Chapter 100

Chapter 100

Bai Xiaoyu sent out the information about the Small Xirang, and now three parties were searching for it in the vast expanse of the starry universe, hoping to gather all five elemental attributes of the Xirang grass.

Over the next three days, six medicinal herbs were delivered.

Of these, the wood attribute Xirang grass was the most abundant, with three plants. The remaining two were earth attribute, and one was fire attribute.

Since he hadn't yet gathered all five elemental attributes of the Xirang grass, Bai Xiaoyu couldn't use them yet. He took each plant out one by one, intending to store them in white jade boxes inscribed with seal runes.

Xiaobudian was nearby, watching curiously as Bai Xiaoyu held a plant with red cloud-like flowers. The fluffy little head leaned in, sniffed it, and then took a bite.

Soon, it spat it out, and the flower-like part twisted and returned to its original shape.

Xiaobudian's face was full of confusion; biting into it felt like biting into inorganic soil—no taste, no weight, truly bizarre.

Bai Xiaoyu poked the little white tiger's head. "Stop biting it; it's not cotton candy. Even though it looks like a flower, this Xirang grass is actually a piece of soil. You're eating soil, you know?"

Xiaobudian moved away from the flower, realizing it was a plant that grew soil.

Over the next two days, Bai Xiaoyu continued to receive more Xirang grass. Upon opening them, he found that he had finally gathered all five elements.

He took out the Xirang grass with the five elemental attributes—gold, wood, water, fire, and earth—and plucked the five weightless, cloud-like flowers (golden, green, blue, red, and yellow) to place them in the alchemy furnace.

Soon, the five small flowers arranged themselves in order, forming a five-colored flower. As they were burned, the five-colored flower gradually shrank and fused together, eventually becoming a thumb-sized, colorless, transparent piece of soil.

Using his mental power, Bai Xiaoyu lifted it and placed it in his palm. If not for his mental power still enveloping the Small Xirang, his empty palm would have appeared completely bare.

His palm couldn't feel the presence of the Small Xirang, and when he prodded it with his other hand, it felt like poking air.

This was the Small Xirang. Apart from plant seeds, other creatures couldn't touch its solid state.

Using his mental power, Bai Xiaoyu guided the Small Xirang into the egg-shaped object without making any holes. The Small Xirang, like his mental power, ignored the eggshell and passed through it directly.

Quickly, he moved the Small Xirang under half of the seed. As soon as the seed touched the Xirang, it sprouted milky white roots, anchoring itself into the transparent Small Xirang.

Bai Xiaoyu observed that even though the roots had penetrated, nothing could be seen on the outside of the transparent Small Xirang.

In just a few breaths, the half-seed connected to the yolk became fuller and visibly improved in color.

The data displayed on the external screen rapidly increased.

Bai Xiaoyu removed the previous restrictions on the nutrient solution, and the absorption rate immediately rose to the highest among all the eggs.

It seemed to have worked.

Satisfied with the egg's condition, Bai Xiaoyu turned his attention to the other rare species' eggs.

Looking at the data displayed on the transparent screens of the incubation compartments, these eggs absorbed the nutrient solution reasonably well, but their absorption rates were lower than those of normal eggs. Some gray eggs had absorption rates that were less than half of the others.

Bai Xiaoyu carefully observed and concluded that while these eggs could be nurtured with nutrient solutions, they required different nutrients. Without comprehensive nutrition, their development was slow.

Using his mental power to probe inside the egg, he found that everything inside was gray, whether it was the albumen or the yolk. Inside, it was a gray haze, unlike other non-rare species' eggs, which had distinct temperatures during incubation. This egg maintained a consistent temperature inside and out, unaffected by changes in the environment. However, the shapes of the yolk and albumen were normal, which was strange.

Moreover, the egg emitted a familiar yet unfamiliar aura, which he couldn't quite place.

Despite this, Bai Xiaoyu detected the egg's attributes and combined it with the unabsorbed components of the nutrient solution. He quickly discovered that all yang-attribute components remained, while all yin-attribute components were absorbed.

