Chapter 036

Chapter 036

Bai Xiaoyu returned to his residence with Dahhei. The house had been redecorated, and the rooms were now connected, linking Dahhei's room to the alchemy room.

However, Dahhei didn't seem to like it much; he preferred staying in Bai Xiaoyu's room and wouldn't leave when it was time.

Bai Xiaoyu went to the alchemy room and started refining the herbs sent by the Eighteenth Legion and the Twenty-ninth Legion.

Today, he mainly focused on refining the Bone-Washing Elixir. During this period, he had also been attempting to refine the Bone-Washing Pill. Each time, he fell just short, resulting in a translucent solid that was more potent than before but still not a pill.

Bai Xiaoyu tried again. Three hours later, he was sweating from the effort, yet his spirit was exhilarated.

The medicinal essence inside had solidified. With years of experience in incubating pills, he could clearly sense that the essence had taken on the form of a pill.

Just a little more.

He focused even more, not daring to relax for a moment.

Finally, after another half hour, a powerful aroma of the pill filled the air.

It worked.

He opened the pill furnace and looked at the small white pill spinning in the center.

This was his second successful pill refinement, a month after the last Great Restoration Pill.

What a pleasant surprise.

He picked up the pill, placed it in his palm, gently pressed it with his fingertips, and took a deep sniff.

Indeed, it was a Bone-Washing Pill. Its quality wasn't top-notch, but its efficacy far surpassed that of the usual Bone-Washing Elixir.

Dahhei stood nearby, and seeing Bai Xiaoyu free, hopped over to rub against his hand.

Bai Xiaoyu turned to look at Dahhei, patted his eggshell, and then placed the Bone-Washing Pill against it lightly.

"Dahhei, this is today's achievement. Tonight, we'll use this instead of the Bone-Washing Elixir for your bath."

After a pause, Bai Xiaoyu stored the Bone-Washing Pill. "But you need to be prepared; it will hurt a lot this time."

Dahhei wiggled slightly and hopped three times softly.

Bai Xiaoyu knew this meant agreement, but thinking about the pain of the Bone-Washing Pill, he hesitated.

Still, Dahhei insisted, and Bai Xiaoyu finally agreed.

That evening, Bai Xiaoyu made thorough preparations, using a newly customized bathtub.

Dahhei rolled around in the bathtub as Bai Xiaoyu added the Essence-Cultivating Elixir and various herbs. Seeing this, Bai Xiaoyu's lips curved slightly. But soon, his expression turned serious, and he stroked Dahhei. "Dahhei, it will hurt a lot. Jump out if you can't bear it, okay?"

Dahhei stopped and hopped a few times in response.

Bai Bai, as a brave egg, could handle it.

After hopping, Dahhei rubbed against Bai Xiaoyu's hand, seemingly urging him to proceed.

Bai Xiaoyu took a deep breath, poured out the Bone-Washing Pill, held it in his palm, and crushed it with his mental power.

The pill crumbled around Dahhei, and white powder fell into the pale green water, instantly dissolving.

Dahhei's egg body, which had been occasionally bouncing in the water, suddenly stiffened and began to shake.

Bai Xiaoyu watched Dahhei closely. Dahhei had long grown accustomed to the pain of the baths, and it had been a while since he reacted like this.

When Bai Xiaoyu reached out to touch him, Dahhei dodged away.

Then, Dahhei moved to the side, distancing himself slightly.

Bai Xiaoyu noticed black impurities emerging from Dahhei's eggshell.

The Bone-Washing Pill was taking effect.

In the past, the Bone-Washing Elixir never acted so quickly.

Even an average-quality Bone-Washing Pill was far more effective than the elixir.

The effects were swift and potent, but the side effect was intense pain, even more so.

Bai Xiaoyu grew increasingly worried. Dahhei seemed to sense his concern and reduced his movements, eventually sinking completely into the bathtub.

Bai Xiaoyu couldn't see what was happening inside because the concoction had turned entirely black, and the impurities continued to emerge, darkening the liquid further.

All he could see was the bubbling surface, indicating the extent of Dahhei's suffering.

He could only wait anxiously.

An hour passed, and Dahhei finally floated up from the pitch-black liquid.

Now, Dahhei and the liquid were indistinguishable except for the slight elliptical bulge visible from the side. From above, it was hard to tell there was an egg present.

