Chapter 115: Chapter 93: Basic Alchemist, Further Improvement
"Also, he wanted me to give you some advice. It’s normal to be clumsy when you’re just starting, so don’t be too discouraged. The steps for extracting medicinal properties and fusing elements aren’t set in stone. You can experiment a bit more before drawing conclusions..."
Lu Chao nodded, not surprised.
He had learned a lot about alchemy recently.
For general-purpose potions, wealthy corporations and mega-enterprises could indeed mass-produce them according to theory, using machinery and AI assistance.
However, certain key steps still required an Alchemist to handle them personally; they couldn’t be completed by relying on AI alone.
This was especially true for Nutritional Potions made specifically for Superpower Path Takers, which had extremely high requirements and could never be mass-produced.
There were a few reasons for this.
First was the limited quantity of raw materials.
For instance, some high-energy precious herbs were difficult to cultivate, mineral elements were hard to extract, and high-level Mutant Beasts were difficult to hunt.
Second was the structural variance in the medicinal ingredients.
Even within the same type of material, there were subtle differences in aspects like their state of existence, Biological Energy density, and the potency of their herbal essence.
This led to random variations during steps like extracting medicinal properties, controlling the heat, and fusing elements. These required manual adjustment and intervention to prevent the potion’s basic factors from colliding and failing, or even breaking down, restructuring, or exploding.
For this very reason, Alchemists were always highly sought-after.
Whether it was martial arts gyms, corporations, or the Patrol Department, they all placed great importance on elites in this field.
Suppressing these stray thoughts, Lu Chao and Zhao Yuanqing quickly moved the items into an empty room next door.
He had specifically cleared out the room. In his mind, this would be his future laboratory.
After a flurry of activity, the two of them tidied up a bit.
During this time, as if remembering something, Zhao Yuanqing casually asked a question.
"Was there an assassination attempt on Brother Hao?"
Startled, Lu Chao quickly came back to his senses.
Something happening to a Hall Master of the Hongyi Society was obviously impossible to hide in the Iron Ring District.
"Yeah."
After a moment of thought, he nodded and briefly explained what had happened that day.
"So it’s true."
Zhao Yuanqing’s expression darkened. He clenched his fist and said, "I heard people talking about it at the Prosthetic Clinic."
"The rumor going around outside is that someone in the Hongyi Society is unhappy with Brother Hao and deliberately hired an assassin from [Deep Sea] to get rid of him."
"Even the Iron Blood Gang has been laying low lately. It’s unheard of, they haven’t started any fights..."
Oh?
Lu Chao raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t expected the rumors spreading like wildfire outside to have twisted into this version.
’Is it really an internal problem within the Hongyi Society?’
A glint in his eyes, a suspicion formed in his mind.
’Or... is the Iron Blood Gang trying to frame them?’
...
「Over half a month later.」
The March weather gradually warmed. The red sun could be seen cutting through the morning mist as it slowly ascended.
An orange glow slowly emerged in the urban district beneath the gray sky, and the entire city circle gradually brightened.
Crowds hurried to and fro. Whispers could occasionally be heard from corners, as if people were discussing how to gather for another protest, while others worried about how to make a living.
Unlike the clamor in these areas, although a gloomy cloud still hung over Second Street, the inside of the apartment building was rather quiet.
And right at this moment, inside the simply converted laboratory.
"Seventy grams of Jade Dust Powder, fifty milliliters of Clear Spring Water, three Red Leaf Fruits..."
Following the murmuring voice, one could see Lu Chao standing before a table, constantly busy.
Many pieces of potion-making equipment were laid out on the table in front of him.
There was a cone-shaped glass filter slowly straining herbal residue from a liquid, and a small thermostatic furnace plugged in with cables, which looked like a cylinder and was sealed with special glass.
From time to time, Lu Chao could be seen tossing a certain medicinal ingredient inside, or occasionally pouring in some liquid, which would make a gurgling, boiling sound.
And further in front of all this was an iron cabinet placed against the wall.
Looking closely, one could see many bottles and jars neatly arranged inside, each with a corresponding name on its label.
[Ingredient—Jade Dust Powder], [Ingredient—Red Leaf Fruit Pit], [Semi-finished—Basic Qi and Blood Supplement]...
’Almost there. If this succeeds, I’ll have basically taken my first real step.’
With a serious expression, Lu Chao stood behind the thermostatic furnace, watching the medicinal ingredients inside slowly dissolve.
