[Volcano Worm]

After setting aside her "mourning" for Li Huai, Lan Qingyou picked up her Medicine Bag.

The Healing Potion had given her an idea.

If Healing Potions worked both when taken and when applied externally, just in different ways, could Mana Potions work the same way?

After all, both the Medicine Bag and the Moonlight Stone Dagger could be repaired.

But they needed Magic Power to maintain them.

Clearly, using her pitiful few dozen points of Magic Power to maintain two Magic Items that had probably once been high-grade would barely make a dent.

But what if she used Mana Potions?

She had just brewed 600 bottles that day.

Aside from the 200 +50 Mana Potions she needed to give Li Huai, she could try using the other +30 Mana Potions for something besides selling them.

With that in mind, Lan Qingyou stood up and went over to the two batches of potion that hadn't been bottled yet.

She decided to use them for the experiment.

Together, the two batches would restore 12,000 points of Magic Power.

They were obviously the best choice for the test.

So Lan Qingyou began filtering the two batches.

Once she was done, she poured them all into the cauldron that had just been emptied, then tossed in the Moonlight Stone Dagger and left it to soak.

Then she picked up the mortar, dropped in the dried Centipedes one by one, and pounded them with the Herb Pestle Hammer.

As she worked, she read the book spread out on the desk—a perfect way to work and study at the same time.

The next day.

After a good night's rest, Lan Qingyou got up and checked the Regional Channel as usual. Aside from a few people mentioning how windy it had been the night before, nothing had happened.

Then she went to check on the dagger in the cauldron.

The potion, which had originally been pale blue, had turned white.

Even unsealed, there was no way a potion could evaporate that much in a single night.

Could soaking it in potion really have worked?

Lan Qingyou quickly fished the dagger out of the cauldron, dried it with a towel, and placed it on the Small Screen.

[Moonlight Stone Dagger (C)]

[Effect: Damage +50, Strength +31.]

[Description: A dagger made of Moonstone. It was likely crafted by a master, making it exceptionally sharp. However, the prolonged loss of Magic Power has greatly reduced its damage and bonus.]

[Description 2: Slowly recovering after absorbing a small amount of Magic Power.]

"Hahahaha! It worked! I did it!"

Seeing the extra point of Strength and the new Description 2, Lan Qingyou couldn't help throwing her head back and laughing.

Being able to restore the dagger this way was already wonderful, but the Medicine Bag was even more important!

Its space! She couldn't even imagine how much it could hold once upgraded!

Still, 12,000 points of Magic Power counted as only a "small amount" for the dagger. That could only mean the item had been a high grade to begin with.

She knew she might have stumbled across a treasure, but Lan Qingyou still couldn't resist picking up the dagger and kissing it twice. Then she blew on it and wiped it with the towel.

Now that she knew how to restore both pieces of equipment, Lan Qingyou didn't waste any more time and immediately started brewing potions.

Of course,

she first emptied the Medicine Bag, then tossed it and the dagger into a Wooden Barrel before starting to brew.

As for what was in the barrel, it was the +50 Mana Potion she had originally set aside for Li Huai.

He was already dead, so she could only sell it. She might as well use it to improve her two treasures.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

A little after two in the afternoon, the desk chimed with a message from a friend.

Lan Qingyou set down the stone stirring rod and floated out of the Alchemy Workshop.

She checked her messages and saw that they were from Li Huai.

Li Huai: "Do you have any Antidote?"

Lan Qingyou: "You're still alive?"

Lan Qingyou was surprised.

Li Huai: "The Magic Desk removes the names of people who die. If you stop seeing my name one day, then I'm really dead."

Lan Qingyou: "Haha, very funny. That made me laugh."

She had no idea what he'd been doing the previous day, but since he was still alive, they could continue their trade.

He didn't seem to be doing well, though. That much was clear from his live portrait.

His face was pale, and his lips had almost no color.

Lan Qingyou: "What kind of Antidote Potion do you need?"

Li Huai: "One for Fire Element poison."

Lan Qingyou: "I don't have one ready."

Li Huai: "Can you make one?"

Lan Qingyou: "Eight hours. You can decide what the overtime fee is."

Li Huai: "Fine."

It was already a little past two in the afternoon, so eight hours later would be ten at night.

Li Huai didn't haggle.

After sending his reply, he immediately traded some of the things he had on hand to Lan Qingyou.

Aside from the Obsidian she needed, there were also some herbs and a Material Treasure Chest.

Li Huai: "I thought you might be able to use what's in the Material Treasure Chest, so consider it the overtime fee."

Lan Qingyou read Li Huai's message, then opened the Material Treasure Chest.

Inside was a chubby lump of flesh squeezed into the chest.

She reached in, took it out, and examined it closely.

Good grief!

It wasn't a lump of flesh at all, but some kind of... insect, probably?

It looked like a fleshy tumor, with no bones anywhere in its body. It was about twenty centimeters long and weighed a little over half a kilogram. Numerous short, thick, fleshy legs lined both sides of its belly, supporting its body and helping it move.

Lan Qingyou frowned, then identified it with the Small Screen.

[Species Talent: ■■■■]

[Skills: ■■■■, ■■■]

[Description: A worm mutated by living in high-temperature areas. Its corpse is an Alchemist's favorite. Don't be fooled by its lack of a mouth or eyes—its Mental Attack is powerful. Survivors below level ten are advised not to approach.]

Good grief, it was a mental-type monster. That was a first.

But what did it mean by "an Alchemist's favorite"?

Lan Qingyou: "Was this what poisoned you?"

Still confused, Lan Qingyou put the Volcano Worm back in the chest and asked him.

Li Huai: "No. It was something stronger. If I hadn't sent it into the lava and vaporized it, I probably wouldn't have made it back."

Lan Qingyou: "That might be a little tricky. Without a sample of the poison, I can only make an Apprentice Grade Antidote Potion and see if it works."

There were many kinds of poison, so Lan Qingyou couldn't be sure it would work.

That kind of Antidote was basically an Omnipotent antidote.

It either worked or it didn't—about a fifty-fifty chance of curing the poison.

So she wanted to prepare Li Huai for the possibility.

Li Huai: "Do your best."

She couldn't tell if he was desperate enough to try anything or had simply given up.

Either way, Li Huai agreed.

Lan Qingyou stood up, set the Material Treasure Chest containing the worm aside, and went to the Alchemy Workshop. She immediately put out the fire and emptied the potion that was nearly finished.

Since she had obtained the corpse of a monster above level ten, losing a little potion was no big deal.

As for that "Alchemist's favorite," she would have to wait until she had time to look into it.