Boom!
Inala's expression was dead tired, facing another failure. He stared at the lower half of the hourglass, using Perfect Biome Domination to recover the piece of Sumatra Gold, sighing in response, "I almost reached the tenth stack this time. Only a bit more is left."
The improvements were steady over the past month. Inala was confident of completing the Minor Treasure before the duration of five months, for any time after that would be when the Mystic Humans arrive.
He wasn't just nervous about that. But just in case Brangara gets wind of this and somehow ends up at the Ravaged Federation, he would need enough strength to face him. Only by getting a Tertiary Nature would that be possible.
Simply bombarding Brangara with Bolts of Transcendence wouldn't work. Based on the information given by Virala and Orakha, Brangara was currently at the 2-Life Stage. And for some reason, he hasn't progressed beyond that.
Inala understood the reason clearly. It had already been displayed during the Second Major Disaster. In times of disaster, Brangara would condense a third body to take the fall for him.
Whether it be an attack from the Influenced Region of Hidden Eye or a powerful trap from Inala, it didn't matter. In situations where his life was at risk, Brangara would hurriedly condense a third body to tank the attack.
As long as he has enough Prana, he can condense a third body as many times as he wants. Creating a new body required one to condense all their Prana reserves—from a single body—into their Spirit Container. The Spirit Container would mould that Prana into a new body, which would begin growing gradually.
A typical cultivator would have to spend anywhere from months to even years before they could use their new body in combat. However, Brangara was different. The sheer power in his Prana caused his new body to already be decently grown by the time it finished condensing.
Hence, he could immediately put it in use. After becoming the Royal Zinger, Inala too gained the same advantage, even while in his Silver Grade form. It was why he could condense so many bodies and chuck them into the lower half of the hourglass for experimentation.
Brangara would refrain from reaching the 3-Life Stage unless he accumulated enough resources that would allow him to progress to the peak of the 3-Life Stage in the shortest time possible. After all, he was aware that his growth time was a weakness.
The resources he required to grow and reach maturity were the highest on Sumatra. Hence, if a growing body was killed, it would be a tremendous loss, the sheer amount of which could bankrupt dozens of Kingdoms when combined.
Ideally, if a body of his gets killed, he wanted it to be a newly formed one. This way, the only loss is the amount of Prana used to condense the body, which was 18,000 Prana. This amount wasn't much of a loss for him, considering he could recover the amount from consuming a large group of Iron Grade Pranic Beasts, who would lose their minds when exposed to his presence.
They'll be a sitting buffet for his consumption. In a matter of hours, he could easily amass enough Prana to condense a new body once again. Or in the case of a Minor Crisis, there would be enough concentration of Pranic Beasts in one place, making his recovery process even faster.
Conversely, Inala needed to amass two million units of Mystic Grade Prana to condense a Bolt of Transcendence, which took a bit over four months of absorption from the Biome Lattice. He would need multiple bolts to kill a Celestial Boar body.
And if Brangara were to tank the attacks with a new body, the one suffering a loss would be none other than Inala. After all, he had wasted millions of Mystic Grade Prana while Brangara expended only 18,000 units of the same.
There were better methods of using a Bolt of transcendence. So, Inala wanted to develop his abilities as quickly as possible so that even if a 2-Life Stage Brangara were to enter the Ravaged Federation alongside Yarsha Zahara, he'd be able to pressure them and force them to flee the place.
Two Minor Treasures and a Major Treasure; that was part of his list in order to attain the strength necessary to kill Brangara during the Third Major Disaster. Currently, the Minor Treasure he was planning to make was one of the two, which would help him and the Quip Clan in gaining a Tertiary Nature.
"Again!" Once he had slept for four hours, Inala woke up with a start and began the process another time. He condensed a second body and kicked it down the hourglass, raising his focus through Perfect Biome Domination.
He would have already succeeded if he had used Perfect Biome Domination while at the Mystic Grade. However, creating new bodies without implosion was impossible at the Mystic Grade. Only his base state was suitable, which forced him to use Perfect Biome Domination with the mental faculties of his Silver Grade self.
He did assume his Royal Zinger form, which gave him greater endurance. That was how he was able to rest and recover faster after every failure.
Sweat dribbled down his face, congregating under his elbows to drip on the floor. As he was standing in the upper half of the hourglass whose floors were inclined toward the narrow tunnel in the centre, the sweat began to flow there.
"Tch!" He clicked his tongue and set aside a small portion of his concentration, using Perfect Biome Domination in the upper half of the hourglass to eject the sweat outside.
Little by little, the piece of Sumatra Gold began to change, transforming into a liver right after he added the tenth body successfully into the stack. But an instant later, he found out the type of power condensing in it through Perfect Biome Domination, "Not this!"
