Longevity Martial Arts: I have a Mysterious Water Snake Avatar
Chapter 45 - 44 Researcher Hong Yuan (Seeking Investment Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Chapter 45: Chapter 44 Researcher Hong Yuan (Seeking Investment Seeking Follow-up Reads)

TWANG!

Hong Yuan pulled his bow and drew the string, sending an arrow dusted with paralysis powder whistling towards the cave-dwelling Red Flame Tiger.

The Red Flame Tiger, still in a slumber, suddenly jerked and forcefully raised its body, changing the arrow’s target from its head to its right front limb.

Again with the Demon Beast’s intuition...

Watching the limping Red Flame Tiger, Hong Yuan felt somewhat helpless.

Cultivation was a process that continuously elevated the fundamental source of life. As the source of life ascended, Demon Beasts would more or less possess some Innate Abilities. Among these, the intuition to sense life threats seemed to be a universal talent. Almost all Demon Beasts, big and small, would awaken to it.

"ROAR!"

The Red Flame Tiger let out a fierce roar at Hong Yuan, the uninvited guest. The roar, almost tangible, surged towards Hong Yuan as an attack.

Hong Yuan quickly channeled Silver Flower True Essence through his body’s Aperture, rapidly covering his body with it to ward off the Red Flame Tiger’s sonic attack.

TWANG! TWANG! TWANG!

He drew the string to a crescent, then a full moon, again and again. The White Bull Bow rapidly changed its form three times, and then three arrows shot out like lightning flashes.

With the boost from the Minor Accomplishment Stage of the Qinglu Mountain Moving Skill, Hong Yuan’s arrows struck with thunderous force. The Red Flame Tiger was about to duck and retreat but was penetrated and killed by the arrows, three large portions of its flesh and blood vaporized.

Looking at the mutilated carcass of the Red Flame Tiger, Hong Yuan sighed lightly, "I meant to leave you a whole corpse to sell. Why did you have to be so uncooperative?"

With that, Hong Yuan stepped into the cave.

The cave was bright, spacious, warm in winter and cool in summer, and exceptionally clean.

Looking at the matted-down pile of grass ahead, Hong Yuan clicked his tongue in amazement.

A tiger’s bed?

After taking out some items from his storage bag and tidying up the surroundings, Hong Yuan began preparing for Worm Refining.

「...」

Hong Yuan had learned from previous experiments that among forty-nine Tiger Head Bees, the one that survived to become a Tiger Head Bee Worm would be an Insect with severe toxicity, swift speed, a sharp stinger, and an enormously powerful bite force. Therefore, he categorized the Tiger Head Bees according to these four features, allowing each group to develop one particular characteristic. Hong Yuan didn’t need a Tiger Head Bee Worm that was average in all aspects. On the contrary, he needed a Worm specialized in one particularly outstanding trait!

He consecutively took four large iron buckets with lids out of his storage bag. The lids were labeled "Toxicity," "Speed," "Stinger," and "Mandibles."

To enhance the experimental atmosphere, Hong Yuan intentionally changed into a white lab coat. Not only that, but he also put on a pair of crudely made, milky-white natural rubber gloves.

Perhaps this is what "ceremony" is all about, Hong Yuan thought contentedly, chuckling softly, "Heh heh heh..."

Soon, Hong Yuan took four batches of Tiger Head Bees with different characteristics from the bee prison cage and placed them into the iron buckets according to their labels.

Into the "Toxicity" iron bucket, Hong Yuan placed the corpse of a cobra.

Into the "Speed" iron bucket, he placed the corpse of a Chase Wind Eagle.

Into the "Stinger" iron bucket, he placed the corpse of an Earth Dragon Scorpion.

Into the "Mandibles" iron bucket, he placed the corpse of a Sand Crocodile.

After completing these steps, Hong Yuan took out a black notebook filled with data and began recording with a charcoal pencil.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The four iron buckets began to shake as the Tiger Head Bees inside, spurred on by medicinal herbs, fought each other to the death to determine the ultimate winner.

Meanwhile, Hong Yuan, following the principles for control groups, recorded the data for each experimental group. Since he had previously used a control group and drawn conclusions, Hong Yuan skipped it this time and focused solely on observing the experimental groups.

In the "Toxicity" group, the Tiger Head Bee with large mouthparts survived. In the "Speed" group, the small-sized Tiger Head Bee survived...

