20. Benevolence
That day, Clay went home dejected. He got an answer to his question but not what he was expecting and saying that cultivation is an innate privilege reminds him of earth. Everyone claims that men are born equal but in reality, it is as painful as it gets.
The United States alone houses thousands of educated scholars all well versed in human well being but when it comes to money and power, their currency has always maintained higher value when compared to almost majority of the world.
Clay slowly let a long sigh and cleared his mind.
As always, it is better off avoiding provoking thoughts and dwell on things he can change like his current predicament. Since he decided to sell other level of pills, he must find a way to break through as soon as possible as well.
Given Sar Aran’s response and assuming that the ability to break through the ranks of cultivation is indeed inherently determined when one is born, then the question is, what exactly is Elemental Affinity?
Back at Buaki Gang especially when he was living in a cage, he had seen children below who had broken through to Mid-Qi Condensation and some of them he guessed are his age.
Clay mused and when his mind attempted to make a table of comparison, he immediately realized that the only information he has are the images reflected using his Failed Superman’s Eyesight and it is thanks to this special ability that he figured the secrets of Alchemy as well.
“Is it possible it is the soul?” Clay softly exclaimed.
Using the first version of special ability he can see the flow Qi including someone’s center of power which is the dantian and considering the number of Qi Nodes between each race, since humans with the least number of Qi Nodes can advance, the number of Qi Nodes as a variable can be ignored.
However, looking at what he believes to be the soul when using the second version of special ability, differences instantly surface.
Clay closed his eyes as he recalled everything he saw and after a minute, he got to his feet and ran downstairs.
“Can Aunt Mabna’y accompany me to the plaza for moment?”
“I don’t mind but if it is something I can take care of, then there is no need young master to go out.” Aunt Mabna’y replied with curiosity. They have just visited the guild so she is certain it is not about selling pills so she would rather do it herself.
“No. I just want some fresh air.”
As usual, they had to walk and after a quarter of an hour, they arrived at the busy plaza where hundreds random of people are walking around.
In the mean, Clay just stood on a corner and activated his magical eyesight.
“There you go!” Clay thought to himself.
Clay’s head turned from left to right and switched the mode of his special eyesight ability. Like that time when he was living in a cage, he saw the same similar world and now that he knows what he is looking for, it was easy to spot cultivators among the crowd.
The souls of cultivators do emit a certain level of brightness.
Among the crowd, there are six scattered Foundation Level cultivators around and the rest are all Qi Condensation practitioners.
Clay crossed his arms while in deep thought. Recalling everything so far, the brightest soul he had seen is actually Kesh’a. Then followed by Ulvar and then there was that old man pretending to be a normal person whom he saw back when he was living in a cage.
For a moment he thought it is the size of the soul but looking at everyone around him, it should be safe to assume that the soul’s luminosity determines Elemental Affinity.
As he observed more and more people, Clay is baffled as he has yet to see someone whose soul does not emit any brilliance but so far, everyone has it and that is considering that more than half of the people he had seen are non-cultivators.
But if he filters those that who managed to cultivate, the weakest is a third of Kesh’a’s soul luminosity and further filtering those that managed to reach Mid Qi Condensation, the weakest is half of Kesh’a’s soul luminosity.
When Clay started to feel numbness in his feet, he switched to normal vision on took a seat. He is still in deep thought as he recalled what Sar Aran said that everyone can technically cultivate but he did not mention any limit which makes him curious as to what exactly is Qi Deviation.
Clay turned to his maid then asked, “Does Aunt know what Qi Deviation is?”
Aunt Mabna’y may look silent but there is actually something she would like to ask Clay and is waiting for an opportunity and she had been itching to have Clay start a conversation.
“Qi Deviation is the state of Qi flow being disrupted or unable to circulate because of the Qi pathways either broken or damaged. Are you worried that your cultivation technique is flawed?”
“No. That’s not it.”
Aunt Mabna’y wants to control the flow of their conversation but seeing Clay’s expression, she zipped her mouth and waited again.
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At the same time, Clay is tempted to go back to the guild and ask but recalling that recent conversation, Sar Aran said that he has yet to see someone with no Elemental Affinity who has broken through to Mid Qi Condensation so he might as well see it for himself.
After all, he has a godly ability others don’t. Thanks to it he was able to concoct perfect pills. Now, the ability to discern someone’s Elemental Affinity and their level of cultivation. Who knows what will he discover this time.
After careful consideration, he came up with a plan. He will look for someone who has zero or little Elemental Affinity cultivate to Mid Qi Condensation and if that person will have the same experience like he does and cannot break through, then it means he really is stuck. Otherwise, it is something within him.
Clay turned towards Aunt Mabna’y again then asked, “Within your clan, I’m sure there are descendants who does not have cultivation talents, someone consider trash and I mean it. Is it possible to bring two of them, … uhm…. less than ten years old would better and in turn, I will supply your daughter a few pills so she can start cultivating.”
Aunt Mabna’y almost fell to her knees when he heard Clay but she controlled her emotions. She had been meaning to ask if Clay could spare a pill for her daughter but who would have thought Clay would proactively offer it himself. However, it suddenly worried her that that Clay is in need two of their clan member.
“May this young master not misunderstand but it would help convince people if they know what they are being called for.”
