The Xiang Butterfly Of Chaos - Chapter 68 Shadow Of Death

“It hasn’t dissolved?” Tai Zi Hua replied. “What do you mean, more than fifteen minutes have passed already! Even a half-hearted sample that’s been diluted once would have dissolved by now!”

Grumbling under his breath, the old man attempted to snatch the flask from Li Mo Shang. Carefully grasping it to prevent causing a severe accident, Li Mo Shang dodged Tai Zi Hua’s rushes, causing him to grit his teeth in frustration.

Before the old man could burst in another fit of rage, Tian Yu stepped in to mediate, his brows covered in a sheen of sweat.

“Alright, alright,” he flustered, attempting to restrain the fuming Tai Zi Hua with both arms. Finally managing to hold back the aged bull with the help of several others, Tian Yu approached Li Mo Shang, his eyes carrying a trace of expectation.

“Young Li,” he spoke tentatively. “Do you have a method of determining whether the Purple Leaf Stem has dissolved or not?”

When Li Mo Shang gave a small nod, everyone revealed an expression of surprise and interest, Tai Zi Hua even going as far to sneak behind Li Mo Shang to carefully observe his every movement. Under the gazes of many, Li Mo Shang walked around the circular table, carefully searching through the various layers.

Pausing on a loosely closed earthen jar, he deftly removed the lid to withdraw a small ginseng. Looking at the partially withered, brown ginseng that appeared to be half-rotten and leaking in vitality, the medicinal practitioners could not help but reveal perplexed looks.

“Young Liisn’t that a wild ginseng from the Plains of Albine? How is a mild neutralizing ingredient supposed to help?”

Tian Yu ventured furtively, reaching out to inspect the ginseng in Li Mo Shang’s hand. As he verified that the browned ginseng was indeed as they had guessed, partially withered and close to death, his brows furrowed even further.

Just as he and Tai Zi Hua exchanged curious looks, Li Mo Shang had already placed the silver flask on the table, his hand hovering over the rubber stopper.

“Oh? Didn’t you just tell me not to open it” Tai Zi Hua mumbled, drawing closer to obtain a good look. The rest of the tent’s occupants crowded together at a respectful distance, their individual terminals prepared to record Li Mo Shang’s process for future analysis.

Placing the wild ginseng next to the stopper, Li Mo Shang nimbly sliced off a small portion of the withered roots of the ginseng, small enough to pass through the flask. Breathing deeply, Li Mo Shang infused his fingers with spiritual qi as he grasped the silver flask in his left hand, the right hand’s fingers just barely touching the top of the stopper.

Pssh!

The moment Li Mo Shang exposed the flask’s contents to the open air, the powdered Purple Leaf Stem erupted in anger. The mixture of Silver Fox Blood and Angel’s Tear extract expanded as they began to boil rapidly, causing the silver container to shake violently.

Fortunately, no cracking sounds were heard by Li Mo Shang, and he dropped the piece of wild ginseng into the flask opening.

When he dropped the square of ginseng, Li Mo Shang also introduced a thin strand of spiritual qi. Bottling the silver flask and beginning to swirl the contents in a manner not unlike that of Tai Zi Hua, he willed the spiritual qi to encase the powdered Purple Leaf Stem, crushing the grains before dispersing. As he spun the flask, the spiritual qi forced the Purple Leaf Stem into submission, the previously volatile medicinal herb merging gently with the mixture of Silver Fox Blood and Angel’s Tear extract.

The ginseng’s weak nullification effects barely prevented the mixture from a undergoing another violent reaction from the intruding ingredient, and the liquid began to transform once more. In no less than three minutes, the previous divide between a liquid and powdered herb had dissolved into a scarlet syrup.

Viscous in texture and rather acidic, the ginseng quickly melted into the syrup, darkening its color a little and neutralizing the acidic attribute. When Li Mo Shang opened the flask and poured its contents into a glass vial, Tian Yu could not gape in astonishment at the drastic change in the ingredients.

“Such a fine texture!” he breathed, lightly probing the syrup with a glass stirring rod.

“Look at that fine crystallization, the lack of any blemish is a clear indicator that the Purple Leaf Stem has indeed dissolved to form the theorized all-purpose stability compound! Just from one look, there’s a high chance of the medicine succeeding! All we need now is for the Ink Python Blood to successfully merge with all of the other ingredients.”

Placing the vial of the scarlet syrup onto a secure stand, Tian Yu spun the table towards an elderly practitioner, who nodded back at him. Extracting a green jade container from the higher layers, the elder nodded towards the rest, his hoarse voice resounding throughout the tent.

“As agreed by Old Practitioner Tai and Tian, I’ve lowered the Ink Python Blood sample to two hundred milligrams. I’ll begin by mixing together the various supplementary ingredients, before introducing the Ink Python Blood. Junior Practitioner Li’s stability compound will be used in hopes of restraining the Ink Python Blood’s destructive effect.”

Finishing speaking, the elder picked up the prepared flask of the combined Snow Jade Extract, Scarlet Moon Fox Blood, and Three Blossoms Flower. Lightly shaking the flask to gently agitate the medicinal effect, he then emptied the contents into the bowl of carborane, Snow Beetle carapace, and Desert Sandworm skin.

Inserting a silver stirring rod into the mottled, chaotic mess of medicinal herbs and compounds, the elder began to guide the merging of the various substances. As he stirred, the multiple colors blended into a clear liquid, with a faint, sickly sweet odor emanating from the bowl.

