Chapter 19 Strange Blood Potion

"So far, no one can say for sure how many types of Hunter Breathing Techniques there are. Everyone knows different ones. If you want to learn another Breathing Technique, you usually find another Beast Hunter to exchange with," Baron said, stroking his beard.

"Has no one ever compiled all the Breathing Techniques?"

Zhou Jing couldn't help but ask.

Hearing this, Baron shook his head and explained:

"The Terra Empire has been trying, but Hunter Breathing Techniques are not so easy to learn, and even harder to master. Just relying on written records, ordinary people can't practice them successfully, so most of the time, you need a Hunter who has already mastered it to teach you.

"But… a person's energy is limited. Generally, after learning two or three kinds of Breathing Techniques, they don't have the energy to learn new ones. Take me, for example. It took me nearly fourteen years to truly master two kinds of Breathing Techniques and be able to use them skillfully. And an unskilled Breathing Technique is not only useless in battle, but it may also disrupt your own combat rhythm. After all, you can only use one Breathing Technique at a time.

"So Beast Hunters generally choose Breathing Techniques suitable for their own enhancement direction, and then find a Hunter who understands it to learn from, relying on the two or three kinds of Breathing Techniques they have chosen to hunt."

Zhou Jing nodded, understanding roughly.

Strange Blood enhancement brings extraordinary power, and Hunter Breathing Techniques are the skills that Hunters use to better exert this power, similar to combat skills.

There are many types of Hunter Breathing Techniques, but due to limitations in learning ability and aptitude, Beast Hunters take the route of valuing quality over quantity.

At this time, Baron put on his clothes and said:

"When you learn this Breathing Technique, use it to train. When your body is stronger, you can accept Strange Blood enhancement… It will take about two or three years."

"That long?" Zhou Jing was slightly stunned.

"That's still long!" Baron glared: "Do you think Hunter Breathing Techniques are easy to master, that they take effect immediately? Beast Hunter training is a matter of years and months. Whether it's windy or snowing, you have to cultivate diligently every day, accumulating small improvements to slowly become stronger… Even with your physical talent!"

Speaking of this, he suddenly paused, seeming to feel a little harsh, so he slowed down his tone and said earnestly:

"I know you are eager to avenge the Earth Bone Men, but you need to be fully prepared before accepting Strange Blood enhancement. Otherwise, even with your body, you may die violently during the enhancement. You need to be patient."

"Alright."

Zhou Jing remained noncommittal, calculating secretly.

Judging from the current time flow difference, one day in the main world is about one month in the Beast World, so three years in the Beast World… would still be more than a month in the main world.

He hadn't forgotten his goal of clearing an Apostle within two months in the main world. Although he wanted to develop now, he didn't plan to take so long.

'But with the Cultivation Acceleration function, it should greatly shorten this time. It shouldn't take so long… I just don't know how much it can be shortened.'

Zhou Jing thought to himself.

He didn't dwell on this question. He would know when he started practicing. It was better to ask about the details of Strange Blood enhancement now.

When the last Apostle was with Baron, Baron avoided talking about this question, but now he could ask further.

The Beast World was still relatively primitive and old-fashioned, not the network era of information explosion. Perhaps some remote villages didn't even know the king's name, so Zhou Jing could safely inquire about some information.

He carefully chose his words and explained his questions about Strange Blood potions. This time, Baron answered and explained the situation of Strange Blood potions in detail.

When a person drinks a Strange Blood potion, the effect of the potion is released in the body, and the body will be rapidly enhanced. This is a painful process.

At this time, there will be three situations.

The first is naturally a successful enhancement, from which they become a Strange Blood Warrior, gaining stable extraordinary power.

The latter two are both failures, but the forms of failure are different.

One dies on the spot, ascending to heaven, and is directly sent to the crematorium.

The other is a "fake success". It seems that they have survived the enhancement and gained power, but in the next few hours or days, a large number of uncomfortable symptoms will appear, similar to rejection reactions and gene collapse. The final result is still a violent death, just living a few more days, giving hope and then despair.

Because the raw materials of Strange Blood potions are different beasts, they have different enhancement directions according to the characteristics of the raw materials, such as strength, agility, defense, and so on.

But the effect can only strengthen the body, and cannot obtain special abilities such as the ability of beasts to discharge electricity or release fire—Strange Blood potions made from such beasts only enhance resistance to electric shock and fire.

"In the tribal era, there were many Strange Blood potion masters who tried to give humans the strange abilities of beasts through Strange Blood enhancement. After the establishment of the Terra Empire, it is said that many master-level Strange Blood potion masters were gathered together to study, but to this day, no results have been heard."

Baron's tone was somewhat regretful.

Zhou Jing's eyes flickered, and he thought for a while and asked, "In this world, besides Strange Blood potions, are there other ways to obtain extraordinary power?"

"I haven't heard of any." Baron scratched his bald head.

Zhou Jing breathed out a sigh of relief.

Okay, it seems that Strange Blood enhancement is still the only current goal. Listening to this introduction, it is indeed a purely physical enhancement ability. Don't even think about shooting any energy…

Zhou Jing thought for a while and asked, "How do you get Strange Blood potions? Do you have to buy them with money?"

"You can use money, or you don't have to use money." Baron's answer was a bit unexpected.

Zhou Jing was stunned.

What does that mean? Are you planning to take me to get it for free?

