Chapter 647.5: A New Use for Evil Entities
The second difficulty, though, was trickier!
The extremely high mortality rate from taking the transformation potion.
The old Swordmaster remembered it vividly.
Back then, over 5,000 talented children were screened and filtered down, leaving behind 800 outstanding "seeds."
In terms of talent, physical toughness, and unwavering will, they were all exceptional.
Yet even so, fewer than 60 children successfully survived the potion transformation.
Failure meant death!
Huge investment, staggering loss, minuscule success rate, and less-than-satisfying return.
This was why Swordmasters became increasingly rare.
Even though the old Swordmaster had faith in Bay Territory, he couldn't guarantee they would be able to see this through.
After all, this was an extremely risky endeavor, doomed to be a losing business.
"The Golden Body Potion requires dragon blood, turtle heart, soul ash, purple ginseng..."
The mix of familiar and unfamiliar ingredients made Matthew click his tongue in amazement.
Fortunately, he wasn't worried about the ingredients. Next to each one was a description and possible substitutions.
The old Swordmaster had also collected and brewed Golden Body Potions before. Although finding and substituting the materials was troublesome, it was still within Matthew and Bay Territory's capabilities.
Matthew tallied the simpler and more familiar materials and quickly smiled.
Most ingredients were already in Bay Territory's possession and had even been scaled for mass production. Quantity wasn't an issue at all.
Even the more exotic materials like dragon blood were in steady and ample supply in Bay Territory.
Normally, Matthew wouldn't use his or Yaya's blood.
Because potions made with it would be even more dangerous.
What Matthew and Bay Territory needed was mass production—potent, effective, and stable.
Luckily, Bay Territory had plenty of draconic creatures. Matthew could take his time selecting and studying them to find the best fit.
The same applied to the other ingredients. They would be thoroughly studied and evaluated to determine which were most suitable for Bay Territory and its Dragon Warriors.
Matthew didn't handle these tasks personally. He handed them off to Bay Territory's potion research institute.
Matthew always prioritized cultivating talent capable of independent research and innovation.
This task wasn't too urgent, and it was incredibly difficult—perfect for honing the institute's personnel and improving their capabilities.
If they succeeded, it would prove they'd reached a level where they could shoulder great responsibility.
That would also lighten Matthew's load, letting him pour more energy and time into more urgent developmental projects.
Such as researching and managing the preparations for the Dragon Warriors' potion transformations!
The old Swordmaster still had over ten bottles of Golden Body Potion. Besides setting a few aside for the research institute, the rest would be used on test subjects.
Seeing that all the test subjects were humanoid, the old Swordmaster immediately understood Matthew's intent.
Use humans—the most numerous—as the primary test base, then gradually adjust and extend the method to other races.
The old Swordmaster had no objections to this; in fact, he appreciated Matthew's approach.
"The ones who can most truly inherit and uphold our ideals must possess the strongest and most stable power."
Matthew didn't argue with that viewpoint.
Racial integration.
Bloodline fusion.
Ideological convergence.
All of these were slow and complex processes.
Maintaining overall stability could reduce conflict and division, ensuring the path didn't stray.
Regarding this issue—
Matthew had already prepared, establishing strict systems and laws.
At the same time, Bay Territory vigorously promoted ideological education centered on unified territorial development.
So far, the results were excellent.
A few idiotic troublemakers had already paid the price for their foolish actions.
Seek benevolence, reap benevolence; seek a hammer, get hammered!
The pale golden potion solution had barely entered the body before it started reacting rapidly.
Matthew could clearly see the test subject's temperature rising.
The potion quickly spread through its entire body and immediately began reacting with its tissues and organs.
The potion had incredibly destructive power.
Upon contact with tissues and organs, it released intense pressure that destroyed them.
In the blink of an eye, the test subject's body was riddled with holes.
"Ah…!"
Though it let out a pained scream, it didn't die right away.
Because the regenerative component of the potion had begun to kick in.
Following a specific sequence, it started to reconstruct and repair the damaged tissues and organs.
The destructive and regenerative processes weren't separate—they intriguingly fused into one.
Watching this unfold, Matthew immediately understood where the danger of the Golden Body Potion lay.
Large-scale bodily regeneration was an extremely delicate process.
Repeating it in a short time placed immense strain and pain on the body.
Without timely energy replenishment and bodily integrity maintenance—
The body would be drained of all energy and essentially "starve to death."
Organs and tissues would start acting independently.
Each would develop its own "intent," operating in ways most beneficial to itself.
"Yeah, everyone wants to be the boss."
Take this test subject, for example—
Its limbs started to twist, internal organs became chaotic.
The brain heated up rapidly, almost screaming, "If you don't obey, we all die!"
It resembled the love-hate relationship with the immune system.
