Chapter 54 The Missing Potion

11:40 AM.

The advanced alchemy workbench was meticulously cleaned without a speck of dust.

X佐 was rinsing a rag in the basin, pulling the water-replacement cord ring.

Sewage floating with stains flowed into the drain at the bottom of the basin, while clear water trickled in from the small holes along the basin wall.

He wrung the clean rag dry, hung it on the hook beside the water basin, turned to pick up the poison vial from the shelf, and walked toward the corridor.

The refined powder of the black-eye poison required four basic toxins, making the brewing workload greater than yesterday's.

He had attempted it once this morning, taking a total of 1 hour and 20 minutes to produce a single vial of perfect-quality refined powder.

Now, this vial of refined powder had been added to the black-eye poison.

[Item Name]: Black-Eye Poison · 1st Refinement
[Item Type]: Poison
[Item Grade]: Novice Grade → Initiate Grade
[Item Quality]: 100% Completion, Perfect
[Associated Resistances]: Four-Element Resistances
It is projected that once all four-element resistances reach 2%, the impact of this item on the host will be significantly reduced.
[Item Description]: Crafted by X佐.
[Item Effect]:
After drinking this poison, the user will gain 2 stacks of vision-distortion effect and 2 stacks of deafness effect, lasting for 0.67 (0.66) minutes.

The mentor had not instructed him to test the toxicity of the refined poison.

Thus, X佐 did not act on his own accord to drink them.

He returned to the basic alchemy laboratory, placed the poison vial in his hand onto the storage rack, keeping it together with yesterday's poisons.

On the shelf sat 9 vials of white-palate poison refined powder, 1 vial of white-palate poison (1st refinement), and the newly placed vial of black-eye poison (1st refinement).

He needed to find an opportunity to consume these toxic substances and truly convert them into experience points.

X佐 glanced at the figure in the soft sofa and quietly walked out of the poison alchemy area.

...

Time flowed steadily within a regular routine.

About a month had passed.

Today was Saturday. Morning classes were held as usual. The afternoon, evening, and the following day were rest time.

At high noon.

X佐 brought his alchemy results to the basic alchemy laboratory.

The poison vials on the storage rack were accumulating more and more. He had to clear out some miscellaneous items to store the initiate-grade poisons separately.

This rack was about to be filled to the brim, yet Kruv still made no mention of letting the students test the medicine. Whenever X佐 proactively brought it up, the mentor would laugh it off, find an excuse to change the subject, and then lose himself in meditation.

What is going on with the mentor?… X佐 stood before the storage rack and sighed silently.

Watching so much experience sitting right in front of him without being able to harvest it felt utterly agonizing.

If not for the experience provided by the books in the library, his experience gains for this past month would have been an absolute zero.

Should he… secretly drink one just to satisfy his craving—cough, test how much experience it yields?

X佐 licked his lips as if feeling starved.

Forget it, don't sacrifice the big picture for a small gain. Endure a little longer. Once this cabinet is packed, he would coerce the mentor into letting him test the medicine.

With brisk steps, he left the poison alchemy area, arriving at the castle hall just before 12:00 noon to rendezvous with Anjoer, who was waiting there.

Life at the academy lacked nothing in terms of food, clothing, housing, and transportation. For X佐, such days were immensely comfortable.

However, Anjoer felt differently.

Being a girl, aside from basic living necessities, she had additional needs dictated by her gender.

Especially living day and night in contact with foul-smelling oils, this extra need had become increasingly urgent.

About two days ago, Anjoer suddenly noticed wrinkles appearing on her face. Long days and nights of brewing oils had deepened her tear troughs considerably; had the castle administrator not enforced a mandatory 10:00 PM bedtime, dark circles under her eyes would have long since formed.

Though the wrinkles were few and the lines very faint, she treated the matter with utmost seriousness.

Her first reaction was to seek help from a senior sister in the potion alchemy department.

