Chapter 262: Jörmungandr's Blood (World-Class)

~14 min read 2,607 words

Interesting.

I bet Riesling, that wine merchant, would absolutely love this recipe.

That was right. The very first thing that came to Lan Qingyou's mind when she saw this wasn't the quality of the bottle, but the prospect of selling the recipe.

After all, her Analysis Magic Eye had to be put to proper use.

Selling the recipe and securing some shares while she was at it—wasn't that better than anything else?

However, as Lan Qingyou reached out and plucked the bottle from the pile of trash, feeling the freezing chill it continuously transmitted into her palm, she realized that selling the recipe could probably wait.

"Oh?! Things just got a lot more interesting," she murmured.

Looking at the green liquid sloshing inside the bottle, Lan Qingyou could not help but curl her lips into a frivolous, unbridled smile.

[Jörmungandr's Blood (World-Class)]

[Description: Jörmungandr, the guardian of the world, possesses immense Strength and reproductive capabilities. A single drop of its blood can evolve a human into a Snakeman.]

Hoho.

It looked incredibly powerful.

Although it might be slightly inferior to the Star Dragon King's Blood Essence she had obtained previously, as it couldn't evolve other creatures.

But there was no doubt that this blood, just like the Dragon King's blood essence, belonged to an ancient bloodline capable of triggering human evolution.

This bottle contained about five hundred milliliters of Jörmungandr's Blood. If fully utilized, it could produce around ten thousand bottles of Witch's Potion.

In other words, it could add ten thousand Witches to their ranks.

While it was still a drop in the bucket compared to a population of ten billion, at least their numbers were steadily increasing, weren't they?

"What is that?"

Noticing the vibrant array of expressions crossing Lan Qingyou's face, Susi leaned in and asked.

"Jörmungandr's Blood," she replied.

"Jörmungandr?"

Susi's tone was laced with confusion.

Lan Qingyou turned her head and swished the bottle right in front of Susi's eyes.

"Perhaps you could also call it the blood of an ancient bloodline," she explained.

"Doesn't that mean we can brew even more Witch's Potions?"

Susi gasped in awe, only to earn an eye-roll from Lan Qingyou.

"You're not wrong, but you seem to have forgotten the horrific state of the Huang father and son. The evolution medicine they used might very well have been made from this exact stuff," Lan Qingyou pointed out.

"...That's truly terrifying."

Just thinking about the monstrous appearance of the two Huang men made Susi shudder.

No kidding.

If given a choice, who would ever willingly turn into such a monstrosity?

That being said, Lan Qingyou still fully intended to put the blood to good use.

Besides, this was the 'Era of Races.' Since the world's will had announced that the Kalim Continent had updated to this phase, expanding their race was undoubtedly the absolute top priority.

They couldn't just lie flat and refuse to evolve altogether, right?

The sheer disadvantage of Blue Star Earthlings on the Kalim Continent was simply too massive. Evolution was the only viable path forward.

They could either use external items to evolve, like the Witches had.

Or they could evolve independently.

But how could it possibly be easy for a race to evolve on its own?

If a safe and highly efficient shortcut existed, who wouldn't want to take it?

But how did Huang Xingming get his hands on such a thing?

Could it have been brought by those 'merchants,' serving as payment in some shady, under-the-table transaction?

She could not be entirely certain, but one thing was absolutely sure: this blood had to be handled with extreme caution.

After all, there were two cautionary tales and negative examples lying right over there.

"By the way, Clan Head."

Beside her, a slightly spooked Susi called out to Lan Qingyou again after recovering from her fear.

"Hmm?"

"What exactly is a Soul Crystal? Why do I get the feeling it's something needed for alchemy?"

"Oh, that. It's exactly as you suspect. It can definitely be used in alchemy, and it's also useful for magical puppets," Lan Qingyou replied.

Seeing her intense curiosity, Lan Qingyou dismantled a pink infantry puppet right on the spot and displayed the Soul Crystal inside for her to see.

However, it was obvious that Susi had zero interest in the magical puppet's complex internal structure, which was carved with densely packed circuits and commands.

After all, it wasn't her area of expertise.

"So it can be applied to potions?" she asked.

"It certainly can. Just like a Monster Crystal Core, you can crush it up and use it. You have to be incredibly careful with the dosage, though, otherwise you'll ruin the entire cauldron of potions."

Lan Qingyou nodded, offering a small piece of advice.

"Then how do you obtain this thing?"

Since it could be used in potions, it meant she could use it too.

Furthermore, that skill could be used to kill someone like Huang Xingming—a legendary cockroach against whom physical attacks didn't seem very effective. That made mastering it even more necessary.

"It's simple. It comes from a C-rank skill called Soul Siphon. Next time you make a selection, you can see if you manage to roll it," Lan Qingyou explained.

"That's..."

Susi grimaced in distress.

Now that contribution points were gone, the only chances to select a skill came from region-wide Shelter upgrades or ranking in the top ten for levels every month.

Although she leveled up quite fast, she was still only level 13 right now. She wasn't even in the top hundred thousand on the leaderboards.

Not to mention, she now had the Adventurer's Guild to manage.

Which meant she had even less time to focus on leveling up.

"So, why are you managing something like that anyway?"

Lan Qingyou asked, not quite understanding the reasoning.

"Probably because the Supreme Council places a lot of importance on the Golden Plains as a food-producing region."

Susi reached up and fiddled with the brim of her tricorn hat.

"No, I mean, what does any of that have to do with you?"

"Because I'm a Witch. We accepted the Supreme Council's incorporation and their Witch's Potion, after all. Beggars can't be choosers."

Susi shrugged helplessly.

She didn't know what it was like in other places, but once the Supreme Council learned that the Golden Plains were suitable for large-scale crop cultivation, they ordered her to secure the area and wait for them to dispatch personnel to take over.

In the past, Susi wouldn't have thought much of it.

It just meant waiting a few more days.

But now that she knew such an incredibly useful skill existed, her thoughts began to race.

Hitting the top ten was going to be tough, but it didn't seem completely impossible for her either.

Whoever wanted to be the lousy Guild Master could have it; she just wanted to level up.

After dealing with the aftermath, the corpses, the supplies, and everything else, Lan Qingyou prepared to hit the road with Susi.

After all, there was still an 'enemy' base waiting for them.

It was time to pay them a visit and collect the Teleportation Array.

"By the way, Clan Head, there are two more things I need to discuss with you."

"What is it?"

Just as they were taking off, Susi stopped Lan Qingyou once again.

Only this time, Lan Qingyou didn't pause. She soared into the air, responding without even turning her head.

"It's about your Magic Eye,"

Susi yelled at the top of her lungs from behind, her arms tightly wrapped around Lan Qingyou's waist post-takeoff.

"My Magic Eye?"

"Yeah. Why don't I see a pattern appear when your Magic Eye activates?"

"Huh?"

Lan Qingyou, who had just shifted into third gear and was speeding away, suddenly slammed on the brakes mid-air, jerking abruptly upwards.