Chapter 106: Ailan

He carefully extracted this portion and placed it into a specially made small vial.

The liquid in the vial flickered with a faint light, like a trapped star.

Then, he began to process the other materials, fully immersing himself in this complex and delicate process.

Just as Luo En was fully focused on the experiment, a slight rustling sound arose, interrupting his train of thought.

He looked up and saw the Treant using its vines to spell out a few words in the air: "A guest has arrived."

Luo En was somewhat surprised; he had not expected the Treant to be able to communicate in this way.

For the past few days, it had maintained a silence almost like a sculpture, leading him to mistakenly believe it was just a simple, mindless creature.

"Thank you for the reminder." He nodded at the Treant and carefully sealed the experiment he was working on: "Help me watch over these; I will be back soon."

The Treant nodded to show it understood, retracted its vines gently, and continued to maintain that statue-like state of stillness.

But Luo En noticed a flash of understanding and obedience in its eyes, completely different from the pure emptiness that looked like a daze before.

After tidying up his clothing to ensure there were no traces of potion on him, Luo En went to the workshop's reception room.

A short, stout merchant dressed in fine clothing was standing there, holding a small basket and pacing anxiously from time to time.

"Lord Luo En!" The merchant greeted him enthusiastically the moment he saw him, waddling forward with his round belly, his face full of smiles:

"I have long heard of your workshop's great name, and I have come specifically to visit this time!"

He had been wondering who had come; it turned out to be that slave merchant from the Alien Exchange.

"So it is Mr. Merchant." Luo En nodded slightly, signaling for the other party to sit: "May I ask what brings you here?"

His tone was calm and distant, without a ripple, but his heart grew vigilant.

The other party would not visit without a reason; a sudden visit must mean he wanted something.

"Oh my, what are you saying."

The merchant laughed and placed the basket in his hand on the table, his gaze constantly scanning the room, seemingly evaluating the value of this workshop:

"I mainly came to see how that Treant is adapting here. This is a rare commodity, after all; our Blake Chamber of Commerce naturally has to provide perfect after-sales service."

He opened the basket and took out two bottles of soil that emitted a pale light.

"This is our Chamber of Commerce's specially made nutrient soil, which can help the Treant better adapt to its new environment. You only need to sprinkle a handful around its roots every week to keep it in its best state."

Luo En took the nutrient soil, checked it carefully, and confirmed there were no dangerous ingredients before accepting it.

"Thank you for your concern; the Treant is in good condition and has already integrated with the workshop's environment."

"That's good, that's good."

The merchant rubbed his hands, his eyes darting around, seemingly considering how to get to the point: "By the way, Lord Luo En, I have some good news to tell you."

"Oh? What good news?" Luo En raised an eyebrow and asked, his gaze like a torch, looking straight at the other party.

"At the beginning of next month, our firm will have a batch of new goods arriving."

The merchant lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "They are all rare races collected from various places, and among them are quite a few individuals with special bloodlines."

Luo En immediately became interested, but he quickly suppressed his expression and asked calmly: "Oh? Is that so?"

For bloodline research, samples of various alien races were undoubtedly precious resources.

Especially since he had just started to get involved in the field of bloodline modulation, various experimental materials were crucial to him.

"You might not know, but our Blake Chamber of Commerce is not just a small shop in the Black Mist Jungle."

The merchant patted his chest with a slap, looking proud, his voice carrying obvious boasting: "We are a massive organization spread across multiple regions, possessing extremely extensive channels and resources."

He leaned in closer and lowered his voice: "If you have any special needs, you can absolutely tell me in advance, and I will prioritize keeping an eye out for you."

Luo En picked up his teacup and took a slow sip, calculating in his heart.

The temperature of the tea was just right, slightly bitter at first but sweet in the aftertaste, making his thinking clearer.

If this Chamber of Commerce was truly as massive as the other party claimed, perhaps they could help him find some rare materials or bloodline samples of special races.

