Laid out on the table were a variety of tools: glassware for chemical experiments, including several beakers, flasks, and more, all intended for research on Mars.

The primary focus was on the spirit stone, a unique crystal-like object in this world, highly valued as a form of currency. Cultivators also utilized spirit stones to restore their inner Qi by absorbing the Qi contained within.

The initial experiment revealed a fascinating discovery: when a spirit stone was exposed to or soaked in alcoholic beverages, it underwent a transformation. The once-clear, slightly luminescent crystal became less clear, even somewhat murky. Subsequent tests, observations, and calculations indicated a slight decrease in mass or weight, suggesting that the spirit stone was dissolving.

For the next experiment, Orion employed modern chemical tools and used the distillation process to refine the alcohol content from various alcoholic drinks that Orion had previously purchased in the market. There were several jugs of alcohol for this purpose. Orion heated the beverages, channeling the vapor to another location for cooling, effectively converting it back to liquid form. This process was aided by the use of a thermometer and a slightly tweaked hydrometer to account for the unique conditions on this new planet. With precise control over the heat from an oil lamp and the assistance of these instruments, Orion was able to obtain alcohol with precise varying concentrations.

Orion proceeded to test the spirit stone with these various alcohol concentrations. The results were intriguing; the higher the alcohol concentration, the more significantly the spirit stone was affected. It lost its luster and dissolved at a faster rate.

Holding a glass beaker, Orion observed a fully dissolved spirit stone in alcohol. The formerly clear alcohol had turned murky, mirroring the state of the now-dissolved spirit stone.

Hours passed by, and it was almost sunrise. Orion, holding a glass beaker, gazed at the cyan liquid that emitted a soft glow. "Wow, this is rather beautiful," Orion murmured to itself.

Previously after allowing the dissolved spirit stone to settle, some impurities, particles, or residue gathered at the bottom of the glass. Orion then carefully extracted the clear liquid from the top and filtered it. Following that, Orion refined it in a manner similar to the previous alcohol refinement process.

After conducting tests, Orion confirmed that it was, in fact, just alcohol like any other. Regardless of what Orion did or how it tested the liquid, no differences were found compared to regular alcohol. The only distinction was that it glowed, and Orion still couldn't fathom why.

When a spirit stone comes into contact with an alcoholic drink, the Qi within it is absorbed by the alcohol. This explains the decrease in Qi and the loss of transparency in the spirit stone. Cultivators are always cautious not to spill any alcoholic beverages on their precious spirit stones because doing so would lead to a drop in quality.

If a spirit stone is submerged in an alcoholic drink, it will dissolve after some time. When a spirit stone dissolves in alcohol, all of its Qi is absorbed by the liquid. Cultivators cannot use or utilize it at all, and it's too dangerous to consume because of the impurities and other substances that have also dissolved. Furthermore, it cannot be absorbed using the meridian from the hand, as is the usual method for spirit stones. Typically, cultivators absorb Qi from their spirit stones via their meridians, primarily through their hands. Therefore, they only absorb the Qi, and the spirit stone and its impurities are left behind.

As for Orion, it had already sacrificed several spirit stones for research. It had managed to extract the Qi from the spirit stones in the form of liquid alcohol, free from any impurities. However, the resulting alcohol amounted to only 50% of the expected quantity during the refinement process.

After some more experiments, Orion stored all the tools and materials in the storage ring. Morning had already arrived. Wang Lingxin woke up from the bed, and Orion instructed her to clean herself. Orion handed her the newly created, simple toothpaste that it had devised during its free time when doing the alcohol-spirit stone research. It also gave her a tooth-cleaning twig made from a plant similar to the miswak, with one end frayed to form bristles.

After Wang Lingxin cleaned herself and brushed her teeth, and Orion tidied the bed, not long after, several servants arrived with breakfast. Wang Lingxin enjoyed the food, chomping happily, while Orion watched her. As they prepared to depart from the guesthouse, Liu Jian paid them a visit. It seemed his condition had improved, and he extended an invitation for Wang Lingxin and Orion to take a stroll through the city together. Wang Lingxin was overjoyed and immediately agreed. After a moment of consideration, Orion also accepted the invitation.

"As expected of Mr. Orion, the Qi in this room is so dense," Liu Jian commented as they were about to depart. He was clearly impressed by the thick Qi swirling in the room. He thought that perhaps Orion had just completed a cultivation session, and the possibility of Orion using a high-quality Qi gathering array crossed his mind. Even the Qi gathering array used by the Liu family couldn't amass such a significant amount of Qi.

