"Hahaha, my alchemy is truly the best! 37 different rare ingredients! This is the peak of alchemy ingenuity!"
Master Dulin's face was full of pride, as he looked at the result of Emery's blood test prior to the first 24-hour body tempering.
[Skin – 36% (39%) – below average]
[Flesh – 49% (51%) – average]
[Muscle – 58% (59%) – average]
[Organs – 52% (56%) – average]
[Veins – 42% (48%) – average]
The outer body transformation showed satisfying results: his skin, flesh and muscles gained an increase of 3%, 2% and 1% respectively. While it may not seem much, it was actually significant, especially considering how Emery had only soaked in the body-tempering liquid for one day.
Of course, the reason for the dwarf's excitement was not only that. Rather, it was for how significant the improvement of the inner body, both organs and veins, was.
"I recently upgraded the formula. I must admit, the improvement result is amazing! Hahaha, with this, it won't be long until I can finally get my grandmaster title!" Master Dulin heartily laughed with satisfaction.
Although Emery also benefited from the 3 points of battle power increase, he felt a little uncomfortable when he heard the dwarf's words. If the dwarf was telling the truth, didn't that mean the body-tempering liquid Emery had used was something still on trial? If it had gone wrong, he would have been the one to pay the price!
[Heavenly body-tempering – 1 day]
[10% discount – 9,000 contribution points]
[Pay now?]
"Yes!"
[Contribution Points: 445,550]
Fortunately, nothing went wrong in the process. 3 points of battle power for 9,000 contribution points indeed sounded like a great deal, so Emery was more than happy to pay.
"Thank you, thank you…"
However, after receiving the payment, the smile on the dwarf's face changed.
"Ermmm… for the next 10 days, I will be adding more ingredients every day… so I will be needing payment in advance… That is the rule… you don't mind, do you?"
The awkward manners once again made Emery doubt if the dwarf in front of him was really an apothecary master. Even so, Emery had no problem with paying in advance, hence he agreed with a sigh.
[Heavenly body-tempering – 10 days]
[10% discount – 90,000 contribution points]
[Pay now?]
"Yes!"
[Contribution Points: 355,550]
Seeing the number of contribution points he had dropped so much, Emery felt a pang of pain inside.
Those were his hard-earned contribution points!
"Haha, don't worry, you will not regret it! You are in good hands, good hands!" Master Dulin happily patted Emery's back and assured him before calling a few staff members to help with the process.
Once again, Emery entered the huge black cauldron. Once the staff members put the lid on the cauldron, everything went just like before.
The first few hours were a little easier. Just like before, the temperature started to increase significantly with the passing time, until every part of Emery's body was once again filled with pain.
[Battle power increased by one.]
Emery gritted his teeth trying to resist the ordeal. He had not even been here for half the amount of supposed time, yet he was already beginning to regret agreeing to this torture again.
Urggghhh!
[Battle power increased by one.]
Emery endured the pain as much as he could. If it were not for these constant announcements, reminding him that he had to persist, he would have probably started to lose his sanity already.
[Battle power increased by one.]
24 hours finally passed. Once again, Emery received 3 points of battle power in a day.
Only two days in, yet Emery could already feel changes in his body after several painful developments. When he touched his arm, he could feel that under the newly-grown smooth skin, there was a certain thickness showing the muscles that laid on top of his flesh.
Emery's whole body gradually transformed, as the liquid also began to replace his body fluids and did its wonder.
After 24 hours passed, Master Dulin started to do his job. The dwarf removed part of the old liquid and added an amount of the new one to replace the missing amount. After he made sure that all was just right, Master Dulin went back to controlling the liquid's temperature.
The one-hour transition was like a breath of fresh air for Emery, freeing him from the fiery torture. Unfortunately, it did not last long. Before he could fully enjoy the relief, the burning pain returned, this time even more painful, as it spread to every corner of his body.
It was an hour, but it only felt like a minute.
"Hang in there, kid!! Let us make history together!!" The red-bearded dwarf enthusiastically encouraged, while controlling the body-tempering liquid's temperature.
'This kid's body was so awful, but because of that, the result of the 10-day tempering will be the best data for my grandmaster test!'
Thinking of his grandmaster title, Master Dulin became even more enthusiastic. To make sure that nothing went wrong, he paid particular attention to the process.
Another 24 hours passed, but this time, Emery only received two notifications. This meant that, unlike before, where he got 3 points of battle power, he only got an increase of 2.
On the third day, however, he received 3 points of battle power once again. He was not sure about the reason for the inconsistency, but the points made all the pain he had to endure and all the contribution points he spent worth it.
On the fourth day, Emery finally managed to get used to the hellish temperature. Not only that, but he could even properly think with his senses, while in the body-tempering liquid.
Knowing he should not waste any of his limited time, Emery began to access the information he just absorbed before entering the cauldron.
[Soul-Tempering Meditation – Book One]
The information he was currently accessing was a certain theory on circulating the spirit flow during meditation.
While also enduring the burning pain, Emery started to follow the instructions. Slowly, energy flowed from the seven main spirit points in his body.
After another 24 hours passed, not only did Emery get 3 more points of battle power, but he had also gotten the hang of the new meditation technique.
While he was in the middle of the soul-tempering meditation, he suddenly felt the burning heat coming not only from the liquid itself, but also from his inner self.
'What have I done!!'
Emery quickly panicked. There was definitely something wrong with the way he did things.
This was why a master was needed to guide the acolyte, before doing things like this.