Return

Jialan moved through the forest, his heart filled with doubt and unease. Based on his experience, this area should normally have been teeming with magical beasts, yet this time it was strangely quiet. The few magical beasts he encountered appeared restless, as if they had been frightened by something.

Could it be because of that White Dragon Horse? Jialan secretly guessed. The military's and the Church's involvement, along with the abnormal behavior of the magical beasts, made him feel that this was no simple matter. He recalled Argyle's and Katerina's original mission in the Misty Forest.

Along the way, Jialan carefully avoided potential dangers. Although the number of magical beasts had decreased, he did not dare let down his guard. At night, he sought hidden places to rest and set up warning spells. During the day, he quickened his pace, hoping to return to the garrison as soon as possible.

More than ten days later, Jialan finally caught sight of Mist Town's outline. The familiar city walls and watchtowers made him breathe a sigh of relief.

Soldiers were drilling in the camp, while smoke curled from the mess hall's chimney. He took a deep breath, taking in the garrison's distinctive scent—the smell of leather, steel, and sweat.

"Jialan!" A familiar voice called out. Jialan turned and saw Captain Kendi Lawrence striding toward him. The border battalion commander was powerfully built, and there was actually a trace of a smile on his stern face.

"Commander," Jialan said, lowering his head slightly in respect.

Kendi gave Jialan's shoulder a heavy pat. "Good lad! We thought that once you were conscripted, you wouldn't be coming back. So, did the mission go smoothly?"

Jialan hesitated. He had wanted to discuss the White Dragon Horse with the captain, but remembering the military's warning, he swallowed the words.

"It went fairly smoothly," Jialan answered vaguely. "I ran into some trouble, but it was all resolved."

Kendi seemed to notice something, but he did not press further. "It's good that you're back. Go get some rest. You look exhausted."

Jialan nodded, gave another salute, then turned and returned to his little wooden cabin.

The moment he pushed open the door, a familiar scent washed over him. Though it was only a crude wooden cabin, it made him feel incomparably at ease at that moment.

After resting for a day, Jialan resumed his busy life—stabilizing his expanded Mana Pool, familiarizing himself with the new Meditation Method, Arrow Protection, Teleportation, and spell formations. Whenever he found time, he also made scrolls, brewed potions, and practiced spells every morning. Day after day passed like this, and Jialan became completely immersed in the world of magic. He busied himself stabilizing his newly acquired power, learning new spells, and crafting magical items... Every day was packed to the brim.

Gradually, the events in the Misty Forest—the ruins, the White Dragon Horse, the military, the mercenaries...—all became hazy. Like a distant dream, they were washed away by the routines of daily life.

One peaceful afternoon, Jialan was sorting through the items in his Spatial Bag. Suddenly, his fingers touched the forgotten Little Green Bottle. Taking it out, he was surprised to find that the liquid inside had barely increased.

"Strange..." Jialan frowned. "Based on my previous observations, it should have been full by now."

He carefully inspected the bottle but found nothing wrong with it. He then took the Little Green Bottle out of the Spatial Bag and placed it on the workbench.

"Could it be that the Spatial Bag cuts it off from external elements?" he muttered. To test this guess, Jialan decided to leave the Little Green Bottle outside for several days.

Sure enough, one day later, the liquid in the Little Green Bottle had noticeably increased.

"So that's it." Jialan suddenly understood. "This bottle needs direct contact with external elements in order to absorb energy."

Over the next half month, Jialan checked the Little Green Bottle's progress every day. As the liquid gradually increased, the anticipation in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

Finally, one day, the liquid in the green bottle was full. Jialan carefully picked it up and sensed the faint energy contained within.

"It's time for another experiment," Jialan said to himself. This time, he was better prepared. He set up a simple laboratory in his wooden cabin and prepared all kinds of equipment: glassware, a magical detector, protective barriers, and so on.

Jialan sat in the laboratory with the mysterious Little Green Bottle before him. After the experiment in the Misty Forest, he had already gained a basic grasp of the properties of this miraculous liquid. Today, he planned to study it in greater detail.

He carefully took out several common low-grade medicinal herbs: Blood Dragon Grass, Silver Leaf Flower, and Magic Vine Root. These were basic medicinal herbs commonly used by spellcasters. Their effects were ordinary, but they were easy to obtain. He had gathered them on his return journey from the Misty Forest, and they were all young shoots.

Jialan first took out a stalk of Blood Dragon Grass, used magic to draw out a drop of green liquid, and dripped it onto the leaves. Almost the instant the liquid touched the grass, the Blood Dragon Grass began growing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Its leaves, originally only palm-sized, rapidly expanded and gave off a faint blood-red glow.

"Amazing..." Jialan muttered as he carefully observed the changes in the Blood Dragon Grass. Then he placed it on the magical detector and began measuring the herb's magical power content.

The results left Jialan utterly shocked. The Blood Dragon Grass had reached the level of a twenty-year-old herb. He had used only one drop, and the entire process had taken less than a minute.

"This... this is simply unbelievable!" Jialan's hands trembled slightly with excitement. He immediately began recording the experimental data in Chinese characters. For the sake of secrecy, many spellcasters had their own unique recording methods, creating all kinds of symbols that only they themselves could understand.

Next came the Silver Leaf Flower. This time, Jialan used only half a drop of liquid. In just a few dozen seconds, the Silver Leaf Flower rapidly grew from a young shoot until its flower bud bloomed. The silver patterns on its petals became more intricate, radiating dense magical fluctuations.

"At least ten years..." Jialan quickly recorded the data, excitement gleaming in his eyes.

Last was the Magic Vine Root. This time, Jialan tried diluting the liquid before using it. He discovered that even the diluted liquid could raise the Magic Vine Root to the level of a five-year-old herb in a short time.

Simply stimulating their growth was not enough. He needed to test whether the artificially grown herbs could be consumed. If animals could not eat them, as had happened last time, then this Little Green Bottle would be useless. He went to the camp and bought three snow rabbits from the soldiers. Back in his cabin, he fed each of the three herbs to a different rabbit. More than half a day passed, and not only did the snow rabbits show no signs of poisoning, they were full of vigor. The rabbit that had eaten the twenty-year-old Blood Dragon Grass in particular had glossy fur, and it faintly showed signs of advancing into a magical beast.