by Zhuang Bifan
"What's that?"
"Elin, that brat, has ruined everything." There was some helplessness on Balbo's face as he spoke about his only disciple. He finally recounted what happened under Old Grimm's constant prompts.
"Felic, that lad…" Old Grimm had no idea whether or not to laugh at the thought of Felic berating the group of pharmacists. The kid's temper was as usual after so long. He was still unwilling to suffer any loss.
"Anyway, that's what happened…" Balbo recounted the story off and on. His aged face was shaded with melancholy. "I did make a mistake. When you told me about this young man, I always thought he was just a talented pharmacist. Little did I know that he's at such a high level regarding pharmaceutics. It's too late for me to regret now. Such a pharmaceutical genius has been enlisted by the Guild of Magic. How am I supposed to face Aldwin in the future?"
"Haha…" Old Grimm now understood that Balbo's melancholy was not because his disciple had made a mistake, but because the gifted pharmacist he'd taken an interest in had been snagged by the Guild of Magic. He chuckled, and said, "If you are only worried about Aldwin, then I can tell you that you can put all your heart at ease. So far, Felic has no plans to join the Alanna Guild of Magic. Macklin has complained to me several times because of this…"
Balbo's interest was piqued. "Oh?"
"I'll tell you, Felic is not an ordinary young genius. He has an almost perfect gift, whether in magic or pharmaceutics. Maybe in less than 30 years, he will be at the top of these two professions. Wait and see, this young man will become the next Geresco and Salados…"
"Are you sure?" Balbo frowned. Despite having witnessed the amazing gift of this young man, he could hardly believe what Old Grimm said. Who was Geresco? He was the most powerful mage after the Dark Ages, and was known as the God of Mages. Salados was even more remarkable. He was the legendary elite pharmacist who had laid the foundation of pharmaceutics and perfected the pharmaceutical theory. Legend had it that even human beings who had been oppressed by the High Elves had to acknowledge Salados' high status when it came to pharmaceutics.
Yes, Felic was indeed an excellent young man. He was better than most in the Pharmacists Guild, including Elin. But it was still hard for him to believe that Felic could surpass Geresco and Salados. It seemed like a myth.
"I'm sure." Old Grimm nodded, and assumed an unprecedented seriousness.
"All right…" Balbo was slightly surprised by the chief pharmacist's insistence. He had known him for decades, but had never heard him praise a young man like this before. After shaking his head, Balbo decided to abandon the topic. "We'll discuss this later. You haven't told me why the Alanna Guild of Magic couldn't enlist this young man."
"As I said earlier, Felic is not an ordinary young genius. He has his own ideas. You know, when I met him in Jarrosus, he was only a level-nine mage. But at that time, he had rejected Gerian's proposal to hand the guild over to him. Do you think such a person would be tempted by a little benefit?"
"Level-nine mage? Burnside, if I remember correctly, it's only been less than two months since you're back from Jarrosus?" Balbo couldn't believe it. He clearly saw that this young man had at least the strength of a Magic Shooter. If it was as what Old Grimm said, didn't Felic make a leap from level-nine to level-15 in two months?
Six levels' progress in two months…
Was this a magic gift a human should possess? Even the legendary God of Mages couldn't have possessed such an exaggerated degree of a gift…
Balbo's eyes lit up again. "You mean the Pharmacists Guild still has a chance?"
"I mean, everybody has a chance…" Old Grimm couldn't bear to lay the blow on Balbo seeing that he was so enthusiastic. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but try to persuade him. "Actually, Balbo, don't be too enthusiastic. This boy's talent is amazing, but his temper is also amazing. When I met him in Jarrosus, he had almost killed Aldwin's grandson. Look at Andoine. Ever since he's accepted such a disciple, he's always worried about what trouble he might get into. If you bring him into the Pharmacists Guild, I'm afraid you'll have more white hair than Andoine…"
"It doesn't matter. He can make some trouble. Anyway, there's no trouble that the Pharmacists Guild can't handle with our strength… unless he assassinated the king. Burnside, don't try to persuade me. We have to get this kid into the Pharmacists Guild." Balbo sighed involuntarily as he finished. "You've seen how worse the Pharmacists Guild has gotten in these few decades. Apart from us both, there hasn't been a potion master in 30 years. Elin does have the potential, but look what he's done this time…"
"Balbo, you should keep a rein on Elin. If he doesn't change that utilitarian character of his, he'll get into big trouble sooner or later."
