Chapter 49: Refined Poison Powder

Page 1 of 3

Chapter 49: Refined Toxin Powder

“This is an advanced alchemy table. You were using a basic alchemy table before. The four-pointed star array on the floor was invented by Lady Starry Night,” Kurov explained, his voice filled with admiration.

He climbed the three steps to the alchemy table and stood beside the circular central platform, pointing toward the shelf due north.

“That shelf is specially used for basic toxins associated with the fire element.”

He pointed in turn toward the shelves due east, south, and west.

“These three shelves hold basic toxins associated with the earth, water, and wind elements respectively.”

Kurov stretched out both arms, pointing left and right toward the southwest and southeast.

“The exact southwest direction between these two shelves is occupied by the water basin.

“You may draw clean water from the basin, or use it to wash glass bottles, ladles, and other alchemical tools. Pull the ring above the basin to replace the water inside.”

He changed direction and introduced the crucible in the northwest and the baking furnace in the northeast.

Finally, Kurov pointed toward the condensation stove in the southeast.

“This condensation stove works much like the furnace.

“Pull the ring once to activate the first setting, lowering the stove’s temperature from twenty degrees to fifteen. Each subsequent pull lowers the temperature by another five degrees, to a minimum of zero. When you pull it a fifth time, the temperature inside the stove resets to twenty degrees.”

Xazuo nodded to show that he understood.

He looked around the room. He could not shake the feeling that some profound alchemical truth lay behind the arrangement of the table.

“Professor, did Lady Starry Night arrange the shelves and alchemical apparatus according to the relationships between the elements?”

Kurov regarded him with a hint of approval.

“Exactly. That is something you must comprehend for yourself.”

“Let us begin the lesson.”

He had Xazuo stand outside the advanced alchemy table, then pointed toward the shelf beside him.

“The complete formula for refined toxin powder requires twenty basic toxins. We will proceed step by step, beginning with the simplest simplified formula.”

He picked up a glass bottle containing a compound toxin.

“White Palate Toxin contains only traces of the earth element and none of the other three.

“You have already noticed the patterns on the floor of the alchemy table. Now tell me: which elements are associated with the earth element?”

“The fire element and the water element.”

Xazuo quickly glanced at the floor before answering. He opened his mouth, then said nothing more, suppressing the urge to ask another question. He pushed the matter of why the earth and wind elements could not be associated with each other into the back of his mind.

Kurov noticed the look on his student’s face and guessed at his confusion.

He pointed toward the floor, tracing several of the lines in the air with his finger.

“There are no absolute possibilities or impossibilities in the field of alchemy.

“The patterns beneath your feet are merely references, not inviolable laws. Their greatest use is to help alchemists think and remind us not to make mistakes.”

Kurov removed the stopper from the toxin bottle and poured the White Palate Toxin into a glass vessel. Using a glass rod, he spread out the clump of white, flocculent material as he spoke.

“During the first lesson of last term, I had you, Mason, and Brandon identify the White Palate Toxin. Your reports were broadly correct.

“It is a toxin capable of dissolving in liquid. That is its association with the water element.

“It can be ignited with an open flame, releasing a choking smoke. That is its association with the fire element.

“If you wish to strengthen the toxicity of White Palate Toxin, you must begin with these two associated elements.”

Kurov walked to two shelves in opposite corners and took down two bottles of basic toxins.

“These are Bluegill Essence and Red Gall Essence. I need not explain their effects again, do I?”

“I remember them, Professor.”

Xazuo located the records of the two basic toxins in his Knowledge Reserve and quickly reviewed them to make certain he had not forgotten anything.

Bluegill Essence was extracted from the gills of a humanoid amphibious creature.

When it acted upon the human body, salty, foul water would continuously surge from the mouth.

This effect was easy to deal with and generally not fatal. The victim merely had to open his mouth and let the water flow out.

Red Gall Essence was extracted from a fire-breathing creature.

Its gallbladder functioned much like a human gallbladder, specifically concentrating and storing a type of bile capable of causing explosive combustion.

Red Gall Essence came from the gallbladders of such creatures.

When it acted upon the human body, it produced a burning sensation within. If the dose consumed was large enough, it could even ignite the internal organs.

Kurov dissolved the White Palate Toxin into the base liquid, then poured in powdered Red Gall Essence. The two substances blended together as he stirred, becoming a pale red liquid.

He poured the liquid into a crucible and used medium heat to evaporate the water. He then scraped off the pale red brittle shell with a spatula and placed it in the baking furnace.

Once the brittle shell cracked apart into fragments, the baking was complete.

