Chapter 30

These Western adventurers, nominally explorers seeking wonders, are in fact greedy jackals sniffing out every opportunity to enrich themselves. They destroy ancient sites and search for treasures, 'discovering' the ancient civilizations that have thrived on their native lands, adopting an attitude of "I discover, I claim!" and plundering the wealth of other civilizations.

The pyramids of Egypt were 'discovered' by them, and they defeated the evil tomb guardians, plundering the pharaohs' wealth and proudly announcing to the world that this was a great archaeological discovery, disregarding the fact that the Egyptians had lived there for thousands of years. Clearly, the 'natives' could not 'discover' their own civilization.

The 'Mogao Caves' were also 'discovered' by them, so they could brazenly peel off murals and steal scrolls, with the Taoist monk guarding the caves merely providing them with assistance, a negligible 'native.'

Chen Ang felt that if the snake king guarding the Blood Orchid had not been strengthened by him, these adventurers would continue to 'discover' the magical plants that have been passed down for thousands of years in Borneo, and shamelessly claim them as their own.

As for the local people's traditions, culture, and the fact that they revere the Blood Orchid as sacred, these would merely be a bright embellishment in their exploration. The 'discovery' that the locals had been using the Blood Orchid to make potions for hundreds of years? You're not white, so you don't deserve to discover it?

What a brazen band of robbers! Chen Ang couldn't help but applaud them!

Just as Columbus's discovery of the New World gave the Westerners a legitimate claim to America, pharmaceutical companies would also claim sovereignty over the Blood Orchid. This miraculous 'technology' and 'logic' has allowed many treasures to leave their rightful owners unnoticed.

As for whether Shamalang would care? What do the natives living near the Blood Orchid think?

Who cares?

Chen Ang smiled, ignoring the trembling adventurer in front of him, and turned to walk back into the boat. Let these 'discoverers' have a good talk with the original owners! Perhaps the snake king would agree with their ideas.

Behind him, a miserable scream echoed and then abruptly stopped.

In the distance, a vague curse came from the shore, seemingly from a woman.

Shamalang struggled to stand up, slowly moving toward the boat. He smiled at the two men on the shore, who were clearly agitated, and the injured woman who desperately shouted at him, "You demons! Heartless creatures, what have you done? Wizards, raising such demons will be punished by God."

Shamalang stood in front of the Blood-Crowned Giant Snake, reverently touching it with his forehead, and calmly said to the woman, "Distant thieves! Greed has led to your demise. Seeking what does not belong to you and receiving the punishment of the owner, is this not just? Why do you not reflect on your inner sins but hate the messengers of your punishment?"

"The Blood Orchid does not belong to you; it belongs to the world!" Shamalang looked at him with deep hatred, his face twisted. "You do not deserve it; you will only venerate it. Only we can make better use of it."

"I know you think we are foolish natives. In your eyes, Borneo's culture is interesting but insignificant, more like a barbaric custom. Because we are lowly, we do not deserve it." Shamalang sighed deeply, raising his hand and standing in front of her.

"Perhaps we are backward, but that does not mean we have no value!" A faint black mist wrapped around his fingers, pointing at Shamalang's nose. Shamalang's eyes brightened, and a dagger suddenly appeared in her hand behind her back.

"Die, wizard!" Shamalang lunged at him but collapsed halfway.

The white man hurriedly supported her, seeing her face turn ashen. She struggled to open her mouth, breathing heavily, "This is our culture, see, we can also use the Blood Orchid." Shamalang stood in front of them.

The light in Shamalang's eyes gradually faded. She glared at Shamalang's back, tightly gripping the white man's hand, and handed him the dagger. Ben firmly gripped the dagger and nodded slightly to her.

Just as he was about to stand up, he heard the local guide Tran say, "Sorry, if you do this, I must stop you." Tran stood in front of him with a local dagger, coldly saying, "The wizard is right; greed has led to your death and clouded my mind. I will atone to the wizard."

When Shamalang stood in front of Chen Ang again, a trace of blood stained the hem of his clothes. He whispered, "Master, Tran was injured. I helped him to the upper deck."

Chen Ang focused on the small bronze furnace in front of him, nodding slightly to indicate he understood.

