Chapter 428: Advancement is imminent

"Where is the difficulty?" Gao De raised his eyebrows and subconsciously answered: "One is magic-infusion; before concocting a potion, you need to release the medicinal properties of the raw materials, and through precise control, make them more consistent with the needs of the potion.

The other is concoction, letting the medicinal properties of multiple materials mixed together change according to the final required form..."

Halfway through, he stopped abruptly.

The difficulty of the first step of these two steps is that one raw material possesses multiple medicinal properties.

And concocting a potion often only requires one of them; you need to accurately distinguish the medicinal property you need and "charge" it.

For example, snake-tooth grass, as the lowest-grade material, possesses seven or eight medicinal properties, while concocting a primary spider-venom potion only requires one medicinal property belonging to "poison."

And those high-grade materials possess hundreds or even thousands of medicinal properties; requiring extremely high demands on the potionist to accurately distinguish and infuse them with magic.

The second concoction step requires the potionist to observe the changes in medicinal properties while condensing mental strength, understanding the state of the potion at this time, and what is still missing from the finished product.

On the other hand, it also requires the potionist to have an absolute understanding of the properties of the materials, knowing how much material should be added under the current situation to just make up for the missing medicinal properties, pushing the medicinal properties to change toward the finished product.

Is it difficult?

Absolutely difficult.

But it seems that for Flora, it might not be that difficult.

Because she possesses some kind of innate talent.

"Just like this, like this, then like that, like that, and it's done?" Flora continued to ask.

Gao De nodded slightly.

"So, Lady Flora can distinguish all the medicinal properties in the raw materials and can accurately perceive the state of the semi-finished product, needing to add how much dosage of raw materials to supplement, right?" He already had the answer in his heart, but still confirmed it again.

"Isn't that very simple?" Flora looked up at him.

"It is only simple for Lady Flora; for others, it is not so." Gao De sighed.

Where can one reason about talent?

He knew Flora wasn't being humble; she really didn't understand where the difficulty lay.

Just like for a fish, swimming is very simple; they can't understand why there are landlubbers.

Not just animals, even humans, after learning a skill, often find it hard to imagine the feeling of not understanding this skill; the most typical example is riding a bicycle.

"Why?"

"Because Lady Flora is exceptionally smart."

Gao De looked at Flora and revealed a gentle smile.

But for some reason, facing Gao De's smile, Flora felt a "chill" behind her back; it seemed something bad was about to happen.

"If I give Lady Flora a bottle of potion and many raw materials, does Lady Flora have a way to judge what kind of raw materials are needed and how much dosage needs to be added to concoct this final potion?"

Gao De thought for a while, but couldn't help it, and asked right away.

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Because Lady Flora hasn't tried it yet."

"Rigorous... then try it next time."

"Fine."

Seeing that the little person had no intention of answering his question and was stretching her neck to look in the direction the crowd was moving, Gao De temporarily skipped this topic.

After all, he brought Flora here to play; talk less about work and more about the heart.

He gently brushed aside the colorful ribbons raised in the crowd, took Flora away from the noise here, and walked toward the center of the market.

The crowd was getting more and more restless.

At the corner, three street performers wearing shell-decorated short clothes were dancing around a copper hand drum, and the melody blown by the flute jumped like waves.

Several little girls with seaweed braids held seahorse sugar paintings drawn with frosting, jumping to the rhythm, and the conch bells tied to their hair tips jingled.

A mouth-watering aroma floated in the air.

On the iron rack at the corner, fried fish balls wrapped in crispy shells were tossing in hot oil, making an attractive sizzling sound.

At a stall not far away, a woman wearing a starfish apron was pressing cookies into shell shapes with a mold, sprinkling them with colorful sugar powder ground from edible petals.

"If Lady Flora wants anything, wants to eat anything, just tell me." Gao De turned slightly, avoiding the lavender wreath floating toward him, and whispered to Flora.

"What is that?" Suddenly, Flora said, her eyes looking in one direction.

Gao De also looked over following her sparkling gaze.

A stall built with driftwood was surrounded by people; the paper lanterns hanging on the hemp rope were printed with patterns of swimming fish, and several strings of dried seaweed hung above the stall, swaying gently with the sea breeze.

It was a stall making ship models.