Stepping back, the elder breathed deeply multiple times to calm his agitation and restore focus, before withdrawing the jade container once more, removing the lid to expose a foul stench. Holding the jade container in one hand and Li Mo Shang’s vial of scarlet syrup in the other, he breathed deeply before pouring the contents of both into the bowl.

The Ink Python Blood was black like ink, with faint bubbles surfacing as it fell into the bowl. The moment the blood contacted the mixture, it attempted to rapidly expand and explode, but the scarlet syrupy substance encased the Ink Python Blood, quelling the volatile effects. Within minutes, the entire mixture had settled into a clear, azure liquid.

When Li Mo Shang observed the bowl once more, he could sense faint traces of worldly qi emanating from the contents, as well as exuding a healthy vitality.

Everyone crowded around the finished product, marveling at the neutralized mixture between two extreme medicinal ingredients. Ink Python Blood, a powerful medicine that could invigorate blood circulation and rouse someone’s life force to the extreme for a short time without side effects, allowing for medicinal practitioners to complete their operation without much risk of the patient’s death.

Purple Leaf Stem, one of the strongest medicinal amplifiers. Tian Yu had theorized that as the respective medicinal properties did not clash, a combination utilizing a stabilizing medium should be possible. However, he did not know just what the resulting effect would be.

“Old Practitioner Tian, what do you think this product should be called?”

The elder who had combined the final ingredients spoke up, everyone swiveling their gaze to rest upon Tian Yu’s wizened but beaming figure. The old man lightly coughed and flushed, before approaching the bowl placed next to the sample of flesh.

Gazing tenderly at the azure liquid contained within, Tian Yu turned back towards the rest, his voice trembling in excitement.

“I don’t want to name it yet,” he began, waving his arms to shush some of the practitioners who were in the motions of speaking in protest. “I believe we should first verify its effects before assigning a title to the product.”

“Since it’s a premiere prototype, why don’t we take a risk?” Bai Hu suddenly spoke, startling Tian Yu. As the latter directed a glance of confusion, he continued calmly and slowly.

“The bottle of Ink Python Blood was purchased for three hundred and sixty billion RMB, while the other ingredients sum to approximately two hundred and forty billion. Before us is a mutant whose value is impossible to gauge. Why can’t we test this medicinal product on the living mutant, instead of a now deceased tissue sample? Although a disaster may occur, it’s far easier to obtain accurate and reliable data than from this mere sample.”

Hearing Bai Hu’s words, Tian Yu can’t help but display a wavering expression. He was indeed tempted by the suggestion, but didn’t wish to become burdened by a catastrophic failure. Ultimately, he failed to persist against the group’s persuasions, and everyone strode forth towards the cage.

“If Old Bu possesses the courage to perform a full-body medicinal experiment,” spoke Tai Zi Hua, clapping Tian Yu on the back. “So can we! Both of us have no clue whatsoever regarding the specific effects of our products, so just highball the hat to them. Old Bu can indeed wear such a hat with pride!”

As they made their way to the steel cage, they were greeted by a young male dry heaving several times, with multiple doctors observing from the side, scribbling on clipboards while flipping through a rather considerable collection of medicinal texts.

When they noticed Tian Yu’s group approaching, the doctors immediately ceased their actions, giving a respectful greeting.

“Senior Doctor Tian, Senior Doctor Tai!” One of the doctors stepped forward. “May I inquire what brings you here?”

“We wanted to test a product,” replied Tai Zi Hua in an airily manner. Gazing at the imprisoned mutant continuing to retch, he began to frown. “How are your results? Was there a problem?”

“The experiment was to induce temporary asphyxiation to observe the mutant’s reactions to oxygen deprivation. However, the results are perplexing in that they are no different from an ordinary human. If the mutant was to indeed attempt flight for long durations, a far superior set of lungs is required, yet we’re not finding any traces of it whatsoever.” The doctor replied, shrugging and scratching his head, bewilderment displayed on all of their faces.

“Oh! We have just finished, Senior Doctors may attempt their medicinal product without any worries, there should be no lingering effects except for a shortness of breath.”

Hastily speaking once more, the doctors rushed to clean up the strewn medicinal texts and implements under Tian Yu and his group’s amused stare. Bowing to them once more, the gaggle of doctors streamed out of the enclosure, allowing Tian Yu and his group to fully surround the steel cage.

As several elderly practitioners procured their terminals to record the experiment, Tai Zi Hua turned to Tian Yu.

“Begin. Try twenty milliliters.”

Tian Yu nodded, before withdrawing a syringe from his pocket. Ensuring that the needle was in perfect condition, he extracted a small portion of the azure liquid, before jabbing it into the mutant’s neck. Other than a slight jerk upon the needle’s merciless invasion, the youth remained still until five minutes later, he suddenly jerked violently.

As they watched, the mutant began to convulse, his limbs committing a feral dance as they smashed against the steel bars of the cage. Gradually, his actions became even more frenzied, and his veins became ever pronounced, the blood slowly turning blue.

Before anyone could make a comment, the youth arched his head back in a soundless howl as an audible crack near his chest rang throughout the enclosure.

“Death without warning, and the symptoms cannot be traced. Perhapsan appropriate name would be the Shadow of Death” Tai Zi Hua was the first to recover, his aged face displaying excitement and astonishment as he carefully examined the youth’s body.