(This morning, while shaving, I accidentally nicked my face. I even joked on Weibo that seeing blood first thing in the morning meant I was probably about to become popular. Who would have thought that when I went out for a jog tonight, my old friend She Smiles Beautifully tipped me 10,000 Qidian Coins. I'd also like to thank the beautiful A Bridge of Clear Rain, my comrade from Group Two Urban Commoner, Xiaoyao's Wanderer 1, Drunken Little Xi, my old friend Frost... Tear Marks, my Weibo friend Feng's Xiluo Pavilion, and my friend Change It to a Big Balloon for their tips. And of course, thanks to everyone who clicked, recommended, and bookmarked this book, as well as all the brothers and sisters who left supportive comments in the review section. With all of you here, Bullet is very happy~~)
Gu Ding carefully counted three times. The amount in the account had seven digits.
"More than three million. Did you steal it?" It took Gu Ding quite a while to react.
"I merely used a few little tricks. How could that count as stealing?" Sea Emperor's voice dripped with disdain. "Remember the woman who faked her death yesterday? When she did, I took over not only her Storage Space, but also all her accounts, including her financial accounts."
"Hehe, three million is enough to buy a Young Eagle." Gu Ding immediately thought of the small interstellar craft he had always dreamed of.
"Hey, this money isn't for you to squander. Buying Gene Serum requires a huge amount of materials; a few million won't last long. If you want to earn more money, become a pharmacist!" Sea Emperor's voice came again. "This is an F-Grade Cell Enhancer tutorial and formula. Study it carefully. Buy twenty sets of the materials listed in the formula. Beginners have a high failure rate when refining. Your school happens to have compounding rooms, and renting them costs less than half as much as outside. This kind of serum can be compounded with basic equipment. All that remains is buying the materials."
As Sea Emperor spoke, he transmitted a document into Gu Ding's mind. This method of directly storing information in the memory region of the human brain was something a Smart Watch could not accomplish.
The human brain was an extraordinarily sophisticated instrument. Even at humanity's current stage of development, its mysteries had yet to be fully explored. Experiments involving directly transferring data into the memory region had been conducted before. The initial results were good, but every participant died within ten years after the experiment ended, without exception. The cause of death was always mutant brain cancer. The cancer cells would appear without warning and develop to the Fourth Order in just one or two days, after which the tumors would rupture.
"Hey, won't there be a problem with you storing information like this?" Having heard all kinds of rumors, Gu Ding was somewhat worried.
Noticing Gu Ding's concern, Sea Emperor explained, "Don't worry. The database contains highly detailed information on the brain, and there won't be any problem with the direct storage method I use. In fact, as long as this kind of storage isn't performed too frequently, or an enormous amount of data isn't stored at once, my method is very safe. Most importantly, once a Super Intelligence recognizes a master, the possibility of changing masters is nearly zero. You should know that. Statistically speaking, the chance of me killing you is nearly a million times lower than your chance of successfully committing suicide."
Gu Ding shook his head helplessly. He was speechless at Sea Emperor's nonsensical comparison. But he had also heard that Heaven once had a master. After her master died, she had not attached herself to another human for millions of years. The loyalty of a Super Intelligence was beyond doubt.
Gu Ding looked through the formula. The unit prices of the materials were practically public knowledge. He calculated that with his previous savings, all his possessions would only have been enough to buy two sets of materials.
"Pharmacists really are a money-burning profession..." Gu Ding could not help sighing. Then he began watching the tutorial.
The tutorials were holographic three-dimensional videos, as though he were personally present at the production site. Every step was explained in extreme detail. Even the compounding techniques and precautions were covered without the slightest omission.
Gu Ding watched twelve consecutive tutorials on making Cell Enhancer. For the same serum, the methods used by different pharmacists were broadly similar, though each had their own distinctive style. After finishing the tutorials, Gu Ding fell silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "Sea Emperor, do you have materials on pharmaceutical theory and compounding techniques?"
"I knew you would ask. I prepared them for you long ago." A moment later, Sea Emperor injected those materials into Gu Ding's memory region as well.
Gu Ding turned through the pages of the pharmaceutical theory in his mind, reading them very carefully. Only after confirming that he had missed nothing did he close it and begin reviewing the compounding techniques.
By the time he had finished, he had arrived at the entrance to the school's laboratory building.
"Hello, I'd like to rent a private compounding room." Gu Ding found the building administrator.
The administrator glanced at Gu Ding, his expression seeming to carry a trace of disdain. "All three private compounding rooms have already been rented today. If you need one, go to the public area. It's still free over there. Buy your serum materials from the pharmacy warehouse on the second floor."
Gu Ding did not pay much attention to the man's attitude. Hearing that the private rooms were occupied, he merely frowned slightly before heading to the second floor.
"Tiger Gall Grass, Crow Tongue Flower, Red Python Bone Marrow... I want twenty sets of these materials."
