Chapter 102: Consuming the Vital Harmony Spring
Writ displayed its astonishing abilities for the first time, prompting Ain to wonder about the future. With this innate ability, what other extraordinary secrets could he discover? What could be the height of his accomplishments?
The two remaining writs were an irresistible temptation to Ain, requiring immense willpower to control. He had already tasted the sweetness, and it was difficult to resist another bite. He took a few deep breaths to settle his turbulent mind before lightly patting his cheeks. This action served to remind him of the pups’ saliva still on his face from their earlier affection, distracting him from his thoughts.
After washing his face, Ain took a seat and contemplated. His current alchemical abilities were slightly lacking to concoct the evolution potion. Although it could be made up with a little more time, his busy schedule left little room for maneuvering. Alchemy wasn’t his only pursuit, after all. In fact, he’d recently reduced his daily alchemy practice to only one hour, opting to spend most of his time on the AMD. Moreover, the spirit master studies and spirit tamer training were also essential, stretching his time thin.
Ain couldn’t help feeling vexed about this. With his innate talent, multitasking at this scale was entirely possible, if it weren’t for the time constraints.
“There’s no need to alter my schedule. My alchemical abilities should be up to standard when I’m ready to contract a second spirit pet,” Ain decided, not willing to abandon any of his pursuits. All the grueling effort now would definitely be rewarded later.
Shaking these unnecessary thoughts away, he decided to prepare early and searched for the evolution potion ingredients on Cyberspace. After quickly skimming through, almost everything was acquirable, except for one ingredient - The Echoing Time Dew.
Even with his new 5-star access, Ain only discovered sparse information regarding the Echoing Time Dew. He learned that the Echoing Time Dew was a rarely seen sacred treasure, with conditions for its appearance unknown. Moreover, there were no locations listed either. Now, aside from improving his alchemical abilities, Ain had to search for the Echoing Time Dew as well.
As he pondered over the list of names again, he recalled that he’d yet to name the evolution potion. And unlike most of the ingredients, the silver flower was also unnamed. This might be their first appearance before human eyes.
Ain didn’t take too long to conjure up some names. The evolution potion was unique, existing solely to evolve the cat into a time-attribute spirit beast. Hence, it was aptly named the Temporal Cat Elixir. As for the silver flower, it simply became the Freezing Time Flower.
After finishing this task, Ain turned his attention to the unread messages he’d seen when rescheduling the furniture delivery. There were messages from Goddess Nocturnal and Green Water, both inquiring about his attribute traces measurement service. It had been four days since their last transactions, contrasting the two days he’d initially planned. He promptly replied, informing them of the continuation.
Next, ignoring the Red Oak Elite group chat, Ain opened the Team group chat. There were a few blocks of texts, but Ain only required a few seconds to read through them. Once he did, his expression morphed into that of doubt and skepticism as he glanced through various news forums. Afterward, he inquired with Nox.
“Wooo…” Nox, who was playing in a different room, replied through their mental link. The distance wasn’t too large to disrupt their communication. Receiving Nox’s confirmation, Ain supported his head with his hand and contemplated uneasily, “Did I cause that commotion?”
In the group chat, he saw discussions about a strange thundering phenomenon appearing above Duskfield City. Frans seemed to know more, stating that the phenomenon actually encompassed the entire Dawnstar Federation. With his 5-star access, he saw news forums throughout the federation reporting on this mysterious occurrence.
This would’ve been an interesting conversation topic… if the time didn’t coincide with his usage of Writ.
“Writ can seek an answer from the Heavens… and that caused a phenomenon?” Ain couldn’t help but link these two events. Although it seemed far-fetched, and there was no direct evidence, his intuition strongly pointed its metaphoric finger at him.
Ain returned to Cyberspace and browsed through numerous headlines and articles. After scouring for every detail, he inwardly rejoiced, “The phenomenon’s source is reported as unknown. Since it wasn’t unique to Duskfield City, it’s unlikely that’ll be implicated. Looks like I’m safe for now.”
However, when this thought crossed his mind, Ain momentarily paused and let out an imperceptible sigh. He caught himself relying on luck again, but there was nothing else he could do in this situation either.
…
The next day, after a successful furniture delivery, Ain’s new home gained some warmth and vitality. Soon after, another package arrived at his doorstep, revealing the items he’d just purchased last night. These were an upgrade to his alchemy instruments, tools for the workshop, new home appliances, and some clothes.
Ain hadn’t had the time before, but upon observing the state of his clothes earlier, he was speechless at the thieves’ pettiness. Why destroy his clothes? Were they so worthless that the thieves couldn’t even bother to steal them but still took the time to destroy them?
