Chapter 999: Unscientific Methods
‘Well, that was a lovely lunch out,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself as he returned to the Zhen Clan estate. ‘I wonder what happened while I was-‘
“Xiao Liu, there you are, we need your assistance.”
“Ey yo, what?”
As a reminder, Zhen Liu was currently being pushed around in a wheelchair that was being pushed by one of his zakos.
With this context in mind, the moment Zhen Liu had returned home, Zhen Yue had approached him by his side and proceeded to smoothly take control of his wheelchair from the zako.
It was impressive, but also mildly annoying.
Namely due to Zhen Liu not wanting to do stuff today.
“Would it be possible for me to reject helping today on the sheer basis of not wanting to?”
“Nope.”
“Why?”
“Because we need your innate sense for Zhen Feng’s sake.”
“Innate sense?”
“Remember when we were picking out treasures from the main clan’s vault and you helped determine which ones fit everyone the best?”
“Yeah, and…”
“We need you to do it again, but with natural aether treasures this time around.”
“Oh. Okay.”
If this was anything like the vault than this should be a relatively simple task.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t gonna be that easy. Because as it turned out, natural aether treasures were…weird.
At least to Zhen Liu’s senses.
…Several minutes later, in a well protected room…
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In a room devoid of any furniture, several members of the Zhen Clan, and serval guests, were standing before an array of floating spatial bubbles that were filled with chunks of ice.
To be more precise, Zhen Feng, Zhen Liu, Zhen Yue and Zhen Xing were standing in front of this array of ice bubbles. While off to the side, Corriandis the butler, Matriarch Zhen Xun Tian and Imperial Alchemist Nun Hua were watching.
Their roles in this event were as follows.
The first aforementioned scion of the branch clan, Zhen Feng, was given the chance to take in an cultivate one of these rare types of natural aether treasure ice. Zhen Liu was there to provide insight on which of these chunks of magic was the most compatible with his cousin, while the latter two were there for moral support.
As for the people on the side, they were there just to see how this all panned out.
But from what they were hearing, it wasn’t going great.
“What do you mean you can’t figure out which one fits me best?,” Zhen Feng asked in genuine confusion. “Is this not the same thing as when we were in the treasure vault back in Roaring Tide?”
“Yeah…no,” Zhen Liu shook his head. “Those were aether treasures that were made with clear purposes in mind, this is… different.”
Earlier, when Zhen Liu got first rolled into this room by Zhen Yue, he had immediately gone about empowering his vision with [Chaos] in order to determine which of these chunks of natural aether treasure ice, or [Essence Ice] and [Beast Ice] if we’re being formal, was the most compatible with his cousin.
The problem was…they all were.
Whether this was due to the side effects that came with being possessed by Frosttusk or something else entirely was unclear to Zhen Liue, but the moment he tried his little trick with his eyes all he saw was essentially, this template:
Name: [Cyan Venom Ice]
Affinity: Ice, Poison
Description: A type of toxic [Essence Ice] that can be found in the Freezing Swamps. Enables the user to manifest the deadly ice and enhances their ability to produce elixirs with poisonous components.
Compatibility with Zhen Feng: 100%
…
Name: [Crimson Ice Bear’s Ice]
Affinity: Ice, Blood
Description: The innate ice produced by Crimson Ice Bears. Infuses the user with the fury of these gigantic aether beasts. Any alchemical products with a blood component will gain a ten percent boost in effectiveness.
…
It was interesting thing to make note of to be sure, that Zhen Feng was incredibly compatible with all of these types of ice, and that he could technically just use them all, but he couldn’t just say he could pick whatever and have fun. Each of these ices came with their own drawbacks and benefits, and they could radically change how his future prospects developed.
On top of that, there was this weird phemonon where natural aether treasures appeared compatible at first, only to have a side effect rear it’s head later.