"Twenty sets? One set of these materials costs 112 Star Coins altogether. Are you sure you want twenty sets?" The warehouse administrator was somewhat surprised. He could understand if an academy teacher bought so many materials, but a student likely could not afford them.
"Yes, twenty sets!" Gu Ding nodded.
Only after the warehouse administrator had prepared all twenty sets and Gu Ding completed the transfer did the man believe that Gu Ding was not joking.
Carrying the serum materials, Gu Ding went to the public compounding hall on the third floor.
The hall was empty. All thirty workstations had been cleaned spotless.
Gu Ding casually picked one, took out one set of materials, and arranged them on the workstation in order.
The basic steps of compounding serum were extraction, distillation, proportioning, and fusion.
Extraction meant separating the portions requiring treatment from the raw materials, processing them preliminarily, and extracting the liquid essence. Distillation had two purposes: one was removing impurities from the materials, while the other was releasing their medicinal properties through heating. The degree of completion of extraction and distillation affected the final serum quality. The third step, proportioning, involved combining the processed materials according to their differing medicinal properties. If an error occurred at this step, there was a high chance that the resulting product would be defective. The final step, fusion, varied in difficulty. For simple serums, if the previous steps were done well, fusion was extremely easy. But some serums required special techniques to complete the fusion. The degree of fusion also affected the final serum quality.
Gu Ding carefully processed each material. Following the tutorial, he completed the extraction very smoothly, even matching the timing perfectly. By then, the Distillation Flasks had been heated. He placed the liquid essences into separate flasks. This step had no exact timing; it depended on the changes in color within the flasks. Even with the same material, the required distillation time could differ considerably depending on the degree and amount of extraction. Gu Ding did not dare relax in the slightest, his eyes fixed on the flasks. Just a few minutes later, one flask began changing color. Gu Ding hurriedly removed it, but almost at the same time, the other three flasks began changing color as well.
"Damn it!" Gu Ding grabbed two Distillation Flasks, one in each hand, while the remaining flask's original color vanished in an instant. By the time he removed it, its original sky blue had already turned dark blue. "This one was distilled too long, causing some of the medicinal properties to evaporate... But it's fine. It can still be used."
After completing the distillation, Gu Ding began proportioning. Comparatively speaking, he felt this was the easiest step, because he had already learned the optimal medicinal ratio from the tutorial. He merely needed to follow the instructed proportions. Once the proportions were complete, he poured the tubes of serum into the final fusion cup according to the sequence and intervals taught in the tutorial.
Ordinarily, Cell Enhancer only needed to be left standing to fuse. But among the twelve preparation methods Gu Ding had watched, all twelve pharmacists had used their own techniques to accelerate fusion. Gu Ding picked up the fusion cup and began with the simplest technique—shaking it clockwise. After three circles, he began shaking it counterclockwise. Repeating this process, the originally colorful liquid gradually turned a faint milky white as he shook it. About three minutes later, the cup of Cell Enhancer finally became completely milky white. If it had been left standing, fusion would have taken at least an hour.
"Hehe, success! The first tube of Cell Enhancer in my life." Gu Ding was somewhat excited. "Sea Emperor, although there was a minor mistake, judging from the color, it should at least be Good Quality, right?"
"I didn't expect you to have some talent. This F-Grade Cell Enhancer is Ultimate Quality." Sea Emperor recognized the quality of the reagent with a single glance.
Serums of the same grade were also divided by quality. From lowest to highest, there were seven tiers: Inferior, Defective, Qualified, Good, High Quality, Ultimate, and Perfect.
Among them, Qualified Quality had the standard efficacy. One tube of F-Grade Qualified Cell Enhancer could raise the Cell Comprehensive Index of a First Level Gene Body by 2 points. Good Quality could raise it by 3 points, High Quality by 4 points, and Ultimate Quality by 5 points. As for Perfect Quality, it could raise the Cell Comprehensive Index by 7 points.
Thus, even for the same Cell Enhancer, prices differed. Qualified Quality generally sold at the standard price. Good Quality carried roughly double the premium, while High Quality sold for at least five times the standard price. Ultimate Quality was extremely rare and carried a premium of at least eight to ten times. Perfect Quality, meanwhile, commanded a premium of at least twenty times.
The listed market price for one tube of F-Grade Qualified Cell Enhancer was 1,000 Star Coins, while the tube in Gu Ding's hand could sell for at least 10,000 Star Coins.
Gu Ding packed away the serum and put it into his Storage Space, then began refining the second tube. What he did not know was that there was a camera in the corner of the ceiling of this public compounding room...
(One more thing to clarify: Smiles asked me why the book's contract status still hasn't changed. I didn't mention it because I originally didn't think it was a big deal. Before I started publishing, I agreed with the editor that we would sign the contract once the book reached 20,000 words, so it can only be officially signed tomorrow when it reaches 20,000 words. Once the contract is mailed to Qidian's editorial department, the earliest will probably be next Monday. Qidian also has internal procedures to go through, which may take another day or two. The contract status will definitely change next week.)
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