I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 141

The Ice Snow Flower is an herb found exclusively in cold regions, and extremely rarely at that.

Moreover, it melts easily if temperatures rise even slightly, and its blooming period is brief.

A limited winter season, a short lifespan, and vitality fragile as a sunfish.

On top of that, it requires mana-rich soil, making it an extraordinarily rare herb.

But as always, the Forest of Four Seasons seemed to be an exception. Mana didn’t even need explanation.

Since seasons shifted every week anyway, its short lifespan posed no problem.

I could easily discover them just by searching around the Shelter.

Thus, to me, the Ice Snow Flower was nothing more than a seasonal flower.

One whose "season" returned once every four weeks.

Title: Found Ice Snow Flowers again.

Wild Grylls

(Photo of Ice Snow Flower)

(Photo 2 of Ice Snow Flower)

(Photo 3 of Ice Snow Flower)

Are these like seasonal greens or something? There’s quite a lot?

↳ Heavenly Demon) Thou art surely the only one in existence to refer to a precious herb as seasonal greens.

↳ Sword Matstar) All these supposedly ultra-rare herbs are just gathered here. They are genuinely precious items, you know.

↳ So does that mean he can find Ice Snow Flowers every winter from now on?

↳ Looks like it, but isn’t that true for other herbs too? Different herbs grow every season.

↳ What herbs grow in spring again? All sorts of herbs pop up from spring to summer.

↳ Dunno? But picking up literally anything there would probably count as a medicinal herb lol

↳ Lady Starlight) You found several instead of just one! Are you planning to craft with them?

↳ Wild Grylls) I thought it’d be great if I could gain cold resistance. Since I have plenty of materials now, it should be fine.

↳ Lady Starlight) Alright, understood. But as you mentioned yesterday, could you give me a Mature Mandrake?

↳ Wild Grylls) I’ll give you a Mature Mandrake, plus a blue Mandrake processed using yesterday’s method. It’ll be easier for you to research.

↳ Lady Starlight) I’ll make sure to repay your trust!

↳ Wild Grylls) Thank you.

↳ Passing Dwarf) Hey. What about me? Give me one too.

↳ Wild Grylls) Stinks like booze over here, back off. Plus, I don’t have the luxury of brewing liquor right now. Once I get what I want, I’ll consider it.

↳ Passing Dwarf) K.

↳ Wild Grylls) If push comes to shove, I’ll brew it into booze myself lol

↳ Passing Dwarf) This little punk?

↳ Don’t worry. There’s bound to be other herbs besides that one anyway lol

↳ Is he gonna find Sun Grass in summer?

↳ No no, Sun Grass only grows in deserts. Just like Snow Ginseng only grows in snowy mountains.

↳ By that logic, shouldn’t Ice Snow Flowers also be on snowy mountains?

↳ He’ll figure it out. We just gotta grab pop-corn and watch lol

Having found the Ice Snow Flowers, I ate a light breakfast and set out to craft.

The first task was gathering Mandrakes. This time, I collected several instead of just one.

One was for Lady Starlight, while I processed another just like yesterday.

Starting with boiling the Ice Snow Flower and Mature Mandrake together to dye it blue.

"Gwerhk?! Gwuhk!!"

Once again began the force-feeding of Elixir into its mouth.

This suddenly brought foie gras to mind—the delicacy made from goose liver.

To enlarge the liver, they shove a funnel down the goose’s beak and force-feed it food.

Since the Mandrake was a plant, it was somewhat acceptable, but given its humanlike reactions, it felt pretty unpleasant.

Even though I was injecting medicine (Elixir) rather than food.

"Kiyoooooot!!"

Thwack! Thump!

As soon as the Elixir went in and its effects kicked in, I beat the Mandrake to calm it down.

’Now I just need to send these, right?’

I sent a total of three Mandrakes.

One plain Mandrake, one combined with the Ice Snow Flower, and one force-fed both the Ice Snow Flower and Elixir.

Researching them one by one, Lady Starlight would surely figure out a pattern.

