2145 Side Story: Lazy Vacation (End)
Luke raised an eyebrow. âDo you have to be so ruthless?â
Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he slapped the ruthless Director Selina hard on the butt. âThose are your parents, not some ranch livestock. How can you perform an operation on them just because you want to?!â
âI think theyâre pretty much like ranch cows right now.â Selina rolled her eyes and didnât think much of Lukeâs sneak attack. In any case, it didnât hurt.
But she couldnât help but complain about her parents. âThey think about having kids every day. Do they think that children are livestock to be sent to the slaughterhouse later for the sake of profits?â
Rubbing the spot he had just hit, Luke smiled mysteriously. âActually⊠this problem isnât too hard to solve.â
Selina said, âJust spit it out.â
Luke didnât say anything for a moment. Instead, he chuckled as he thought of something.
âWhat are you thinking?â Selina was suspicious. âWait, my jaw is still sore. Donât even think about it tonight.â
Lukeâs smile froze. Speechless for a moment, he coughed before he got down to business. âHasnât it occurred to you how Robert and Catherine have only had one child in 20 years, Cindy?â
Selina was stumped. âIsnât it because they took measure themselves? My parents wouldnât do that.â
Luke shook his head again. âThey havenât done anything since the year before Cindy went to New York. Catherine felt that the house was too empty, and wanted to give us another brother or sister.â
Selinaâs eyes lit up. âDid you do something?â
âHow is that possible?â Luke looked at Director Selina like she was an idiot. âDo you remember our research on the Chi Refining Technique?â
Selina immediately connected the dots. âAre you saying that cultivating the Chi Refining Technique affects reproduction?â
Luke nodded in relief and patted Selina with a smile. âYouâre really smart.â
Selina slapped his hand away. Are you looking down on my intelligence again? You can go and touch yourself.
Luke calmly drew his hand back. âIt can increase the cultivatorâs physique, but it consumes a lot of energy. Reproduction is undoubtedly a very energy-consuming activity.â
Selina frowned. âThe side effects are pretty bad. Why didnât you tell me?â
âTechnically speaking, this isnât a side effect.â Luke shook his head. âIncreasing a cultivatorâs physique naturally raises the baseline for having a child, and any kid that is born is even more outstanding.â
Selina asked, âQuality over quantity?â
Luke said, âPretty much. Also, the Chi Refining Technique can increase the chances of getting pregnant, so itâs not some sterilization technique.â
Selina was still uncertain. âBut Robert and Catherine have been together for yearsâŠâ
Luke said, âWith the Chi Refining Technique, you can live to 120 to 150 years old. You can have one kid every ten to twenty years, and have three to five children in total.â
Pausing for a moment, he added, âOf course, except for those who canât find a girlfriend.â
Ignoring his lame joke, Selina asked the question she was most concerned about. âBut arenât my parents already cultivating the Chi Refining Technique?â
Luke said, âBut they canât even be considered beginners. Mario is more focused on the ranch, and Sandra is more concerned about your youngest sister, Leona, right?â
Selina was enlightened. âSo, the energy transformation isnât strong enough. Thatâs why theyâre so free.â
âDonât forget that you gave them more than one dose of Life 1. Itâs very easy for them to be too energetic,â Luke reminded her.
Selina was lost for words. After all that, it was still her fault?
After repenting for a moment, she immediately asked, âThen how do we get them to cultivate the Chi Refining Technique?â
It was impossible to force them to do so; cultivating the Chi Refining Technique depended on how much the person in question put into it.
Luke chuckled. âHave you forgotten your experience of dream learning?â
Selina slapped her forehead. âThatâs right. You can guide their subconscious learning after they fall asleep. Thatâll be fine.â
Now that there was a solution, she was in a good mood, and her eyes immediately lit up. âHm, speaking of dream learning, itâs been a while!â
Luke was surprised. âWhat do you want to learn?â
Selinaâs eyes lit up, and she wrapped herself around him. âOf course, itâs⊠sun, sand and delicious food. Just you and me.â
Luke: ââŠYou actually want me to be your attendant, donât you?â
Selina whispered in his ear, âApplying sunblock is also one of the jobs of an attendant.â
Luke: ââŠFine, itâs not like itâs impossible.â
For the rest of the morning, the villa fell silent.
There was only the dog head lounging on a deck chair on the porch, enjoying the sun and the breeze.
âŠ
The next morning, Selinaâs father, Mario, woke up in a daze.
Next to him, Sandra, who looked like she was still in her thirties, opened her eyes. âYouâre awake?â
Mario hummed and suddenly felt an urge. Then⊠he lifted the blanket and got out of bed.
Sandra was surprised. âWhat are you doing?â
If he was just going to the bathroom, he naturally didnât need to put on his clothes.
Stumped for a moment, Mario scratched his head. âI⊠canât sleep. I want to exercise.â
Sandra gave an âohâ and said, âAlright.â
She closed her eyes and prepared to go back to sleep.
A moment later, Mario came out of the bathroom after washing up, only to see Sandra, who had insisted on sleeping in for the past few years, get up and put on her clothes.
He was stumped. âYouâŠâ
Sandra frowned. âI canât sleep either. Letâs go exercise together.â
After that, the couple fell silent as they felt that this morningâs conversation didnât match their usual style after so many years.
...
However, the two of them still went downstairs to eat before they went outside and stood on the grass. They looked at each other in bewilderment.
Sandra looked at her husband. âAre we going to practice that health exercise?â
Mario nodded. âHm, letâs do that; itâs the easiest.â
Naturally, this so-called âhealth exerciseâ was a stripped-down version of the Chi Refining Technique which Luke had slowly tweaked over the years.
As a result, the effects of the Chi Refining Technique were significantly reduced, but it was still better than him and Selina personally teaching the technique for a few weeks and still not producing results.
At the same time, he modified the movements of the Chi Refining Technique.
As long as some Kunlun bigshot didnât get involved, it would be very hard to identify the source of this technique, unless one carefully studied the details.
Even someone who had watched Daniel Rand for a few months might not necessarily be able to see the connection between this health exercise and the Chi Refining Technique.
Of course, the beginner level required focus.
It was like a beginner practicing calligraphy. The difference between being serious and not was completely different.
In the past, Mario and his wife would half-heartedly cultivate the technique, and only every now and then, so the effects were practically nonexistent.
...
It wasnât like Selina could beat up her own parents and teach them a lesson to make them learn.
Coupled with how effective Life 1 was, she gave up.
Now, in order to make the couple behave and stop having kids, she finally had Luke âhurt them where it hurtâ in their dreams.
Thus, these two were finally willing to cultivate the simplified version of the Chi Refining Technique.
As for whether or not they grew suspicious about their sudden urge to work out, Selina didnât care. Wasnât it good to be healthier?
It would be even better if those dozens of siblings only existed in dreams â she and Luke still wanted to enjoy their two-person world for several more centuries.