Talent Source Material

"Blood Mercury is truly amazing!"

Roy saw this and was genuinely delighted.

The Zabiel Magic Metals are mainly divided into seven major families: gold, silver, lead, mercury, tin, iron, and copper.

Among them, the mercury family has a classic recipe with liquefaction properties similar to mercury.

This is liquid metal often used in alchemy's "Genesis" for alchemical lifeforms like man-made beings, serving as their blood.

Its external characteristics are similar to mercury, hence its name, "Blood Mercury."

What Roy suddenly thought of was using this "artificial blood" to cleanse and replace Renion's blood.

But in reality, it wasn't a proper detoxification method, but rather Mage Body Modification!

The difficulty of refining this substance was quite high. If he hadn't obtained the Bronze-tier talent [Sulfur-Mercury Theory], he wouldn't have been able to do it at his current level.

At the very least, one would need to reach the Formal Wizard stage to be qualified to even begin studying it.

Conversely, it could also be inferred that for the Apprentice stage, this was a high-level item that not just anyone could learn.

"I'll replace mine with it later!"

As Roy thought this, Renion saluted him, "Thank you so much, Roy."

Roy snapped back to attention and waved his hand, "You don't need to thank me. Just pay the fee later, 200 Magic Stones, and I'll be thanking you for your patronage."

Renion's face turned pale, "That's too expensive! Even a detoxification potion doesn't cost 200!"

Roy said, "What detoxification potion? I injected you with Blood Mercury!"

"What, Blood Mercury!"

Renion exclaimed in shock.

"This stuff is Blood Mercury, and you know how to refine it?"

The onlookers were all astonished.

"Blood Mercury can be enchanted with Magecraft energy, greatly increasing the mana limit of the human body."

"It can also replace original blood and has the function of puppet-like modification."

"This... this is indeed quite expensive!"

This kind of item was not easily obtained at the Apprentice stage, and they didn't expect Roy to be able to refine it.

Renion quickly did the math.

The cost of Blood Mercury per milliliter, plus the accompanying blood exchange service fee, already amounted to around 2 Magic Stones.

But on the market, it would at least double.

He had consumed about 100 milliliters of Blood Mercury just now, and Roy was only charging 200 Magic Stones, which was practically the cost price!

He had no choice but to agree.

More than a day passed, and everyone finally returned to the Wizard Tower, breathing a collective sigh of relief.

"Oren didn't chase after us!"

"It seems he really can't be bothered with us anymore."

However, they couldn't help but worry about what came next.

"We'll probably have to lie low for a while."

"There are many apprentices in the tower, and he could find out through various means that we were present at the time."

As an Elite Apprentice, Oren possessed strength and status far above ordinary apprentices.

Being targeted by someone like him made them all a bit apprehensive.

Renion said, "Forget it, let's not worry about those bothersome things for now...

Let's do something more enjoyable!"

"Right, let's divide the spoils!"

"Let's share the rewards!"

Andov and Tigro chimed in their agreement.

This time, they had successfully killed the Merman Lord, avenged their grievances, and reaped a substantial harvest.

They would use this to wash away their bad luck.

Roy proposed, "I won't participate in the distribution of the other items from this harvest. I'll just take this Lord-class Fish Pearl and that eye, how about that?"

Considering their value was several times that of ordinary Sorcerer Fish Pearls, and he himself was the main force in killing the Merman Lord, it was only fair.

So everyone agreed.

For the remaining distribution, Roy didn't participate, nor did he bother to oversee it, letting everyone discuss and decide among themselves.

His mind was currently filled with the inexplicable surge in his status panel progress.

"Why...

Why did killing that Merman Lord yield such results!"

Roy returned to his room, and while bathing and changing, he couldn't help but ponder.

In fact, on the way back, he had already vaguely formed a guess.

"「Source Material」!"

Roy silently muttered the term, recalling the knowledge he had learned in the Wizard Tower.

"In Alchemy, single, indivisible substances are usually called primary substances, and further extended, they become 「Source Material」.

It's a concept at the fundamental level, the basic element that constitutes both matter and spirit.

Therefore, anything that can enhance my soul and feed back into the upper layers, manifesting as spirit, knowledge, and memory, can be called Talent Source Material.

The essence of Alchemy Talent is the peculiar trait formed by the aggregation of this Source Material, resembling a soul!"

The primary principle of Alchemy is Equivalent Exchange, which means that matter and energy neither appear out of thin air nor disappear into nothingness.

Even if it appears to be baseless on the surface...

There are often mysterious exchanges happening in the unseen depths, unknown to ordinary people.

Moreover, this exchange remains balanced overall.

Emerging from the bathroom, Roy sat on a chair, watching the Cauliflower Snake he kept slowly crawl over. He picked it up and began to play with it.

The Cauliflower Snake coiled around his arm, its gaze fixed on him.

As Roy gently stroked the Cauliflower Snake, he began to feed it, speculating that the Merman Lord's soul had some peculiar characteristic, and upon its death, its Source Material was released and absorbed by him.

This was one plausible explanation.

"However, it's also possible that this thing is the culprit!"

He quickly remembered something else and hurried to take out the eye he had dug from the Merman Lord's palm, placing it on the table.

He had given it a name: "Thunder Demon Eye."

"This time, I might have really struck gold. This is definitely not something an Apprentice and a corresponding magical creature should possess. It must have originated from Chalk Country!

The moment I obtained it, I felt a stinging sensation, which might have been caused by the integration of my soul's origin!"

Roy examined the Demonized Organ again, noticing that the abnormal sensation in his brow had disappeared.

However, he could still feel an extraordinary Magic Power emanating from it.

But he had no idea how to completely control this Demonized Organ for the time being.

Roy felt that even the Merman Lord hadn't fully utilized its power.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easily killed by him.

"Forget it, I have another matter to attend to first!"

Roy put away the Demon Eye, coiled the Cauliflower Snake around a nearby coat rack, entered the Alchemy room, and took out a large jar of Mercury stored in a cabinet.

It resembled a bright silver metal ingot, smooth and lustrous, its surface clearly reflecting the surrounding environment.

"Refine Blood Mercury and perform Mage Body Modification!"

A serious expression appeared on Roy's face.

Unprovoked, he had provoked Oren, which brought him a sense of crisis.

But by undergoing Mage Body Modification with Blood Mercury, he could become immune to most toxins transmitted through blood.

Moreover, this was derived from the Bronze-tier talent [Sulfur-Mercury Theory], which held immense value for him at his current stage.

Perhaps he could become stronger quickly through it!