Chapter 112 – Fire born from thunder
In this foreign place, the summer heat was suffocating even through the night, when combined with the torrential rain every few days, this rain forest was truly unsuited for walking through.
Su Ming was truly not used to these conditions, back at the Wu Mountains where he lived, there rarely was such heavy rain storms even if there were, they rarely occurred so frequently such that there were more rainy days than not.
Su Ming’s injuries only got worse and worse, the feeling of weakness growing by the day, even his grasp of the nuanced realm and the moonlight’s support. As the time pa.s.sed, the amount of power he could release now was only about eighty blood veins of strength.
In the depths of this rain forest there were many small hilly regions, of which one formed a naturally occurring shelter where Su Ming sat cross-legged.
There was no water but the hill surfaces were moist and chilly to the touch, on the ground was some ashy remnants of a bonfire as Su Ming had been living here the past few days.
This natural crevice shaped like a gourd was not too big nor was it too small, it was sufficient to shelter Su Ming from the rain and in actuality, these crevices were not at all uncommon in this hilly region, Su Ming did not have to spend much time before finding this relatively more hidden cave.
“Despite the continuous rain, the vegetation here is still rather lush, there are even some strange herbs going here, even the Thousand Leaved gra.s.s is fairly abundant back in the forest.” Su Ming eyes flashed as he looked at the small bunch herbs on the ground not far from him.
These were he herbs he found while braving the rain carefully searching in the forest.
While staring at the herbs, Su Ming got up from his cross-legged position, the moist feeling on his body made him feel really uncomfortable.
“It’s a pity that among all the herbs here I could not find any Sieved Cloud gra.s.s to refine the Mountain Spirit Pill. As for the Enlightenment Pill and the Southerner’s Pill I am still just lacking some Lambent Twigs.”
Su Ming frowned, in the past month he was unable to refine any pills and was something that had been on his mind since he awakened.
The rain outside was still falling, and the sounds of thunder could frequently be heard. Su Ming had grown accustomed to these noises. While in deep thought he walked to the entrance of the cave, his eyes catching sight of the lightning streaking across the skies before the sound of thunder struck against the earth.
The thunderbolt flashed and illuminated the lands, but in an instant darkness returned, as the rain continued to fall many raindrops landed on Su Ming.
Su Ming took a deep breath here where the heat was more bearable, compared to being inside the cave although it was wet here, it was also more cooling.
In this dark land, everything was foreign to him, even the rain felt unfamiliar, but Su Ming no long revealed his loneliness, his gaze was simply calm as he silently gazed upon the lands.
“Without the Lambent Twig, how am I going to refine some pills. Don’t tell me I have to leave the rainforest in this state to search for ingredients……” thought Su Ming as his brows got even more wrinkled.
After a long time Su Ming let out a light sigh, but at this very moment a streak of lightning flashed through the skies, and perhaps because it was too close to the rainforest it suddenly changed directions. Su Ming was startled as the thunderbolt in his sight suddenly turned down sharply, landing somewhere in the forest with a bang, a black smoke rising along with some flames which were instantly extinguished.
It was as if he was suddenly struck with inspiration.
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uo;The Lambent Twig is not suited to grow in such conditions, I remember now, this herb was very common back on the Wu Mountains, when it is harvested it would always release some sparks which burn when they land on one’s body. This plant should contain the power of fire, and in a damp place where it keeps on raining like this, it should be impossible for the herb to grow.”
While he was back at the Wu Mountains, Su Ming never bothered thinking about this, but today he was alone in this foreign place, he could only rely on himself. Su Ming’s eyes flashed as he stared at the tree struck by lightning in the rain forest.
With a save of his body he retreated several steps back into the cave, lifting one of the herbs and carefully inspected it.
“This is the Ferric Stalk, this is……” Su Ming’s fingers lightly flicked and a light ding sounded out, akin to him tapping on metals.
