Zhenjin looked around and saw that everyone's emotions had stabilized, and there was a hint of hope in their eyes. He felt a little relieved.
Then, he ordered Huang Zao to lead the people in rebuilding the camp, while also setting up a perimeter and laying defensive traps.
Inside the tent, Zhenjin, Cang Xu, Zi Di, and Lan Zao gathered once again.
Cang Xu was the first to speak, admitting his guilt with embarrassment: "This is all my fault! I didn't anticipate that the goat's flesh and blood would be poisoned. I let immediate interests cloud my rational judgment. When I noticed the large scale of the flock, I should have realized there was something strange and been more cautious of potential risks!"
Zhenjin slightly shook his head and consoled him, "This island is dangerous and mysterious, and we all wanted to get more food. This isn't just your fault, Mr. Cang Xu. As the leader, I bear even more responsibility. However, dwelling on these mistakes now has no value. Let's think carefully, how do we solve this problem?"
Cang Xu sighed and shared his view, "Right now everyone is afflicted with cold poison, and this cold poison is quite peculiar. On the surface, it seems that it will only act up once we leave here for a certain distance. But in fact, I believe it's due to the temperature."
"Here, near the Snow Peak, the temperature is low, and the cold poison does not act up. As we distance ourselves from Snow Peak, the further we go, the higher the temperature. Once it reaches a certain point, the cold poison in our bodies is triggered."
"The most direct evidence of this view is the woolen clothes! When we took them off, our body temperature quickly dropped, and the symptoms of the cold poison were greatly reduced."
"This is everything I know about the cold poison."
After speaking, Cang Xu looked at Zi Di.
Not only him, Zhenjin and Lan Zao also looked at Zi Di.
In fact, everyone knew: the problem involved toxins, and as the pharmacist, Zi Di had the most authority on this matter.
Since regaining her mobility, Zi Di had been experimenting with the mutton and her own blood among other things, trying to create potions.
At this moment, she held a glass test tube in her hand, carefully pouring some granules into it.
The test tube originally contained a liquid similar to fresh blood, and once the granules were added, it suddenly started bubbling as if boiling.
Finally, with a light bang, the whole test tube broke apart.
The bright red liquid inside spilled onto the carpet in the tent.
But Zi Di ignored the liquid and bent down, her bright purple eyes wide as she carefully pinched the small granules on the carpet with her fingers.
Within just a dozen breaths, she had collected many granules and gathered them into her palm.
She examined the granules closely.
Immediately, she keenly noticed: the granules displayed various cracks, not just simple transparent fractures, but with a greyish tinge.
Seeing this, Zi Di's eyes lit up, "Everyone, I think I've found the real reason."
"Oh? What is the cold poison?" Zhenjin asked.
Zi Di shook her head slightly, "In fact, the mutton has no cold poison at all. Before consuming it, I tested it by various means for safety. The results showed no error; the mutton is indeed not toxic."
Everyone was puzzled, "Then what's going on with us? Could it be something else that poisoned us?"
Zi Di shook her head again, "The problem lies with the mutton."
Zhenjin and Lan Zao's confusion deepened.
However, Cang Xu's eyes suddenly lit up and he blurted out, "Could it be a magic imbalance?"
"Yes, that is the reason," Zi Di sighed and then explained in detail.
"Being near the Snow Peak, the concentration of frost elements in the surroundings is very high."
"The goats living here have frost elements from the air infiltrate their bodies. If these goats were natural creatures, their bodies would coordinate the magic, accumulating orderly magic. When such stable magic accumulates enough, it would transform and condense into demon crystals."
"But as we suspected before, these goats are man-made creations. Although their flesh and blood structure is stable, they don't have the function of magic coordination. They have been under the protection of a magic prohibition environment."
"The frost elements within the goats' bodies cannot be perfectly and naturally digested and absorbed. While they can transform into magic, the magic is chaotic and contradictory. Not only can it not form demon crystals, but it also possesses a characteristic that it remains relatively stable and dormant within the body when the temperature is low. When the temperature rises sufficiently, it suddenly erupts, causing symptoms similar to cold poison."
"I previously thought I was afflicted with cold poison, so I took a detoxification potion made of fire element materials. As a result, the magic of the fire element in the potion further stimulated the ice element's magic. The conflict between the two caused me to faint on the spot."
Zi Di paused, then continued, "Because of this, when we removed the woolen clothes, our body temperatures dropped rapidly, causing the ice element magic to stabilize and become dormant, so our conditions improved quickly."
