Vol 2 Chapter 99: Solution Method

The next morning, Sylutia, along with several scholars and Dorothy, discussed the situation regarding the ‘Gray Sludge’.

“This thing spreads extremely quickly. Even if we send someone to deliver the message to Mammoth, and then notify the association headquarters, the time it would take is too long. I’m afraid it would be too late to save the ‘Ironwall Precipice’ garrison.”

“Are the monsters spreading from the depths of the Darkmist Mountains all this strange?” a young apprentice couldn’t help but ask curiously.

“If you think of the Monstrous Sea beneath the sea of clouds as a seabed full of silt, then the edges of the Darkmist Mountains in the Shadow World are like a trawl hook inserted into that silt. Some monsters will crawl up along the hook and invade,” Dorothy explained to everyone like this.

“These monsters are very dangerous, but they also bring various novel changes, inspiring many supernatural schools, and simultaneously bringing many new and strange resources.”

“For example, the ‘Demonic Blood Vine’ that Tia used before was originally taken from a kind of distorted plant. After several generations of improvement, its blood-sucking and ability to cultivate ‘Crimson Blood Fruit’ were gradually strengthened, finally forming the current ‘Demonic Blood Vine’.”

“Then, there are also some rare ‘Beast-Shifters’. Their core ability is to transform into a certain kind of monster, greatly enhancing their combat power.”

“We alchemists have also found many novel and unknown raw materials from these monsters and strange resources, and have used them to develop many more brand-new things.” Dorothy lightly propped her hands on the bookshelf beside her, then rested her head on the back of her hands, stretched her body, and turned her head to explain to everyone.

“The dangers and rewards of the Shadow World are two sides of the same coin. Places that are very safe often have fewer rewards.”

“But I can’t think of any use for the ‘Gray Sludge’ discovered this time,” a young apprentice said, rubbing his hair.

“Study it more in the future, and there will definitely be discoveries. For example, I am very interested in their ability to split and multiply.” Dorothy stood up, stretched lazily, then covered her mouth with a yawn. It seemed she hadn’t slept much last night.

“Currently, it appears their ability to conceal their aura is very strong. Because once they disperse, aside from Little Tia who can still sense them, others simply cannot find them.”

“We must first be able to detect their traces, then we can discuss how to eliminate them.” Dorothy walked to the side of the group and pressed one hand against the transparent glass cage imprisoning the ‘Gray Sludge’.

Pale pink flames rose within. They looked transparent, but the burning this flame induced was particularly special. Those gray sludges seemed especially terrified of it and were quickly burned away within.

“This is ‘Porchel’s Fire’, a special alchemical flame that can trigger the consumption of ‘Aspects’. It is often used to eliminate ‘Aspect’ impurities in certain materials, but it has a miraculous effect when used against these ‘Gray Sludge’.”

“I can try to make a special flame powder to purify these ‘Gray Sludge’. However, you all need to figure out a method to find and detect these minute ‘Gray Sludge’.”

She turned her head, her gaze sweeping over all the members present, finally landing on Sylutia.

“It’s up to you, Tia.” In her view, this young lady was the most likely to come up with a solution.

“I understand.” Sylutia nodded slightly. Currently, within the garrison, only she could detect the minute traces of these ‘Gray Sludge’. Other apprentices couldn’t even observe them, let alone talk about solving the problem.

Unfortunately, she was just one person. The vast ‘Ironwall Precipice’ couldn’t possibly be completely inspected by her alone. Even if she could, she would be unable to attend to everything at once. She might just finish dealing with the west side, and the east side would have already spread.

She had to think of some method to allow other apprentices to also ‘see’ and ‘discover’ the existence of these strange gray sludges.

In the following days, while waiting for a reply from the association headquarters, Sylutia discussed and experimented with various methods and means with the other apprentices.

First, what she thought of was ‘eye medicine’. If she used an enhanced ‘Blue Eyes’ potion, could she observe these minute ‘Gray Sludge’? After all, she had observed them through her ‘Discernment Eyes’.

