"This Low-Grade First-Order Streaming Light Grass finally has fifty years of medicinal potency!"
Qi Ping looked at the herb, which occasionally emitted a golden glow like flowing water. His heart brimmed with excitement. The final primary ingredient for the Bloodline Mutation Potion was ready.
For the past week, he had barely focused on the Blood Ginseng, putting all his energy into the Streaming Light Grass. It had taken a great deal of effort to succeed. Fortunately, accelerating the growth of a Low-Grade herb was much easier than a Mid-Grade one like the ginseng, allowing him to complete the task in less than two weeks while still managing his other duties.
The ingredients were gathered. It was time to begin!
Soon, a pile of herbs lay before him. The most prominent was a deep-red, semi-transparent ginseng that sparkled like a crystal. The spiritual energy radiating from it was so thick that a single breath made him feel as if his cultivation were growing. After reaching a century of age, the Blood Ginseng had undergone a qualitative change, far surpassing its state at ninety years.
Then there was the Streaming Light Grass with its dark golden ripples. At fifty years, it had also transformed, its light shifting from a pale gold to a deep, heavy hue that commanded respect. No wonder the recipe required these specific ages; only after these transformations could the herbs produce the desired mutation effect.
(Bloodline Mutation Potion Recipe)
(Primary Ingredients: Centennial Blood Ginseng, 50-year-old Streaming Light Grass)
(Secondary Ingredients: Insect-Gall Wood, Gamboge, A-Touch-of-Green)
(Medicinal Effect: While retaining the Blood Ginseng's effects of nourishing the body and spiritual energy, it amplifies the herb's blood-boiling cleansing effect by more than ten times. After consuming the potion, spirit insects have a chance to undergo bloodline mutation and evolution.)
(The success rate depends on the specific insect species. There is a significant risk of death.)
(The better the physical condition and adaptability of the insect, the higher the chance of success.)
(Refining Method: Use spiritual power to extract the essence of each herb, then stabilize the fusion process.)
'Primary ingredients gathered.'
'Secondary ingredients collected.'
The secondary ingredients were common, unranked herbs. They could be found in any ordinary apothecary, and many grew naturally on the Cloud-Mist Mountains. Qi Ping had already gathered them while waiting for the main herbs to age.
'The only problem is the risk. I hope Beast King's Grace can increase the bees' success rate.'
(Beast King's Grace: Your animal companions receive a bonus to their leveling speed and mutation success rates.)
With this skill, the bees' chances should be significantly higher than those of ordinary insects.
The effects of the Bloodline Mutation Potion were truly explosive. Its essence lay in using the Streaming Light Grass's cleansing properties, combined with other herbs, to amplify the Blood Ginseng's cleansing effect by ten times without destroying its nourishing qualities. This forced the insect's body to undergo a violent bloodline upgrade. The "A-Touch-of-Green" herb added a slight boost to the mutation chance without interfering with the primary effects.
Ultimately, it was a simple and brutal method that gambled on the individual insect's potential. It carried a high risk of death, but those who survived would break through their bloodline shackles and become a stronger, new type of insect with vastly increased strength.
Because of the high mortality rate, this potion was only practically useful for colonial insects. For large beasts like a Barb-Armored Bear or a Crimson-Flame Tiger, one would need a massive amount of rare ingredients to achieve a similar effect, and the risk of losing such a high-value asset made it worthless.
Colonial insects, however, had two major advantages: they had short lifespans and relied on rapid reproduction. If even one successfully mutated, it could be used to breed an entire generation of evolved offspring. Within three to ten generations, the entire swarm would complete its bloodline upgrade.
Despite the risk, Qi Ping had communicated with the Golden Marrow Bees after obtaining the recipe. Their reaction told him he was worrying for nothing. All the bees went into a frenzy, clamoring to be the ones to take the potion. To them, the chance to elevate the entire colony's bloodline was worth any price. Even if half the swarm died, it was a bargain if the survivors reached the next level.
From an insect's perspective, sacrificing a few individuals for the sake of the species was a logical choice. Of course, not every bee could take it; the mutation would only be meaningful if the drones mutated and bred with the Queen to produce new, evolved offspring.
A Golden Marrow Bee matured in four to eight weeks, and even faster if the food supply was abundant. In about a month, a larva could become a mature adult. Theoretically, once Qi Ping refined the potion, it would only take about a month to produce a massive new swarm.
'Now for the refining process...'
At this stage, Qi Ping couldn't help but feel nervous. While refining a potion was far simpler than alchemy—requiring only the extraction of essence through spiritual control and stable fusion—it still presented two major hurdles for most cultivators.
First, the extraction of essence and the removal of impurities required a high degree of spiritual control and an intimate understanding of the herbs' properties. If one's control was lacking, they couldn't separate the impurities. If their understanding was poor, they couldn't even distinguish the essence from the waste. Any deviation in the composition would lead to failure.