Promotion

Back in his dormitory, Chen Chuan's emotions had yet to settle.

He composed himself and sat cross-legged on the floor. He took out Alex's handbook and the parchment, along with the thirty sets of materials he had bought for nearly fifteen elementary magic stones—ten sets for each of the three elementary potions in the notes.

The runes on the parchment flickered in and out of sight in the dim dormitory, glowing faintly as though alive.

Chen Chuan traced the runes with his fingertips and felt a strange warmth flow into his body.

He carefully put the parchment away close to his body, then took out the leather-bound formula booklet and leafed through it by the moonlight outside the window.

The ink on the pages was clear, and the written runes seemed to flutter across them like butterflies, giving them an indescribably graceful quality.

The precise proportions in the potion formulas held Chen Chuan spellbound.

He noticed that each formula included notes on crucial steps and common causes of failure. These details were practical experience that could not be found in books.

"Mr. Alex really is no ordinary man, it seems," Chen Chuan murmured, his eyes shining with a thirst for knowledge.

He closed the booklet and decided to try making a recovery potion first. It was the most basic of the three.

He took the materials out of his storage bag. He had bought them according to the formulas when he left the potion hut. Chen Chuan began working in an orderly manner.

December.

The apothecary assessment was tomorrow. Chen Chuan opened the door to find that heavy snow had buried the villa's garden.

After making potions day and night over this period, Chen Chuan had successfully made good-quality potions from all three formulas—recovery, purification, and protection—and occasionally produced excellent-quality potions as well.

He had not sold the excellent-quality potions, however. He was saving them for self-defense. After all, he had accumulated nearly 500 elementary magic stones during this time and was not that short of money for now.

Once he passed the elementary apothecary assessment and exchanged for the concentration potion formula, he would devote all his energy to increasing his spiritual power.

Elementary Potionology had reached level 3.

His spirit attribute was steadily increasing.

Crimson System · Host [Chen Chuan]

Class: Life Wizard

Physique: 8.7+

Agility: 8.6+

Spirit: 32.5+

Skills: Tree of Life Meditation Method Lv.3 (251/300)+

Elementary Potionology Lv.3 (3/300) Expandable+

Talents/Active: Light of Wisdom, Seed of Life.

Source of Magic Power: 550

Chen Chuan did not continue making potions today. The past month and a half had left his head spinning.

He needed to go to the academy's academic affairs center to update his spiritual power level.

Today, he would advance to Third-Class Wizard Apprentice.

After all, advancing from a gray-robed reserve apprentice to a black-robed Third-Class Wizard Apprentice in under three months was a respectable achievement.

But it was not enough to attract attention.

Chen Chuan's goal had always been clear: accumulate wealth through potions, then use that wealth to obtain potions or items that could increase his spiritual power.

He would advance directly to Second-Class Wizard Apprentice. By then, he could accept academy missions, whether potion-related or combat-related, and he was capable of handling either.

For him, learning combat spells was remarkably easy.

Ever heard of analyzing all things?

A thick carpet covered the corridor of the academic affairs center, muffling every footstep.

Chen Chuan pushed open the heavy wooden door, and warmth washed over him.

At the registration desk for advancement to third-class wizard, the blue-robed wizard in charge looked up at him and asked routinely, "Here to update your spiritual power level?"

"Yes." Chen Chuan handed over his apprentice badge.

The blue-robed wizard took the badge, placed a crystal ball on the desk, and motioned for Chen Chuan to put his palm against it.

When Chen Chuan's spiritual power touched the crystal ball, a pale green halo appeared inside. As the number slowly climbed to 25, Chen Chuan pretended to struggle to maintain his spiritual power.

The blue-robed wizard raised an eyebrow slightly. "Good talent. Junior, judging by your condition, you must be a new student, right? You've grasped a meditation method in less than three months, and your spiritual power has reached 25, above the threshold for a third-class wizard."

"Now relax your mind and resonate with your Seed of Life. I just need to sense it."

"Once you pass this step, you can advance to Third-Class Wizard Apprentice."

