Income Skyrockets

"I succeeded?" a low murmur sounded in the quiet basement.

This was followed by a hoarse, wild laugh.

"I succeeded, I finally succeeded." Roland, who had been suppressing himself for half a month, finally unleashed all his pent-up negative emotions at this moment.

After half a month and countless failures, all twenty sets of Level 4 magic materials were destroyed in experiments, yielding only one bottle of Level 4 potion.

Although it was a huge loss, Roland knew that if he succeeded once, he would succeed countless times afterward, and these losses would be recouped within a few days.

"Congratulations, Master, on successfully refining the Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion," Nuwa congratulated him.

Roland fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, then said emotionally, "Nuwa, you played a crucial role in my success in refining the Level 4 potion."

Roland was speaking the truth. He had failed hundreds of times just on the refining technique, and the most critical step of steadily injecting Mana was ten times more difficult.

Without Nuwa, it would have taken Roland at least a year to achieve this on his own, not to mention the waste of who knows how much magic materials.

"It is Nuwa's honor to serve you."

"Thank you," Roland replied earnestly.

Nuwa did not respond this time but instead displayed a smiley face made of symbols on the blue screen that appeared before Roland.

Seeing this, Roland couldn't help but smile slightly. However, in the next moment, he let out a startled cry, "Ah! What is this smell? Why is it so stinky?"

"Master, you haven't left this basement for five days. I think it's time you took care of your personal hygiene."

"I haven't been out for five days?" Roland blinked, then felt an unbearable hunger pang in his stomach.

"Yes."

After hearing Nuwa's confirmation, Roland could no longer endure it and immediately left the basement.

"Young Master? You're finally out." Old Nob in the living room showed a surprised smile upon seeing Roland.

"Grandpa Nob, prepare a bath for me and make me a dinner. I'm starving," Roland urged.

"Yes, Young Master, it will be ready immediately." Old Nob immediately got busy after speaking.

After five days, Roland finally took a long, hot bath and changed into clean pajamas.

After eating the dinner prepared by Old Nob, Roland collapsed into bed, relieving the tension in his mind from the past half-month.

The next day, after sleeping for a full twelve hours, Roland finally opened his eyes. Although he still felt physically drained, he no longer looked as disheveled and haggard as he had the day before.

After greeting Old Nob, Roland picked up his small box and headed out again.

Meanwhile, at the Kingdom Apothecary Service Center within the Apothecary Guild, Chiard was listlessly resting his chin on the counter, looking completely dejected.

However, the moment he saw Roland walk in with a small box, his expression immediately lit up with surprise.

"Apothecary Roland, you've finally arrived."

Seeing Chiard more excited than usual, Roland found it a bit strange.

"You seem to be waiting for me?"

"Of course, an excellent apothecary like yourself is someone I hope to see every day," Chiard replied enthusiastically.

Roland's suspicion slightly receded upon hearing this, and he assumed Chiard was so enthusiastic because he wanted to purchase his potions.

"Mage Chiard, you flatter me. I'm just an ordinary apothecary, not worthy of being called excellent."

Roland's humility caused Chiard to pause, a bad premonition rising within him. He could no longer hold back and cautiously asked, "Apothecary Roland, have you managed to refine Intermediate Potions yet?"

"Mm... I managed it, barely. But I damaged a lot of materials." Roland didn't deny it. He would definitely be selling Intermediate Potions to earn gold coins from now on, so denial would be pointless.

Upon hearing Roland's answer, Chiard's jaw dropped in shock. Amidst his astonishment, he secretly grumbled.

You call this ordinary? What kind of ordinary apothecary becomes an Intermediate Apothecary in their early twenties?

However, this was quickly followed by excitement. Now that Roland had become an Intermediate Apothecary, if he could gain the favor of Leslie, Chiard would also reap considerable benefits.

Roland was unaware of Chiard's internal emotional rollercoaster, as he was pressed for time and didn't want to waste too much of it at the Apothecary Guild.

"Mage Chiard, I'm here today to purchase another twenty sets of Level 4 potion refining materials."

"Yes, yes, please follow me." Chiard quickly suppressed the shock on his face.

In a short while, Roland spent another 240 gold coins to purchase twenty sets of materials for refining Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potions.

This time, he did not buy materials for refining the Level 4 Fire Element Resonance Potion, as he had failed to successfully refine it during the past half-month.

Moreover, compared to it, the Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion was undoubtedly more expensive and more popular. Therefore, Roland had decided to focus all his efforts on refining the Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion from now on.

