Chapter 27: Successful Refinement Lei Lin swept the remnants from his failed attempt into the trash bin and took a deep breath.
"Once more!"
The same process repeated itself over and over, until at last it came time to pour the Blood Vitality Fruit essence into the beaker.
This time, Lei Lin focused all his attention on the beaker in his hands, constantly adjusting the temperature of the flame beneath it.
The red essence and the green ice shards fused together, gradually turning a faint yellow.
"Green life, red blood vitality — by the intervention of the Great
Lei Lin chanted the final syllables.
The various colors inside the beaker merged under the spell's command, ultimately transforming into a pale blue that gave off an alluring, sweet fragrance.
"Done! One standard dose of Stamina Potion!"
Lei Lin smiled and poured the blue liquid into a slender little test tube.
"A single test tube of Stamina Potion, no longer than a finger, can satisfy all of a person's nutritional needs for seven days while keeping the body energized and vigorous — it's the favorite of long-term experimenters and adventurers alike! One standard dose is worth five Magic Stones!"
Lei Lin shook the test tube. The potion inside caught the light, radiating a mesmerizing glow.
...
An entire night had passed. Lei Lin stared at the three pale blue test tubes in his hand, seemingly lost in thought.
"Ten sets of materials, three successes, three doses of potion! A success rate of nearly thirty percent! I recall that even
"I absolutely cannot let anyone know about this — I'd have no way to explain it!" Lei Lin made up his mind and destroyed all the potion in the three test tubes.
"What a waste!" Lei Lin felt a pang of heartache.
"Those three doses were fifteen Magic Stones, and the materials only cost one! The apothecary trade yields profits of more than ten times the cost!!!"
"Right now, though, I can't make a move! Argh, argh, argh!!!" Lei Lin was on the verge of going crazy.
"Not only can I not sell the potions, but I also need to earn money to buy more materials for constant experiments to fake failures. I can't start selling even the most basic potions for at least half a year!"
This was the timeline Lei Lin had estimated based on Merlin as a benchmark. He didn't want to stand out and attract too much attention, so he had to appear slightly worse than Merlin. Merlin had abundant materials back then and practiced constantly, only succeeding in crafting his first vial of potion after a month. Lei Lin didn't have that many Magic Stones; he could only demonstrate his aptitude for potion-making after half a year.
He was already a disciple of the Potionology instructor. After another half-year of failures before producing a potion, at most he'd be seen as a somewhat talented Apprentice in Potionology, which fit the normal pattern perfectly.
"I absolutely cannot sell a large quantity of potions at the academy right now, unless... I could find a black market? But leaving the academy grounds would be too dangerous!"
Lei Lin shook his head, packed away his experimental supplies, and left the room.
"This also proves that the Chip holds an immense advantage in high-precision, tedious work! Next is continuous consolidation to advance to Second-rank Apprentice!"
"Once I have the strength, then I can sell potions, earn Magic Stones, acquire knowledge, and form a cycle!"
According to the Chip's calculations, advancing to Second-rank Apprentice would still take Lei Lin nearly another year.
After all, the twenty-four Will Runes became progressively harder to forge, and there were also requirements for knowledge accumulation.
"During this time, I can continue collecting data and complete the digitization of Spiritual Power. That will be very helpful for me later!"
...
Without realizing it, another half-year had passed.
On a path paved with black stone slabs, a brown-haired youth walked with his head down, seemingly lost in thought.
The youth looked only thirteen or four-teen, with brown hair and a complexion that was unnaturally pale, as if he hadn't seen sunlight in a very long time.
This youth was, naturally, Lei Lin. At this moment, his right hand was inside his sleeve, holding a test tube, as if wrestling with some decision.
"It's been half a year since I first successfully distilled a Stamina Potion!" Lei Lin thought to himself as he watched a gray-robed Apprentice pass by.
During this half-year, many things had happened at the academy. For instance,
What was more directly relevant to Lei Lin was the news that Jiamen had successfully advanced to Second-rank Apprentice.
He remembered when
The advancement speed of someone with the highest-grade fifth-tier talent was truly astonishing, just as expected.
As for this classmate who had come from the same place as him, Lei Lin felt nothing in particular about him. He simply buried himself in his own work, and to outsiders, he was nothing more than an ordinary First-rank Apprentice.
During these six months, Lei Lin had purchased materials for Stamina Potions multiple times and conducted numerous refinements. He had poured all the income from his lecturing into this endeavor. Moreover, to conceal the Chip and maintain the facade, most of the time he attempted to refine the potions independently without the Chip's assistance—his success rate was zero, and he had already wasted more than a dozen Magic Stones to date.
Of course, he occasionally brought the problems he had encountered and the potion residue to Mentor Guofate, asking about some basic issues and techniques. This was also of great help to his own Potionology knowledge.
