Moon Essence

The effect of the Minor Purification Potion redeemed from the Book of Truth exceeded Donald's expectations. After mixing it into the inferior wine he had purchased, he found that the previously murky liquid instantly clarified. The top layer became a bright, translucent wine-red, while a layer of deep red impurities settled at the bottom of the glass.

However, the greater surprise was yet to come.

Donald handed the glass back to the butler and said, "Uncle Code, taste this wine again and see if there is any difference!"

Although Code had his doubts, he followed his young master's instructions, took the glass, and downed it with a frown.

Unlike the previous inferior liquid, the second glass of wine slid into his mouth and down his throat like the softest, smoothest honey.

The refreshing, sweet taste left a lingering aftertaste, and the previous astringency had transformed into a different, slightly tart sweetness. His tongue felt this marvelous flavor, and he couldn't help but shiver all over.

After the glass of wine reached his stomach, a cool sensation slowly spread throughout his body, clearing his mind. After a moment, Code emerged from his intoxication and exclaimed:

"What is this? It's wonderful! This is the most delicious wine I have ever tasted in my life. It is likely even better than the top-tier red wine the Kingdom of Selt exports to the nations of the continent!"

Donald also drank his own glass of the blended wine. It was indeed extremely delicious, and he felt his spirit refreshed after consuming it.

Blending wine? This was an idea that had suddenly occurred to him after seeing the vineyards in the villages along the way.

If you asked what the most famous product of the Kingdom of Selt was, eight out of ten people would say their wine.

The Kingdom of Selt is located in the northern part of the continent. The climate is slightly dry, the temperature is lower than in other parts of the continent, and the significant temperature difference between day and night is naturally suitable for the growth of wine grapes. The North Shire mountain area, in particular, produces grape varieties with excellent sweetness and flavor.

Therefore, the wine from North Shire has always been one of the top three varieties in the entire kingdom, and the high-quality wine exported by the Kingdom of Selt is one of the most precious beverages on the continent. A bottle of top-tier Selt red wine can sell for a high price of over a dozen Gold Sol in other parts of the continent, and even then, it is highly sought after by nobles.

Because the annual production of high-quality Selt wine is scarce, and it is separated from the other nations of the continent by two dangerous regions, its territory does not border other countries, and it can only be transported by sea. Sea transport in this world is a very dangerous adventure; although there are magical and divine means to assist navigation, the risks of maritime trade are far greater than in the Age of Discovery in Donald's previous life.

This is the reason why the price of Selt wine remains high.

Having seen the vineyards in the villages and thinking of the Baron of Red Maple's vineyard, Donald decided to convert the vacant farm on his estate into a vineyard as well. With the advanced knowledge he brought from his previous life, experimenting to brew high-quality wine should be no problem.

He bought these ready-made local wines just to conduct experiments.

It should be known that the Kingdom of Selt is located in the northern part of the continent, where the climate is relatively cold. Among the three most common types of alcohol consumed by the people here—barley wine, fire wine, and grape wine—barley wine sells the fastest in summer, while fire wine, a strong spirit with an alcohol content comparable to the low-proof white spirits of Donald's previous life, is the most popular in the harsh winter.

As for wine, because the price is generally expensive, it is usually only consumed frequently by merchants and nobles. However, wine has a mellow aroma, and drinking it in small amounts also has the effect of calming emotions and delaying aging. For spellcasters like mages who need to remain calm at all times, wine is the best choice.

The purpose of Donald buying these inferior wines was to experiment and see what effects would be produced if some of the potions from the Book of Truth were redeemed and diluted with wine.

The cost of the potions in the Book of Truth is quite cheap; if he were to sell them, he would certainly make a fortune. However, Donald also had some concerns about this.

After all, the origin of these potions in his hands is unknown, and he has not yet truly mastered much of the alchemy and pharmacology he is only just beginning to learn. Suddenly bringing out so many types of potions would certainly fetch a high price, but while earning a large amount of money, it would also arouse the suspicion of others. His career is just starting, and his strength is not yet at a level where he can be reckless. If he were to attract the attention of some powerful professionals, the secret of the Book of Truth would likely be hard to keep.

By then, death might be a relief for him; one must know that among the professionals of this world, there are skills that can torture the soul.

Therefore, he prepared to try a safer way to promote these potions, one that would allow him to earn enough funds for his own development without arousing the suspicion of certain forces.

Donald first took the cheapest Minor Purification Potion for his experiment, and the result was an unexpectedly great success.

Consequently, Donald ordered the butler to immediately head to Red Maple Town and Giant Stone City to buy as many crystal bottles as possible for storing high-end wine, and to order seedlings of several excellent wine grape varieties. It seems he has already decided to pursue the wine industry to the end.

Having tasted the top-tier wine just now, the butler Code was very optimistic about his young master's winemaking enterprise and immediately hurried off to handle the tasks his master had ordered.

After the butler left, Donald wasted some energy to redeem three types of magic potions: Life Potion, Magic Potion, and Recovery Potion.

After diluting them into wine glasses for testing, the results were not satisfactory.

Except for the Purification Potion, although the other three potions still had certain medicinal effects after dilution, they lacked the effect of the Purification Potion, which could turn inferior wine into something mellow. This would undoubtedly be difficult for those mages and nobles to accept.

