Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation

On a Sunday morning, Xue Yuantong was indulging in his sleep.

Jiang Ning got up early. He hadn't had breakfast and made his way to the Yuzhou Building.

At the entrance, a security guard sat playing with his phone and glanced at Jiang Ning but said nothing.

There were few people in the office building. Jiang Ning took the elevator, heading upwards.

As soon as he exited the elevator, he saw Shao Shuangshuang waiting at the door.

"Follow me, Jiang Ning." Shao Shuangshuang led him into the company.

"Should I show you around the company?" she asked, pointing to the spacious office ahead.

"No need, I'm here for the materials." Jiang Ning refused. He was here just for the last material needed for the Spirit Wood Boat.

Jiang Ning entered Shao Shuangshuang's office, directly sitting on the sofa while Shao Shuangshuang took the single sofa beside him.

"You mean the Green Luo Zhi was bought by someone else first?"

"Yes, I sent someone to purchase it, offering three million. The seller said he would think about it. Generally, we would raise our offer in such cases, but the next day when we went to see the seller, he told us that someone else had taken it for eight million."

"We didn't have another chance to buy, and I had them ask for the buyer's information, but the seller, being very professional, wouldn't disclose it."

"Later, we paid him two hundred thousand, and then he gave us the buyer's information," said Shao Shuangshuang.

"It's said that the purchasers of Green Luo Zhi are using it to save an elderly member of their family." Shao Shuangshuang felt that using Lingzhi to save someone might not be very helpful, but the other party was willing to spend eight million.

"Send me the address, I'll go check it out now," said Jiang Ning, knowing that the buyer had purchased it for an emergency, and if he was too late, the Green Luo Zhi might be used up, wasting his effort.

Shao Shuangshuang didn't delay and immediately sent the address and detailed information to Jiang Ning.

"I'll drive you there," Shao Shuangshuang said as she took out car keys.

"No need." With that, Jiang Ning turned and left.

Shao Shuangshuang opened her mouth to speak but held back.

A few days earlier, that annoying person from the neighborhood had almost killed her grandmother, causing her to be rushed to the hospital overnight.

She found it hard not to associate this with Jiang Ning, almost certain it was his doing.

Jiang Ning was peculiar, always having her gather materials that carried an air of mystery about them. For others, Shao Shuangshuang always explained it was for developing new products, but she knew that these might really just be for Jiang Ning's personal desire.

Because those materials were exceedingly rare, they simply couldn't be used to create medicine for the general populace.

Nonetheless, since it was Jiang Ning's instruction, Shao Shuangshuang had specifically paid a high salary to form a professional team consisting of talented individuals from various industries, thus able to gather materials so quickly.

Shao Shuangshuang shook her head, deciding not to focus on these things anymore. In the future, she would just do as Jiang Ning requested.

Besides, having Jiang Ning support her in difficult situations seemed like a good thing.

Shao Shuangshuang liked the idea of steering the great ship of Changqing Liquid Group through the waves, with Jiang Ning as her backup.

...

An hour later, Jiang Ning arrived in Nan City.

Concealing his presence, he looked at the city-level hospital in front of him and walked straight in.

Gastroenterology inpatient department, private room.

An elderly man lay on the bed, his face twisted in pain, his eyes blankly staring at the ceiling, while a middle-aged man in a suit sat beside him.

An elderly doctor walked in through the doorway, followed by a young doctor pushing a small cart.

"Mr. Xu, it's time for the old gentleman's injection."

Mr. Xu's face was numb, his eyes filled with pain: "Doctor."

He only called out once, but the doctor immediately understood his meaning, then gently shook his head.

Terminal pancreatic cancer, there was no hope left. Today's injection, costing tens of thousands each, was only slightly delaying the worsening of the condition, not curing it.

Mr. Xu internally sighed, having accepted the reality.

"Give him another painkiller shot." Allowing his father to suffer less was the last thing he could do now.

After administering the injection, the doctor left.

Mr. Xu knew there was no hope, but he couldn't give up. Being the youngest child at home, his father had always favored him, giving him the best things, teaching him the ways of life. If it weren't for his father, he wouldn't be where he was today.

Now his father had cancer, in excruciating pain, and all he could do was watch.

He had plenty of money, capable of achieving many things, yet he could not save his father's life.

Inside the suitcase by his feet lay the Lingzhi he had purchased for a high price. Hearing from his circle that Lingzhi was useful, he had bought it, hoping only to save his father's life.

Jiang Ning leaned against the wall, his Divine Sense had long since detected the Green Luo Zhi.

There were no cameras in the room. Jiang Ning casually activated an Array, preventing any sound from reaching outside.

