Chapter 362: Dangerous Forest III
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
He recognized the silverlight metal. This metal was extremely malleable, and a good additive for alloys to improve malleability. However, people would not usually do that, since it was a very rare kind of metal. It was not cost efficient to use it. Ye Chong was never interested in rare but useless metals, even though he could always recognize them. Ye Chong only knew about Skylee, which was a type of gem.
The pendant had a very interesting shape, like smoke, or flowing water. The thread circled around the Skylee gem in a whirl of fantasy. The necklace was intricately carved and very impressive. However, Ye Chong did not have the aesthetic sense to appreciate it. To him, it was only a typical example of useless luxury.
What really interested him was the dark amberjade ring; more precisely, the black pearl on the dark amberjade ring. It was an utterly black and flawless black pearl. Most people would think that it was naturally made, but it was not. Ye Chong recognized this pearl as the fruit of the Herro smoke tree, called the smoke pearl. Dark amberjade was a very rare kind of jade, but it paled in comparison to the smoke pearl.
In Lunatic Guan’s chip, the Herro smoke tree was classified as extinct. Every Herro smoke tree would only produce three smoke pearls. That was exactly how rare the smoke pearl was.
To the layman, the smoke pearl was only an average black colored bead. To an alchemist, however, it was an absolute treasure. Smoke pearls could counter almost any kind of knockout agent. Of course, there were exceptions. According to Lunatic Guan, there were three kinds of knockout agents that could still affect a person wearing a smoke pearl - Qian system’s Illusion, Hanming school’s Ice, and Jiu Family’s Blissful Drunkenness. However, even the three strongest knockout agents would have diminished effects when a smoke pearl was in play.
A battle between alchemists usually occur silently, without any physical violence, or any dazzling transformations. However, it was just as dangerous as mech battles or human combat. The outcome of these battles could be decided in seconds. This gave the alchemists a mysterious facade, but the cruelty that laid within was like a nightmare to most people. For example, a person who died from the redsand dehydrator would dry up into a corpse without any water at all.
This was a mysterious and secretive field of knowledge.
Compared to them, the alchemists in the Five Galaxies were all academics. They only did research, and lived much more peaceful lives.
Ye Chong knew all he did about the alchemists here from Lunatic Guan. In the end, it was only a theoretical understanding of things. It was when he used the Night Enchantment that he came to truly appreciate the strength of alchemists. If not for those Night Enchantment pills, he would definitely not be able to handle the situation. The sight of a huge crowd of people slumping into unconsciousness was staggering.
Knockout agents were alchemy weapons that Ye Chong had grown familiar with. Even with his abilities, he was easily knocked out by Lunatic Guan. The smoke pearl dark amberjade ring was a priceless treasure, and it allowed Ye Chong to freely move within the forest .
He immediately put on the dark amberjade ring with the smoke pearl and, after some thought, the silverlight necklace as well. As for the other items he found, Ye Chong did not find them particularly useful, so he buried them together with the skeleton he found.
With this discovery, Ye Chong’s difficult life in the forest turned for the better.
With the smoke pearl dark amberjade ring on him, he did not have to worry at all about the poisonous miasma and knockout chemicals from certain plants. The few alchemy products he found might have simple uses, but they gave Ye Chong a definitive advantage.
The resources here were abundant, giving him plenty of choice.
His leaf pouches, which were filled with different types of ingredients, were now filled with alchemy products instead. He had treatments for injuries, insect repellents, strong knockout agents, alchemy products to cover his body scent and many more. Ye Chong never considered if these alchemy products were valuable, he only prepared them based on his needs for survival.
He even made plenty of nutrition pills. Nutrition pills were a must-have for aged alchemists. They were made of high calorie ingredients, and could be easily absorbed by the human body. Ye Chong chose the best ingredients, such as the cray fruit, and prepared two big bags of leaf pouches of nutrition pills out of them. They were enough to last him for two months.
"This is an alchemist’s paradise," Ye Chong wondered to himself. If only he had a laboratory here, equipped with all the necessary tools and devices. That would be wonderful!
Ye Chong was in some ways an academic.
The skeleton he found came to mind unrestrained, and Ye Chong had a newfound respect for the person.
Time passed quickly, especially when he was busy. Ye Chong grew to like this place. There were no fights here, and the place provided a bountiful supply of resources. It was filled with all kinds of treasures, waiting for him to discover. These days, Ye Chong’s skills in alchemy improved by leaps and bounds. Of course, many plants were sacrificed in his path to excellence.
