Chapter 57 Research Meeting 10 Holy crap, the alchemy room exploded?
In front of Xin Xiuying, Xie Jiaoyue is a caring captain who doesn't have much time to deal with the system.
Therefore, she didn't open the system panel until she had safely escorted Xin Xiuying back to her residence and was slowly walking back herself, inquiring about what the system had congratulated her about earlier.
The system guided Xie Jiaoyue to flip through the system panel. In an inconspicuous place, she found a small, gray icon. Upon clicking it, she saw two small words: "Achievement".
Currently, only a small badge is lit up in the achievements section, featuring a chibi-style character portrait. After careful examination, Xie Jiaoyue asked, "Is this... Xin Xiuying?"
The system responded with an "Mm".
Xie Jiaoyue clicked on the achievement description.
The system also provides an explanation: "If the host is able to remove other characters from the male protagonist's concubine/alternate concubine status in the future, they will also receive corresponding achievement rewards. Of course, there are other ways to obtain achievements, which the host needs to explore on their own."
Xie Jiaoyue: ? ? ?
She had carefully read through the book. Although she couldn't remember all of the male lead's harem and potential harem members, she still remembered whether Xin Xiuying was in it or not.
Xin Xiuying is a completely free person; she's not part of the male lead's harem at all.
The system slowly added to Xie Jiaoyue: "Host, as you said, the male lead has many potential wives and concubines, and Xin Xiuying is among them. That's why she didn't appear in the original plot, but that doesn't mean she can't become one of the male lead's wives and concubines."
"So, the original plot isn't necessarily going to happen. With, for example, my involvement, the male protagonist's experiences change, and his group of wives and concubines will also change?"
The system corrected, "It doesn't necessarily have to be you, the host; it could be something else entirely."
Ultimately, this is a world where Chu Xingjin possesses the protagonist's halo. The plot is not important; what matters is that Chu Xingjin is the protagonist.
"Besides Xin Xiuying, who else is there? My cousin?"
"Xie Lingliu is indeed one of the candidates."
Xie Jiaoyue keenly noticed a problem: "Since the male lead's harem isn't just those mentioned in the plot, why can't I be one? I've spent so much money, how come I'm still just cannon fodder?"
It's not that she wants to become part of the male lead's harem; she just feels that she's rich, beautiful, and not bad at all, so why is she being discriminated against by the world?
It's one thing to be inferior to Feng Qianqian, but how come she's also inferior to Xie Lingliu and Xin Xiuying? The original owner sacrificed so much, is her money really that worthless?
This question stumped the system. After much calculation, it finally came to a possible conclusion: "Perhaps it's because the world's consciousness believes that simps will ultimately end up with nothing."
Xie Jiaoyue almost wanted to applaud the system; this answer was truly flawless.
After figuring out how to achieve these accomplishments, Xie Jiaoyue had another crucial question: what was the use of these accomplishments?
Xie Jiaoyue asked, but couldn't get an answer from the system. She could only search back and forth in the system panel. After searching for a long time, she finally found a small progress bar in the achievement interface.
She moved her finger up, and the numbers appeared.
99%.
Chu Xingjin's protagonist aura is activated at level 99.
There was no explanation, just a cold, impersonal number, as uninteresting as the system itself.
Xie Jiaoyue repeatedly stroked the number, unsure whether it had always been 99% or had changed to 99% after she achieved her first accomplishment.
The system was unwilling to answer her questions, so Xie Jiaoyue could only guess. She hoped it was the latter. She wondered what would happen to Chu Xingjin when his protagonist aura could only be activated at 50%, or even 1% or 0%, and whether she herself would be able to completely escape the role of cannon fodder.
Just thinking about it is exciting.
...
The next day, Xie Jiaoyue completely ignored the new changes that had occurred in the system. She couldn't distinguish between primary and secondary matters; the most important thing right now was the research conference.
This is an academic conference named after the three members of the Xie family's eldest branch, so it's practically her home turf. If she doesn't get a good ranking, she'll be too embarrassed to mention it to her mother.
She started her day of study and life according to her schedule. In the morning, she arrived at Xin Xiuying's residence on time, forcibly pulled Xin Xiuying out of bed, and forced her to go out with her to exercise.