"Mhm." Balbo shook his head helplessly. "I'll keep him in check. I've decided to make him an apprentice for two years and let him have a taste of what hardship is like. Do help me keep an eye on him if you have the time."
"I'll try my best…"
"Forget it, we'll talk about Elin again. I've asked you here to discuss about Felic. I say, Burnside, do you have any idea how to get the young man into the Pharmacists Guild?"
"Let me think about it…"
At this time, Lin Li was back downstairs, sitting in a quiet corner while chatting with Shaun.
"Mr Mage, I'm not trying to boast here, but I can get you any herbs that you want…" Shaun was less afraid of Lin Li after some conversation. In particular, Lin Li had conquered Shaun's heart when he took out his crystal card and drew 50,000 gold coins from it.
That was 50,000 gold coins…
Back when he was selling magical beast cubs at the black market, he had to take several fat beatings, and it was not always possible to get the 50,000 gold coins. The money had come too easily this time. He could earn 50,000 gold coins just by spending two weeks in the Nightmare Mountains picking flowers and herbs. Where was he going to find such a good business?
Sparks flew before Shaun's eyes when he received the 50,000 gold coins. He could no longer care about how dangerous the young mage was. He assured the latter that he could get him any kinds of herbs he wanted.
"For real?" Lin Li looked at him with some skepticism.
"Of course."
"In that case, get me some Dragon Eye Flower. I'll buy them for 10,000 gold coins if you really do get them."
"10… 10,000!" Shaun almost teared up.
"Mhm, 10,000." Lin Li nodded. Among the ingredients for the Elemental Arche, the Heart Of Corrosion, Dragon Eye Flower, and Leaf of the Origin Tree were the hardest to find. The Heart Of Corrosion would have to count on Mr Hammer. In case of the Leaf of the Origin Tree, he could probably get them from the Pharmacists Guild—wasn't there the Leaf of the Origin Tree in the Catalytic Potion earlier on? As for this Void Flower, he'd have to depend on luck. If this fat bandit could really be of some help to him, 10,000 gold coins wasn't expensive at all.
That was something that could directly enhance a mage's strength.
If he could really concoct it, he was sure that neither the other mages nor Kevin's friend would find the price too high.
"I'll think of something…" Shaun nodded agitatedly. 10,000 gold coins for a stalk of Dragon Eye Flower was a huge sum. Even if it was a risky trip, he could only take it.
"Mhm, give me a reply soon."
While they were discussing the details, Balbo came down the stairs with Old Grimm. The old man was sharp-eyed; he'd spotted Lin Li sitting in the corner from a distance. After showing a smile as a greeting, he made a covert gesture, seemingly asking Lin Li to come over for a talk.
Lin Li returned the smile and nodded to Old Grimm from the distance, indicating that he had accepted the invitation.
"Morning, everyone." Balbo was beaming with smile. He saved all the greetings after entering the guild hall, and went straight to the point. "I believe everyone is anxious after all the waiting, so I'll cut to the chase.
"It's like that. Three months ago, the Pharmacists Guild discovered a High Elves
relic. We were lucky to find four lost formulas. We've managed to work out three. However, we still can't make head nor tail of the last formula after three months. That's why we called for this discussion. All of you are experienced pharmacist. I believe that we'll be able to work out the last formula with your knowledge of pharmaceutics."
"President Balbo, what exactly is the formula?" Balbo's voice had just fallen when a plump middle-aged pharmacist stood up from the crowd. "Could you bring it out for us to have a look?"
Out of the over hundred pharmacists in the guild hall, at least 90 of them had come for the mysterious formula. The middle-aged pharmacist got the approval of everyone when he opened his mouth.
For a while, the pharmacist's guild was in a clamor. Everyone was urging Balbo to bring out the formula as soon as possible.
