Making Pigment

Lang Lei returned to the hotel carrying bags and bundles of ore under the strange gazes of the hotel staff.

As for why he had not put them in the System Space or a Storage Soul Tool...

The reason was not that complicated. Lang Lei had simply been so excited that he forgot.

After all, the feeling of personally making something was quite nice.

As he set the bags of ore on the floor of the room, the system chimed at just the right moment.

"Ding. Host's intention detected. Companion Mission is now being issued."

Companion Mission: Pigment Making

Mission Content: Little Griseo has run out of the pigment she brought with her when she was summoned. To make Little Griseo happy, the host must now produce pigment of sufficient quality to cheer Little Griseo up.

Mission Reward: Soul Power Level +2, a random-quality Passive Grant Card for the First Martial Soul, Earth Dragon Dust, and one chance to elevate the completed pigment.

"Hmm? The system issued a mission?" Lang Lei was quite pleased by this unexpected windfall. After all, who would complain about having more rewards?

"Little Griseo, do you want to rest for a while first?" Lang Lei soaked all the ore in water and began using Soul Power to wash away the dirt and impurities on their surfaces.

"I want to help too," Griseo said seriously.

Lang Lei was briefly speechless. Then he smiled and ruffled Little Griseo's hair. "Sure. Let's give it a try together!"

"Okay!"

Making mineral pigment was no easy task. There were quite a few steps alone:

The first was selecting the ore. Lang Lei and Griseo had already done that, and the ore they chose was the finest batch available. For the yellow pigment, they had even directly used Gold Soul Coins...

The second step was what Lang Lei was doing now—soaking. The ore had to be soaked and rinsed in water for some time to wash away mud and impurities. This step helped improve the pigment's purity and stability.

In a rare display of childishness, Griseo splashed Lang Lei in the face with her little hand, then giggled.

Seeing this, Lang Lei smiled as well and promptly returned the favor.

After they noisily finished washing everything, the third step was crushing. The ore was normally ground into fine powder with a mortar and pestle, though Lang Lei and Griseo could simply use Soul Power to pulverize it directly. Even so, the process still required patience and time to ensure the pigment was fine and uniform.

Besides, Lang Lei had bought quite a lot of pigment materials...

This step went quickly, since it was practically cheating...

Then came sieving. They collected the fine powder through a sieve, removed the coarse particles, and further improved the pigment's purity.

They could consider using a Martial Soul for this step too. After all, Lang Lei's Martial Soul was Earth Dragon Dust. Fine control was probably impossible, but using it for simple sieving was still doable.

It was just that Griseo got a little bored during this step and could only watch Lang Lei work.

Next, the sifted mineral powder had to be ground a second time. This step also required a mortar, and Lang Lei had thoughtfully bought one earlier.

But there was only one...

After all, he had never planned to let Griseo do the work in the first place.

Still, that was not a problem. Lang Lei directly used Earth Dragon Dust's First Soul Skill to mold another one. It was extremely sturdy.

While grinding, they also needed to add an appropriate amount of water to the mortar and grind the pigment until it reached the desired fineness.

This step might need to be repeated several times until the pigment reached its ideal concentration and texture.

Griseo had quite a few thoughts on the matter, so Lang Lei obediently followed her advice when adding the water.

Next came sedimentation.

Using the principle of gravity settling, they separated the pigment into layers of different coarseness, removed impurities, and obtained a thick slurry of fine material.

This step went quickly too. The reason was simple: waiting was too boring, and they did not have that much time, so Lang Lei used Soul Power to speed up the process...

Now the Gelatin Water Lang Lei had bought from the general store came in handy. Lang Lei molded several large vats and poured the not-yet-finished pigment into them. Then he added an appropriate amount of Gelatin Water, stirred it evenly, poured in boiling water, stirred again, and covered the vats to continue the sedimentation.

After stirring the last vat of pigment, Lang Lei and Griseo put the lid on together and exchanged smiles.

Then Lang Lei once again unreasonably accelerated the process with Soul Power...

Next came simmering the color and spreading the paste. Through boiling and sedimentation, the pigment was further purified and stripped of water until it became a thick slurry. Then the slurry was poured onto cloth, spread flat, and left to dry.

The drying step also became simple because of extraordinary power. Under normal weather conditions, drying pigment paste sheets usually took one or two days, but Lang Lei directly evaporated the water with Soul Power, taking only a dozen minutes or so.

While drying it, Lang Lei looked at the serious Little Griseo and felt playful. He dabbed some pigment with his hand and smeared it directly onto her soft, springy cheek. Afterward, he even sighed over how nice it felt.

Griseo froze for a moment, then puffed out her cheeks and grabbed a small piece of pigment, intending to smear it on Lang Lei's face.

The two played around in perfect harmony. Of course, like an older brother and younger sister, neither of them used any extraordinary power.

Amid their playfulness, the mineral pigment was completed.

When they wanted to use it, they only needed to mix a suitable proportion of pigment paste and water, and it would be ready.

Lang Lei and Griseo clapped their hands in sync, placed their hands on their hips, then looked at each other and pointed at one another before bursting into laughter.

Both of their faces had been smeared with pigment by the other, making them look utterly ridiculous.

After washing the stains off their faces, Lang Lei put the pigment paste blocks into the System Space, leaving only a small piece of each color outside.

Lang Lei watched nervously as Griseo mixed the pigment paste with water and stirred it. Once the pigment took shape, he asked somewhat anxiously.

"How is it?"

A stunning smile bloomed across Griseo's face as she pounced forward and hugged Lang Lei.

"It's great! Brother Lang Lei is amazing!"

Objectively speaking, the pigment they had made was merely pretty good at best. It could not be called top-grade.

But to Griseo, it was the best pigment.

"No, we were amazing." Lang Lei smiled and patted Griseo's shoulder.

"Mm, we were amazing." Griseo cooperatively put both hands on her hips and made a proud expression.

Lang Lei was completely melted by how adorable she was...

At the same time, the system's mission completion prompt sounded.

Companion Mission: Pigment Making completed.

Rewards issued. Random Passive Card draw in progress...

Random pigment effect draw in progress...

Obtained: Earth Dragon Dust Passive Grant Card (Purple) ×1

Ordinary mineral pigment has evolved into Griseo and Lang Lei's Fond Memories.

Item: Griseo and Lang Lei's Fond Memories (Gold)

Description: Natural mineral pigment made by Griseo and Lang Lei together, carrying their shared memories. This seems to have caused some miraculous changes in the pigment.

Special Effects:

1. Infinite: The pigment will never run out.

2. Elevation: The pigment's quality has risen to a rarity seldom seen in the world.

3. As You Wish: When Griseo or Lang Lei uses this pigment, they can make it turn into whatever color they desire most. This effect disappears once the pigment lands on the painted object.

4. Eternal: The pigment will never fade.

5. Hearts Connected: After carrying this pigment, Lang Lei and Griseo can communicate with each other through their minds. It ignores the influence of time, space, fate, and The Propagation. No living being can eavesdrop.

Before Lang Lei and Griseo's astonished eyes, the pigment in front of them changed. As for its color...

If they had to describe it, it was Colorful Black?

Lang Lei smiled, dabbed a little pigment with his finger, and drew a streak on both his own hand and Griseo's.

This time, Griseo did not react much.

Because when the mineral pigment had been elevated, as one of its creators, she had also learned of the changes it had undergone.

"Fond memories..." Griseo's ethereal voice sounded in Lang Lei's mind. "I really like it."

"Mm, I really like it too."