noffsinger Chapter 34: A Great Remedy!
Chapter 34: A Great Remedy!
This time, Xiao Ding's reaction was completely different from before.
When the cauldron was retrieving the demon core of the Crimson-Maned Boar, it only swayed slightly a few times.
But the moment his palm touched the scales of the Ironback Mountain Armor, the small cauldron trembled violently, and a suction force far more intense than before surged from his palm, like a whale sucking in water, suddenly enveloping the entire body of the armored beast.
Immediately afterwards, the iron-backed pangolin began to shrivel up at a visible rate.
First, the scales lost their luster.
The dark armor plates, which originally gleamed like cold iron, now resembled dried-out tree bark, turning grayish and brittle, with curled and peeling edges.
Then came the shrinking and collapse of flesh and blood—
The muscles on either side of the knife scar on his back, which had originally retained some elasticity, quickly turned grayish-white and shriveled, like a piece of cured meat that had been exposed to the scorching sun for three days.
Even the strongest bones could only withstand the pressure for a dozen or so breaths before a few faint "crack" sounds could be heard—the sound of bone fragments crumbling into powder from the inside.
The whole process lasted for almost the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.
It will take much longer than recovering demon cores, and much longer than when Chen Bai first started recovering magic weapon fragments and corpses.
"..."
The trembling of the small cauldron never stopped.
The tremor was more intense than ever before, and a deep hum echoed in my mind, like a millstone grinding a tough bone.
A dozen or so breaths passed, half a cup of tea passed, and a full cup of tea passed.
Just as Chen Bai was somewhat confused, the small cauldron suddenly trembled violently.
The force of the tremor was so great that even the light in his brow twitched. Then, like a millstone that had finally finished gnawing on its bone, the small cauldron slowly stopped trembling. After a brief silence, a soft, spiritual light suddenly shone from the cauldron's mouth, a light brighter than ever before.
Three orbs of light flew out of the cauldron almost simultaneously and hovered in the sea of consciousness.
"The small cauldron has upgraded again? It actually extracted three items at once..."
Chen Bai, disregarding his shock, had a vague idea in his mind and quickly focused his gaze.
The first ball of light was milky white. Inside it was a dark yellow spiritual material, shaped like a small mountain, about the size of a fist. Its aura was deep and heavy, clearly a good spiritual material for the Nascent Soul stage.
[Earth's Vein Essence].
This iron-backed pangolin spends its days burrowing through mountains and digging holes in the earth's veins. Over the years, its body inevitably becomes tainted with some of the earth's energy.
If it were just the earth's vein energy, it wouldn't be worth mentioning. What's rare is the essence of the earth's veins, naturally condensed from the creation within them.
"I just thought this pangolin had a strong earthy smell, and the price was right, so I bought it." Chen Bai grinned, somewhat surprised. "I didn't expect to actually extract anything good from it."
The amount of earth vein essence in front of Chen Bai was not large, but its quality was not low.
It is enough to be used as the main material for a first-order fetal breathing magic weapon. In addition, with the pile of scattered spiritual materials he had previously extracted, if he selects and replaces them, he might be able to put together the materials for a magic weapon.
The second orb of light, crimson like blood, was clearly of higher quality.
Chen Bai rubbed his hands together excitedly, and eagerly took out the contents. It felt warm to the touch, with a warmth like that of a furnace, yet it was also weightless, like a pool of flowing water.
His heart skipped a beat.
Seemingly recalling something familiar, Chen Bai absorbed a trace of it, then his eyes widened, and he murmured, "It's this!"
Blood, Qi, and Essence
The primordial essence in Chen Bai's hand was a vibrant crimson color, with a subtle flow of vital energy within, emitting a fragrant aroma and radiating spiritual light. It looked exactly like a genuine precious medicine!
Without a doubt, this small cauldron had completely extracted the essence of the Ironback Mountain Pangolin's flesh, forming this small, exceptionally precious mass of blood essence.
Why is it considered precious? Chen Bai had just confirmed that there were no impurities or residues left in it, and it was completely compatible with his own blood and energy. If he were to refine it, it would greatly benefit his physical body and blood and energy! It could directly increase the foundation of his physical essence.
"In this way, the time required to cultivate the [Dan Miao] and master the embryonic breathing technique can be shortened by at least one-third!" Chen Bai pondered for a moment before giving his answer.
The [Melting Yang Blood Mushroom] is a top-grade first-tier spiritual herb, a rare and precious medicine in Yuluo Prefecture. A complete Melting Yang Blood Mushroom is enough to stabilize the cultivation of a newly promoted Nascent Soul cultivator and slightly increase their blood and qi foundation.
He estimated that although this crimson elixir was not as amazing as the [Melting Yang Blood Mushroom], it was still about one-tenth of its effect. If he took it during the circulation of Qi and blood, it would be enough to raise his physical body's Qi and blood slightly, shortening the time for the elixir seedling to develop by at least five to seven days.
In addition, it has no side effects, does not affect one's cultivation, and is inexpensive. As long as he provides a complete body of a fetal breathing demon, one can take it for a long time.
In this way, the quality of his own innate talent no longer became a limitation restricting Chen Bai, making it difficult for him not to cultivate quickly during the embryonic breathing stage...
This is practically a magical medicine tailor-made for him!
The third orb of light was pale red, and inside was a complete, dark armor.
The scales were layered neatly, one on top of the other, smooth and new, as if they had just been peeled off the body of a monster.
Chen Bai remembers it very clearly.
The knife mark on the back of this ironback pangolin almost split it in two, running from the back of its neck to its waist, with the muscles at the edge of the mark curled up.
When he bought it, the goatee-wielding rogue had said that the hide was basically ruined and could only be peeled off as scraps. But the hide in front of him was smooth and even on the back, with intact scales and not a single crack in sight.
"Could it be that the small cauldron repaired it during the extraction...?"
A thought flashed through his mind.
This startled Chen Bai, who asked in confusion, "Could it be an ability that appeared after the upgrade?"
"Buzz—"
As if suffering from indigestion or overeating, Xiao Ding belatedly uttered a fixed message:
[Recovery: 1 "Ironback Mountain Armor" monster in its gestation stage]
Extract: "Earth Vein Essence *1", "Iron Ridge Mountain Armor *1", "Blood Essence *1"
Chen Bai smiled and put the first two items into his pouch for later use.
Then, with a thought, he took the essence of qi and blood from his sea of consciousness and held it in his palm. The essence was warm to the touch, and its rich life essence almost overflowed from between his fingers.
Without further hesitation, Chen Bai swallowed the primordial essence in one gulp.
The moment his essence entered his throat, he felt a surge of heat, like magma, rushing down his throat and into his dantian.
The heat was domineering and pure. Stimulated by this external force, Chen Bai's true yang energy surged throughout his body. With this assistance, the spiritual energy in his dantian, which had already condensed into a form resembling jade mercury and gold essence, spontaneously ascended along the Du meridian and circulated throughout his body.