23. Docile Rabbits
Clay is sitting on a wooden stool at the back of his residence while sipping a cup of tea. Not far from him is a group of Bo’u Mushrooms planted near the fence. They look like oyster mushrooms however, unlike the oyster mushrooms back on earth, these mushrooms are at least a meter tall and can grow tubers like a potato.
He was curious why can’t he just harvest the tubers but he was advised that doing so will allow another mushroom to germinate from the tuber wasting all the medicinal properties which accumulated for years. And it is fascinating he has to eat it raw after plucking it from the main root.
He had just eaten one and it felt like eating a zero-sugar apple.
Clay had long accepted that he had reincarnated to another world and stopped being surprised and is continuously learning to integrate himself with the customs of this world especially cultivation.
In fact, the reason he had been sitting at the back of his residence is to observe the horned rabbits near the mushrooms. It was brought by Sar Aran’s men and they built three cages and housed them like pets.
Accordingly, their feces will be used to maintain the mushroom’s health however Clay has no interest on the relationship of the mushroom and the rabbits but on the meridians of these creatures.
When Sar Aran’s men came in earlier, he was curious of everyone’s strength so he used his Godly Eyes but it was at that moment he accidentally discovered how animals circulate Qi.
People don’t really call them animals but magic beasts.
Unlike cultivators whose center of power is dantian and have to slowly open up their Qi Nodes as they get stronger, magic beasts have Beast Cores and Qi Pathways all opened up.
And based on his conversation with the workers earlier, magic beasts can acquire bloodlines.
Clay is aware of his mistake leading to his current condition and while he does not want another trouble, the lure to acquire bloodline is irresistible and he had been hoping he will discover another miracle yet he could not find any trace of extra Qi Nodes or extensions like what he had seen on Aunt Mabna’y or other cultivators.
“Let’s go back.” Realizing he had been day dreaming the past few hours, Clay got to his feet and went to his Alchemy room.
For now, he will set aside the issue of becoming stronger and focus on concocting pills. The plan is to purchase Obelisk Lightning Towers as his defensive weapon and unfortunately, the stronger the power, the larger it is and spatial rings that can store these humongous Formations cannot be acquired normally hence he will create one himself or find someone reliable to do it for him.
As soon as he entered the room, Clay took out the crystal recording for Foundation Establishment Breakthrough Pill. He did memorize each step from the manual earlier including the instructions on using Fire Crystals but he wanted to watch how an Alchemist does it.
When Clay injected his Qi into the recording crystal, Clay was immediately disappointed as the cauldron on the projection is not transparent.
While he is confident with his skills, watching a practical display would further allow him to understand the concoction process but with everything hidden in the cauldron, he finds it funny they even record the session when there is practically not much to see.
Clay did not want to be complacent so he still watched video until the end and after almost two hours, he prepared a set of Qi Sensing Pill ingredient to be refined using the new cauldron given to him by Sar Aran.
Unlike his current cauldron, this one was two times bigger and there is a compartment at the bottom where the crystal could be inserted. On top of it, he noticed additional complex layers of Formations inscribed inside and outside the pot.
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As soon as he imbued his Qi into the cauldron, Clay instantly noticed the difference. The cauldron felt like it had become an extension of himself that he could easily manipulate everything inside.
Clay opened the lid then throw in the set of ingredients then performed simultaneous Essence extraction as he predicted, he is barely exerting any effort and after five minutes, three perfect pills were concocted.
Clay wanted laugh upon discovering the immense difference when using Fire Crystals. It is like comparing man digging with a shovel and someone who is using a heavy excavator. Had he known this method before hand, he could have had avoided over exhausting his meridians.
Unaware that the moon has just risen, Clay did not stop and decided to refine a Tier II breakthrough pill.
Clay retrieved all the ingredients needed to concoct the pill then unsealed four wooden boxes and used his Qi to pick up each herb then threw them into the cauldron.
According to the manual, each herb has to be separately extracted but never did it say it is mandatory. If possible, he wanted to refine the pill by the book but to say that it takes five hours to concoct the pill, Clay finds it dubious as the Alchemist from the crystal recording did not strictly follow the guide so he proceeded with his own revised version which includes simultaneous Essence extraction. And if he is wrong, then at least he will have had discovered any potential issues on the first try.
Clay patiently waited until the herbs turned into ashes and after around twenty-five minutes, he opened the lid and used his Flame to contain them separately and brought them outside the cauldron.
He then used his Qi to place all the secondary ingredients for extraction. Unlike the first set, the secondary ingredients takes lesser time to extract and after another ten minutes, he brought another twelve goblets of Essences outside the cauldron.
It was time for the main step.
Clay controlled the essence of the three-hundred-year-old Green Gaewud Fruit into the cauldron and mixed it together with Alsnu'u Ginseng, Four Leaf Nura'a, and Bee Stinger Clover extracts.
According to the book, this would form a gaseous cloud to set a stable foundation of the pill and to protect the entire refinement process from any possible contamination.
When the gaseous cloud was formed, Clay slowly guided all the floating goblets of liquid back into the cauldron then combined the primary and the secondary ingredients then after another fifteen minutes, three fist-sized goblets remained.
At this stage of the concoction process, this is when the number of pills to be produced is decided.
For a normal Alchemist using Earth Class ingredients, they would go for one pill and two for more experienced Alchemists but for Clay who has a cheat, he decided to go for three.
Clay activated his Godly Eyes then separated three little drops from each of the combined Essences then labeled them A. Seeing that there is no noticeable reactions or signs of explosions, Clay extracted two more sets of little drops and labeled them B and C respectively.
Clay took a deep breath as everything is stable then after ten seconds, Clay separately combined all A’s, B’s, and C’s and immediately right after, the Gathering Formation became visible.
Clay smiled as the final step has arrived and let three strands of his Qi to reinforce the Formation.
Similar to all the pills he concocted, the three combined little droplets started to absorb from the combined essences below it and after another ten minutes, three rounded semi-liquid pill started to solidify.
Clay ignored the sweat that accumulated on his clothes and in his mind, he is already anticipating three perfect breakthrough pills however before he could celebrate any further, Clay heard noises from outside followed by high pitch noises and in less than a second, he heard the door being smashed.
CRACK!
CRACK!
Fear took over Clay he relinquished his control of the pills and panicked he wanted to run to his room and hide however, when he turned towards the door, he saw two horned rabbits dripping saliva and blocking the exit.
Clay wanted to escape but the ominous aura generated by the two rabbits felt like he will be eaten alive so he stepped back but before he could lift his other foot, the two rabbits swiftly lunged towards him.
Clay thought the rabbits were going to attack him so he ducked and raised his hands to protect his head yet the following second, he heard a deafening metallic sound indicating the cauldron had been knocked to the floor.
CLANK!
CLANK!
Clay instantly realized the two rabbits were after the pills currently being refined so he immediately composed himself but just when he thought he could escape, he saw three more horned rabbits at the door exuding a more dangerous aura.
RAWRR!
RAWRR!
Clay panicked even more his body is trembling and before he knew it, the room is filled with white smoke. He wanted to move but all of a sudden, his body felt heavy and sluggish he just dropped on the floor.
Clay has no idea where the smoke came from nor what is going on around him and slowly, he felt his consciousness is fading.
Clay refused to die and with the thought that the rabbits were after the pills, he maneuvered his Qi and took out three random bottles of pills then removed the lid then scattered them away.
“Help!” Clay wanted to shout but even his jaw could not open and before he knew it, everything went dark.