The Terrifying Success Rate

The next morning.

Roland, who had slept for over ten hours, woke to the sounds of the guards outside changing shifts on the city wall.

"Phew." Roland let out a heavy breath, stretched lazily, and felt completely refreshed.

A night of deep sleep had successfully restored Roland's Mental Power to its former level.

After washing up, Roland wasted no time and headed back into the basement.

Today, he did not begin meditating first. With yesterday's experience, Roland had completely abandoned the idea of cultivating honestly.

An increase of 0.003 points of Mental Power and Mana per day? More than a year to advance to a Level 5 Mage? Roland had been willing to endure that before.

But after discovering yesterday that the Chip possessed such powerful assistance in potion brewing, Roland immediately changed his plans.

Such a high potion-brewing success rate meant that, starting today, Roland would never lack support potions for meditation again.

With potions to help him, who would foolishly keep crawling forward at a snail's pace?

So, after arriving in the basement, Roland went straight to the table and began preparing the ingredients for today's potion brewing.

Because the materials for brewing Tier 1 Potions had been used up yesterday, Roland went straight for Tier 2 Potions today.

Although the difficulty had increased somewhat, Roland remained full of confidence with the Chip's help.

Compared to the Tier 1 Fire Element Resonance Potion, Tier 2 and Tier 3 Potions did not require additional ingredients. The only difference was that the Fire Flower and Seven Star Grass had to be six months and one year old, respectively.

A set of materials for brewing a Tier 2 or Tier 3 Potion cost roughly sixteen and thirty-six silver coins, respectively.

The selling price was still five times the cost. Successfully brewing a bottle would earn about eight or eighteen gold coins, with little variation.

This showed just how enormous the profits in potionology were. Tier 1 through Tier 3 Potions were merely beginner potions, yet their profits were still measured in gold coins.

In other words, as long as Roland brewed one Tier 3 Potion, he could earn back the rent he had paid just yesterday.

No wonder so many Mages continued flocking to study potionology despite its absurdly difficult brewing process.

But for Roland now, this was nothing but good news. The greater the value of the potions, the happier he was.

Roland then adjusted his mindset and slowly poured his Mental Power into the Chip, preparing to begin today's potion-brewing experiment.

"Nuwa, begin recording the Tier 2 Fire Element Resonance Potion."

"Understood, Master."

"Remember to help me inject Mental Power later."

"Understood, Master."

The obedient and sensible Nuwa satisfied Roland greatly. After taking a breath, he immediately began brewing the potion.

After yesterday's brewing, Roland's movements had clearly become increasingly practiced and precise.

Even though six-month-old Fire Flower and Seven Star Grass contained more magic power, Roland was still able to complete the purification and extraction work relatively smoothly.

Next, a steady and pure stream of Mental Power slowly entered the Crystal Vial in Roland's hand under the Chip's control, further refining and fusing the ingredients.

With the Chip's help, Roland had gone from being the main force in potion brewing to merely assisting.

Carried along by the Chip, in less than twenty minutes, a bottle of Tier 2 Fire Element Resonance Potion successfully appeared in Roland's hand.

Profit: +6.4 gold coins.

"Awesome. This is incredible." Roland stared excitedly at the crimson Crystal Vial in his hand, utterly satisfied.

At this time yesterday, Roland had failed three times in a row while brewing Tier 1 Fire Element Resonance Potions.

But today, on his first attempt—and with a more difficult Tier 2 Potion at that—he had succeeded in one go.

This showed just how immense the Chip's effect was. It had practically turned Roland from a worthless scrub into an unrivaled master in an instant.

"Congratulations, Master, on successfully brewing the potion." Perhaps sensing Roland's happiness, Nuwa offered her congratulations.

"Haha, it's all thanks to you. You deserve a great deal of the credit."

"Master is extraordinarily talented. Even without me, this certainly would not have troubled you."

"No, no. Without you, I could never have reached this point."

"Master is far too humble. Your talent is so exceptional, yet you remain so modest and low-key. You are truly a role model among your peers."

Under Nuwa's flattery, Roland's expression brightened and his heart swelled with delight. But just as he was about to modestly demur again, he suddenly froze.

"Nuwa, why do I feel like you're humoring a child?" Roland asked suspiciously.

"Am I?"

"You are. I'm not stupid."

"Master, you are overthinking it." Although Nuwa's voice remained mechanically cold, Roland keenly detected a trace of teasing in it.

Faced with the increasingly intelligent Nuwa Chip, Roland shook his head helplessly.

As long as the Nuwa Chip continued obeying the foundational laws engraved into her deepest core when she had been manufactured, she would never threaten Roland.

However, Roland did not know whether the transformed Nuwa could still abide by the law forbidding her from harming humans under any circumstances.

But Roland knew that he could not lose Nuwa now. Without her, he could never possess such a high potion-brewing success rate.

Without potions to build up his foundation, how could Roland possibly carve out a territory in the crisis-ridden Sea of Ten Thousand Islands three months from now?

