Stepped Into Every Possible Pitfall

The first floor of the Tree Hole Shelter.

Lan Qingyou was currently holding a Magic Hurricane Lamp in one hand and a bamboo basket in the other, inside of which sat a large meat bun and a bottle of Chafan.

This was her standard routine whenever she got hungry from reading.

It was the same logic as going to the fridge for a snack after browsing on your phone in the middle of the night.

However, after grabbing her food, Lan Qingyou suddenly felt it was a bit of a hassle.

It wasn't that eating was a bother, but rather the back-and-forth trips up and down just to get food were annoying; she wondered if this Magic Desk could be moved upstairs.

[Moveable.]

Just as Lan Qingyou thought this, the desk suddenly hovered one centimeter off the ground, and a projection dialog box popped up above it.

"Oh, that's quite convenient."

Saying this, Lan Qingyou prepared to move it up.

But as she walked to the doorway, she suddenly remembered that this Magic Desk had a teleportation function and would occasionally be needed to transport large items. If she moved it to the second floor, wouldn't that make things even more inconvenient?

That wouldn't do.

Lan Qingyou stopped in her tracks, turned her head to look around, and decided it would be better to find a more practical spot for this thing.

Next to the Alchemy Workshop would be good.

After all, she would need to use all sorts of items when doing alchemy in the future.

After making these arrangements, Lan Qingyou carried the Magic Hurricane Lamp back to the second floor, still taking the route via the outside terrace because she felt it was more convenient.

Full and satisfied, Lan Qingyou picked up Basic Potions from beside her mattress and began to read.

In the middle of the night, she had already skimmed through Semiotics and Drafting, learning a great deal of new information.

Now, she was going to officially begin studying the subject she was most interested in: alchemy.

Half an hour later, Lan Qingyou inserted a leaf into the page, closed the book, and shut her eyes.

Although, if one were reading carefully, half an hour wouldn't cover much.

But it was enough for Lan Qingyou to realize her mistakes.

Basic Potions, as the name implied, was a foundational tutorial for brewing potions; it not only recorded many potion recipes but naturally also listed many precautions to take when brewing.

Unfortunately.

Lan Qingyou, the novice alchemist who had been roasted by the Small Screen for needing to be "re-forged," had basically stepped into every pitfall possible.

The reason why the quality of that pot of Mana Potion yesterday was so low boiled down to the following six points.

First, she hadn't constructed an alchemy array or used the alchemy array's mana circulation system, which led to poor heat control;

Second, she hadn't used her own mana to properly stir and fuse the herbs and base water inside the cauldron;

Then, the base water she used was the stream water from below; although the stream water contained mana, it wasn't the processed Mana Water required for alchemy;

Additionally, the brewed potion hadn't been filtered, and the excessive impurities meant the potion wasn't pure.

Furthermore, the herbs and tools she used hadn't been processed, and she hadn't even performed a simple cleaning, which caused the overall quality of the potion to deteriorate.

Of course.

If those were just mistakes that beginners often made, then the last one was a blunder that probably only a self-taught alchemist like Lan Qingyou would commit.

Generally speaking, the most basic brewing ratio for alchemical potions is ten to one.

In other words, if her cauldron, which could hold 20,000 milliliters of water and ingredients, were brewed according to the basic ratio, the final yield should have been 2,000 milliliters.

Yet, her pot yesterday had yielded about 10,000 milliliters, which was a two-to-one ratio.

No wonder the rust on the bottom and the sides of the cauldron had been so distinctly separated when she first saw it.

It now appeared that this was caused by long-term brewing at a ten-to-one ratio.

Recalling how she had risked going down in the dark to fetch another bucket of water because she was afraid of boiling it dry, she felt a flush of embarrassment.

It was awkward, but no harm done.

After all, she was a self-taught beginner; she really couldn't be blamed for this.

If you think this book is good, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose it next time.

What else could she do?

It was already sold, and the materials were used; was she supposed to offer a refund? She didn't have the spare time for that.

Well, she might as well cover up her mistakes while everyone was still in the dark.

For instance, by selling those potions as quickly as possible and then brewing new ones.

They were usable, after all; there was no reason to just pour them out.

With that settled, it was time to sleep.

Lan Qingyou pulled her Air Conditioning Quilt over herself and drifted into a deep sleep.

She wouldn't read anymore today; tomorrow she would get up early to gather herbs, try to draw her own alchemy array, and then brew a new batch of potions.

Oh, and there is still Mana Water to make.

That stuff requires using my own mana to neutralize the mana in the stream water, which is also a major project.

Busy, I never expected I could be this busy.

It's actually quite good.

"Ah! My eyes!!!"

When Lan Qingyou opened her eyes the next morning, a beam of light slammed right into them.

The courage to look directly at the sun caused her to take a solid hit from a Solar Fist.

Then, her brain, still dazed from just waking up, instantly cleared.

No, I have to see if there are any curtains for sale; if not, a piece of cloth will do, and if that fails, I at least have to install a sheer curtain.

Otherwise, if I have to go through this every time I wake up, how am I supposed to live my life?

Looking at the second-floor bedroom, which was illuminated brightly by the sunlight, Lan Qingyou thought to herself.

Go downstairs, eat breakfast, check the chat logs, then head out.

Nothing happened last night.

Aside from the matter of upgrading my Shelter, the Ghost they mentioned earlier did not appear.

It seems it was just a trick of the eyes.

Zhao Dulai, who released the news, was fiercely roasted by everyone, the gist being that everyone was already on edge, and he had to pull something like that to mess with everyone's mental state.

Some hot-headed guy even issued a death threat directly.

But that's fine too; at least my plan to go out and find a Material Treasure Chest at night can be carried out smoothly.

When the sun reached the top of my head and the time was estimated to be around noon, Lan Qingyou finally floated back home carrying a Material Treasure Chest.

Throughout the morning, thanks to her efforts, she had collected about forty or fifty pounds of herbs.

In addition to the herbs for refining Mana Potion, she had also collected some herbs for refining other potions.

She didn't go out in the afternoon, choosing instead to study Semiotics and Drafting.

Potions Study is not a priority for now.

Her primary task right now is to draw an alchemy array.

Without an alchemy array, everything else is in vain.

"The sun represents 'gold', the moon represents 'silver', the triangle represents 'fire', the inverted triangle represents 'water', the hourglass represents 'time'..."

"No, no, according to the basic theory of the Four Elements Four Properties, it should be the four properties of dry, wet, cold, and hot added together in pairs; dry plus hot equals fire, wet plus cold equals water—I cannot forget this point."

On the afternoon of the fourth day, Lan Qingyou, who had been studying all day, came to her Alchemy Workshop and began to draw the first alchemy array of her life on an iron base.

To draw an alchemy array on a base, one needs to use the alchemist's personal mana.

Simply gathering mana at the fingertips allows one to perform this on a base of any material.

It looks very convenient, but in reality, it is not easy at all.

As Lan Qingyou's finger outlined the final image, a puff of black smoke suddenly erupted from the base, and the alchemy array on it was instantly ruined.