The fine silver frost charcoal emitted a steady and stable heat, licking the bottom of the copper furnace. Under Chen Ang's precise control, the temperature of the furnace subtly changed.

The Blood Orchid, in the medical theory of the Central Plains, is a highly toxic and highly nourishing herb, unlike the balanced and mild herbs like ginseng and lingzhi. Therefore, when using it, either a mild auxiliary herb is used to moderate its effects, or its extreme characteristics are fully utilized, maintaining a delicate balance like walking a tightrope.

Given Chen Ang's preference, he naturally favored the more extreme approach, but this did not prevent him from first using a more orthodox method to test the properties of the Blood Orchid. The herbs in the furnace were all of extremely high quality, sent from the Central Plains, with stable effects.

Each herb was personally identified by Chen Ang, and even the preliminary processing was done by him to thoroughly understand the properties of the auxiliary herbs, which would help him more effectively explore the characteristics of the Blood Orchid. Beside him were piles of processed herbs, mostly powders, with a few liquids, and very few whole herbs.

In fact, most herbal components are plant fibers, which would only char at high temperatures and would not melt into a liquid as described in novels. The active components need to be extracted from the herbs, a process that has been consistent from ancient times to the present. Otherwise, only a furnace of charred residue would be produced.

Chen Ang could have used extraction methods to extract the active components of the herbs, but considering the experimental nature of this alchemy, he used ancient methods, combining herb powders, liquids, and pre-processed herbs to create the pills.

It was more about combining the herbs than refining them.

Above the divine chamber, a faint white mist rose, and a fragrant herbal aroma filled the laboratory. In the clear water, blue threads floated, emitting the scent of herbs. Chen Ang sprinkled a fine layer of cinnabar on the bottom of the furnace, followed by a layer of stone grease, repeating this three times to form a layer of mineral at the bottom of the furnace.

The divine chamber floated above the furnace bottom, exposed to the heat.

Chen Ang used bear gall and some mild herbs as the base, a good tonic for replenishing qi, which he had learned from Ping Yizhi and improved. Two bear gallbladders were placed on top. He sprinkled a handful of spring water on the furnace bottom and then covered it with the lid.

Chen Ang placed his hands on the furnace walls, causing Shamalang, who was watching, to become extremely anxious. The temperature of the bronze furnace was at least 400 to 500 degrees Celsius, and touching it would at least tear off a layer of skin.

But Chen Ang's face was calm, and he didn't seem to be in any trouble. On the contrary, the white mist rising from the top of the furnace condensed into a canopy, covering the top. If Shamalang were Chinese, anyone familiar with alchemy would be greatly shocked by this scene.

The furnace temperature was extremely stable, and the changes were subtle. The herbs fused and transformed perfectly, creating a cloud of medicinal vapor. Chen Ang's slightly blue eyes focused on controlling the oscillation of his inner strength.

When the furnace was opened again, Shamalang did not feel the heat rush toward him. Instead, he saw the air inside the furnace slightly distorted, clearly in a closed high-temperature state, but perfectly balanced, with no air movement or wind flow.

Chen Ang pointed at the furnace, as if piercing through an invisible barrier. The air inside the furnace burst, sending a wave of heat toward Shamalang. Chen Ang, standing at the front, grabbed a handful of herb powder and, following the intense wind inside the furnace, evenly sprinkled it.

The herb powder mixed in the hot wind, enveloping the two slightly melted bear gallbladders, evenly coating their surfaces.

The slightly golden bear gallbladders emitted a faint fragrance, but this was just the first step. Chen Ang carefully wrapped the dried powder of the Blood Orchid into the bear gallbladders and immersed them in a mixture of dozens of herbal liquids, then closed the furnace lid again.

This time, Chen Ang did not need to carefully maintain the process. He instructed Shamalang to monitor the temperature of the furnace, ensuring that the temperature difference did not exceed one-tenth of a degree within a specific time, and then went to study other things.

Two days later, Chen Ang carefully opened the furnace lid. Two fist-sized blood-red pearls rested in the divine chamber, emitting a brilliant and wandering light, like the finest carnelian in the sunlight. Upon contact with the outside air, the blood-red pearls quickly turned dark, losing their previous brilliance.

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