Over the past two days, Li Yuan had read through Fang He's booklet several times and committed all its contents to memory.
The steps were not complicated, and the booklet explained the key points of every stage clearly. Fang He had also added crooked handwritten notes beside several steps.
Early in the morning on his rest day, Li Yuan went to find Fang He.
Fang He's place was slightly larger than Li Yuan's. In one corner of the courtyard stood a simple wooden rack, with several hides hanging from it and giving off a pungent alkaline smell.
"Here?" Fang He carried a wooden basin out of the house. Inside, a grayish-brown beast hide lay soaking, crumpled up in cloudy medicinal liquid.
"This was soaked the day before yesterday. It's the hide of a young Iron-Horned Antelope. It's still far from Low-grade First-Order, so it's just right for practice."
"If it were Low-grade First-Order, it could be used to make Low-grade First-Order Talismans. Using it for practice would be a painful waste."
Li Yuan counted out twenty Spirit Stones from his robes and placed them on the table.
Fang He glanced at them, casually swept them into a pouch, and did not stand on ceremony.
"Watch me do it once first."
Fang He fished the beast hide from the medicinal liquid, spread it over the wooden rack, and began scraping away the remaining fat and membranes with a dull knife.
"This step is called degreasing. Keep the blade flat and your force even. Don't stab downward. Scrape the fat clean."
As Fang He spoke, he kept scraping. His movements looked casual, yet the blade remained pressed against the hide's surface at all times, its angle steady.
After roughly the time it took an incense stick to burn, the grease on the