Chapter 31 - Medicinal Bath

Edward felt completely exhausted after finishing the bath of the Firebrand Steed, but he still went to Kaith to solve a few of his doubts. The two of them talked for a few minutes, but once again, Edward had to leave as he didn't want to go back home at night.

However, before he exited the training room, Kaith suddenly called him. "Hey, brat! Be here at two o'clock! The herbs will already be here, so I want everything ready before I arrive!"

"Sure!" Edward smiled brightly, happy to see his efforts appreciated, and finally left, as he still wanted to pass by Steffon's shop to get a few herbs.

He was very interested in finding any herbs that could help him counter the vitality of the Sun Bathing Weed. With Steffon's help, he was able to find three that may be useful.

The first one was called Nightshade Leaf, a dark-type plant with a highly potent sedative effect. The second herb was called Starbloom Vine, which had flowers that resembled bright, glowing stars in shades of blue, pink, and purple. One could boil this vine to create a tea with calming effects.

The third item he brought wasn't a plant or an herb, but a fruit named Crystalwillow Fruit. This fruit was the most promising item and also the most expensive one he had brought. The fruit was a small, shimmering orb resembling a crystal filled with spiritual energy.

Not only would the fruit enhance the spiritual energy of whoever ate it, but its ice element would also help decrease the potency of the Sun Bathing Weed.

Following Kaith's advice, he also brought a few Nature Blooms and hoped to test them on Whitey and the other rabbits.

With his spatial necklace now filled with spiritual plants and herbs, Edward quickly returned home. As soon as he arrived, he promptly grabbed another few stalks of Sun Bathing Weeds and Moonlight Dancing Grass and went to commence his experiments.

"Should I first try mixing the Sun Bathing Weed with the Moonlight Dancing Grass?" Edward calmly looked at all the materials he had. "Let's try something with them first. I can use the others later." He had only brought four of each spiritual plant from Steffon's shop, so he was afraid of wasting them.

Edward took a deep breath as he went through all he had learned with Kaith earlier that day and slowly began to extract the spiritual energy of the Sun Bathing Weed. However, just as he had started to gather the energy above his hand, it quickly dissipated.

The first failures didn't affect Edward much, and he immediately gave it another try, only to have the same thing happen once again. "Sigh... Why is this energy so wild?" Without any confidence in purifying the Sun Bathing Weed, Edward grabbed a small plate and carefully sliced and smashed the herb, turning it into a slightly red paste.

He pinched some of the paste and brought it to his nose, calmly smelling it. "Maybe I should try using it in a bath?" He knew that applying the paste directly would cause a greater effect, so he was only left with the option of diluting the Sun Bathing Weed in water.

As he filled the bathtub, he prepared one more set of Sun Bathing Weed and Moonlight Dancing Grass. He first tried to mix the Sunbathing Weed alone, and when the paste was fully dissolved into the water, he immediately jumped in.

The sensation of the water on his skin was very refreshing and soothing, especially after such a long day of work. Yet, just as he closed his eyes to slowly appreciate the sensation, he suddenly felt the temperature around him shooting up.

"Ouch!" Edward swiftly jumped out of the bathtub. "What was that? How did the water suddenly turn so hot?" He gazed at the bathtub with confusion in his eyes, as he noticed that it lacked vapor, and the water didn't seem to be changing temperature.

After gazing at the water for a short moment, he dipped his finger into it and realized that it still had the same temperature as before. "Oh? So this was what Kaith was referring to..." Edward suddenly remembered Kaith's words and realized that it wasn't the water that suddenly heated up, but his body that was overheating due to the effect of the Sun Bathing Weed.

Seeing that his first attempt didn't work, Edward emptied the bathtub and refilled it once again, this time looking to use the Moonlight Dancing Grass in the mixture. However, unlike the first try, he decided to use only half of the Sun Bathing Weed paste.

"This should work, right?" Edward prepared himself and entered the bathtub once again, and to his surprise, the feeling of heat had greatly subsided. "The temperature is quite relaxing..." He closed his eyes and began to cultivate.

The hot feeling slowly spread around his body, and as time passed, he noticed that not only was he able to cultivate faster, but even his breathing had grown stronger. "Moonlight Dancing Grass and Sun Bathing Weed..." Edward was now completely sure that his parents were the ones who planted the two herbs on the farm, as it would be too coincidental that the two seemingly random herbs could treat his condition.

After around thirty minutes of cultivation in the bath, he noticed that the hot feeling over his body had begun to wane, and he jolted up. The success of this experiment only made him even more curious about the potential of herbal medicine, and he decided to further research and experiment with the rest of the herbs he had brought.

He first tried to mix the other herbs with the Sun Bathing Weed and found that of the three spiritual plants brought from Steffon's shop, only the Starbloom Vine was able to reduce the scorching heat he felt.

He also tried to mix all the herbs together, but the water suddenly turned into a strange purple color that just looking at it caused Edward to know that bathing in it wouldn't bring any benefits. Edward's experiments continued late into the night, and after three attempts, he finally was able to create a workable recipe.

"First, grind the Sun Bathing Weed, the Moonlight Dancing Grass, and the Starbloom Vine into a paste," Edward immediately jotted down all the steps he took into a small book. "Mix half of the Sun Bathing Weed into the bath, and after fully dissolving it, mix in the other two." The process seemed simple, but Edward knew that he could further refine it. "I can even eat the Crystalwillow Fruit before entering the bath to help me cultivate faster..."

Edward looked at the notes with a frown. He wanted to go and further test it, yet he had already taken quite a few medicinal baths today and felt that any more would not be beneficial. Instead, he decided to go to sleep.

Edward's sleep was the best he had had in weeks, and he woke up feeling refreshed and energized. "The medicinal bath effects are way better than I expected," he said as he stretched himself while gazing at the rabbits who were all hopping around happily around him. "I brought some treats for you guys, but I can't give them to you now." He wasn't sure if eating the Naturebloom would have the desired effect, so he could only wait for when he had more time to prepare it for them.

"Good thing?" Whitey, who rested by Edward's legs, suddenly spoke up.

"Yeah, some other plants for you guys to eat." Edward smiled as he patted Whitey's head. "Aren't you guys tired of eating the same grass every day?"

"Silver grass very tasty..." Whitey's childlike voice rang out once again in Edward's mind. "Best food ever..."

Edward could only smile at Whitey's remarks. "Even so, this plant can make you stronger!" He almost felt as if he was trying to convince a child to eat their greens.

"Grow... Stronger?" Whitey's eyes flashed as he picked up Edward's words and finally showed interest. "Whitey's getting stronger... almost there..."

Edward let out a confused smile as he held Whitey and put him closer to his head. "Getting stronger? Didn't you spend the last few days sleeping?"

"Cultivating... Whitey's cultivating..." Whitey's rambling didn't make much sense to Edward, but he eventually understood what his small rabbit was trying to say.

So are you cultivating while sleeping?" Edward smirked, thinking that the rabbit was trying to find an excuse for his laziness.

"Not lying..." Whitey softly smacked Edward's face and freed himself from his grasp. "Just... another... day... you will see." The white-eyed rabbit quickly turned around and hopped to the field of Moonlight Dancing Grass, where he comfortably laid down and prepared to sleep.

"Hey, I'm going out. Do you want to come?" Edward walked over to Whitey and poked him.

Whitey looked at Edward with a slightly saddened face. Yet, it eventually closed its eyes again as its voice rang out in Edward's head. "Busy..."

"Okay then, I might take some time." Edward let out a sigh as he left towards the city. He didn't know what was up with Whitey the past few days, but he hoped that Whitey would be useful for whatever he was doing.