Chapter 131 : Dual Swords in Perfect Harmony! Leo’s Persistence!
Chapter 131: Dual Swords in Perfect Harmony! Leo’s Persistence!
Four hours later.
“Wuu~ wuu~”
Leo looked at the Gnoll curled up in a corner of the dungeon cell, its head covered in lumps and bruises. “Tsk~ something still feels off.”
He had just tested the practical combat effects of Black Marsh.
Although the effect of Black Marsh alone was quite good,
when he truly tried to link it with other moves, it felt like he struggled to coordinate the transitions between attacks of both hands.
But there was no helping it—this was currently the only way for him to use this sword technique.
He still had to practice.
It was just like when Leo played basketball in his previous life—training his left hand.
At the beginning, effort was unavoidable.
“Start with Dark Tide combined with Mountain-Cleaving and Rock-Splitting, then follow up with Black Marsh’s feinting attack. If these two moves land, I can directly chain into the ultimate—Power of Tsunami plus Giant Elephant’s Fang.”
“Come, come, again!”
The Gnoll’s legs trembled as it looked at the human freak before it, its face filled with terror.
This wasn’t a human—this was a demon sent to torment it.
He came in with a sword and, without a word, beat it for hours.
With innocent eyes, it looked at Leo and began wagging its tail.
But at that moment, Lady Manta opened the door. “Leo, come in for a moment.”
“Alright, Madam.”
Leo locked the cell door again and glanced at the Gnoll, which had finally relaxed.
“Take a break. We’ll continue later.”
“Wuu wuu.”
On this side, Leo set down his longsword, adjusted his breathing, and quickly entered the Potion Laboratory.
“Green, go take a rest. Let Leo handle the next steps,” Lady Manta said, not caring about Green’s feelings at the moment.
“Alright, Madam.” Green fully understood—just doing the initial preparation had already made him tense.
Leo patted Green on the shoulder and went straight to the alchemy station.
“Next, help me add the solution in order,” Lady Manta said, entering her alchemy state, her expression extremely serious.
“Got it.” Leo also put on his robe, adjusted his sleeves and hem, looking highly professional.
But at that moment—
“Ugh~”
Lady Manta suddenly gagged.
“What’s wrong?” Leo hurried over.
Manta waved her hand, picked up the water cup beside her, and took a sip. “It’s nothing. Let’s continue.”
This felt like something he had seen in family dramas from his previous life—pregnancy?
But at Manta’s age, being in her thirties, pregnancy was perfectly normal.
But at a time like this…
Leo stopped thinking further and steadied his mind.
He had now mastered Level 2 【Alchemy】.
Moreover, since the last time he brewed potions, his Spirit Attribute had increased to 1.9.
These assisting tasks were already very simple in his eyes.
“89 degrees, add the red copper solution,” Lady Manta instructed.
“Mm, alright.”
Leo was meticulous and fully focused.
At this moment, everything else was cast aside—what mattered was helping Lady Manta complete this potion.
In this highly concentrated state, time passed quickly.
Before he knew it, a full day and night had passed.
Leo himself didn’t feel particularly exhausted, but Lady Manta was already sitting on a stool.
Clearly, alchemy was extremely taxing on her physical strength.
And her condition was obviously not good.
Previously, she had always stood throughout the entire process.
Fortunately, after a few more hours, the solution in the flask finally stabilized.
Leo and Manta both let out a breath of relief, smiles appearing on their faces.
Lady Manta stood up and quickly poured the Tier 3 Golden Body Tempering Potion from the flask into a bottle.
Unlike before, this time she only ensured the potion had just passed the baseline before stopping.
There was still a fingernail-sized residue left in the flask.
“Help me clean up the remaining equipment.”
After sealing the bottle tightly, Lady Manta carefully inspected the potion.
Golden and radiant, without a single impurity—perfect.
“Leo… thank you so much.” Sweat covered Lady Manta’s face, and only now did she truly relax.
She hadn’t expected that in such a short time apart, Leo’s alchemy skills had improved so rapidly.
At one point during the process, she had momentarily lost focus, and it was Leo who reminded her.
Without Leo, this attempt would have definitely failed.
“You’re too kind, Lady Manta. You should get some rest.”
Before Leo could finish, Lady Manta had already fallen asleep on the table.
For an alchemist, especially an ordinary person, the consumption was indeed immense.
And Leo glanced at her abdomen.
Although nothing was visible, she had gagged several times midway.
Leo took off his robe and draped it over his teacher.
Then he began cleaning up the equipment.
The remaining Body Tempering Potion was poured into a Sealed Bottle, along with the semi-finished solutions.
According to Lady Manta, these were all his to use—his reward for assisting.
After storing everything, Leo began tidying the workbench.
At the same time, he checked his panel. This time, crafting a Tier 3 Body Tempering Potion had significantly boosted his 【Alchemy】 progress.
Although it wasn’t as much as the 85 points he gained at Level 1,
this time still granted him 58 experience points.
The 【Alchemy】 skill was now over halfway progressed—another Tier 3 Body Tempering Potion, and it would likely level up.
Not dwelling on it, after finishing the cleanup, Leo had Green notify Laforin.
About ten minutes later, Laforin arrived at the laboratory in a hurry.
“Leo…” He glanced at the sleeping Lady Manta and didn’t continue.
It seemed he knew something.
Leo leaned closer and quietly told him that Manta might be showing signs of pregnancy.
Laforin was first stunned, then seemed to recall something, his usually resolute eyes softening.
He gently lifted his sleeping wife and walked out.
