Chapter Ten: Blood Ablaze

  "It's worth a try!" Su Ming gritted his teeth and threw the six-petaled red herb directly into the dispersing stone furnace.

  This six-petaled herb was what he had obtained from the muddy waters, and when it bloomed, it would make one's blood seem to burn like fire.

  At the moment when the herbal medicine touched the bottom of the cauldron, Su Ming clearly saw a flash of strange red light inside the cauldron. He didn't cover the lid, but instead took several steps back, walked around the cauldron, and selected several trenches with flowing flames on the ground. With his bone claw, he ripped them open horizontally to temporarily block the addition of flames, thereby controlling it.

  Those lines on the ground are more than a month ago, and they are full of scar-like marks, which are the control methods summarized by Su Ming in the past month.

  At this moment, Su Ming was very tense, and almost all his attention was focused on the ancient cauldron. According to his observations over the past month, at this time, in his current location, he had at least half a time unit of safety, without having to consider anything else.

  Time passed bit by bit, and soon half a time arrived. Su Ming immediately retreated and left the place. Not long after he left, a large amount of flames suddenly burst out from the ground.

  This scene continued, Su Ming was sweating profusely in the distance, but still staring at the cauldron. Based on his experience over the past month, he knew that it would take about seven or eight more hours to see the result.

  During this period, he needs to change the strength of the flame at any time according to the changes in the medicinal liquid inside, and more importantly, cover the lid of the crucible at the last moment, causing the internal fire to surge violently and condense into a medicinal stone.

  He has done this countless times in the past month and is now very familiar with it.

  One incense stick, two incense sticks, the cauldron gradually emitted a red mist, the mist was odorless, but it had a strange glow flashing inside, and when Su Ming saw it, his blood seemed to flow faster.

  During this time, he changed the intensity of the flame several times until the sky outside was completely dark. Su Ming's eyes were already red and filled with blood vessels. He had spent almost the entire day refining the medicine, and everything had gone smoothly so far, just reaching the final step.

  Through the red mist, Su Ming could vaguely see that the medicine liquid in the cauldron was almost gone, and bubbles were constantly emerging from it. Every time a bubble burst, red mist would rise up.

  "It's almost done!" Combining the countless failures before, Su Ming's eyes flashed, without any hesitation, he grabbed the lid of the nearby cauldron and quickly moved forward, covering the cauldron with a loud bang.

  At the moment when the cauldron was covered, a dull rumbling sound suddenly echoed in this fiery cave.

  "It all depends on this one time!" Su Ming covered the lid, took a deep breath, retreated several steps, sat down cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes and meditated. He knew that he had already done everything he could, whether he would succeed or not was no longer in his control, it all depended on luck now.

  After nearly an hour, the rumbling sound inside the cauldron suddenly increased greatly, lasting for nine echoes before slowly calming down. Except for the flames under the cauldron that continued to burn, there was no longer any sound coming from within.

  Su Ming didn't open his eyes, but instead continued to cultivate his spirit, slowly waiting until the moment when the flames erupted. In that instant when the flames dissipated under the cauldron, Su Ming suddenly opened his eyes and stood up, taking large strides forward. His right hand was filled with heat-resistant herbs, which he used to push open the lid of the cauldron with a loud bang.

  At the moment the lid was opened, a red hot wave burst out, but Su Ming had been prepared and almost simultaneously with the opening of the cauldron, he quickly retreated to avoid it.

  After a while, when the red heat wave gradually dissipated, Su Ming's heart was pounding with tension and anticipation. He slowly moved forward, looking into the cauldron.

  At this glance, Su Ming suddenly burst out laughing.

  At the bottom of the ancient cauldron, there were three grains of crimson medicinal stones!

  Carefully taking out the three medicinal stones, Su Ming sat down beside him, excitedly playing with and examining these strange objects that he had only seen in those memory paintings.

  This circular medicinal stone made Su Ming quite fond of it, and he even put it under his nose to smell for half a day. Unfortunately, there was not the slightest hint of medicinal fragrance inside, but instead, there was a faintly discernible scent of blood.

  Also, this medicine stone is quite fragile, and Su Ming has a feeling that if he uses a bit of force, he can crush it into powder. In fact, it's indeed the case, but Su Ming didn't pay much attention to this point.

  "After a month of time, I finally succeeded in refining it once!" Su Mingyue looked more and more delighted, putting it to his mouth just about to take a bite, but hesitated for a moment.

  He suppressed the excitement in his heart, and what he thought of was that strange scene when the six-petaled red herb was picked.

  "If this herb can be refined into a medicinal stone, then maybe the other one can too..." Su Ming hesitated for a moment before carefully putting away the three medicinal stones and taking out the five-petaled red herb.

  He fell silent for a moment, his eyes flashed, calculated the time, closed his eyes and sat down, using the power of his body's blood vessels to recover from his fatigue.

