Chapter 67: Alchemy Experiment

Below the mountain ledge, the small garden Ugo had started weeks ago was thriving.

There were a few rows of simple herbs, some wild vegetables, and a small, barren plot left plowed for future use.

The wild grain and spirit grass looked exceptionally healthy.

But they were still missing many things.

They would need to head out soon to buy some seeds if they wanted to plant the basic herbs required for daily medicinal pills.

Moon calculated his inventory in his mind. He already had the Earth-grade cauldron, the golden lotuses, and high-grade spirit stones.

If he went out and brought back some seeds and daily necessities, he could truly start over here.

He could build the life he had always dreamed of—the peaceful life his mother had once wished for him to lead.

Moon’s fingers twitched with intense anticipation.

Alchemy.

Finally.

.

.

.

He went to the cave and brought out the cauldron from his satchel first.

Even after shrinking it, the thing stayed heavy.

When he set it down in the center of the cave and sent a thin thread of spiritual power into the formation lines, the golden engravings lit up with a soft hum.

Leo and Rio both lifted their heads at the sound. They ran to the cave and peeked through the door.

Looking at their innocent, silly faces, Moon smiled genuinely for the first time that morning.

"Alright, my little Dao partners. Watch carefully. Your husband is going to make something good," he said in a good mood.

He took out one of the iridescent Golden Lotuses. The crystal at its center glowed under the cave light.

Leo was going to touch the petal, but Moon held his paw.

"This thing is expensive," Moon said without looking up. "Don’t touch."

Rio sat on the opposite side from where Leo was sitting.

Moon sat cross-legged in front of the cauldron, placed the lotus petal inside, and began to make a hand seal.

A faint fire amber flew out of his fingertip, illuminating the cave.

Though it was just a spark, its temperature was not less than any normal bonfire.

Moon guided the fire into the cauldron base, where there was a chamber for heating.

Soon his hand seal changed into another form to handle the herbs, purify them, and reduce them to a powder.

Pure spiritual energy swirled in his palm.

The cave temperature rose continuously.

Moon’s forehead started to sweat. He still had some difficulty using his spiritual power to handle the herbs.

In the future, he will try to get some soul techniques from the Moon Goddess.

Though he was thinking so much, in reality, his hands never paused. In fact, they were moving faster.

Leo slowly got closer to look more clearly at what was happening with those blue and gold glowing sparkles. He climbed onto Moon’s lap and curled up.

Rio lifted his face once and then settled against Moon’s knees. He hated heat. But somehow, this heat was giving him comfort.

So those two rabid wolf pups suddenly started humming and purring in a dazed comfort.

No matter what the two pups were doing, Moon’s hands didn’t waver.

He continued to make the seals he had been practicing for a whole week.

The air was smooth inside the cave.

The mountain felt quiet.

Almost peaceful.

Only the whistle from the cauldron lingered in the air as the golden petal became pure gold powder.

This golden petal had the power to form a golden core. A golden core is level 5 in his world for a resonant core mage, who are called, in short, Warmages.

Their cultivation level is different from that of an elemental core mage like him, who is usually a refiner.

In his world, there were two types of mage cores: elemental cores and resonant cores.

Elemental core mages can use their core essence in different fields to refine artifacts, pills, formations, inscriptions, plantations, puppetry, and such things.

When a resonant core can resonate with a different weapon or artifact, it makes the core into a battle intent and leads the mage’s power into a destructive war path.

This golden core is the fifth level for a Warmage.

Moon didn’t really need it.

But he had a vague feeling it could revive Leo’s and Rio’s lost spirits, or at least trigger their warrior wolf spirit.

If he could trigger the wolf spirit, next he needed to soothe them and calm them.

He wasn’t worried about that.

He had already figured out why wolves are so dependent on their mates.

Isn’t it because of their calming effects?

So he was half confident in his calming effect.

The other half of his confidence he pushed out of his mind for now.

His life was now a gamble. So he would play this gamble as much as he could.

Thinking of all those possibilities, he was now trying to make some powder first to dilute in water and make a bath for them.

This idea he came up with after last night’s bath.

He had decided to go out when the others finished resting and buy some things and get the exact information about admission to the wolf academy.

But he also needed to seal the pack mark for his mates again before he left the realm.

As for leaving the lost realm, he now had a way.

Axe took one of the paths from the five-cave mouth, he took another, and there were five cave mouths there in total.

So he assumed all five of them led into here—into the Lost realm.

And they had entered the first time through another entrance. Inside the sea. So the vacuum place he and Nox found Ugo was probably another entrance.

Now that he had an ancestor in his Lupine Palace, he might be able to get help distinguishing a clear, fixed path for going out and in.

All he needed now was just to seal the mark, disguise himself, and go out.

Before the alpha team could catch them coming back.

He wondered what the alpha Valleys and grand witches’ faces would be like when they found out they were all chilling around inside a treasure trove.

Safe and sound.

After he collected the powder, he went out holding the two pups and approached the lake.

He made a small water pool beside the lake and sprinkled a little bit of powder on the water to experiment with a guinea pig first.

He got a little beetle from a nearby bush and then dropped it into the water for the experiment.