Fulan Snowfield

After leaving Pearl Water Cave, Lin Ye climbed all the way to the summit.

Beneath the bright moonlight, the mountaintop wasn't dark at all. Instead, it was clear, as if covered in a layer of frost.

After steadying himself, Lin Ye couldn't help looking back toward Pearl Water Cave.

He was absolutely certain that some enormous creature had been behind him during that brief stretch of darkness.

Its presence had been so intense, it was as if an eye had grown on the back of his head and he'd seen it with his own eyes.

Even more, the thing had felt humanoid, not like some kind of beast.

But that faint, intermittent laughter hadn't sounded like anything a human could make.

"Night Demon."

For no apparent reason, those two words surfaced in his mind.

His heart sank. Frowning, he thought of the purpose of the "Night Demon" rune: it was a special rune used in some kind of summoning ritual.

"So... did I accidentally open a connection to what they call Hell, causing some kind of infernal creature to appear briefly?"

"Was it a coincidence, or..."

He looked at the potion in his hand: [Heart of Dark Night Boiling].

[Ingredient Name: Heart of Dark Night Boiling]

[Ingredient Category: Potion]

[Ingredient Rank: Mortal Rank]

[Edible Part: Whole]

[Effect: Nourishes with yin energy, slightly increases Strength and Intelligence, and modestly improves night vision.]

If it hadn't been a coincidence, and this happened every time he brewed [Heart of Dark Night Boiling]...

"I'll have to be more careful."

He silently made up his mind not to wait around next time he brewed it.

He looked at the effect listed at the bottom of the ingredient information. It only increased Strength and Intelligence.

Thinking back to the recipe for [Night of the Black Goat], he realized that the descriptions were indeed different.

"Heart of Dark Night Boiling" mentioned Strength and Mental Power, while "Night of the Black Goat" mentioned physical strength and agility.

Mental Power was connected to the Intelligence attribute, while agility was connected to Dexterity.

Strength needed no explanation; it referred to the Strength attribute.

But physical strength didn't just mean Strength. It probably encompassed Strength, stamina, vitality, and the like.

So physical strength corresponded to both Strength and Constitution.

He nodded slightly. Potionology really was a fairly rigorous discipline.

It might not measure up to modern science, but that Church was clearly an ancient medieval building. For its time, it had to be considered top-tier.

Once he'd collected himself, he looked at the potion in his hand.

"Should I take it now?"

He turned his hand over, revealing the Ouroboros mark on its back. Its seventy-eight scales glimmered faintly.

He had three chances left—or, more accurately, two, since after the third, he'd immediately enter that medieval Church.

And one of those two chances had to be saved for [Past in the Darkness].

Four Potential Points. He couldn't afford to miss out!

After a long silence, with moisture gathering on his hair, Lin Ye came back to himself.

He still decided to take the potion and test its effects.

So far, there were three known ways to light up the scales: unlocking an achievement, taking a potion, and eating an ingredient with a yin-energy-nourishing effect.

Taking the potion now would leave him with only one chance to make a mistake.

But in reality, all three factors were under his control.

As long as nothing unexpected happened, there wouldn't be a problem.

Besides... he wanted to test the effect of the Intelligence attribute.

Once he'd made up his mind, he didn't hesitate. He pulled out the stopper and downed the potion in one gulp.

The heart, about the size of a longan, had a tough texture. It didn't feel like meat so much as some kind of leather.

"Gulp."

As he swallowed the potion, a cool sensation spread from his stomach, like a cold, slick little snake slithering through him.

Before long, the chill faded.

Lin Ye clenched his fist slightly. The feeling of his improvement was so clear... it was hard to resist.

It was more exhilarating than any stimulant, making his blood race.

Suddenly, his eyelid twitched.

He looked into the distance. It was as though a thin film had been pulled away from the world, leaving everything clearer.

"What's this feeling?"

He glanced around, surprise spreading across his face.

Night vision! A faint ability to see in the dark!

Everything around him seemed a shade brighter. It wasn't quite like daylight, but there were hardly any dark spots in the forest anymore.

"Excellent!"

"Now I'll be able to see what that thing is the next time I brew a potion, right?"

He grinned, his rows of white teeth neat and menacing.

"Could it be some kind of ingredient?"

He lifted his head slightly. The bright moon was reflected in his eyes, and his mind felt vast and empty. An indescribable feeling stirred within him.

"Monument," he silently recited.

[Strength: 0.71]

[Intelligence: 0.56]

[Potion Apprentice (7/10)]

[Desire of Gluttony (2/10)]

His Strength and Intelligence had each increased by 0.01. His Potion Apprentice count had gone up by three, and Desire of Gluttony by one.

He put away the Monument and was about to get up and head back to test how the Intelligence attribute affected his ability to translate the notes.

Suddenly, a stinging pain struck between his eyebrows, but it vanished in less than a second.

He took out his phone and opened the front-facing camera.

The dim light from the screen illuminated his face.

A thin, dark-red line between his eyebrows wasn't very noticeable, but it had a strange allure that drew the eye.

He touched it. There was no raised or indented sensation; it felt more like a tattoo.

"A side effect? Or is this the Night Demon's blessing?"

As he wondered, the dark-red line gradually faded.

After a few seconds of silence, he stood up.

If he made it back alive from that medieval Church next time, he'd drink another bottle and see whether the side effects got worse.

He didn't linger. Hoisting his backpack, he left.

At his computer desk, Lin Ye picked up the Elementary Potionology Notes.

He opened the notes, and a hand-drawn picture of Black Spiral Grass came into view.

He gently touched the page, still vividly remembering how excited he'd been the night he first translated [Night of the Black Goat].

It had been the first time he'd felt such a clear, greedy longing for the "supernatural."

He turned the page. The recipe for [Heart of Dark Night Boiling] was written quietly on the paper.

"Night Demon..."

He murmured the words and turned to the third page.

A hand-drawn ginkgo tree greeted him. Compared to an ordinary ginkgo, its leaves were clearly much broader.

By proportion, each leaf was at least as large as a washbasin, and the leaves seemed to have icy, thornlike patterns on them.

[Millennium Snow White Fruit Tree]

After translating the name, a wave of dizziness washed over him.

But Lin Ye smiled. The dizziness was a little lighter than last time.

That meant improving his Mental Power—or, in other words, his Intelligence attribute—was effective!

He immediately opened his computer and typed "Millennium Snow White Fruit Tree" into the search bar.

Related information appeared soon after.

"The Snow White Fruit Tree, also known as the Snow Ginkgo Tree."

"Native region: the northern snowfields of the Tin Deer Kingdom."

"The Snow White Fruit Tree is one of only two extant ginkgo species. Its sole growing region is the Fulan Snowfield in the northern Tin Deer Kingdom, at an elevation of over two thousand meters."

"It is the oldest gymnosperm to have survived from the prehistoric era to the present day."

"Its fruit tastes sweet and has a peculiar fragrance..."

"..."