Chapter 78: Potions

The heavy wooden door of the Potions public operation room closed gently behind him, sealing off the outside clamor.

The spacious room was filled with the scent of dried herbs, mineral dust, and a faint hint of old parchment.

Sunlight streamed through tall arched windows, casting beams of light onto the polished quartz worktables and illuminating the microscopic dust suspended in the air.

Gao Jie Ming took a deep breath, allowing the unique tranquility of the laboratory to settle his mind.

Before him, crucibles, retorts, condensers, beakers of various shapes, and grinding tools were arranged in orderly rows, like a silent army awaiting command.

Today's goal was to brew a "Mind-Focusing Potion" capable of briefly enhancing mental concentration, a relatively high-grade potion for an apprentice stage, though its ingredients were not particularly complex.

He walked to the material rack on the side, his gaze falling on the required items: a bundle of Glowgrass emitting a crisp, cool aroma, several fragments of Moon-Silver Ore dotted with star-like silver spots, a small vial of viscous Night-Moss extract, and several wind-dried Flameflower petals with veins resembling flame patterns.

Gao Jie Ming put on gloves as thin as cicada wings, specialized tools for Potions that not only isolated the body from erosion by various materials but also allowed his fingertips to keenly feel the "pulse" of the ingredients.

He picked up the Glowgrass, not simply cutting it, but gently placing his fingertips upon the stem.

A faint, icy sensation traveled up his fingertips.

Closing his eyes, he activated his Analysis Technique, sinking his mind into the plant as if seeing the moonlight-cool energy flowing within the leaves, along with several tiny impurity nodes carrying a turbid feel.

"Activity is acceptable, but there are slightly too many impurities in the roots."

Gao Jie Ming took a small silver knife inlaid with pure crystal.

His movements were gentle and precise, the blade tip tracing specific energy meridians.

After stripping away the parts containing impurities, he placed the processed leaves into a warm, white jade mortar.

Grinding was not about brute force; rather, the infused spiritual power carried a unique rhythm, each crush releasing the essence of the leaves perfectly without destroying their core energy structure.

Soon, the leaves transformed into a pool of emerald-green juice emitting a faint glow.

Processing the Moon-Silver Ore fragments tested one's patience.

Gao Jie Ming dropped them into a grinder whose inner walls were carved with dense runes.

Activating the internal grinding beads, accompanied by a low hum, the hard ore was decomposed under magical resonance into uniform, fine silver powder that sparkled with starlight.

Throughout the entire process, he used Alchemy to "scan" the uniformity of the powder, ensuring every grain was essentially identical.

Having resolved all preliminary preparations, he finally arrived at the core step of potion brewing.

Gao Jie Ming ignited the constant-temperature magical crucible in the center of the worktable, where blue flames burned silently at the bottom.

He slowly poured the processed Glowgrass juice into the preheated crucible; upon contacting the heat source, the liquid immediately emitted a faint "sizzle," and a cloud of cool mist rose up.

He focused his entire attention, his gaze sharp as an eagle's.

On the open book, complex formulas and ratios were clearly marked.

He picked up a crystal dropper precise to micro-graduations and carefully drew up the specified amount of Night-Moss extract.

One drop, two drops...

The viscous liquid dripped into the emerald juice but did not merge immediately; instead, like ink dropping into water, its edges diffused into a ring of glowing light that seemed to slowly writhe.

"Energy conflict has begun..." Knowledge from the book flashed through Gao Jie Ming's mind, and without hesitation, he threw the Moon-Silver powder into the crucible.

The moment the powder touched the liquid surface, it was as if a spark had been thrown in!

The liquid inside the crucible suddenly became unstable; the emerald green and the glowing light repelled each other violently, and even tiny silver electric sparks churned in the central area, emitting a low crackling sound.

A mixed odor carrying a metallic blood scent and the smell of rotting vegetation spread out.

This was the critical moment!

Gao Jie Ming decisively released his spiritual power; his Analysis Technique spread like an invisible, precise net, instantly covering the entire crucible.

His consciousness sank into it, no longer merely observing the surface boiling and color changes, but delving into the microscopic level to "perceive" how those wild energy particles collided, combined, and annihilated.

In his spiritual vision, it was as if a miniature cosmic storm was raging inside the crucible: the energy of the Glowgrass tried to soothe the agitation of the Night-Moss, while the metallic energy of the Moon-Silver acted as a catalyst, forcibly building a bridge between the two and triggering an even more violent reaction.

What he had to do was precisely grasp the timing and intensity of the Moon-Silver energy's intervention; the slightest carelessness would break the balance.

Gao Jie Ming held his breath, condensing a thread of spiritual power at his fingertips, ready at any moment to adjust the flame temperature or add neutralizing materials, his entire mind tethered to that boiling miniature universe.

The storm gradually subsided; the emerald green, glowing light, and silver radiance began to merge, forming a deep indigo liquid that seemed to contain a starry sky.

However, just as Gao Jie Ming prepared to add the final ingredient—the Flameflower petal powder—his spiritual power detected an extremely subtle energy fluctuation: a tiny crystal within the Moon-Silver powder that had not been completely ground down suddenly underwent an unexpected mutation under the sustained high temperature!

"Not good!" An alarm bell rang loudly in his heart, but his finger's movement could no longer be withdrawn.

The Flameflower petal powder, carrying scorching energy, fell into the indigo potion.

Hiss—Boom!

As if igniting explosives, the liquid in the crucible instantly turned from indigo to a blinding bright purple, expanded violently, and emitted a piercing shriek!

A foul stench of sulfur and burnt feathers erupted fiercely; Gao Jie Ming reacted with extreme speed, ducking behind a specially made protective crystal plate.

Bang!

With a dull thud, the crucible lid was blown off by the violent airflow; scalding, viscous purple waste liquid splashed all over the protective plate and crystal tabletop, sizzling and emitting foul white smoke.

A few drops of the liquid splashed onto Gao Jie Ming's arm, immediately corroding small holes in his alchemical gloves.

His face was also smeared with some gray-black soot, looking quite disheveled.

The laboratory was in a complete mess, and the pungent smell lingered for a long time.

After the dust settled, Gao Jie Ming paid no heed to cleaning himself and immediately rushed to the worktable, using special anti-corrosion tweezers to carefully collect some of the unevaporated waste residue and the strange crystals formed after the explosion.

He took out a thick experimental notebook; while carefully observing this crystal with Alchemy and his Analysis Technique, a quill pen automatically floated up and danced rapidly across the pages:

"Record of the 17th Mind-Focusing Potion Brew:

Failure Stage: Final Fusion Stage (after adding Flameflower petals).

Phenomenon: The potion instantly turned from indigo to bright purple, boiled and expanded violently, accompanied by a pungent sulfur smell and a slight explosion (energy overload-type furnace explosion).

Key Spiritual Power Observation Point: 0.3 seconds before adding the Flameflower petals, an abnormal energy spike was detected in area G7 of the Moon-Silver powder (suspected to be the core of a micro-crystal not completely crushed, stimulated by flame energy).

This spike triggered a violent chain reaction with the Blazing Sun attribute of the Flameflower petals, far exceeding the threshold designed in the formula..."