The phrase ‘Eyes are the windows to the soul’ was indeed a kind of truth in the supernatural world. ‘Eye medicines’ dripped into the eyes often could maximize their effects, bringing stronger power and abilities.

But eyes are also exceptionally fragile organs. Once medication is used carelessly, it can cause the eyes to be ruined and cause damage and influence to one’s own soul’s Fate Plate. All apothecaries and alchemists know that ‘eye medicines’ have the best effects. After so many years of continuous research and development, there are still only seven basic ‘eye medicines’.

‘Verdant Eye’, observes the state spectrum of plants, used for cultivation and observation.

‘Blue Eyes’, observes the subtle, minute changes in matter, used for alchemy and medicine preparation.

‘Red Eyes’, observes the more minute flow of blood, used for tracking enemies and combat.

‘Purple Eyes’, observes the flow and changes of runic Brands, used for guiding spellcasting.

‘Dark Eyes’, observes the existence of ghostly beings, used for rituals and defeating enemies.

‘Illusion Eyes’, enhances one’s own illusion and confusion abilities, used to hypnotize enemies.

‘Intimidation Eyes’, enhances one’s own intimidation ability, used to intimidate enemies.

Unfortunately, just like the apothecaries and alchemists in history, Sylutia discovered the enormous difficulty faced in developing ‘eye medicine’: how to transform a potion with complex ability effects into an eye medicine that causes no harm to the eyes.

If she added various rare raw materials to neutralize and remove the side effects of the ‘eye medicine’, she could indeed create an eye medicine that observes ‘Gray Sludge’. However, the materials required for that kind of eye medicine and the complexity of its preparation would be equivalent to a high-tier eye medicine. The cost would be extremely high, and it would require a 5th-tier or higher alchemist to personally concoct it. This was simply not something the current small town could accomplish.

After dozens of experiments without seeing any possibility of success, Sylutia had no choice but to abandon this overly difficult path and start thinking of other methods.

Or, she could start with powders. Sylutia suddenly remembered the ‘Revealing Powder’ that the wizard Karl had taught her during her previous adventures.

[Manifestation Powder Recipe]: Uses Glowcap Mushrooms, pine wood powder, and flash grass as raw materials to make revealing powder, allowing ghosts, invisible, color-changing, and other creatures to reveal their forms.

Ordinary revealing powder had no effect on the ‘Gray Sludge’. But Sylutia knew the principle of revealing powder was that a certain substance within it could react with those ‘ghosts’ and ‘invisible’ creatures, causing a change, thus revealing the other party’s outline.

If she could find a material that reacts to these ‘Gray Sludge’ and does not react to other things, she could mark the ‘Gray Sludge’ out from the environment.

So, what material could do that?

Over the next two days, she and her companions continued to experiment. Following Dorothy’s suggestions, they used various common alchemical reaction materials. Unfortunately, the revealing powders they made either had no effect on the gray sludge, or they reacted to the ‘Gray Sludge’ but also reacted to other impurities and dust, glowing fluorescently no matter where they were sprinkled.

“So, what exactly is it that coincidentally reacts and connects with the ‘Gray Sludge’ but shows no interest in other substances and living beings?” Sylutia sat on the sofa, her long-stocking-clad legs crossed at the side, a book of potion materials opened on her knees as she flipped through it, deep in thought.

“If the Aspects of both are consistent, they can also produce some kind of faint resonance and connection…”

Materials with the Distortion Aspect were everywhere in the entire Darkmist Mountains, even in the wind. That probably wouldn’t work. The young lady shook her head, then suddenly thought of something else.

The origin of the ‘Gray Sludge’ seemed to be some kind of ‘Fungal Threads’ mushroom. If she used this as a breakthrough point…

Thinking of this, Sylutia jumped off the sofa, put on her shoes, quickly walked to a side office, and found a glass jar placed in a cabinet. Inside, several clusters of purple, jellyfish-like mushrooms were quietly emitting a fluorescent glow.

It’s you.

Since we both originate from ‘Fungal Threads’, we should definitely be able to recognize each other, right? The young lady blinked her eyes, thinking curiously.

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