Another World’s Versatile Crafting Master c1-1074

by Zhuang Bifan

  Lin Li remembered that back then in the Endless World, he'd spent a month trying to concoct the Void Power Potion.

  During that month, Lin Li did not do anything else. He woke up and collected herbs every day. After collecting them, he would hide in the lab and stay there for the whole day. Every day, he would encounter at least a hundred failures. It was only one month later that he finally successfully concocted a bottle of Void Power Potion.

  This first bottle of Void Power Potion also gave him the title of the wealthiest man in the Endless World.

  This thing was too powerful. For a warrior, it was like a second life. Almost every day, countless warriors would use all sorts of communication methods to contact Lin Li to purchase this mythical potion that could give them a second life. Naturally, the price surged with the increasing demand. It started from ten thousand gold coins per bottle, and rose to two hundred thousand gold coins per bottle.

  This astronomical price did not scare off those warriors, but strengthened their d.e.s.i.r.e to purchase it instead. Within just a month, it had brought Lin Li a wealth that was unimaginable.

  If it wasn't because of this, how would Lin Li's hunter have the funds to purchase so many pieces of epic gear and then enter the Well of the Sun to obtain the Stars of Fury that every hunter dreamed of? Naturally there was no need to mention things like battling the Dragon of Destruction.

  From the countless concoction attempts to selling it like hot cakes. During a total of two months, Lin Li was dealing with the Void Power Potion almost every day. The required materials, methods, and environment had already been developed into a reflex-like memory.

  Just when Shaun had mentioned those few materials, he had already realized what the Pharmacists Guild had obtained from High Elves' relic—the Void Power Potion…

  "This is the complete recipe." Old Grimm picked up the goat leather scroll and pinned it onto the guild announcement board. "All you of can copy it and feel free to ask questions. As long as we know it, we can tell everyone. Furthermore, if anyone wants to take a look at the original recipe, you can ask President Balbo."

  After he spoke, Old Grimm retreated behind Balbo and passed the ball to the president. He walked past the crowd and found Lin Li, who was deep in thought.

  "Felic, what are you thinking about?"

  "Ah…" After being called out by Old Grimm, Lin Li finally snapped back into reality. "Aaah. Good morning, Mage Grimm."

  "Good morning." Old Grimm nodded, but the expression on his face was full of complaints. "Let me say this, Felic, you're too unkind. Back then at Jarrosus, we agreed that you'd come look for me once you were in Alanna. Now look at yourself. It's been more than a month, and you haven't stepped into the Pharmacist Guild. If it weren't for the invitation this time round, were you thinking of staying at the Guild of Magic forever?"

  "This…" Once Lin Li brought up this issue, he could not help but feel awkward. "I am busy too. Please be the bigger person and forgive me this time…"

  "You don't have to hide from me the nonsense that you have done in Alanna. Macklin has told me almost everything. After beating up Wilhelm's son, you then beat up Darian's nephew as well. During this month, you don't even have enough time to beat up people. Of course you would not have the time to come to the Pharmacists Guild…"

  "Thank the heavens, at least Macklin did something good."

  "Forget it, I will not criticize you anymore. Anyway, Andoine has already helped you settle the issue with the Marathon Family. However, honestly speaking, Felic, you have to keep your temper in check. Don't be so impulsive. Be able to hold it in sometimes, it will be beneficial for you. Oh, yes, just now, I heard Balbo say that you scolded all of the guild's pharmacists in the guild pharmaceutical lab?"

  "It was a moment of impulse. Sorry, sorry…" Even though Lin Li said that, his tone was not very sincere.

  "You really…" Old Grimm shook his head in annoyance before he changed the topic. "Oh, yes, let me tell you something. Balbo sent me to speak to you as he wants to recruit you into the Pharmacists Guild. Think about it yourself. If you are interested, then set a higher price. If you are not interested, then just say it. Don't be afraid of me being in a difficult position. After all, I am just here to pass on a message."

  "This…" Lin Li hesitated for a moment.

  Frankly, he had never thought about something like joining the Pharmacists Guild.

  Firstly, the hurdle that he couldn't overcome was himself.