Case and point, Zhen Xing was initially fine with [Ghost Flame] in his system until it started to flare up. If it wasn’t for Zhen Feng’s ice dishes, he would’ve been a screaming wraith right now.
And unfortunately, Zhen Liu wasn’t able to predict such events from occurring…or not.
However, just before he could share this information, an unexpected guest appeared from the door behind them.
Click
“Huh?”
“Oh, hey Hakkon.”
“Hello.”
Hakkon, the Blizzard Howler warrior that Zhen Liu introduced to the clan not too long ago, had suddenly appeared in the door.
For the past few days after being introduced to the clan, Hakkon had become an uncommon but not unwelcome sight on the Zhen Clan estate.
Sure, he occasionally mooched free meals off of the family, but he was also a great sparring partner for everyone in the arena. That and he provided some unique insights into the [Echoing Frost] art that none of the elders ever thought about.
Judging from the presence of a sweet bun in his hand, he had just finished a snack raid and had come to see what was going. In fact, he said as much.
“I was just getting a snack when I sensed a lot of ice aether coming from here. Are these all chunks of [Beast Ice] and [Essence Ice]?,” Hakkon asked while munching on a bun.
“Yeah, they are,” Zhen Xing answered for the group. “Zhen Liu is trying to figure out which ones the most compatible for Zhen Feng for cultivation purposes, but we’re having trouble figuring out the best fit.”
“Ah…,” Hakkon nodded. “I have a method.”
“You do?”
“Well, it’s an old tribal method. But it should work for you guys. Give me a minute.”
After making this statement, Hakkon proceeded to swallow the rest of his bun in a method that was best described with the word, “barbaric”, but dusting off his hands and walking up to a spot directly behind Zhen Feng.
Once he was in place, he turned Zhen Feng forward towards the ice while gesturing Zhen Liu to take a few steps back.
“What are you-”
“Hush.”
With Zhen Feng’s back facing towards him, Hakkon proceeded to summon forth a chunk of ice about the size of an apple in the palm of his hands.
Once it was fully manifested…he dropped it down Zhen Feng’s shirt, causing the latter to let out a surprised scream.
“What the fuck??”
Hakkon, however, did not give a response for his actions, instead, he appeared to be trying to listen for something as Zhen Feng continued screaming to try and get the ice out of his shirt.
Once he managed to do so though, he looked furious.
“Hakkon! What the fuck was that all ab-!”
“Hush!,” the viking teenager said while putting up a finger in a shushing motion with one hand while pointing with the other. “Over there.”
“Huh?”
Following Hakon’s finger, the Zhen Clan scions turned their heads to gaze at a chunk of ice that had a deep black coloration to it, with swirling blue patterns.
At this point though, everyone was just confused.
“Uh…”
“Back home, it’s a right of passage for up and coming warriors to select a chunk of [Beast Ice] to become the main weapon of their formulas,” Hakkon explained, “it’s an old tradition that the best way to determine which ice works best for our vocals is to scream towards them and see which one resonates the best. From your scream, that one fits best.”
“Huh…”
…
[…]
[…]
[…]
[Well?]
[Well…what?]
[Is the viking boy telling the truth? Is that really a method on how the Blizzard Howlers choose their destined aether ice?,] Hurricroak asked.
[Oh…yeah…it is,] Frosttusk confirmed.
[Okay then…]
…
While the rest of the scions looked unconvinced at Hakon’s logic, Zhen Liu decided to take a look for himself. After all, there could be some merit in Hakon’s methodology.
(Un)Surprisingly, there was some merit.
…
Name: [Permafrost Boar’s Black Ice]
Affinity: Ice/Earth
Description: A type of ice found in the hearts of Permafrost Boars, this ice is known for its ability to create hardened blocks of ice that even steel weapons have trouble breaking through. A little known usage of this ice is it’s ability to preserve ingredients of both the mundane and magical variety.
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS
Mizako
Huh…I’m almost at a Thousand Chapters…never thought I’d see the day.
