The Cornflower Witch Chapter 225

The next morning, Hylial and several scholars discussed the situation of the “Gray Mud” with Dorothy.

“This stuff spreads extremely quickly. Even if we send people to deliver the message to Mammoth Town and then notify the Association Headquarters, it would take too long. I’m afraid it would be too late to save the ‘Iron Wall Cliff’ outpost.”

“Are all the monsters spreading from deep inside the Dark Mist Mountains that strange?” a young student couldn’t help but wonder.

“If you imagine the sea of monstrosities below the Cloud Sea Continent as a seabed full of sludge, then the edge of the Dark Mist Mountains in the Shadow World is like a drag hook inserted into the sludge. Some monsters will creep up the drag hook and invade,” Dorothy explained to everyone.

“These monsters are very harmful, but they also bring various novel changes, inspiring many transcendent schools and bringing many new and exotic resources.”

“For example, the ‘Demonic Blood Vine’ Lia used before was originally taken from a twisted plant. Later, through several generations of improvement, its ability to absorb blood and cultivate ‘Fresh Blood Red Fruit’ was gradually enhanced, finally forming the ‘Demonic Blood Vine’ we see today.”

“And then there are some rare ‘Beast-Shifters,’ whose core ability is to transform into a certain monster, greatly enhancing their combat power.”

“Our alchemists have also found many novel and unknown raw materials from these monsters and strange resources, and used them to develop more new things.” Dorothy lightly propped her hands on the nearby bookshelf, then rested her head on the back of her hand, stretching her body as she turned her head to explain to everyone.

“The dangers and benefits of the Shadow World are two sides of the same coin. Very safe places often have fewer rewards.”

“But I can’t imagine any use for this ‘Gray Mud’ we found this time,” a young student rubbed his hair.

“If we study it more, we’ll definitely find something. For example, I’m very interested in their ability to split and proliferate,” Dorothy stood up, stretched, and then covered her mouth while yawning. It seemed she hadn’t slept much last night.

“Currently, it seems their ability to conceal their aura is very strong, because once they disperse, apart from little Lia who can still sense them, no one else can find them at all.”

“First, we need to be able to detect their traces, and only then can we discuss how to eliminate them.” Dorothy walked to the side of the crowd and placed a hand on the transparent glass cage containing the ‘Gray Mud’.

Pale pink flames rose within it, seemingly transparent, yet the burning they caused was exceptionally peculiar. The gray mud seemed particularly afraid, quickly burning away to nothing.

“This is ‘Purcell’s Fire,’ a special alchemy flame that can induce the consumption of ‘Aspects.’ It’s often used to eliminate ‘Aspect’ impurities in certain materials, but it works wonders against this ‘Gray Mud’.”

“I can try to create special flame dust to purify this ‘Gray Mud,’ but you’ll have to figure out a way to find a method to detect these minute ‘Gray Muds’.”

She turned her head, her gaze sweeping across everyone present, finally resting on Hylial.

“It’s up to you, Lia.” In her opinion, this girl was the most likely to come up with a solution.

“I understand.” Hylial nodded slightly. Currently, she was the only one at the outpost who could detect the faint traces of the ‘Gray Mud’. The other students couldn’t even observe it, let alone solve the problem.

Unfortunately, she was just one person. The vast ‘Iron Wall Cliff’ could not be thoroughly inspected by her alone. Even if she could, she would be overwhelmed, perhaps just finishing the west side when the east side would have already spread again.

She needed to find a way for other students to also “see” and “discover” the presence of this strange gray mud.

Over the next few days, Hylial waited for a reply from the Association Headquarters while discussing and experimenting with various methods with other students.

First, she thought of ‘Eye Medicine’. If she used an enhanced ‘Blue Pupil’ potion, would she be able to observe these minute ‘Gray Mud’ particles? After all, she had observed them through her ‘Identification Eye’.

The saying “Eyes are the windows to the soul” held true in the transcendent world. ‘Eye Medicine’ dropped into the eyes often maximized its effects, bringing greater power and abilities.

However, eyes were also extremely fragile organs. Improper use of medication could lead to blindness and damage to one’s soul and fate. All alchemists and apothecaries knew that ‘Eye Medicine’ had the best effects, but over the years of continuous research, only seven basic types of ‘Eye Medicine’ had been developed:

‘Green Eye,’ for observing the state and spectrum of plants, used for cultivation and observation.

‘Blue Pupil,’ for observing subtle changes in matter, used for alchemy and medicine making.

‘Red Pupil,’ for observing finer blood flow, used for targeting enemies in battle.

‘Purple Pupil,’ for observing the flow changes of rune imprints, used for guiding spellcasting.

‘Dark Pupil,’ for observing the existence of spectral beings, used for rituals and countering enemies.

‘Illusionary Eye,’ for enhancing one’s own illusionary capabilities, used to hypnotize enemies.

‘Majesty Eye,’ for enhancing one’s own deterrent capabilities, used to intimidate enemies.

Unfortunately, just like the alchemists and apothecaries of the past, Hylial faced a huge challenge in developing ‘Eye Medicine’: how to transform potions with complex effects into eye drops that wouldn’t harm the eyes.

If she added various rare ingredients to neutralize and remove the side effects of ‘Eye Medicine’, she could indeed produce an eye medicine that could observe ‘Gray Mud’. However, the materials required and the complexity of preparation for such an eye medicine would be equivalent to high-tier eye medicine. The cost would be extremely high, and it would require alchemists above Tier 5 to personally concoct it, which was simply impossible for the current town to achieve.

After dozens of unsuccessful trials with no possibility of success, Hylial had to abandon this overly difficult path and began to look for other solutions.

Alternatively, she could start with powders. Hylial suddenly remembered the ‘Revealing Powder’ that Professor Karl, the wizard, had given her during an adventure.

[Revealing Powder Recipe]: Uses glowing mushrooms, pine powder, and sparkling grass as raw materials to create a revealing powder that can make phantoms, invisible beings, and chameleons visible.

Ordinary revealing powder had no effect on the ‘Gray Mud’. However, Hylial knew the principle of revealing powder: a certain substance in it reacted with ‘ghosts’ and ‘invisible’ creatures, making their outlines visible.

If she could find a material that reacted precisely with the ‘Gray Mud’ but not with other things, she could distinguish the ‘Gray Mud’ from the environment.

So, what kind of material could achieve this?

For the next two days, she and her companions continued to try various methods. Under Dorothy’s suggestion, they used various common alchemical reactive materials. Unfortunately, the revealing powders they made either had no effect on the ‘Gray Mud’ or reacted to the ‘Gray Mud’ but also to other impurities and dust, causing everything to glow wherever it was sprinkled.

“So, what exactly is it that precisely reacts with the ‘Gray Mud’ but is indifferent to other substances and creatures?” Hylial sat on the sofa, her long-stockinged legs crossed, flipping through a book of medicinal ingredients on her lap, deep in thought.

“If the aspects of two substances are consistent, they can also produce a faint resonance connection…”

Substances with twisted aspects were everywhere in the Dark Mist Mountains; even the wind contained them. This wouldn’t work, the girl thought, shaking her head. Suddenly, something else came to mind.

The origin of the ‘Gray Mud’ seemed to be some kind of ‘mycelial’ fungus. If she could use this as a breakthrough point…

Thinking this, Hylial jumped off the sofa, put on her shoes, and quickly walked to an office on the side. She found a glass jar on a shelf, in which several clumps of purple jellyfish-like mushrooms glowed softly.

“You’re the one!”

Since they all shared a ‘mycelial’ origin, they should be able to recognize each other, right? The girl blinked her eyes, thinking curiously.