People bought some simple thin wood materials from the stall owner, and then under the guidance of the stall owner and adults, spliced and made simple ship models, then wrote their wishes on the small boat, and then put the ship model into the river.

Somewhat similar to the flower lanterns in his past life.

"Let's go over and see."

Gao De took Flora over and found that in addition to providing raw materials, there were quite a few uniquely shaped ship models that had already been made.

"Magic user!" Flora looked left and right, scanning back and forth on those ship models, finally staring at one of the ship models and couldn't move her eyes away, pointing at that ship model, and then looking back at Gao De.

It was a ship model made of light brown wood, with a surface polished extremely smooth.

The ship's side was also wrapped with lifelike vines, and between the vines were dotted with various flowers, carefully designed to look like they were intertwined and clustered together.

The sails were made of light green fabric, and a tassel made of dried lavender flowers hung under the stern.

Gao De naturally understood.

"Stall owner, how much is this ship model?" He stepped forward and asked.

The stall owner was an old craftsman; he looked up at Gao De, then at Flora on Gao De's shoulder, and immediately knew the other party was a magic user, his expression straightened, "Magic user, good eye, the making of this ship model took me a full day, just..."

He paused, hesitated, and still told the truth: "These ship models are only given away, not sold."

"Oh? How do you give them away?" Gao De raised his eyebrows.

Seeing that Gao De didn't show any displeasure, he also breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly explained: "Guessing riddles; you only need to guess three in a row correctly, and you can choose one from these ship models."

"Guessing riddles is free, each riddle is related to the ocean; in addition, I can give some small hints, but there is only one chance; also, if you don't guess three questions correctly, you need to buy a set of ship model components from me... Magic user, what do you think?"

"That's interesting," Gao De smiled and said: "Please state the questions."

Seeing someone wanting to guess riddles, the attention of the surrounding people was immediately attracted, and they gathered around to watch the fun.

The old craftsman thought for a while and said: "The first riddle... Born without father or mother, but wears flowery clothes, swimming in groups in the sea, teeth like steel knives."

The surrounding onlookers, hearing the question, also subconsciously substituted it and began to think about the answer.

The first riddle was an appetizer, so it wasn't difficult.

Gao De didn't even need to think carefully, and the answer had already come out.

"Shark."

"Magic user, good reaction." The old craftsman praised.

Flora's mouth corners lifted.

Among the onlookers, some also showed smiles, obviously guessing the answer correctly in their hearts.

"Magic user, continue?"

"Continue." Gao De nodded.

"Magic user, please listen to the second riddle: A thing born strange, naturally afraid of the sun, not hard when not exposed to the sun, tears flow when exposed to the sun." The craftsman smiled and said again.

This riddle was somewhat difficult compared to the first one.

The onlookers all showed thoughtful expressions, and some began to frown.

Gao De revealed a smile.

If there was no limited scope, this riddle would still be somewhat difficult, but knowing the answer was limited to being related to the ocean, it was actually not difficult to guess.

"Seaweed."

"Magic user is indeed knowledgeable and quick-witted; I think the third riddle won't stump you either." The old craftsman smiled, naturally and unobtrusively flattering Gao De.

For him, he actually hoped that Gao De could answer the three questions so he could smoothly give away this ship model.

"Please state the question."

The old craftsman thought for a while and began to recite: "Has a head but no neck, body is cold as ice, has wings but cannot fly, can walk without feet."

People who heard the question subconsciously began to think about the answer.

Gao De heard the first sentence and knew the answer.

But he didn't answer immediately, but turned his head to look at Flora, whose eyes were sparkling.

"Hmm?" Flora was puzzled.

"This is the ship model Lady Flora wants; Lady Flora should also contribute her own wisdom, don't you think, Lady Flora?" Gao De induced.

"Maybe... is it?" Flora was silent for a while before muttering in a low voice.

"Then this question will be answered by Lady Flora?" Gao De looked at Flora.

Flora widened her eyes, and after a long time, she whispered: "Didn't understand."

"Lady Flora can ask the stall owner for help; there is one hint chance, oh." Gao De reminded.

Hearing this, the little person's eyes lit up and she looked at the old craftsman.

The old craftsman smiled again and reminded: "Although it has no feet, it has many hands, oh."

Flora looked up at Gao De.

"Do you need to remind Lady Flora again?"

"Remind me!"

"It has eight hands, oh."

