Russell knew little about black oil. Even Black Oil Dragon Rosai, whose power radiated out and condensed into the black oil veins, knew nothing about black oil.
It was like a hen laying eggs without knowing why it laid eggs.
Black oil was a "metal" mineral formed from Rosai's radiated power, but humans had to explore its specific uses.
Fortunately, black oil closely resembled the petroleum from Russell's old home on Earth.
And as it happened, when Russell had browsed TikTok in his previous life, he had come across videos about crude oil being separated through distillation, cracking, and other methods, using the differing volatility of liquids under different conditions, into everyday fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and kerosene.
So he had thought of using the same distillation method to break down black oil, hoping to obtain different products.
Thus, while in Red Keep, he had visited the Grand Scholar Tower and exchanged ideas with the many Grand Scholars of the Round Table Society.
In the end, he had invited Grand Scholar Placido to Blackfire Land to study the Shadowflame Grand Duchy's first-ever "metal," black oil.
Placido was a Grand Scholar in the field of metals. He possessed profound expertise in magical analysis and array construction, was also a seasoned apothecary, and had conducted outstanding research into the "metal" known as coal.
After black oil emerged, Placido had wanted to study what was extraordinary about black oil, a fuel like coal and peat.
So he and Russell had hit it off immediately. Bringing several scholar apprentices with him, he established the Blackfire Laboratory at the Black Oil Mine.
Afterward, Russell explained his understanding of black oil to Placido and proposed the idea of distillation and separation.
That was how Placido's distillation experiments had produced four decomposition products.
"Lord Russell, allow