'Should I wait until the next morning?' Chen Xuan was in a dilemma. The eagerness to craft this Yang Yuan Pearl successfully could give him a sleepless night. If such an urge to fulfill his crafting fantasy was unresolved, it could hinder him on the next day.
'AHH!' Chen Xuan scratched his head due to the jittery feeling inside him. There's nothing that could make him feel worst than this.
The impatience then made Chen Xuan flip the Standard-Tier Record open until he stopped at the flame source page. Using the opportunity while the Yang Yuan Sand on the lantern is still bright, Chen Xuan studied the item again to calm himself.
There was a quick explanation of why the origin of flames in this world is unlike the open fire from Chen Xuan's world. Unlike the fire from his world, which releases an intense Yang Force when fuel is used to burn, the flames in Lingyu Realm were originated from condensed Yang Force.
And things like Yang Yuan Pearl, Maplewood Charcoal, and anything with a thick Yang Force were considered the fuel or the support to keep the flames to burn. If Yang Yuan Sand was like fireflies, then the pearl would be akin to the brightness of a moon.
This was also why the kitchen would be closed when nightfall and why people's activity was limited from morning to afternoon, but not around evening to dawn.
And there's no one else but the Yanluo King to be blamed for. This inconvenience was introduced when he decided to close the entrance to hell in this Lingyu Realm, making all the dead no longer had a destination to go to.
The accumulation of natural death soon formed lingering spirits, and from lingering spirits, they become a ghoul. As long a ghoul successfully obtained a hint of awareness from their voracious appetite, they could go through the ritual to become a full-fledged Jiangshi.
And from there, Jiangshi would only continue to expand their numbers. Unless they were exorcized, the Jiangshi would continue to increase in numbers. Furthermore, Jiangshi's means of increasing their ranks was not limited to sucking their target's blood and turning them into one.
Naturally, this decision of Yanluo King disrupted the balance of this realm. With the Yang Force getting thinner, the flame that was supposed to be the sign of returning everything to their pureness ended up no longer working as intended.
When Chen Xuan finished reading the page related to the flame source, their origin, and how to turn the Maplewood into charcoal-like, an inspiration came into his head.
'Could the Yang Force within my body works?' Chen Xuan remembered that from the detail of his Lesser Yang Maturing Technique, his body contained a hundred points worth of Yang Force.
And since this Yang Force could be turned into resources for him to inspect a Minor Brilliance Oyster, won't they work similarly on the Yang Yuan Sand as well?
The thought made Chen Xuan sit meditating, with his right inner palm facing up like a seating buddha. Both of his eyes were closed as he tried to picture the flow of Yang Force within his body.
At first, the feeling was faint as he was still trying his best to circulate his breathing accordingly. And with the lack of Yang energy from his surrounding, it was a challenging task to feel the flow of Yang Force.
But soon after that, the feeling was getting more substantial, with his palm is getting warmer than before. This phenomenon was similar to how he's keeping the water warm inside the wooden bucket, and the only difference here is he's gathering the Yang Force on his palm.
To his surprise, the system finally responded.
Eight Yang Yuan Sand voluntarily came out from his inventory and levitated in the center of his palm. The already shining grains of light look brighter as more Yang Force seeps into them to let them reach the melting point.
The feeling is like cooking the grains without a bowl to hold them properly. And while the refining process looks straightforward, it was entirely managed by the system, as a matter of fact. Even if Chen Xuan closed his eyes during the refining process, the success rate was 99.99%.
When the eight tiny grains finally reach the ideal melting point, they combine into a single larger bead, about the size of an adult's canine teeth.
This is unquestionably the Yang Yuan Pearl Chen Xuan has been dreaming of producing on his own. And to his surprise, their quality was much better than the ten Yang Yuan Pearls he was given by Yanran Liuli.
The quality was so good that the system would automatically store them inside his inventory.
'Hmm... Before I check the status of the Yang Yuan Pearl, shall I take a look at how much Yang Force did I use in this refining process?' Chen Xuan took a deep breath before returning to the Lesser Yang Maturing Technique again.
And he was surprised by the number of Yang Force used to refine a single Yang Yuan Pearl.
'Fif - Fifty Yang Force! Why don't you just kill me?' Chen Xuan was about to cry after discovering that a single refinement took away close to a full day worth of Yang Force he collected inside his core.
The despair of using five chances to scan the Minor Brilliance Oyster on his next day made Chen Xuan a little unhappy. Still, deep inside him, the eagerness to try the same thing again made him willingly continued.
It wasn't long before he produced the second Yang Yuan Pearl from the second batch of Yang Yuan Sand.
Chen Xuan felt that the chill surrounding him was a little worst than before. It felt like the first day when he had just arrived on this Lingyu Realm.
'Damn... This bone-chilling coldness... Don't tell me that the Yang Force within our body was used to keep our body warm when the Yin energy is at its peak?' Chen Xuan asked himself. He felt like his body had lost all the warmth he had a moment ago.
"Hah... Hah..." at this moment, he had no other choice but to rely on the thin blanket stuffed with softened yarn made from hemp. This could be his only means to keep himself warm throughout the night.
