Outside the cave abode, Grey sat down on a circular stone platform that rested perilously close to the edge of the mountain. Below him lay a sea of clouds, faintly illuminated by moonlight. The air was frigid, and as the mountain breeze swept past, it tugged at his robes, causing them to flutter noisily against his thin fra.
As the cold wind brushed over his body, layers of Grey’s skin peeled away like dried flakes, drifting into the air before being carried off into the abyss below. Yet Grey’s expression remained calm and composed. One dicinal pill after another disappeared into his mouth as though he were eating candy, his movents practiced and unhurried.
At the sa ti, the purple crystal embedded deep within his chest erupted with radiant violet light. If Grey could peer inside his own body at this mont, he would discover that his internal organs had been completely dyed purple, as if soaked in a strange, otherworldly essence.
However, the organ that received the most attention from this purple radiance was his heart. As the light converged there, his heartbeat grew stronger and steadier, and his body’s healing speed increased dramatically.
Ti flowed quietly beneath the moonlight.
Although Grey’s face remained pale and emaciated, the peeling of his skin gradually stopped. Still, his blood had yet to be fully cleansed, the silent poison continued to linger within him. The purple crystal fought relentlessly, circulating its power through his veins as it attempted to purge the deadly toxin from his body.
This prolonged struggle granted Grey a deeper understanding of the poison he had just refined.
"It can dissolve flesh and blood if exposed to the air for a period of ti," Grey murmured softly. "And it’s extrely difficult to detect or detoxify. By the ti soone notices it, it will already be too late."
"It doesn’t behave like the other poisons I’ve created," he continued, his voice low. "It doesn’t influence corrosive substance either. It’s as if it was made solely to bring about decay and death."
As he spoke these words, a sharp glint flashed across his grey eyes.
"Death and Decay... the ingredient most heavily influenced by the Scattering of Herbs Flower was the Mixed Ghost Tear."
Grey’s thoughts flowed smoothly as his understanding deepened.
"This tear can only be found in Corroded Zones saturated with malicious spirits," he said quietly. "When a malicious spirit forms, it becos a phantom, an intangible existence. During that transformation, it sheds a single tear. That tear eventually solidifies into a ghostly crystal."
"The Mixed Ghost Tear is generally known as a common poisonous material," Grey continued with a frown. "Its primary effect is to hasten the decay of corpses. When used on a living person, its effects are usually negligible. So why did such a drastic change occur when I added the Scattering of Herbs Flower?"
Grey frowned slightly.
If he could not fully understand the poison he had created, then he would never be able to use it to its full potential. That would an his future trump card would have a hard limit, a flaw he could not accept.
Grey refused to settle for that.
He began running through countless possibilities, replaying the refinent process in his mind again and again, searching for the missing link.
Eventually, he arrived at a plausible conclusion.
"After the descent of God, corrosive substance appeared," Grey thought inwardly. "This corrosive substance invades all life forms and even things without life. It is closely tied to death and decay..."
His gaze drifted to his wrist, where the mark of the Decay Point once existed, before he slowly closed his eyes and fell into deep contemplation.
"If the Scattering of Herbs Flower rely enhanced the potency of the Mixed Ghost Tear," he reasoned, "then its effects, no matter how improved, still shouldn’t be enough to turn a living person into a corpse. However, with corrosive substance constantly saturating the environnt, the Scattering of Herbs Flower must have sohow fused these two originally unrelated elents together."
"That fusion resulted in this outco."
Grey felt that this line of reasoning was sound.
"Still..." he muttered softly. "There must be sothing else I’m missing."
His brows knit together as another question surfaced.
"This poison doesn’t emit corrosive substance, nor does it display any similar properties. So why does the presence of corrosive substance amplify its effects when that presence can’t even be felt?"
His eyes suddenly widened.
"This... must be the key."
Grey sensed that there was a far greater mystery hidden beneath the surface. Yet no matter how long or how intensely he pondered, the final answer remained just out of reach.