“Laforin, I succeeded.” Though his movements were gentle, Manta still woke up.
“Mm, get some sleep. I’ll take you home.” Manta wrapped her arms around Laforin’s neck as they left together.
Following Laforin’s wishes, Leo did not follow.
But soon, through the fat rat, Leo learned the truth.
It turned out that after the Wilderness Knight Order took the Dragonblood Horse, they proposed to exchange it for three Tier 3 Body Tempering Potions.
Lady Manta had voluntarily agreed.
Because the Dragonblood Horse would greatly enhance Blackstone City’s status within the Danlun Kingdom.
If it was only three Tier 3 Body Tempering Potions, the deal was very worthwhile.
After all, the Dragonblood Horse was useless to the Wilderness Knight Order.
They still had the potion from last time.
So they only needed one more.
Leo exited the rat’s Shared State.
“Even though this alchemy succeeded, judging from the Wilderness Knight Order’s usual behavior, things won’t be that simple.”
Leo thought to himself and decided not to interfere further.
Laforin and Lady Manta clearly hadn’t intended for him to know.
So he could only help in his own way.
Leo instructed the fat rat to closely monitor Laforin and Lady Manta during this period.
Meanwhile, he prepared to continue cultivating—he needed to increase his strength as quickly as possible.
Leo felt that behind the vast Blackstone City, a greater storm cloud was looming.
The previous Beast Calamity, the missing Dragonblood Horse, and now this exchange demand from the Wilderness Knight Order—
it all felt like an invisible hand manipulating everything.
If the Wilderness Knight Order had already set its sights on Blackstone City,
there might be a fierce battle ahead.
Now, not only was Leo a member of the Blackstone Knight Order, but his father had also become the lord of Blackstone City.
He couldn’t escape, nor did he want to.
Leo took out the fingernail-sized portion of Tier 3 Body Tempering Potion from the Sealed Bottle.
“With this, I can quickly improve the progress of my Breathing Technique.”
Leo quickly finished the large pot of stir-fried Beastkin Meat that had been delivered to the dungeon in advance.
Then he began using the Tier 3 Body Tempering Potion to cultivate the Furnace Breathing Technique.
The night passed quickly.
Throughout the night, Leo stayed in the dungeon, grinding his Breathing Techniques.
Balancing exertion and recovery, he first trained the more demanding Furnace Breathing Technique.
Then he continued practicing the Rock Breathing Technique, trying to get it started.
After drinking two sips of Excitement Potion, he went to spar with the Centaur on the other side.
That night, with the help of a Sleep Potion, Leo only slept for four hours.
But for his current physique, it was enough.
Leo held a breath of determination in his chest.
Entering Shared State, he began forming new plans.
He wanted to try and see if he could help the Dragonblood Horse escape from the Goblin nest.
But the result was clearly impossible—the Dragonblood Horse was in the nest, seemingly free-range, but actually constantly monitored by Goblins.
He could only wait until daytime when it was released outside, to look for an opportunity.
Before he knew it, it was already noon of the next day.
Leo was still in the dungeon—he wasn’t picky.
Whether it was the dungeon or his luxurious courtyard, to him, they were all just places for cultivation.
Soon, however, he noticed that Green had returned.
“Sir Leo, you didn’t leave?” Green had assumed Leo would go back to rest after the successful alchemy.
“Mm, I’m staying here,” Leo replied casually.
Green looked at him with admiration.
In truth, he had also noticed that Lady Manta’s condition wasn’t great.
Fortunately, with Leo’s help, everything went smoothly.
And from his observation, Leo seemed like an iron man—after such intense alchemy, he was still so energetic.
In the past, Green would need a full day and night to recover.
As expected, a knight’s physique far surpassed ordinary people.
His success was not without reason.
Green then headed toward the laboratory. “Lady Manta asked me to come prepare the equipment.”
“Lady Manta is awake? And already preparing to brew again?” Leo was surprised.
After all, Lady Manta hadn’t practiced any Breathing Technique—she was just an ordinary person.
And she seemed to be pregnant.
Working this hard?
Sure enough, in less than half an hour, Lady Manta arrived at the dungeon, preparing to begin alchemy again.
“Lady Manta, you’re starting again so soon?”
“Mm, little Leo, how about you? Can you manage?” she forced a smile.
“I’m fine, but you seem to be pregnant…”
“I know. It’s fine.” Lady Manta smiled.
As a Tier 3 alchemist, she already knew about her pregnancy.
Though she appeared composed, Leo could see the fatigue in the details.
The intense mental focus required for Tier 3 potions couldn’t be recovered so quickly.
“There’s no rush, Madam. This exhausted state is actually detrimental to alchemy,” Leo insisted.
“It’s fine, little Leo. When I was learning alchemy, I went half a month without sleep—this is nothing.” Lady Manta clearly understood his concern.
But she wanted to push through and complete all three potions in one go.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t feel at ease.
“No. In this condition, I won’t be able to focus on assisting you.” Leo wasn’t just concerned for her health—he was also considering the success rate.
If they started now and failed, all efforts and materials would be wasted.
Under Leo’s insistence, Lady Manta finally agreed to postpone the alchemy by another day.
“I didn’t expect that when you get stubborn, you’re just like that old man,” she said, her eyes showing a trace of elder-like warmth.
With Leo’s insistence, Lady Manta was escorted back to her room by servants to rest.
After seeing her off, Leo entered Shared State again.
On the other side, the Dragonblood Horse had finished eating and drinking and was now out for fresh air.