Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Xu Qiao still remembered the scene when the Lotus first leveled up two years ago.

At first, she was shocked by the sudden increase in petals, and it took her some time to realize that her strength had indeed grown, her level presumably elevated, which was eventually confirmed by a detector provided by Sun Fushan.

With that previous experience, how could Xu Qiao doubt the Lotus now, proudly announcing its upgrade to grade A with ninety-nine petals?

Grade A, ah. Xu Qiao had been so excited when Lu Yang awakened his grade A sword that she wanted to jump and shout. And now, it was her turn...

Catching a side glance at Qinchi sitting next to her, Xu Qiao restrained herself by burying her face into the Lotus's flower, with only the corners of her mouth curling up uncontrollably.

The Lotus stretched out four leaves to embrace Xu Qiao, gently rubbing her with each petal.

It was certainly special, but without Xu Qiao's persistent use of her ability to train her mental energy over the years, it wouldn't have reached this day of upgrading.

A spiritual body is a condensation of the host's spirit. Xu Qiao had nurtured it with a constant supply of mental energy, leading to its growth and strength.

In the driver's seat, Qinchi watched silently, and so did the Fire Dragon.

Until a robust voice of an old lady came from a nearby building, “It's almost eight o'clock, are you still planning to laze in bed? Do you not want to go to school?”

Xu Qiao, who didn’t need to go to school but still had to go to work: “...”

She grabbed the Green Cylinder from Qinchi’s side, unable to hide her joy, and said, “Let's go quickly, I don’t want to be late.”

Watching Xu Qiao's radiant face, Qinchi thought that even if she got fired for being late, she would still be able to smile happily all day.

Passengers could indulge in their emotions, but drivers had to focus on the steering wheel.

The Fire Dragon peeked out a transparent black claw blade from Qinchi’s right arm, excitedly chatting with the now shrunken Lotus, “I told you, you're amazing! Look, you've reached grade A so quickly and became even more beautiful!” The white and soft petals resembled clouds, making the Fire Dragon want to burrow into them.

The Lotus loved hearing such compliments and moved its flower closer, “Do you want to count my petals?”

The little green turtle enjoyed having its shell touched by Xu Qiao, and the Lotus loved when Xu Qiao counted its petals, a sensation that was both ticklish and comfortable.

Fire Dragon: “Okay!”

Using the Lotus's water currents to write some words, the Fire Dragon extended its claw blade towards the Lotus.

The tip of the claw blade was sharper than the Fire Scorpion’s tail stinger, getting closer and closer...

The Lotus quickly retreated back into Xu Qiao, leaving only one leaf, “Never mind, your claws are too sharp, I’m afraid you’ll hurt my petals.”

Xu Qiao’s fingers were so beautiful and gentle to touch.

Fire Dragon: “...”

Lotus: “I’m not rejecting you. Your claws are sharp, but your feathers must be very soft. Tonight, I’ll help you heal, and when you come out, I can rub against your feathers.”

Xu Qiao had always wanted to touch the wolverine’s fur and had envied the Snow Wolf’s fur, but Zhao Feng was too annoying.

The Lotus wasn’t interested in the hard shells of the Fire Scorpion or the turtle, nor Lu Yang’s even harder sword body. The feathers of this mysterious fierce bird should feel nice.

The Fire Dragon, which didn’t have soft feathers but hard scales: “...”

Qinchi directly retracted the claw blade.

Xu Qiao also put away the Lotus, looked at Qinchi, and asked in a low voice, “If you trust me, shall we try tonight?”

Healing a spiritual body was risky for both parties; the patient needed to trust that the Healer wouldn’t harm them, and the Healer needed to trust that the patient wouldn’t suddenly attack.

But now that Xu Qiao was a grade higher than Qinchi, it was mostly up to Qinchi to trust her. Even if his spiritual body suddenly lost control, Xu Qiao, being grade A, could likely escape unscathed.

Qinchi suddenly pulled the car over to the side of the road.

Xu Qiao then noticed that a turn at the upcoming intersection would lead to the clinic.

She looked back at Qinchi.

