Chương 109: 106. Barren Green Lilly

The environment around Adolin changed as soon as he passed through the entrance to the third room. He stood in a barren land filled with large boulders, and the ground was littered with stones. There wasn't much of anything green, except for the few plants that protruded from the ground in a couple of places. The air smelled dry and dusty, so he cast Cleanse. Soon, the scent of the perfume filled the air around him. Clay was a few steps away, studying one of the plants.

"There's no way," the boy muttered.

"No way?" Adolin asked as he heard footsteps behind him. The others have crossed as well. Clay remained silent as he continued to stare intently at the plant. Adolin found waiting for answers annoying, so he decided to use Analyze on one of the plants. He was sure that he couldn't discover anything on his own, but the blessing sometimes gave him answers when he used the spell. So it wouldn't hurt to try it out. He came to a stop at the closest plant and cast Analyze. [Analyze Complete.] [Barren Green Lilly] [Remark: A plant capable of surviving in the most barren of lands. Its life force and endurance are incredible, allowing it to survive in environments hostile to nearly all other life.] [Hint: It's useful for crafting high-purity Health Potions.] Adolin's eye widened as he stared at the blessing screen. Why had the blessing decided to give him additional information and even a hint? It wasn't the first time that it had happened, but he still found it odd. The information was also about a…

plant. After a few more moments, he gave up wasting his thoughts on something he wasn't going to find an answer to. Clay was just a few steps away from him, and the boy looked like he knew what he was looking at.

"This place reminds me of home," Eurynomos said. Adolin had to agree, except for the few plants scattered around the entrance to the third room. Well, the place was also a tad too bright compared with the Demon Continent. He really hated that place. His mood had never lifted while he was there. The others had entered as well, and they were in the process of studying the terrain. Though they were also on high alert, their weapons were held tightly in their hands. Adolin didn't really blame them.

They were just normal adventurers going through a dungeon for the first time. At least that's what Eury had told him.

"What's that?" Adolin asked as he got close enough to Clay.

"Hmmm," the boy muttered.

"I'm not quite sure, but it reminds me of one of the plants that I've seen in the Extinct Plants book my tutor forced me to read."

"Oh," Adolin muttered.

"And what plant is this?"

"It reminds me of the Goddess Life flower," Clay said.

"Though it had multiple names inside the book. The author had given it that name because of the legends he'd heard." He continued studying the plant, his hand hovering just a few inches away, as if he was too scared to even touch it.

"What did the book say about it?"

"It mentioned that it was capable of growing literally anywhere and that it held the most life force of any other plant in existence. Well, it was mostly speculation from the author, since the plant had been extinct a long time before the book was even written." Adolin just nodded. Was that the reason the blessing had given him a hint? To take the plant out of the dungeon and bring it back to the real world? Perhaps, it was much simpler than that.

He'd show interest in crafting the highest-purity potion, and since he'd found an ingredient that was going to help him achieve that, the blessing had given him a hint. Or was there another reason? Something that was connected to the corruption? Ever since he came to the new world, most of the things had been connected to the corruption in one way or another. Starting with the addicts he'd come across on his first day and Eduard and the Count shortly after.

"Whatever," he muttered. It wasn't like he was going to do whatever the blessing had planned or wanted him to do. Well… he still had the problem with the corruption inside his core that he needed to get rid of. It was still not a problem, but if he allowed it to stay for too long, soon enough it would become one. Stolen novel; please report.

"What did you say?" Clay asked as he finally moved his gaze away from the plant.

"Me?" Adolin asked.

"Nothing… So… how do we harvest the plant? Did the book mention anything about that?"

"Not anything that I remember," Clay said.

"I read it because my tutor forced me to. I didn't really like reading it."

"Your tutor was smart!" Adolin said with a frown.

"Start listening to your elders." Clay ignored his complaints and returned to the plant.

"If what the book said is true, and the plant really is what the book described, I'm quite sure that the economy of alchemical ingredients will change if we take it out and start growing it."

"Why do you think so?"

"There was also a line that mentioned that the plant was referred to as the holy grail of alchemy." Adolin returned and crouched next to the plant he'd seen earlier. The plant looked like the stem of a lily flower, with small thorns all around it. It was bright green and had what looked like the pulp of a flower at the top. It was yet to sprout, or perhaps it was just a pulp. He stared at it for a few moments and found out that staring at it was not going to give him additional information.

From his experience, all alchemical plants had different ways to be harvested. The main reason for that was to allow the plant to retain most of its properties. Some, like the Blue Flower Lilly—the best ingredient for making mana potions in his old world—needed to be harvested as soon as the flower bloomed. There were some that only needed a spell to keep them alive, while others had their natural properties ruined by spells. In short, harvesting an alchemical ingredient was complicated.