No alchemy would use all these precious resources carelessly like Ye Chong did.
Ye Chong began to move more freely in the forest. The only problem was, he still could not be sure of his path.
He advanced every day, even though he was not sure if he was only going around in circles. His leaf pouches were full of his possessions, but the weight was nothing to Ye Chong, and was not a hindrance to his movements.
Perhaps it was due to his vegetarian diet, or the long duration spent without sunlight, but Ye Chong’s skin turned fairer. With his slender body and fair skin, he looked even more like a soft-spoken gentleman. If Shang could see Ye Chong now, he would be scandalized. However, Ye Chong did not have much of an opinion on his own looks.
With leaf pouches hanging all over his body, and a wooden spear in his right hand, Ye Chong looked like a savage. The spear was made out of ironwood. Ye Chong had happily stumbled upon an ironwood tree that was older than five centuries some time ago.
This ironwood tree was about 150 meters tall, with such a wide girth that it needed about a dozen people to circle around to fully surround it. The ironwood tree had a peculiar look. Its branches were all straight, like an artificial product. From the bottom of the tree to the top, a branch would appear every 30 centimeters. The lowest branch was the shortest, and the length increased going up the tree. These horizontal branches spiraled up evenly. From afar, the tree looked like a pillar, attached with horizontal steps that spiraled upwards.
Ironwood was a very tough material, the hardest known wood material. The lowest branches were the toughest, and Ye Chong had chosen one that was two meters long. He would not have been able to break off the branch if he did not have his sharp dagger. Ye Chong tried to break off the lowest branch with his bare hands and found to his surprise that he could not. This was also the first time Ye Chong got to experience the difficult process of sawing with his dagger.
Besides the surprise, Ye Chong was also overjoyed to find that the wood would make for an excellent weapon. He spent an entire day shaping the branch into a spear. He suddenly recalled the spiral patterns on the wooden spears in Sang Family Village. They prevented slipping and offered a more stabilized flight when thrown. Ye Chong etched those patterns on the entire wooden spear he made.
Ye Chong was very satisfied with the final product. The pitch black body of the weapon made it inconspicuous, and its surface was evenly covered with spiral patterns. The flat ends of the spear were carved with three uneven fullers [1]. The entire weapon was black in color, but upon closer observation, one could notice that it was actually a very thick ink black.
The forest did not lack poisonous vegetation. Ye Chong managed to extract the sap from five different types of poisonous plants, and used them to make a mixed poison. It was extremely poisonous and fatal. Ye Chong believed that it would definitely be on par with the most deadly poisons recorded in Lunatic Guan’s chip.
Ye Chong dipped the spearhead repeatedly in this poison for no less than 50 times. He was absolutely patient when it came to preparing his weapon of defense. He was surprised to find that the colorless poison further darkened the ironwood spearhead after dipping, but luckily the weapon was already black in color, so the effect was not too noticeable.
The wooden spear was a truly dangerous weapon, and even Ye Chong had to use it with extreme care. If he accidentally cut himself with the spearhead, he would definitely not survive. The poison was so strong that there would not be time to ingest an antidote, and in any case, Ye Chong did not know of any antidote for it.
Ye Chong carefully wrapped the spearhead with his leaf pouch, and used it very cautiously.
The forest was much larger than Ye Chong anticipated. It had been a full month, but Ye Chong had not reached the edge of it. Of course, there was also the problem of directions, but he knew that he had traveled a very large distance.
His waist was now adorned with seven blue wooden stakes. These wooden stakes were about 20 centimeters long, and looked a bit like arrows. A few days ago, Ye Chong had accidentally touched a bellvine shooter, which "bestowed" upon him these seven wooden stakes. They had nearly killed him, since bellvine shooter’s air sac had a kind of strong hallucinogen. It was a nerve agent that caused mental disorientation and affected one’s motor functions.
It would be a death wish to wander about this dangerous forest carelessly.
Fortunately, Ye Chong did not encounter any dangers since then.
One day, Ye Chong noticed that the plants around him were gradually growing sparse. This was encouraging to him.
Perhaps he was in the right direction!
[1] Fuller - groove on the flat side of a blade (or in this case, spearhead), used to lighten the blade.