Pursuit of the Truth

”I might as well try everything!” Su Ming grit his teeth and threw the flower with six petals into the stone caldron.

The herb with six petals was the one he found from the mud. It was the one that gave off a scent that seemed to make the blood boil.

The moment the herb touched the medicinal concoction in the caldron, Su Ming saw a red, alluring light from within it. He did not cover the caldron with a lid, but chose to step forward and walk around the caldron. He selected a few of the ravines that still had the liquid fire flowing down like a stream and jammed the horn horizontally in their paths to stop the flow temporarily, making it easier for him to control the fire.

The ravines on the ground have increased since a month ago, and most of them were covered in horizontal marks that looked like scars. This was a method Su Ming invented to control the fire after a month of trial and error.

Su Ming was incredibly nervous. Almost all of his attention was on the Barren Caldron he made. According to his observations in the past month, the place he was standing was safe for the next hour, so he did not need to care about anything else.

Time passed by, and as soon as the hour was up, Su Ming immediately retreated from the place. Not long after he left the place, a huge blast of fire erupted from the ground.

As the fire continued bursting forth, Su Ming was also sweating like a river as he stood not too far away from the source of the fire. But he kept his gaze on the caldron. From the experience he had accumulated a month ago, he knew that there was still fourteen to eighteen hours left before he could see the results.

During this time, he would need to adjust the strength of the flames according to the changes with the medicinal concoction, and he especially needed to put the lid on the caldron at the final moments of making the medicine pills so that the heat within the caldron will increase to incredible levels and the heat will gather to create the medicinal pills.

He had been repeating this act numerous times in the past month. It could even be said that he was already used to it by now.

Two hours, four hours passed by. Slowly, the caldron started letting out a red mist. The mist had no smell, but as the strange light shone, it made Su Ming’s blood boil when he looked at it.

During this time, he adjusted the strength of the fire a few times, and he did so until it turned dark outside. Su Ming’s eyes were red and bloodshot. He had used almost the entire day on creating the medicinal pills, and if everything had been working well so far, then there was only one final step left.

Through the red mist, Su Ming could see that there was not much liquid left within the caldron, and it was bubbling inside. When each bubble burst, the red mist would rise from within.

”It’s almost done!” After numerous failures, Su Ming’s eyes lit up. Without any hesitation, he grabbed the lid by his side and covered the caldron.

The moment he closed the caldron, a low rumbling sound could be heard echoing within the cave.

”It all depends on luck now.” Once he covered the caldron, Su Ming let out a huge breath and retreated a few steps before sitting down with his legs crossed. He closed his eyes and rested. He knew that he had done everything that he could, and success depended entirely on luck now.

Two hours went by. The roaring sound from within the caldron increased exponentially and continued nine times before it gradually became quiet. There was no longer any sound beside the fire underneath the caldron.

Su Ming did not open his eyes but chose instead to continue resting and wait. It was not until the brief period of time when the next eruption was about to start and when the fire underneath the caldron began growing weaker that Su Ming opened his eyes and grabbed some heat resistant herbs in his right hand before moving forward and pushing the lid on the caldron away.

The moment the lid was opened, a red wave of heat rushed into his face, but Su Ming was already prepared. The instant he opened the lid, he moved backwards.

He waited until the red wave of heat dispersed then with his heart beating in trepidation and excitement, he moved forward slowly and looked into the caldron.

With just a glance, Su Ming began laughing loudly.

Right at the very bottom of the caldron were three red medicinal pills!

He retrieved the pills carefully, then sat by the side in excitement as he kept looking at the very mysterious object he had only seen in his memories.

Su Ming loved the little round pills, and he even brought them to his nose to smell them. But instead of a medicinal scent, they emitted a faint stench of blood.

The pill was also abnormally fragile. If Su Ming used a bit more strength, the pills would crumble into dust. But Su Ming did not care much about that.

”One month has gone by, and I’ve finally managed to make it once!” The more Su Ming looked at it, the happier he was, and as he was about to pop one into his mouth, he hesitated.

Su Ming forcefully quelled his excitement. In his mind, he saw the odd scene when he was picking the red herb with six petals.

”If this herb was the key to creating these pills, then I wonder whether the other one can do it as well…” Su Ming placed the three pills at a safe location, then took out the red herb with five petals.

There was a moment of silence before Su Ming made up his mind. Once he took note of the time, he closed his eyes and meditated, he started moving the blood in his veins all over his body to recover from fatigue.