Relying on his professional-grade sharp perception, he faintly grasped a certain rhythm and poured in the extracted Red Leaf Fruit essence at the critical moment.
The bright red liquid quickly boiled, then rapidly fused with the medicinal solution inside.
Not daring to delay, Lu Chao followed the principles from [Basic Synthesis Knowledge] and took out several pre-solidified special mineral element crystals, tossing them into the thermostatic furnace.
Finally, after a flurry of work.
WHOOSH!!
He poured the boiling medicinal solution out into a heat-resistant, food-grade glass container.
A faint, peculiar bitter scent wafted to his nose, causing his eyes to light up slightly.
’Did it work?’
[Basic Qi and Blood Supplement]
[Quality: Inferior]
[Effect: Contains a certain amount of Biological Energy and specific elements. Long-term consumption by those below Fighting Level will result in a slight increase in Life Energy!]
His intuition activated, and Lu Chao’s face lit up with joy.
His gaze stopped on the quality section. Although it was ’Inferior,’ it was no longer ’Incomplete’.
The effects section also finally showed no other side effects or toxicity warnings, which made him sigh in relief.
’Finally, a success.’
Feeling a little emotional, Lu Chao finally opened the window to let the hot air out of the room.
Over the past month, he had lost count of how many times he had tried.
In the beginning, he had basically failed every time.
The potions were either ineffective or toxic, easily causing symptoms like diarrhea, nausea, and dizziness.
He had even narrowly avoided an explosion once, sensing something was wrong ahead of time and turning off the heat to let it cool down.
’A Basic Qi and Blood Supplement is pretty much useless to me.’
’But...’
Relaxing slightly, Lu Chao broke into a smile.
’I guess I can be considered a Basic Alchemist now.’
According to the theoretical knowledge, Alchemists were also divided into levels like Basic, Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced.
The first step is always the hardest. Since he could now create a Basic Potion, he could naturally continue to progress in the future and create Elementary and Intermediate potions.
By then, both the development of his Life Energy and the growth rate of his Potential Progress would speed up significantly.
’That’s not all.’
His eyes flickered as Lu Chao thought of a key point.
According to alchemy lore, combined with some of the explanations in the [Life Energy Development Theory], potions weren’t limited to just the Nutritional Potion category.
Some potions, which blended special herbal essences, Mutant Beast genes, or supernatural mineral elements, had other wonderful uses after being injected or consumed.
For example, temporarily boosting combat power, restoring Martial Arts Power, reducing physical strain, or even gaining other special abilities.
To a certain extent, these could even influence the outcome of a life-or-death battle.
’One step at a time.’
’Perhaps one day, I’ll be able to create potions like that too.’
The thought flashed through his mind, and Lu Chao then looked at the Basic Qi and Blood Supplement in his hand.
Although it was useless to him, if he accumulated a certain amount, he could sell them to earn some money and cover the expenses and losses from his potion-making.
’From now on, I can set aside some time each week to keep practicing, as long as it doesn’t affect my martial arts training.’
’Practice makes perfect. One step at a time.’
Having roughly formed a plan, Lu Chao nodded to himself.
Without further delay, he walked to a corner of the room.
Another table was placed here, upon which sat two small metal boxes.
Looking inside, each box contained a goose-egg-sized, perfectly round and smooth, cyan-colored jade crystal.
[Cyan Jade Crystal]
[Quality: Sub-par (Excellence)]
[Effect: Contains rich Biological Energy. A special nutritional crystal suitable for consumption by Professional-level fighters. Guarantees sufficient nutritional intake and has some effect of increasing Life Energy. The effect is best upon first consumption, after which the potency is halved with each subsequent use...]
The information from his intuition appeared again.
One was from Master Luo, who seemed to have guessed the effects of medicinal resistance and had specially swapped out the Bone-Strengthening and Qi-Replenishing Ointment. The other was one he had saved up for and bought himself from the Patrol Department’s internal network.
Without hesitating, Lu Chao quickly picked one up and tossed it into his mouth.
Instantly.
CRUNCH.
[Devour and Grow] activated once again, beginning another round of savage digestion and greedy absorption.
Wisps of warmth surged through his entire body, rushing toward his limbs and bones.
For a moment, Lu Chao felt as if every inch of muscle and every single cell in his body was radiating a sense of satisfaction.
Even the upper limit of his life, which had felt like a shackle, began to slowly melt away as if it were being broken.
