Chapter 49: Rank-Advancement Potion

"What are these pages?"

Gao De thought to himself as he picked up the small stack of yellowed pages placed under the potion recipes.

His interest had become incomparably high due to the huge harvest.

The spell formulas and potion recipes were all here.

He really couldn't think of what other pages would be worth Master Seda placing them so solemnly in a spell wooden box protected by a secret lock.

Gao De flipped through a few pages casually, scanned them briefly, and couldn't help but be stunned.

It was actually a stack of letters.

Most of them were letters from Bremen City.

Among them was one in Master Seda's handwriting, which should have been a letter he had written and prepared to send somewhere, but he died at Gao De's hands before he could send it.

In Gao De's understanding, Master Seda was an evil mage with no relatives and a solitary personality; it was precisely because of this that he dared to take over the medicinal garden with peace of mind.

How could such a person have so many letters? Who were the letters sent to? He felt some worry in his heart.

Could it be that Master Seda had some mage friends?

If that were true, perhaps this person would find it abnormal that Master Seda had suddenly stopped communicating and would come knocking.

He did not have the confidence to kill another veteran mage apprentice.

Gao De felt a bit uneasy, and at the same time, his curiosity was piqued, so he hurriedly browsed through the small stack of letters in detail.

After finishing, Gao De let out a long sigh of relief.

They were not letters to friends, but should be called family letters.

"So you weren't a loner after all."

Gao De couldn't help but sigh.

This small stack of letters was all sent by Master Seda's wife, who was far away in Bremen City.

Since ten years ago, Master Seda's wife would send a letter every six months or so.

It lasted for ten full years, totaling twenty letters.

From the content of these twenty letters, Gao De roughly pieced together Master Seda's past.

It turned out that Master Seda was born into a mage family in Bremen City and could barely be considered a second-generation mage.

His family had once been prosperous for a time.

At its most powerful, the family had a Second-Circle Mage and nearly ten First-Circle Mages, which could be considered a not-insignificant mage force in Bremen City.

However, after many generations of inheritance, his family began to decline, and in the last four generations, not a single First-Circle Mage had been produced, thus gradually heading toward decay.

By the time of Master Seda's generation, the once-large family was left with only him as the sole male heir.

And his mage talent was truly average.

Relying on some wealth left by the family and consuming many magic potions, he only barely reached the Third-Rank Apprentice realm at the age of thirty-five, with almost no hope of becoming a First-Circle Mage.

Originally, Master Seda had resigned himself to his fate.

Although he had no talent for cultivation, he unexpectedly had some small achievements in the field of potionology and successfully mastered the potion recipes obtained when the family was prosperous.

Relying on this for a living, although life was not as good as when the family was prosperous, it was still passable; at least he didn't have to worry about food and drink in Bremen City.

However, for some reason, a rumor began to circulate in a small circle that Master Seda's ancestors had passed down several precious supernatural items.

An innocent man is innocent, but his treasure makes him guilty.

Master Seda noticed some inexplicable peepers appearing near his home and also heard this rumor.

Although his aptitude was poor, having lived to this age, he was quite shrewd and keenly sensed that there must be a black hand pushing this matter behind the scenes.

Forced by circumstances, Master Seda had to take the risk and attempt "Rank Advancement" without any certainty or preparation.

What is "Rank Advancement"? It is the process of a mage apprentice promoting to a First-Circle Mage.

A more colloquial translation would be "Foundation Establishment."

Only by promoting to a First-Circle Mage could he possibly scare away these ill-intentioned peepers and deter the black hand behind them.

The result was that the promotion failed, as expected.

Master Seda was also severely injured by the failed promotion, his lifespan was sharply reduced, and he showed signs of premature aging. The peepers were already restless, and his failed promotion and extreme weakness only emboldened the villains who were secretly coveting his family property.

Master Seda also understood this principle.

Helpless, he had to explain everything to his wife, then leave his hometown, flee, and quietly come to Hogen City to live in seclusion.

However, when he was fleeing, to avoid being discovered by others, Master Seda had to leave his wife and children in Bremen City and flee alone.

And to ensure he wouldn't be tracked, Master Seda did not contact his wife for three full years.