The immune system often acts on its own.
When facing dangerous pathogens, it can produce laughably excessive responses.
"Only one of us—me or the virus—gets to live!"
"You're talking extermination and sterilization, right?"
"In the process of killing the virus, it kills everything else too…"
"..."
Now the test subject's organs and tissues were doing the same, showing signs of "setting up their own kingdoms."
Even Matthew, who'd seen so much, was amazed.
The entire process happened rapidly. The internal chaos led to catastrophic results.
The test subject's body broke down, blood gushed out freely, eager to "go wherever it wanted."
Sensing danger, the organs and tissues became even more "selfish."
They fought over the dwindling blood and nutrients, growing increasingly deformed and grotesque in the process.
The test subject quickly lost its human form. The intense, indescribable pain shattered its mind, worsening the condition.
It seemed inevitable the subject would die a horrible death.
But with enough data collected, Matthew snapped his fingers under the astonished gaze of the old Swordmaster.
Time Reversal!
The subject's body rapidly "recovered."
More precisely, it reverted to its pre-potion state.
The agony, death, and despair all silently vanished.
The subject blinked blankly, clueless as to what had happened.
Was it a real disaster?
Or a bizarre nightmare?
The now-sleeping test subject would never know.
Matthew, reviewing the data, recalled and analyzed the entire reaction process.
Without intervention, the frenzied tissues and organs immediately rebelled under the potion's influence.
Their strength did increase—but too much.
Matthew was satisfied with this response and immediately prepped another subject.
"This time, reduce the dose by 1/10."
He didn't expect this small tweak to solve everything.
He just wanted more data to refine his analysis.
The results were nearly identical, even in intensity.
That proved one thing: dosage didn't affect the intensity of the reaction.
But it would affect the duration!
With this small breakthrough, Matthew continued swapping subjects and conducting experiments.
The more he observed, the more he could "see" the interconnections between organs and tissues.
He discovered the root cause of their conflicts.
It was simple:
"These guys were starving. Starvation drives them to operate on awakened instincts..."
"But they can't eat too much. If one part gets full—"
"Without adjustment, the overfed part overwhelms the others."
"This imbalance eventually leads to failure."
"..."
Matthew calmly explained the entire process, even providing analogies.
Everyone nearby nodded in realization—even the old Swordmaster, though slightly skeptical.
Only now did he understand just how many hidden factors led to a failed potion transformation.
It wasn't about luck!
It was advanced science and research!
Using this critical info, Matthew continued his research.
He reached a very interesting conclusion.
The entire experiment was too "intense."
It needed to be eased—give the subject more time to react.
Regarding the rebellious organs and tissues—
Matthew conducted targeted "probes."
He quickly discovered:
Applying moderate external pressure and keeping organs in a semi-starved state—
Caused entirely different adaptation patterns when facing various pressures.
This unique behavior felt familiar to Matthew.
"It's like mutated monsters adapting their bodies to different attacks..."
"Did the Golden Body Potion mimic this process?"
"Or has its true potential just never been researched or unlocked?"
Matthew didn't know.
But that didn't stop him from exploiting this trait to carry out an even more important "experiment."
Seeing Matthew's eager gaze, the old Swordmaster hesitated but eventually followed his instructions.
During the next subject's transformation, he placed his hand on its head.
A weakened Evil Thought Arhat was tapped again, and some of its power was injected into the test subject.
This terrifying, unusual power instantly displayed overwhelming aggression.
Faced with life-or-death crisis, the subject's organs no longer acted chaotically.
Instead, they showed surprising "wisdom," cooperating to resist the spreading horror.
During their clash, the test subject's body continuously regenerated.
Gradually, its form began to shift, adapting to resist the Arhat's psychic and spiritual force.
This transformation consumed massive energy.
Matthew switched to distributed injections, slowly introducing high-concentration life essence into different parts of the body.
He paid close attention to the needs of each organ and tissue, adjusting the nutrient flow accordingly.
This helped the body stay in control while resisting the Evil Thought Arhat's force, keeping up the transformation without spiraling out of control.
In the end, the experiment "failed."
The subject, overwhelmed by the strain, couldn't complete the entire transformation.
But it survived—and gained considerable resistance to psychic and spiritual invasions.
The old Swordmaster watched, wide-eyed, as the subject stubbornly resisted the corrupting power.
He never imagined that the very "monsters" they once feared could be used to create Swordmasters!
This strange, novel purpose completely flipped the old Swordmaster's view of Matthew and Bay Territory.
"Heh, we've got plenty of evil things left. Time to 'process' them properly..."
Though the experiment wasn't a full success, the old Swordmaster was highly optimistic about the evil beings' newfound use.
They now represented the Swordmasters' future and hope!