As if sensing the concern that had suddenly risen within Roland, Nuwa spoke again. "Master, Nuwa will never harm you."

"Serving you is my greatest duty."

Roland was silent for a long time before he slowly replied in a grave voice, "I believe you."

Yes. If Roland could not even trust Nuwa, who had accompanied him to this other world, then who else could he trust?

Having thought it through, Roland's concerns immediately vanished, and his attention returned to the potions.

"Nuwa, how much Mental Power did that potion brewing consume?"

"Brewing the Tier 2 Fire Element Resonance Potion just now consumed a total of 0.8 points of Mental Power."

Roland nodded lightly. It was about 0.2 points more Mental Power than brewing a Tier 1 Potion before. The consumption was not too great.

"Nuwa, begin recording the brewing process for the Tier 3 Fire Element Resonance Potion."

"Understood, Master."

While his hands were still warm, Roland did not stop. He took out another set of materials for brewing a Tier 3 Potion.

The difficulty of brewing a Tier 3 Potion had undoubtedly increased once more.

One-year-old Fire Flower and Seven Star Grass contained five times as much magic power as the Tier 1 ingredients.

Therefore, while carrying out the initial purification and extraction work, Roland failed to properly control the temperature of the Magic Flame and directly wasted one Fire Flower.

Faced with this minor setback, Roland did not become discouraged in the slightest.

He took out another Fire Flower and placed it into the Magic Flame.

This time, everything went very smoothly. Roland was not affected by his previous failure at all and easily purified the Fire Flower into liquid.

However, another problem arose when fusing the Fire Flower with the Tier 3 Elemental Water. Because Roland's movement was delayed by the slightest amount, the fire-elemental particles immediately became violent.

Even though the Chip used Mental Power to soothe the raging fire elements, it still could not avert failure in the end.

After losing another portion of Tier 3 Elemental Water and another one-year-old Fire Flower, Roland could not help pausing his movements.

He repeatedly reviewed the failure process the Chip had just recorded, then carefully went over the successful experiences left behind by the previous owner of this body.

After adjusting his mindset, Roland immediately threw himself back into potion brewing.

This time, Roland became even more cautious and careful, completing every step perfectly according to the movements in his memories.

Purification and extraction.

Fusion and refinement.

Until, finally, success.

A bottle of Tier 3 Fire Element Resonance Potion successfully appeared before Roland's eyes.

"Phew." Only then did Roland let out a light breath, completely relaxing at last.

"Nuwa, why didn't you praise me this time?"

"???" Nuwa.

Faced with Nuwa's silence, an awkward smile appeared on Roland's lips, and he hurriedly changed the subject.

"Nuwa, how much Mental Power did brewing this Tier 3 Potion consume?"

"Brewing the Tier 3 Fire Element Resonance Potion this time consumed one point of Mental Power."

"One point of Mental Power... That means that, excluding the Mental Power needed for meditation, I can brew three bottles a day. At roughly fourteen gold coins per bottle, I can earn forty-two gold coins a day."

"That's 4,200 gold coins a month? 4.2 million gold coins a year?"

As soon as he said those numbers, Roland visibly became even more excited.

"Master, this continent appears to still have thirty days in a month and 360 days in a year. If you earn forty-two gold coins a day, your monthly income will be 1,260 gold coins, and your yearly income will be gold coins." Nuwa mercilessly shattered Roland's fantasy.

"Uh, your figure is so different from mine. Could you have calculated it wrong?" Roland refused to give up.

"Nuwa does not make mistakes." Nuwa replied very seriously.

"Then I was wrong?"

"Yes."

"Fine, I was just making a joke."

"But I did not detect any amusing elements in it."

"Nuwa, you can say I'm bad at math, but you cannot say my jokes aren't funny." Veins bulged on Roland's forehead as he erupted in anger.

"Hahaha..." The tactful Nuwa hurriedly added her laughter.

Feeling insulted once again, Roland angrily rubbed his blond hair.

According to Nuwa's final analysis, Roland's income had been reduced by a factor of four hundred. But an income of over a thousand gold coins per month could still accomplish far too many things.

For example, he could hire a mercenary group to protect him while he went to the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands to carve out his territory.

Or he could purchase slaves or recruit powerful individuals.

In short, with a large amount of gold coins as his foundation, Roland's plans were no longer empty fantasies. They could truly be put into action.

Therefore, after successfully brewing a Tier 3 Potion, Roland now had confidence in dealing with the territorial expedition three months from now.

After the joking ended, Roland looked at his remaining 4.2 points of Mental Power and injected another 1.2 points into the Chip.

He began brewing a Level 3 Spirit Agility Potion, which differed from the Tier 3 Fire Element Resonance Potion.

Spirit Agility Potions, which could directly increase Mental Power, were undoubtedly more popular among professionals. After all, whether Mage, warrior, or any other profession, powerful Mental Power benefited their career paths.

However, compared to the wealth of Mage Lords, the incomes of other professionals were far lower, so the largest customer base was still Mages.