Zi Lam Tam Huong Mo

The two-star section of the old book contained over a hundred types of Card Ink. Seventy-three of them used the same ingredients as common Card Ink, but when concocted using the simultaneous fusion method, their properties and activity levels were extremely high, and some even developed additional characteristics. Tung Lam had never heard of the remaining types, nor did they exist in the current knowledge system.

Among them, one type of Card Ink was rated by the author as having the highest difficulty: Zi Lam Tam Huong Mo (Purple Blue Triple Fragrance Ink).

Over the past few months, Tung Lam had successfully concocted over eighty types. His Mental Power had long reached the peak of two stars, and he was only waiting for an opportunity to break through to three stars. Today, he decided to concoct Zi Lam Tam Huong Mo specifically to use it as a catalyst for his breakthrough.

Early in the morning, Tung Lam exercised as usual; his mind never felt right if he skipped a day.

After finishing breakfast, Tung Lam took out the necessary materials.

The ingredients for Zi Lam Tam Huong Mo included Bai Mo (White Ink), Zi Xian Lan Dian Ti, and a type of flower called Tam Sac Tam Huong Lan (Three-Colored Three-Fragrance Orchid). This flower had caused Tung Lam a massive headache—not because it was rare or expensive, but because... it wasn't considered an ink-making material.

Anyone in temperate regions knew this flower had three petals of different colors. During different stages of growth, it emitted distinct fragrances, hence the name Tam Sac Tam Huong Lan. They were abundant on coniferous mountain slopes, but people only used them for decoration as they couldn't be made into Card Ink. Therefore, they were very cheap.

The trouble was that this was the equatorial region—where was he supposed to find such a flower! Tung Lam had to ask Cao Dat to order them for him. It took half a month before he held a bouquet in his hand. Then another problem arose: preservation. He didn't know when he would find the Zi Xian Lan Dian Ti, and the flowers wouldn't stay fresh for long.

Fortunately, Chen Ling had shown him a processing method that preserved the properties of the solution for a long time, so he finally had the materials ready. He didn't know where Chen Ling had learned this, but it was clearly a secret method not known to everyone.

Tung Lam took out the bottle of Tam Sac Tam Huong Lan solution, and a faint, extremely pleasant fragrance immediately filled the air. He set the bottle aside and carefully took out the Zi Xian Lan Dian Ti, which was wrapped in black cloth, and placed it into the processing machine. Processing this material wasn't difficult; one simply had to avoid looking at it and use Mental Power to sense it. Once the Zi Xian Lan Dian Ti was melted by an electric spark, it became a transparent, deep blue (purple + blue) liquid that flowed into the bottle. The ink-making process finally began.

First, Tung Lam blindfolded himself with the black cloth. He then used Mental Power to sense the positions before pouring the materials into the separating funnel. Finally, the two types of materials were ready in his hands.

Tung Lam’s expression became focused, his concentration reaching its peak. Within his Mental Realm, the two Mental Cores began to move faster, radiating powerful Mental Power. Two streams of Mental Power focused separately on each of his hands.

The first drop fell.

Boom!

The moment the three liquids touched, they emitted a violent surge of energy with properties similar to mental vibrations, causing Tung Lam’s Mental Power to become turbulent. He was startled but remained calm. However, the energy surge was too strong; Tung Lam could only hold on for five seconds before his expression changed, and he quickly shoved the solution bottle into the Safebox.

Thud!

An explosion rang out. Simultaneously, Tung Lam felt as if his Mental Realm had been struck by a giant sledgehammer. He became dizzy, staggering a few steps before he could steady himself. Even so, his mind felt "sore" for a while.

How dangerous. He hadn't expected that when this type of Card Ink failed, it would produce a mental attack along with the explosion. Luckily, it was only the first drop, so the attack wasn't very strong; otherwise, Tung Lam would have been in a coma for days at the very least.

If Chen Ling had been there (he had been kicked out), he would have been shocked. Card Ink exploding with a mental attack usually only happened with four-star ink or higher, yet it was appearing here in a two-star ink.

A while later, once his Mental Power had been readjusted, Tung Lam continued the process.

This time, being prepared, Tung Lam handled it better, and the first drop was successfully fused. The silver Bai Mo turned a very pale deep blue. By the second drop, the difficulty spiked; the energy emitted became stronger and even harder to control.

The assessment that this was the most difficult two-star Card Ink was not without merit. One had to be blindfolded, the fusion process was grueling, and failure resulted in a mental attack that the Safebox couldn't block—it was incredibly dangerous. But Tung Lam persisted.

With every drop fused, he struggled immensely, feeling as though he would fail on the next one, yet he somehow managed to start the one after that. His two Mental Cores spun at extreme speeds; they had surpassed their limit and continued to accelerate.

Gradually, a band of Mental Power began to converge around the two Cores. The band grew larger, starting to clump into small masses. Inside, the two Cores spun faster and faster, and the small masses were affected, beginning to move as well. Then, two masses collided and shattered into tiny dust-like particles, which then gathered into a larger mass. Slowly, only three large masses remained.

By this point, Tung Lam had fused ten drops, and the mental pressure was enormous. If he failed now, even with his peak two-star Mental Power, he wouldn't be able to withstand the mental attack and his mind would collapse.

In his Mental Realm, the masses continued to collide until only two remained, their movement speed increasing.

Twelve drops. The two Cores were spinning at three times their limit speed. The distance between the second Core and the first increased, and both Cores grew a size larger. In the area of the third Core, the two large masses were extremely close to each other.

Fourteen drops. The two Cores spun four times faster and grew one and a half times larger.

Fifteen drops. The entire bottle of Card Ink suddenly glowed, and all the mental pressure transformed into a gentle energy that made his mind feel comfortable—an incredible 360-degree change. Zi Lam Tam Huong Mo was complete.

At the same moment, a "boom" echoed in Tung Lam’s Mental Realm as the two mental masses collided, shaking the entire realm. Then, the tiny dust particles rapidly gathered to form a single, complete, independent sphere that rotated on its own and orbited the first Core.

The third Mental Core had formed, meaning Tung Lam’s Mental Power had leveled up to three stars, officially leaving the common class behind.