As both Hylla and Mashia woke up, they looked around but to their surprise, they did not see the sight of Ryker.
"He must have gone somewhere," Hylla concluded, the dragon girl beside her nodding in agreement.
However, while they looked for the sole man, they also spotted the rest of his lovers sleeping in the bed, dozing off peacefully.
They knew Ryker must have been the one who moved them back to the bed after they were done with the two of them. Consequently, it is likely he also did it with them when they woke up, as they should have woken up by now.
Stretching their aching bodies, the two walked, well, limped towards the bathroom, eager to clean themselves from the fluid that had stained their bodies during the previous night.
-x-
Ryker decided to head towards the garden. He had some reasons for that, and it involved alchemy. During that time, aside from just increasing his strength, he also took the chance to improve his mastery of different proficient.
The one he focused on the most was alchemy. Most of it stems from wanting to help his lovers. While they had seen some improvement in their cultivations, he knew they could not compare to many other people.
At best, the weaker of his lovers would be considered average, and with how strong he would become, the enemies he would have faced would likely be stronger as well, and they might target his lovers.
While he could create talismans and items that would help protect them, in the end, their strength is their greatest defense. So, he needs to find some way to help them improve their cultivation faster without compromising their foundation.
Thankfully, some solutions were offered from the books inside both the alchemy room and the library. The solution he picked is creating a pill called, Meridian Advancing Pill.
The pill, as suggested by its name is used to help enhance one meridian. A person's Inner Realm is linked to the meridian as the meridian is used to absorb and transport qi to the Inner Realm.
In fact, the books, say one meridian, along with bloodline and constitution is the way used by many people to guess the talents one would have in cultivating.
He could also create both Bone Augmenting Pills and Blood Purifying Pills, both of which would help improve their talents, or so the books describe it. The reason for him not picking the two pills is mostly because his grade is too low to create the two pills.
Thanks to the resources and materials in his possession, he was able to become a Rank 5 Alchemist, one rank lower than the prerequisites to refine the Bone Augmenting Pill and Blood Purifying Pill.
Even still, if not for the existence of the alchemy garden, he would likely unable to create the pill in question as he did not find some herbs required to refine the pill even when he looked at the entirety of the Kilrun Duchy and the other nations he had traveled to.
He guessed most of the ingredients were likely located in the Core Region of the Human Realm and maybe even at the other 7 Realm. But it would take him too long to reach there and so, he was grateful for the garden to have the materials he required.
He took some Violet Dandelions and Gold Light Grass, the two ingredients that he still has not had or collected yet. After taking the last ingredients, he headed towards the alchemy room to refine the pills.
As he reached the alchemy room, he looked at the arrangement and could not help but smile. Thanks to using a lot of Genesis Crystals of the higher grade, he was able to procure a high-quality cauldron, improving his productivity and ability to refine high-level pills and potions.
The higher-grade cauldron would help improve the creation of the pills by allowing stronger fire to be used. It also distributes the heat better, allowing the pills to go smoothly. Aside from that, it also contains the energy and efficiency of the materials better so less energy is required in the creation of the pills.
With this in regard, he had bought the highest grade cauldron in the market, a Grade 7 Cauldron that would likely be in use for a long time, at least until he reached the core of the Kingdom, where there might be Grade 8 and 9 Cauldron for sells.
He shook his head, knowing he needed to refine the pills first. He planned to do several tests before refining the one he would give to his lovers. He focused on himself, looked at the ingredients and the preparation, and nodded to himself.
-x-
Ryker sighed in relief. Despite some troubles, he was able to refine the Meridian Advancing Pills, though it was all low-grade. Pills, aside from the grade are also differentiated by levels, from low to peak for every grade.
The difference between levels of pills can be seen in the glow it emitted and the energy it released, with a peak-level pill having an ethereal glow to it.
While he did not think he could create a peak-level pill, he could hope for high-level ones, though it would likely require him to spend months to be able to create one. In the end, he knew it was up to his perseverance and determination, along with his talent in alchemy that would allow him to create a high-level pill.
-x-
Ryker looked at the pills in front of him, before rubbing his eyes once, and then twice. And yet, it is still the same.
"H-how did I refine several peak-level pills?" he stuttered, unable to believe the luck he had.
While he was talented, he did not think his talent was great enough to create a peak-level pill in less than a month, much so in less than a day. No, it could better be called less than five hours because it was the first time he refined a peak-level pill before all his attempts led to the creation of at least one in each attempt.
He began to revise his talent in alchemy, wondering if it was that good before he thought of something. He took out the tablet containing the Cultivation Art, Profound Scholar Scripture.
He could not help but think it was only possible because of his mastery of the Cultivation Art. The Cultivation Art is capable of improving one's comprehension though it is the most effective for improving one own mastery of different professions, even if it can help improve a person's comprehension of different Paths.