“How exactly is Spiritual Ink concocted?”
Mo Hua thought about asking Mr. Zhuang for advice, but since the question wasn’t too profound, he didn’t want to disturb the gentleman’s seclusion. So he went to ask Bai Zisheng instead.
Bai Zisheng sat under a big pagoda tree, his face twisted in pain as he worked on his studies.
Mo Hua glanced at the book, which was “Alchemy Temperature Control and Pill Quality Analysis”.
Mo Hua didn’t understand…
He indeed wasn’t skilled at Alchemy, but he was fairly clear about the Formation Patterns inside an Alchemy Furnace.
After all, he had once helped Old Mr. Feng repair the water and wood controlling Spirit Formation inside an Alchemy Furnace.
Bai Zisheng closed his book and lay down on the ground, stiff as a salted fish and motionless.
“Zisheng, I have a question for you.”
Bai Zisheng spoke wearily, “This book has given me a headache, ask Zixi instead, let me rest for a bit.”
“Oh,” Mo Hua turned his head to look at Bai Zixi.
Bai Zixi had just closed her book as well, her eyes like autumn waters looking at Mo Hua.
“Do you have a moment?” Mo Hua asked quietly.
Bai Zixi nodded slightly.
Mo Hua pondered his words and asked, “How is the Spiritual Ink used for Formations concocted?”
“With Monster Blood, Spiritual Liquid, Spirit Grass, or Spiritual Mines,” said Bai Zixi succinctly, her voice clear and melodious.
But Mo Hua didn’t quite understand, “Is there something more specific?”
Just knowing these materials, Mo Hua still had no clue how to concoct them…
“Wait a moment.” Bai Zixi opened a snow-white Storage Bag embroidered with elegant pale golden phoenix patterns and rummaged through it to take out a book.
Mo Hua looked at Bai Zixi’s refined yet exquisite Storage Bag with curiosity.
He wondered what was stored inside, as it seemed to contain all sorts of books.
Bai Zixi’s fair and delicate hands held the book and handed it over to Mo Hua.
Mo Hua took it and flipped through it.
The cover of the book read “First-grade Spirit Ink Record,” which documented the Spiritual Ink commonly used for first-grade and lower formations, including the types of ink, recipes, and specific concocting techniques.
There was also a line of text on the cover: “Bai Family clan collection, not to be disseminated.”
Mo Hua couldn’t help but glance at Bai Zixi.
Bai Zixi said mildly, “It’s fine, it’s not top-secret.”
Mo Hua felt relieved and continued to browse through it.
The methods for concocting First-grade Spiritual Ink were relatively simple, mostly using Monster Blood as the base, mixed with a certain proportion of Spirit Stone powder and diluted Spiritual Liquid, or the juice of some Spirit Grass, to neutralize the aggressiveness of the Monster Blood and stimulate its efficacy, blending the ink with spiritual energy.
Spiritual Liquid and Spirit Grass were not used extensively, so it was not too troublesome; the most challenging part was actually obtaining the Monster Blood.
The Monster Blood used for concocting Spiritual Ink had to be drawn from the Monster Beasts while they were still alive, or within the time span of a cup of tea after their death.
Once a Monster Beast died, if too much time passed, its blood would either cool and dim, losing much of its efficacy, or completely solidify, making it unusable for Spiritual Ink.
Moreover, drawing the Monster Blood also required a special secret technique to guide the blood from the Monster Beasts’ vessels, bit by bit, into a specially made jade bottle for preservation to prevent the blood from solidifying.
This special spell for drawing Monster Blood was known as the Blood Drawing Art.