Of course, this was just a small interlude.
With the convenience of spatial storage devices, Ain only had to point out the location for the delivery person to accurately place the furniture. As such, the entire endeavor required less than thirty minutes.
Ain explored his home with renewed appreciation, especially admiring the meditation room, training room, and laboratory. This morning, he’d already experienced the effects of the Spirit Gathering Array during meditation, which were vastly superior to the one in Class B’s training hall. Of course, this was primarily due to the mansion’s prime location. The central region was rich in ambient spirit energy.
After finishing his tour, Ain scampered toward the bathroom with an eager smile, “Now that I’m back to my usual routine, it’s time to consume the Vital Harmony Spring.”
If it weren’t for the break-in, this would’ve been the first thing on Ain’s agenda upon his return. From the messages, he learned that the others had already consumed the Vital Harmony Spring. Hugo and Paula both reached Intermediate Rank-1, whereas Frans’ progress accelerated greatly. Hugo and Paula’s spirit pets similarly reached Intermediate Rank-1, albeit the mechanical gauntlet did so through upgrading. Hence, Ain was eager to personally experience its effects.
With information from Cyberspace, and the tidbits he gleaned from the group chat, he was prepared for what was to come. Informing Nox, Ain entered the bathroom and removed his clothes. Soon, a bottle of Vital Harmony Spring, radiating a soft golden glow, appeared in his hand.
With one final glance, Ain placed the bottle against his lips and consumed its contents in vigorous gulps. 500 mL of liquid swiftly disappeared into his stomach as he placed the bottle aside and took a seat.
He didn’t have to wait for long as his body suddenly began to heat up. In a matter of seconds, his skin became redder than a ripe tomato. Alongside the searing heat came an ocean of pain, contorting Ain’s expression. His veins bulged as his eyes became bloodshot.
Of course, he wasn’t about to give in. In fact, he couldn’t give in, or the results would be disastrous, because the real calamity had yet to arrive. In this writhing pain, Ain felt his bones turning and his muscles squirming, seemingly squeezing out the impurities within. The clear sweat soaking his body developed a yellow hue, slowly darkening with time, causing an unpleasant scent to diffuse into the surroundings. Soon, the yellow became brown before morphing into an oily black.
What followed was an intense churning of his internal organs. The pain suddenly intensified manifold, causing Ain to shiver, but this marked the beginning of the real calamity in his mind. However, he was prepared, and was already seated on the toilet…
…
Two hours later, Ain exited the bathroom with a refreshed smile adorning his face. A blush suffused his supple skin that reflected a delicate luster. If not for his well-defined physique, it would be easy to mistake him for a girl.
“The Vital Harmony Spring’s effects are amazing! It provided a comprehensive boost to my physique. My body feels much lighter and stronger, and even my spirit energy circulation is smoother,” Ain voiced out his observations with a joyous smile.
Now, purely in terms of physique, he could outmatch most Advanced Rank-1 Spirit Beasts. With Nox’s Possession, he couldn’t begin to imagine his power. If reaching Advanced Rank-1 didn’t require him to brand his spirit core, he would’ve already stepped past that bottleneck.
With his new understanding after consuming it, Ain realized that the Vital Harmony Spring could directly strengthen one’s physique to the next minor realm. If he wasn’t wrong, Hugo, Paula, and Frans should have obtained physiques comparable to Advanced Rank-1 Spirit Tamers.
Furthermore, the Vital Harmony Spring was an Advanced Rank-3 sacred treasure, causing its effects to persist until Rank-4. This means their physiques would always be ahead by one minor rank until Rank-4!
This was the true allure of the Vital Harmony Spring!
“Even Frans and Paula might not know of its true significance,” Ain couldn’t help but conclude. Back then, Frans stated that he wasn’t aware of the Vital Harmony Spring’s complete effects. Even Ain only learned of it this morning through his 5-star Cyberspace access. What he knew before was from a brief mention in the inheritance book.
Thinking of this, he informed the rest through a message before calling over Nox.
“Wooo…” Nox phased through multiple walls and appeared before him.
“I’m fine, don’t worry. I was just consuming the Vital Harmony Spring,” Ain replied to its mental inquiry before revealing another bottle of the radiant liquid, “and now it’s your turn.”
Nox glanced at the bottle unsurely, “Wooo…”
Ain chuckled as he grabbed its cloudy body before dragging it to the cleaned bathroom, “Let’s go. It doesn’t hurt.”
“Wooo…!” Nox’s unwilling protests resounded in the mansion, prompting the cat and pups to glance in its direction. But they failed to see anything with the multitudes of walls between them, losing their interest soon after.
