Blood Ignition

"Worst comes to worst, I'll try them all!" Gritting his teeth, Su Ming tossed the six-petaled red herb directly into the Powder Refining stone furnace.

This six-petaled herb was the one he had obtained from the mud, the herb that made one's blood seem to burn when it bloomed.

The instant the herb touched the medicinal liquid at the bottom of the Wild Cauldron, Su Ming clearly saw a sinister scarlet gleam flash dazzlingly within it. He did not put the lid on the Wild Cauldron. Instead, he took several steps around it, selected several trenches on the ground where flames flowed, and used the Bone Horn to cut across them, temporarily blocking the flow of fire so he could control it.

There were far more trenches on the ground than there had been a month ago, and they were covered in scar-like marks. These were all methods Su Ming had devised himself after a month of summarizing and refining his experience.

Su Ming was extremely nervous now. Nearly all his attention was fixed on the Wild Cauldron. According to his observations over the past month, at this time and in this location, he had at least half an hour of safety and did not need to worry about anything else.

Time passed bit by bit. When half an hour had passed, Su Ming immediately retreated from the area. Not long after he left, a great mass of flames burst violently from the ground.

As this continued, sweat seeped from Su Ming's entire body as he stared at the Wild Cauldron. Based on the experience he had accumulated over the past month, he knew it would take another seven or eight hours before he could see the result.

During this time, he needed to adjust the intensity of the flames at any moment according to the changes in the medicinal liquid. At the final moment, he also had to cover the Wild Cauldron, causing the heat within to surge and condense into Medicine Stone.

He had carried out this process countless times over the past month, and now he was very skilled at it.

One hour, two hours... A red mist gradually began to waft from the Wild Cauldron. The mist had no scent, but strange light flickered within it. When Su Ming saw it, the blood in his body seemed to flow faster.

He adjusted the intensity of the flames several more times. By the time the sky outside had completely darkened, Su Ming's eyes were bloodshot and filled with red veins. He had spent nearly the entire day refining this Medicine Stone. Everything had gone smoothly so far, and now he was approaching the final step.

Through the red mist, Su Ming could vaguely see that little medicinal liquid remained in the Wild Cauldron. Bubbles kept rising within it, and every time one burst, red mist rose up.

"Almost there!" Drawing on the countless failures he had experienced before, Su Ming's eyes flashed. Without the slightest hesitation, he grabbed the lid beside him, strode forward, and slammed it over the Wild Cauldron.

The instant the Wild Cauldron was covered, a muffled boom suddenly echoed through the Fire Lava Cave.

"Whether it succeeds or fails depends on this attempt!" After covering it, Su Ming let out a deep breath, stepped back several paces, sat cross-legged on the ground, and closed his eyes to rest. He knew he had done everything he could. Whether it succeeded was no longer his choice—it depended on luck.

Nearly another hour passed. The rumbling within the Wild Cauldron suddenly intensified. After nine successive booms, it slowly quieted. Other than the flames still burning beneath the Wild Cauldron, there was no longer the slightest sound from within.

Su Ming did not open his eyes. He continued resting as he waited slowly. When the flames reached one of their intervals, and the fire beneath the Wild Cauldron vanished for an instant, Su Ming abruptly opened his eyes, rose to his feet, and strode over. His right hand was packed with heat-insulating herbs as he forcefully shoved the lid open.

The instant the lid opened, a scarlet heat wave surged out. But Su Ming had been prepared. At almost the same instant he opened the Wild Cauldron, he swiftly retreated and avoided it.

After waiting for a while, until the scarlet heat wave gradually dispersed, Su Ming's heart pounded with nervous anticipation as he slowly stepped forward and looked into the Wild Cauldron.

The moment he looked inside, Su Ming suddenly burst into laughter.

At the bottom of the Wild Cauldron lay three scarlet Medicine Stones!

Carefully taking out the three Medicine Stones, Su Ming sat to one side in excitement, continuously turning them over and examining these strange objects he had seen only in those memory images.

Su Ming was quite fond of these round Medicine Stones. He even held them beneath his nose and sniffed them for a long time. Unfortunately, they did not have the slightest medicinal fragrance. Instead, there was a faint scent of blood.

Moreover, these Medicine Stones seemed rather fragile. Su Ming even felt that with a little force, he could crush them into powder. In truth, that was indeed the case, but he did not care much about it.

"After a month, I've finally succeeded once!" The more Su Ming looked, the more delighted he became. He raised one to his mouth, intending to eat it and see what happened, but hesitated.

He suppressed the excitement in his heart. What he thought of was the strange scene when he had picked the six-petaled red herb.

"Since this herb was ultimately refined into Medicine Stone, then perhaps the other kind can be as well..." As Su Ming pondered, he carefully put away the three Medicine Stones and took out the five-petaled red herb.

After remaining silent for a moment, his eyes flashed. Once he had calculated the time, he closed his eyes and meditated, circulating the power of his bloodline to recover from his exhaustion.

