Chapter 122: Steel Wool's Training, Utilizing Methods to Soften Thorium

The black feathers were handed over to Ruan Qingyi to produce clothes, the meat was handed over to Gu Xiaobei to become gourmet meals, and the beak was tossed to Orff as a material. The eyes, tongue, brains, and monster crystal core were kept for her own personal usage.

After finishing processing these night swallows, Lan Qingyou gazed at the useless scraps ripped from the night swallows' bodies lingering within the bucket beside her, plunging into contemplation.

While she was dismantling them previously, a hazy, indistinct conceptualization had formulated within her heart. Now, gazing at these scraps once more, this conceptualization gradually crystallized with increasing clarity.

Goddamn it, the thorium exploded straight out from within the mountain-eating beasts' bellies.

Furthermore, its morphological state was initially entirely liquid before gradually congealing into a crystal-like state.

Then could she interpret this as implying that while it was situated inside the belly, it hadn't come into contact with the mana in the air, or perhaps it was entirely enveloped by the mountain-eating beast's own mana, which was exactly why it existed in a liquid state?

Yet, following its explosive eruption outward, because the liquid came into contact with mana diverging from the mountain-eating beast's, only then did it absorb the ambient mana and metamorphose into a crystal?

Assuming this was genuinely the case, not only could she pen down a paper pertaining to mana, she could potentially even revert the originally utterly unprocessable thorium ore entirely back into its liquid state?!

According to the report Shang Chuan forwarded over previously, it stated that this liquid practically resembled a torrential flood, washing out an entire mine shaft.

The more Lan Qingyou pondered it, the more plausible she felt this was, leaving her face plastered with sheer excitement.

Subsequently, she swiftly approached Steel Wool, who was currently playing cat-and-mouse, teasing the demon rat on the floor.

Enshrouded by the shade cast from Lan Qingyou's body, Steel Wool turned its head back, shooting Lan Qingyou an uncomprehending glance, only to witness this old mother abruptly stretching her hand out and snatching its toy-cum-midnight-snack firmly into her grasp.

With its beak slightly agape and its massive eyes bulging wide, Steel Wool stared blankly as this old mother forcefully stuffed a minuscule, luminescent stone directly into its midnight snack's mouth, before plopping it right back onto the floor.

"Squeak—Squeak—"

Right as the demon rat was placed upon the floor, having lost its shackles and preparing to scurry for its life, it abruptly collapsed onto the floor, commencing a heart-wrenching, lung-tearing shriek of sheer agony.

"Squeak!"

Steel Wool, who initially desired to resume playing, witnessed this demon rat rolling wildly upon the floor while agonizingly shrieking.Swish, swish, it executed two rapid backward hops, taking flight and landing squarely upon Lan Qingyou's shoulder.

Evidently, it had experienced a severe fright.

"Tsk, how are you supposed to associate with me in the future if you're this timorous."

Lan Qingyou poked Steel Wool's face with her finger in complete dissatisfaction. In response, Steel Wool contritely lowered its head.

Seeing this, Lan Qingyou ceased paying it any heed. Instead, she turned her head, resuming her gaze upon the infant demon rat frantically rolling upon the floor.

Bang!

Roughly half a minute later, the demon rat directly exploded into a gory mess, dying instantly.

Meanwhile, an eerily verdant liquid slowly sluggishly flowed out from what remained of its stomach.

Roughly another half a minute elapsed before this liquid gradually reverted back into a crystal.

It possessed identical dimensions relative to before, yet it had metamorphosed into something manifesting distinctive edges and corners, appearing drastically more akin to a genuine crystal compared to the previous scrap pieces.

"Haha! This old lady guessed correctly!"

Reaching out, Lan Qingyou retrieved the blood-stained thorium crystal, bursting into uproarious laughter.

This demon rat's reaction and the formation of the thorium crystal wholly and entirely verified Lan Qingyou's conjecture.

It truly was induced by the conflicting clash of mana.

It was merely due to an inherent disparity existing between a demon rat's stomach and a mountain-eating beast's stomach that it ended up exploding and dying in such a manner.

After all, the opposing party directly consumed dirt, stones, and minerals.

The digestive and storage capabilities of its stomach were definitively vastly superior compared to an ordinary monster.

Half a minute, huh...

It couldn't be deemed overly long, yet it wasn't overly short either; there was actually ample room for maneuverability.

The solitary issue was that those bloodstains were slightly troublesome.

"Are you still going to eat?"

