You Were Picked Up From the Trash

Around two and a half hours in, Gu Ding was already working on his last potion. The first three were Ultimate Quality, but starting from the fourth, the potions he brewed entered Perfect Quality. After that, he grew more and more skilled, and his brewing speed increased rapidly. He also tried six different methods for the final fusion technique. From taking fifteen minutes to complete a brew at the start, to finishing a tube in under four minutes later on, his progress was terrifying.

When Pa Ma came out of her private pharmacy room and passed by the public pharmacy room, she found the door wide open. Somewhat surprised, she walked to the entrance and saw a young man intently mixing a potion. She raised her eyebrows in delight. As the top pharmacist on Deep Sea Star and the only pharmacy professor at the Basic Military Academy, seeing a student work so hard naturally pleased her. She studied the young man carefully and realized she didn't recognize him—after all, there were three pharmacy teachers at the academy, so he might be a student of one of the others. She didn't care whose student he was; she had a soft spot for anyone interested in pharmacy.

Pa Ma stood silently at the door, watching the young man's work. His movements were incredibly fast; in the mere ten or so seconds she'd been standing there, he had already completed the first step of extraction. Her eyes lit up, and she stared intently at his hands.

After the extraction was done, the young man simultaneously placed different materials into twelve distillation flasks, which stunned Pa Ma. But what he did next nearly made her lose it. He turned the flames under all twelve flasks to the highest setting.

"Nonsense!" Pa Ma frowned and was about to walk over to scold the young man, but unexpectedly, he skillfully removed three flasks that had just changed color, moving at a steady pace as if he knew exactly when the solvent would shift. In just over ten seconds, the distillation was complete, and all twelve finished flasks were taken off. The timing was terrifyingly precise.

"Heavens..." Pa Ma stared at the shocking scene, her eyes nearly popping out.

Then she witnessed something that left her speechless. The young man didn't even use a measuring cup; he poured various solutions into the mixing cup in unknown proportions. Then he picked up the cup and began shaking the solution inside with a strange technique she'd never seen before. In less than two minutes, the solution turned completely silver, refracting a beautiful halo under the light.

Gu Ding poured the solvent into a pre-prepared test tube, corked it, and was about to toss it into his Storage Space when a voice stopped him.

"Wait..." a woman's voice came from the door.

The woman looked about twenty-five or twenty-six, wearing wide-rimmed glasses and a ponytail, with a very capable appearance. She was dressed in a teacher's uniform, and the gold-edged nameplate on her chest revealed her prominent identity—Professor.

"Could I take a look at that potion?" The female professor's voice carried a tentative inquiry, which would have seemed impossible to other students.

"Sure, but after you look, give it back. I need to sell it for money." Gu Ding could clearly tell that the woman's eyes held a high degree of surprise, but no greed.

The female professor took the potion from Gu Ding, brought it close to her eyes, and examined it thoroughly. Then she took off her glasses and looked it over again carefully.

Gu Ding sighed inwardly, "Take off the glasses, and she's actually pretty."

"Is this... really a Perfect Quality Cell Enhancer?!" After repeated confirmation, the female professor finally reached a conclusion she couldn't believe. It took her a moment to come back to her senses, "You said you wanted to sell it for money earlier—can I buy this?"

"How much are you offering?" Gu Ding wasn't about to take a loss.

"You should know that the market price for a standard product is 10 Star Coins, and Perfect Quality is times that. I won't shortchange you. times is twenty-four thousand Star Coins; I'll give you twenty-five thousand." The female professor gripped the potion tightly, looking determined to get it.

"Deal!" Gu Ding agreed readily.

After the transfer was complete, the female professor put the potion into her Storage Space. Seeing Gu Ding pack up to leave, she asked, "Which teacher taught you?"

Gu Ding was taken aback, "I'm not a Pharmacy Department student. I'm from the Combat Department."

"Combat Department?" The female professor's eyes lit up again, "Any interest in transferring to the Pharmacy Department? I'm a teacher here."

"No interest." Gu Ding packed up his things, stood up, shook his head, and turned to leave.

"What's your name?" The female professor hurriedly asked as he was about to go.

"Gu Ding."

"Gu Ding..." The female professor murmured the name. Seeing Gu Ding reach the door, she called out, "If you run into any trouble at school, you can come find me. My name is Pa Ma. I'm just a pharmacy teacher, but I have some influence in the academy."

"Okay, thanks!" Gu Ding turned back, nodded, and quickly walked away.

"Seeing how much stuff he packed, he must have brewed more than one potion..." Pa Ma muttered to herself after a moment, then quickly headed to the surveillance room on the top floor.