  One night, the little monkey ran back in the middle of the night, and when it entered the cave, its face was filled with intoxication. It sniffed at its right paw, but didn't pay attention to Su Ming, instead jumping inside and lying down on a not-too-hot spot nearby.

  It has also gotten used to it here over the past month.

  At this moment, he was still lying there, constantly smelling his right paw, with an even more intense look of intoxication, as if thinking of something, and he started to chuckle to himself.

  The next morning, Su Ming opened his eyes from meditation, moved his body, and the fatigue of the previous day had already dissipated, not a single bit remained.

  With a refreshed spirit, Su Ming held onto that five-petaled herb and continued his meditation.

  After several days, Su Ming walked out of the fire cave that he had not left for some time. When he saw the sunlight outside, his eyes felt a slight stinging sensation. He was accustomed to the fiery redness inside the cave and now found this overly bright light somewhat uncomfortable.

  Standing there and taking a few deep breaths, Su Ming's eyes returned to normal. He cautiously looked around before slowly climbing down the mountain peak.

  He moved quickly all the way and remained vigilant at all times, with a little monkey watching by his side. He didn't encounter any danger and arrived smoothly at the foot of the mountain peak.

  He found a river at the foot of the mountain, where the water was also emitting hot air. Su Ming took off his clothes and soaked in it, feeling that the fatigue he had accumulated over the past few days seemed to have all been washed away.

  He finally crawled out reluctantly and quickly left with the little monkey, he still had more important things to do.

  In the jungle, Su Ming and Xiao Hou's figures flashed by, after a few laps, in Su Ming's hand were already caught several small beasts with ferocious appearances.

  Even in Xiao Hou's place, several were caught.

  In a secluded corner, Su Ming glanced at the four small beasts that were tied up and roaring at him, but he didn't bother with them. Instead, he withdrew his gaze and solemnly took out two small earthen jars from his bosom.

  In those two small bottles, there were two kinds of medicine. One was bright red and looked terrifying at first glance. The other one was greenish in color, emitting a faint medicinal fragrance that refreshed the mind with just one sniff.

  That blue medicinal stone was exactly what Su Ming had refined using the five-petaled grass in the past few days.

  "Clear dust scattered... If it's based on feeling, this green medicine is Clear Dust Scattered... But what about this red one..." Su Ming's eyes flashed, and he took out one pill from each of the two bottles, each containing three pills. He first took out one pill, looked up at the few small beasts, got up and walked over.

  After feeding the two different medicinal stones to the two small beasts, Su Ming retreated a few steps back and watched nervously. Even the little monkey was infected with tension.

  After a long wait, the two small beasts that swallowed the medicinal stones did not change in the slightest, still growling at Su Ming with a ferocious expression.

  Su Ming furrowed his brow and waited for another half a moment, but it was still the same.

  "How could this be…… Logically speaking, there should be some reaction at least…… However, it can also be seen that it is non-toxic. Could it be…… that this isn't for internal use, but rather external?" Su Ming's mind flashed with inspiration, and he took out the bone awl, walking to the other two small beasts that hadn't taken the medicine, lightly scratching out two wounds on their bodies, fresh blood seeping out.

  The little monkey hurried forward and looked up at one side.

  Su Ming immediately took out the two different medicinal stones again and placed them on the wounds of the two small beasts after cutting open their wounds.

  At this moment, a sudden change occurred!!

  The small beast that was touched by the red medicinal stone on its wound almost instantly, without any miserable cry, but its entire body suddenly trembled and directly turned into a ball of blood water. Before the blood water had time to fall to the ground, it immediately seemed to burn up, forming a red mist rising into the air.

  All of this happened in the blink of an eye, so fast that it was unimaginable, causing Su Ming to exclaim and rapidly retreat. The little monkey was also frightened, letting out a shrill cry as it scrambled away quickly.

  "Th...th..." Su Ming gasped, his eyes revealing a hint of terror. He had never thought that the red medicinal stone he refined would be so astonishing!

  The red mist rose into the air, slowly disappearing, leaving only a pile of purple-red bones on the ground, shocking to behold. As for the other small beasts beside it, although they were very close, they didn't seem to have been affected by the blast, but they were clearly frightened.

  Su Ming's breathing was rapid, and after a long while, he lowered his head to look at the small bottle in his hand that contained the red medicinal stone. There was still one left inside, but this last medicinal stone now seemed to be filled with bloodstains in his eyes.

  "It's harmless when ingested, but it's fatal if it comes into contact with blood! This powder was refined by me, and from now on, it will be known as Blood Scatter!" Su Ming muttered to himself, suppressing the fear in his heart. He carefully put away the medicinal stone, feeling that this thing might become a trump card for him.

  "So the blue medicine, should really be Qing Chen scattered, its effect, is in what place..." Su Ming fell silent for a moment, his eyes falling on the wound where the blue medicine had melted, but there was no sign of any discomfort from the small beast.