Chapter 160: Vitality Serum
Chu Feng returned home and was greeted by Lin Zhihao.
“Everything alright these past couple of days?” he asked.
Lin Zhihao shook his head. “All good. I took them around for a walk. The kids were well-behaved. Very curious about everything, but they didn’t cause any trouble.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Good.”
Lin Zhihao hesitated. “That dwarf—Hughes—seems a little off.”
Chu Feng looked puzzled. “What’s wrong with him?”
Zhihao frowned and whispered mysteriously, “He’s been online non-stop. No sleep. I saw him looking at all kinds of weapon blueprints and even ordering imitation guns online. Could he be some kind of terrorist?”
Chu Feng said calmly, “Ignore him. Dwarves are naturally obsessed with weapons. Now that Hughes is here, there are some things we can’t stop him from doing.”
Lin Zhihao took a deep breath. “But he hasn’t slept at all—he might die of exhaustion!”
Chu Feng: … “He’s a superhuman, after all. His daily job is smithing. His body’s probably not that easy to break.”
“When he gets tired, he’ll rest.” Dwarves might be short, but they’re all strong. Hughes was one of the best among them. Chu Feng had confidence in him.
Lin Zhihao nodded. “Alright then.”
“Brother! You’re finally back!” Gray ran over excitedly.
Illya nodded. “Mm.”
“What have you guys been doing these past few days?!”
Gray replied with some excitement, “We did a lot! We went to the mall, played games, watched movies—it was so much fun! No wonder, big brother, once you came here, you didn’t want to go back.”
Illya smiled awkwardly and said, “I haven’t just been playing. I’ve been busy with things lately.”
When he first arrived, he did go around and have fun for a while, but recently he had been helping Chu Feng search for witch stones—he was doing serious work.
“Bro, have you watched a movie yet?”
Illya nodded. “Yes, I have.”
Gray said enthusiastically, “A few days ago, we watched Skyfall Apocalypse. It was amazing! It’s about the end of the world, and the visuals were just like a real apocalypse. That dummy Duoduo actually fell asleep in the theater—and snored!”
Chu Feng thought: Movies aren’t for everyone. Duoduo hasn’t been here long, probably didn’t understand what was going on. It’s not surprising he fell asleep.
But… there were only a few of us in the whole theater. That was really strange.
Illya thought to himself: Not strange at all. Most people in this world are busy with school or work, and they rarely enjoy themselves. Unless it’s a holiday, no one really thinks about going out to play.
“Bro, I also went to the park and tried skateboarding. I’m really good at it!” Gray said excitedly.
Illya nodded. “You’re amazing!”
Gray grinned. “Skateboarding is nothing. Driving is cool—I want to try it. But unfortunately, Brother Lin said we don’t have a license, so we’re not allowed to drive or we’ll get caught. I even wanted to try street racing somewhere!”
“Bro, how’s your driving?” Gray asked.
Illya shook his head. “Not that good.”
Actually, Illya had learned to drive and was pretty decent. He even wanted to learn drifting. But here, he had no driver’s license, and in the other world, the road conditions were terrible, so he gradually forgot about it. Later, when Chu Feng learned how to teleport, Illya stopped caring about driving altogether.
Driving can be annoying—you have to stop at red lights. In big cities like Capital, a traffic jam can last for hours. Teleporting is so much better! It’s way cooler than drifting. You can go wherever you want in the blink of an eye.
Illya looked at Gray and said, “Be careful. Don’t attract too much attention.”
Gray nodded. “Don’t worry, big bro. I get it. Everything here is great, except… too many people.”
To them, they were the outsiders.
“There are way too few animals here. If you want to see animals, you have to go to the zoo. Back home, everything’s just in the mountains.”
“Big bro, we also had a lot of delicious food. But Uncle Hughes didn’t come—he just wanted to stay home, browse the internet, and order delivery.”
Gray shook his head, thinking Uncle Hughes was being dumb. It’s such a rare opportunity to be on this side of the sea, and instead of enjoying himself, he just stares at a computer all day. Sure, the internet is interesting, but the real world is clearly more fun. At home, all you get is takeout, but out here, there’s everything!
“Big bro, if Uncle Hughes stays here too long, he might turn into that kind of person.”
Illya tilted his head. “What kind of person?”
“A deadbeat fatty shut-in.”
Illya: “…”
His little brother was really adapting well to this world—he even knew what a NEET was now.
Illya looked at Gray and puffed out his cheeks. “Your Brother Feng and I are going back. Are you guys coming?”
Gray quickly shook his head. “Nope, not going.”
No way—he still had tons of fun shows to watch and delicious food to try. How could he leave just like that?