"Eight hands?"

"... It can also spray black juice."

"Black juice." Flora continued to look at Gao De, her eyes clear.

With such hints, the people around had already guessed the answer, and at this time, they were smiling and watching the interesting scene in front of them.

Gao De was also a bit helpless.

"Generally, this black juice is called ink." He continued.

"Ink..." Flora's eyes finally changed.

"It's an octopus!"

"Stall owner, did my Lady Flora answer correctly?" Gao De looked up and asked the old craftsman.

"Naturally, it is correct." The old craftsman...

"Only needing a slight hint, Lady Flora could guess the answer; she is indeed exceptionally smart!" Gao De applauded.

"Indeed, this riddle is not simple; being able to answer it is remarkable." The old craftsman added.

"Really?"

"Really."

Flora revealed a satisfied smile.

The old craftsman looked up and smiled at Gao De.

Subsequently, he handed the ship model Flora had chosen to Gao De with both hands.

—Although it was a ship model, it was a giant to Flora, so only Gao De could take it.

"This is a ship model won by Lady Flora's own intelligence." Gao De sighed.

"Yes."

"Then does Lady Flora still want to let it go?"

"Do I want to?" Flora was a bit hesitant.

"I think you should; it's because it was won by Lady Flora's own intelligence that it is more meaningful, and the wishes written on it will definitely come true."

"Right." The little person nodded repeatedly.

Gao De borrowed a pen from the stall owner.

"What wish does Lady Flora want to write?" He asked softly.

Flora looked at the dots of ship shadows floating on the river, her eyes shining like they were filled with stars.

"Lady Flora wants Phoenix to be as lively as this one day."

Gao De looked down at Flora's serious face, and a softness couldn't help but well up in his heart.

He nodded, wrote the four characters "Great Prosperity in the Northwest" on the side of the ship, thought for a while, and signed the name Flora underneath.

"If Lady Flora could write it herself, it would be even more meaningful," Gao De returned the pen to the stall owner and added: "Lady Flora only needs to spend some time learning to write, and you can write it yourself."

"But I think Lady Flora must have thought about this herself, it's just that work is too busy, there is no time, and when you are a little freer later, you will definitely find time to learn to write."

"Is that what Lady Flora thinks?" The little person was a bit hesitant and confused.

"Yes, smart as Lady Flora, you must be thinking this."

"Yes!"

In the back and forth, Gao De had already squatted down and placed the ship model by the river.

At this time, the river surface had already become a floating galaxy, with countless ship models glowing with candlelight carrying wishes flowing downstream.

He let Flora place her fingers on the edge of the ship model, and the two let go together.

The ship model floated slowly downstream with the river.

The vines hanging from the ship touched the ripples on the river surface gently.

"Where will it float to?" Flora widened her eyes and looked into the distance, as if wanting to see the end.

"All wishes will eventually float to the distance that belongs to them." Gao De answered.

As the festival activities drew to a close, Flora was still a bit unfulfilled, but the crowd had already begun to disperse.

Gao De also took her back to the Walmart magical material shop.

Going to the second floor, the luggage had already been packed; Gao De carried it on his back and silently activated "Astral Teleportation."

The temperature dropped sharply.

The air became cold and fresh.

The familiar scent of the northern realm rushed toward him.

As always, the first thing Gao De did upon returning to the northern realm was to check the status of Yujia Te Xila.

【Yujia Te Xila】

Rank: Second-Rank Magical Plant (171/5568 months)

Growth Gain Coefficient: 4.04

Astral Teleportation: 0 (29/45 days)

Enlightenment: 0/0

Lifespan: (1/16704 years)

Opening Domain (Transforming Land): 85 mu

Height: 22 feet

Land Magic Concentration: 50-77 (Basic Spirit Land)

The Holy Tree was still in a period of high-speed and stable growth.

It would take another sixteen days for the next Astral Teleportation charge to be completed.

In other words, this time Gao De would stay in the northern realm for at least sixteen days.

In fact, in his own expectation, the time he stayed in the northern realm this time might actually be more than sixteen days.

Because there were many things to do upon returning to the northern realm this time.

Firstly, the gains he brought back to the northern realm this time far exceeded any previous time and needed time to digest.

Secondly, Gao De was preparing to complete his Second Circle advancement in the northern realm!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 429 =====