Sweet Dew Brewing Workshop
Luo Jun picked up the Essence Gathering Cauldron, a brand-new fusion treasure that filled him with both surprise and disappointment.
The surprise is that this thing really does greatly enhance the auxiliary function of cultivation. As long as the Foundation Establishment has not yet reached its maximum level, this thing is the strongest cultivation assistant.
The disappointment lies in the fact that while the function of accumulating vital energy has been integrated to some extent, the real enhancement is actually in the protective function. After all, for most Cultivators, accumulating vital energy is only a matter of time, while breakthrough is a matter of life and death. A Escort Spirit Talisman that can increase the probability of breakthrough to 50% can reach the Legendary-grade, which shows the importance of breakthrough.
On the contrary, the outer circulation function, which Luo Jun originally valued most and used as an auxiliary function during cultivation, seems to have been optimized away, which is a real pity.
Luo Jun looked at the small cauldron and found that it contained a little bit of Sweet Dew.
Before the fusion, the Soul-Seizing Bottle contained a small amount of Blood Brew, which was the essence he absorbed after killing Elder Maple and the other two. After the fusion into the Essence Gathering Cauldron, the Blood Brew naturally transformed into Sweet Dew.
Elder Maple, being at the Peak, possessed an essence that surpassed the combined essence of over a dozen others, including wanted criminals. The two juniors who accompanied him were also quite strong. The Sweet Dew brewed from the essence of the three of them should have been abundant. However, Luo Jun shook the Essence Gathering Cauldron and found that it had only been filled to less than a third, far from being full.
Luo Jun tasted the Sweet Dew inside. It was indeed purer than Blood Brew, and easier to absorb without any side effects. It was completely integrated into his Inner Breath after one cycle, making his vital energy even purer. However, because Luo Jun's own energy was too vast, this improvement was only slightly better than nothing.
Judging from the amount of Yuan Luo Jun needs to advance one realm, even if he filled the Essence Gathering Cauldron and drank it all in one go, he would only increase his progress by about 5% at most... How many Peak cultivators would he have to kill to achieve that?
It seems this thing is less useful to him than more useful, but with its outrageous function, it should fetch a considerable price if sold!
Hmm? Wait a minute...
While Luo Jun was fiddling with the Essence Gathering Cauldron, he suddenly noticed that its function description mentioned a sentence: "Can it also convert Yuan Qi attacks into Sweet Dew?"
Thinking of this, Luo Jun raised a ball of qi from his fingertips, inserted it into the Essence Gathering Cauldron, and then activated the Huiyuan function.
Sure enough, Luo Jun's internal energy began to be rapidly transformed by the Essence Gathering Cauldron, and soon formed Sweet Dew!
Is this even possible?
Luo Jun immediately increased the power, and with his terrifying energy, he filled the Essence Gathering Cauldron in no time!
Looking at the abundant Sweet Dew, Luo Jun's hands trembled slightly. He picked up the Essence Gathering Cauldron and drank it all in one gulp, feeling the purest primordial energy enter his meridians and merge into his body. And then... that was it...
He discovered that the Sweet Dew he drank did not refine his vital energy; it merely replenished the deficiency of vital energy in his meridians.
That's right. While condensing and transforming into Sweet Dew, he also loses vital energy. And in order to transform the Sweet Dew and activate the Qi Gathering function, he himself consumes vital energy. So, all in all, the Sweet Dew he transforms isn't even enough to replenish what he's already expended...
As expected, this stuff can't be produced and consumed domestically... Luo Jun frowned. What if he filled the cauldron with the Sweet Dew, replenished his vital energy, and then drank it?
Luo Jun examined the cauldron. This Essence Gathering Cauldron could indeed dissolve all elemental attacks; in a sense, it could even be considered an invincible Defense Treasure Item.
However, the prerequisite for neutralizing it is that there must be a sufficiently powerful source of vital energy. To put it bluntly, the amount of vital energy you need to inject depends on how powerful the attack is... Moreover, according to Luo Jun's intuition, although the treasure doesn't explicitly state it, this vital energy consumption seems to ignore the consumption reduction of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Luo Jun had only added ordinary internal energy to the cauldron, but in order to dissipate that energy, he consumed almost five times his original energy, depleting nearly half of his own. It would take at least half a day for it to recover naturally. From filling the cauldron to recovery, and then drinking the Sweet Dew to transform it, he would basically be busy from morning till night, only to increase his cultivation progress by 5%... This speed wasn't much faster than his normal cultivation.
A five-to-one consumption ratio... If we produce and consume everything ourselves, that means six parts of vital energy are converted into one part of Sweet Dew... It's simply not worth it.
So, is there any way to improve this conversion rate?
Luo Jun pondered for a moment, then condensed his inner energy into a Gathering Origin Protective Qi and inserted it into the cauldron!