"I see now," everyone realized the truth after this analysis.
This kind of situation is actually quite common in the practice of transcendents.
For example, when a mage makes a mistake during meditation, and the ice elements fail to transform into mana, invading the whole body, it results in cold poison, even freezing the entire body.
Fighters, such as martial artists, knights, and swordsmen, who consume magic beast meat or take potions, but cannot digest the immense magic within, will also suffer a backlash.
This phenomenon is even more common in nature than in cultivators.
Fishmen who live in the sea for a long time, if they enter the desert during the day, will experience dry and cracked skin, and sluggish spirits in decline. This is because the desert during the day is filled with fire and light elements. Fishmen, immersed in such an environment, inevitably absorb light and fire elements. Even if not consciously absorbed, these elements will form magic on the skin's surface. These magic energies conflicting with the fishmen's inherent water element magic will cause symptoms of dry and cracked skin, and sluggish spirits.
In the North, when a flourishing phoenix tree suddenly encounters a blizzard, its leaves all fall off, leaving only bare branches, with many areas frostbitten. This is due to the sudden surge of ice elements causing magic erosion.
Correspondingly, there are many ways in nature to resist magic erosion.
For instance, the evergreen pine trees in the snowlands can maintain their wood element magic in environments rich in ice elements.
Also, on the grasslands, rhinoceroses often roll in mud to build a mud armor to resist the scorching sun. This layers them in a mud magic shield, replacing their skin for a consuming battle to fend off external magical erosion.
"Wait, according to Master Zi Di's explanation, isn't this mutton actually valuable? The seemingly ordinary beast meat actually contains magic, making it essentially magic beast meat. Magic beast meat is an expensive resource for cultivation!" Lan Zao, being a bronze-level elite and sensitive to cultivation resources, exclaimed loudly.
Indeed, during the practice of fighting energy, the demand for the blood and flesh of magic beasts is very high.
For example, those training in fire fighting energy usually consume fire attribute magic beast meat.
Firstly, magic beast meat is highly nutritious, and long-term consumption enhances the cultivator's life foundation.
Secondly, the magic in magic beast meat seeps into the cultivator's body after consumption. If left unchecked, this foreign magic could be harmful. But when the cultivator activates their fire fighting energy technique, they quickly absorb and transform the magic, eliminating the hazard, more importantly, augmenting their fighting energy.
Hearing Lan Zao's words, Cang Xu nodded slightly, acknowledging, "As you say, this likelihood indeed exists."
"The difference between magic beast meat and ordinary meat lies in whether it contains magic or not."
"Compared to normal magic beast meat, the magic contained in this mutton is quite unusual. When the temperature is low, the magic is inwardly dormant, buried deep within, and fairly stable. When the temperature rises, the magic reveals its chaotic nature, erupting and posing a life threat to the consumer."
"If an ice element fighting energy technique is excellent enough to withstand and transform this ice element magic, then this mutton would be valuable magic beast meat to those individuals."
"However… such people are likely very few," Zhenjin pondered deeply.
Fighting energy techniques are methods involving fighting energy, establishing internal coordination, balance, and magic circulation.
There are many fighting energy techniques, varying in quality.
High-quality fighting energy techniques are not only created by exceptionally talented pioneers but also refined over numerous generations. The best recognized techniques occupying the highest levels are extremely limited, countable on ten fingers, such as the Holy Emperor's Holy Fighting Energy, Duke Icehowl's Extreme Blizzard Fighting Spirit, and Scimitar Saint's Blazing Flame Fighting Energy.
The more excellent the fighting energy technique, the more efficiently it can absorb and transform the magic in magic beast meat.
Under normal circumstances, the magic in magic beast meat is relatively balanced and stable. After processing, its dissipation rate is not rapid. This magic is easily sensed and absorbed or transformed.
But the mutton clearly was an unusual case.
The goats were not natural creations. The magic within them far exceeded their life levels. The structure of the goat herd was chaotic, with most being ordinary beasts, only a few being of bronze level.
Furthermore, when the magic in the mutton erupted, it rendered even bronze-level individuals like Lan Zao and Huang Zao immobile. But when dormant and stable, it couldn't be sensed by anyone, not Zhenjin, Lan Zao, or Zi Di.
These two traits of the magic structure, both elevated the requirements for handling ice element fighting energy to a much higher degree.