He triggered his Divine Sense, aiming at the middle-aged man, instantly making the man, referred to as Mr. Xu, dizzy.

The elderly man on the bed saw his son collapse suddenly and struggled to reach out to him – that was his son. Having lived for over sixty years, death wasn't too frightening, but his son was still young and shouldn't run into trouble.

The elderly man wanted to ring the bell and call the nurse over.

Just then, Jiang Ning's Divine Sense moved again, causing the elderly man to faint.

He popped out an Elixir Pill; the white pill appeared in front of the elderly man. It was one of the healing Elixir Pills Jiang Ning always carried with him, capable of forcibly extending a person's life.

Much better than the so-called Green Luo Zhi, the elderly man was suffering from a terminal illness with weakened organs throughout his body, and this pill happened to be a good supplement.

He drove the pill directly into the elderly man's mouth, then cast a Magic Formation to help him refine it.

This Elixir Pill could not cure the elderly man's disease, but it would keep him unharmed for a year and a half without much trouble, and there would not be much pain.

Having done this, Jiang Ning used his Spiritual Power to open the box and stored the Green Luo Zhi into the storage ring.

Then he removed the Array, woke up both people, and left the hospital room directly.

...

After sorting out this matter, Jiang Ning resolved a burden on his mind.

He had finally gathered all the materials for the Spirit Wood Boat. Having the Flying Artifact would make traveling far much more convenient in the future.

Jiang Ning found an alley, materialized from thin air, and then walked into the Ancient Street of Nan City.

He bought some cakes and also purchased two packs of peach crisps. These snacks were quite interesting; many people didn't like peach crisps the first time they tried them as they found them too greasy.

Jiang Ning used to dislike them too, finding them repulsive until he tried the ones from a century-old shop in Nan City, which completely changed his impression: crispy, sweet, and soft, proving that peach crisps could have such flavors.

Jiang Ning packed an order of Osmanthus Lotus Root, made from lotus slices and glutinous rice accompanied by brown sugar and rock sugar, which tasted quite nice.

As for the duck, Jiang Ning didn't bring salted water duck since he wasn't used to it and thought Yuantong wouldn't like it either, so he brought roasted duck instead.

He wrapped all these items up and stored them in his Storage Ring.

He then went to a fruit stall and picked three kilograms of fresh, large cherries.

Then Jiang Ning stood by the street, glanced at the scenery, far more bustling and lively than the small town of Yuzhou.

Without any nostalgia, Jiang Ning turned and left. Although this place was nice, he still preferred the small town of Yuzhou where everything familiar to him was.

...

When Jiang Ning arrived at the dam, it wasn't even ten o'clock.

The sun was still nice today, and Yuantong had just gotten up.

Jiang Ning heated the Nan City specialties with the Array and carried them towards Xue Yuantong's house.

"Hey, why is Uncle Xue up so early today?" Jiang Ning joked.

Yuantong was brushing his teeth, mumbling with his mouth and wanting to retort but afraid that if he opened his mouth, bubbles would emerge.

So he responded to Jiang Ning with his eyes.

Jiang Ning gestured with his hands, and Yuantong's eyes lit up, judging from his years of experience that Jiang Ning must have brought some delicious food.

He quickly finished brushing his teeth, sensing the aroma filling the air.

"Cakes, meat!"

After finishing brushing his teeth quickly, he ran over to Jiang Ning, or rather, to the food Jiang Ning was holding.

"What are you doing?" Jiang Ning asked.

Yuantong, with his hands clasped, said sheepishly, "Nothing."

Jiang Ning said, "My legs hurt; I want to rest for a while."

"Alright!" Yuantong immediately moved a small stool next to Jiang Ning and placed it by his side.

"Jiang Ning, sit down."

Jiang Ning sat down and rubbed his thighs, saying, "My legs are sore."

Yuantong came over to rub Jiang Ning's legs.

Jiang Ning basked in the sun, enjoying Yuantong's hands massaging him, feeling very comfortable.

"Move the table over."

Yuantong happily responded, "Alright!"

She moved the folding table over, set it up, and then took the items from Jiang Ning's hands and arranged them.

"Jiang Ning, eat meat." She tore off duck leg for Jiang Ning to eat.

"Too meaty, I want to eat fruit."

Yuantong bit into the duck leg, picked a large cherry that still had droplets of water on it, clearly recently washed.

She fed it to Jiang Ning's mouth, "Eat fruit, this is vegetarian."

Jiang Ning, with his eyes closed, ate a fruit, sweet and delightful.

He soaked in the winter sun, feeling even more contented.