After multiple tests, he concluded that the egg preferred yin and disliked yang.

Bai Xiaoyu adjusted accordingly, creating a specialized nutrient solution for the egg. He replaced the yang-attribute herbs with yin-attribute ones and added other herbs to create a purely yin-attribute solution.

This time, the egg absorbed the solution very quickly, and within a few days, its size increased noticeably.

Upon further examination, he found that the yolk had begun to develop. Surprisingly, the newly formed blood vessels around the yolk and the blood flowing through them were not bright red but gray-black. Even the heart taking shape in the center was this color.

Bai Xiaoyu recorded this observation and included it in the case studies for his students.

For the other two rare species' eggs, the analysis of the remaining nutrient solution showed that they could absorb it, albeit with lower absorption rates. No significant issues were identified, so he continued to nurture them.

Next, Bai Xiaoyu focused on the egg that had been dormant for twenty-three years. Before probing it with his mental power, he gave it an injection. Yes, it was the Life Essence Agent. Now, every few days, he needed to obtain medicine beads from the tentacles for the dormant youngling inside the egg.

After nearly two weeks of continuous Life Essence Agent supplementation, the youngling's vitality slowly recovered.

Three days ago, Bai Xiaoyu felt it was time to administer other medications. He mixed a gentle restorative agent with the Life Essence Agent to nourish the youngling's body.

Over the past three days, the youngling's body gradually regained some color, and today, its fingers slightly moved. Although it was only a brief movement, it proved that the youngling was recovering.

It took him most of the day to check all the younglings' conditions. After recording the status of the eggs, he looked at the storage compartment provided by the system, where only one dose of Life Essence Agent remained.

It seemed he would need to visit the deep-blue tentacle again for another 'chat.'

Walking back to the incubation compartment for the tentacle egg, he saw the egg and a smaller opaque sphere rolling in the nutrient solution.

Bai Xiaoyu reached out, and the egg rolled over to press against his palm, rubbing against it.

Soon, a ball rolled over and bumped into his arm.

Bai Xiaoyu was familiar with this behavior and picked up the ball. It struggled in his hand, but he shook it gently, causing the tentacle inside to lose its grip and slow down.

Taking the opportunity, he placed the egg in a nursery box and put the ball beside it. The egg and the ball pressed together, and they stopped fussing.

Even though the tentacle egg hadn't shown any interest in its neighbor, Bai Xiaoyu wasn't taking any chances and always took both the tentacle egg and the ball with him when leaving.

Back in the alchemy room, Bai Xiaoyu released the tentacle from the ball. Using his mental power, he watched it feast on live prey he had purchased from the interstellar farm and placed in the forest behind the house.

Now, after a hearty meal, the deep-blue tentacle, swollen to the thickness of a calf's leg, turned red and rushed back quickly.

Meanwhile, the entire deep-blue mass, as large as an adult water buffalo, was digesting its meal. All its tentacles were red and slowly digesting.

He once again felt his main tentacle become full, but soon the sensation of energy and vitality being drained away returned.

The deep blue mass became agitated. What on earth was going on that it had to drain his main tentacle more than three times a day!

Even he didn't eat this frequently every day!

More importantly, he didn't sense any resistance from his tentacle.

Every time the deep blue mass tried to control the distant tentacle, its mental power encountered the presence of the royal aura in its mind, causing it to instinctively hold back.

It desperately wanted to see what was happening over there, but instinct prevented it. Thus, the deep blue mass grew even more agitated, thrashing its tentacles and dragging food from a hundred meters away to devour it.

Seeing the fierce appearance of the tentacle, Bai Qi was increasingly satisfied. This was still with ordinary animals; feeding on insect crystals could lead to even higher levels of evolution.

Speaking of insect crystals, Bai Qi turned to Old Qi. "Can we still get insect crystals?"

Old Qi: "The previous request to His Majesty was unsuccessful. However, it's the annual day when royal pharmacists and cultivators can apply to the Royal Pharmacy for materials. I've heard that this time, His Majesty will offer a ten-pound insect crystal as one of the items for exchange. We can offer something in return."

