Chihiro reached out…

And the Air Purification Unit, the huge seed rose from the ground and flew straight to his hand.

It happened so suddenly that one would worry about the safety of the device… But somehow, I could tell the force that moved it, also…

Cushioned it?

It was just a feeling, yet even when watching the seed abruptly land in Claire's dad's hand, I just… wasn't worried about its structural integrity.

He then leaned over the table where he carefully rested the seed, locking his eyes on the structure.

The hardest part of crafting it all came down to the fine details.

With the outer shell made with the leaves solidified into shape when their own, internal glue melted and permeated throughout the structure. But all the melting of those plants heavily erased its natural vibe, making it look more like a painting than an actual texture of the precious herb.

That's why, I spent several hours dribbling into the surface with a tiny, sculpting knife and raced against the rate at which the entire thing settled down and hardened properly. Only for Claire's dad to stare into it as if to try to see through all its secrets.

As for Claire…

She was leaning over the table, clearly interested in the seed as she stared at it with a vivid curiosity.

The curiosity on her face was so intense, that it made me believe that she either wasn't aware or simply cared not for the view she offered when dressed in her exquisite dress.

As a whole, she revealed a… new, interesting vibe of the rich girl - an undeniable fact given the circumstances.

'To rent this entire floor… Even if only for a day, they have to be rich rich.'

Still…

With the silvery dress cutting off just below her collarbone, pretty much the full shape of her bosom was flashing right in my face.

And just a bit to the side, her father stared fiercely into my device, ready to look up to my face and thus bound to see where my eyes were directed at any given time.

The risk was too great, especially at such important times. The only problem was, standing by their table, I had hardly anywhere else to look.

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"Tell me, how much do you actually know about cultivation?"

I raised my eyes as I followed the voice behind the question.

A sigh escaped my lips.

"Honestly? Not too much."

Between the two, I expected Claire to speak first to ease the atmosphere. Contrary to this expectation of mine, however, it was Chihiro who took the lead.

Still, all scheming aside… If I wanted this middle-aged peak-level cultivator to sponsor me, I had to give him enough reason for it.

So, for once, I decided to be just completely open.

"I failed to graduate from the institute for five years," I dropped the bomb that I never before really thought of bringing up. "It was only when I, out of desperation, tried to craft something, when…"

I pursed my lips, not to withhold myself from speaking up, but because I genuinely wasn't sure how to put it into words.

"When something clicked."

'I'm still holding on…!'

Using most of my concentration on the single task of not staring down Claire's chest, I took a moment to breathe. A moment for those two to internalize what I just said.

'Can she figure out the timing?' I thought, looking at Claire for a second and staring down her curious eyes.

Still, despite starting off with a random tangent, I still didn't give a proper answer.

"I'm aware that there's Qi in the air, I can even feel a bit of it in myself," I announced once I regained my voice while raising my right hand.

For a moment, I recalled the feeling of dragging my flesh through Qi-thick air… Only for the same sensation to return in force. As I dragged my hand through the air, my coordination clearly fell now that I was exceedingly conscious of the sense of the thick air resisting my moves.

Then, I raised my eyes back to Claire before moving over to look right into her dad's remarkably handsome face.

"I know pretty much the same as everyone else in the Internet age.

Both Chihiro and Claire… just leaned back in their chairs, their faces frozen still on the light, polite expressions as they kept their stares on me.

But now that I looked… Claire's eyes grew a lot emptier than her dad's.

"And…" Claire's dad looked down at the device before turning his eyes back to me. "And you crafted this?"

I turned my eyes to the seed before turning them back to a small point just slightly above the base of the bridge of Chihiro's nose. A small trick to make oneself appear slightly more confident and focused to the other person.

And while the credibility of this claim was dubious at best… It was still a trick I could focus on not to allow the overwhelming pressure of the moment to get to me.

"In a strict sense, I pretty much redid my earlier idea," I spoke out, happily ready to explain the process.

I was here to sell my ideas, ability, and potential, so if I wanted fair compensation, I had to reveal some of my worth!

"I took something we have mastered on the technical side of things. And then, upon a random stroke of genius, I've realized that I could apply this to the cultivation world as well."

Chihro's polite smile melted as it transformed into an intrigued expression. And with the weight of the stakes of this moment pressing hard against my mental state…

I felt the same sensation as recently as yesterday when I sat down to craft.

This time, however… What could I be crafting on an empty balcony with nothing but some high-octane juice and a soda?

This energy… It didn't move into my hands, however, but rather into my mouth.

"After all, since Qi, mana, spiritual power, or however else you would like to call it, is just a shadow of shared consciousness. And that means, if I can infuse this power into the air, how else would its impurities manifest if not as dirt, pollution?"