novelraw Chapter 585: Testing
Chapter 585: Testing
Chapter 585: Testing
Jie Ming gazed at the bundle of moonlight essence before him, his mind stirring slightly.
Moments later, the laboratory door was pushed open.
A Black Giant priest strode in quickly and bowed respectfully.
“My lord.”
Behind it followed two ordinary Black Giants, jointly carrying a semi-transparent cultivation container.
Inside the container, a fist-sized metallic mass floated quietly within a high-concentration energy fluid. Faint pulsations could vaguely be seen within it.
“As per your command, we have brought an unincubated embryo.”
Jie Ming nodded in satisfaction.
He was pleased not only with the efficiency of the Black Giant priests, but also with the convenience of the Fate Subsystem. Earlier, with just a single thought, the command had been transmitted to all Black Giant priests through the Incense Fire Divine Dao.
The nearest Black Giant priest had received the order and executed it immediately.
Of course, to Jie Ming it was merely a command relay. In the immortal cultivation world, some mortals would call this sort of thing a “divine oracle.” As an Incense Fire Divine Dao system, it naturally possessed the most basic function of mutual communication with its believers.
If Jie Ming wished, he could even monitor the condition of every single Black Giant at any time.
What they were doing, what they were thinking, even everything they perceived—he could receive it in real time through the Fate Subsystem.
But the cost of doing so was the continuous consumption of massive computational power.
He was not one of those “gods” who needed faith to survive.
He was a wizard. Rather than wasting computational power on constantly monitoring believers, it was better to devote more energy to learning new knowledge.
Therefore, he usually only issued commands through the Fate Subsystem and did not receive feedback.
“Place it there.”
Jie Ming pointed at the experimental bench.
The Black Giant priest directed its two subordinates to set the cultivation container down properly, then led them out the door.
Jie Ming walked over to the bench and stared at the embryo inside the container for a few seconds.
This was a third-grade Black Giant embryo that had not yet reached incubation time—perfect for experimentation.
He took out the bundle of moonlight essence, divided off roughly half, and carefully injected it into the cultivation container.
The silver light merged into the nutrient fluid and slowly permeated toward the embryo.
The pulsations on the embryo’s surface seemed to quicken slightly, but the change was not obvious.
Jie Ming placed the container into a formation he had prepared earlier beside it.
It was an incubation simulation formation he had specially designed, capable of precisely controlling energy supply and environmental stimuli to fully replicate the conditions of the incubation pool.
“Maintain stable incubation.”
He set the parameters, then turned back to the experimental bench.
Looking at the remaining half of the moonlight essence in his hand, Jie Ming thought for a moment and simply swallowed it directly.
As the moonlight essence entered his throat, it had no taste—only a cool sensation spread from his throat throughout his entire body.
He closed his eyes, sat cross-legged, and began to sense the changes within himself.
That cool sensation traveled upward and ultimately converged near his spiritual sea.
Then, it began to permeate his soul.
Very slowly, very gently, as mild as moonlight itself.
Jie Ming carefully felt it.
The moonlight essence did not increase his cultivation—after all, the amount was far too small.
But it did touch his soul, giving the faint, usually imperceptible impurities at the edges of his soul a slight sensation of being “washed.”
A moment later, Jie Ming opened his eyes.
“The effect is average.”
He made an objective evaluation.
In terms of pure effect, the moonlight essence’s enhancement to the soul could not compare to specialized magic potions that improved soul purity.
Even a first-ring soul-type magic potion would have an effect at least ten times stronger than this experience.
However, the moonlight essence had one incomparable advantage…
It was free.
Or rather, its cost was close to zero.
He only needed to set up formations and expend a small amount of activation energy to continuously collect it from moonlight.
Moreover, unlike taking magic potions, there was no drug resistance.
As long as the soul could digest it, he could use as much as he wanted.
Jie Ming stood up, a thoughtful gleam flashing in his eyes.
Just for this effect alone, the moonlight essence was worth collecting on a large scale.
He quickly walked to the experimental bench and pulled up a detailed map of the Infernal Sulfur Plane.
On the light screen, the plane’s terrain, resource distribution, and Black Giant residential areas were all clearly marked.
