Magic Potion Master!

"Given your current soul condition, using this lowest-level Dawn Promotion Magic Array to assist your ascension will have a very small chance of success. It's a complete waste of time and resources."

"If you want to advance smoothly, you'll need to construct at least a mid-level advancement array; if you want to use this advancement to resolve most of the soul's aftereffects, it's best to choose a higher-level advancement array."

In response, Alazan offered Ronan two options: the first was simply to secure a smooth promotion, while the second would not only guarantee the promotion but also perfectly resolve any potential problems that might arise.

But even the resources required to implement the initial plan were more than ten times what Ronan originally expected.

Ronan remembered the last time he worried about magic stones was when he was Wandering Wizard in the Hoddam Treehouse Area. He never expected that after all the twists and turns, he would have to become a "working man" to save up for his future after becoming Third Level Wizard.

After leaving the private Secret Realm Space, we went straight up the dark, bottomless waterfall abyss. Along the way, we saw wizards from the same Deep Sea School flying out from even lower down. Behind this waterfall in this area, there might be many Secret Realm Space.

Emerging from the Abyss Waterfall, one is surrounded by a white void around the circular lake.

Following the guidance of the "Spirit Lake Book," Ronan found a nearby spot, chanted a spell in his mouth, and at the same time used the Spirit Lake Spell Ring worn on his right ring finger to quickly draw a special pattern in the air.

Soon, ripples spread across the void, and a small, glowing portal appeared before Ronan.

Ronan pushed open the door, bent down, and crawled inside.

Behind the portal was a similarly narrow Crystal Passage that widened as he walked. After half an hourglass, Ronan came across a small door covered with flowers and vines.

The green vines that had been wrapped around the door had already grown into the passageway, taking up most of the area. Ronan carefully avoided the vines and went around them to continue forward.

Then they encountered small doors made of writhing flesh and blood, and small doors made of flowing water, until they finally stopped in front of the fifth ordinary wooden door with a brass lock.

Ronan gently knocked on the small door, which quickly opened from the inside with a creak.

I didn't see Heliodore, but there was a beautiful big white cat scratching at the door frame with its paws.

"Thank you, Silver Coin."

Ronan thanked him earnestly, but the latter ignored him, yawned, and turned to leave.

Ronan pushed open the wooden door and went inside, smelling a rather pungent odor, a mixture of various herbal and floral scents and the aroma of wine, so strong it was almost irritating.

He took two more steps forward, and the first thing that caught his eye was an enormous oak tree, many times larger than the one he had encountered when he entered the Spirit Lake, a tree named "Tataka".

This space was already quite large, about two or three times the size of Ronan's private Secret Realm Space, and the oak tree occupied two-thirds of the entire space, demonstrating its lushness and robustness.

The branches of the Old Oak Tree hung down from the ceiling of the space, and at the top of each branch hung a metal or glass jar, large or small. Some were filled with unknown liquids, some contained something like blood clots, some contained living creatures, and some contained smoky spirits. Ronan even saw an ancient fairy, naked and sealed by runes, sitting in a palm-sized crystal jar, deep in thought and filled with melancholy.

"Who is that?!"

An old voice called out from under the oak tree.

Ronan looked in the direction of the sound and noticed a huge wooden experimental table under the Old Oak Tree. Next to the table was a strange-looking metal alchemy furnace, which was bubbling something up, and every now and then a scream that sounded like a woman's could be heard coming from the furnace.

Heliodore, dressed in a black lab coat, emerged from behind the oak tree and beckoned Ronan over.

You are two minutes late.

Heliodore glanced at the crystal pocket watch in his hand and said with some dissatisfaction, "I don't want the same thing to happen again next time."

"You didn't specify how long I needed to arrive."

Ronan answered calmly.

"You'll know next time?"

Heliodore put away his pocket watch and said calmly.

Ronan wasn't angry; he just nodded.

Most older wizards are eccentric, and he was well prepared for that.

"Now I'll assign you a task."

Old Beaver seemed to have something urgent to attend to. He pointed in a direction and said quickly to Ronan, "See that? That's where you'll be working for me from now on."

From now on, over the next two years, I need you to handle the materials needed for 10,000 different potion recipes.

The materials, tools, and recipe list are all on the table. Now, get to work!

Ronan looked in the direction Heliodore pointed and saw a much smaller metal lab bench. On the bench were some containers used for preparing medicines, which were placed haphazardly together.

However, he didn't rush to move, but quietly looked at Heliodore in front of him.

What are you still dawdling about?

Heliodore frowned at him and said in a somewhat cold tone, "Should I assign this assistant another assistant to you?"