The tasks he had just ordered the butler to handle were intended to create these attribute-infused fine wines and then sell them to wealthy mages and nobles. Deducting the negligible cost of the inferior wine, if these fine wines were successful, he would only need one year to earn the profit that his estate would normally produce in ten years. This would have immeasurable benefits for his own professional advancement and the future development of his estate's industries.

"How can this be! Could it be that only the Purification Potion has the effect of purification, and that is why it changed the quality of the inferior wine?"

After more than half a day of research, it was already evening. The butler, who had gone out on business, had already brought back most of the goods, except for the grape vine seedlings, which would need to wait a few days to be delivered.

At this time, Donald finally researched the fine wine with various magical effects. After many comparisons, he found that only by first purifying the wine with a small amount of Purification Potion and then mixing in other attribute potions could the wine achieve both a wonderful taste and those magical effects.

However, he also found that doing so would greatly increase the cost. Deducting the redemption price of the Purification Potion and other potions, the profit would be reduced by more than half, so Donald temporarily abandoned this idea.

After eating a hearty dinner, he looked up and saw the moonlight outside like water; the pale silver moon of this world had risen.

This made him suddenly wonder if the Moon Well on the Tree of Life had already started operating!

Thinking of this, Donald hurriedly mounted a horse from the estate and rushed toward the location of the Tree of Life in the back.

In less than two minutes, Donald, riding fast, arrived before the Tree of Life.

Ordering the Tree of Life to send him to the top of the canopy, Donald immediately spotted a small pool of liquid emitting a crystalline glow in the Moon Well basin hidden within the dense foliage.

Carefully collecting that shallow pool of liquid with a bottle, it didn't even amount to a teacup's worth.

After carefully dripping a few drops into his mouth, he immediately felt his body surrounded by a gentle coolness, and both his physical strength and mental power were instantly replenished.

"The taste is good! This effect should be about the same as an equal amount of Life Potion and Magic Potion! Moreover, the Moon Essence produced by this Moon Well is different from those rigid potions with single effects materialized by the Book of Truth; it also possesses the vitality of natural power. Taking it for a long time also has a remarkable effect on recovering hidden injuries and increasing vitality!"

"But this amount is too small! Tree of Life, is there any way to increase the production of the Moon Well?"

After asking the Tree of Life, Donald concluded that the level of the Tree of Life was still low, so it could currently only build three Moon Wells. Any more, and it would be unable to control the conversion effect; building them would be a waste.

Each Moon Well only generates about one large cup of Moon Essence by absorbing moonlight energy at full capacity every night. To fill a pool, it would likely take at least half a year.

Therefore, Donald spent energy to order the Book of Truth to build two more Moon Wells, had the Tree of Life entwine them in the canopy, and then returned to his room with the small half-bottle of Moon Essence he had collected, picking up a glass of wine to experiment again. Only this time, the experimental material was not the magic potions he had redeemed, but the Moon Essence produced by the Tree of Life and the Moon Well together.

After dripping a few drops of Moon Essence, the result was, as expected, a significant improvement in the quality of the wine.

"Just as I expected, natural Moon Essence can improve water quality very well, so it can naturally achieve the effect of improving the quality of wine! Although it is different from the purification effect of the Purification Potion, it can be said that each has its own merits!"

Seeing this result, Donald excitedly called the butler, ordered people to boil two large pots of hot water, sterilized all the crystal bottles he had purchased, and filled them with the wine Donald had blended. Then, he covered them with corks that had been roasted over fire for sterilization and sealed them with wax.

He purchased a total of five barrels of wine in the village, three of which were red wine and two white. After using a small portion of one red wine barrel for experiments, he bottled the rest into seventy bottles of red wine and fifty bottles of white wine.

Donald discovered that red wine possessed the greatest affinity with Moon Essence. He infused each barrel of red wine with undiluted Moon Essence; once diluted by the wine, the flavor became exquisite, and the red wine gained the added benefits of slightly restoring stamina and mental energy, as well as nourishing the body.

As for the two barrels of white wine, he blended them with two bottles of Purification Potion to achieve a superb flavor. These large bottles of Purification Potion were significantly more potent than the Minor Purification Potion, granting the white wine a notable ability to restore mental energy while helping the drinker clear their mind and focus on their tasks. This was the result of the Purification Potion's ability to refine mental energy, increase mental cohesion, and dispel negative status effects.

Having the cost-free Moon Essence saved Donald half the production cost of his potions, allowing his previous plans to be implemented even more effectively.

The cost of a crystal bottle ranged from two to three Silver Moon, and a bottle of Purification Potion consumed only a negligible amount of energy. Yet, Donald set the price for both types of fine wine at a minimum of fifty Gold Sol per bottle, several times the price of Celt's premium wines. If all one hundred and twenty bottles were sold, they would bring in a total of six thousand Gold Sol, with a net profit margin as high as ninety percent.

In other words, the profit from this business would be nearly a hundred times the cost. With a hundredfold return, if he could maintain this operation in the long run, the title of the continent's richest man would surely belong to none other than Donald.

Of course, one must also consider the balance of supply and demand. The nobles and mages of the continent are, after all, a minority; they cannot consume these fine wines without limit. Therefore, selling them in batches at intervals is the way to go, lest an oversupply causes the goods to depreciate and fetch lower prices.

With that, he immediately summoned his butler, Code, and ordered him to have the coachman prepare the carriage for tomorrow morning, as he intended to head to Giant Stone City to test the waters!