But in secret, Lei Lin could already confirm that with the Chip's assistance, his Stamina Potion refinement had likely surpassed Merlin's and was only slightly below Mentor Guofate's level.
Today was the day he would bring the "accidentally" successful product to his mentor for evaluation.
This successful product had been carefully controlled through the Chip—he had deliberately left several flaws in it, making it look like the work of an apprentice counterfeit. But for a newly advanced apprentice, it was already quite impressive.
Lei Lin's grip on the potion bottle tightened involuntarily.
"As long as I get through today's test, I'll be able to openly sell small quantities of potions and earn Magic Stones from now on! Yesterday I heard Lannuo say he had already begun to sense the signs of advancing—my progress can't fall too far behind!"
Lei Lin strode quickly into Guofate's laboratory.
"Lei Lin, do you have some more questions about Stamina Potions?" Guofate could clearly sense that something was different about his student today.
"No, Mentor!" Lei Lin took a deep breath. "I succeeded once yesterday!"
"What?" Guofate's hand, holding the beaker, paused ever so slightly. "Although your talent in Potionology has exceeded my expectations, refining Stamina Potions is not that easy!"
From the questions Lei Lin had raised over the past six months, Guofate could also feel this apprentice's remarkable progress. But actually succeeding in refining a Stamina Potion—he still seemed to be missing that final step.
Hearing this, Merlin, who was nearby with his head down carefully dripping a drop of red crystal into a test tube, flinched. Black smoke billowed from the tube. Merlin sighed and turned his gaze over.
Biji, meanwhile, came directly over to them.
"Did you bring the finished potion?" Guofate asked.
"Right here!" Lei Lin handed over the blue potion from inside his sleeve to the mentor.
Guofate pulled out the oak stopper, first sniffing the aroma, and a look of surprise surfaced on his face.
Then he poured a drop onto his finger, and a milky-white ray of light extended from the center of his brow, piercing straight into the blue droplet and stirring it gently.
Guofate closed his eyes, brows furrowing, but they quickly relaxed again.
"The purification of the Blood Qi Fruit was handled well, but you added too much in the final dose, and the Spiritual Power coordination had some issues, resulting in a loss of potency… All in all, there are quite a few problems, but it was still a success! Congratulations!!!"
A bright smile bloomed across Guofate's face.
Hearing this, a smile also appeared on Lei Lin's face, while Biji let out a cheerful cry and gave Lei Lin an enthusiastic hug.
The young woman's shapely curves pressed tightly against Lei Lin's chest, stirring a peculiar emotion in his heart.
"Congratulations!" Merlin walked over as well.
"I still have a lot to learn compared to Senior Merlin!" Lei Lin gently released Biji and quickly spoke up.
"Don't be so modest. Compared to Merlin, you had far fewer practice materials to work with. Otherwise, I'd estimate you could have successfully refined your first potion within three to four months. This level of talent is already quite impressive even in Blackbone Forest!" Guofate praised.
"Thinking back now, I really am fortunate — first I received Merlin, a potionology genius who appears once in a century, and then you came along!" Guofate sighed with emotion.
"Mentor, I'll work hard too!" Biji clenched her small fist and returned to her workbench.
"Finish processing those Monkey-Head Mushrooms on your desk first!" Guofate said with a stern face.
He then handed the Stamina Potion back to Lei Lin. "A large part of this refinement was due to luck. What you need to do next is remember the feeling of this successful refinement, then increase your practice. This potion is good enough to put up for sale and exchange for resources!"
Guofate added as a reminder, "Lei Lin, you must remember — different potions present different challenges for an apothecary. Even though you can successfully refine Stamina Potions now, if you were to switch to a Blood-Staunching Potion, you'd probably revert to the state of a beginner. So don't get ahead of yourself. From now on, focus on refining Stamina Potions!"
"I understand!" Lei Lin carefully stored the Stamina Potion away and made a solemn promise.
Once everything in the laboratory was wrapped up, Lei Lin and Biji headed out together.
"As a celebration of your first success, how about we go grab a meal at the restaurant on the second floor?" Biji darted ahead, twirling every now and then like a lively butterfly.
"Of course! It would be my honor to invite a lovely lady to dine!" Lei Lin gave a slight bow with a gentlemanly flourish.
"Hee hee!" Biji covered her mouth and giggled, then her tone turned wistful. "If only… if only he were more like you…"
"What's wrong? Is Senior Feile ignoring you again?"
Lei Lin knew a little about this. Over the past half year, Biji had gradually grown closer to Feile through repeated attempts, eventually becoming friends — though only ordinary friends.
But Feile was constantly running experiments and studying, going on adventures outside, and surrounded by plenty of pretty girls. He had no particular thoughts about Biji at all and tended to give her the cold shoulder.
"It's not like that! Feile has a very important experiment coming up recently, and he's been gathering resources — he's just really busy…" Biji lowered her head and kicked a small pebble off the side of the road.