Chapter 286: What to Do?
“Bang!”
There was an explosion first. Then, a wave of smoke filled the area.
“Co-cough! Blegh!” A violent coughing fit followed after.
There was the sound of wind being displaced before a person, waving a fan to blow the smoke out his window, could be seen. Rubbing violently at his face and dusting himself off, the man spat out several globs of ash-filled spit.
Beyond the soot layering was the face of… Bai Yunfei!!
“Ugh, another failure…” Sighing as he stared at the blackened object in his hand, Bai Yunfei stored the broken fragments back into his space ring.
“This is hard… it’s been five days already, but I haven’t succeeded even once. I’m scared to even think about the quality even if I succeeded…” Bai Yunfei rubbed his chin in contemplation. Since some ash was stuck to his fingers, his chin looked as if he had a beard, making for a comedic sight.
“Am I using the wrong materials?” Bai Yunfei thought to himself. “The crafting process was very clear though. That means my control wasn’t good enough… the flames from the Ardent Sun Glove are really hard to control. If this was before, I’d be able to craft stuff like this without a problem…”
“Ugh!!!”
Just thinking about the situation was enough for Bai Yunfei to let out a frustrated groan.
He waved his right hand to bring out some more materials, but when there was no reaction, he looked surprised, “Eh? I ran out?
“This can’t be! I need to finish before tomorrow night! I’m already so close. I have to finish by tonight!!”
He nodded his head in determination and looked around before walking out of his room.
Opening the doors, Bai Yunfei was met with the sight of a large group of people outside. At the very front of this group was Si Kongxian. Upon seeing Bai Yunfei walk out, the look of worry on his face turned to joy before then reverting back to worry, “You finally came out, Yunfei!! If it took you any longer, I’d have the other seniors drag you out!!”
“Uh…” Bai Yunfei had no idea how to react to that. Looking up to the sky, he began to apologetically reply, “Sorry about that, I didn’t realize what time it was.”
“Haha, don’t worry then. It’s a good thing you came out now.” With a laugh, Si Kongxian shook Bai Yunfei’s hand, but when he saw Bai Yunfei’s soot-covered face, Si Kongxian couldn’t help but stare strangely at him.
“Ah, Kongxian, I’m running out of materials. Could you do me a favor and get me some more of what I need? I need them before tonight if that’s alright with you?”
“No problem! I had some juniors prepare some last time, so there’s still some more in store. Let me have someone send them over to you later.
“Oh? Thanks for your work, then.”
Chuckling Si Kongxian changed the subject, “Yunfei, are you going to want them right now? Those juniors are eating their meals right now…”
“Oh, no worries. Let them keep eating.” Basi Yunfei nodded apologetically.
After waving to the other people there, Bai Yunfei turned walked out of the courtyard.
Bai Yunfei could see a line of students walk into a single room one by one. Each one of them talked with one another as they walked into the room, and the sweet aroma of several plates of vegetables wafted through the air…
This place was the kitchens for the inner school students of the Western Point…
…………
Ten days had passed since Bai Yunfei had failed to form a second essence fireseed. Bai Yunfei did not wake up during the first two days.
Like Zi Jin said, Bai Yunfei had no major injuries to speak of, and it only took another two days to bring him back to full health.
Of course, ‘full health’ referred to the physical health on the level of a normal person. His soul was still very weak.
He was feeling a little better, but he was still afraid to do anything major. Therefore, a few more days of recuperation would be needed.
On the surface level, his failure to form a second essence fireseed had done very little damage, but the elemental fire had ‘ravaged’ his body. With the many medicines he had used, Bai Yunfei’s body was in a weaker state than before.
While he was worse off, the same couldn’t be said for the Cataclysmic Seal. After absorbing all that elemental fire, the brick seemed to have gone into ‘hibernation.’ Whenever Bai Yunfei took it out, he noticed that it wasn’t absorbing elemental fire anymore.
It felt like an average brick with its red hue and with it being cold to the touch. If not for the fact that Bai Yunfei could still see its stats, he would’ve thought that it had turned back into a normal brick.
As the master of the Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei knew that there was more to it than just that. Beyond the cold exterior, a terrifyingly powerful aura could be felt within. It was dormant, but still, it continued to compress the essence fireseed in it…
This was a great result to end up with. Even though Bai Yunfei failed to form an essence fireseed, he didn’t squander all of the elemental fire; the Cataclysmic Seal had absorbed most of it.
His memory was hazy, but Bai Yunfei could still distinctly feel that the essence fireseed in the Cataclysmic Seal was a whole lot stronger than before.
There was a good chance that the essence fireseed would make a full recovery within two months.
A consolation prize, to be sure.
Still, Bai Yunfei would no longer be able to form an essence fireseed. His wounds required time he did not have and no medicine would help him here.
……
Like after the battle in Curopia City, Bai Yunfei found himself waking up to the tender care of Tang Xinyun. Just thinking about how he had been greeted with her kind smile left Bai Yunfei with a myriad of warm feelings, as if there was a special relationship between them.
This rang especially true when he found his body wiped clean of sweat. Embarrassment didn’t even fully describe how he felt.
Of course, when he found out it was Si Kongxian who cleaned him, Bai Yunfei had nearly puked out of anger and disgust.
Zi Jin and the others had been worried that Bai Yunfei would become depressed about his failures, but it had been almost the opposite. Bai Yunfei looked very cheerful when he woke up, and not once did he look like he was depressed. Hence, Zi Jin and the others were able to let out a sigh of relief. While it was true that they felt sorry that Bai Yunfei hadn’t been able to form a companion fireseed, his failure didn’t lower their opinion of him. For someone in Bai Yunfei’s case, being able to take advantage of his essence fireseed being in his Cataclysmic Seal to get stronger was something they all felt gratified about.
After Bai Yunfei woke from his two-day coma, he didn’t bother to try and train or upgrade any equipment. Instead, he spent his time wandering around Mt. Crimson or playing with Huangfu Rui. This spoiled the young child. Every day after that she would pester him to make her a new toy.
Sometimes, he’d go to Tang Xinyun’s place as well. A full recovery was all but expected now, and the corrosive energy in her was nearly gone, but even after all that corrosive energy disappeared, she’d still have the strength of a Soul Warrior.
On the outside, she didn’t seem like she cared about her situation, but Bai Yunfei would sometimes see a crack in her facade and see the grief hidden behind her smile.
Therefore, Bai Yunfei would try cheer her up whenever possible; sometimes he’d even use Huangfu Rui to help brighten the mood.
Five days later Bai Yunfei stumbled across something interesting. On his way back from Huangfu Rui’s, Bai Yunfei found himself listening to an interesting tidbit of information.
After thinking about it for an entire night, Bai Yunfei sought out one of the disciples from the outer school responsible for cooking. Bai Yunfei asked the disciple for several ingredients, and then after asking Si Kongxian to buy several things, he shut himself away in the kitchens.
It was a forced occupation that lasted until the morning of the second day. Bai Yunfei was so busy that he had completely forgotten what time it was. No one dared intrude on whatever he was doing, but the students who were extremely hungry were all very cross with him. Some had even looked annoyed.
But what was Bai Yunfei doing?
Find out next time.