Pa Ma spent a full two and a half hours watching the footage, but her shock only grew, "In two and a half hours, he brewed twenty tubes of potion. The first tube took the longest, about fifteen minutes, and he was clearly flustered during the distillation stage. He stayed tense throughout the whole process, obviously a first-time brewer. The next two had minor mistakes in different places, but judging by the color of the potions, they were at least High Quality, likely Ultimate Grade. Starting from the fourth brew, he completed a zero-error operation and produced his first Perfect Quality potion. By the fifth brew, he relaxed, and his proficiency noticeably increased. The sixth brew sped up, the seventh and eighth continued to accelerate, and by the ninth, he changed the final fusion technique... Except for the first three tubes, all seventeen remaining potions were Perfect Quality. What kind of monster is this guy, with such terrifying talent? Too bad the camera angle only shows his back; I can't see the whole process."

Gu Ding had no idea his brewing was being recorded. Sea Emperor knew all about it but deliberately didn't block the camera's surveillance, hoping someone would notice Gu Ding's talent in pharmacy and attract attention, thereby giving him more resources.

By now, Gu Ding had returned to his place in the Red Light District. He was in his graduating class and had already earned enough credits to graduate, so attending the remaining classes didn't matter. His time was entirely his own.

"Soaking your body in hot water will speed up the absorption of the potion's effects," Sea Emperor reminded him.

"Yeah," Gu Ding had read about this method online. He went to the bathroom, filled the tub with hot water, stripped off his clothes, and soaked himself. Then he reached into his Storage Space, took out a Perfect Quality F-grade Cell Enhancement Potion, tilted his head back, and downed it in one gulp.

A surge of heat rolled down his throat into his stomach, exploding with astonishing warmth that spread in all directions. Gu Ding instantly felt like his body was on fire.

"Don't resist the heat. Let it wash over every cell. Try to stay conscious—if you pass out, the absorption rate will halve. The Cell Comprehensive Index will still increase by 7 points no matter what, but some people absorb the full effect in a week, while others take over two months. The best absorption happens during the peak of the potion's effect, and it's fastest then too," Sea Emperor explained.

Gu Ding clenched his fists, enduring the pain, trying not to think about the burning sensation.

The fiery heat coursed through Gu Ding's body, and wherever it passed, it felt like a branding iron searing his flesh—a pain beyond ordinary endurance.

After an unknown amount of time, Gu Ding's consciousness began to blur, and strange images appeared in his mind.

Snowflakes drifted from the sky. A middle-aged man held a baby in his arms, walking toward the Rose Tavern. At the entrance, he placed the baby in a trash can.

"Hey, what are you doing? Abandoning a baby is strictly prohibited by federal law—at least twenty years in prison!" Gu Ding shouted at the man as he jogged over, trying to stop him.

But when he reached the man and reached out a hand, it passed right through the other's body, as if Gu Ding were invisible. He looked up and saw the face, "Old Dad?!"

The man quietly stared at the baby in the trash can. A snowflake landed on the baby's forehead, and the man brushed it away. The baby in the can stretched out two tiny hands, grabbed the man's pinky finger, and let out a giggle.

A strange light flickered in the man's eyes. He closed them for a long time, then picked up the baby again and pushed open the door to the Rose Tavern.

"You were picked up from a trash can." Gu Ding remembered that every time he asked about his origins, Old Dad would always say that, reeking of alcohol.

"The first time I saw you, little one, you were still a baby, held tight in that drunkard's arms." Gu Ding remembered "Auntie" Rose saying that too.

"How could you be my biological son? My eyes are blue, yours are black. My hair is brown, yours is black, and I've got a bit of a natural wave, even if it's not obvious. I'm tall, you're so small. And your old man here is this handsome—you're... kind of handsome too, but that's not hereditary. How many times do I have to say it before you believe you were picked up from a trash can?" That was what Old Dad always said, puffing out his chest as he compared their differences and listed how Gu Ding fell short.

"You idiot, got into another fight? Your thigh's not even as thick as someone else's arm. Losing is normal—what are you crying for... I'll teach you: next time you fight, pick someone smaller than you." Every time Gu Ding lost a fight, Old Dad would rub his head and comfort him like that, even though he knew Gu Ding was the smallest kid in the group.

"Here, take a sip. You're ten years old and still can't drink? Are you even a man?" The first time Gu Ding was coaxed into drinking at age ten, the Rose Tavern erupted in laughter.

"According to an old friend's agreement, the fifteen-year term of care is up. Don't come looking for me." That was the last sentence Old Dad left behind, written on a piece of white paper. The paper was held down by a water cup, but the cup had been shattered by Gu Ding half a year ago, and the paper had been torn to shreds.

"Old Dad..." Gu Ding's tears flowed uncontrollably.