Financial Crisis

Five days later, the small settlement on Rising Light Island was finally completed.

Roland immediately ordered all supplies from the merchant ship to be unloaded. After assigning all personnel to the construction of the dock, Roland resumed his potion-making work.

He had no choice but to start. Because of the nearly half a month wasted at sea, Roland's trading volume with Leslie for this month had to be reduced.

Even though he still had many potions in reserve, for his own safety, he couldn't sell them.

Consequently, Roland's income for this month also dropped by half.

However, his expenses had increased significantly. According to Nuwa's calculations, even if he increased his success rate for refining intermediate potions to a little over 30% this month, his maximum income would only be six to seven hundred gold coins.

Such an income, while not small for an individual, could even be considered terrifying.

But when faced with the bottomless pit of developing a territory, it was still insufficient.

Currently, Roland needed to pay the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group one thousand gold coins every month.

Feeding over two hundred people required one hundred and five gold coins per month for food.

And that wasn't all. Although building the dock didn't require much, there were still many materials that Rising Light Island lacked and needed to be purchased from Highland City.

According to Fili's calculations, this expenditure alone would require over three hundred gold coins.

Therefore, Roland's income for this month was six to seven hundred gold coins, but his expenses reached one thousand five hundred gold coins.

As a result, Roland, who had just begun developing his territory, was facing his territory's first financial crisis, pushing him to the brink of bankruptcy.

However, he couldn't afford not to pay this gold, not a single coin could be short.

Both the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group and food were crucial for the stability of the entire territory, while the dock was even more critical for the construction work of the entire territory.

Therefore, the top priority for Roland was to get gold.

On Rising Light Island, in a wooden house on the east coast that was noticeably larger than the others.

Roland first sorted and arranged the magic materials in his hand, then began to familiarize himself with the refining process of Level 5 potions.

Since he still had a reserve of Level 4 potions, enough for his next trade with Leslie, Roland decided to directly attempt to refine Level 5 potions.

This would not only increase his actual income but also allow him to continue taking Level 5 potions to enhance his strength.

The materials required for the Tier 5 Spirit Agility Potion and the Level 5 Fire Element Resonance Potion were the same as for the Level 4 potions.

However, the quality of the materials was one level higher.

For example, the main ingredient for the Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion, Dream Grass, only needed to be three years old. But for the Tier 5, it required Dream Grass that had grown for five years.

The difference between the two caused the refining difficulty to increase exponentially, while the price of Level 5 potions also doubled.

The market price for a bottle of Tier 5 Spirit Agility Potion was approximately over 140 gold coins.

The price of a set of materials provided by Leslie was around 22 gold coins, with a profit margin of over six times.

Of course, Roland's current success rate was definitely not 100%. But as long as he could achieve the same success rate as he did with Level 4 potions, his profits would double.

The five-year-old Dream Grass also showed significant changes. Not only did it contain more spiritual energy, but each leaf and every texture was more refined and clear, exuding a mysterious aura.

Roland did not rush into refining. Because of the high cost of Level 5 potion materials, Roland currently only had ten portions. If he failed, given his current income and expenditure situation, he would have to wait two months to purchase them again.

Therefore, Roland spent the entire morning studying the analytical steps provided by Nuwa, and only after thoroughly understanding them did he begin his first attempt at refining a Level 5 potion.

"Nuwa, record..."

"Understood, Master."

With three months of potion-making experience, Roland's movements had become extremely skilled and precise.

Every action was devoid of any excess, even appearing elegant.

Under the scorching of the Magic Flame, wisps of smoke-like mist rose from the Dream Grass, eventually condensing into a spiritual energy that was almost tangible.

Although this spiritual energy was undoubtedly much more than that from the three-year-old Dream Grass, Roland remained completely calm, strictly following the steps provided by Nuwa.

He slowly pushed the condensed spiritual energy from the Dream Grass into the powdered Moonstone.

Then... there was no then.

Just as Roland was adding the Moonstone mixed with the Dream Grass essence into a portion of Level 5 Elemental Water, his hand faltered. The fragile balance between the three materials was instantly broken.

Following a loud bang, a powerful shockwave directly slammed Roland into the wooden house wall.

"Pfft." Roland spat out a mouthful of thick dust and impatiently tidied his clothes.

This potion-making attempt had clearly failed, and the loss was considerable. All three of the most expensive materials for refining the Level 5 potion were destroyed, costing Roland nearly twenty gold coins.

"Again." Roland conjured a light red magic shield in front of himself and plunged back into potion refining.