Bai Xiaoyu asked urgently, "Dahhei, are you okay?"

Dahhei seemed weak and merely wiggled slightly.

Bai Xiaoyu took a deep breath, sensing that the efficacy of the liquid had nearly vanished. He activated the bathtub to automatically clear the black liquid, rinsing it several times until it returned to its original color.

He poured in some nutrient solution to help Dahhei recover energy.

Then, he stroked Dahhei, saying, "Dahhei, you're such a great and brave egg."

The praised Big Black Egg immediately became happy, gently rubbing against Bai Xiaoyu's palm.

Bai Xiaoyu massaged the eggshell, making the Big Black Egg feel comfortable and gradually more spirited.

Now that Big Black has undergone the Cleansing Pill bath, it’s unclear how things are going. Thinking back to last time, Big Black wouldn't let him enter the egg.

Bai Xiaoyu tried to negotiate with Big Black: "Big Black, this time I want to use my mental power to enter your shell and take a look, okay?"

The Big Black Egg remained still, as if in thought.

Bai Xiaoyu emphasized again: "Big Black, I need to understand the situation inside. Don’t worry, I’ll only look around the outer layer."

The slightly recovered Big Black Egg bounced three times in the medicinal liquid, barely agreeing. Then it moved its body, drawing a large circle, followed by a smaller one inside it.

Then it shook its head and hopped in front of Bai Xiaoyu.

Anyone else would be confused, but Bai Xiaoyu strangely understood Big Black's meaning, "Alright, I'll only probe the outer layer and won’t go deeper."

With a friendly agreement reached, Bai Xiaoyu pressed his palm against the Big Black Egg, slowly sending in his mental power.

This time it was easier than before; some of the dark matter had clearly been forced out by the Cleansing Pill.

However, there was still plenty of dark matter inside. The outermost layer, where his mental power currently resided near the shell, had become much clearer and less black than before, at least not completely obscured by darkness.

His mental power probed the outer layer, revealing that the Cleansing Pill had effectively cleared away a layer of dark matter.

It worked well, but his success rate in refining them wasn’t high. He needed to practice more to give Big Black a bath every few days.

Bai Xiaoyu's mental power moved within the egg, circling around, suddenly sensing movement from the center.

Looking closer, a shadow seemed to be moving towards him.

As the shadow approached, Bai Xiaoyu's eyes narrowed, and his mental power trembled.

It was a massive claw shrouded in black mist, with bones half black and half white, covered in tiny cracks, and some flesh seemingly regenerating before being corroded by the black mist.

The claw moved, trying to get closer to Bai Xiaoyu's mental power, but then held back. It then hesitantly moved towards Bai Xiaoyu.

At that moment, Bai Xiaoyu's mind went blank, causing his mental power to lose control and drop out.

After coming out, he couldn't recover, his mind filled with the image of the scarred claw.

What happened to Big Black? What did he experience before?

When Bai Xiaoyu regained his composure, the Big Black Egg had sunk to the bottom, isolating itself.

Was Bai Bai disgusted by his ugliness?

He remembered Bai Bai liked to play with Xiao Yi's fluffy paws, but his own claw had no fur. He should have had beautiful silver-white fur without any impurities.

But now...

He isolated himself.

Seeing the sunken Big Black Egg, Bai Xiaoyu almost immediately guessed the reason. He sighed inwardly, blaming himself for being shocked by Big Black's claw and losing control of his mental power.

He quickly reached out, gesturing to the Big Black Egg submerged in the medicinal liquid.

"Big Black, I was just mesmerized by your claw, not disgusted. I’ve never seen such a beautiful claw."

The sunken Big Black Egg moved, realizing Bai Bai wasn’t disgusted but thought his claw was beautiful?

Bai Xiaoyu: "Big Black, come up, don’t be angry. To make up for my mistake, I’ll do anything you want. Also, I love Big Black the most."

The Big Black Egg gradually floated up, shyly twisting, slowly approaching Bai Xiaoyu.

Bai Bai said he loves me, making me so happy I want to spin around.

In fact, he did spin around.

Watching the spinning Big Black Egg, Bai Xiaoyu breathed a sigh of relief.

Big Black's cuteness broke his heart; he was too easy to comfort.

