Buying Minerals

"Brother Lang Lei, where are we going next?" Griseo looked at Lang Lei with a little concern.

"Suotuo City." After checking out of the inn, Lang Lei immediately bought a highly detailed map. "Don't worry, Little Griseo. We got lost in the forest before because all the scenery looked the same. With a map this time, we definitely won't get lost!"

"Brother Lang Lei, how about we fly instead..." Griseo said quietly.

"Looks like Little Griseo doesn't quite trust her brother either..." Lang Lei pretended to look deeply disappointed.

"That's not it!"

Ten minutes later—

After asking a passerby for directions, Lang Lei confirmed that he had somehow ended up even farther from Suotuo City and finally resigned himself to reality.

"Little Griseo, let's fly instead..." Lang Lei said dejectedly. "We'll go in a straight line..."

"Okay, Brother Lang Lei." Griseo answered sweetly, summoning World-Painting Creation and having it carry them both into the sky.

On World-Painting Creation's back, Griseo held Lang Lei tightly, while Lang Lei wore a relaxed expression, seemingly thoroughly enjoying the sensation of flying through the sky.

"Too bad I'm not flying on my own. I have to learn to fly myself someday!" Lang Lei silently made up his mind.

Sure enough, once they traveled through the air, the two quickly arrived in Suotuo City.

"It's livelier than those little places we visited before." Lang Lei held Griseo's little hand as they walked through Suotuo City's streets. The handsome young man and adorable little girl made a highly eye-catching pair, and nearly everyone they passed turned to look.

Since they would not be staying here for long, Lang Lei did not buy a house and instead chose to find a hotel.

That was not difficult. Lang Lei soon found a suitable hotel and paid for two months of lodging, which included three meals a day.

Whether it was because he had paid so much upfront, because of Griseo's innocent cuteness, or both, the hotel gave him quite a substantial discount.

When they entered their room, they found a fairly spacious interior, two beds that looked extremely comfortable, and complete living facilities. Both Lang Lei and Griseo were quite satisfied.

Griseo asked Lang Lei for a drawing board and brushes, intending to paint for a while.

Lang Lei, meanwhile, finally looked as though he could relax. He comfortably lay down on the bed.

"Brother Lang Lei, I'm out of paint..." Before long, Lang Lei, who had been lying on the bed with his eyes closed, felt Griseo tugging at the hem of his clothes and immediately sat up.

"You're out?" Lang Lei nodded and prepared to go buy some. Seeing this, Griseo hurriedly followed him.

"Little Griseo can actually play in the room by herself for a while. I'll bring the paint back for you soon." When Lang Lei saw Griseo following him, he smiled and patted her head.

"Let's go together." Griseo took Lang Lei's hand on her own initiative.

"Since Little Griseo wants to, then let's go together." Lang Lei nodded and gently held her soft little hand.

After looking around for a bit, they found quite a few merchants selling paint, but as for the quality of those paints...

Griseo was rather disappointed. There was no other reason—the quality was simply too poor, and there were very few colors available. Perhaps this was also because the arts were underdeveloped on Douluo Continent.

The limited range of colors was manageable. As a world-famous legendary little painter from before the collapse of civilization, Griseo could mix them herself with a little tinkering.

But there was truly nothing to be done about the quality.

Nor could Griseo use her own ability to paint, because any paint created through her power would turn the paintings into World-Painting Creations.

Griseo was still young and did not like binding those World-Painting Creations. A small number would be manageable, and Lang Lei could take over control of some of them. But if there were too many, Douluo Continent would likely become a paradise for World-Painting Creations.

The kind whose combat strength was at least comparable to a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, yet after being killed, left behind nothing but a puddle of powerless paint...

"How about we just make do with this?" Griseo quietly asked as she watched Lang Lei continue asking passersby whether there were any other places in Suotuo City that sold paint.

She did not want to keep troubling Brother Lang Lei.

"Little Griseo, um... how about I make some paint for you?" Lang Lei suddenly thought of the traditional paints from his hometown. They were not industrially synthesized, but purely natural paints made from various colored minerals.

In his previous life, Lang Lei had watched a program about the national treasure Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains. That national treasure had been painted using costly mineral pigments. Its colors were vivid, and even after a thousand years, they showed no sign of fading. Its quality was beyond question.

The program had also invited an elderly modern craftsman to teach the method of making mineral pigments. Lang Lei might have forgotten some of it before, but after several rounds of physical enhancement, he recalled it all with only a little thought.

"Brother Lang Lei will make it?" Griseo's eyes lit up. "Of course! Thank you, Brother Lang Lei!"

"Alright, then let's go buy minerals now!" Lang Lei nodded. "Let me think... Cinnabar, Hematite, Malachite, Turquoise, Lapis Lazuli, White Mica... I wonder if Douluo Continent has these minerals. It should, right?"

Actually, even if it did not, substitutes would work as well. After all, what was needed to make pigments were certain colored chemical compounds within the minerals.

For example, mercury sulfide in Cinnabar, iron oxide in Hematite, basic copper carbonate in Malachite, copper-aluminum carbonate minerals in Turquoise, silicates in White Mica...

As long as he was a little careful, finding substitute minerals would not be difficult.

As for the other steps, with supernatural powers, everything became far less troublesome. Take grinding the minerals, for example...

No sooner said than done, Lang Lei directly took Griseo to a forge and asked to buy some minerals.

That left the blacksmith rather stunned. It was his first time seeing someone come to a forge to buy minerals.

But with supernatural powers, none of that was a problem.

Lang Lei quickly found Hematite and White Mica. He also found substitute minerals for Cinnabar and Turquoise, but there had been no progress with yellow ochre, which was needed to make yellow pigment.

After all, not just any colored rock could be used to make paint. One also had to consider its texture, how well it colored paper, whether it would damage the canvas, and a whole host of other issues.

Lang Lei did not fully understand the specifics, so he wanted to use the minerals mentioned in the program to make the pigments whenever possible.

They had now found red, blue, green, and white, leaving only the rather important yellow.

Actually, Realgar or Orpiment could work, but they smelled unpleasant and were poisonous. Unless absolutely necessary, Lang Lei did not want to use them to make paint for Griseo.

If nothing else worked, he could only use Gold Soul Coins, since gold could also be used to make pigment...

However, Gold Soul Coins were not strictly pure gold. To make pigment from them, he would first have to refine them.

In the end, Lang Lei compromised and chose to use Gold Soul Coins to make the pigment. These things were incredibly hard...

Who knew what they had been mixed with.

After taking Griseo to a general store to buy Gelatin Water and natural gum pads, Lang Lei returned to the hotel with the somewhat expectant Griseo.