After Roland left, Chiard could no longer sit still. He quickly left the Apothecary Guild and headed north of the city.

Upon returning to his rented accommodation, Roland tidied himself up and immediately began his potion refining work for the day.

With his previous successful experience, Roland was now simply following the established procedure.

Forty minutes later, after two failed attempts and the destruction of materials worth over twenty gold coins, Roland successfully refined another bottle of Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion.

Looking at the potion emitting a seven-colored halo in his hand, Roland's eyes gleamed with excitement.

The cost of materials for one Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion is around 12 gold coins, with a selling price of 60 gold coins.

With Roland's current success rate, he can earn about 35 to 40 gold coins per potion.

Furthermore, refining one Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion requires 1.8 points of Mental Power. With Roland's current Mental Power, he can refine two bottles per day, earning 70 to 80 gold coins daily.

Of course, Roland still dared not sell all the Intermediate Potions he refined.

He didn't even dare to reveal his success rate of forty percent to the outside world this time. After all, what apothecary, upon just being promoted, could achieve a forty percent success rate when refining potions of the same tier?

So, after he refined the Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion, although his real monthly income could reach a terrifying amount of over two thousand gold coins, the gold coins he actually received were far less than that.

There was still a significant gap from the goal set by Nuwa.

However, there was a big difference between Intermediate Potions and Beginner Potions: the unit price.

A bottle of Intermediate Potion sold for 60 gold coins. To meet the requirements for opening up territory, Roland only needed to secretly sell an additional thirty to forty bottles.

This quantity, though still risky, was significantly simpler than selling over a hundred bottles of Beginner Potions.

This was also why Nuwa suggested Roland refine Intermediate Potions.

In her risk assessment, the risk of selling Intermediate Potions was lower than selling Beginner Potions.

After finishing the two potions, Roland successfully refined two Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potions.

Roland carefully put one bottle away and took the other to begin his meditation for the day.

"Nuwa, open my status panel."

"Received, Master."

As a faint blue light screen appeared, Roland's current four-dimensional attributes slowly displayed on it.

[Strength] 1.2

[Constitution] 1.1

[Agility] 1.3

[Spirit] 3.6/7.234

[Mana] 5.2/7.2

[Level] Level 4 Mage

In just over a month and a half, with a steady supply of potions, Roland's strength had grown rapidly.

However, this progress was actually a bit lower than Nuwa had predicted, as Roland had already developed a significant resistance to Tier 3 Spirit Agility Potions.

Previously, one Tier 3 Spirit Agility Potion could increase his Spirit by 0.07 points, but now it only increased it by 0.04.

At this rate of increase, Roland might not even successfully break through to Level 5 Mage by the time three months arrived.

Therefore, Roland decided to start taking Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potions today.

"Nuwa, record the process and effects of my body consuming the Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion."

"Received, Master."

After receiving Nuwa's reply, Roland slowly closed his eyes, relaxed his body, and then drank the Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion in his hand in one gulp.

As a Level 4 Mage, although Tier 3 potions could still have an effect on him, they were far less effective than Tier 4 potions that matched his own level.

Thus, after Roland consumed the Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion, the energy reaction within his body was several times stronger than that of a Tier 3 potion.

His consciousness became unprecedentedly clear and sharp, and Roland even felt a powerful sense of strength surging within his mental world.

As the effects of the Tier 4 potion continued to manifest, the Mental Power in Roland's mind ignited like a torch, radiating light and full of vitality.

However, this was immediately followed by immense pressure, causing his Mental Power to undergo tempering and strengthening as it continuously expanded and reshaped.

An hour later, Roland slowly opened his eyes. Although his face showed some fatigue, it did not diminish his excited expression in the slightest.

While he had not yet received the exact increase from Nuwa, Roland's physical sensations indicated that the effect of the Tier 4 potion was definitely several times stronger than that of the Tier 3 potion.

"Nuwa, how much has my Mental Power increased?"

"Beep, after detection, your Mental Power increased by 0.14 after consuming the Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion this time."

"0.14? That's double the increase from the first time I took a Tier 3 Spirit Agility Potion." Although this amount was not what Roland had expected, he was still very satisfied.

After all, an increase of 0.14 points of Mental Power at once brought him closer and closer to Level 5 Mage.

"Nuwa, analyze the comparison between Tier 3 and Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potions and reset my cultivation schedule."

"Received, Master."

"Beep, comparison complete, reset complete."

"Let me see."

"Received."