“Based on optimal collection efficiency, place a formation every certain distance…”
Jie Ming’s finger traced across the map.
According to the knowledge in the Great Dao Book Pavilion, there was a limit to the amount of moonlight essence that could be collected within a unit area.
It was not the case that more formations were better; placing them too densely would only waste resources.
The most reasonable plan was to place one every certain distance, allowing each formation to cover its own area.
He marked the locations for the first batch of formations on the map, primarily distributed around the Black Giant residential areas while also covering remote but open terrain. Then, he once again issued a divine oracle through the Fate Subsystem.
This time the content was more detailed:
“All Black Giant priests, hear my command. From today onward, a moonlight collection formation must be set up around every small Black Giant settlement. The specifications and layout method of the formations are as follows…”
He transmitted the detailed formation diagrams, rune structures, and energy node requirements to every Black Giant priest through the Fate Subsystem.
“After the formations are completed, integrate moonlight collection with your sacrificial rituals. During each ritual, the collective shall gaze at the moon to strengthen conceptual recognition of the moon.”
This was a very important step.
Moonlight essence essentially came from “concept.”
The stronger the Black Giants’ recognition of the moon, the stronger the concept would become, and the more moonlight essence would be collected.
Binding the collection formations to the rituals would achieve two goals at once.
After arranging everything, Jie Ming turned his gaze toward the cultivation container.
The embryo inside was undergoing obvious changes.
The metallic mass that had originally been fist-sized had now expanded to the size of an adult human head.
The pulsations on its surface were stronger, and the faint outlines of limbs could vaguely be seen forming.
Jie Ming narrowed his eyes and activated his All-Purpose Eye.
In his vision, information within the embryo was evolving frantically. Every step progressed much faster than in a normal Black Giant embryo.
“Is the moonlight essence accelerating the incubation?”
He quickly recorded this phenomenon.
After a while longer, the embryo had grown large enough to burst the original container, and its development was finally complete.
The metallic mass suddenly contracted, then expanded, contracted again, and expanded once more…
Accompanied by a final violent pulsation, the outer shell cracked open, and a black creature crawled out from within.
A third-grade Black Giant.
At birth, it was already over ten meters tall, its body surface covered in the signature black liquid metal layer.
It dazedly raised its head and looked toward Jie Ming, its eyes carrying the characteristic bewilderment of a newborn.
“Lie down.”
Jie Ming pointed at the metal platform he had just created with Alchemy Technique nearby.
The Black Giant paused for a moment, then obediently climbed onto it and lay flat.
With a wave of his hand, Jie Ming deployed numerous formations and began conducting tests on it.
Activating his All-Purpose Eye and Alchemy Technique, he sent his spiritual power inward, examining every detail from torso to limbs, from energy core to soul fluctuations.
The examination lasted several minutes.
The results surprised him somewhat.
Judging from all the data, this Black Giant fell within the “normal range.”
In terms of external performance, it seemed slightly more agile than ordinary Black Giants: its eyes were more lively, its reactions were quicker, and its perception of the surrounding environment was sharper.
But this difference was very small and did not exceed the normal fluctuation range for Black Giants.
“Too few samples.”
Jie Ming withdrew his spiritual power and wrote in his logbook:
【Moonlight Essence Influence Test on Black Giant Embryo (First Trial)】
【Injection Amount: Half portion of moonlight essence (approximately equivalent to half the total energy of a first-ring spell)】
【Results: Incubation speed increased by approximately 30%; no obvious abnormalities in individual characteristics; slight enhancement in spirituality but not significant】
【Conclusion: More samples required for testing】
He closed the logbook and glanced at the Black Giant.
The creature was lying on the platform, staring at him with eager eyes, unsure what to do next.
“Go on, find the priest of your tribe.”
Jie Ming waved his hand.
The Black Giant got up and trotted out the door.
Jie Ming watched its retreating figure, lost in thought.
Moonlight essence should have no harmful effects on creatures like Black Giants, whose soul power was relatively weak.
He would still need to run more tests to at least confirm the specific effects.
He turned and looked out the window.
In the distance, within the Black Giant settlements, one moonlight collection formation after another was rising from the ground.