Return

Jialan moved through the forest, his heart filled with doubt and unease. Based on his experience, this area should have been teeming with Magic Beasts, but it was unusually quiet this time. The few Magic Beasts he encountered occasionally seemed restless, as if startled by something.

"Could it be because of that White Dragon Horse?" Jialan wondered to himself. The involvement of the military and the Holy See, coupled with the abnormal behavior of the Magic Beasts, made him feel that things were not simple. He also recalled the mission Argyle and Katerina had initially undertaken in the Misty Forest.

All along the way, Jialan carefully avoided potential dangers. Although the number of Magic Beasts had decreased, he dared not let his guard down. At night, he would find a hidden place to rest and set up protective spells. During the day, he quickened his pace, hoping to return to the encampment as soon as possible.

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

Soldiers were drilling in the camp, and smoke curled lazily from the mess hall chimneys. He took a deep breath, sensing the unique atmosphere of the encampment: the smell of leather, steel, and sweat.

"Jialan!" a familiar voice called out. Jialan turned and saw Captain Kendy Lawrence striding toward him. The Captain of the border garrison was burly, and a rare smile graced his stern face.

"Captain," Jialan bowed slightly as a sign of respect.

Kendy clapped Jialan heavily on the shoulder. "Good lad! We thought you wouldn't be back after being conscripted. How was the mission? Did it go smoothly?"

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

"It went relatively smoothly," Jialan replied vaguely. "I encountered some trouble, but I resolved it."

Kendy seemed to sense something but didn't press further. "It's good that you're back. Go rest, you look exhausted."

Jialan nodded, bowed again, and turned back to his small wooden cabin.

The moment he opened the door, a familiar scent wafted towards him. Though it was just a simple wooden cabin, it felt incredibly comforting at that moment.

After resting for a day, Jialan resumed his busy life. He worked on consolidating and expanding his Mana Pool, familiarizing himself with new Meditation Methods, practicing Arrow Protection and Teleportation, and studying formations. In his spare time, he also crafted Scrolls and brewed potions, practicing spells every morning, and so on. These days passed one after another, and Jialan was completely immersed in the world of magic. He was busy consolidating his newly acquired power, learning new spells, and crafting magical items... his days were fully scheduled.

Gradually, those events in the Misty Forest, the Ruins, the White Dragon Horse, the military, the mercenaries... all became blurry. It was like a distant dream, diluted by the busyness of daily life.

One quiet afternoon, Jialan was organizing the items in his Spatial Bag. Suddenly, his finger brushed against the forgotten Little Green Bottle. Taking out the bottle, 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 examined the bottle carefully but found no issues. So, he took the Little Green Bottle out of his Spatial Bag and placed it on his workbench.

"Could it be because the Spatial Bag isolates it from external elements?" he muttered to himself. To verify this guess, Jialan decided to leave the Little Green Bottle outside and observe it for a few days.

Indeed, after one day, the liquid in the Little Green Bottle had clearly increased.

"So that's how it is," Jialan realized with sudden enlightenment. "This bottle needs direct contact with external elements to absorb energy."

For the next half month, Jialan checked the progress of the Little Green Bottle every day. As the liquid gradually increased, his anticipation grew stronger.

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

"It's time to conduct another experiment," Jialan said to himself. This time, he was better prepared. He set up a simple laboratory in his small wooden cabin. He prepared various experimental equipment: glassware, magic detectors, protective barriers, and so on.

Jialan sat in the laboratory, with the mysterious Little Green Bottle placed before him. After the experiment in the Misty Forest last time, he had a basic understanding of the properties of this magical liquid. Today, he planned to study it in more detail.

He carefully took out several common low-level medicinal herbs: Blood Dragon Grass, Silver Leaf Flower, and Magic Vine Root. These were all basic herbs commonly used by Spellcasters. Although their effects were ordinary, they were easy to obtain. He had collected these young sprouts on his way back from the Misty Forest.

Jialan first took a stalk of Blood Dragon Grass and used magic to extract a drop of green liquid, which he dripped onto the leaves. Almost the instant the liquid touched the leaves, the Blood Dragon Grass began to grow at a visible rate. The leaves, originally only palm-sized, quickly expanded, emitting a faint bloody glow.

"This is amazing..." Jialan murmured, carefully observing the changes in the Blood Dragon Grass. Then, he placed it on the magic detector to measure the herb's mana content.

The measurement result greatly surprised Jialan. The mana content of this Blood Dragon Grass had reached the level of a twenty-year-old herb, using only one drop, and the entire process took less than a minute.

"This... this is incredible!" Jialan's hands trembled with excitement. He immediately began to record the experimental data, using Chinese characters. For secrecy, many Spellcasters had their own unique recording methods, creating various symbols that only they could understand.

Next was the Silver Leaf Flower. This time, Jialan used only half a drop of the liquid. As a result, the Silver Leaf Flower completed the process of rapidly growing from a young sprout to blooming within tens of seconds. The silver patterns on the petals became more intricate, emitting strong mana fluctuations.

"At least ten years old..." Jialan quickly recorded the data, his eyes flashing with excitement.

Finally, it was the Magic Vine Root. This time, Jialan tried diluting the liquid before using it. He found that even the diluted liquid could help the Magic Vine Root reach a five-year-old level in a short period.

Just accelerating growth wasn't enough. He needed to test if the accelerated herbs could be consumed by humans. If, like last time, animals couldn't eat them, then this Little Green Bottle would be useless. He went out to the camp and bought three Snow Rabbits from the soldiers. Back in his small wooden cabin, he fed the three herbs separately to them. After more than half a day, the Snow Rabbits not only showed no signs of poisoning but were also energetic. Especially the rabbit that ate the twenty-year-old Blood Dragon Grass, its fur was glossy, and it showed signs of advancing to Magic Beast status.