Chen Chuan nodded and directly resonated with the Seed of Life inside him. The blue-robed wizard sensed it, and a vast surge of vitality poured out of Chen Chuan, giving him a slight start. This Seed of Life was certainly not an inferior one obtained through an ordinary exchange.

Considering Chen Chuan's talent as well, he was surely a new student backed by an important figure in the academy.

The blue-robed wizard immediately put on a broad smile and said sincerely, "Your vitality is immense. It seems your Seed of Life is extraordinary."

He recorded the data on parchment and stamped it with the academy's seal. "Congratulations on advancing to Third-Class Wizard Apprentice. Starting tomorrow, your library access will be upgraded, and you can accept a small number of academy missions. Combat missions can only be unlocked at second-class wizard."

"And take these two things." The green-robed second-class wizard deftly took a black wizard robe and a badge from a drawer.

Chen Chuan accepted the black robe and badge. "Thank you, Senior."

"You're welcome. Your name is Chen Chuan, right, Junior? I'm Carter, a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice working part-time here. If you ever need help, you can come straight here and find me."

"This third-class black wizard robe comes with an elementary spell, Purification Spell, which can be used once a day. This Third-Class Wizard Apprentice badge has a magic power recovery array that provides a slight magic power recovery effect."

Chen Chuan was a little surprised. As expected of Wizard Apprentice-grade items, they both had enchantments.

"Thank you for telling me, Senior." Chen Chuan nodded, his expression making him seem very earnest.

Carter nodded too, a smile spread across his face.

By the time Chen Chuan turned to leave, he had put his gray robe and old badge into his ring and changed into the black robe.

The corridor outside the academic affairs center was much colder than the room. Chen Chuan pinned his newly acquired black-robe badge to his chest, its deep black lines gleaming faintly in the light.

He quickened his pace toward the dormitory, turning over the details of tomorrow's assessment in his mind.

The cold wind outside the academic affairs center was like a blade, cutting painfully into his face.

Chen Chuan pulled his outer robe tight, hiding the deep black lines of his black-robe badge deep inside his collar.

Snow blanketed both sides of the road. Groups of two or three gray-robed Wizard Apprentices passed by, occasionally nodding in greeting when they saw his black robe and deep black badge.

"Tomorrow's assessment..." Chen Chuan murmured, his fingers tapping unconsciously against the storage bag at his waist.

The concentration potion formula and the research assistant position were enough to change his circumstances at the Wizard Academy.

In particular, his intuition told him that the "new potion" Alex had mentioned concealed a tremendous opportunity.

A bell rang in the distance, reminding the apprentices to return to their dormitories for a meal.

Chen Chuan took a deep breath and decided to return to his dormitory early to organize the materials needed for tomorrow's assessment.

As he passed through the Life Academy area, he noticed that several fluorescent vines were unusually active, constantly extending tendrils in his direction.

"Strange..." Chen Chuan stopped and held out his hand. A vine gently wound around his fingertip, transmitting a faint fluctuation of information.

This was not an ordinary plant response. It was more like a... warning?

Chen Chuan frowned and withdrew his hand. The vine quickly retreated into the wall. He looked around, and a figure seemed to flash past at the end of the corridor.

He did not linger, quickening his pace, but the doubts in his mind clung to him like vines.

Tomorrow's assessment concerned more than his apothecary qualification. Perhaps it also concealed some unknown test.

Back in his dormitory, Chen Chuan took out the formula booklet and the bags of materials, carefully checking each ingredient in the moonlight.

The veins on the violet leaves for the recovery potion were clearly visible, the silvermoon grass for the purification potion shimmered faintly in the light, and the iron thorn spikes for the protection potion were as sharp as needles.

He had prepared ten sets of each of the three ingredients, enough to deal with unexpected situations during the assessment.

He sat cross-legged on the bed and lightly touched the badge on his chest, sensing the faint magic power fluctuations coming from its deep black lines.

Advancing to Third-Class Apprentice was not merely a change in status; it was also the first step toward the heart of the academy.