The sheer volume of data reminded Hong Yuan of his college days. The difference was that now he had no teacher to guide him and had to rely solely on his own efforts.

「Two hours later」

The first Tiger Head Bee Worm appeared. It was from the "Speed" group!

Oh ho, this is beyond my expectations! Hong Yuan closed the black notebook and squatted down to observe the small Tiger Head Bee Worm inside the iron bucket.

According to his predictions, he had initially thought the "Toxicity" group would be the first to produce a Tiger Head Bee Worm, but to his surprise, it was the "Speed" group.

Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. As a scientific researcher, one must never make assumptions.

Hong Yuan silently admonished himself for a few moments, then stuffed an Orange River Fruit into the large iron bucket of the "Speed" group.

The "Speed" Tiger Head Bee Worm, severely dehydrated, voraciously devoured the Orange River Fruit. Soon after, it felt an intense hunger surging through its body and turned to pounce on the carcasses of other Tiger Head Bees, swallowing their essence.

「After about seven minutes」

The second Tiger Head Bee Worm emerged; it was from the "Toxicity" group. Hong Yuan repeated the process, stuffing an Orange River Fruit into the "Toxicity" group’s iron bucket.

「Another seven minutes or so passed」

Hong Yuan then added Orange River Fruits to the "Mandibles" and "Stinger" groups’ iron buckets. The Tiger Head Bee Worms from these two groups emerged at roughly the same time; the battles within their respective buckets had been particularly fierce. The Tiger Head Bee Worm from the "Mandibles" group was left with only half of its body, which made Hong Yuan very concerned about its ability to continue with the subsequent Worm Refining.

After all, the materials he had were limited, and every bit was precious.

Since the Tiger Head Bee Worms needed time to absorb the essence, Hong Yuan stopped recording data and began to review notes on Worm Refining insights in another notebook.

These Worm Refining insights included not only his experiences from refining Sting Bee Worms multiple times but also information he had collected from the Book Pavilion.

The Book Pavilion is a wonderful thing! Or rather, places that function as libraries are generally wonderful things.

For example, Hong Yuan learned that the Southern Border had two major schools of Worm Refining: the Natural Worm Refining Skill and the man-made worm refining skill. The Natural Worm Refining Skill was the True Transmission of the Five Poison Sect, and very few were privy to it.

Hong Yuan had only come across a vague introduction to it in an ancient book:

"The man-made worm refining skill mostly emphasizes quietness, seeking a secluded environment isolated from the outside world. This is certainly safer and increases the likelihood of successful Worm Refining. However, it focuses only on the immediate and not the long-term.

"The Natural Worm Refining Skill, while having stricter environmental requirements, does not demand silence or seclusion. Being in nature is like a baby in the womb; it involves borrowing the power of Heaven and Earth to aid in Worm Refining. Heaven and Earth are the best settings for Worm Refining!"

When Hong Yuan had compared the two schools, he decisively favored the Natural Worm Refining Skill. This was because the success rate of refining Worms with the Natural Worm Refining Skill was very high—exceptionally high! If the man-made worm refining skill had a success rate of one or two out of ten, then the Natural Worm Refining Skill boasted six or seven out of ten.

Hong Yuan’s current Worm Refining success rate was sustained entirely by his proficiency panel. If not for the proficiency panel’s trait of ensuring that once a skill was mastered, its efficacy was permanent, Hong Yuan would probably still be agonizing over how difficult Worm Refining was.

Unfortunately, the refinement method for the Rapid Bee Worm recipe Hong Yuan possessed belonged to the man-made worm refining skill. No matter how much he wanted to learn the techniques of the Natural Worm Refining Skill, it was futile.

Just then, the "Speed" Tiger Head Bee Worm finished absorbing the essence. Hong Yuan put the notebook into his storage bag. He caught the "Speed" Tiger Head Bee Worm, lifted the heavy lid of the stone pot, and threw the Worm inside. The stone pot contained materials like Hundred Tempered Fine Iron and Star Luster Grass, needed to refine a first-grade Sting Bee Worm.

Next, Hong Yuan broke three Energy Stones and placed them on the stone lid, allowing streams of Essence Qi to flow into the pot. Taking out a Fire Starter, he lit the firewood beneath the pot.

The refining of a first-grade Sting Bee Worm officially began!