“Watch my movements carefully. This powder requires condensation treatment.”

Kurov carried over the tray he had just removed from the furnace, then lifted a shallow metal pan and placed it on the condensation stove.

“There are many methods of condensation treatment. This time, we will use cold-frying. This pan is specially designed for that purpose. Later, you will learn other condensation methods, and I will introduce the tools associated with them when the time comes.”

He poured the fragments from the tray into the cold pan. After adding gel-like Bluegill Essence, he rapidly stir-fried the mixture with two spatulas, moving as though he were frying noodles or rice on an iron griddle.

The gelatinous substance in the cold pan cooled rapidly, transforming into something resembling crushed ice.

Kurov scooped up the icy fragments and once again used the crucible and baking furnace to remove the moisture. In the end, he obtained a small amount of pale violet powder.

Page 1 of 3

Xazuo stood for nearly an hour, completely absorbed in his mentor’s practiced alchemical movements. He did not return to himself until Kurov had wiped away the stains on the alchemy table. He then cast Detection on the pale violet powder.

[Item Name] Refined Toxin Powder: White Palate Toxin

[Item Type] Refined Toxin Powder

[Item Rank] Beginner

[Item Quality] Completion 100%, Perfect

[Associated Resistance 1] Earth Resistance

[Associated Resistance 2] Water Resistance

[Associated Resistance 3] Fire Resistance

[Item Description] Crafted by Kurov

[Item Effect]

This item can only be used in conjunction with White Palate Toxin.

When added to White Palate Toxin, this item increases the number of stacks of the Suffocation effect from one to two, raises the health loss rate from twenty points per minute to thirty points per minute, and reduces the duration of the Suffocation effect by sixty-six percent.

(Note: Unless otherwise specified, the toxin effect information provided by Detection represents the basic values before resistance is taken into account.)

“Stop standing there like a fool. Try making it yourself.”

Kurov took paper and a pen from a drawer in the central platform and swiftly wrote several dozen lines of alchemical notation.

“This is the formula for the powder.”

He lowered his sleeves from his elbows and walked leisurely toward the alchemy room’s entrance with his hands clasped behind his back.

“When it is time for lunch, go eat. Come back in the afternoon. From now on, this is where you will refine toxins.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Xazuo watched his mentor leave, then climbed onto the advanced alchemy table. He took a bottle of White Palate Toxin and added the pale violet powder.

He gently shook the measuring cup, and the powder dissolved into the bottle of toxin.

“Detection.”

[Item Name] White Palate Toxin: First Refinement

[Item Type] Toxin

[Item Rank] Apprentice → Beginner
(Influenced by refined toxin powder, increased by one rank)

[Item Quality] Completion 100%, Perfect

[Associated Resistance 1] Water Resistance

[Associated Resistance 2] Wind Resistance

[Associated Resistance 3] Earth Resistance

Once all three resistances reach two percent, this item’s effect on the host is expected to decrease significantly.

[Item Description] Crafted by Xazuo. The added refined toxin powder was crafted by Kurov.

[Item Effect]

(The figures in parentheses account for Willpower and resistance.)

After drinking this toxin, the victim gains two stacks of Suffocation, loses thirty (27.9) health per minute, and remains affected for one (0.98) minute, losing a total of thirty (27) health.

White Palate Toxin itself possesses only one Associated Resistance.

After the corresponding refined toxin powder is added, the number of Associated Resistances increases to three.

Successfully taking the toxin can increase three types of resistance at once.

Then… can the antidote for White Palate Toxin also be refined? Will it become associated with three types of resistance after refinement?

Xazuo scratched his head and set those two questions aside. Refining the pale violet powder was what mattered most for now.

He circled the central platform several times, reviewing in his mind his mentor’s operating procedure, the duration of each step, and the signals indicating completion. Then he picked up the formula for the refined powder and read it line by line.

Three minutes later, he had memorized the formula and stored it in his Knowledge Reserve.

He did not immediately begin refining. Instead, he carried an empty bottle back and forth among the four pieces of alchemical equipment, pretending to pull the ring of the condensation stove and swinging a spatula in his hand as he repeatedly rehearsed every alchemical procedure.

There was no denying that beginner-level alchemy was considerably more difficult than apprentice-level alchemy.

If he failed to think ahead while performing the current step, his thoughts and movements could easily fall out of rhythm. He might collide with the alchemical equipment or knock over a glass bottle on the platform, causing a troublesome alchemical accident.

