The Card Cultivation System
CCS-73

There was an explosion not long after Heiliao tried to finish Xika's pill.

Smoke blocked the view of the three creatures. Then the fragrance of spiritual plants spread.

Xika, Heiliao, and also Huo Bing smiled as the pill worked.

Xika wanted to get closer and look at her homemade pill, so she flapped her wings to scatter the smoke blocking her view.

Then the figure of a wolf with three small round objects like marbles was on it.

Thas right. Three, not one.

Heiliao himself was also confused by that result. Very rarely, even almost never an alchemist made more than one pill using a single ingredient.

There was indeed a technique that made it possible to concoct multiple pills at once to save time, but it was using multiple sets at once, and that was not what Xika used. Xika only used one set. Really a set. He produced three pills.

Xika did not know what was inside Heiliao's head. He approached the three pills then observed them for a while, before finally storing them in a special box to store the pills he found in Bai Feng's spatial ring.

"Wait!"

But before he closed the box, Heiliao spoke.

"Let me check it."

Then Heiliao walked over and observed the pill.

The pill was reddish green in the same color as Qingtao Grass. But the pill had three small dots located in the middle of it.

Heiliao widened her eyes when she saw those three spots.

The dots in the pill signified the quality level of a pill. The more the number of dots in the pill meant the higher the quality of the pill. One point means lowest, followed by two intermediate level points and three points which means high level.

Above the high level, there were still other levels. It was a master level with a line extending throughout the pill. But this level has hardly been heard of again for the past few hundred years.

And now, before Heiliao's eyes, there were three high-quality Low-Number pills. And the pill was made by a boy who had only studied alchemists for a few weeks.

Heiliao opened her mouth. Then close it again a few times. He did not know what to say because he was too surprised.

In the end, all that came out of his mouth was,

"Xika, don't let anyone else know you can make pills. And never make a pill in front of anyone else."

Xika just nodded with a confused look.

After that he chatted for a while with Huo Bing and Heiliao, then he fell asleep.

The pill-making process was extremely draining of his physical and mental energy. Although Heiliao still helped him make the pills.

Xika always fell asleep whenever the qi in her body was depleted. He was only able to maintain his consciousness for a short while before finally falling asleep.

Every time he fell asleep, his dantian would fill up with time faster than before. In addition, his dantian also grew along with the contents of the qi. And that process is not painful at all.

Xika woke up and found the two creatures in front of her talking.

He approached to find out what they were talking about. From the look on their faces, it seemed like something quite serious.

"What are you talking about?"

Both looked at him. Then Huo Bing spoke.

"We are struggling. And we agree that your ability in forging and pill making should not be known to the crowd. If anyone asks, just answer. It's okay too."

Xika nodded.

Then he asked again.

"Have you guys thought of a plan to get out of here?"

This time it was Heiliao who spoke.

"We have some guesses. But we haven't tested it. We'll test it once you're ready to get out."

"Eh? Me? Ready it?"

"The fight with the damn snakes made us realize that you're still lacking in a variety of things. Especially defending themselves."

Xika scratched her head hearing Huo Bing's words. The bird is right. If neither she saw the scriptures from the holy bird or Heiliao changed the patterns in the formation, Xika did not know what would happen next.

"You're still too dependent on us. Furthermore, as much as possible we will not help you" Heiliao said. "Therefore, we will train you as best we can in this place" he continued.

Xika nodded.

After that, Heiliao and Huo Bing trained Xika in various matters.

Starting from forging, pill making, learning to use wings, fighting, how to use weapons (Heiliao and Huo Bing taught all the weapons they mastered to Xika. The Space Shifter's shape-shifting played a big part in this), learning a few foreign languages, politics and empires (Huo Bing and Heiliao both disliked politics and empire, respectively, so there was little they could teach), how to use black holes and space elements (this is part Heiliao), how to combine elements and make other elements (one of which is ice, one of which is ice, and this was Huo Bing's part), and taught him basic knowledge about the world of cultivators.

There is a lot that both creatures teach. Over the course of this year, he progressed a lot, very much thanks to both. Surely one of the reasons the two of them were willing to teach Xika various kinds of things was the competition between the two of them. Xika does not know why they always compete, but he is quite grateful because the competition of both has made him develop quite a lot.

It is free time now. Huo Bing and Heiliao made quite a hectic schedule considering their food supplies were limited, but they both still gave him time to rest. It was free to use for anything.

And right now Xika is flying in the middle of her free time. Although flying is also one of the things he learned, but Xika quite likes it. He greatly enjoyed the feeling of flapping his wings, the feeling of the wind hitting his face, and the ground hitting his face. Ehh.

He flew up to the upper room that became the tomb of the sacred bird. There, Xika read again the writings left by the bird. Now he understands the writing enough.

Both Huo Bing and Heiliao taught him various languages. And not just passively, but actively. They taught him to read, write, and speak.

After reading for a while, Xika flapped her wings again about to reach the part of the ceiling that had been her goal.

Several times he flapped his wings, but he only rose a little. It is natural to remember the air pressure is getting heavier when in a high position.

But Xika did not stop flapping her wings. He did not give up, even if only a little, but he managed to get closer.

And finally......

Taps!

Xika managed to touch the ceiling of the room which had been her goal all along.

After that Xika stopped flapping her wings and fell free from a height that could make ordinary humans die.

Xika fell down with a calm face. He enjoyed the wind on his face.

Then when it was just a few meters away from the ground, it spread its wings and stopped itself from falling.

Xika flew around for a while, before finally descending and walking towards Heiliao and Huo Bing.

He walked with a smile on his face. Huo Bing and Heiliao also smiled. They saw him reach the ceiling.

Lately, Heiliao has changed quite a lot. He became more talkative and not as quiet as before. The habit of closing his eyes before answering questions has also begun to decrease even though he still often does. Of course the cause changed was Huo Bing and Xika.

After congratulating them, they started talking about their plan to get out of this place.

"I suspect that we can get out by activating the formation earlier."

"Formation? The formation you used to move people before?" xika asked confusedly at Huo Bing.

Huo Bing nodded. Then he continued,

"The reform moved all those who were not interested. Still remember?"

Xika nodded.

"I think, after we finish off the damn snakes, we should have no interest anymore. So we can use that formation to get out of here."

"How about failing?"

Now Heiliao was speaking.

"I suspect some place. I've marked it. These places should be the closest to the outside world. If this method fails as well, I can still bring you guys to move space. But since my cultivation level is still low, I don't know how far we're going to move and where we're going."

Xika nodded.

After that they discussed another plan, just in case there was a better way. But they didn't find it. So they decided to prepare to activate the formation.