The First Cultivator - Changing Existence - Chapter 748

Chapter 748: Blood Research – 748
Even with ten years of time, Skymender did not slack or relax at all. For the first months, he dove head first into research with all of his time and energy.

The people he had recruited found it hard to keep up with his dedication, but they were satisfactory enough. Months and months passed. Although there was technically no progress, Skymender felt his confidence increasing.

There was indeed always something new to learn.

Charles was especially helpful, as Skymender had imagined he would be. He and Charles took the leading roles, while the others could only be delegated to background support.

After six months had passed, some new people arrived in the lab. These were the researchers from their allies that had fought in the war with them.

Most were like the old researchers, delegated to a background position, but two were noteworthy and, though not as helpful as Charles, were still a great help.

New materials came in every day from different regions of the continent.

A year passed, and another batch of researchers came in. These were not from allied Empire’s but from the defeated enemy Empires. Many of such researchers had been imprisoned or killed, but those who had surrendered were welcome to work on this project. It was a bit of an adjustment, but they managed to get along well with everyone and put aside their past grievances for the sake of research.

They were kept under watch and never allowed to go near important things, but could still do their work.

With a year having passed since he was requested to begin research, Skymender was focusing on the blood of the Mountain Serpent. It was something incredibly potent and resistant to all manner of things.

It also seemed to have some sort of vitality within it, which made Skymender value it even more.

It was the focus of more than half of his time. However, although it was far more incredible than any other blood he had ever encountered, it was not enough alone.

He had tried mixing it with things, but it was extremely aggressive. If combined with any other blood, it would either not change or completely be destroyed into some black mush.

It was simply on another level. Another half a year passed, with a year and a half passing since starting. Skymender was on his last attempts to do anything with the Mountain Serpent’s blood.

He eventually got up and took a break from researching. He was still the Imperial Scholar, and he still had to attend to the Empire’s affairs, even if not as closely as before.

As usual, he took a look at a map of the continent. The once unknown land of the wilds had been pushed back, revealing new land. After a year and a half, it seemed as though most everything should have been explored, but for some reason, there were very obvious spots on the map still marked as unknown. The most noticeable of these was literally a circle. All of the land around it had been explored, yet not this, and there was no official reason it seemed.

He had noticed this before, but hadn’t paid it much attention. This time, he decided to find out.

He went to the throne room, where the Emperor was hard at work.

When he saw Skymender, he spoke with friendliness in his tone. “Hey. How’s it going?”

Skymender shook his head. “Nothing yet.”

The Emperor shrugged his shoulders. “We have plenty of time.”

Skymender nodded before speaking again. “I’ve looked at the map and noticed that some areas are deliberately not explored. What is up with that?”

The Emperor was silent for a moment before waving his hand. Those in the throne room cleared out, leaving the Emperor, Sword Grandmaster Shang, and Skymender.

“I’ve always trusted my gut, and something tells me that exploring those regions would bring danger.” The Emperor said.

“How so?” Skymender asked.

“I don’t know, but I trust my gut more than anything else.” The Emperor reiterated firmly.

Skymender shrugged his shoulders. “Just curious. Don’t mind me.”

He left the throne room and returned to his office.

After being around the Emperor for so long, he had always felt something was off about him. The previous Imperial Scholar had also thought so, warning Skymender about him.

Still, Skymender did not let it disturb him. He was far too busy to worry about something pointless.

In the throne room, the Emperor spoke with Sword Grandmaster Shang.

“Do you think it is time to deal with one of those things?” He asked.

Sword Grandmaster Shang responded. “I’m ready to fight whenever you are ready for me to fight. I don’t need to remind you, but the only reason I could dispatch of the Mountain Serpent so easily is because it was injured by the Deprivation poison.”

The Emperor nodded. “That poison is something new. I need to get its recipe at some point. How about this? In a year, I’ll dispatch you, Skymender, and a few others to take out the Plains Bull.”

Sword Grandmaster Shang spoke. “Me and Skymender should be enough. It had always been the weakest of the nine.”

The Emperor agreed. “Sure. I don’t want any accidents.”

“That is why Skymender is coming. I’m confident I could deal with it myself.”

Skymender continued to research, unaware he was going to be sent out on a mission in just a year.

He was still focused on the problem of the Mountain Serpent’s blood.

As his thought process deepened, he couldn’t help but wonder if there were other animals like the Mountain Serpent.

He thought about it, and eventually sent people out to look for mythical records. After all, he had first learned of the Mountain Serpent from a book, even if it was unconfirmed.

A few days later, he received piles of books relating to myths. He skimmed over them, throwing out the ones that spoke of obvious nonsense and fantasy.

The sun is an eyeball? The stars are different universes? Angels live on clouds? Walking trees? Talking mountains?

He didn’t even bother looking them over past those mentions before throwing them to the side.