[Wild Grylls: If I could, I’d send some to Allfather to ask for research too, but I didn’t have enough.]

[Lady Starlight: Thank you.]

I’ll let you know the research results before lunchtime.

Understood.

[Wild Grylls: Is the Mandrake combined with the Ice Snow Flower doing alright?]

[Lady Starlight: It seems to have absorbed it, so it’s still blue for now.]

If I knew, I should have received it yesterday.

Neither of us knew back then.

Then I’ll be waiting.

Having entrusted the research to Lady Starlight, I needed to get to my own work.

First was controlling my ability. As emphasized repeatedly, lacking control causes trouble in many ways.Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping(.)com.

I used Aura not just in combat, but in various physical labor as well.

Logging, mining, shoveling, crafting, and so forth. It was useful in countless ways.

If everything got frozen solid every single time, it would be a massive headache.

’Let’s check why cold radiates out. Has my mana itself really mutated?’

Closing my eyes quietly, I circulated my mental cultivation art.

I vividly felt the mana inside my body circulating into every corner.

Simultaneously, a piercing cold sensation washed through. The mana itself was emitting cold.

However, contrary to Lady Starlight’s concerns, my circuits didn’t freeze up like Blocked Meridian Syndrome.

As if my body had fully adapted, the mana circulated smoothly without any strain.

’It’s like...’

Is it like how the oceans at the North or South Pole don’t easily freeze?

I didn’t mean my mana contained salt, but rather deduced that the essence I consumed yesterday adjusted my constitution.

Not a bad sign, but while I avoided the worst outcome, the headache remained.

’If only it had an on/off toggle, it’d be perfect.’

How could I separate Aura and cold from each other? Just as I was pondering this...

’Wait a second. Doesn’t all mana gather in the dantian?’

An internal cultivation art gathers mana into the dantian through breathing.

In other words, even if mana spreads throughout the body, it eventually collects back into the dantian.

So, what if I separate and isolate the cold energy every time mana gathers in the dantian?

’Surely my dantian won’t freeze over, right?’

That sounded pretty terrifying too. I paused my mental cultivation art.

Times like this required an expert opinion.

Heavenly Demon-nim.

[Wild Grylls: May I ask a question?]

[Heavenly Demon: What dost thou inquire?]

Well, it’s about...

I gave Heavenly Demon a rough explanation.

I wanted to separate the cold from mana and store it in the dantian.

But I was worried the cold might adversely affect my dantian.

Please tell me whether my concern is mere paranoia or a real possibility.

Heavenly Demon seemed to ponder for a moment after hearing my question, then replied.

[Heavenly Demon: I understand thy words.]

It is not unreasonable for thee to worry.

[Wild Grylls: Is it dangerous?]

[Heavenly Demon: If separated improperly, it is dangerous indeed.]

Just as thou sayest, thy dantian could freeze solid.

However, if thou employest the correct method, thou canst separate it properly.

[Wild Grylls: Could you teach me how?]

[Heavenly Demon: Of course.]

It is the principle of creating another dantian within thy dantian.

[Wild Grylls: That sounds ridiculously hard just hearing it?]

[Heavenly Demon: It is no grand feat.]

If thy main dantian is for pure qi,

the new dantian thou shall form is solely for the cold.

Wait a moment.

Leaving those words, Heavenly Demon temporarily vanished.

I tilted my head, finding it hard to grasp the idea of creating a dantian inside a dantian.

Since she was an absolute expert in this field, I didn’t doubt her, I just couldn’t understand it intuitively.

’I might have to do manual labor without Aura for a while.’

My body was suffering because of a strange power. I could only chuckle dryly.

After waiting for a bit, Heavenly Demon sent a message.

[Heavenly Demon]

(Illustration of human anatomy and Inner Core)

Dost thou see clearly?

Thou shouldst see a small circle within this Inner Core.

In this manner, condense the essence to form another Inner Core.

Ah.

[Wild Grylls: Ah, like a set subset format.]