The senior sister told her that the academy indeed possessed functional potions capable of nourishing the skin and repairing wrinkles. However, even the lowest-grade, barely qualified version of such a potion cost 20 gold coins per vial.

Upon hearing this price, Anjoer felt a mix of astonishment and hope.

Since she had a stable income now, purchasing such a potion was only a matter of time.

For now, she could only settle for second best, going outside the academy to buy some items recommended by the senior sister to combat the skin damage caused by the oils.

"Come on, hurry up~"

Anjoer grabbed her young boyfriend's arm:

"Let's eat lunch quickly and then take a good stroll on the street. The senior sister said that shop will be extremely crowded today, we must get there fast, or else everything will be sold out."

X佐 was pulled along by her. The two of each ate a serving of tomato minced-meat noodles, then hurriedly crossed the academy's city gate, walked for a stretch along the wide avenue in front of it, and made several turns to arrive before an exquisitely decorated shop.

The doorway of this shop was adorned with greenish vines trimming the gateposts and doorframe.

The front hall was furnished with all sorts of fresh flowers, using blooming thickets as partitions for pathways and display cases.

The three-story building was constructed from milky-white timber, its surface as smooth as crystalline jade.

This rare and fine timber was not a product of the Starry Night Kingdom.

Moreover, the wood itself was flammable.

X佐 approached the doorpost near the entrance and sniffed carefully, catching the faint scent of fireproofing oil.

One could imagine that the wooden building materials of the entire house had been infused with fire-retardant oil. The rich floral fragrance inside the shop effectively masked the oil's odor.

The front hall was a scene of lush blossoms; anyone visiting this shop for the first time would mistake it for a florist.

X佐's gaze drifted upward along the doorpost, and a gold-plated store sign came into view:

[Protection
——Golden Thorn Skincare Specialty Store]

In the lower right corner of the sign, a line of text was carved in slightly smaller font:

[Golden Thorn Sisterhood, Starry Night City Branch]

The Golden Thorn Sisterhood was a herbal alchemists' association originating from the Eastern Continent, which explained their deep pockets.

Within the alchemy circles, organizations of various scales existed.

Academic institutions like the Starry Night Academy were actually quite rare, with generally at most one per kingdom.

The most common were alchemists' associations.

Academies focused on cultivating mage apprentices, featuring strict entry and exit requirements alongside rigid behavioral codes for their members.

Alchemists' associations, although housing departments for training alchemists internally, existed for the sole purpose of pure commercial profit.

Membership review in alchemists' associations operated on a registration system.

As long as one had a reputable background and a clean record, they could register and join upon paying a security deposit. They did not provide meals or lodging, offering only channels to make money while skimming a percentage in service fees.

The Golden Thorn Sisterhood was precisely such an organization.

Its members were exclusively female.

Furthermore, applicants were required to possess initiate-grade herbal alchemy skills to qualify for membership.

Every trade has its master; the various organizations within the alchemy faction each possessed their own specialized fields.

The Starry Night Academy categorized its disciplines based on alchemical products.

If an alchemical product possessed positive effects and could be ingested, it belonged to potion alchemy.

If it possessed positive effects but could not be ingested, it belonged to oil alchemy.

If it could be ingested but carried negative effects, it belonged to poison alchemy.

If it could not be ingested but possessed positive or negative effects, it belonged to curios alchemy.

Within the Starry Night Academy, curios alchemy had three branches, potion alchemy had two, while poison and oil alchemy each had only a single branch.

From the number of branches, it was not difficult to see that curios and potion alchemy were the two disciplines the Starry Night Academy excelled in most.

The Golden Thorn Sisterhood, meanwhile, specialized in herbal alchemy.

As long as the raw materials involved herbs, they dabbled in them.

The emblem carved on the sign was a legendary herb—the Golden Thorn.

It resembled a blooming rose.