-----
For the first time in his day here, Chen Xuan was forced to struggle with the cold until the sun slowly rose from the east. It wasn't enough, but taking close to two hours of rest is much better than not getting any at all.
Barely having enough rest at all, Chen Xuan once again was in a rush as he quickly grabbed a simple meal in the canteen before paying for another night of accommodation. There are only two more Yang Yuan Pearls left in the pouch Yanran Liuli gave him.
'Looks like I can't be taking things leisurely anymore. With only three days left on my entrance token, I'll have to find a way to earn twelve more Yang Yuan Pearl to afford my next week's accommodation cost.' Chen Xuan said while staring at the Fenghuang Town token in his hand.
Out of the seven bits of light on the token, three of them had lost their brilliance. As for the fourth, it was slightly dimmer than the rest.
This also means that he had less than four days left in his time.
Also, for today, Chen Xuan could only try his luck again by picking a few random Minor Brilliance Oysters to cultivate. It was a big mistake of his to lose himself in last night's crafting. But without a blunder like this, how would he knew that something like that could happen?
To Chen Xuan, this was a worthwhile experience for his survival in Lingyu Realm.
He quietly stepped into the King Wen's River and grabbed three shellfish that caught his attention. Seating quietly at one of the quieter sides of the river, Chen Xuan entered the meditation state almost instantly when he focused on his job.
And he stopped cultivating the Minor Brilliance Oysters a little before the bellman came to ring the bell. Grabbing the fifteen grains regurgitated from the shellfish, Chen Xuan left with a smile on his face.
'Looks like I'm doing it correctly. If I'm following this method to cultivates the shellfish, I'll be swimming in Yang Yuan Sand soon.' Chen Xuan smiled.
With a little more than an hour before the sun finally sets, Chen Xuan made his way back with something to do in mind.
And to his surprise, he was attacked by a stray Jiangshi that trying its luck on getting a victim. Thanks to his quick wits and reaction, Chen Xuan rolled aside from the bloodsucking vampire.
"Fuck! How can I get attacked by Jiangshi at this time?" Chen Xuan cussed. With nobody nearby to help him, he could only try his best to either run or fight. But as he considered his option, the Jiangshi hopped forward, with its sharp claws aiming at Chen Xuan.
"Come here! Let this daddy wreck you!" Chen Xuan yelled. Knowing that he had no mean to protect himself, all he could only do is to depend on his wits to win this fight. As for the Jiangshi, it remained silent without a change in its expression.
"Peach Wood!" Chen Xuan yelled as he swung his hand hard. The call of his made the hefty-looking wood came into his hand. Because he was in the middle of the action when the wood appeared out of nowhere, it turned out to give Chen Xuan a hand at teaching the Jiangshi a lesson.
*BAM!*
Even the Jiangshi had no idea how a section of wood could be so dangerous when it got smacked on the face. The attack not only caught it by surprise but also dispersed some dark mist around it.
Losing some of the dark mist made the Jiangshi panic, but hardly enough for it to give up. When it got back to its powerful hopping foot again, Chen Xuan was gone from its sight.
"Over here!" Chen Xuan yelled again. By relying on the same swinging action, the peach wood once again appeared between his hands. This time, he got the Jiangshi beautifully.
The peach wood was like a burning steel rod that kept vaporizing the dark mist surrounding its body.
"Peach Stone!" Chen Xuan took his killer weapon out and forced it into the bloodsucking vampire's mouth when it opened. And just like before, a golden appeared from the inside and turned the Jiangshi into a pile of ashes.
(Ding! Successfully absorb "One" unit worth of Evil Qi.)
"Yes! Yes!" Chen Xuan smiled as he retrieved the Peach Stone back into his inventory. As the pile of ashes was also in the way, it got collected into the list together.
'The ashes can be collected this way?' Chen Xuan was surprised by this discovery. And this time, he was much brighter than before. Knowing that it wouldn't do good to him for returning to the town too late, Chen Xuan decided to ignore his eagerness until he went through the western gate.
He proceeds to calm himself down after taking a seat on a pretty busy plaza filled with shops and eatery.
'Alright... Shall I take a look at the surprises I have for today?' Chen Xuan smiled and spoke to himself in a soft whisper.
'Inventory...' a panel that only he could see appeared before his eyes. Focusing intensely on the Lesser Yang Maturing Technique, this skill's description soon replaced the previously empty panel.
'Hey... What could be happening?' Chen Xuan was surprised that something out of the ordinary had happened once again for him.
'How could my experience in the Lesser Yang Maturing Technique be much more than expected? Did the two additional points come from yesterday when I refined the Yang Yuan Pearls?' Chen Xuan unconsciously rubbed his nose while thinking.
== == == == ==
(Standard-Tier) Lesser Yang Maturing Technique
-Introduction: An introductory Maturing Technique for Yang Element. Had minor effectiveness in increasing the practitioner's external Yang Force.
-----
-Current Level: 1
-Experience: 19 / 20
-Yang Force Capacity: 50 / 1,200
== == == == ==