Xin Xiuying was so excited last night that she was now very sleepy. She asked in a daze, "Didn't you always train at night before? Everyone thought it was to absorb the moonlight. Why did you suddenly switch to the morning? Does the morning sunlight also help with training?"
While guiding Xin Xiuying through initial physical training, Xie Jiaoyue replied, "Yuehua? I only train at night because it's quieter and less crowded. But lately, I don't know why, the dense forest is full of people at night, so I have to switch to the morning."
Xin Xiuying: ...
After finishing her morning training mission, Xie Jiaoyue went to attend a class. She couldn't let the academic conference interfere with her studies in other subjects, especially kendo. While she could learn by reading books on her own, she could grow much faster by exchanging ideas with her teachers and fellow students than by studying alone in isolation.
Next is lunch break.
She made a special appointment to have lunch with Xin Xiuying, mainly because she was worried that Xin Xiuying would be late in the afternoon.
Fortunately, Xin Xiuying did not disappoint her and appeared in the kitchen, panting.
Xin Xiuying downed a cup of spiritual tea as soon as she sat down: "You're so strict about time management, why don't we just use the Bigu Pill to solve the problem instead of taking time for lunch and dinner?"
Although she had no objection to this, ever since the young master of the Jin family started to stay at the clan school's kitchen, the quality of the kitchen has greatly improved, and there are more people there.
Xie Jiaoyue slowly savored each bite of the food. Her appetite was so-so today, so she only bought a simple steamed egg custard and beef rice bowl. It was said that Jin Wan had learned this recipe from Fulai Restaurant, and in fact, it was she who provided the idea to Fulai Restaurant.
Now that I taste it, the black pepper flavor in the sauce is a bit too strong, but fortunately the ingredients are of excellent quality, and the overall taste is still acceptable. Plus, it has meat, rice, eggs, and vegetables, making for a balanced and satisfying meal.
Xie Jiaoyue pointed to the food she was holding: "Don't you think that fasting pills don't bring any sense of satisfaction? Eating too much of that stuff makes life feel unhappy."
A sense of well-being is also very important for improving efficiency. If you are in a bad mood, you will not be able to concentrate on reading in the library.
Xin Xiuying placed the fasting pills she was holding in front of Xie Jiaoyue: "The ones I make taste much better than those sold in stores."
"Even the most delicious food is just medicine; it can't compare to the happiness that comes from eating a meal."
Xie Jiaoyue doesn't have many hobbies, but eating is one of them.
Xin Xiuying was defeated. But this was something she had made especially for Xie Jiaoyue, hoping she would like it.
Xin Xiuying looked somewhat dejected and wanted to take the Bigu Pill back.
Xie Jiaoyue glanced up and successfully stopped Xin Xiuying's actions: "What does it taste like?"
"Guiwei Lychee".
"We'll go to the secret realm together in the future, and maybe we'll rely on this fasting elixir to survive. Then everyone else will be green with envy."
"So the pills I refine are also useful?"
When did I say it was useless?
Xin Xiuying was overjoyed and immediately gave Xie Jiaoyue several bottles.
She had done this before, and her father criticized her for not doing her proper job, which made her hide it deep inside her storage ring for a time.
I only found this because I knew Xie Jiaoyue liked to eat fruit.
Xie Jiaoyue doesn't eat very fast, so even though she arrived earlier than Xin Xiuying, they finished eating around the same time and could go to the library together.
The library remains the same library, its ancient steps hidden among bamboo groves, displaying a precious tranquility amidst the relatively noisy clan school.
It is very suitable for students to study on their own.
Moreover, in addition to desks, each floor of the library has many small rooms, each capable of accommodating 2-4 people. These rooms are exceptionally soundproof and are all located by windows, providing the best learning experience for the students.
Xie Jiaoyue handed Xin Xiuying a book list: "I don't know much about alchemy, so this only lists some of the content that I know. It may not be suitable, so you can choose what to include yourself."
Xin Xiuying took the book list and was amazed after a quick glance.
She could be described as hardworking before, having set a certain academic plan for herself when she first entered the clan school, which naturally included studying classic Taoist alchemy texts.
Everyone knows these classics, so listing them wouldn't be difficult, but surprisingly, there are also quite a few rare classics listed.