The night passed without incident. Little Monkey returned in the middle of the night. When it crawled into the cave, its face was full of bliss as it sniffed its right paw. It ignored Su Ming, then leaped inside and lay down in a spot that was not too hot.

Over the past month, it had grown accustomed to this place as well.

Yet even while lying there, it continued sniffing its right paw, its blissful expression growing stronger. It seemed to think of something, then bared its teeth and chirped with laughter to itself.

The next morning, Su Ming opened his eyes from meditation and stretched his body. The exhaustion from yesterday had already vanished without a trace.

Refreshed and invigorated, Su Ming took the five-petaled herb and began refining powder again.

Several days later, Su Ming emerged from the Fire Lava Cave, which he had not left for quite some time. When he saw the sunlight outside, his eyes stung slightly. Having grown accustomed to the fiery red light within the cave, he felt somewhat uncomfortable with this overly bright radiance.

He stood there and took several breaths of fresh air. After his eyes had returned to normal, Su Ming cautiously looked around before slowly climbing down the mountain.

He moved quickly along the way and remained alert at all times. With Little Monkey also keeping watch beside him, they encountered no danger and safely reached the foot of the mountain.

Finding a river at the mountain's base, where the water also gave off heat, Su Ming removed his clothes and immersed himself completely. He felt as though the exhaustion from days of Powder Refining had all been swept away.

Only then did he reluctantly climb out. He and Little Monkey swiftly left, for he still had more important matters to attend to.

Within the forest, Su Ming and Little Monkey raced through the trees. After circling around several times, Su Ming had caught several fierce-looking little beasts in his hands.

Little Monkey had caught several as well.

In a secluded corner, Su Ming glanced at the four bound little beasts snarling at him. He ignored them, withdrew his gaze, and solemnly took two small earthen bottles from his robes.

The two small bottles contained two kinds of Medicine Stone. One was scarlet and looked startlingly vivid. The other was green, and a faint medicinal fragrance drifted forth from it. A single breath of it seemed enough to refresh one's spirit.

The green Medicine Stone was what Su Ming had refined over the previous days after adding the five-petaled herb.

"Dust-Clearing Powder... If I go by feeling, this green Medicine Stone should be Dust-Clearing Powder... But what is this red one..." Su Ming's eyes flashed. Each bottle contained three Medicine Stones. He took out one from each first, then looked up at the little beasts and walked over.

After feeding the two different Medicine Stones to two little beasts, Su Ming stepped back several paces and watched anxiously. Even Little Monkey caught his tension and became nervous.

After waiting for a long time, the two little beasts that had swallowed the Medicine Stones showed no change whatsoever. They continued snarling at Su Ming, looking savage.

Su Ming frowned. He waited for a while longer, but it was still the same.

"How could this be... By all rights, there should at least be some reaction... Still, this proves they aren't poisonous. Could it be... they aren't meant to be taken internally, but used externally?" A spark of insight flashed through Su Ming's mind. He took out the Bone Horn, walked over to the other two little beasts that had not taken any medicine, and lightly cut two wounds into their bodies. Blood seeped out.

Little Monkey hurried forward and watched from the side.

The moment Su Ming cut open the wounds on the two little beasts, he immediately took out the two different Medicine Stones again and placed one against each beast's wound.

At that moment, a sudden change erupted!!

The little beast whose wound was touched by the red Medicine Stone did not even have time to cry out. In almost an instant, its entire body shuddered violently and turned directly into a puddle of blood. Before that blood could hit the ground, it seemed to ignite, forming a cloud of red mist that rose into the air.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, so fast it was unimaginable. Su Ming cried out in alarm and retreated at top speed. Little Monkey was frightened out of its wits and fled in a panic, scrambling and rolling away.

"This... this..." Su Ming sucked in a breath, terror filling his eyes. He had never imagined that the scarlet Medicine Stone he had refined would be so astonishing!

The red mist rose into the air and slowly vanished. On the ground, there was only a pile of purplish-red bones, a horrifying sight. As for the other little beasts nearby, though they had been very close, they had not been affected. Still, they had clearly been terrified.

Su Ming's breathing grew rapid. After a long while, he lowered his head and looked at the small bottle containing the scarlet Medicine Stones. There was still one inside, but now, in his eyes, this Medicine Stone was filled with the scent of blood.

"Harmless when swallowed, but certain death once it touches blood! Since I refined this powder, I'll call it Blood Powder from now on!" Su Ming murmured. He suppressed the fear in his heart and carefully put the Medicine Stone away. He vaguely felt that this thing might become one of his trump cards!

"Then the green Medicine Stone really should be Dust-Clearing Powder. What exactly is its effect..." Su Ming fell silent for a moment. As he thought, his gaze landed on the little beast whose wound had received the green Medicine Stone. The Medicine Stone had already melted away, yet the beast showed no sign of anything amiss.

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