"Shouldn't you discuss this with me before doing all this?"

Ronan paused, then continued, "Regarding the compensation..."

"You're talking to me about compensation?"

Heliodore clicked his tongue and looked him up and down with an incredulous expression.

"I think you may have forgotten my identity, and your own identity. You may have forgotten that if I hadn't picked you up from the 'garbage dump,' with your soul's potential, you would have been kicked out of the Spirit Lake long ago."

"I'm sorry."

Ronan let out a soft breath.

Heliodore narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "You want to refuse me?"

"No."

Ronan shook his head. "I don't have that idea."

However, due to my inferior aptitude, I have to put in more time and effort than others to advance to level four.

At this stage, I cannot afford the expenditure of working on a job without any compensation. I can assure you that I will return here as soon as I have gathered the materials needed to construct the advancement array.

Ronan bowed deeply to Heliodore before him, then turned and walked toward the exit of the space.

The entire space was eerily quiet during this process; the only sounds were the bubbling of the alchemical furnace and the yawning of the white cat, Silver Coin.

Ronan remained calm, mentally prepared to face whatever came his way.

The worst outcome would be being forced by Heliodore means, mainly to show the other party his attitude.

Five sessions of the "Spirit Heart Amber" training have made his ability to distinguish between pure and impure souls increasingly stronger. Although Heliodore an eccentric temper, his Soul Aura is gentle and kind, so he shouldn't do anything more outrageous.

Just as Ronan was about to reach the exit of the space, finally, Heliodore's voice rang out.

"It seems you've already recognized the significant gap you'll inevitably face when moving from Level 3 to Level 4."

Ronan stopped and turned around, only to see that Heliodore did not have the angry expression he had expected; in fact, he was smiling.

"Without outstanding talent, a powerful identity and background, it is indeed not an easy thing for an ordinary Third Level Wizard to cross this step."

That necessary resource can sometimes outlast a person.

Heliodore muttered to himself with a deep sense of agreement, then looked up at Ronan and said calmly, "Now I can be your background. The Deep Sea also has inexhaustible resources. Provided that your performance can satisfy me."

Heliodore tossed something to Ronan caught it. It was a brand-new Space Ring filled with all sorts of rare Magic Potion Material.

"Hurry up. Also, everything here must be left before you leave."

Once I find out... there won't be a next time.

"It's my pleasure to serve you."

Ronan bowed, Heliodore turned away, no longer looking at him.

Having achieved his goal, Ronan slowly walked to the workbench that Heliodore had assigned to him.

Besides the mixing utensils, the messy tabletop contained several medicine formulas written in scribbled handwriting.

Ronan counted them, and there were less than 20 recipes written on the paper, let alone 10,000. The steps for processing each ingredient were written in great detail.

"Once you've taken care of these, ask me for the rest of the recipe."

Heliodore's voice came from afar, "If you encounter a problem you don't understand, try to solve it yourself first. The books you might need are over there on the shelf. If you still don't understand something, then come and ask me, but it's best not to, because I don't want to waste my precious time on some silly questions."

Ronan looked around and found the bookshelf that Heliodore had mentioned. It was in a corner of the space, a birch tree that had naturally grown into the shape of a bookshelf, with Silver Coin curled up there, dozing off.

Without delay, he carefully read through what Heliodore had written on the paper several times. Then, he took water from the pollen tube of a large white face-shaped flower next to the workbench and washed and dried every tool and utensil on the workbench.

Then he took out the potion from the Space Ring given to him by Heliodore and, referring to the "Spirit Lake Book," picked and searched for it one by one.

This process took him quite a while, and by the time Ronan officially began processing the Magic Potion Material for the first recipe, it was already the morning of the next day.

The recipes written by Heliodore have extremely strict requirements for the proportions of materials, and the processing of some materials must be controlled to within the weight range of a single micro-dust particle.

Fortunately, Ronan had been practicing the Primordial Star Meditation Technique for so long that his mental refinement far exceeded that of an ordinary Third Level Wizard. He also had the powerful recovery effect of the [[Clarity Realm]]. After experiencing the initial failures due to his unfamiliarity with the technique, the subsequent process became smoother and smoother.

On the Character Panel, in the skills section, the skill that represented his progress in mastering Magic Potion Studies, which was so ancient that he had almost forgotten it, began to show a steady increase in proficiency.

Ronan would work tirelessly for seven days, then leave to return to his residence for half a month of daily spellcasting and meditation.

And so it goes.

Heliodore seemed to tacitly approve of his schedule and did not raise any objections.