The little monkey returned at midnight, and as it climbed into the cave its face was seemingly intoxicated as it sniffed its right claw. It did not bother Su Ming, but chose to lie down in a place that was not too hot.

It had already gotten used to this place over the past month.

Yet even though it was lying down, it still kept sniffing at its right claw, the intoxicated look becoming more visible on its face. It started cackling as it remembered something.

It was not until the next morning before Su Ming opened his eyes and moved his body. The fatigue he felt on the previous day was completely gone.

With his stamina recovered and almost overflowing, Su Ming took the herb with five petals and continued with the quenching process.

After a few days, Su Ming stepped out of the fire cavern as he had not left for quite a few days. When he saw the sun, he felt its glare on his eyes. He was already used to the red glare of the fires within the fire cave, and now that he looked once more at the brightness from the sun, he was a little unused to it.

As he stood there breathing in fresh air, Su Ming waited for his eyes to adjust to the brightness of the sun, then carefully surveyed his surroundings before climbing down.

He was quick as he did so, and he remained alert of his surroundings. With the little monkey keeping watch as well, they did not encounter any dangers and made it down the mountain safely.

They found a river that let out hot steam at the feet of the mountain. Su Ming took off his clothes and soaked himself in the water, feeling the fatigue that had accumulated in his body disappearing.

He and Xiao Hong hurriedly left the river reluctantly. He had much more important things to do.

Su Ming and Xiao Hong travelled with blinding speed in the forest. After covering some distance, Su Ming caught some terrifying looking beasts in his hands.

There were also some in the little monkey’s claws.

At a slightly more remote corner in the forest, Su Ming took a glance at the four tied-up beasts roaring at him, then ignored them and took out two small bottles from his bosom.

Within the two bottles were two types of pills. One of them was red and slightly terrifying to look at, while the other was green, with a faint medicinal smell travelling to his nostrils. With just a whiff, he felt refreshed.

The green pill was the one Su Ming made a few days ago using the herb with five petals.

”The Scattering Dust… If I follow my instincts, then the green one is the Scattering Dust, then what on earth is the red pill?” Su Ming narrowed his eyes. There were three pills each in the bottles. He took one of each out and looked at the beasts before moving towards them.

Once he fed the two pills to two different beasts, Su Ming retreated a few steps back and observed them nervously. Even the little monkey was affected by his mood and grew nervous.

He waited for a long time, but there were no changes within the two beasts that consumed the pills. They were still hissing and roaring at Su Ming, their faces contorted in rage.

Su Ming frowned. He waited for a bit longer, but nothing happened.

”How could this be? Logically speaking, something must have happened… But at least it’s not poisonous. Could it be… this isn’t to be consumed, but to be used externally?” Once Su Ming got the idea, he took out the horn and went to the other two beasts that did not take the medicine, then cut open two small wounds on their bodies so that blood flowed out.

The little monkey quickly followed behind him to watch.

Su Ming then took another two pills from the bottle and placed it on their wounds.

At that moment, something happened!

The moment the red pill touched the wound on the creature’s body, within just a few seconds, its entire body started trembling furiously and it turned into a pool of blood. Before the blood could even fall onto the ground, it burst into flames and turned into red mist. The little beast did not even have time to scream.

All of this happened in an instant, and it happened so quickly Su Ming let out a cry of alarm before retreating quickly. The little monkey was also shocked and let out whimpers of alarm as it retreated hastily.

”This is…” Su Ming took in a sharp breath, his eyes filled with terror. He did not expect that the red pill he made would have such shocking effects!

When the red mist disappeared in the air, there was only a pile of purplish red bones left on the ground. A terrifying sight to behold. The other creatures, while they were very close to the beast just now, were not affected, but it was clear that they were frightened by it.

Su Ming’s breathing was erratic and quick. After a long while, he looked at the bottle containing the red pill. There was only one left, but that pill alone was enough to make him think that it was a bloodthirsty item.

”There are no effects if it was consumed, but if it comes into contact with blood, then death is assured! Since I was the one who made this, then it will be named Scattering Blood!” Su Ming murmured. He forced his fears to go away and put away the pill carefully. He had a feeling that this object could very well be used as a weapon in the future!

”Then this green pill should be the real Scattering Dust. Just what are the effects though?” Su Ming fell momentarily silent, then his gaze fell upon the little beast that was still completely fine even though the pill had melted into its wound.