Clay force a smile then responded. “You should already have an idea what pills I can produce and the best subject to test them out are people who have little chances of becoming cultivators. I can assure you it is nothing dangerous.”
Clay got to his feet. In the end, he still does not know why someone needed a particular rare medicine in order to advance but at least he can have a solid plan after this little experiment.
For now, he will go home and concoct pills.
Three days later, Clay is seating against the wall in the living room while three kids, including Mebiline are in meditative position listening to Aunt Mabna’y instructions.
Clay could not be happier as the two clan members Aunt Mabna’y brought have souls that barely emits brightness. Of the three though, Mebiline has soul luminosity half of Kesh’a.
Clay patiently waited and after another five minutes, the three took their respective pills.
Meanwhile, Clay activated his Godly Eyes.
Similar to how Clay started, the three had all their Qi Nodes brightly lit up and he can already see clouds of energies forming in their dantian and surprisingly enough, even with little effort, Clay noticed that Mebiline had already linked up nine Major Qi Nodes and is already stabilizing their connections.
“Geez!” Clay softly exclaimed in disbelief. The pills he prepared are all flawless but to see someone break through the first level of Qi Condensation in under five minutes is just jaw dropping.
“How come I don’t see your daughter exhibiting bloodline aura as yours?” Clay turned to Aunt Mabna’y and inquired.
Clay is confident with the potency of his pills however, the newly baptized cultivator does not seem to show any signs of Dara bloodline and not even the Qi Nodes related to their bloodline is lit up.
"Young master, we can only awaken our bloodline by taking in our clan's Bloodline Awakening Pill. The next family competition is next year. I will definitely make sure she trains diligently to become an outstanding practitioner and be allocated an awakening pill." Aunt Mabna’y explained as if she committed a crime.
Clay avoided making eye contact.
"See if you can acquire the Bloodline Awakening formula from your clan and use the remaining gold coins we still have and buy sets of Earth Class ingredients of it.”
Aunt Mabna’y reached out inside her chest then retrieved a spatial ring then took out a thin book.
“It will be impossible to get a copy of the original Bloodline Awakening formula but here is a modified antiquated version. The ingredients are common and in fact, I have five sets on hand. I can give them to you but if you need a real copy, I’ll see what I can do but I cannot make any promises.” The truth is, she had already prepared them in advance. Since that day Clay had revealed those mysterious pills, she thought of asking Clay a favor once she gets to know him better. Regardless if Clay actually refined them or not, she wants to take a chance.
“That will do. Bring them out.”
Unaware of what Aunt Mabna’y is thinking, Clay stored the sets of ingredients from her. After which, he looked at the two cultivation trashes.
From his estimate, it may take the whole night for them to breakthrough.
In the mean time, he does not want to idle and watch the long and excruciating process of connecting Qi Nodes.
“When your daughter stabilizes her cultivation, give her Qi Enhancement Pills. As for those two, see what they can achieve tonight.”
“I understand, young master.”
Clay walked upstairs and when he entered his Alchemy room, he took out the book detailing the Bloodline Awakening Pill. As soon as he opened the book, he was amazed the Bloodline Awakening Medicine comes in two forms, a potion and a pill.
“Elixir, huh?”
As he read through, he found out that both have some serious side effects like being sick and weakened for a week but upon reading through the pill version, he was elated to find out that as long as the pill version did not have much impurities, then the side effects will be lessened.
Clay looked at the manual again before taking out a jar containing a preserved blood of Blazing Wyvern. It was described that this particular ingredient will be the most challenging to refine and it even states that it may require external assistance like Fire Crystals to extract them.
Clay has no idea what Fire Crystals are and he is ready to give up but analyzing the book, it did not state the crystals were mandatory and the fact that an Awakening Pill is within Tier I category, he is confident he can concoct it.
“Let’s test it out.” Clay decided to be productive while waiting for the three downstairs to break through.
Upon unsealing the jar, he poured it into the jar and with his Qi controlling everything inside, not one drop was wasted.
Clay summoned his Essence Flame and as soon as it surrounded the floating ball of blood, he instantly noticed the difference. Normally, the Essence of an ingredient would almost react immediately when it comes in contact with his Flame yet the blood looked unaffected.
Clay readied a Qi Enhancement Pill in the event his Qi Reservoir is depleted.
“Not good.”
Clay clenched his teeth. He just thought of stopping but since had already started, he may as well waste the set of ingredients while trying.
Clay ate one pill then closed his eyes and concentrated and after almost one hour, beads of sweat rolled on his face and without realizing, an hour has already passed.
Clay felt drain but upon confirming that the Essence of the Wyvern’s blood had been successfully extracted, Clay took out all the other ingredients and threw them into the cauldron then simultaneously surrounded each with his flame.
Surprisingly enough, other ingredients was relatively simple to extract so he then combined them together and after a few more minutes, a reddish rounded pill slowly dropped at the bottom of the cauldron.
“Whew”
Clay was out of breath but he still managed to take out the pill and stored it in a bottle. He smiled as there is no dark discoloration nor indication of imperfection however, the size is not something that could fit into someone’s esophagus.
Clay knew he needed to recuperate but he lost so much fluid he needed to drink so he walked downstairs and upon arriving in the kitchen, he suddenly felt he was floating. The feeling was comforting and the next thing he knew, everything turned dark.