To dissolve the Gathering Origin Protective Qi, even greater energy is consumed, yet the final product does not increase with the concentration of qi.
It seems that the higher the strength of vital energy, the more complex its composition, the more effort it takes to dissolve and transform it, and the greater the loss.
Luo Jun is currently at the Seventh Layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm, and with a 100% increase, his Protective Qi Strength should be top-tier, so his conversion efficiency is naturally extremely low... What if we find someone with lower Protective Qi Strength and use their Qi as the raw material for brewing the Sweet Dew?
Thinking of this, Luo Jun looked at Ailongtan beside him.
"What's wrong, Master?" Ailongtan felt a little uneasy under his gaze.
"Try making a small fireball and throwing it into this cauldron."
Ailongtan didn't know what Luo Jun was planning to do, but he did as he was told. He threw a small fireball over, which was absorbed by the Essence Gathering Cauldron and transformed into Sweet Dew, but the amount was so small that it was almost invisible to the naked eye.
Luo Jun assessed the situation and found that converting Ailongtan's fireball had taken approximately three times the amount of his vital energy.
Then he had Ailongtan stop using fireballs and use only the most basic qi attacks, and this time the conversion rate dropped to half.
It seems to be effective!
Because of the Dominator's Necklace, Ailongtan occupies 10% of Luo Jun's maximum energy limit. This energy reserve is linked to Luo Jun in real time. Ailongtan's own energy is only about 300 breaths. If he consumes more than 300 breaths of energy, it is actually equivalent to consuming Luo Jun's energy, which will slowly recover according to Luo Jun's energy recovery rate. Tens of thousands of breaths is a huge amount of energy for Ailongtan, but for Luo Jun, it is only a few percent loss, which can be recovered quickly.
If Ailongtan and Luo Jun are not in the same world, then Ailongtan can only recover his own energy, and the more than 80,000 breaths that Luo Jun gave him become a pure consumable, decreasing with each use.
So, it seems that if Ailongtan were to pour all his vital energy into it to transform it into Sweet Dew, it would take about 40,000 to 50,000 breaths to fill it up. Luo Jun, on the other hand, would only need to consume less than 100,000 breaths to complete the transformation. Then, in just a few hours, the consumed vital energy could be replenished, the Sweet Dew consumed, and then it could be reconstituted?
Based on that, it seems like I can drink at least two cups a day!
Unfortunately, this meant Luo Jun would have to stay by the Essence Gathering Cauldron, practicing "dual cultivation" with Ailongtan. With two Luo Jun there and no one showing themselves, wouldn't that arouse suspicion? They couldn't very well have Aishiliya impersonate them...
Wait! Aishiliya!
Luo Jun suddenly realized that, like Aishiliya, Ailongtan also occupied 10% of his total energy. In other words, she could serve as an energy source to support the conversion work of the Essence Gathering Cauldron!
In this way, the two of them can brew Sweet Dew at home while the other goes out to do other things, and wouldn't that mean they won't miss out on anything?
Thinking of this, he immediately summoned Aishiliya to the place as well, and explained the principles and usage of the Essence Gathering Cauldron to the two of them. He also entrusted the Essence Gathering Cauldron to Aishiliya for safekeeping.
"By the way, Aishiliya doesn't have the Hundred Treasure Box yet..." Luo Jun stroked his chin and said to Ailongtan, "Give her the Chaos Key next month and let her participate in a mission as well. It will be much more convenient if everyone has the Hundred Treasure Box."
The two nodded in agreement, and Luo Jun was in high spirits at the thought of having a continuous supply of Sweet Dew soon.
Unexpectedly, I discovered the bug in this Noble Phantasm!
In fact, being able to brew Sweet Dew with one's own vital energy is not a bug in the Essence Gathering Cauldron. As Luo Jun's previous experiment showed, the self-production and self-consumption process resulted in significant losses, and the actual improvement in cultivation speed was very limited. For ordinary Cultivators, going through all this trouble is not as good as collecting external Spiritual Qi or simply killing people to brew Sweet Dew.
It's important to understand that a cup of Sweet Dew only provides Luo Jun with a slight boost. For ordinary Cultivators, a single drop of Sweet Dew could potentially advance them by one or two levels. The effort of producing and consuming nectar daily yields little to no improvement; there's no need to put yourself through such hardship. Ultimately, this self-production and self-consumption technique is less of a bug and more of a safety net provided by the treasure. After all, it's designed to increase cultivation speed; even without obtaining any external energy, self-production and self-consumption can still improve efficiency to some extent.
To everyone's surprise, this guaranteed minimum benefit mechanism turned out to be the biggest advantage in Luo Jun's eyes.
Having resolved the issue of brewing the Sweet Dew, Luo Jun planned to leave the two of them there to focus on production while he returned to school. After all, he had classes to attend the next day and needed a night's rest to replenish his energy.