“This herb should have metal attributed energy inside which is what contributes its hardness, it is something normal people would have difficulty picking.”
“There is also this Vigor Gra.s.s, this thing grew very densely and I never used to pay attention to it……” Su Ming picked up another herb and pinched a leaf off it, instantly the herb secreted a sap from the wound, in the time it takes for an incense to burn, the wound had sealed itself. Su Ming knew that if he planted this herb back into the ground, it would quickly grow sprouts again as it was filled with a mysterious vitality.
(TLN: Names of plants are thought of by my friend, cause I bad at naming things)
“The refinement of the Awakening Pill requires these five herbs, I have never thought too much about it, but clearly these five all represent five different attributes. The energy within metal core, the power of vitality, and the Lament Twigs’s fire, but the other two are also common herb which contain the power of water…… no the part required for this herb is not the leaves or branches but rather its roots.” Su Ming stared at a clay like root in the pile of herbs.
“This should be the attribute of earth!”
“The five different attributes can be refined into the mysterious Awakening pill, what is lacking now is…… perhaps if the principle of refining this pill is like this, I just might…… be able to find a replacement!” Su Ming’s eyes flashed, he finally had a clue to answering the problem that had been bugging him.
He immediately turned around and moved in a blur out of the hole, dashing out within the storm as the rain continuously fell onto his body quickly soaking him and his hair but Su Ming continued to move quickly towards where he saw the thunderbolt strike previously.
The rain made the ground a muddy mess covered with decayed leaves and a damp stench. Su Ming quickly shot through the rainforest as the sound of rain continued to surround him. After a short while, he jumped onto a slippery nearby branch as he looked at roasted charred grey tree significantly taller than the others nearby.
Although black smoke was still being released occasionally amidst the downpour, Su Ming could still feel a terrifying pressure from the tree.
After looking for a moment, he leapt from the branch and approached the black dried up tree trunk, lightly touching it. A warmth instantly shot into his arm, despite it being in direct contact with the rain, Su Ming could feel its dryness.
“The power of thunder is a.s.sociated with fire, the instant it landed on this tree, this water in this tree instantly turned into vapor, and dry from the fire in the thunder.
Since there is nothing else I can use here, I guess this tree will have to suffice for the power of fire.” Su Ming’s eighty blood veins shone as he struck the tree continuously, knocking off the outer bark and exposing its inner core.
Using his right hand like a knife, he cut into the three Zhang portion of the three and started to fill his damaged pouch with it.
But due to the limited s.p.a.ce within the pouch, he could only store so much within, the remainder of which he lugged all the way back to the cave.
“Actually, I suppose the fire in my blood would work as well, but compared to this charred wood refined by the the heavenly lightning flames should work even better to replace the Lambent Twig.
Su Ming panted as he placed the pieces of the tree core down and also those from inside his pouch. Seeing these ingredients he let out a deep breath and started to organise his internal blood qi. After about two incense sticks of time his eyes shot open, he raised his right hand and with a thought a fire suddenly appeared from his hand.
The fire blazed and baked the surrounding area, illuminating the room. Su Ming’s expression was very serious as he carefully circulated the his nuanced art to control the fire in his hands. After it stabilized, he quickly grabbed some herbs required for the Enlightenment Pill with his left hand and placed them into the flames in his right.
As he was in a foreign place, he did not have the opportunity to find a place like back in the Black Ash Peak, as such he had to use his own blood qi to create flames. Ever since the battle with Bi Tu, he realised some different things about his own body, for example, he no longer needed to used his blood to summon flames.
Which was the reason he could think of this method of using his hand as a pill furnace to refine pills.
The Awakening Pill was something that Su Ming refined many times and he was completely familiar with each step of the process, only this time he was refining directly from his hand, as such he could only start to get used to controlling it after some time.
The core of the thunderstruck tree was the last part to be added, seeing the five ingredients melt and fuse together, Su Ming’s breathing stabilized as he calmly started refining the pills.