NOVEL WEB Chapter 140 - Success
Upon hearing the words “manpower and connections,” Uncle Zhuang understood Mai Dongzi’s intentions faster than the other three.
He had been a businessman and had once entered the middle class, only to later fall back to the lower class. This gave him a deeper understanding of the importance of manpower and connections compared to others.
If, back then, they hadn’t had such weak foundations—having just risen to the middle class without developing their own influence or building key connections—they wouldn’t have been so easily knocked down without a chance to fight back.
“What do you have in mind?” Uncle Zhuang quickly made a decision, resolving to follow his niece’s lead from now on.
The reason their family had risen again was thanks to this niece. After meeting her, he clearly understood that she was no ordinary person.
So, even though he was her uncle and an elder, he was willing to follow his niece’s lead.
By entrusting him with the important task of cultivating manpower and connections, it showed that his niece placed great importance on the Zhuang family. As long as he and his son closely followed her, their family was bound to have a prosperous future.
The elderly Zhuang couple also understood their granddaughter’s intentions and were delighted that she was so closely connected with their family.
After they discussed a general plan of action, Mai Dongzi finally turned her attention to Zhuang Huaiya.
As a bystander, Zhuang Huaiya was happy about his cousin’s closeness with the family but also felt a little left out. He had originally thought that his cousin came specifically for him, only to realize that he was just an add-on, and she was actually here to discuss business with his father.
After the earlier conversation, the elderly Zhuang couple and Uncle Zhuang had developed trust in Mai Dongzi’s abilities, so they felt much more at ease about Zhuang Huaiya taking the cultivation potential enhancement potion.
With abundant resources and Mai Dongzi’s support, Zhuang Huaiya successfully went through the process and advanced to the early stage of Level 5 in his cultivation.
His cultivation potential also increased from 2A to 3A, and with sufficient energy supplements, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to reach Level 6 in the next couple of years.
During the test for Zhuang Huaiya’s cultivation potential, Mai Dongzi discovered that he also had potential for wood-based abilities.
However, his wood-based potential was only at a C level, and while the experts had always known this, due to the family’s financial difficulties, they had never activated it. After all, the early stages of cultivation are extremely expensive.
If it hadn’t been for supporting Zhuang Huaiya’s cultivation, the Zhuang family wouldn’t have been so poor.
But things were different now. In Mai Dongzi’s view, if Zhuang Huaiya could awaken his wood-based abilities, even as a Level 1 wood ability user, he would be able to heal his own injuries without medication. This would undoubtedly increase his chances of survival during the great purge in the apocalypse.
Even as a Level 1 wood ability user, he would also have an advantage over other cultivators when it comes to finding food.
Therefore, Mai Dongzi planned to have him stabilize his martial cultivation first before guiding him to awaken his wood-based abilities.
Since she herself was also a wood ability user, helping him awaken his abilities would be an easy task.
Zhuang Huaiya was Zhuang Yanzhou’s only child, and Zhuang Yanzhou had witnessed the fatal consequences of others taking cultivation potential enhancement potions.
Although he agreed to let his son take the potion, he couldn’t help but feel worried. As a result, he stayed outside the cultivation room, closely monitoring the situation via video.
Seeing that his son safely passed through the ordeal with the help of his niece, Zhuang Yanzhou couldn’t help but have a new thought.
After Mai Dongzi came out of the cultivation room, she noticed that Uncle Zhuang seemed hesitant to speak. She told him to say whatever was on his mind.
Unable to hold back any longer, Zhuang Yanzhou asked, “Mai Dongzi, is there a chance for me to advance my cultivation?”
Mai Dongzi immediately understood his meaning—he wanted to take the cultivation potential enhancement potion as well.
Since this uncle had expressed his willingness to follow her, unless his physical condition made it impossible for him to take the potion, Mai Dongzi wouldn’t refuse his request.
The manufacturers of officially sold cultivation potential enhancement potions had established procedures for testing potential users. They could estimate the success rate of taking the potion based on the individual’s physical fitness.
After Zhuang Yanzhou’s examination, the medical institution estimated a 70% success rate. In comparison, Zhuang Huaiya had a 90% success rate.
After receiving the test results, Mai Dongzi considered her uncle’s situation.
Uncle Zhuang was a Level 4 wood ability user, but his cultivation potential was only at 2B. Having reached the late stages of Level 4, he was close to his limit.
However, if he could raise his potential to 3B, he could immediately advance to Level 5.
While the difference between a Level 4 and a Level 5 wood ability user might seem like just one level, it was actually a significant leap.
As Mai Dongzi knew, after the Zhuang family was oppressed to the brink of ruin by Zhao Fanni, Uncle Zhuang had used all his remaining cash to purchase a Level 3 potion formula and became a low-level alchemist, barely managing to support the family thereafter.
The biggest difference between a Level 4 and Level 5 wood ability user was that a Level 4 alchemist was still considered low-level, whereas a Level 5 alchemist was a mid-level professional.
Mai Dongzi’s consideration wasn’t just about how much money Uncle Zhuang would earn after becoming a Level 5 alchemist, but rather that he would gain a greater chance of survival as a Level 5 wood ability user during the apocalypse.
Moreover, as long as Uncle Zhuang could successfully survive the great purge of the apocalypse, many teams would welcome him to join because of his status as a Level 5 alchemist.
Even if Uncle Zhuang didn’t bring it up, Mai Dongzi would eventually discuss this with him, since his limits were clear, and it was nearly impossible for him to advance to Level 5 solely through his own cultivation.
Originally, Mai Dongzi had planned to wait until her own cultivation level was higher and she felt more confident before bringing this up.
However, now that Uncle Zhuang had expressed this thought and the assessment results from the relevant institutions were not bad, plus there was the successful example of Zhuang Huaiya, Mai Dongzi readily agreed.
The assessment results from the relevant institutions proved to be accurate. Uncle Zhuang’s reaction after taking the cultivation potential enhancement potion was far more dangerous than Zhuang Huaiya’s. Without Mai Dongzi’s assistance, even if he managed to get through it, it would have been extremely difficult.
Nevertheless, the pain was worth it, as Uncle Zhuang’s cultivation had advanced to the early stages of Level 5.
After thinking for a moment, Mai Dongzi used points from the online system of the Imperial Capital University to exchange three Level 5 potion formulas for her uncle.
When Uncle Zhuang received the three Level 5 potion formulas, which included healing, detoxification, and recovery potions, he was extremely excited.
But soon, he seemed to recall something and calmed down, saying, “These are for me? How could you have three Level 5 potion formulas? If they are from the Xi family, I can’t use them; it would be very unfair to you.”