Liu Jian mistakenly attributed the lingering Qi in the room to Orion's cultivation session, unaware that it was a result of Orion's experiment, where some Qi had evaporated from the glowing alcohol and filled the room.

"Huh?" Orion responded, genuinely puzzled. What Qi? What is he talking about? Orion wondered internally.

Liu Jian then pointed to a small table on the side where there are several papers on it. "Oh, Mr. Orion, what kind of papers are these?" he inquired.

Orion replied, "Those? They're just some ordinary papers. What about them?"

Liu Jian chuckled, to think that such valuable papers thick with Qi is just ordinary papers for Mr. Orion, Liu Jian thought internally. "Well, those papers are rich in Qi, and many cultivators would be interested in them, considering them valuable items. But for Mr. Orion, such a thing is indeed just ordinary papers." Lu Jian misunderstood Orion as a senior cultivator with a far higher cultivation base because of mysterious and unfathomable nature of Orion.

Valuable? What valuable? Those are just ordinary papers, Orion thought internally. Previously, Orion used those papers for research, dipping them in a variety of alcohol, both regular and the glowing alcohol.

Orion internally pondered, Wait, don't tell me...

"Young Master Liu is indeed sharp, to be able to notice that" Orion said as it tried to probe for more information.

"It was nothing; any cultivator would also notice it because the thick Qi emanating from those papers is hard to ignore," Liu Jian replied.

"Then, Young Master Liu," Orion said as it picked up a bunch of papers from the table and compared two of them, "which one is the best among these two?" Orion held a paper in each of its hands.

"The one on the right, very easy because it emits such strong Qi, and the one on the left is just a normal paper," Liu Jian answered.

"Good. Now, what about this one? Which emits more Qi?" Orion picked up another paper.

"The one on the left, it emits slightly stronger Qi," Liu Jian replied.

And so, Orion continued to pick up papers and inquire further.

"That was really great, Young Master Liu," Orion said, genuinely happy because Orion had finally found some answers and leads from the previous research. Orion patted Liu Jian's shoulder.

"Uh... That was nothing, Mr. Orion," Liu Jian replied, attempting a smile. He wasn't sure if Orion was being sincere or just using sarcasm because it had been so easy to discern those papers. Did Orion's praise hold any meaning?

"Then... should we go explore the city now, or..." Liu Jian began.

"Let's go," Orion replied, ready to start their exploration of the city.

Orion has concluded that the glowing alcohol's luminescence is a result of the presence of Qi. Orion decided to name this unique substance 'liquified Qi,' which can be shortened to 'LQ-X,' with 'X' representing the number of times it has been refined or distilled.

The brightness of liquified Qi is directly related to its refinement or alcohol concentration, and the higher the concentration, the more radiant it becomes, indicating a higher Qi content. Furthermore, Orion discovered that when liquified Qi undergoes additional distillation, it becomes even brighter, and the Qi within it becomes more concentrated, regardless of the volume of alcohol used. Orion also observed that the varying Qi concentrations on different papers were a direct result of the varying levels of distillation, signifying different LQ concentrations.

This further reinforces the idea that it's the Qi-rich spirit stone that influences the outcome, rather than the quantity of alcohol employed. Alcohol only serves as the solvent for the dissolution of spirit stones, facilitating the separation of their Qi essence. Additionally, it acts as a catalytic medium for the transformation of this Qi essence into liquified Qi, effectively functioning as a carrier for the concentrated Qi extract.

Orion wonders why the people in this world haven't figured this out.

Orion, Wang Lingxin, and Liu Jian then left the estate in a luxurious carriage. They visited many places, with Liu Jian taking them on a tour of the city, visiting famous stores and establishments.

They also came across a large field with an arena in the middle, surrounded by chairs for spectators. Here, mortal martial artists and cultivators could engage in fights, settle disputes, and showcase their skills.

There were several scheduled fights for the day, including raw fights featuring pure martial arts skills, battles accompanied by clashes of weapons shrouded in colorful aura similar to those in Earth's movies for those in the Qi Condensation realm, and fights among those in the Foundation Establishment realm, featuring powerful and flashy attacks with fireballs, blinding lights, thunder, and wind slashes. Orion watched and recorded the fights from the VIP seating area, analyzing and integrating combat techniques into its knowledge to improve its understanding of martial arts and combat.