In passing, Lan Qingyou even retrieved half the demon rat, presenting it right before Steel Wool, only to be met with an immensely disgusted glare in return.

Alright then.

Having its toy broken by her, it was entirely understandable for this little fellow to pitch a slight tantrum.

Thus, Lan Qingyou returned before the magic desk, chucking the half demon rat in her hand right out the window. Subsequently, she had Gu Xiaobei send over a half-kilogram platter of sliced lean meat.

"These are for you. After finishing them, fly out and catch two more toys back here."

"Squeak!"

Do I want food?! I want a toy!

Steel Wool hopped around furiously in sheer flustered exasperation.

Unable to bear watching this continue, Lan Qingyou simply snatched the opposing party right up, and then...

"Human cannonball, stage one prep! Off you go!"

Following a command from Lan Qingyou, Steel Wool was hurled straight out the window exactly like an artillery shell firing off.

One had to realize, Lan Qingyou currently had the Moonbright Stone Dagger sheathed firmly by her waist.

With this single toss, Steel Wool flew squarely out over a hundred meters before finally splaying its wings, stabilizing its posture in mid-air.

Anyhow, instances of this nature weren't occurring for the first time either; it harbored ample experience by now.

As for Lan Qingyou... in her perspective, children simply couldn't be endlessly pampered. Seizing the moments before it grew up, beating it more frequently was necessary. Otherwise, upon growing up, it wouldn't be able to differentiate between the major and minor king.

After hurling Steel Wool outside, Lan Qingyou brought out paper and pen, commencing her writing and drawing.

She solely possessed half a minute's time to process the liquified thorium.

Therefore, she required wholly comprehensive, foolproof preparations prior to commencing.

And right now, the specific matter Lan Qingyou was currently undertaking was exactly these preparations.

Fortunately, items belonging to this specific category existed quite plentifully within Lan Qingyou's memories.

Ranging from oils and fats to gels, there would definitively be a suitable variant.

Of course, owing to the inherent disparity existing between the two worlds, Lan Qingyou intended to architect a potion specifically suitable for this world.

Ideally resembling the mucilaginous state exhibited by the slime previously; that was the most optimal circumstance.

There was additionally another method, which was aiming for a single-step culmination.

Directly utilizing a crucible and herbs synergized with the liquified thorium ore to research and develop a completely new drug.

Regardless of which between these two, Lan Qingyou desired to test them both. After all, she was conducting research. Without thoroughly testing them, how could she know whether it would succeed, or which variant proved superior?

On Steel Wool's side.

Perhaps indebted to the progressively darkening skies, after frolicking wantonly outside for somewhat over ten minutes, Steel Wool returned with a demon rat clamped within its beak.

Lan Qingyou took a gander. The demon rat this time round was slightly larger compared to the preceding one, yet it similarly hadn't entirely broken away from its infant phase.

But this wasn't of utmost importance.

The crucial point was possessing an experimental subject.

However, after Lan Qingyou relieved it of the demon rat, Steel Wool executed a nimble hop, immediately pirouetting around and launching itself right back outside.

"Yo! Since when are you so profoundly self-aware!?"

This specific endeavor left Lan Qingyou feeling somewhat unaccustomed.

Hence, mulling it over, she simply retrieved a treasure chest from the storage room, situating it nearby. Chucking the demon rat squarely inside, she subsequently resumed writing and drawing upon the paper.

Entities like demon rats reproduced exceptionally rapidly while maintaining a paltry food consumption. It was rumored their maximal size merely amounted to that of a clenched fist. The crucial point was that their offensive capabilities were exceedingly pathetic besides.

Merely concerning a wooden box such as this, it would require gnawing for practically half a day before achieving a successful breach.

Consequently, when Steel Wool returned the subsequent time, it witnessed Lan Qingyou thoroughly engrossed in writing and drawing, with an occupied box situated nearby containing a frantically scurrying demon rat.

Hence, cocking its head to the side and mumbling two low gurgles, it deposited the demon rat clamped tightly within its beak straight into the wooden box, launching itself right back outside once more.

Time passed exceptionally swiftly.

By the time Lan Qingyou ultimately completed the theoretical architecture corresponding to both potion variants, it was already past eleven o'clock at night.

"Ew~~~~"

Upon hearing the continuous rustling sounds echoing directly beside her, Lan Qingyou swiveled her head over, only to surprisingly discover that the wooden box which fundamentally should have remained thoroughly vacant already possessed an entire half-box brimming with demon rats.