But just as he was about to leave, Ailongtan called out to him, "Master, there's one more thing..."
"What is it?" Luo Jun was taken aback, then saw Ailongtan point towards the bedroom. "Did you forget, you also brought back some other things before?"
Luo Jun frowned, pushed open the bedroom door, and was immediately startled.
The bedroom curtains were drawn, and the room was pitch black. Three people stood stiffly by the bed, while a gaunt figure carrying a sickle sat on the bed.
Luo Jun almost forgot that he had previously asked the Club Emperor to bring out the bodies of those three wanted criminals... What should they do with them? They can't just leave them standing there, can they?
The most desirable thing would be to exchange the wanted criminal for the bounty, but the question is, who will deliver it?
Luo Jun considered it for a moment, then finally focused his attention on Wu Youcai. This guy didn't seem to have any bounty...
Victory Chocolate Factory.
The error-free version can be read at 69 Book Bar! 6=9+shuba is the first site to publish this novel.
The gatekeeper was reading the newspaper and yawning when he suddenly heard someone knocking on the window. He opened it and saw a tall, thin man with a gloomy demeanor standing in front of the door.
"What is it?" the old man asked impatiently. "The factory is closed for the day."
"I'm here to collect the bounty," the man said coldly.
"A bounty?" The old man looked at him warily. "You've come to the wrong place, haven't you?"
The man ignored the old man, took two steps to the side, and made way for the two people following behind him. "Mountain Shaking Ghost, ranked fifth on the wanted list, and Blood Caltrop, ranked seventh."
The old man frowned, glanced at the two people behind him, then widened his eyes and immediately picked up the phone to dial a number.
A moment later, a large group of people poured out of the factory, armed with weapons, and surrounded the three.
Facing the menacing Yuan Cultivation Society agents, the tall, thin man clapped his hands, and the two wanted criminals behind him collapsed to the ground, their heads rolling off their necks. He then took a slip of paper from his pocket and tossed it to the lead agent. "Just deposit the bounty into this account."
After saying that, he collapsed, his head severed from his body.
Meanwhile, across the ocean in the Federation, at the headquarters of the Hell Creek Family, an angry roar resounded.
"Where are my Ben Lei Heavy Sniper and Fusion Evolution Component?!"
"Elder Maple, please calm down..."
Several clan members in the corridor tried to dissuade him, but they couldn't stop Elder Maple's hurried steps.
"Make me calm down? You were beaten to death and two Legendary Treasure Item were stolen. How can you calm down?" Elder Maple roared. "No, I must see the Clan Leader!"
"But the Clan Leader didn't invite you..." a clan member interjected, "The Clan Leader is currently meeting with guests..."
Before they could say anything more, Elder Maple had already pushed open the door.
Inside the door was a spacious hall, in the center of which sat a man who looked to be in his forties or fifties, with blond hair and Bearded Man. He was very tall and burly, and sitting there, he was taller than most people standing.
Upon noticing the intruder, the man looked up at Mapu, and that single glance silenced the once arrogant elder.
With such a formidable presence, there's no doubt that this man is the Clan Leader of the Hell Creek Family, the legendary Old Rex.
Don't be fooled by his relatively youthful appearance; as the Clan Leader, he is actually older than the aged Mapu.
Once Cultivators breaks through to the Feather Transformation Ascension stage, their lifespan will be greatly extended. Given the timescale of the hundred-plus years that the Main World has been exposed to primordial energy, the change in age is basically imperceptible. Therefore, the appearance of these Ascension Expert can be considered as their age at the time of their Feather Transformation, and has little to do with their actual age.
This Old Rex, like Wan Guiyuan of Zhendan, was born over a hundred years ago and was among the first to come into contact with the other world and primordial energy. At that time, the Main World's understanding of primordial energy was far less thorough than it is now, and the difficulty of cultivation was far greater than it is today. Reaching the Heart Refining Realm usually meant being quite old, and those who cultivated to the Ascension Realm mostly appeared as elderly people. This Old Rex was able to maintain the appearance of a middle-aged man, which shows that he had extraordinary talent.
At this moment, standing in front of him was a young man with long blond hair, who looked to be no more than thirty years old. Beside him stood a Blond Woman, who, like Mapu, had died at Luo Jun's hands.
"Mapu, what's the rush?" Old Rex asked lazily, resting his chin on his hand. Every word he uttered sounded like a thunderclap to Mapu, making his soul tremble.
"I've just been resurrected and have important information to report." Elder Maple swallowed hard. "But the people at the door won't let me in... Oh, it's Leonardo visiting. No wonder. I'll wait a bit..."
"Since you're here, let's chat." Old Rex waved his hand. "We can also talk about this matter."
"I'm also a little curious. Who exactly is this person who managed to escape Nether King's Chalice and instantly kill the three of you?"
(End of this chapter)