Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

The room for the Grade 10 insect was at the end of the Hall of Insects, in a gloomy region with a damp environment. Alex could feel a life aura the moment he arrived there, but beyond that there was nothing.

The room itself was simple as well, with a small pedestal in the middle of the room, atop which lay a flat pillow. On top of the pillow were several tiny black spherical objects, all neatly placed in almost a pyramid shape.

Alex stood before the door, staring at the tiny spheres. He could see them clearly and saw that they had a shell similar to an armadillo’s. But they were much smaller than an armadillo would be and were very clearly insects.

“Are those the Grade 10 insects?”

The Insect Sage stepped next to him and nodded. “They are called Dragon-Blooded Pillbugs, and they are the best insects that we have.”

“Pillbugs?” Alex’s eyes widened slightly in anticipation. “What do they do?”

The man waited for a bit before speaking. “Based on the records we have, the pillbugs are capable of emulating auras.”

Alex turned around with a blank face. “Emulating auras? What does that mean?”

“Something along the lines of copying techniques, which you can teach them,” the man said. “Depending on the complexity of the aura, you will need more than a few pillbugs to emulate them.”

Alex narrowed his eyes. “That’s a strange ability. Doesn’t that just make them no different from every other cultivator out there? Only they can’t cultivate, from the sound of it.”

“That’s what the records say,” the man said with a shrug. “We don’t even know if it is true or not.”

“Who has used them before?” Alex asked.

“As I’ve been telling you until now, no one.”

“No, I know, but someone must have used them before. I mean, how else can you learn what they do?” Alex asked. “These insects had to come here from someone who passed them along.”

Rockcrust had no exact answer to the question.

“They were found in some secret realm or tomb somewhere. I’m not too sure on the details since it was long before my time, and the records aren’t clear. Wherever the person got them, they also got the information there as well. It’s all thanks to them that we know what these insects are and what they do.”

Alex looked back at the little bugs that were no bigger than pills. Was that why they were called pillbugs?

“What are their scores like?” Alex asked. “They reproduce well, I’m guessing.”

“A perfect 10 in reproduction. Each insect is capable of laying thousands of eggs in its lifetime. And they mature relatively quickly as well, apparently, so they grow at a steady rate.”

Alex smiled. “That’s great!”

“It is, but they score just 1 in Ease of Handling,” the man said.

Alex froze for a second. “1? Really?”

The man nodded. “There is a reason no one can use them, because they are terribly difficult to handle. They might birth thousands of other pillbugs, but that doesn’t matter if they can’t live to the point of maturity. No one—not me, not the Beast God, not anyone—has yet managed to properly take care of them.”

“Even so, isn’t 1 way too low? How does an insect with such a low score in Ease of Handling end up as a Grade 10 insect? It should’ve been Grade 9, or maybe even 8.”

“It scores a 10 in potential. That’s how,” the man said. “So long as it has a potential of 10, it can’t be graded any lower.”

Alex blinked for a few seconds. “Right. That’s how they work,” he recalled. “So this pillbug’s ability to emulate auras is considered a really strong ability, huh?”

The Insect Sage nodded.

Alex scratched his chin, falling into thought. While he understood how having insects that could learn various auras could be helpful, he didn’t see how they could be more useful than some artifacts or talismans.

’I could probably say the same for every insect, actually,’ Alex thought, quickly dispelling those thoughts. The pillbugs were probably better than what he was hearing. In all fairness, the Insect Sage likely didn’t know much about them either, since they were brought from elsewhere and had never been used before. Maybe they had a special ability that wasn’t listed?

“What did you call them again?” Alex asked. “Dragon-blooded? Does that mean they have a dragon’s blood in them?”

“No. It’s more so that they survive off dragon blood instead,” the man explained. “It’s the activation requirement I told you about. To awaken these insects, you must feed them some dragon blood. Only when they feed on dragon blood and find it an acceptable food will they finally awaken.”

Alex looked toward the Insect Sage for a moment. “Dragon blood?” he asked. “Will an Azure Dragon’s blood work?”

The Insect Sage raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Do you have some?” he asked.

“I do,” Alex explained. “Will it work?”

“It will certainly work in awakening them,” the man said with some surprise in his voice. “But it has to be of good quality. And beyond that, it has to be of greater quality each time to improve them.”

Alex narrowed his eyes. He had the Azure Dragon’s bloodline as well, so he could easily improve his own bloodline in accordance with what the pillbugs required. If not, then Pearl’s blood could also work.

If a strong bloodline was all that was required, then he could easily create what he needed by concentrating his blood.

The blood aspect was simple enough for him, so the only thing he needed to consider was whether he wanted them or not.

And since these insects were Grade 10, he couldn’t pass up the chance to acquire them, even if there was a chance that they weren’t as useful as advertised. With that thought, he made the decision.

“I’ve made up my mind,” Alex said. “I want these pillbugs in exchange for 200 Heavenly Silkworms.”