Especially since the bloodline activation and modulation he was currently researching required various different bloodline references.

"I do indeed have some needs."

Luo En put down the teacup, looked straight into the merchant's eyes, his tone calm and firm:

"I am currently looking for some opponents suitable for sword art training, such as Multi-armed Snake Demons or Sirens; if there are any Dragon-kin, that would be even better."

The merchant's smile stiffened noticeably, his brows furrowed slightly, and a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes.

But he quickly returned to his enthusiastic appearance, though his smile seemed somewhat forced.

"Oh my, my lord's requirements are truly high!" He gave two dry laughs, his fingers rubbing the teacup uneasily:

"These races are extremely rare on the market, especially the Multi-armed Snake Demons and Dragon-kin; their power is very close to the formal wizard layer."

He rubbed his chin, looking troubled: "With my channels... um... it is very difficult to find such high-grade goods. However, since it is Lord Luo En's request, I will definitely try my best to keep an eye out!"

Luo En could see the merchant's inner wavering—the other party clearly did not think he could find slaves that met the requirements, but he did not want to lose a potential big client.

That forced smile and evasive manner were enough to show how empty his promise was.

"It doesn't matter; I also know these requirements are relatively high." Luo En said slowly, his tone relaxing a bit:

"However, I have another need that might be easier to satisfy."

"Please speak!" The merchant's eyes lit up; he naturally wanted to try his best to facilitate every deal.

"I have been very interested in bloodline modulation recently and am looking for some juvenile embryos for research. If your Chamber of Commerce can bring some embryos that can be used for experiments next month, I will consider purchasing them in bulk."

"Embryos?" The merchant's eyes lit up immediately, and the smile at the corners of his mouth became much more sincere:

"This is much simpler! Our Chamber of Commerce regularly collects various alien embryos from various regions for trade. If purchasing in bulk, the price will naturally be more favorable."

He rubbed his hands excitedly, leaning forward, his tone carrying obvious enthusiasm:

"If purchasing in bulk, the price for each non-rare race embryo can be lowered to about fifteen magic stone fragments, at least thirty percent cheaper than buying them individually!"

"Then you can send someone to notify me directly when you have the goods next month." Luo En nodded, already having a plan in his heart.

After sending the merchant away, Luo En returned to the laboratory and found the Treant standing quietly in a corner just as he had left it, its vines swaying gently, as if silently welcoming his return.

He remembered the content he had read in the library yesterday about the habits of Treants and decided to improve the Treant's living environment according to the suggestions there.

He first loosened the soil in the workshop's small garden, allowing the Treant's root system to extend more comfortably.

He watered it again, and finally, he poured some special nutrient solution into the water.

These were all prepared according to the descriptions in the book, containing various trace elements and magic factors needed by the Treant.

"This should make you feel more comfortable."

Luo En said to the Treant, watching its vines stretch slightly in the sunlight, just like a person stretching, seemingly expressing some kind of satisfaction.

The Treant gently touched Luo En's arm with its vines, as if it were a silent thank you.

Then it used its vines to spell out a few words in the air: "Thank you, Master."

"Can you speak?" Luo En asked with some curiosity; he had never heard the Treant make any sound.

The Treant shook its head, and the vines spelled out in the air again: "Cannot speak, can only communicate like this."

"Understood." Luo En nodded, thought for a moment, and asked again: "Do you have a name? Or rather, what do you want me to call you?"

The Treant seemed to hesitate, its vines trembling slightly, as if it were thinking, and finally spelled out a word: "Ailan."

"Ailan, it sounds very gentle and suits you very well." Luo En nodded and said gently: "From today on, I will call you Ailan."

The Treant—now it should be called Ailan—nodded gently, its vines trembling slightly, seemingly expressing some kind of joy.

Just as Luo En was about to turn and leave, Ailan spelled out another line of words: "Master's experiment, can I help?"

Luo En stopped his steps and looked back at Ailan.