"Big Black, tell me what you want, and I’ll do it!"

The Big Black Egg came closer, pressing against Bai Xiaoyu's palm, hopping in the medicinal liquid.

Bai Bai, you’ve hugged Xiao Yi so many times, I want you to hug me too.

Bai Bai, carry me out of the bath.

While Bai Xiaoyu sometimes understood Big Black, there were more times when he didn’t.

So he called out to the system in his mind: "System, see what Big Black wants me to do."

System: "Received. Now capturing Big Black’s strong brainwaves directed at you..."

The system paused, "Big Black hopes the host will carry him out of the bath. Host, your constitution is still D+. Take care."

Bai Xiaoyu: "…"

He looked at the shy and expectant Big Black Egg in the medicinal liquid, licking his dry lips.

How much did Big Black weigh according to the report?

Not much, just over a thousand kilograms, with a trailing decimal.

With buoyancy, he might be able to... try?

People should never underestimate their own potential.

Fifteen minutes later, Bai Xiaoyu saw off the Big Black Egg he had hugged many times with great joy.

He held his waist and took out several bottles of potions, planning to give himself a medicinal bath.

He now fully understood a truth.

One must have self-awareness.

In the end, he couldn't lift Big Black, and not only that, he also strained his back.

Bai Xiaoyu sat in the bathtub, rubbing his waist.

He had promised Big Black something but failed to deliver.

And his physique needed to improve! Otherwise, when would he be able to lift Big Black?

While taking his medicinal bath, Bai Xiaoyu opened his optical brain.

Both the Sixteenth Legion and the Twenty-ninth Legion had replied, and together they would send eight eggs.

There was still one spot left.

But it didn't necessarily have to be filled; leaving one spot empty wasn't a big issue.

At this moment, he received a message from the mainframe. Upon opening it, he realized it was a reminder he had set up after his initial application to become a Cultivator was rejected, as he could only apply once every three months.

Back then, he was clueless and planned to apply for experienced Cultivators to come help him. Now, that was no longer necessary.

Bai Xiaoyu thought about having to hatch nearly a hundred eggs. With Yu Xi's help last time, he barely managed, especially during the later stages of hatching.

So he needed an assistant, no, two assistants.

On the homepage of the Cultivation Institute, there was an application for assistants. He just opened it and set the quota.

Within ten seconds, the system indicated it was full.

Bai Xiaoyu looked at the hundred submitted assistant applications and felt a headache coming on.

The impressive resumes of the applicants didn't seem like those of assistants, and most were from Imperial Star. No doubt, some people from Imperial Star were involved.

Bai Xiaoyu: "System, it's your turn to work. Reject all applications related to the forces on Imperial Star."

After the first round, looking at the remaining two applications, Bai Xiaoyu's lips twitched slightly.

He knew someone would try to sneak in, but he didn't expect it to be so desperate.

Opening the remaining two profiles, one was Zhang Yi, who used to work at a private cultivation facility. The other was Lu Qing, a Cultivator from the planet where the batch of eggs he received from the Cultivation Association came from.

For assistants, he would choose these two.

Seeing that Bai Xiaoyu had hired assistants, many forces were puzzled. Some of the names sent over were obvious, while others seemed completely normal, yet none were chosen by Bai Xiaoyu.

With no hope for assistants, they continued searching for other opportunities to probe Bai Xiaoyu's background.

Zhang Yi was overjoyed upon receiving the reply. This gave him a chance to meet the master potion maker and work alongside Bai Xiaoyu, who had hatched perfect specimens.

It was because of the potion he bought that he was able to hatch a little rabbit, receive the final payment from the client, and go to the frontline planet where his mother went missing. After caring for her for a while, his mother returned to the frontline, and he saw the job posting for assistants here.

As for those bastards, one day he would settle the score.

The other person, Lu Qing, was also pleasantly surprised. His resume was ordinary, and he never expected to be chosen.

The two new assistants headed towards Star D36, while Bai Qing's personal guards from Imperial Star also rushed over with the eggs.

Bai Xiaoyu made preparations and finally, on the third morning, the local eggs arrived.

Round eggs of various sizes were placed into transparent incubation boxes.

These small eggs were a stark contrast to the larger ones Bai Xiaoyu was used to seeing in the later stages.

