Due to the short time and a very realistic possibility of a death sentence, Ian felt extremely pressured and gave his best, inflaming his potential. He created a schedule of daily activities, allocating 5 hours for rest, 5 hours for strengthening his body, 5 hours for the Body Control Dao, 5 hours for the Librarian Dao, 2 hours for basic combat techniques, and the last 2 hours he spent researching materials and trying to merge the knowledge he acquired in Sombreal with that of Earth. Surprisingly, the day was also divided into 24 hours, even without a sun. Probably the original region of these people had a structure very similar to that of Earth.
Etri would appear every two days due to the difficulty of transportation, a six-hour trip each way, almost half a day lost. Another point was that as an important member of the clan, the daughter of the Patriarch, and even the main disciple of the Grand Elder, Loli status did not allow her to "stay overnight" (there was no night or day) alone with a unmarried man (even though she was initially married to God Hellgar, given the sacrificial act, which would be Ian). So she needed to take every moment to guide Ian through the family's abilities and answer his questions.
"Etri, I need you to get me a compilation of laws and customs used by the Helis."
"Why?" The maiden, who was training, stopped a complex movement halfway. For her, only strength was important.
"If I'm going to face the council's judgment, I want to know the rules of the game." Ian spoke with an expression as if he were stating the obvious.
On the sixth day, Loli brought books containing local legislation and a black mount, similar to a horse, covered in scales and with two vertical horns on its head. According to her, it was an Ongmar, a distant descendant of the mythical lineage of the Longma, the Dragon-Horse. She had to trade many of her resources and take risks to smuggle this creature without arousing suspicion, which touched Ian's heart. The Ongmar was much smaller than the Giant Lizard, but its speed and vigor were comparable, making potential escapes easier.
During the same period, she changed the training regimen, merging combat techniques with body cultivation, given Ian's remarkable motor coordination ability, which was still expanding as he advanced in the Body Control Dao. In this way, he progressed by leaps and bounds.
Ian caught a glimpse of the path he needed to follow if he wanted to survive. He made a complex plan that relied heavily on luck. One of the critical points would be his ability to find some Earth-like resources. The idea was to create hand grenades using black powder, a mixture of potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal. There were easily extractable deposits of the last two in the mountain. The problem would be saltpeter. Ian had asked Loli about, but she had never heard of it, although it was mentioned in chemistry books, so it was probably scarce or depleted in Sombreal.
Therefore, he began testing other resources. Every two days, a chest full of all kinds of strange things arrived—oils, crystals, herbs, even bone meal.
Etri's purchases caught the attention of the Regulator Elder, who went to question her about the situation. The answer Ian had prepared for her, was that she was interested in the Dao of Alchemy and her master was somewhat eccentric. It didn't really stick, but it didn't seem to be for any purpose that would affect the clan in any negative way, so they let it go. After all, she had a lot of prestige and power within the family.
After fifteen days, Ian completed the first level of the Librarian Martial Art, elevating his mental attributes to another level. The stages of the legacies also improved: mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology reached the third stage; politics, history, and geography reached the second stage; and geology and botany reached the initial stage.
Perhaps you are finding strange the idea that "ten books" can turn a person into a great master in some subject of knowledge. On Earth, a scientist would read hundreds of books, thousands of articles, attend hours and more hours of classes, plus documentaries, experiments, and exchange ideas with colleagues to specialize in a small part of a large subject, such as Biology, for instance. However, in that civilization, there was such a thing called runic writing.
The runic writing consisted of a set of special characters that allowed the storage of a lot of information, not only 2d description, but even 3d images, sensations, among other things. A single rune would have the storage capacity of up to hundreds of pages of ordinary Earth books. Taking into account that a rune resembles the size of a word... One page of runic arrangements would be equivalent to how many books? And a thick (like, really thick) book, how much? And now 10 such books? Besides the fact that the complexity of the information surpassed the methods of the humans on Earth, so, besides the numerical superiority, we also have a qualitative difference.
But if it weren't for his blessings, divine body and cultivation method, Ian wouldn't be able to advance at this speed. Not even the Great Sage, who has reached a high level of the Great Librarian, could achieve the achievement of our main character.
On the twentieth day, he successfully broke through the Phase 1 of the Base Body and decided to stop cultivating and training techniques since there would be no immediate obvious benefits. He added one hour to rest, two hours to Body Control, and five more hours combined with the previous two for researching and creating weapons from Earth technology.
"You should focus on training instead of these strange and foul-smelling things!" Etri was deeply disappointed. Ian was a learning genius and had a divine body. He would surpass her in a few decades. But he was neglecting physical strengthening.
Ian obviously ignored the scolding that would constantly come from Loli and remained firm in his plans. He was even secretly shocked by his own progress.
Much of his success was also connected to the connections he was making between the knowledge of Sombreal, derived from the heritage of the Great Sage, and the knowledge of Earth.
On the twenty-fifth day, Ian completed the first stage of the Body Control Dao and ceased all training except for his research and crafting, allocating seven hours for rest. By the end of the day, he found a substitute for saltpeter that filled him with excitement.
Witnessing all of this, Etri didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It seemed like Ian was giving up on his life and had gone mad. He lived dirty in the underground, where he had transformed the beautiful basement into a foul-smelling cave.
"Etri, starting today, I will enter seclusion in the laboratory. I will conduct various dangerous experiments. I need to focus completely. See you next week at the council," Ian said without even looking at her, his voice tired, while he mixed the contents of two glass bottles.
"What?!" Etri was initially stunned and then her expression darkened. She kicked a three-foot rock into infinity and beyond. Loli felt powerless, completely ignored, and even dismissed after being humiliated. Stomping her feet, making the earth tremble, she withdrew.
Before leaving, she gave one last look that was once again ignored, shook her head, and entered the cabin, feeling helpless.
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Sounds of thunder and explosions could be heard in the distance, originating from the old Sage's Mansion, where the pseudo-God Hellgar was residing, leaving the clans with properties near the Domain Mountain, fearful.
Had the Great Clans angered their God and were they now destined for divine punishment?
The news soon spread through the lower echelon of the Heli race, leaving the base of that population somewhat apprehensive and even unhappy about the heretical actions of their leaders, causing confusion and a few points of revolt in that calm and monotonous species.
Of course, Ian didn't know that his experiments would cause such reactions for the common population.
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In the early hours of the day of the trial, a disheveled silhouette stood in front of some unidentified objects. If someone came closer, they would notice that not a centimeter of skin was free from a crust of dirt, except for the eyes.
"I finally finished. I'll clean myself up, and whatever happens, happens," Ian sighed as he walked towards another room.