It wasn't until three years had passed, and the black hand hiding in the dark had presumably lost patience and must have concluded that he had fled with his family property, abandoning his wife and children, and would no longer pay too much attention to his wife, that Master Seda re-established contact with his wife according to the method they had agreed upon when they parted.

Master Seda was forced to live in seclusion in Hogen City, separated from his wife and children, and was already full of frustration.

Not to mention that the failed promotion to First-Circle Mage caused his lifespan to decline, and his vitality was fading day by day.

To reunite with his family, return to Bremen City openly, and also to increase his lifespan and avoid dying of premature aging, Master Seda had to attempt "Rank Advancement" again to promote to a First-Circle Mage.

But how difficult was it for Master Seda, with his mediocre aptitude, to promote to a First-Circle Mage?

Especially since he had already failed once and damaged his foundation, it was even more difficult to advance his rank.

Unless he consumed a Rank-Advancement Potion, perhaps there would be a glimmer of hope.

What is a Rank-Advancement Potion?

If "Rank Advancement" is "Foundation Establishment," then a "Rank-Advancement Potion" is actually equivalent to a "Foundation Establishment Pill."

The problem is:

The preciousness of a "Rank-Advancement Potion" is the same as a "Foundation Establishment Pill."

The common Rank-Advancement Potion in the Saint Xi En Principality is called "Spirit-Ascension Water."

And because one of the main ingredients for "Spirit-Ascension Water" is produced in very small quantities, the total amount of "Spirit-Ascension Water" produced in the entire country each year is also very small.

The "Spirit-Ascension Water" produced each year must first go through a round of internal digestion before a small amount flows into the market; it was simply not something Master Seda could buy.

Fortunately, his ancestors left behind a remnant recipe for Psychic Potion.

It is said that this is an ancient potion from the ancient Luo Yasi Dynasty.

This gave Master Seda hope.

As long as he could complete the Psychic Potion recipe and successfully prepare the Psychic Potion, he could use the Psychic Potion recipe to exchange for "Spirit-Ascension Water." No matter how precious and rare "Spirit-Ascension Water" is, it is definitely not as valuable as a Rank 1 potion recipe.

After drinking "Spirit-Ascension Water," he would attempt "Rank Advancement" again. If he could successfully promote to a First-Circle Mage, the lifespan problem would be solved, and he could return to Bremen City openly and reunite with his family.

Holding onto this thought, Master Seda began to devote himself to completing the "Psychic Potion" recipe regardless of everything else, almost becoming obsessed.

And ever since re-establishing contact with his wife, every year, Master Seda would entrust a caravan to send a letter to his wife far away in Bremen City to inform her of his situation that year.

Although Master Seda still had some property in Bremen City that he couldn't take away when he left, he left it to his wife.

His wife could earn enough for daily life by renting out these properties.

But as a husband and father, Master Seda was always worried that his wife and children were not eating well or dressing warmly, so every year when he sent a letter, he would also attach 50 gold coins.

This was also the origin of the 50 Saint Xi En gold coins Gao De seized from the wooden box.

"My dearest Misu, I know it hasn't been easy for you to manage the household alone and raise Xie Er all these years; your resilience and wisdom have always been my greatest pride."

"Please continue to manage the property according to our plan and arrange the household expenses properly."

"As in previous years, I have arranged to attach 50 Saint Xi En gold coins to arrive with this letter, hoping it will be enough to support the family and slightly make up for my feelings of indebtedness."

"Living in seclusion until now, the preparation of the Psychic Potion is finally infinitely close to success."

"If all goes well, perhaps I can go home this year, reunite with you, and return to your warm embrace; we will never be separated again."

"When I left, Xie Er was only a month old and couldn't call me father yet; now he is thirteen years old and has become a little adult. He must have inherited your beauty and my wisdom."

"Hearing from your letter that Xie Er's mage talent is far superior to mine makes me incomparably happy. When I return home, we will send Xie Er to the Mage Academy to study, and everything will get better."

"In these days of separation, although we cannot see each other, our hearts are tightly connected, just like the two wisteria vines in front of our window, whose roots are forever intertwined."

"Eternal love."

"Seda."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 50 =====