Xin Xiuying searched the library according to the book list and found that all the rare books Xie Jiaoyue had written on the list were available in the library. However, the other books she wanted to read were not on the list and could not be found in the library.
She suddenly felt a competitive spirit. She was the one who was practicing alchemy. If she couldn't even compare to Xie Jiaoyue in something as simple as compiling a reading list, wouldn't she become a complete waste in this group?
No, she had to find a valuable alchemical text that wasn't on the list today.
Xin Xiuying searched for a full half hour before finally finding a book that might be useful.
She placed this book in the most conspicuous position on her chest, on the outermost edge, so that it could be seen at a glance.
With a mix of trepidation and excitement, she entered the pre-arranged small room and saw Xie Jiaoyue engrossed in reading with her head down.
Xin Xiuying coughed a few times on purpose: "Cough cough."
Each small room has a window, and the sheer curtains by the windows were drawn, blocking out the overly bright light and leaving only a just-right, soft glow.
Xie Jiaoyue sat in the light and looked up, seeing the book on Xin Xiuying's chest.
"I should definitely read 'General Knowledge of Kendo'. I'll also borrow 'General Knowledge of Alchemy' later, so that it will be easier for us to communicate."
Xin Xiuying received recognition once again, and she couldn't suppress her smile. She sat down in front of Xie Jiaoyue with a stack of books in her arms and pulled one out: "I borrowed it for you, here."
Several days passed like this. The two of them studied more and more classic texts, and their understanding of alchemy and swordsmanship became deeper and deeper. Xie Jiaoyue finally felt that the time was right and they could begin their first attempt.
Since it was an experiment, the library was not a suitable place. They did not appear in the library that day, but instead went to the alchemy room.
There were quite a few people in the alchemy room, but very few of their generation, so the moment the two appeared, they were immediately under the gaze of others. However, it didn't take long. Xie Jiaoyue moved very quickly, pulling Xin Xiuying through the common area of the alchemy room and directly entering alchemy room number 018.
The clan school was very wealthy in its early years. Like the library, the alchemy room was equipped with many small cubicles, named XXX, and each cubicle was equipped with a medicine cauldron.
This medicine cauldron reveals both the wealth of the clan school in its early years and its current predicament. The once valuable cauldron is covered with large and small wear marks, and there is even a small chip at the mouth of the cauldron.
Xin Xiuying looked at the medicine cauldron with disdain: "Can this thing even be used? Why don't we use my Water Pattern Pill Furnace?"
She has only ever refined Foundation Establishment Pills so far, which is a real waste of such a high-quality alchemy furnace.
Xie Jiaoyue stopped Xin Xiuying from taking out the alchemy furnace: "Let's be careful. This is our first time trying something like this, we can't go all out."
Xin Xiuying thought about it and agreed. Their methods had not been tested. Failure was a minor issue, but if the Water Pattern Alchemy Furnace malfunctioned, that would be a major problem.
The two of them took out the materials they had prepared in advance from their storage rings one by one. They didn't just have flowers and plants, but also spirit jade that could record sword energy, strange and wonderful soft clay that could be shaped at will, and so on.
Xie Jiaoyue's sword energy needs to be recorded, since it's not appropriate for her to directly cleave the alchemy furnace. As for the toxicity of the spirit jade and soft mud... well, this pill isn't meant to be eaten anyway, so the toxicity of the materials doesn't need to be considered.
Next up was Xin Xiuying's turn.
She took a deep breath and, following a plan she had designed, used spiritual fire to activate the alchemy furnace, adding various materials into it one by one at just the right time.
As early as when Xin Xiuying arrived at the alchemy room, someone had already informed Xin Rong.
Xin Rong didn't want to go; he was a sword cultivator, not an alchemist. Besides, he knew his sister fairly well. Putting everything else aside, the fact that she could refine a fasting pill with osmanthus-flavored lychee flavor showed that her alchemy skills were quite good.
But I have nothing to do today, and I've already finished my homework, so there's no harm in going over to take a look.
He was halfway there when a deafening explosion rang out in front of him, startling him so much that he immediately covered his ears.
Holy crap, the alchemy room exploded?
He took off running as fast as he could, shouting, "Xiuying!!"
Author's note: I overestimated myself. I didn't finish writing yesterday, but I wrote a little more today...
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