Balbo was on friendly terms with that fatty. He wasn't angry at the fatty's attempt to create a stir. He merely laughed, and cracked a joke. "Haha, Hoffman, I haven't seen you in a long time. You haven't lost all that meat, but your temper's getting more and more impatient…"
Balbo's voice had just fallen when there was a burst of laughter from below.
"Hahaha…"
"Hoffman, are you over 200 kg now?"
"Hoffman, I heard that your wife has given birth to a daughter recently. Is your daughter as fat as you?"
"Shut up, you bastards. I'll get someone to poison your food sooner or later!"
"Hahahaha…"
Nobody took Hoffman's words seriously, and they continued laughing. Everyone knew that the middle-aged fatty had the best temper among the pharmacists in the entire Felan Kingdom. They had known him for decades, and nobody had ever seen the middle-aged fatty fly into a rage.
"Alright…" Balbo waited until the crowd had enough of laughing before turning to Old Grimm, saying, "Burnside, you can start by writing down the formula."
"Okay."
Old Grimm nodded and took out a pen from his pocket. Then, he had someone bring him a huge parchment, which he laid out on the table.
"Shoo, shoo, shoo…" The sound of the pen tip scratching against the paper sounded, and the hall fell into silence. Everyone's eyes were glued to the huge parchment. They wanted to see just what kind of secret was contained in the formula that even the Pharmacists Guild couldn't work out.
Strange symbols appeared one after another as the pen tip danced along on the parchment. Balbo took on the role of a commentary at a side. "In order to present the original formula, Burnside has written it in High Elves Print. But all of you here are experienced pharmacists; it should not be too hard to decipher High Elves Print."
Old Grimm had written numerous runes as Balbo explained.
Lin Li was frowning all the time. He was an experienced pharmacist, yes. But it was as hard for him to recognize the High Elves Print as it was for a man to give birth. In order to find out what Old Grimm had written, he had to turn to Andoine, the authority on the High Elves, for help.
Chapter 229 - Void Power Potion
But just by looking, Lin Li knew that it was hopeless.
This old man was obsessed. Old Grimm had just taken out a pen from his pocket, and both of that old man's eyes were fixed on the scroll made of goat leather. He even felt like planting his face onto it, so how would he have the mood to help answer Lin Li's queries?
"This old man really…" Lin Li immediately rolled his eyes. He understood this old man too well. Once he placed his focus on potions, he wouldn't move even if you were to shout at him, not to mention giving him signals. Forget it, let's give up on this old man. Lin Li looked around, and just as when he was about to talk to the pharmacist that he had scolded, he suddenly heard Shaun talking to himself at the side.
Shaun's eyes stared straight at at the goat leather scroll. He was mumbling to himself continuously, "Thousand Leaves Grass and Dragon Tongue Orchid. So these are the herbs needed by pharmacists. Seems like I need to gather more next time…"
Lin Li had a shock on the spot. This fatty looked ordinary, but he actually knew the language of the High Elves.
"Fatty!"
"Ah?" Shaun turned over with a blank look. "What is it, Mr Mage…?"
"Fatty, let me ask you something." Lin Li thought for a while, and prudently asked, "You know the High Elves Print?"
"I know a little." The fatty nodded his head earnestly.
"Such a talented person…"
"I coincidentally learned it…"
"Such a coincidence…" Lin Li nodded his head and squeezed out a smile. "Fatty, how about helping me?"
"What?"
Lin Li looked around sneakily before whispering to Shaun, "Help me translate that High Elves Print…"
When he said that, he felt guilty. The High Elves Print was a knowledge that every mage and pharmacist should know. It was especially so for people like Lin Li. As an archmage and pharmaceutics guru, he actually did not know the High Elves Print. If this were to spread, wouldn't it be very embarrassing?
"What, you don't know the High Elves Print?!" Fatty's mouth went wide open and he stood up with a stupefied look. His loud voice was enough to be heard by almost half of the guild hall.
Instantly, tens of pharmacists looked over simultaneously.