Insect crystals were neither hot nor cold commodities. Apart from research and feeding the prince, they had no other known uses. For certain factions, they were quite useless.

So their competition should be minimal.

After all, many factions had their own people within the Royal Pharmacy and the Royal Nursery. Initially, this event was meant to reward pharmacists and cultivators, but it later evolved into a contest among various factions.

Of course, the royal family also benefited, as different factions would naturally bid higher for the same item.

They could trade goods or even use credit points.

A ten-pound insect crystal was enough for the prince to evolve a major level, so Bai Qi was determined to secure it.

On the other side, after Bai Xiaoyu fed the egg with the deep blue tentacle, he took out some herbs for the tentacle.

The tentacle waited for a while but found that Bai Xiaoyu hadn't taken out any insect crystals, and immediately became unwilling.

It absorbed plant essences to feed the tentacle egg, but when Bai Xiaoyu tried to collect them using his mental power, the tentacle resisted. The fine hairs around the tentacle repeatedly stole back the essence from the medicinal pearls Bai Xiaoyu collected.

After a grueling battle, Bai Xiaoyu was left with only one-fifth of the usual amount of medicinal pearls, leaving him speechless.

It seemed that without any insect crystals left, the tentacle couldn't be bribed anymore.

The dormant egg's youngling couldn't go without life essence potions, and now the tentacle wasn't cooperating. Unless he could find insect crystals.

But insect crystals were extremely rare, and currently, only the royal family had them.

Just as Bai Xiaoyu was troubled by the few medicinal pearls in his hand, his optical brain received a notification.

He opened it and found it was an exchange notice from the Royal Pharmacy.

After reading it, Bai Xiaoyu realized it was similar to an auction where the royal family offered valuable items for all factions to compete for.

Those eligible to participate included not only pharmacists from the Royal Pharmacy and cultivators from the Royal Nursery but also external factions favored by the royal family and individuals capable of competing, who would receive invitations.

Bai Xiaoyu, upon seeing the qualification notice, was initially confused but then perked up when he saw the exchange items listed.

Among them was an insect crystal!

Ten pounds!

Bai Xiaoyu looked at the deep blue tentacle coiled around the egg, which ignored him, and suddenly smiled.

At that moment, his optical brain flashed.

He answered the call from an unknown person and saw an elderly man with gray hair and a slightly pale face.

Searching through his memories, including those of his predecessor, Bai Xiaoyu found no match for the elder's face. "Hello, may I ask who you are?"

The elder looked at Bai Xiaoyu with a gentle tone. "I am an elder of the Royal Pharmacy. You can call me Elder Han. Have you received the exchange notice from the royal family? I'm here to confirm if you will participate. If you do, will it be online or offline? Online participation is less convenient since you can only bid on items. Offline participation allows direct interaction with other participants, and even if you fail, you can negotiate privately to secure your desired items."

Facing Elder Han's enthusiasm, Bai Xiaoyu replied, "I will participate, but I cannot leave the nursery, so I'll have to do it online."

Elder Han sounded disappointed but continued to encourage Bai Xiaoyu several times before saying, "I hope we can continue our conversation in the future."

After hanging up, the metal egg hopped in front of Bai Xiaoyu and sent a message: "Elder Han is responsible for monitoring the condition of your egg. Every egg in the Royal Nursery has a pharmacist and a cultivator assigned to it. Both Elder Han and another elder named Chen were the most prominent figures back then, even making Old Qi, the current president of the Pharmaceutical Association, step aside. They both fell into a coma due to mental instability during the later stages of cultivation. Now that he's awake and notifying you, it seems he really hopes you'll attend in person."

Bai Xiaoyu: "Perhaps. There are still three days left. I need to prepare items to exchange for the ten-pound insect crystal."

Bai Kan: "Insect crystals aren't in high demand. There shouldn't be much competition."

Bai Xiaoyu: "I hope so."

In reality, when the bidding began, they discovered that multiple factions were vying for the insect crystals.