The stems and petals bore raised short thorns, the edges of the petals were serrated, and both the pistil and petals were golden in color, with the pistil exhibiting a lighter shade approaching a golden-white luster.

Possessing an alluring and charming appearance while retaining sufficient strength for self-preservation was the creed conveyed by the Golden Thorn emblem.

X佐 withdrew his gaze from the emblem, letting his eyes linger briefly on a clerk's supple waist before noticing the metallic dagger buckled to her belt.

Scanning the situation inside the shop, both customers and staff were female; male creatures walking inside would appear rather abrupt.

"I'll go stroll around somewhere else and come find you in a bit."

"Mm-mm-mm~" Anjoer nodded, her gaze captivated by the crystal-clear glass bottles on the display case, "Go on, go on. I'll wait for you here."

X佐 watched her walk inside in a daze, shrugged with a practiced air of familiarity, and tossed an appraisal spell at the glass bottles on the display case. Noting the prices and clicking his tongue in secret, he turned and walked toward the other end of the street.

Walking along, he reached into his robe pocket and flipped the coin pouch. Inside lay about 31 silver coins, private savings accumulated from his circus days.

Just enough to buy the cheapest skincare product in the Golden Thorn Potion Shop…

Well then, to accomplish tonight's plan, his long-absent fire-breathing performance would have to make a comeback.

The oil alchemy area contained the props needed for fire-breathing. However, those items ultimately belonged to Professor Zolan as personal property. Using them felt somewhat inappropriate.

Better to head to the shop and purchase fire-breathing potions and solvents with his own money.

X佐 pushed open the door and entered the Starry Night Potion Shop.

The elderly shopkeeper sat behind the display case, looked up upon seeing the Starry Night robe, flashed a kindly smile, and invited the customer to browse freely.

Do not dream of getting a discount.

The revenue of the Starry Night Potion Shop was turned over to the Starry Night Academy and used for institutional expenses. Upon returning to the academy, eating a few extra steaks in the cafeteria would win back every penny spent today.

After exchanging a few words with the shopkeeper, X佐 strolled leisurely in front of the display cases.

The contents recorded in his [Knowledge Reserve] were vastly different from before, being several times richer than when he first visited the Starry Night Potion Shop two years ago.

The information fed back by appraisal spells cast on glass bottles was no longer just a simple single sentence.

X佐 found a gorgeous velvet box and cast an appraisal spell on the potion vial resting on the red velvet cushion.

[Item Name]: Perfect Recovery Potion
[Item Type]: Healing Medicine & Tonic
[Item Grade]: Master Grade
[Item Quality]: 100% Completion, Perfect
[Associated Resistances]: Water-Element Resistance
[Item Description]: Creator unknown.
[Item Effect]:
Instantly restores 100 health points upon drinking.

X佐 shifted his steps, casting appraisal spells sequentially upon these side-effect-free potions.

All of them were associated solely with water-element resistance.

Gelatinous satiety potions, universal antidote potions, and mildly addictive painkillers were likewise of this sort.

X佐 looked toward the deep-red display case. Here were placed potions exclusively for practitioners of breathing techniques.

Among them, only a single potion possessed no toxicity.

[Item Name]: Lesser Body Repair Potion
[Item Type]: Functional Potion
[Item Grade]: Initiate Grade
[Item Quality]: 100% Completion, Perfect
[Associated Resistances]: Water-Element Resistance
[Item Description]: Creator unknown.
[Item Effect]:
Exceedingly slowly repairs hidden bodily injuries after drinking, mitigating the negative effects caused by breathing techniques. Lasts for 30 days; repeated consumption within the active duration does not enhance therapeutic efficacy.

The grade of the lesser body repair potion was not high. An initiate-grade potion alchemist could craft it.

The difficulty lay in the formula.

The academy possessed no documentation whatsoever regarding it, making independent brewing impossible.

X佐 had originally intended to monopolize the body repair potions for Audrey and the others, but that now appeared unfeasible.