[Heavenly Demon: Is not ’set’ a word used when gathering people?]

It’s a mathematical term.

[Wild Grylls: I don’t use it often though.]

[Heavenly Demon: I see.]

At any rate, it is well if thou understandest.

Now that thou knowest the principle, it would be best to practice.Read this novel at NovelPing for the best experience.

[Wild Grylls: Is there any other advice?]

[Heavenly Demon: The second mnemonic I taught thee shall be of great aid.]

In truth, I wish to impart the third mnemonic to thee,

but I fear thou might grow stronger in yet another bizarre direction, so it seems best to hold off for now.

Especially now that thy qi is infused with cold.

Understood.

Thank you so much for the advice alone.

[Heavenly Demon: I am always waiting.]

Whenever thou needest help, feel free to ask.

No matter how I thought about it, Heavenly Demon was a precious connection. She shared priceless tips without hesitation.

She added that it would be better to learn the third mnemonic only after controlling Aura and cold became second nature.

Ideally, once I could use Sword Gang—meaning Aura Blade.

I agreed with this completely.

’If I get strong in some dumb, nonsensical way again, I’m the one suffering.’

As someone said, my Aura might literally pierce the sky next.

Praying that wouldn’t happen, I resumed circulating my internal cultivation art.

Reciting the second mnemonic given by Heavenly Demon, I visualized the image and separated the mana from the cold.

Shaaaaa—

As if a chemical reaction were taking place, the cold gradually detached itself.

Following her guidance, I positioned that energy at the very center of my Inner Core.

Like shaping a small circle inside a larger one, I painstakingly condensed it.

Crackle...

But perhaps because it relied on a principle similar to Aura Blade, it wasn’t easy.

Whenever I managed to clump it together, it crumbled right back apart.

Moreover, the circulating mana rushed like waves, making separation immensely difficult.

’Can’t give up.’

Aura Blade manifests outside the body, but this was internal. It was relatively easier.

Undeterred, I steadily separated each energy.

How much time had elapsed?

My effort bore fruit.

Right before lunchtime, I managed to condense a tiny, sesame-seed-sized core of essence.

’Now, if I want to use the cold...’

Touching it like popping a balloon caused the essence to instantly burst out.

Reforming it wasn’t hard either, since I had already walked that path once.

If I expanded this gradually, I’d be able to use normal Aura in daily life.

Until then, I had no choice but to work without Aura as much as possible.

’I’ll just treat it as working out.’

I checked the time. Time had flown by, and it was already lunchtime.

Right on cue, Lady Starlight sent a message. Impeccable timing.

She had promised to report her findings before lunch, so the timing was spot-on.

[Wild Grylls: What were the results?]

[Lady Starlight: First, there’s good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?]

[Wild Grylls: Give me the bad news first.]

[Lady Starlight: Gaining cold resistance through the Ice Snow Flower seems practically impossible.]

Unless safety is completely ignored, no matter how hard I rack my brain, there’s always a risk.

To gain cold resistance, one had to consume the Ice Snow Flower while risking their life.

Disappointed for a moment, a question popped into my mind.

’Then what about the people who gained cold resistance? Were they just lucky?’

As soon as the thought occurred, I asked.

Then what about people in the past?

[Wild Grylls: Some people died eating Ice Snow Flowers, but others gained cold resistance, right?]

[Lady Starlight: You know pufferfish, which you mentioned before?]

This is a completely different case.

[Wild Grylls: A different case?]

[Lady Starlight: Yes.]

Normally, after countless attempts, people ate the parts of pufferfish that aren’t poisonous.

But the Ice Snow Flower is different. They just ate it raw.

They just ate it raw?

Then how did they survive?

[Wild Grylls: Lady Starlight intuitively explained the difference.]

[Lady Starlight: To use the pufferfish analogy, it was consumed by someone who would be completely fine even if they chewed up a raw pufferfish whole.]

You can consider it as just being eaten by an overwhelmingly strong person.

;;;

So basically, only freaks of nature could eat it.