He knew that Treants had a special perception ability for plants and could directly feel the vitality and characteristics of plants, which was an incomparably precious ability in potion refining.

"Of course you can." He answered with a smile, his eyes carrying expectation and appreciation: "We will continue that experiment in a while. With your help, I believe it will be twice the result with half the effort."

………………

Luo En was frowning at this moment, looking at the bloodline activation potion sample on the table.

"No, that's not right... this still won't work."

That bottle of liquid presented a strange orange-red color, with some tiny golden particles floating on the surface, flickering with a faint light from time to time, very beautiful.

But beauty did not mean success; judging from the instability of the energy fluctuations, this formula still had fatal flaws.

Although there had been great progress, the preliminary principle of bloodline modulation had indeed improved the targeting.

But the most critical step—how to precisely guide the direction of bloodline activation—had still not been completely solved.

"If used like this, although the directionality of activation is much better than before, it is still not precise enough."

Luo En muttered to himself, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table, making a rhythmic sound:

"And stability is still a problem; the higher the activity, the greater the risk of distortion."

Just as he was deep in thought, Ailan's vines swayed gently, interrupting his train of thought.

A line of words appeared in the air: "An extremely noble guest has arrived; it is an elder."

Luo En immediately realized that Ailan could not only perceive the arrival of guests but could even distinguish some basic characteristics.

Such a special perception ability was how precious; the Treant's value might far exceed his initial estimate, and this investment was indeed worth the price.

"I will go to welcome them; you help me watch these experimental products."

He carefully placed the test tube back on the rack, ensuring that he would not waste the hard-prepared experimental products due to negligence, and then walked quickly toward the reception room.

Just as he opened the door, Luo En saw Ma Genusi standing outside the door, his long white beard swaying gently in the breeze.

"Master Ma Genusi!" Luo En looked at this old potion master in surprise and hurriedly saluted: "I didn't expect you to come in person; it really makes my place shine!"

He indeed did not expect this potion master with a high status in the school to visit him, a newcomer who had just become independent, in person; this treatment clearly exceeded the courtesy that an ordinary professional potion master deserved.

"Haha, young man, no need to be so restrained."

Ma Genusi waved his hand and stepped into the reception room, his voice carrying the steadiness and kindness unique to an elder: "I just came to congratulate you on your housewarming and brought a small gift by the way."

After Ma Genusi sat down, he took out a small wooden box from his bosom.

He opened the box, revealing a yellowed parchment scroll, on which complex rune borders were vaguely visible; this was a characteristic of high-grade potion formulas.

"This is a new formula for blood-qi potion, which is some of my research results from when I was young."

The old man pushed the scroll toward Luo En, a flash of cunning in his eyes:

"I heard that you are very interested in Knight training, and your friend Andre is also a pretty good Knight genius; I think this formula should be of some help to you both."

Luo En took the scroll in surprise and carefully unfolded it.

The parchment felt like it had a special texture, as if it had been treated in some way to allow it to be preserved for a long time without decaying.

This was an extremely detailed formula, recording an advanced blood-qi potion called "Sunflame Essence."

Not only could it improve physical fitness, but it could also enhance the flow of yang energy in the body, making it especially suitable for those who practiced yang-attribute breathing methods.

"This... is too precious." Luo En said sincerely, feeling somewhat surprised in his heart.

He knew that private research results like this were usually secrets that alchemists regarded as treasures, not easily shared with outsiders: "I don't know how to thank you."

"No need to be so polite." Magnus took a sip of tea and nodded at him:

"The talent you displayed during the certification exam left a deep impression on me. Besides, knowledge only creates value when it is spread; we old fellows must always provide some help to the new generation."

"Furthermore," the old man continued, his voice carrying a trace of nostalgia: "I was also guided by others when I was young; now, I am simply passing on this concept of mutual aid..."

Luo En understood what the other party meant; this was the significance of the "grace" rule, preventing the Wizard World from evolving into a dark forest...

(End of chapter)