Slowly, several more hours passed.
Under the continuous nourishnt of the purple light surging from his chest, Grey’s injuries finally healed completely. His recovery speed far exceeded what should have been possible under normal circumstances.
Sitting cross-legged on the platform, bathed in moonlight that draped over him like an illusory cloak, Grey appeared as though he were comprehending profound truths beyond mortal understanding.
With his grey hair fluttering freely behind him and his grey eyes clouded with contemplation, he resembled a peerless immortal who had descended from the heavens.
If anyone were fortunate, or unfortunate, enough to witness this scene, they would undoubtedly be entranced.
However, Grey’s location was deeply secluded. Unless soone was deliberately guided here, it would be nearly impossible to stumble upon him by chance.
Just as Grey remained imrsed in thought, his Jade Slip suddenly vibrated.
He paused for a mont before retrieving it from his storage bag.
It was a voice transmission from the captain.
Grey frowned slightly. Just as he was about to put the Jade Slip away, the voice transmission activated.
"Little Grey, don’t drop it!" the captain’s soft voice rang out. "I haven’t seen you at the Detective Agency Departnt for quite so ti now. Have you transferred to another departnt?"
Despite the distance between them, Grey could almost picture the lazy expression on her face.
Inside the Detective Agency Departnt, the captain lounged comfortably on a chair, her long legs crossed gracefully. Her expression was calm and carefree, with a lazy smile lingering on her lips. She casually took out an apple, tossing it lightly in her hand.
Without waiting for Grey to respond, she continued, "Listen, Grey. If you’re not busy, I just accepted a mission in the Dead Sea. The risk isn’t high, and the pay is excellent. We could earn a lot of spirit stones."
A strange look flickered across Grey’s face.
"You have your own magic ship," he replied calmly. "Why do you need to accompany you?"
He didn’t imdiately reject her offer. Truthfully, he was in desperate need of money.
Grey planned to purchase more poisonous grasses and rare herbs, many of which were expensive. He also wanted to acquire magical artifacts if possible, items that were notoriously costly.
In addition, after refining this poison, he intended to head to the Dead Sea himself to gather materials to sell.
He needed funds. A lot of them.
Seeing that Grey hadn’t declined outright, the captain beca visibly excited.
"My magic ship was damaged recently and is still being repaired," she explained quickly. "Besides, compared to your ship, mine is nothing special. We’ll only head to an island near the edge of the archipelago, finish the mission, and return shortly."
The crisp sound of an apple being bitten echoed through the Jade Slip.
Grey fell silent, his expression growing increasingly complicated.
The captain was... strange. Her personality was even stranger. Even now, Grey felt that her strength was sothing he couldn’t fully comprehend, and her motives were completely inscrutable.
His instincts told him to avoid her.
Yet when he recalled all the assistance she had provided him in the past, hesitation crept into his heart.
In the end, Grey agreed to the mission.
However, he made it clear that he wouldn’t be available for the next three days.
The captain didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. Instead, her voice carried clear excitent.
"That’s fine, little Grey. Three days is more than enough ti for to prepare," she said cheerfully. "Anyway... hehehe. Be prepared to open a lot of spirit perforations."
With that, the voice transmission ended.
Grey stared at the Jade Slip for a mont before shaking his head slowly.
"She’s really weird," he muttered. He even ignored the fact that she called him ’little Grey’.
Still, he had already made his decision.
Turning his gaze back toward the tightly sealed cave abode, Grey’s eyes sharpened with focus.
"Now," he said softly, "let concentrate on my poison."
By this ti, his body had fully healed. The purple crystal had also eliminated the poison from his bloodstream. Although his face was slightly pale, there was a resolute expression on his face.
When the ti of fifty breaths had elasped, Grey raised his hand and released the hand seals he had set up earlier.
The huge rock that sealed the cave was then swept away by a gentle force that ca from Grey. The mont all this happened, Grey gritted his teeth and rushed back into the cave.
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