As the level of potions being refined increased, the power of the explosions caused by failures also grew, posing a significant threat to Roland. Therefore, Roland now had to constantly maintain a magic shield while refining potions to protect himself.

"No wonder a high-level apothecary must also be a powerful mage. If a failed Level 5 potion can cause this much damage, wouldn't the explosions from failed high-level potions be comparable to high-level spells?" Roland marveled inwardly, his movements becoming even more cautious.

In the following period, despite several failures due to various reasons, Roland eventually succeeded in refining a Tier 5 Spirit Agility Potion after wasting three portions of materials.

After all, the difference between Level 5 and Level 4 potions was only in the contained energy, not the quantity of materials.

With the experience of successfully refining Level 4 potions, the difficulty of Level 5 potions wouldn't hold Roland back for too long.

Looking at the Tier 5 Spirit Agility Potion, which was shimmering with light in his hand, Roland's face also showed a hint of excitement.

Because he had consumed too much mental power while refining the potion earlier, Roland stopped his potion-making work.

After slightly recovering his mental power to above 3 points, Roland immediately poured a Tier 5 potion, worth 140 gold coins, into his mouth.

Even though he was facing a financial crisis at the moment, Roland had no intention of shortchanging himself.

Not to mention, Roland had no intention of revealing his ability to refine Tier 5 potions to Leslie anytime soon.

After all, it had only been a month since Roland successfully refined a Tier 4 potion; it was too fast.

It was so fast that it was already outside the norm, and anything outside the norm was bound to attract the covetous eyes of others.

Roland had not forgotten that Elizabeth was still around, watching him with ill intent.

If she were to find out that Roland could refine Tier 5 potions so quickly, who knew what extreme reaction she might have.

"Nuwa, record the process and effects of consuming the Tier 5 Spirit Agility Potion."

"Received, Master."

After receiving the response, Roland slowly closed his eyes and skillfully entered a state of meditation.

As the Fire Element Meditation Method circulated, the Tier 5 Spirit Agility Potion Roland had just consumed instantly transformed into a vast amount of mental power that surged towards his mind.

Feeling the effects far exceeding those of a Tier 4 potion, a smile couldn't help but appear on the lips of the meditating Roland.

Time slowly passed, and it wasn't until more than an hour later that Roland had completely absorbed all the energy from the Tier 5 potion.

As soon as Roland opened his eyes, he eagerly asked Nuwa, "Nuwa, how much mental power did I gain this time?"

"Master, during this meditation, you gained a total of 0.18 points of mental power."

"0.18? How is that so much less than the gap between Tier 3 and Tier 4 potions?" Roland frowned, somewhat puzzled.

After all, the first time he consumed the Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion, he had gained 0.14 points of mental power, which was double the effect of the Tier 3 potion.

However, compared to Tier 4, the Tier 5 potion only increased it by 0.04.

"Master, based on the current data analysis, Nuwa believes that Tier 3 potions are considered beginner-level potions, while Tier 4 potions are considered intermediate-level potions. Therefore, there is such a large difference in effects after consumption."

"Both Tier 4 and Tier 5 potions are considered intermediate-level potions, and the effects between them will not have such a huge gap."

"There might be other reasons, but there is insufficient data to provide you with an accurate analysis," Nuwa said.

"Mm." Although Roland was somewhat disappointed, he accepted Nuwa's analysis.

"Nuwa, based on the previous trend of declining potion effects, estimate how long it will take for me to advance to a Level 6 Mage after consuming the Tier 5 Spirit Agility Potion."

"Beep! After analysis, Master will advance to a Level 6 Mage in two months."

"However, Master, you do not have that many Tier 5 potions on hand."

Nuwa's answer caused Roland's face to fall, feeling very helpless.

Indeed, Roland currently only had materials for ten Tier 5 potions in his possession.

And five of those were materials for refining the Level 5 Fire Element Resonance Potion.

This meant that Roland only had one set of materials left for refining Tier 5 Spirit Agility Potions. If he was unlucky, he might not even have a single bottle of Tier 5 Spirit Agility Potion left.

However, Roland then thought that he had only broken through to Level 5 Mage less than two months ago. If he were to advance to Level 6 Mage at this rate, Wouldn't that indirectly prove that his potion refining success rate was being concealed?

After all, such a rapid increase in level would undoubtedly require a large number of potions as support.

Coupled with the potions Roland sold externally, it would be very easy for outsiders to deduce his true potion success rate.

As soon as he thought of this, Roland broke out in a cold sweat and no longer dwelled on the issue of Tier 5 potions.