The Collectively Rising Bounties
In Medicine King Valley, Gu Ding finished refining all the remaining D-Grade Potion in less than half a day, and he has started refining C-Grade Potion in the past two days.
He originally went to Medicine King Valley to collect some free potion-making materials from Ma Dike to practice and level up to a higher-level alchemist as soon as possible. However, Ma Dike didn't log on for three days, and Pa Ma didn't appear either. Guding figured they were probably busy, so Gu Ding didn't bother them with the communicator.
Three days passed, Gu Ding had completely used up his free quota of potions. He had mastered more than 30 of the 160+ common C-Grade Potion. C-Grade Potion were already considered top-tier potions, and their refining process required the addition of Source Power. However, all of Gu Ding's Gu Ding Source Power had been converted into Divine Source, so he encountered some trouble.
Divine Source and Source Power are completely different qualities of energy. True divine alchemists wouldn't concoct such low-level potions, and there were no records of them in the Sea Emperor's database, so Gu Ding had to mix them himself. He spent over ten hours perfecting the amount of energy injected, refining the potion to Perfect Quality. However, the potion refined with Divine Source was clearly a mutated potion, its effects far surpassing those of C-Grade Potion, even subtly exceeding those of B-Grade Potion.
However, Gu Ding did not intend to skip the refining of C-Grade Potion. Instead, he chose to proceed steadily, completing the refining of all C-Grade Potion before attempting to refine B-grade ones.
In Medicine King Valley, after receiving your personal free material allowance, any excess materials must be purchased with points. There are three main ways to obtain points:
The first method is participating in potion-making competitions. Gu Ding currently only holds an F-level license, meaning he can only participate in F-level competitions. Winning a match only earns him 1 point. Even if he obtains a D-level license in Medicine King Valley, winning a match only yields 30 points. This method of earning points is far too slow for Gu Ding. A single virtual C-Grade Potion material requires 30 to 50 points, meaning Gu Ding needs to win one match to earn enough for one set of materials, and that might not even be enough. Of course, higher-level potion makers could consider this method. Furthermore, some people also run betting games based on the outcome of these competitions, which is another informal way to earn points.
The second way to earn points is through on-site teaching, earning tuition fees from other pharmacists. Generally speaking, pharmacists below S-rank don't even need to consider this method, because those who attend classes are there because of the pharmacist's reputation, and Gu Ding is currently only a minor F-rank. If he were to teach, many people would probably laugh their heads off.
The third way to earn points is by answering other people's questions about potion making. This is somewhat similar to the Questioning Tower in the Monster Paradise. However, unlike the various categories of questions in the Questioning Tower, the questions here are all related to potion making.
After thinking about it, Gu Ding decided to choose the third option because it was a faster way to accumulate points.
Medicine King Valley, the place for answering questions is also a tower, but unlike the serene Questioning Tower, this tower is a huge modern building. It is entirely made of metal and soars into the clouds.
Upon entering the tower, Gu Ding discovered that there were actually few access restrictions. Aside from a few individuals who had set access limits, most questions were public. Gu Ding, with only an F-level certificate, could view numerous questions raised by demigod-level pharmacists. After entering the Fei Me Universe Country, the Medicine King Valley's network extended beyond Fei Me Universe Country to include other Universe Country that had shared its network and all Universe Country within Fei Me Universe Country's jurisdiction, including, of course, the Long Teng Universe Country. These Universe Country combined had a total of twelve demigod pharmacists, and the demigod pharmacist question list contained seventy-six questions. The Ranking List could display one hundred questions per page, and these questions didn't even fill a single page.
But when Gu Ding saw the reward for answering those questions, a question arose in his mind, "Why are the reward points for answering questions on the Demigod Ranking so few? They're only a few hundred points, and at most a thousand or two."
"Didn't you see that the points number is gold?" Sea Emperor retorted. "One gold point is equivalent to ten thousand ordinary points."
"Oh, I see," Gu Ding suddenly realized, no longer finding it strange. "One set of materials requires more than thirty points. We just need to choose an A-level question. One question gives tens of thousands of points in reward. That's enough for me to level up to B."
"I think you can answer some of these questions yourself, so you don't need my help," Sea Emperor said, projecting the panel for A-level questions.
Gu Ding looked through them one by one. The first twenty-odd questions were indeed quite difficult, and Gu Ding had no clue what to do for the time being, so he continued to look at the questions below.
