lazy and only took advantage of the convenience of the food stalls downstairs, only to find out he was a problem girl.

"Steamed rice sausage, and spicy strips."

"But you don't have any here either." Shen Qing glanced at the food cart; the table was empty except for batter and eggs.

I thought it hadn't been taken out yet, but it turns out it wasn't?

"It hasn't been taken out yet."

The girl calmly took out a starch sausage from the insulated box next to her, but if she wasn't mistaken, there seemed to be other sausage packaging inside.

Shen Qing opened her mouth, but decided to give up asking further questions.

"Six portions all need rice noodle rolls?" the girl said, taking out a spatula and starting to spread the batter.

"I want both, but please don't add cilantro."

"Okay, uncle."

"Don't call me uncle."

"Okay, uncle."

The girl didn't even look up, and her technique for cracking the egg was very skillful, even using only one hand.

Shen Qing watched her skillful movements and subconsciously recalled what Xie Chong had said before. Could it be that she had actually worked in the base's canteen?

Exactly, did she forget to add the crispy crackers?