With a regretful expression, he turned his gaze away and stared at the next potion.

[Item Name]: Lesser Strength Burst Potion
[Item Type]: Functional Potion
[Item Grade]: Initiate Grade
[Item Quality]: 100% Completion, Perfect
[Associated Resistance 1]: Water-Element Resistance
[Associated Resistance 2]: Earth-Element Resistance
[Item Description]: Creator unknown.
[Item Effect]:
Boosts strength attribute by 1 to 3 points within 30 seconds of consumption. Drink a maximum of 3 vials within 1 hour, otherwise falling into a mild poisoning state. Consuming this potion without practicing a breathing technique will induce a moderate poisoning state with no other effects.

Indeed, just as expected.

Anything touching upon toxicity would be associated with earth-element resistance.

X佐 suspected that earth-element traits might encompass "toxic," "highly toxic," or something similar.

Silently logging this inspiration, he continued appraising the remaining potions.

There were numerous potions designed to temporarily boost physical attributes.

Strength, agility, endurance, perception, and willpower—each of these five attributes had its corresponding burst potion.

This fit the characteristics of breathing techniques perfectly—strengthening the practitioner's physique.

The sole drawback of breathing techniques lay in the hidden injuries sustained during initial practice, which could only be resolved by relying on body repair potions.

X佐 deduced that hidden injuries were likely negative effects that deducted health pools or vitality values.

In effect, breathing techniques sacrificed vitality in exchange for enhancements across the other five attributes.

Had he not entered the academy, he would have practiced a breathing technique at age 18.

Hidden injuries would not have been a concern.

[Undying Body] stated, "All injuries will heal automatically as health increases."

The hidden injuries caused by breathing techniques acted solely upon the physical body. In other words, restoring health to full would eliminate hidden injuries.

However, come to think of it.

Why was there no vitality burst potion?

X佐 stood in place, blinking in confusion as he realized he had struck a blind spot in potion alchemy.

Vitality provided health pools and health regeneration rates.

Regeneration could be achieved through tonics.

What about the maximum health pool then?

Why were there no potions that temporarily or permanently increased the maximum health pool?

X佐 circled the display case.

It really was so. Across the entire shop, the only thing touching upon vitality was tonics.

Body repair potions were used to mend hidden injuries, merely restoring the health pool that had been deducted, without substantially raising the maximum health cap.

Could it be that the alchemy faction had yet to fully comprehend vitality and had yet to invent potions capable of raising the maximum health pool?

X佐 recalled his golden finger's definition of vitality:

[Vitality is the inner source of life.]

As long as the source does not dry up, life does not cease. To a certain extent, raising vitality was no different from prolonging lifespan.

Even ancient emperors in his previous life were obsessed with longevity.

Could the nobles and dignitaries of this world harbor no similar thoughts? Could mages harbor no similar thoughts?

For a moment, X佐's thoughts plunged into a quagmire.

In his [Knowledge Reserve], he reviewed all the textbooks.

Not a single one touched upon raising the maximum health pool.

How strange.

Should he go check out other potion shops? Perhaps it was merely Starry Night Academy's alchemy that didn't involve maximum health pools.

X佐 slapped his forehead, banishing the tangled thoughts from his mind.

He sought out the shopkeeper, bought a few vials of fire-performance potions, stuffed them into his pocket, pushed open the shop door, and returned to the bustling street.

Regarding whether brewing poisons yielded experience points: in the initial version's setup, it did, but later it was found that formatting and calculations were too cluttered, so it was merged into the poison consumption phase.

The backend tipping records seemed to be glitching. He could see notifications of users tipping, but couldn't check specific nicknames.

Thanks to thepromise, bookworm 141030232051459, Silent Mr., Might Not Exist, and Yan-moji Reader for the monthly tickets. The backend couldn't type emoticons, which was terribly awkward.

Thanks to everyone for the recommendation votes; there were too many names to list individually. Much appreciated.

(End of this chapter)