Right as the Sumatra Gold was about to transform into a Minor Treasure, Inala purposefully disrupted the stack, causing an implosion. He collapsed to the floor once again, gasping in exhaustion upon recovering the piece of Sumatra Gold.
Once he rested a bit and gathered his bearings, he made a note of the type of Minor Treasure he was about to condense, 'Once I have free time in the future, I'll make a bunch of these for the Quip Clan.'
A cultivator would have to spend their entire lifetime cultivating to reach the 10-Life Stage and succeed partially, the chances of which were minimal. Only then could they become a Minor Treasure.
Majority of the Kingdoms had one Minor Treasure at most. The weaker Free Human Kingdoms didn't even have a Minor Treasure.
However, Inala needed two years to condense a Sumatra Gold and another two years to condense five Bolts of Transcendence. Most Minor Treasures needed anywhere from one to two Bolts. Ideally, he could produce a Minor Treasure every three years.
Realistically, he could guarantee the production of one Minor Treasure every five years, which was tremendous. And this was only for unique Minor Treasures, whose setup he had to work hard on stabilising through Perfect Biome Domination.
However, for Minor Treasures he already succeeded in making once, Inala could replicate them in the shortest time possible. He would only need a few days atop the production time for the piece of Sumatra Gold and the necessary number of Bolts of Transcendence. With that, he could mass produce the same type of Minor Treasures.
This advantage would rapidly elevate the foundation of the Quip Clan in a short time frame, allowing them to exercise their weight similar to the Mammoth Clan and the Cooter Clan. They'll all be on par with each other.
Similar to the other two Clans, the Quip Clan had a Mystic Grade cultivation technique, powerful Expert Gold Grade Pranic Beasts, an arsenal of Minor Treasures, and even a Major Treasure. By the time the Third Major Disaster starts, Inala wanted the Quip Clan to catch up to the Mammoth Clan and the Cooter Clan in terms of foundation, something the two Clans took over twelve thousand years to accumulate.
With a robust initial foundation, the Quip Clan will be able to propel itself forward the fastest. 'For that to happen, I need to work harder.'
After using the Piezo Slip Skill on a piece of stone to record his observations, Inala began the process, steadily progressing through it until he succeeded in adding a tenth Royal Zinger body into the stack, assimilating it into the Sumatra Gold.
Every body part had a function. And depending on where he concentrated the power of the Nectar and Bolt of Transcendence as the base, and added in the powers from other body parts like constructing a building, the results differed.
The months progressed in such a fashion as Inala immersed himself like a lunatic, ignoring everything else. The Gold Grade Quip Clansmen managed the Quip Clan in his absence, especially Zhya, the Zinger Representative.
Thanks to her presence, Inala didn't have to worry about the Quip Clan's safety.
Four months since the visit from Virala and Orakha, having accumulated close to ten Minor Treasure blueprints possible through the Royal Zinger's body, Inala stared at the stack with reddened eyes, "Yes…yes! YES!"
The effect was gradually condensing into a form that he desired. He immediately calmed down and raised his focus to the extreme, paying the utmost attention possible while using Perfect Biome Domination.
Under his will, the Bolt of Transcendence unleashed sparks that merged with the Sumatra Gold from multiple angles, fusing everything in it into a singular entity. Gradually, faint beams of light began to arc around it like solar flares, increasing in intensity with every successive arc.
Five percent, ten percent, fifteen percent…the volume of Sumatra Gold becoming one with the entity was steadily increasing. Prana surged into Inala as he absorbed it, condensing the Royal Zinger's Prana—attributed with the effects of his Primary Nature of Mystic Royalty.
He fed the Sumatra Gold his Prana in careful amounts, supplying it the necessary energy to attain a change in nature. Gradually, with a palpitating heart, he watched as the final portion of the Sumatra Gold became one with the substances added into the mix—ten Royal Zinger bodies, three-and-a-half Bolts of Transcendence, and many litres of Nectar.
Right as the process concluded, a pillar of light burst out of the resultant object, filling up the interior of the hourglass. Through Perfect Biome Domination, Inala prevented the pillar of light from leaking out.
Otherwise, all the Phells would swarm the place, and eventually, even the Ravaged Federation might come to the location. Powerful Gold Grade existence among them might be able to feel the leaking presence of a Minor Treasure even from afar, even if they cannot see the pillar of light it unleashed.
"He…hehe!" Inala chuckled in giddiness upon succeeding at the task, staring at the object before him, a Spirit Container shaped like the Royal Zinger. "I got the correct one."
Minor Treasure—Prana Stitch!