Illya looked at Gray and figured this would happen. “Alright then, stay here, study well, and strive for progress every day.”
Gray nodded. “Okay! I’ve already learned how to speak some of the language here.”
Back in the day, Gray and Illya had taught Chu Feng the otherworldly language. Now Gray had heard a lot of Mandarin from Chu Feng, so compared to others, he actually had a bit of a foundation—even though it wasn’t much.
Chu Feng walked over and asked, “What are you two talking about?”
Illya shook his head. “Nothing much. Gray and the others don’t want to go back, so looks like only you and I are returning.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Figures.”
He knew it would be like this—none of them would want to go back after coming here.
In a flash, Chu Feng and Illya returned to the castle district of the other world. As usual, they first went to visit the shaman.
“You’re here?” The shaman nodded at them.
Chu Feng looked at the shaman and said in surprise, “Shaman, you look younger!”
Shaman Qiu Luo smiled. “Thanks to the witch stones you two gave me.”
Shaman Qiu Luo had previously obtained one witch stone. Lately, Chu Feng had found several more and gave him another. With two witch stones, his power had increased significantly. Just a few days ago, he had even cultivated a batch of spiritual herbs.
Now that it’s winter, growing plants is several times more difficult than in spring or autumn. Without the power boost, it wouldn’t have been possible.
“I’ve also created a strengthening elixir. Not sure if it’ll help you,” he said.
Chu Feng, curious, asked, “Strengthening elixir? As in, enhances physical stats?”
Shaman Qiu Luo nodded. “That’s right. I tested it on the Highland tribe—after taking it, their strength increased by about ten percent.”
Chu Feng thought: Ten percent more strength? That’s a great item! Definitely marketable.
Since the appearance of ability-users, people online had been seeking all kinds of strange potions. Even fake ones sold like hotcakes. If fakes could sell so well, then a real one would surely have a market.
Illya tilted his head. “Can it be stacked?”
Qiu Luo shook his head. “It can—but only up to a fifteen percent boost max.”
Chu Feng nodded. “I see.”
He thought to himself: As expected, there are limits. If it could be stacked infinitely, then theoretically you could mass-produce strength-type ability-users. While not rare, being able to manufacture them at scale would be insane.
“You should take some too,” Qiu Luo said. “If your ability is too strong, but your body can’t handle it, that’s a problem.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Got it. So it works on me too?”
Lately, his abilities had been steadily increasing. At this point, he could easily swing his spatial blade and shred a two-thousand-jin (approx. 1,000 kg) stone into pieces. Yet strangely, he still didn’t have the strength to lift a one-thousand-jin stone with his arms. If this continued, there might be hidden issues. In fact, his physical constitution had already improved a lot. When he first arrived, even just a few sips of Hundred-Fruit Brew would make his nose bleed. But now, his strength had surpassed even that of Shaya, the brute bear-man. Still, his physical strength was growing slower than his supernatural powers.
Improving the body wasn’t easy. Recently, the effects of the Hundred-Fruit Brew on his constitution had significantly diminished.
“It sounds decent,” muttered Shaman Qiu Luo, frowning. “But your body is quite unique. The small doses used by ordinary people probably won’t be effective on you. However, if you use a high dose to soak in a medicinal bath, it should have a notable effect.”
“So, you’re saying I can tolerate a higher dosage than people in this world?” he asked.
Qiu Luo nodded. “Of course.”
Chu Feng smiled, pleased. He was finally catching up. When he first arrived, Gray had looked down on him, saying his constitution wasn’t even as good as the kids in this world. Now, he had already surpassed the average adult.
“Looks like my physical strength has improved pretty fast,” Chu Feng said.
Shaman Qiu Luo looked at him and replied, “After using that many witch stones, if your constitution hadn’t improved, it would’ve been a total waste.”
Chu Feng laughed, “That… does make sense.”
He had already used several witch stones—if word got out, supernatural power users in this world would be green with envy.
Illya took a dose of the body-strengthening potion. After taking it, her whole body felt itchy. Once the medicinal power spread out, she felt a small boost in strength. “It really works!”
Illya looked at the shaman admiringly. “Shaman, you’re amazing!”
Qiu Luo shook her head. “Oh, not really.”
Chu Feng had brought quite a few rare herbs from both Tianhai City and across the ocean. Only now was the shaman able to fully demonstrate her capabilities. Back in the old Crescent Village, where would they have found so many rare herbs?
“Oh right, how are the others doing?” Chu Feng asked.
He shrugged. “They should be fine for now. They just don’t want to come back.”
Qiu Luo took a deep breath. “I figured as much. But it looks like the other side of the ocean really is pretty great.”
Chu Feng chuckled, “Maybe.”