  Back then, during the battle at Daylight Square, when Cromwell had absolute superiority, Gerian nearly knelt down before Old Merlin so that Old Merlin would let Lin Li off. Even though Lin Li never spoke of this, he had always remembered it. With his personality, he would not leave the Emerald Tower under any circ.u.mstances.

  From Lin Li's perspective, no matter if it was the Alanna's Guild of Magic or the Pharmacists Guild, regardless of how powerful they were or how high the position they could give him, it would never be better than the Emerald Tower that was located in a small remote city. It was because that place was entrusted by Guild of Magic. It was the goal of a middle-aged fatty that fought for it with his life.

  After the duel, when Ysera had told Lin Li the details, Lin Li had already decided in his heart that he had to do something more for the Jarrosus' Guild of Magic. If the situation arose, he could even agree to Gerian's request and be in charge of the Emerald Tower.

  Under such circ.u.mstances, how could Lin Li join the Pharmacists Guild?

  "Why don't you discuss with Balbo and give me the title of guest pharmacist or something."

  "What is a title of guest pharmacist?"

  "It means that I belong to the Pharmacists Guild on paper, but only I can raise requests to the guild. The guild cannot ask me to do anything. You should understand this, right?"

  "You're dreaming…" Old Grimm rolled his eyes. He thought to himself, How is this any different from being the guild master?

  "Then there's no other way…" Lin Li shook his head with a face full of regret.

  "Forget it. Anyway, I am just a messenger. If you really are not interested, then I will help you reject Balbo, but I feel that Balbo will not be so easily dissuaded…"

  "Oh, yes, Mage Grimm…" After being reminded by Old Grimm, Lin Li suddenly remembered something. Didn't the Elemental Arche Potion require some Leaves of Origin Tree? Instantly, Lin Li smiled obsequiously. "I have something to trouble an elder like you with. It's just that I don't know if an elder like you is willing to help…"

  "What is it?" Old Grimm immediately put up his guard. He was too clear about this kid's personality. If it was not something difficult, why would he smile like that?

  "Could you help me get some Leaf of the Origin Tree?"

  Old Grimm frowned. "What do you want the Leaf of the Origin Tree for?"

  "Somebody asked me for help to concoct a potion. I do have some of the materials on hand, but I am just lacking the Leaf of the Origin Tree. I know that the Pharmacists Guild would definitely have it, could you help me get some? Don't worry, I will not ask for it for free. I will add on another 20% of the market price of the Leaf of the Origin Tree for the Pharmacists Guild."

  "This…" Old Grimm hesitated for a moment, and his expression was rather troubled. "Honestly, Felic, even though my position in the Pharmacists Guild is not low, I've never handled guild's goods and materials. The right to use such goods and materials all lies in the hands of Balbo. Even if I want to help you, I don't know where to begin…"

  "If that's the case…" Lin Li could not help but feel disappointed.

  "However…" After Old Grimm reached this point, his words took an abrupt change. "I can help you think of an idea."

  "What idea?" Lin Li immediately became attentive.

  "That recipe just now, you should have understood it, right? I'll honestly tell you, the Pharmacists Guild had invested a lot this time. If someone can complete that recipe and share what he has learned, the Pharmacists Guild will agree to one conditi
on so long as it's within an achievable range. Whatever condition it is, it will be granted. Why don't you think of something from this perspective?"

  "There's something so good like this?" After Lin Li heard this, his eyes immediately brightened up.

  I've been stressed with how hard it was to reach the Shadow of the Darkness. The Pharmacists Guild actually had such a reward. Seems like this time, I'm afraid I have to rise up to the occasion!

  "It really is something good, but it depends on whether you have what it takes." After Old Grimm spoke with a face full of smiles, he then patted Lin Li on the shoulder. "Think of something. If you really can solve this recipe, I think Balbo would consent to you taking the whole inventory of the Pharmacists Guild, not to mention just the Leaf of the Origin Tree. Ok, I'll end it here. I still have something else to handle. I won't accompany you anymore."

  "Please take your leave."

  Lin Li sent off Old Grimm with his mind wandering. His gaze was fixed on that goat leather scroll.

