Chapter 7: Using Methods Used to Refine Demonic Treasures to Refine Skeletons (2/2)
“Hah! What a sweet fight! Jack, we’re not doing Carey and Borg’s duties anymore. Come tell me if they pick on you again, I’ll use them as a punching bag!”
Little fatty Jack was looking at Han Shuo in admiration as he tugged on Han Shuo’s arm. Jack laughed loudly and said, “Bryan, you’re amazing. You beat Carey and Borg by yourself, how did you do it?”
Han Shuo pointed to himself and said cockily, “I have a brave heart!”
Han Shuo’s head did not hurt even once in the next few days. For reasons unknown, Bach did not immediately seek revenge on Han Shuo either. Han Shuo and Jack refused to do Carey and Borg’s work, but the two had nothing to say as they couldn’t even win a fight, in which the numbers were in their favor. They silently completed the duties that they were supposed to do.
Now that the little skeleton was taking out the trash in the morning, and the lack of a need to pick up Carey and Borg’s duties, Han Shuo suddenly had a lot more free time on his hands. He didn’t ask Jack to “borrow” more books of magic during this time, but turned his attention to thoroughly studying “The Foundations of Necromancy” in order to build a firm base of knowledge.
Han Shuo came to understand that his mental power was quite weak after extended studying of “The Foundations of Necromancy”. He began to concentrate and meditate every night after he returned to the warehouse. The little skeleton was the weakest, dark creature from the other dimension, and its intelligence was so low, that it could only function according to the summoner’s commands. Han Shuo had given it the command to stay in the warehouse during the day and only dispose of trash late at night.
Han Shuo was just about to settle into his regular meditation that night when he suddenly recalled the memories that the old fart, Chu Can Lang, had left in his mind. There were some related to mysterious records of refining demonic treasures. Han Shuo thought that although the demon magic he was training in was from a different world than the necromancy he was learning now, they were both dark magics and seemed to have quite a lot in common. Would it be possible to fuse the two?
As Han Shuo furrowed his brow and started to seriously rummage through the memories, he discovered that although Chu Cang Lan had left behind a trove of memories, quite a few of them were misty and vague. It was like viewing things through a thin piece of marbled paper and not everything was clear.
After a while of recollection, he suddenly remembered a method to refine demonic treasures. Han Shuo could only summon a weak skeleton due to his short period of study in necromancy. Since that was the case, he decided to experiment on the little skeleton.
Refining materials were first needed for refining demonic treasure. Since he was just experimenting for fun, Han Shuo decided to use the little skeleton as the main ingredient. There was some worthless fresh blood from low level magic creatures in the warehouse, along with other trash, such as bone powder, salamander tails, etc. They all became auxiliary materials for the demonic treasure.
Some unique demonic treasures required very complex materials that necessitated arduous trials to obtain them. It wasn’t even a certain thing that they existed in this world. Han Shuo ignored all of that and instead grabbed random items to fulfill his sudden impulse. He returned to the lab to grab a small bucket that no one was using, as well as various necromancy ingredients that were leftover from student use. He had no idea what they were.
Han Shuo stealthily crept back to the warehouse under the cover of night and carefully closed the door. He first put the skeleton into the bucket, and then just randomly dumped in all the low level monster blood, bone powder, salamander tail, and other materials, following it up with a solid bucket of water. There was now an ugly riot of colors in a bucket filled with an assortment of… things. Only the skeleton’s head showed above the water level, it was completely unaware of what was happening.
Han Shuo thought for a moment as he closed his eyes and slowly ran through Chu Cang Lan’s knowledge of refining demonic treasure. Apart from requiring a variety of ingredients, refining demonic treasure required setting up a specialized matrix. The practitioner also needed to train his magical yuan according to special method for several days or months. Some particularly strong demonic treasures even required training for a few years.
Of course, the current Han Shuo could accomplish none of this. He identified the easiest refinement method and dug out seven starkly-white bone spurs from who-knew-what-kind-of magical creature. He stuck the spurs according to the instructions denoted by the “Magical Yin Concentration Matrix”.
The “Magical Yin Concentration Matrix” was a type of demon refining matrix in Chu Cang Lan’s memories. The proper method was to first refine seven natal “yin demons”, and to use the seven yin demons in forming the matrix. Once the refiner poured in his own magical yuan, the seven yin demons would concentrate the magical yuan in the matrix according to the matrix instructions. The refining ingredients would slowly dissolve and seep into the main ingredient. The demonic treasure would finally be complete after 36 days of refining with the magical yuan.
In order to refine a yin demon, one must first have a ghoul. A ghoul was an innocent who’d died wrongly and was subsequently buried in a forsaken piece of land. Only if the soul was unwilling to depart was there a possibility of a ghoul forming. Special methods were needed to refine ghouls into yin demons, and it was naturally something that Han Shuo could not accomplish at the moment.
He stuck the seven bone spurs into the bucket as a substitute for the yin demons, and then squatted beside the bucket to attempt circulating magical yuan to his right middle fingertip. He then swiftly stuck his finger in the middle of the seven erected bone spurs. Although the bone spurs were a poor substitute, they were arranged correctly and thus could absorb a bit of magical yuan.
After who knew how long, seven small swirls abruptly formed on the surface of the water, with the seven bone spurs as the center.
Han Shuo relaxed inwardly when he saw the seven swirls form. He knew that despite randomly mucking around, he had somehow succeeded. Although he couldn’t fathom what the little skeleton would ultimately turn into, he was at ease and drifted off into a deep sleep after a bit of meditation.