In his eyes, Xu Qiao saw concern, confidence, and eagerness, but no worry that he might refuse.

This indicated that Xu Qiao already trusted him deeply and believed he reciprocated that trust. After all, he had already said he was willing to cooperate with her experiments, just worried that she might get hurt by violent spiritual bodies.

At this moment, Qinchi understood clearly that if he continued to make excuses, Xu Qiao would only interpret it as him not trusting her as much as he claimed.

A few seconds passed in their eye contact.

Just a few seconds, and the light in Xu Qiao’s eyes dimmed. She seemed to understand something and forced a smile, “Never mind, I...”

Qinchi: “Do you remember when I told you that I had kept some personal matters from you because it wasn’t convenient to reveal them before?”

Xu Qiao nodded, looking down at her hands resting on her lap, “I understand, it’s okay.”

Qinchi smiled and said, “It is relevant. What I’ve kept from you concerns my spiritual body healing. If I tell you now, it might affect your mood and your treatment of Zhou Cheng. So, let me keep this secret for a little longer. Once Zhou Cheng’s issue is resolved, I’ll tell you. By then, if you’re still willing and daring enough to heal me, I’ll cooperate without reservation.”

Qinchi couldn’t be sure how much his deception had affected Xu Qiao, but there was a more urgent patient that needed her help.

Xu Qiao could sense his sincerity, and he even used a bit of reverse psychology to ensure she didn’t misunderstand the trust issue.

Recalling Qinchi’s various actions, Xu Qiao said in surprise, “What’s there to be afraid of? Unless you’ve already reached grade A, with mental energy stronger than mine.”

Qinchi didn’t deny it.

Xu Qiao: “...”

Qinchi glanced at his wristband and reminded her with a smile, “It’s 8:03.”

Xu Qiao had no choice but to open the door and get out. Before closing it, she looked at the genuine grade A expert who could handle anything calmly and said through gritted teeth, “It’s fine that you kept personal matters secret, but lying is a problem. You’ve already affected my good mood. Unless you make a big delicious dinner tonight, I won’t forgive you.”

After finishing her words, she slammed the car door shut and ran towards the clinic.

When Xu Qiao arrived at the first-floor lobby, there were already patients waiting in line. Without much time to think, she quickly changed into her work clothes and headed to the consultation room.

Before the first patient arrived, Xu Qiao opened the message sent by Qin Chi.

Qin Chi: "I'm sorry for deceiving you, but I'm glad there's still a chance to make up for it. I'll send you the menu for dinner once I've organized it."

Xu Qiao: "Tell me exactly when it happened, or I'll be curious all day."

Qin Chi: "It was before we moved. The environment in the second ring is more suitable for me, so I got a fake ID to better integrate into the neighborhood life."

Xu Qiao: "You're really something. I've never heard of a fake ID that can fool the association's verification system."

Qin Chi: "I have connections, after all."

Xu Qiao: "So, joining our team was also to integrate into the neighborhood life?"

Qin Chi: "At first, it was because I was afraid the comfortable C-grade landlord might encounter danger outside. Later, I found that going out with you all was indeed helpful for self-cultivation."

Xu Qiao's face flushed at the first sentence, just as the patient knocked on the door outside. Xu Qiao hurriedly sent a voice message saying, "I'm at work," and focused on the consultation.

At noon, while having lunch with her colleagues in the cafeteria, Qin Chi sent an electronic menu as promised, including seven rich dinner combinations.

Qin Chi: "Pick according to your taste, or you can order dishes separately."

Xu Qiao, holding back laughter, said, "They all look delicious."

Qin Chi: "Then I'll make them all until you're completely not mad anymore."

Just as Xu Qiao was about to continue eating, her colleague Zhao Lu suddenly leaned over, winkingly asking, "Are you in a relationship?"

Xu Qiao: "No, he's just a teammate of mine."

Zhao Lu: "A male teammate?"

Xu Qiao nodded.

Zhao Lu smiled even more suggestively, "A male teammate is even better. Many ability users' partners quarrel over their partner's opposite-sex teammates. Some even think teammates are more important than partners. If the teammate is also the partner, there's no problem at all. So, is your teammate handsome?"