  Even though the words were written in the High Elves Print, for Lin Li, it was not different from the chinese characters that he was familiar with. It was because the whole concoction process had been locked in his memory. As long as he was willing, he would be able to solve all of the difficult problems that the Pharmacists Guild had.

  In the center of the guild hall, Balbo had already finished speaking. Old Grimm was right, Balbo had indeed promised that if someone was able to complete this recipe and share the information, the Pharmacists Guild would agree to one request as long as it was within their capacity.

  Balbo was leaning on deck chair resting when he saw Old Grimm coming over. The president rose up, and asked hurriedly, "How was it?"

  "Nothing much." Old Grimm shook his head. "I've already said it. This fella, Felic, would definitely not be willing to leave Jarrosus. You just won't give up…"

  Chapter 230 - Shortcut

  The two old men discussed something softly for a while. Nobody knew what they were saying, but, in any case, Balbo was beaming after the discussion. Whoever saw it knew that he was in a rather good mood.

  After the potion's recipe was disseminated, the guild hall was bustling. The pharmacists that were familiar with each other were now gathered together in groups, discussing what they had learned about this recipe. Some of them were filled with confidence. They requested a pharmaceutical lab from Balbo. They took out herbs, set up a crucible, and started wrestling with the Void Energy Potion.

  These few fellas have got quite the nerve… Lin Li looked at them and could not help but shake his head. Nine out of ten people, when they first encountered the Void Potion, would be driven mad by it. At least half of these fellas that walked in confidently would come out in a neurotic manner.

  Lin Li had experienced such a feeling before.

  Of all the recipes that Lin Li knew, the Void Energy Potion was the most likely one to drive people mad. All sorts of issues appeared in an endless stream—even a strong mind would not be able tolerate it. It was always looking at the fruit of a day's of hard work, a bottle of Void Potion, turning into poison due to a breeze or the flames flickering a few times. Once or twice would be a coincidence, but a person would not be able to tolerate it happen tens of times.

  Therefore, Lin Li was not anxious. After walking around the guild hall once, he sat down in a deserted corner. He eavesdropped on the discussion that a few nearby pharmacists were having while chatting with Shaun.

  Honestly, even though the gathering had gathered the best pharmacists in Felan, from what Lin Li heard, their level was sub-par. Lin Li was very clear that they had started off from the wrong foot.

  When Old Grimm wrote out this recipe, the group of pharmacists had all simultaneously believed that this was an impossible task. To control the balance of ten herbs and deal with all sorts of random situations was already out of a human's reach. Even with the most precise machinery, it would not be possible to do something like that.

  Hence, almost everyone thought of manipulation.

  Almost of all the discussions were based around manipulation.

  Some suggested categorizing the ten herbs and processing them according to the recipe's requirements, only to mix them together once the processing was completed. Some even suggested adding Leaf of the Origin Tree to allow the composition of the herbs to be more balanced and fuse better. Some also suggested opening a portal to another dimension and beginning the concoction in an almost perfect environment, thereby reducing the possible accidents that might arise during the process…

  There were all sorts of suggestions, but Lin Li, who was listening at the side, frowned.

  The existence of the Void Energy Potion originally was to test a pharmacist's skill standard. In Endless World, if a pharmaceutics master wanted to be promoted to a pharmaceutics guru, he would have to concoct a bottle of Void Energy Potion. This also meant that even though the requirements for the Void Energy Potion were not high, the skill requirement was at a pharmaceutics guru level. Before attaining the pharmaceutics guru level, it would not be possible to manipulate.

  Of the hundred or more pharmacists present, only a few people had reached the master level. As for guru and above, there was only Lin Li. Only Lin Li had the competency to manipulate the Void Energy Potion.

  All of the discussions were the same. Lin Li was tired of listening. He barely tolerated it till lunch time before he finally freed himself from the guild hall.

  After lunch, Balbo passionately invited everyone to tour the guild pharmaceutical lab.

  During this afternoon, everyone seemed to be almost done with what they needed to discuss. Just when everyone was feeling restless, Balbo's invitation came, and received everyone's response. More than a hundred pharmacists went up to the second floor. Even the spacious guild pharmaceutical lab started to feel cramped.