But as long as he engraved every procedure into his mind beforehand, then added enough practice and coordination, this advanced alchemy table—with its compact layout and comprehensive functions—would certainly be an invaluable assistant to any alchemist.

Xazuo glanced at the clock on the wall.

It was ten fifty in the morning.

There was still more than an hour before lunch. He had enough time to refine the pale violet powder once.

He steadied himself before the platform and gazed at the glass vessel and glass rod, reviewing the process one final time.

One minute passed.

Xazuo picked up the bottle of White Palate Toxin and began to work.

Throughout the refinement process, he constantly used Detection to examine the materials in his hands, carrying out each operation strictly according to the information in the feedback.

This was especially true during evaporation and baking.

Page 2 of 3

Those two steps were the most difficult.

The first could scorch the pan.

The second could cause an explosion.

That was no exaggeration. The formula explicitly said so.

Red Gall Essence was both flammable and combustion-supporting.

The baking temperature and duration could not exceed the prescribed values. Otherwise… An Ruer would get to meet a boyfriend with a different hairstyle.

Xazuo pressed his lips tightly together as he stood watch before the furnace, repeatedly casting Detection to inspect the heat inside and the condition of the alchemical materials.

[Item Name] Unknown Substance

[Item Type] Suspected Refined Toxin Powder

[Item Rank] Unknown

[Item Quality] Current completion 68%

At the current baking temperature, completion is expected to rise to 76% after seventeen seconds.

After twenty-four seconds, completion is expected to fall from 76% to 40%.

After thirty seconds, completion is expected to fall to 0%, and an explosion will occur!

(Remaining information omitted.)

When the countdown reached two seconds, Xazuo switched off the furnace ahead of time. He immediately opened the furnace door and, wearing a heat-resistant glove on his left hand, removed the tray and poured the cracked fragments into the cold pan.

His right hand seized the glass bottle of Bluegill Essence and poured in the gel. His left hand quickly slipped free of the heat-resistant glove, and he grasped a spatula in each hand.

Sizzle, sizzle~

The spatulas scraped along the inner wall of the cold pan as he stir-fried the rapidly cooling mixture.

Xazuo cast Detection again. The feedback indicated that if he continued stir-frying for five minutes at the current temperature, frequency, and force, the completion rate would reach 92%.

If the guiding power specified five minutes, then he would stir-fry for five minutes. Not one second more, not one second less.

He stopped at precisely the right moment, scooped up the pale violet ice fragments, and placed them in the crucible. He used medium heat to evaporate the water, then dried the moisture deep within the mixture in the furnace.

His precise execution of these two steps successfully fixed the product’s completion rate at 100%.

“Whew.”

Xazuo let out a long breath, and a thin veil of white mist appeared on his face mask.

The hour hand on the wall clock was still twenty minutes away from noon.

He had completed the refinement ten minutes faster than his mentor, taking only about fifty minutes.

Perhaps Kurov had deliberately slowed his movements so that his student could see everything clearly…

Xazuo nodded as though he had realized something. He cast Detection at the pale violet powder before him and received a satisfying answer.

He spent some time cleaning the alchemy table, then placed his masterpiece in an empty glass bottle and left the alchemy room.

Kurov was lying on a soft sofa, meditating.

Xazuo lightened his footsteps as he approached the desk. He attached a label to the glass bottle, then took a slip of paper and wrote a line on it. He placed the bottle on top of the paper and left the toxin alchemy area.

…

The castle hall was filled with towering pillars of light, serene and peaceful.

After making a circuit through the dining hall, Xazuo returned there.

“Are classes not over yet?”

He scratched his head and waited for An Ruer at the entrance to the oil alchemy area.

Usually, she was the one who waited for him so they could have lunch together.

Today, their roles had been reversed.

He was the one waiting for her in the hall.

Perhaps there were more students in oil alchemy, and Professor Zhuolang had to arrange the students who had passed and failed their examinations one after another, which was why things had taken a little longer.

Just as Xazuo was idly watching the elemental servants clean, the opening in the wall slid open.

A group of oil alchemy students emerged.

Each of them carried a wooden box. They chatted among themselves about the make-up examination, while several girls secretly glanced at the figure lingering before the opening. Their complicated gazes mixed admiration, envy, and something strange.

Xazuo silently watched them enter the dining hall. When he realized that An Ruer was not among them, he continued waiting nearby.

About five minutes later, the opening in the wall opened again.

An Ruer emerged with a strand of hair wrapped around one finger, wearing a thoughtful expression.

A figure stood in front of her. She raised her head, recognized the person before her, and threw herself into his arms with both arms outstretched.

End of Chapter