The black feathers were for Ruan Qingyi to make clothes, the meat for Gu Xiaobei to cook, and the beaks for Olf as crafting materials. The eyes, tongues, brains, and monster cores she kept for herself.
After finishing with the Night Swallows, Lan Qingyou stared at the useless offcuts pulled from their bodies in the bucket, lost in thought.
She had a vague idea while dismantling them, and now, seeing these scraps, that idea became clearer and clearer.
Damn, Thorium was dropped from the belly of a Mountain Eater.
And its state was liquid first, then it gradually condensed into a crystal.
Could I interpret it as being liquid because it wasn't in contact with the mana in the air while inside the stomach, or perhaps it was enveloped by the Mountain Eater's own mana?
But after being dropped, it came into contact with mana other than the Mountain Eater's, which caused it to absorb the surrounding mana and form a crystal?
If that’s really the case, not only could I write a thesis on mana, but I could even turn the otherwise unprocessable Thorium ore back into a liquid state?
The report Shang Chuan gave earlier said that these liquids even washed through a mine tunnel like a flood.
As long as I can keep it in a liquid state, won't it be usable?
The more Lan Qingyou thought about it, the more plausible it seemed, and her face lit up with excitement.
She quickly moved to the side of Steel Wool, who was teasing a magic rat on the ground like a cat playing with a mouse.
Steel Wool, shrouded in Lan Qingyou's shadow, looked back at her in confusion. It saw its matriarch suddenly reach out and grab its toy-slash-midnight snack.
With its beak slightly agape and its eyes wide, Steel Wool watched as the woman stuffed a small, glowing stone into the snack's mouth and placed it back on the ground.
“Squeak! Squeak!”
The magic rat had just been set down, and as it prepared to flee its shackles, it suddenly collapsed, letting out heart-wrenching shrieks.
“Chirp!”
Steel Wool, which had wanted to go back and play, took two quick hops back and flew onto Lan Qingyou's shoulder when it saw the magic rat rolling on the ground in agony.
Clearly, it was frightened.
“Tsk, how are you going to roll with me if you're this cowardly?”
Lan Qingyou poked Steel Wool's face with her finger in dissatisfaction, and Steel Wool lowered its head in shame.
Seeing this, Lan Qingyou ignored it and turned to look at the magic rat pup rolling on the ground.
Bang!
About half a minute later, the magic rat's body exploded. It was dead.
From its stomach, a dark green liquid slowly flowed out.
After another half minute, the liquid gradually turned back into a crystal.
It was the same size as before, but it had become more angular—looking more like a proper crystal than the previous scrap.
“Haha! I was right!”
Lan Qingyou laughed as she picked up the blood-stained Thorium crystal.
The magic rat's reaction and the formation of the Thorium crystal all confirmed her hypothesis.
It really was caused by a mana conflict.
It was probably because of the difference between a magic rat's stomach and a Mountain Eater's stomach that it exploded.
After all, the latter ate soil, rocks, and minerals directly.
Its digestive and storage capacities were surely much stronger than an average monster's.
Half a minute... that's not too long, but not too short either. There's room to work with.
The only trouble is that the blood is a bit messy.
“Still want to eat it?”
In passing, Lan Qingyou picked up half of the magic rat and held it out to Steel Wool, only to receive a look of pure disgust.
Fine.
The little guy's toy was broken; it was only natural for it to be a bit grumpy.
Lan Qingyou went to the magic desk. After tossing the half-rat out the window, she had Gu Xiaobei send over a plate with a pound of lean meat slices.
“These are for you. After you're done eating, go out and catch two more toys.”
“Chirp!”
Do I want food?! I want toys!
Steel Wool hopped around in a fit of rage.
Unable to watch any longer, Lan Qingyou simply grabbed the little fellow and...
“Human Cannonball, stage one ready! Launch!”
At Lan Qingyou's command, Steel Wool was thrown out the window like a fired projectile.
One must remember that Lan Qingyou currently had the Moonstone Dagger tucked into her waist.
With this toss, Steel Wool flew over a hundred meters before it could spread its wings and stabilize itself.
Regardless, this wasn't the first time; it had experience.
As for Lan Qingyou... in her view, children shouldn't be spoiled. Hit them a few more times while they're young, or they won't know who's boss when they grow up.
After throwing Steel Wool out, Lan Qingyou took out paper and pen and began sketching.
She only had thirty seconds to process the liquid Thorium.
So, she had to be fully prepared before then.
And right now, Lan Qingyou was doing exactly that.
To prevent the liquid from re-solidifying, she had to design some kind of isolation.
Fortunately, there were plenty of such things in her memory.
From oils to gels, there was bound to be one that fit.
Of course, given the differences between the two worlds, Lan Qingyou planned to design a potion suitable for this one.
Ideally, something in a slimy state like slime mucus would be best.
Another method was to do it all in one go.
Use a crucible and herbs directly with the liquid Thorium ore to develop a new medicine.
She wanted to try both. After all, this was research; how would she know if it would succeed or which was better without trying?
Back to Steel Wool.
Perhaps because it was getting late, Steel Wool returned after roaming outside for ten minutes, a magic rat in its mouth.
Lan Qingyou saw that this rat was larger than the last one, though it was still a pup.
But that didn't matter.
What mattered was having an experimental subject.
When Lan Qingyou took the rat, Steel Wool hopped once, turned, and flew back out.
“Oh? So proactive?!”
This behavior actually made Lan Qingyou a bit uncomfortable.
So, after thinking for a moment, she took a chest from the storage room and placed it nearby. She threw the magic rat inside and continued sketching on the paper.
Magic rats bred quickly and ate little. The largest ones were said to be only the size of a fist, and most importantly, their attack power was weak.
It would take them half a day just to gnaw through a wooden box like this.
By the time Steel Wool returned again, it saw Lan Qingyou busy writing and drawing, with a box next to her full of scurrying magic rats.
After tilting its head and letting out a few soft coos, it dropped the magic rat in its mouth into the wooden box and flew out once more.
Time passed quickly.
By the time Lan Qingyou had theoretically designed the two potions, it was already past eleven o'clock at night.
“Huh?”
Hearing a rustling sound beside her, Lan Qingyou turned and saw that the wooden box, which should have been nearly empty, was now half-full of magic rats.
Rate on N.U.