In his old world, he used to carry a thick tome about alchemical ingredients everywhere he went. Not only were the ingredients complicated to harvest, but they were also more complicated to prepare before the process. The worst part about alchemy was that there were no spells that helped with harvesting the ingredients. It all came down to trial and error.

"What's the holdup?" Eury shouted.

"The dungeon isn't going to conquer itself!" Adolin ignored him and took a butter knife he'd taken from the Count's estate. He used a spell to give it a sharper edge and cut the plant at the base of its stem, leaving it just an inch in hopes it would grow another flower. He held the plant in his hand, and in moments, it withered away. All of the life force it contained had escaped from the plant's wound. Adolin frowned. Well, it wasn't like he expected to get it right on his first try.

Still, wasting such an ingredient did stab his heart. Clay stared at him and chuckled.

"I don't think that's the way to do it." Adolin ignored him and went to the next closest plant. It was the same as the first one. He made the earth around it softer, and as soon as he was satisfied and certain that he wouldn't hurt the plant, he pulled the whole plant out of the ground. The roots of the plant were as thin as a single hair. They also looked quite resilient. He stared at the plant in his hands, inwardly saying a prayer to the goddess that the plant would survive.

Just as ten seconds passed, the plant withered as well. Adolin clicked his tongue in annoyance. Even praying to the divine didn't work… well, it was worth the shot. Since the blessing had given him the hint, he decided to try it out. It wasn't like he could lose something… there was his dignity, but who cares about such little things. Adolin continued trying to harvest the plant while Eury and his party went out to scout the room. Clay decided to stick with him and just watch him closely.

He did mind that, but it wasn't to the point that he would be forced to say something about it. At first, he repeated the first steps of cutting and pulling the plant, but this time, he also cast a spell for preserving it, and… they withered anyway. The next attempt was slightly more complicated than the first. He isolated the area around the plant. It was similar to what he'd done in the Count's estate when he isolated the Count's room from the curse.

Then, he proceeded to uncover the plant with Earth Create, leaving enough of the earth on the roots. It… withered again. He cursed inwardly, not wanting to lose his composure in front of Clay and stared at the husk of the plant. It really was difficult to harvest it. Most of the ways he had used so far worked on a high number of alchemical plants in his old world. Still, he had a lot of ways he could try, but after counting the plants around him, he grew wary of destroying most of them.

There were still fifty or so in his vicinity, and probably a few more further down the room, but if it was just like the first room, only the beginning of the room would have them. That number wasn't as big as it seemed, since he wasn't sure how many times he would fail until he found the right way to harvest it. It could easily take him thirty or even more tries, and afterward, if he wanted to continue using the plant, he would have to find a way to grow it.

Even though he learned it was the most resilient plant, that didn't mean he wouldn't fail in growing it as well. Depending on how many more failures he had, there was a high chance that he wouldn't even be able to use the plant, which wasn't something he wanted to happen. After a minute or so, he decided to give it ten more tries. If those methods didn't work, he would give up on it for now and do some research back in the city before trying again.

The main reason he decided that was because a dozen or so of the rarer plants in his old world had weird ways of harvesting them. They were closer to a ritual than harvesting. The Snow Peertur Root was one of them. The harvesting… ritual was to do it on a night of a full moon while flooding the area around the root with mana. Then, after waiting for seven and a half minutes, he needed to forcibly pull out the root.

And to this day, he had no idea why it worked like that or how people even managed to find the right way to harvest it. As he was about to start his second attempt, Eury shouted from a distance.

"Mage!" With a frown, he turned and saw Eury and his party coming down a hill.

"What?" Adolin shouted back, sounding irritated.

"We found the monsters from the floor! They are crabs and such!" Eury paused for a few moments.

"I bet they'll be tasty!" Adolin just shook his head as he stared at Eury. Eury started walking faster toward him, a bright smile on his face. Then, he stepped on a large stone, and his leg slipped. Soon, he was rolling down the hill while the stone was a few feet behind him. Adolin chuckled as he watched Eury get up as soon as his rolling stopped and kick the rock. It was a big mistake as his face scrunched in pain, but he quickly masked it.

He continued acting as if nothing had happened while the stone darkened for a moment and split perfectly in two behind him. The two parts revealed a perfect light green jade. Eury's party looked like they were about to laugh, but as soon as their faces changed, they returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

"What had Eury done to them?" Adolin muttered.