Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy - Chapter 3427: Some Details

Chapter 3427: Some Details

Alex followed Blueflake around the Hall of Insects while carefully reading the talisman he had been given regarding the Dragon-Blooded Pillbugs. According to the talisman, the Dragon-Blooded Pillbugs had been placed here by the previous Beast God, who herself had gotten them from someone else in exchange for something that was not listed.

As for the person who sold them, there was nothing listed as to where he had found them, except for the fact that it was from some secret place. That was what led everyone to the conclusion that the Dragon-Blooded Pillbugs must have come from a secret realm or a tomb carrying some sort of inheritance.

Learning that the pillbugs needed dragon’s blood to function, the Beast God started searching for various sources of dragon blood. Her first source turned out to be a nondescript dragon beast with the Yellow Dragon’s bloodline within it, which had awakened some of the pillbugs.

She fed the pillbugs more dragon blood, but they seemed to want more. When she decided not to give them any more, the pillbugs went into hibernation again, entering their round state.

After some time, the Beast God decided to give them some more dragon blood, but this time they wanted even more. The Beast God got additional blood, finally awakening them, but they demanded even more blood. And when she could not provide it, they went back to sleep.

The Beast God forgot about them, and after some time of neglect, the little insects had all died.

It was the Beast God’s failure that led to the understanding of what must be done. She prepared the insects and gave strict instructions on how they were to be used.

In fear of them all dying, she made it so that only a few of them could be attempted to awaken at any given time. It was also she who gave them a Grade 10, despite never having used them herself.

It was entirely a decision made on her trust in the person who had given her the insects.

Following her, there had been several who had tried to awaken the Dragon-Blooded Pillbugs. Some of them used blood belonging to the Azure Dragon. Some got the blood of the Winterborn Dragon. Others also got the blood of different dragons.

But in the end, they were all defeated by the sheer greed and hunger shown by the pillbugs. They drank more blood than it was physically possible for such small insects, requiring dozens of dragons to be on standby to feed them whenever it was required.

And that problem only increased when the little bugs reproduced. Suddenly, one had a hundred times more mouths to feed and not enough food to pass around.

Slowly, those insects died as well before they could be fully trained as per the records.

Alex read through the information, thankful that he wouldn’t face the same issue. He could create as much blood as was required by those insects. He could simply feed them all.

Blueflake finished buying the handful of ingredients that she needed and turned around.

“I’ve got everything that I’ll need to feed the cicadas. Should we leave the hall?” she asked.

Alex nodded. “Please don’t ask me for permission. I’m just a shadow, meant to follow you around and see what you do. You shouldn’t even be thinking about me at all.”

The young woman gave a small smile, saying nothing. She walked down the floors of the Hall of Insects and stepped outside, with Alex following behind.

Alex continued reading through the talisman, getting to the part that he actually wanted to learn about.

Feeding the pillbugs was a simple task, as it appeared that they didn’t need any complex food aside from just the blood of a dragon, and Alex was ready to give it all to them. To bond with them, however, it was a little tricky.

Since the Dragon-Blooded Pillbugs didn’t have any central figure that controlled everyone else like the bees did, it was a little trickier to bind them all. What he would do was apparently not even called a binding, although it still took a portion of his soul.

The correct term in this instance was Fastening. One was basically locking the insects to their very own soul resonance and thus fastening the creatures to that specific resonance. Training the insects to understand that his was the only soul they should listen to was the difficult task.

Some insects made it easier, but the pillbugs apparently didn’t. They did score a single 1 in Ease of Handling, so what else could he expect from them?

He would have to learn a lot more before he could move on to taking care of them.

Blueflake arrived outside the Hall of Insects and found a region where she could let the cicadas go free. After finding such a place within the palace, next to a large tree that shaded the area, she prepared a formation barrier and let the cicadas out.

Nearly 60 cicadas came flying out, immediately buzzing around in discordant noise. Apparently, the place they had come to was somehow an ample location for the cicadas to start making noise.

Alex could feel a dull ache in the back of his head, one which he likely wouldn’t even have noticed had he not known that these cicadas were capable of harming his mind.

“Is this it?” Alex asked, not impressed with what he was seeing. “I thought it would be stronger.”

“We’re just getting started, Senior,” the woman said. “It’s better if you don’t get too hasty regarding these things. Taking care of insects takes years and years. It’s not something that will happen on the very first day.”

Alex couldn’t help but grin a little upon hearing those words.

“I’m not that impatient. I was merely making a statement,” he said.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she quickly apologized.

“No, please. It was my fault. Please continue.”

The woman nodded and turned back around as she brought out the various materials she had brought, ready to make some food for the cicadas.