"When refining the Ice Seal Potion, the success rate of producing a high-quality one is very low due to the unstable nature of the Ice Blue Grass extract, a key ingredient. Is there a better solution?" Gu Ding saw the twenty-third question, which mentioned the refining of the Ice Seal Potion. This question wasn't actually an A-level question, because the Ice Seal Potion wasn't exclusive to A-level potions; D-level Ice Seal Potion also existed. The only difference between D-level and A-level Ice Seal Potion was the complexity of their materials and slight differences in their refining methods.
The Ice Seal Potion is a very niche potion. Its effect is to freeze the user, temporarily relieving their injuries and pain, and buying time for treatment in patients with serious external injuries. However, this potion is not commonly used in hospitals because it is extremely difficult to concoct, and pharmacists generally do not attempt to make it.
This potion, in fact, had been refined by Gu Ding. The solution was quite simple: just add an animal fat called sea saliva to the potion and mix it with the extract of Ice Blue Grass before refining. This simple method is the part of the potion that was lost, but it is clearly recorded in the Sea Emperor's database.
Gu Ding easily wrote down the answer to the question and sent it out anonymously. Only then did he take a closer look at the reward amount, which was a full 100,000 points. He also casually glanced at the date of the question, which turned out to be over two thousand years ago.
"Sea Emperor, I didn't even notice when that question was asked. How come it's still up there after more than two thousand years? If the person who asked the question is dead, will we not get any points?" Gu Ding couldn't help but ask.
"Don't worry, normally if the questioner has passed away, the question will be automatically deleted. If it's not deleted, the Medicine God Alliance has retained the account with the permission of the pharmacist's family. As long as you answer correctly, you will definitely get the points. Besides, demigods have a lifespan of over five thousand years, so the questioner who asked the question more than two thousand years ago may not be dead yet."
Unbeknownst to Gu Ding, the answer to this question was transmitted by the Medicine King Valley system to a woman in pink's communicator.
The woman was slightly puzzled when she heard the communicator ring and saw the Medicine King Valley number. However, she answered it anyway. After checking it for a while, she realized she had indeed asked this question many years ago, but it had never been resolved. Getting the answer now piqued her interest somewhat.
She directly accessed Medicine King Valley and purchased two sets of materials. She then began attempting to refine it. A moment later, a Perfect Quality Ice Seal Potion appeared before her, without the slightest sign of instability throughout the entire process. She raised an eyebrow, refined it again, and achieved the same result. Confirming it wasn't a coincidence, a slight smile appeared on her lips, and she clicked the confirm button, sending the reward points.
Gu Ding reacted quickly as well. Seeing the 100,000 points credited to his account, Gu Ding knew that the questioner must have confirmed the correct surname of the answer.
After obtaining the points, he immediately turned and headed towards the materials purchasing area. He bought two sets of the remaining C-grade medicinal herbs and the ones he had previously ruined, spending a total of about 10,000 points, and started refining them again.
He had only just finished concocting a few vials of potions when the Sea Emperor interrupted him. "Gu Ding, the latest bounty figures are out!"
Gu Ding immediately left Medicine King Valley and gathered everyone together.
Sea Emperor has also projected the latest bounty amount:
"Our bounty amounts are now calculated in Universe Crystal?" Gu Ding was speechless when he saw the change in the unit of bounty amounts. Although he knew that one unit of Universe Crystal was equivalent to ten thousand Universe Coin, this change made the number ten thousand times smaller, making him feel like his wealth was very cheap.
"Those with bounties exceeding 10 billion Universe Coin will have their currency automatically converted into Universe Crystal. Only those reaching the standard of one million Universe Crystal are considered to have passed the bounty threshold for entering the Universe Sea. Those with bounties less than one million Universe Sea Universe Crystal are basically just offering themselves up as food. However, if we consider the strongest Combat Strength, this bounty amount underestimates the Combat Strength of you, Gu Ding, Bigge, and Robert, and even underestimates Tagore." The Sea Emperor's statement was relatively fair.
"Flat-chested beauty... If I find out who gave this evaluation, I'll castrate them!!!" Liliath stared intently at the official evaluation at the bottom of her Wanted Order poster, and said viciously.
Just then, Gu Ding's communicator suddenly rang. Gu Ding glanced at the number and saw that it was Elizabeth calling...