Watching the rabbits before her continuously swell and expand, Elara realized something was amiss and abruptly remembered something. She suddenly threw the earthenware bowl in her hand, which she had regarded as a venomous beast, towards the nearby medicinal herb garden, then turned and fled, not stopping until she was several dozen yards away from the rabbits.
Just as she was about to turn back and see what was happening, two explosions, almost simultaneous, one after the other, sounded from behind. Elara shivered violently and turned her head. Indeed, both rabbits' bodies had burst, blown into several pieces, their flesh and blood scattered gruesomely on the ground. Two shallow pits appeared where the rabbits had been tethered, the area around the pits littered with the rabbits' scattered remains, blood and shredded meat covering the ground—a truly ghastly sight.
Elara let out a long sigh of relief and sat down heavily on the ground. If she hadn't reacted quickly enough this time, she probably would have been caught in the rabbits' explosion. Although she wouldn't necessarily have been seriously injured, being showered with rabbit blood and bits of flesh was not a pleasant experience.
Only after the shock in her heart had subsided did Elara stand up and walk closer to the two shallow pits.
She looked at the bloody, mangled scene, then at the shattered earthenware bowl in the medicinal herb garden, momentarily speechless.
Elara had originally thought she might discover some miraculous elixir from that emerald droplet, but she never expected it to be such a terrifying thing. Even if it were poison, it shouldn't have caused the rabbits to die so miserably! She wouldn't touch that stuff again, no matter what; it was too frightening! Elara was not unfamiliar with deadly poisons; under Physician Morus's tutelage these past few years, she had seen many lethal toxins that could kill with a mere scratch, but none of them caused death in such a horrifying manner.
Fortunately, Elara's psychological resilience was relatively strong. Even in this environment, she managed to maintain her composure for a while longer before intending to leave.
Because noon was approaching, she had to deliver the prepared potion to Rory Stormblade. As for the subsequent clean-up here, she would deal with it after delivering the medicine.
With this thought, Elara didn't spare another glance at the explosion site, leaving all the trouble for later. She returned to her hut, rested briefly, and then took the potion to the entrance of Quietstream Valley.
Elara was very punctual, arriving at the valley entrance exactly at noon. Rory Stormblade, however, looked as if he had been waiting there anxiously for some time.
He stood alone at the valley exit, having changed into a white silk outer robe, but still carrying that long saber on his back which had left a deep impression on Elara. When Elara arrived, he was looking towards the valley with a hint of anxiety.
Only when he saw Elara's figure did he shed his anxious expression, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly as a smile appeared on his face.
"Junior Sister Elara, you are truly punctual! You said noon, and it's exactly noon when you arrive. I've been waiting for almost an hour." Rory said, half-jokingly, half-complainingly.
"My apologies. Preparing the potion yesterday took too much time, and I went to bed very late, so I woke up a bit late this morning. By the time I finished handling my affairs, it was just noon," Elara explained, also half-truthfully.
"Junior Sister Elara, the medicine, that medicine... is it ready?" Rory was somewhat flustered due to his eagerness, his words even a little stammered.
Elara didn't answer his question, merely smiled calmly, slowly took out a palm-sized leather medicine pouch from her tunic, and casually tossed it to Rory.
"Before taking the 'Bone-Gnawing Pill' each time, first take a spoonful of the powder from this pouch with cool boiled water. It will lessen the pain you suffer."
"Thank you, Junior Sister Elara! Thank you so much!" Rory was ecstatic. Even the slightest reduction in pain would be an immense blessing to him. The pain of taking the 'Bone-Gnawing Pill' truly made him shudder. He had tried many painkillers before, but none had any effect. Since this Junior Sister Elara knew all the properties of the 'Bone-Gnawing Pill' and had also taken it herself, perhaps this potion could really work.
"Don't thank me yet. It's not too late to thank me when this potion actually proves effective. Besides, this is only a year's supply; I've used up all the medicinal herbs I had on hand. When I've gathered enough herbs, I'll prepare a few more doses for you," Elara said bluntly.
"It doesn't matter. Isn't this a year's supply? It's enough for now. Whether this potion is effective or not, I, Rory Stormblade, appreciate Junior Sister Elara's kindness." Rory, having obtained what he wanted, his expression regained its composure. He no longer stood on ceremony and straightforwardly expressed that he owed Elara another great debt of gratitude.
Elara smiled slightly, said no more, and took the initiative to bid Rory farewell and return.
Rory Stormblade, holding the potion, was also eager to go back and try its effects, so he didn't try to detain Elara further. After bidding each other goodbye, the two parted ways.
After returning to the valley, Elara first went to the medicinal herb garden to clean up. She swept all the rabbit remains, blood-soaked soil, broken pottery shards, and so on into the pits, then filled the two unexpectedly created pits with earth. This way, the area looked no different than before the experiment.
Elara satisfactorily patted the dust from her hands and looked around to see if she had missed anything.
When her gaze fell on the spot where the earthenware bowl had shattered, she couldn't help but fall into thought.
She remembered very clearly that when she threw the bowl, all the diluted emerald liquid in it had spilled onto that small patch of medicinal land, soaking the few herbs there. This made her somewhat hesitant, wondering if these herbs would also become poisonous after absorbing this liquid. And would a person suffer the same fate as the rabbits if they ate these potentially poisonous herbs? Should she remove these possibly tainted herbs now? A series of questions suddenly popped into her head.
Elara pondered for a long while but still decided to wait and see, to observe them for a period, considering it another small follow-up experiment. If these herbs truly showed signs of toxicity within a few days, it wouldn't be too late to remove them then.
Having made up her mind, she saw there was nothing else to do and returned to her stone chamber to cultivate. She hoped to make another breakthrough on the foundation of her already significantly increased magical power.
Elara now no longer dwelled on the specific use of this secret art. Cultivating this secret art had already become an instinctive reaction for her; if she didn't cultivate it, Elara didn't know what else she could do while staying in this valley. Pursuing the next higher layer of this secret art had become the sole goal of her current life.
After an afternoon of dedicated cultivation, Elara found, to her dismay, that she truly was not a genius. Although she herself felt that she was only a finger's breadth away from breaking through to the fourth layer, she still made no progress, wasting an entire afternoon of hard work.
It seemed she couldn't do without the external aid of medicines; otherwise, she might forever remain stuck at the third layer, unable to advance further.
Elara began to hope in her heart that Physician Morus would return soon and be fortunate enough to find enough medicinal herbs to help her break through her current predicament.