Xu Qiao pushed her away helplessly.

The topic soon shifted to the big news of the day about the re-evaluation of spirit bodies. Zhao Lu opened the forum, showing videos of Mercenary Association ability users lining up in four long queues, ranging from sixteen-year-old Military Academy students to centenarians.

New posts sharing the evaluation results kept popping up, but so far, there hadn't been a second case of spirit body upgrade apart from Sun Fushan's.

Zhao Lu: "Professor Lu said Sun Fushan's upgrade was a low-probability event, tentatively classified as a growable spirit body, but no one can guarantee he'll continue to upgrade."

She released her honeysuckle spirit body, a twin flower with one white and one yellow blossom, and observed while resting her chin on her hand. "My spirit body was like this when it first awakened, with no changes at all. There's no upgrade, so why waste time queuing for detection? Look at Sun Fushan's turtle; it's gained an extra mountain."

Another colleague released his ginger spirit body, a green plant: "How can I tell if there's an upgrade? If a large ginger grows underneath?"

Once the topic started, other colleagues gradually released their spirit bodies, filling the cafeteria with lush greenery.

The lotus flower was itching to move, but Xu Qiao held it back, planning to visit Meng Li after leaving the lab that evening.

Given the morning's events, Xu Qiao went straight to Qin Chi's place for dinner.

As soon as she changed into slippers, the lotus jumped out, still in its normal state, though the flower disk was slightly larger. Anyone passing outside the small yard could notice the lotus in the living room.

Qin Chi quickly controlled the wind to draw the curtains and turned on the living room and dining room lights. He then released a large blue vase, placing it deliberately next to the dining table.

The lotus happily settled into the vase.

Xu Qiao: "...How many vases do you have in your space?"

Qin Chi smiled, "For commonly used items, I'm used to having several spares. Considering our teammate relationship and the likelihood of you visiting often, I need to have a set here, one at your place, and another for when we leave the base. These are the three sets currently in use, with another dozen or so spares."

Finally, he looked at Xu Qiao, "You know, I have plenty of points."

Xu Qiao was speechless and walked up to the vase, gently touching the lotus petals, asking seriously, "You won't be lured away, right?"

Sun Fushan's little green turtle seemed to like her more.

The lotus in the vase disappeared and then peeked out from above Xu Qiao's head, mimicking the peony spirit body of the famous southeast base celebrity, adorning Xu Qiao's hair as a hairpiece.

But Xu Qiao wasn't a big star, and even with just Qin Chi as the audience, she felt awkward.

Noticing Qin Chi's gaze, Xu Qiao quickly said, "Alright, I'm sure you like me the most. Go back to the vase, so I can't even see you."

She knew the lotus needed to show off its "beauty" for a few days after the upgrade.

The lotus obediently returned to the vase.

After dinner was set, Xu Qiao took a deep breath and asked the lotus, which was happily sitting as a potted plant, "The food smells great. Won't you come back to try it with me?"

Lotus: "I'm not tempted. Qin Chi, you should also release it. We can chat while you two eat."

Qin Chi looked at both the person and the flower.

He went to the study, released the fire dragon, and let it curl up inside the golden ball.

Returning to the dining room, Qin Chi casually placed the golden ball next to the lotus on the dining table.

Lotus: "Where's the perch? Now it's too short, and I don't like talking looking down."

Qin Chi instinctively looked at Xu Qiao.

Xu Qiao: "...You only have one perch?"

Qinchi: “...It doesn't like the bird perch. That was just a temporary customization for the convenience of hypnosis.”

Xu Qiao thought for a moment and asked the golden ball, “What do you like? I’ll also give you something as a gift.”

The golden ball wobbled and then, lifted by the fire dragon controlling the wind, flew up and over to the lotus flower’s tray. “I like this.”

Before the atmosphere could turn awkward, the lotus flower regained control of the conversation. “I’m not a gift. Xu Qiao was asking about a vessel for habitation.”

Fire dragon: “Then give me a larger golden ball. It should have a hollow diameter of one meter. Any larger and Lu Yang’s room won’t be able to fit it.”

Xu Qiao: “...”