  During the afternoon, the lab had already been cleaned up. It did not look like an explosion had occurred there. The potion table was filled with all sorts of herbs. Lin Li casually took a look and found silverleaf, peacebloom, and Dragon Tongue Orchid. There were all sorts of herbs required for the Void Energy Potion. Naturally, no words were required to understand what Balbo meant by taking everyone for a tour.

  "All of you pharmacists had discussed all morning. I think all of you have some ideas. The guild has prepared all sorts of herbs. Use them as you wish."

  "Let me try!" The person that stood out from the crowd was the fatty, Hoffman.

  Once Hoffman stepped forth, there was a roaring laughter coming from the crowd immediately. A few mean people were even louder.

  "Haha, Hoffman. Can you do it?"

  "Hoffman, please listen to my advice. You're so fat. You're not suitable to be a pharmacist!"

  "Yes, yes, yes, Hoffman. Don't be mistaken, this recipe can't use the Tricolored Flower."

  "You b*tches, I will teach you a lesson one of these days." Hoffman strutted over to the potion table. He looked at those mean people with an angry gaze while proficiently categorizing the different herbs.

  "Aye, this fatty can't be looked down on…" Lin Li stood within the crowd and saw everything clearly. When Hoffman was categorizing the different herbs, his technique could be described as unusually proficient. It could be seen that he was a person that had been stacking herbs for years. It was especially so for a detail that Lin Li noticed. When he reached the Dragon Tongue Orchid, this fatty actually had the awareness to place the Dragon Tongue Orchid and Silverleaf together.

  This was a detail that couldn't be missed. Even Lin Li himself only figured it out slowly after he'd broken through the guru level. When the Dragon Tongue Orchid was exposed, it'd automatically leak out some sap, which had a strong corrosive property. Pharmacists usually placed the Dragon Tongue Orchid in a goblet, but there was an exception. When a certain recipe required both Dragon Tongue Orchid and Silverleaf, the Dragon Tongue Orchid could be placed together with the Silverleaf because the sap would not corrode the Silverleaf. Instead
, it helped to bring out the medicinal potential of the Silverleaf. It would save the pharmacist a lot of energy during the concoction process.

  "Of course you can't look down on this fatty." Only heaven knew when Andoine stood up. These words that appeared out of nowhere almost scared the living daylight out of Lin Li.

  "…" Lin Li wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead with an annoyed expression, and spoke to Andoine, "Mentor, do you know that a person can scare another to death? The next time when you want to appear, could you make a sound so that I can mentally prepare myself?"

  "Is it? Then next time I'll just make a squeak." Andoine's expression was like he took it for granted.

  "Forget it…" Lin Li shook his head. He knew that talking about logic with this old man would not result in anything. He wisely changed the topic. "Mentor, are you familiar with Hoffman?"

  "Yes, he can be considered an old friend." Andoine nodded and retracted the joking expression. He started to grow serious slowly. "Let me tell you, you can't look down on this fella. Don't look at him being gentle at the Pharmacists Guild. Do you know what he does secretly?"

  "What does he do…?"

  "What this guy does is a highly dangerous profession."

  "Killer?"

  "It's much more formidable than a killer." Andoine glanced at Hoffman and whispered into Lin Li's ears, "Conjurer…"

  "F*ck me!" Lin Li had a shock and immediately thought of the Saruman Family in Jarrosus.

  "Anyhow, just don't mess with him. When I look at him now, I'm somewhat fearful…"

  Just when the two of them were whispering, Hoffman had already announced his failure.

  There was no choice. He had started off from the wrong foot even though he was a senior pharmacist. Regardless of technique or detail, he had handled it well, but he went in the wrong direction. Everything else thereafter naturally failed. What Hoffman used was the method that had been discussed the most back in the guild hall. Categorizing all the herbs, processing them separately according to the recipe's requirements and mixing them together once the processing was complete. To complete this complicated work, Hoffman even requested from Balbo some Leaf of the Origin Tree to allow these herbs to fuse together better after they had been mixed together.