All of their gazes were filled with disdain.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… At this age, there actually is a pharmacists that does not know the High Elves Print. How did he even get in…"
"Hush, maybe he has a strong backing? Everything is possible, everything is possible. Let's just keep it to ourselves…"
"Yes, yes, yes, maybe he is Balbo's godson or something. Haha!"
"Lower your volume. Don't let Balbo hear this; otherwise, he would have no ends with you…"
With all these discussions, Lin Li wanted to dig a hole and hide inside it.
If it was not because there was a crowd, he'd land a kick on this damned fatty's face and ask him what was he thinking. I already lowered my voice so much, yet you still dared to be so loud. Forget about being loud, you even spread my disgrace. Aren't you pushing me into the furnace?
F*ck, this is so embarrassing…
"Fatty, you've got guts!" Lin Li lowered his head with guilt to escape from those disdainful gazes while looking at the fatty and gritting his teeth.
"This—"
"Shut up!" It would be better if the fatty did not explain. That attempt at explanation made Lin Li even more furious. He breathed in heavily a few times, and forced himself to calm down before he gritted his teeth, and asked, "Hurry and help me translate, are you still trying to make me embarrassed?"
"Yes, yes, yes… Oh, no, no, no. I didn't mean that. What I meant was I will help you translate immediately…" Shaun fumbled in his nervousness. A simple sentence was made to be incongruous by him.
"You still dare to be long-winded?"
"Ok, ok, ok…" Shaun instinctively withdrew his head and carefully translated for Lin Li. "What Mr. Burnside wrote down should be a potion formula. If we were to base our understanding on the text, it should be grinding the Thousand Leaves Grass, mixing it into Condensing Flower's sap, and heating. Then, before it boils, add in the Dragon Tongue Orchid, Netherbloom, Thousand Binding Vines…"
"Stop!" After hearing this, Lin Li suddenly stopped him.
The following content needed not be heard. Lin Li could recall it even with his eyes closed.
No wonder the Pharmacists Guild made it so grand. They even invited a clueless old man like Andoine, not to mention all of the pharmacists from the Felan Kingdom. It turned out that this mysterious potion formula was actually the Void Power Potion…
Lin Li shook his head. His gaze towards Balbo was somewhat filled with sympathy.
To concoct something like this was not something that could be done in one or two days.
The existence of the Void Power Potion was like a nightmare for most pharmacists.
There were as many as ten types of herbs. Just by looking at it, people would get dizzy. Furthermore, they had to make a
potion out of them? This was not a simple potion that could be made just by simply adding the herbs in order and brewing it. Even a student that had just started would know that a potion was equivalent to a perfect world. In this world, all the medical characteristics would clash and attract each other. During this clash and attraction, it would result in a delicate yet harmonious balance.
The difficulty of the recipe would firstly be based on the required herbs.
The more the types of herbs were required, the higher the difficulty of the recipe would be.
The easiest recipes usually had one or two herbs. Some of them only required one. Those were the entry level potions. Just heating the sap that was extracted from the herb or brewing it after it had been thrown into the crucible would result in creating a potion.
As for the herbs required for high-level recipes, it was usually three types, or even four or five types. This was a true test of skills of a pharmacist.
Almost every high-level recipe would have a harsh requirement on the pharmacist's skill. The temperature could not be too high nor two low. Just a slight deviation would result in failure, wasting all of the efforts as the potion would become a bottle of poison. As for the proportions of the herbs, that would require an even more intricate grasp—it had to be exact. The concoction process required the ability to deal with all sorts of accidents. After all, humans were not robots. Nobody dared to guarantee that there would be no mistakes. This would test the pharmacist's ability to adapt.
As for the Void Power Potion, it was one of the hardest recipes that Lin Li had ever seen.
The addition of ten types of herbs would turn the potion into a mess. Just finding a clue out of this whole mess would be able to thoroughly exhaust any pharmacist, what more to maintain a delicate balance between them? Furthermore, during this process, one had to be able to deal with all sorts of situations that might occur. For example, a change in the wind's direction or a change in temperature in the room. Even one's breathing would have to be uniform—if not, all the pharmacist would get in return was failure.
