‘As expected…’
The jade used to house the Echo Pill had a very particular fragrance to it. This sort of jade was known as Verdant Bloomstone, and it had a unique floral scent.
This scent was actually a product of its ability to suppress and restrict the aura of what was on the inside. It was used to preserve pills for this very reason, as it was very good at stopping medicinal effects from leaking out.
However, this jade fell out of favor for two main reasons. First, it took time for this floral scent to build up and for the Verdant Bloomstone to thus gain its suppressive effects. And secondly, it was found that over a sufficiently long period of time, the floral scent that built up over time would actually begin to influence and change what was stored on the inside.
As such, in modern times, more neutral jades were chosen as the superior storing items.
This ability of Verdant Bloomstone was important for another reason, though. There were special coding methods that could be hidden within the jade. By layering various pills, herbs, or plants of the like, it could store unique patterns in a very distinctive smell that could be deciphered by those skilled enough to do so.
This was all to say that if Theron’s nose was sharp enough to decipher the pattern used to layer the particular unique scent of this Verdant Bloomstone, then he had a feeling that there was an interesting secret waiting for him here.
‘It’s hard to tell how long this Echo Pill has been suppressed within this bottle. It’s possible that it’s already lost much of its effectiveness. But this…’
The wooden tablet was clearly something that Yonowai didn’t understand, otherwise he would have exposed its secrets long ago.
The wood was like a control method. Using it as a filter, it was possible to layer the scents very precisely, allowing greater precision and more detailed information to be noted down.
Ultimately, the main question that remained was… what was the secret?
Unfortunately, Theron didn’t have that answer. He had all the background knowledge necessary to unearth this, but what he didn’t have was the hands-on experience.
He could probably name tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of herbs, pills, and the like. But just like how he didn’t recognize the Echo Pill immediately because he had never seen it personally, there was no way for him to easily decipher the scents used here.
‘I’ve remembered it. I will just have to find an opportunity to make use of it. I also don’t believe that it is a coincidence the jade bottle shares the same scent. This Verdant Bloomstone must have been cut out of the same piece, and the secrets are definitely linked with one another.’
After coming to this conclusion, Theron made a series of plans for the future before carefully hiding both the jade piece and jade bottle in a hidden compartment of his living abode. In the same space, he hid away the Silver Resonance Breakthrough Pill and the booklet.
The booklet housed a Wood Mancy technique and it wasn’t of any use to Theron. Even if it was, he likely wouldn’t use it in public due to the risk regardless.
That said, he still studied it. That was because this technique was neither of the two denoted in the Guild’s information. It was likely that this was a more powerful technique of the Thistles. It definitely wouldn’t hurt him to prepare for it in advance in case he came across an opponent that could use it in the future.
Theron was under no illusions that he was capable of battling a Ninth Resonance genius. He had defeated Yonowai because he knew his techniques like the back of his hand and had prepared the region ahead of time.
If he wanted to continue protecting his life, he would need to stay on top of things.
And that meant entering the Fifth Resonance.
Theron sat in silent meditation. He had allowed his Meridians enough time to acclimate to the Fourth Resonance, it was about time he make another push.
After adjusting himself, he took out the one remaining mid-tier Bronze Resonance Pill he had left over from his Merchant Greycoat mission reward and swallowed it.
The process was smooth. He felt the natural expansion of his Meridians, and the polishing of his Core.
Absorbing a Resonance Pill was actually quite involved. This was because Attributed Resonance Pills were shockingly expensive, so most, like Theron, and even Yonowai, used neutral Resonance Pills which had a mix of Mana within it.
Everyone could control neutral Mana, but it obviously wasn’t as comfortable as one’s Attributed Mana. So the focus needed was quite exceptional.
However, absorbing a mid-tier Bronze Resonance was far from the only thing Theron wanted to do tonight.
He had absorbed a mid-tier Bronze Resonance Pill at the Third Resonance. Tonight, he would absorb a high-tier Bronze Resonance Pill despite being leagues away from the Seventh Resonance.
There was no doubt that he was an absolute madman. But the determination between his brows was steely.
He needed to improve faster.
**
An extinguished soul lamp sat on the table, an eerie silence hanging around it like the wisps of smoke that wafted from its open gate.
There were three men present in the room, only one of whom Theron would recognize… he was none other than a certain yellow, crooked-toothed Teacher Burne.
The other two were unknown, but each had imposing auras, and one of them wore an insignia only worn by two men in the entire academy.
Dean Thistle.
“Again.” Dean Thistle said coldly.
Teacher Burne shuddered, but he did as he was told. His Mana churned and seeped into the soul lamp, but once again, an image flickered to life before dying, unable to fully form.
Silence fell once again. Teacher Burne didn’t dare even to breathe too loudly.
“What can you tell?”
“… A Fire Mancer, that is all I know.”
There was silence again before Dean Thistle chuckled darkly, the room quaking in his presence.
“Call Sigil. He will finish his mission here.”
“But Pa—Dean, the young master, he…”
Dean Thistle only gave Teacher Burne a look and the latter felt his entire body collapse into a frigid hell.
“The situation has changed. Clearly, trying to hide all of our cards and claiming victory at the same time won’t be possible. It’s time the world knows what sort of talents the Thistles have. The debt of all those years ago will be repaid.”