After the fights concluded, they proceeded to one of the city's most renowned restaurants, owned by the Liu family, for lunch. Orion refrained from eating and engaged in conversation with Liu Jian, while Wang Lingxin savored the restaurant's best dishes and menus, leaving with a satisfied smile and a slightly fuller belly.

Next, Liu Jian led Orion and Wang Lingxin to the city's largest auction house. The employees of the auction house politely escorted them to the first VIP room on the second floor, a lavishly decorated space where they were seated in soft and comfortable chairs.

The auction was led by a beautiful elf girl, with the less valuable items being auctioned first and the more valuable ones held for last. After several items were auctioned, it was the turn for a storage ring. The auctioneer described it as a low-quality storage ring with a capacity of 1 cubic meter.

The auction began with a starting price of 7 spirit stones, equivalent to 700 gold coins. This price was considered rather pricey, especially considering that Wang Lingxin's uncle's family typically spent less than 2 gold coins per year. The high cost was due to the difficulty of crafting storage rings and their high demand, making them hard to obtain in the market.

Cultivators with sufficient wealth, such as Liu Jian, weren't interested in such low-quality storage rings with limited space for storing items. The participants in the bidding were mostly low-level cultivators in the Qi Condensation realm who had either saved up for a long time or had come across some luck. Surprisingly, there was another party in the VIP room interested in the low-quality storage ring. The bidding had already reached 12 spirit stones when Orion confidently raised the bid to 14 spirit stones.

The attention of the onlookers on the first floor and the bidders competing turned to Orion's VIP room. They wondered why someone from the VIP room was interested in such a low-quality storage ring. The previous bidder decided not to compete, not wanting to offend someone with VIP room access, thinking it was a rich young master bidding for fun.

"14 spirit stones, going once, twice, thrice, and sold to the bidder in the 1st VIP room," the elf lady announced as she struck the wooden mallet.

The people on the first floor who were interested in purchasing storage rings were fine with it, thinking there would be more rings to come. However, to their surprise, the person from the first VIP room bought all the storage rings. They couldn't help but wonder if someone in the first VIP room was a collector of rings.

Even Liu Jian was puzzled. Why would Mr. Orion need so many storage rings? I remember that he already has a decent storage ring, and even Father gave him a high-quality storage ring, Liu Jian pondered internally. Wang Lingxin, on the other hand, was disinterested in the whole situation and decided to snack in the room, managing to fit more into her belly after the hearty lunch.

Those planning to buy storage rings could only swallow their disappointment, hoping that more storage rings would be auctioned on another day.

After sweeping all the storage rings that were being auctioned, Orion was truly satisfied and couldn't wait to use the newly acquired storage rings to create an improved version of the SO-1 drone. It had already envisioned the blueprint and design modifications within its AI, ready to put them into practice. During its stay in the city, Orion had come across many interesting objects, items, and information that is very helpful. Orion expected to find even more once it reached Fengxian, a far larger city.

The auction continued, featuring many expensive and rare items, but to their surprise, the occupants of the first VIP room didn't make any bids. It seemed that storage rings were the sole interest of those in the first VIP room, they thought.

As the grand finale, an item of interest was a Grade-3 sword, a beautiful and gleaming piece imbued with inscriptions to enhance its strength and sharpness. It was apparently created by the city's most famous blacksmith Luo Fengwei. The starting price for the sword was 10,000 spirit stones.

"Mr. Orion, what do you think about the sword?" Liu Jian inquired, observing Orion closely. He was ready to bid for the sword and gift it to Orion if he showed any interest.

"Hmm... it's decent, I suppose," Orion responded, zooming in with its camera to scrutinize the sword. For Orion, who couldn't unlock the sword's full potential by channeling Qi and using combat techniques, it was like any other sword, albeit possibly a bit sharper.

"Uh... I see," Liu Jian responded, rather disappointed, but observing Orion's exquisite armor made him think that Orion hailed from a place with a high level of blacksmithing expertise. "I thought that you would be interested in the sword," Liu Jian added.

"Well, rather than the sword, I am more interested in meeting the one who created it," Orion replied.

"Mr. Orion, do you wish to meet Mr. Luo Fengwei?" Liu Jian inquired.

"Mr. Orion, if you wish to meet him, I can arrange it," Liu Jian offered. "Our family has a good relationship with him."

"Then I thank you, Young Master Liu," Orion expressed its gratitude.

The VIP room number 2 won the bidding and obtained the sword for 23,000 spirit stones. After the auction ended, Orion settled the bill for the storage rings it had acquired and, with satisfaction, joined Liu Jian and Wang Lingxin to head to Luo Fengwei's workshop.