He checked each one and found them in much better condition than the eighteen eggs he initially received.

This batch of eggs allocated by the region was standard, with minor issues but no major problems.

Hatching these eggs wouldn't be difficult.

He arranged them in order and placed them in the cultivation compartments.

Once he finished, the second batch of eggs arrived.

Delivered by a spacecraft, President Luo also came along. Seeing Bai Xiaoyu, he smiled widely, showing only teeth, "Xiaoyu, you'll have to work hard with this batch of eggs. The funds will be transferred to your institute's account shortly. Please check it."

Bai Xiaoyu nodded, "Understood."

President Luo: "By the way, these eggs have suffered varying degrees of damage. Especially those more severely damaged ones, do your best. Also, there's a special egg. I've sent you cases similar to it. You can refer to them."

After saying this, he noticed the completely different, cartoon-like appearance of the cultivation facility and gaped in amazement.

After unloading the eggs, he went to tour the facility, occasionally exclaiming "Good" or "Brilliant" as he passed by.

Bai Xiaoyu sorted the eggs again, ranking them by the extent of their injuries, and separated them from the regional eggs.

The most severely damaged egg in this batch had a cracked shell and a missing piece.

The condition of these eggs was no less challenging than the problematic ones he initially handled, especially the most severe one, which gave him a headache just looking at it.

And it didn't stop there. He opened the special egg mentioned by President Luo.

The egg was longer and larger than an ordinary egg, with the middle part slightly bulging out like a swimming ring, appearing to have several layers.

It resembled the double or triple yolk eggs he had seen before, where the middle part looked similar.

However, this one had more layers than any he had seen before. Xiaoyu probed it with his mental power and began to feel a headache.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven!

Were these the Seven Brothers eggs? Seven yolks sitting in a row.

How could he cultivate this?

Xiaoyu rubbed his forehead, deciding to settle them first and figure out how to hatch them later.

By evening, he had finally settled all the eggs.

He was truly exhausted. Glancing at the schedule of his two assistants, they would arrive tomorrow.

Finally, there would be someone to share the workload, so he wouldn't have to do everything alone.

He took out the nutrient solution and poured it into the main slot, setting different concentrations for the two batches of eggs. Especially for the one with a cracked shell, he adjusted the concentration separately and added some repair agent.

After finishing this, he waved at the large black egg beside him. "Dahai, let's go up and prepare the medicinal bath."

By the time he and Dahai finished their medicinal bath, it was already late at night.

Just as he was about to sleep, the robot informed him that a guest had arrived.

Bai Xiaoyu went downstairs to the entrance of the breeding facility. Outside, a refined man stood at the door, carefully holding something in his hands. Behind him were two tall men whose attire seemed familiar.

Searching his memory, he suddenly realized who they were—the personal guards of his original self's father, members of the Royal Guard, which included many scions from noble families.

Bai Xiaoyu stood at the door. "What can I help you with?"

The man in front stepped forward. "Young Master Bai, hello. We are here to deliver the egg laid by Lady Feng for you to hatch."

Bai Xiaoyu replied, "I remember rejecting all hatching requests from Imperial Star."

The man turned to the two behind him. "You two, return to the spacecraft."

After they left, he continued, "Young Master Bai, this egg has congenital defects and cannot withstand the spacecraft's jump. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't save it. You are his brother. As family, he has been abandoned by the other side. If possible, please give him a proper farewell. Otherwise, he is too pitiful."

With that, he handed over the incubation box. Bai Xiaoyu looked at the small, dull egg that barely fit in his palm and reached out to take it.

His mental power cautiously probed inside, confirming what the man had said—it showed no signs of life.

Seeing Bai Xiaoyu accept it, the man turned and left.

Bai Xiaoyu held the incubation box and gently lifted the egg. The egg felt slightly cool to the touch, its temperature lower than the others.

His mental power, through his palm, carefully examined it. Soon, his eyes filled with disappointment. Just as he was about to withdraw his mental power, the egg gave a barely perceptible twitch. If not for his strong mental power, he wouldn't have noticed.

He quickly realized that whenever his mental power threads tried to leave, the egg would show a tiny reaction.

As if pleading or seeking help.

Bai Xiaoyu's expression softened.

Little guy, you have quite a strong will to live, don't you?