I don't mind, anyway, I can start the next round if I die, but shouldn't you think twice…?

At this time, Baron explained in a muffled voice:

"Each tribe has its own Hunter Workshop, used to process beast materials and make various weapons or Strange Blood potions. After the establishment of the Empire, workshops were opened in various towns to recycle beast materials. Beast Hunters will sell the beasts they hunt to the workshops in exchange for some money.

"The products made by the workshops from these materials are all put out for sale, including Strange Blood potions.

"But if Beast Hunters have a need, the workshops can also give away Strange Blood potions for free."

Zhou Jing blinked, a little puzzled.

Giving it away for free isn't a losing business?

Moreover, with the efficiency of information exchange in this era, it is easy to exploit loopholes. As long as a Beast Hunter changes different towns, wouldn't it be easy to collect a large number of Strange Blood potions given away?

Seeming to see Zhou Jing's doubts, Baron laughed and explained:

"Of course, there are conditions. The number of times a workshop gives away potions is the same as the number of times a Hunter submits and sells beast materials in this workshop."

"I see…"

Zhou Jing immediately understood.

If a Hunter submits or sells a hunted beast to a workshop in a certain town, then there will be a record in that workshop, and they will get a chance to receive a potion for free, accumulating in this way.

But it won't work to change a town. The records of workshops in different regions are not interconnected, and Hunters have to "start over" when they go to another region.

So it will cause Beast Hunters to tend to stay active around a certain town and not change places easily.

'This may be a means of competition between towns and workshops, using this method to try to encourage Beast Hunters to stay here and constantly bring beast materials to the local workshops… similar to sunk costs.'

Zhou Jing's mind raced.

In this era of low information flow efficiency, this is indeed a feasible solution.

Because it is impossible to ignore the distance of space like in the information age, so that the "database" of each workshop is common and the Hunter's records are updated in real time… so it can only be solved locally.

Moreover, the workshop is not necessarily at a loss. If the processing technology is good, one beast can make several Strange Blood potions, not to mention that other body parts can be used to make equipment.

Baron stroked his beard and said with a hearty smile: "I have been stationed in Frostwood Village for some years, and I have submitted many hunting results to the workshop in the city, accumulating some chances to exchange for Strange Blood potions, but I haven't used them. When you have trained enough, I will exchange a Strange Blood potion for you from the workshop, free of charge."

"Then I'll thank you in advance."

Zhou Jing smiled.

This was much easier than he expected. He initially thought it would be difficult to obtain a Strange Blood potion.

Thinking about it, the main threat this world faces is beasts, so the country and tribe must hope that more Beast Hunters will appear, and not set too high a threshold for extraordinary power… They are probably afraid that ordinary people will not dare to use Strange Blood potions.

But having said that, although it doesn't cost money, he still owes Baron a favor, after all, it is the free potion quota he has accumulated.

—It is estimated that it is not only because he values my talent, but also a little bit of the influence of 'Willwood' in it, so Baron decided to use this method to "compensate".

Zhou Jing thought to himself.

In this way, the current route is clear. As long as the level of the Hunter Breathing Technique is raised, it can be connected to obtain extraordinary power, without worrying about anything else.

Just then, Baron suddenly changed the subject and pointed to the weapon rack at the edge of the training ground, saying:

"Let's not talk about Strange Blood enhancement for now, it's still relatively far away from you. What you need to consider now is what weapon to practice."

"A blade, I guess."

Zhou Jing didn't hesitate.

In this Star Realm Apostle's aptitude, [Blade Arts] is a green level, and among the abilities inherited, there is also a Hunter Blade Mastery.

Although Baron is good at axes, Zhou Jing has studied the panel and believes that it is more cost-effective to determine the direction of growth based on his own aptitude.

Normal people need to explore in person to know what they are good at. And he, through the panel's ability archive, can directly see which aspects of this body have talent, and can train specifically from the beginning, which will improve efficiency.

With such an advantage, it is natural to use it.

"That's fine too… I also know blade arts, so teaching you to master it is no problem."

Baron's expression was a little regretful.

He still wanted to recommend his weapon, so everyone could be Axe Gang members together.

But he thought about it, it would take at least three years to train this Jason to be effective, and there would be plenty of time in the future.

Maybe while practicing, he will find that he is not the material for practicing the blade, and turn around to practice the axe with him, and happily create miracles together!

After the two discussed the training program, they didn't continue to chat and started training soon.

Today is mainly to learn the Hunter Breathing Technique. As Zhou Jing listened to Baron's explanation, the panel quickly popped up relevant information:

[【Hunter Breathing Forging】]

[One of the Hunter Breathing Techniques, can enhance physical fitness]

[Skill Level: lv0-(Not Started)]

[Minimum Cost for Cultivation Acceleration: 100 Star Realm Points]

'The cost of Cultivation Acceleration to get started is so high. I don't know how many Star Realm Points it will take to upgrade it… But the higher the initial cost, perhaps it means that this skill is rarer and has more potential.'

Zhou Jing didn't hesitate and immediately consumed 100 points to turn on the Cultivation Acceleration of [Hunter Breathing Forging].

He had already realized that,

The Cultivation Acceleration function may be a money-burning bottomless pit…

The Star Realm Points he has on hand are probably not enough for him to squander.

'It seems I have to find a way to earn some resources…'

Zhou Jing was thoughtful.