Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Farce
And that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the difficulty of brewing the Mind Boiling Potion.
Then there was the Wisdom Light Potion. It required fruit from the Ancient Wisdom Tree, which was exceedingly rare.
Its rarity stemmed from the fact that the Ancient Wisdom Tree was a special type of Tree-man that could wander through the Star Realm.
It roamed without a fixed abode, and no one ever knew where it might appear.
It was impossible to locate, even with Destiny Witchcraft or Prophetic Witchcraft, because the Ancient Wisdom Tree itself was one of the foremost masters of these arts.
Faced with this challenge, Wizards later developed a workaround.
They began trading all sorts of priceless materials with the Ancient Wisdom Tree on a regular basis. In exchange, they received the withered branches and fallen leaves it shed, which they would then grind into a powder. This was how the subsequent version of the Wisdom Light Potion was created.
While this method significantly increased the yield of the Wisdom Light Potion, it required vast quantities of precious materials for the exchange.
So, Wizards began using cuttings from the Ancient Wisdom Tree to cultivate new ones.
According to ancient records, Wizards of antiquity spent a full 100,000 years before they successfully cultivated a descendant of the Ancient Wisdom Tree.
However, these descendants possessed only a fraction of the original Ancient Wisdom Tree’s intelligence.
Fortunately, the Bloodline remained. Its effects of enlightenment and bestowing wisdom were still present, making it suitable for creating the Wisdom Light Potion.
And that was how the final version of the Wisdom Light Potion came into existence.
Even after generations of Wizards continuously improved and cultivated these "Wisdom Trees" on a large scale, their price today remains incredibly high.
A single cutting suitable for making a Wisdom Light Potion was worth as much as an Obsidian Necklace.
The academy did have a reserve of this treasure, but one first needed the proper qualifications to even be considered for an exchange.
The qualifications were exceedingly strict, requiring a major contribution to the academy just to earn the right to make one such exchange.
And that was just the main ingredient for the Wisdom Light Potion. The other materials, such as the Dragon Ape Brain and the Stone of Hidden Forest, were all treasures that couldn’t be bought and could only be acquired through sheer luck.
And those were just the three most precious of the eight potions. The requirements for the remaining five were slightly less demanding.
But taken together, the cost of the materials for those five potions was not much different from that of the Void Potion, Mind Boiling Potion, and Wisdom Light Potion. In fact, one could say they were on par.
’And this guy hiding behind Lian actually wanted to buy such precious raw materials from me!’
’If I had these materials, I would have brewed the potions for myself long ago. Why would I ever make them for someone else?’
"Get out, out, out!" Andre glared at Lian and his companions, waving his hand to shoo them away.
Coughing up blood, Lian clutched his side where Andre had just broken his ribs. He and his companions hastily took the potion list and fled the Wizard Inheritance Hall in a wretched state.
’Gathering the ingredients for all eight of these potions would be about as difficult as transmigrating all over again.’
Andre turned, walked into his room, and fed Potato a piece of Honeycomb. He then sat down and began to tidy up.
The room was littered with withered branches and dead leaves, all of which had been trimmed from the Magic Plants he used to brew Magic Potions.
Even with his Eye of Truth, which allowed him to work with materials of a quality far lower than other Alchemists could manage, these particular bits still failed to meet his requirements.
Thus, he had to cut or pick them off.
However, these scraps weren’t useless. They could be used to brew other potions, such as the Thousand Extremes Potion.
Andre gathered the dead leaves and branches, put them in a grinder, and pulverized them into the finest powder. He then soaked the powder in water, placed it in a mixer for a thorough blend, and finally transferred the mixture to a separator.
He separated the dregs from the medicinal liquid. With the extract prepared, he could finally begin brewing the Thousand Extremes Potion.
Andre took the two remaining vials of Thousand Extremes Potion from his Storage Ring and arranged a series of empty test tubes in a rack on his table.
He poured the freshly extracted liquid into the test tubes, then added a drop of Thousand Extremes Potion to each one.
As black mist billowed up, vial after vial of Thousand Extremes Potion was created.
But that wasn’t all. Andre took out the remnants of several poisonous roots he had found in the Black and White Forest from his Storage Ring, crushed them, and added the powder to the potions.
As the powder fell into the potions, a GURGLING sound immediately erupted from the test tubes.
An acrid, coppery odor began to fill the room.
Andre stared intently at the test tubes, watching the reaction unfold without moving a muscle.
Once the reaction was complete, Andre poured the contents of all the test tubes together, stirred the mixture constantly, and then carefully refilled the individual vials.
Only then was the true Thousand Extremes Potion finally complete!
’If you want to bait me, you’d better be prepared for me to drag you down with me.’
Andre looked at the vials of Thousand Extremes Potion, a cold smile touching his lips.
As his knowledge of Pharmacy and Magic Botany deepened, he had learned to control the Thousand Extremes Potion—a concoction that was previously uncontrollable once used.
’A single dose of this potion is as toxic as a spell cast by a Poison Mage, and there’s no antidote. Unless a Great Wizard who practices the Path of Life personally intervenes, survival is impossible.’
Andre’s expression was grim as he stored the potions away. ’It’s not so easy to take advantage of me.’
’Does he really think I don’t know what he’s planning?’
Andre’s face was now as dark as a thundercloud. He hated the feeling of being plotted against.
’But for this guy to orchestrate such a farce, he must be fairly confident he can make me agree.’
’I don’t know many people in the academy, though. On what grounds does this person think I’ll agree to brew potions for him?’
It was best to prepare more defensive measures, just in case.
’It has to be someone from one of the Four Great Clans. Otherwise, knowing I have two teachers backing me, no ordinary person would dare to test me like this.’
Andre quickly ran through the possibilities in his mind. Who would dare to plot against him like this? The more he thought, the more he was convinced it could only be someone from the Four Great Clans.
This test, as foolish as it seemed, was actually highly effective.
He had been selling potions in bulk at the market, which indicated he was desperately in need of Magic Stones.
So, a huge order was logically presented to him.
If he were to accept it, the schemer would then take further steps to lure him into a trap.
For example, by having him brew potions that were strictly forbidden in the Wizard World.
They would then use that as blackmail.
This sort of thing had happened many times in the history of the Wizard World. A person would often give a modified potion name and formula to an unsuspecting Alchemist and ask them to brew it.
Only after the potion was complete would the client smugly inform the Alchemist that they had just created a substance explicitly forbidden by the Wizard World.
If this were to be exposed, not only would the Alchemist face punishment, but their entire family would suffer the Wizard World’s wrath as well.
Initially, the Wizard World didn’t pay much attention to these incidents. But after the genius Alchemists of a certain era began disappearing one after another, it finally caught their attention.
An entire generation of genius Alchemists had vanished, a loss that would determine the very future of the profession.
In response, many renowned master Alchemists posted bounties, offering priceless potions in exchange for the help of Great Wizards who practiced the Destiny Element.
The investigation revealed that some individuals were using this scheme as blackmail to control these talented Alchemists.
Some Alchemists, blinded by greed, willingly brewed these forbidden potions.
Others actively threw themselves into the challenge, eager to test their skills against such difficult concoctions.
Subsequently, these culprits faced a devastating crackdown from both the Alchemist community and the wider Wizard World. Nevertheless, such incidents still occurred from time to time in the shadows.
This time, the scheme was much the same.
’In my opponent’s eyes, I’m too young. Since coming to the academy, I haven’t gone anywhere else, so I know too little about the outside world.’
’Under these circumstances, it’s only natural they would try a test like this.’
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