Side Effects

After receiving the experimental injection, Xiao Wang went home.

By the time he got home, it was already seven in the evening.

His adoptive mother, Qin Fengying, was stir-frying in the kitchen, while her younger son, Zhou Xuanyu, was playing in the living room.

Xiao Wang set down his backpack and walked to the kitchen doorway. "Uncle isn't back yet?"

"He should be back soon." Qin Fengying answered as she cooked.

After ruffling Zhou Xuanyu's hair, Xiao Wang went into his room and locked the door.

Once inside, he looked at the bead in his mind and found that its color was gradually deepening. That indicated that something was harming him.

Clearly, it was the experimental drug he had been injected with that afternoon.

Xiao Wang checked himself but found no physical discomfort. Yet judging by the bead's color, the damage was real.

This further confirmed the bead's function and effects.

At first, Xiao Wang had worried that the bead's absorption effect would be too weak, or that the drug's effects would surpass the bead's power.

If that happened, he could at least tell Zhou Zhengxiong and Qin Fengying to collect his compensation. It would not be much, but it would still be money.

Only after confirming that he was temporarily fine did he finally relax.

Before long, Zhou Zhengxiong returned from work as well.

Xiao Wang opened the door and went out. The family gathered around the table to eat, while the radio broadcast the day's news.

While eating, Zhou Zhengxiong asked Xiao Wang, "Do you know how much tuition at the Martial Arts Academy costs?"

Xiao Wang glanced at his adoptive father, knowing that he was worrying over raising money for him again. "Based on previous years, it should be around a hundred thousand federal credits."

"A hundred thousand."

Zhou Zhengxiong repeated the number, drew a deep breath, and said nothing more.

Qin Fengying also fell silent when she heard that figure.

Although Xiao Wang did not know how much money the family had in total, judging from Zhou Zhengxiong's salary, they could save at most ten thousand federal credits a year. In some years, if someone fell ill, they even had to dip into past savings.

Xiao Wang did not try to persuade them again by saying he could gather the money himself. He knew it would be useless. They might only believe him once he had raised enough and showed it to them.

After dinner, Xiao Wang returned to his room. On one hand, he needed to observe the bead in his mind; on the other, he needed to intensify his breathing technique training.

Since the harmful side effects absorbed by the bead could be converted into cultivation insights and results, he needed to train harder.

In the living room.

Watching Xiao Wang enter his room, Zhou Zhengxiong looked at Qin Fengying and quietly asked, "How much savings do we have left?"

Qin Fengying naturally knew what he meant.

"Less than fifty thousand."

After hearing that, Zhou Zhengxiong raised his head and sighed. "Even if I tried borrowing, I probably couldn't borrow fifty thousand. Hardly any of my colleagues have savings. It's already good enough if they aren't in debt."

Listening to him, Qin Fengying looked at Zhou Zhengxiong. "His dad, we can't spend everything on Wang's tuition. We need to leave some for Xuanyu too."

"He's still young. We should prioritize Wang first."

"We can prioritize Wang in other matters, but we still need to leave some money for Xuanyu's medical expenses. What if he gets sick or something?"

"We'll find a way. There are still a few months before enrollment at the Martial Arts Academy begins. We'll think of something."

At that moment, Xiao Wang was diligently practicing his breathing technique in his room. Ordinarily, the best time to train a breathing technique was during combat.

After all, as an auxiliary technique, a breathing technique could only be used to its fullest and produce better results when combined with real combat. It was also the fastest way to improve and master it.

But there was no sparring partner at home, so he could only practice alone for now.

The next day, Xiao Wang went to school as usual: academic classes in the morning, training at the gym in the afternoon, then home.

Throughout the day, he noticed that the bead in his mind kept darkening. Even after he converted part of the damage through training at the gym, the bead's color was still deeper than it had been yesterday, and it was darkening faster as well.

Looks like this course of medication changes every day, Xiao Wang thought.

Over the next two days, he continued as usual. But after guessing that the medication's effects changed daily, he kept a close watch on the bead's color.

On the fourth night, Xiao Wang was still practicing his breathing technique in his room when he suddenly saw the bead's color rapidly deepen. Strands of black soon began to coil around it.

Then the black deepened faster and faster until the bead turned completely black.

The moment Xiao Wang saw the bead become pitch-black, a wave of dizziness struck his head. Then an endless drowsiness seemed to sweep over him, dragging him into deep sleep.

"Fuck!"

After saying that, Xiao Wang lost consciousness.

When he woke up, he heard loud shouting outside the door.

"Wang, Xiao Wang? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"If you don't open the door, I'm kicking it in!"

"What's wrong with this kid today? It's almost noon already..."

Hearing his adoptive mother Qin Fengying's voice, Xiao Wang immediately got up and opened the door.

When Qin Fengying saw Xiao Wang behind the door, she lowered the foot she had been about to use to kick it in. "What's wrong? Are you sick?"

"I'm fine, Auntie. Maybe I trained for too long yesterday and got tired."

Qin Fengying examined him. He did not look sick, so she said, "Take it easy. Your health comes first. Are you still going to school today?"

"Yes." Xiao Wang answered firmly.

Today was the day he was supposed to collect the payment for testing the drug.

"Since you're going, eat lunch before you leave. It'll be ready soon."

After saying that, Qin Fengying went back to the kitchen.

Xiao Wang walked into the living room and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was almost noon.

What happened? After losing consciousness last night, I actually slept until now.

And what was that loss of consciousness last night about?

Still, at least I'm alive. I didn't die.

As Xiao Wang thought this, he looked at the bead in his mind and found that it had changed from the pure black it had been before he lost consciousness to pure white, with barely a trace of impurity visible.

"Fuck, what's going on? Where did my damage go?"

Xiao Wang stared blankly at the pure white bead.

That was not merely lost damage. It was the accelerator for his cultivation.

After quickly reviewing everything, he reached two conclusions.

First, once the bead absorbed enough damage to turn completely black, he would fall asleep. After sleeping, all the damage would disappear.

Second, if that damage was used for sleeping, it would never make him stronger.

So he could not slack off. He had to keep training constantly in order to convert that damage into formidable strength.

After lunch, Xiao Wang slung his backpack over his shoulders and left home.

He did not go to school. Instead, he went directly to Number 43 Happy Sky Road, the Fusheng Group drug-testing site.

By the time he arrived, quite a few people were already lining up.

Xiao Wang did not hurry to join the queue. Instead, he began looking through the crowd for someone.