With a new and great discovery, Lin Mu felt even more pleased with his decision of exploring the characteristics of the Sleepscape.
"If it can do this… then there should be a lot more things that we are unaware of. It's obvious that being able to produce wood attribute spirit Qi was not a normal ability that the Purple Sickle Amaranth had before this." Lin Mu said.
"Actually… that might not be entirely true." Xukong interrupted.
"Oh? What do you mean, senior?" Lin Mu asked.
"Those Bile Cask beetles you saw there in the forest. Those beetles need a certain amount of spirit Qi to reproduce, right?" Xukong replied.
"Umm… yeah they do. But what's that to do with this?" Lin Mu questioned.
"What if the spirit Qi that they need is not just attribute less spirit Qi, but wood attribute spirit Qi?" Xukong revealed.
Hearing this, Lin Mu felt enlightened and pulled out a corpse of a Bile Cask beetle. He probed it with his spirit sense and could really feel the traces of wood attribute less spirit Qi in their carcasses.
"You're right senior!" Lin Mu agreed.
"It might be a qualitative situation. If they don't have enough wood attribute spirit Qi, they can make do with the normal spirit Qi but it will take it longer for them to enter the breeding cycle, but if there is wood attribute spirit Qi that cycle can be shortened." Xukong explained.
"And that would mean that the Bile Cask beetles were only gathered around the Purple Sickle Amaranth because it could produce wood attribute spirit Qi. Even if the original quantity produced was less, it is still higher than the normal concentration in the air." Lin Mu elaborated.
"That's correct. Plus, now that you have planted it here, the Sleepscape had an amplifying effect on the spirit herb, not only making it grow a bit more, but also improving its abilities." Xukong added.
"This is certainly very good. At least now we have a steady source of wood attribute spirit Qi. Even if it is a weak compared to the Billion Flower Meadow." Lin Mu replied.
Lin Mu then went on to see if there were any additional properties in the parts of the Purple Sickle Amaranth. He very carefully plucked a single leaf, a small twig, and one of the tiny flowers from the cluster.
He checked them with his spirit sense and then used a few alchemical reagents to test their medicinal properties. Even if Lin Mu was not as proficient in Alchemical pill refinement, what he did now were just some basic tests that even students that have never learned could do.
It didn't need any specific techniques or control over the spirit sense. All it needed was some basic reagents and add them to the spirit herb to test out what they could do.
Lin Mu noted down the things he learned and would hand them to Elder Pigu later on. He could tell that the portly man was very enthusiastic about the spirit herbs and just alchemy in general.
Some time later, Lin Mu was done with it and started on the next task he had on pending for a while.
~thud~
Lin Mu withdrew the Egg from the ring and observed it.
"It seems to be unchanged, huh…" Lin Mu said after looking at it.
"try to sense its life force. Its vitality is a bit more strong." Xukong
Lin Mu chanted the severing heart sutra to enhance his perception and sensed the Egg's condition again. He opened his eyes after a minute and felt a bit happy.
"It is certainly a bit more vibrant than before. The heat and cold I felt from it has also changed." Lin Mu said.
"That changed too?" Xukong questioned.
"Yes. While the heat is about the same, the cold is not. It used to alternate between the two sides, right? But the difference in intensity was the same for both temperatures. But now, it seems like the cold is stronger than the heat." Lin Mu explained.
"Hmm… seems like that blueish gas helped it in growth but added some new changes." Xukong spoke.
This reminded Lin Mu of the crystals he had obtained and looked in the ring for one.
"Whoa! Where are all of them?" Lin Mu asked, feeling surprised.
"The Egg has been absorbing them continuously. I think only a couple of them are left now." Xukong replied.
"Still… it absorbed a lot in this short time…" Lin Mu said.
Lin Mu took out one of the crystals and asked, "what do you think that gas is exactly senior?"
"Well, it is definitely some kind of a Qi, that much is obvious. The only question is which one exactly." Xukong replied.
"Seeing as how it increased the coldness of the egg and how one of the parents was a Black Water Snake, could it be water attribute spirit Qi?" Lin Mu asked, feeling doubtful.
"No… you've felt that before. The Dao Crystal that you gave to Xiaobao would be the best example of it. It is certainly not water attribute spirit Qi." Xukong replied.
"Hmm… then could it be Ice elemental spirit Qi? It is cold too and the blue color would make sense." Lin Mu guessed.
"That… might be possible." Xukong said after thinking for a bit. "Maybe you can test for it." He added.
"Test? How?" Lin Mu asked.
"Well, if you influence a specific type of Qi with its opposing element, it would either cancel out or suppress the element it's being influenced by." Xukong hinted.
"Of course! Fire elemental spirit Qi!" Lin Mu grasped.
He then stimulated his Dantian and let a small stream of fire elemental spirit Qi flow out to his hand. Then with his other hand he grasped the navy blue crystal and held it over the fire elemental spirit Qi that was being emanated from his hand.
The master and disciple watched closely as something started to occur. The crystal started to directly sublimate and the fire elemental spirit Qi was quickly being consumed by it.
~boom~
