Strong, But Not Lasting

"If he wants it, then give it to him. If you want to pocket the Golden Sore Medicine formula too, that's fine. With my meager cultivation, there's nothing I can do about it."

Yin Ming spread his hands and gave up. He would rather give away the Golden Sore Medicine formula for free than deal with powerful wizards or warlocks.

Never mind whether the other party harbored malicious intent—if their emotions surged too violently and they leaked even a trace of their aura, they could twist a low-level wizard's mind or inflict irreversible bodily mutations.

If they really pocketed the Golden Sore Medicine formula, all that mattered was being able to find the debtor. Once he had strength and spare time in the future, he could go plant a few mushrooms.

"No, I didn't. How could I? I, Anthony Silvercoin, am a trustworthy merchant with a reputation known far and wide."

Anthony Silvercoin hastily denied it flatly. Pocketing the formula was out of the question; the risk was far too great.

But secretly taking a look at the formula—no, giving the formula a second layer of packaging and accidentally catching a glimpse of its contents—was still entirely possible.

After all, stuffing a sheet of rough paper into an envelope without sealing it at all was truly too disrespectful toward an honored guest.

"..."

The next day!

Anthony Silvercoin copied the Golden Sore Medicine formula onto an ancient parchment and placed it in an exquisite redwood box.

He left the underground city and headed into a gloomy, damp forest. Beneath the watchful gaze of countless dim eyes, he approached an enormous banyan tree with jade-green leaves, its canopy covering several miles around.

The ancient tree transformed in a flash into an old man clad in black robes, with green hair and green eyes.

His gaze sharpened as he said coldly, "Didn't we agree to trade face-to-face? Why did only you come?"

Anthony Silvercoin's accompanying wizard artifact lit up, and the wood-like skin on his face instantly crumbled away, resisting the erosion of the other party's powerful life radiation.

He took out the redwood box and smiled. "The seller agreed to let you inspect the goods first. You may confirm the formula's value before paying. If you think it isn't worth it, you may simply refuse to pay."

"I'd like to see what kind of Zero-Ring potion formula dares demand such an astronomical price."

The green-eyed old man snorted coldly.

It was his first time seeing a potion that contained no magical plant ingredients whatsoever.

Second-Ring Bloodline Potions and wizardry scrolls were not worth much to him. He merely wanted to satisfy his curiosity.

At the same time, he was irritated that the other party had treated him like a fat sheep for slaughter, so he made no effort to restrain his tyrannical life radiation.

"Three ingredients. Two plant ingredients match what I analyzed, and only..."

Mold!!!

Mold could also serve as a potion ingredient!!!

As the parchment unfolded and the green-eyed old man discovered the mold extract, two piercing rays of light suddenly burst from his green pupils.

Formula? A damned Zero-Ring potion formula? It was utterly worthless. But using bacteria as potion ingredients—this idea was the truly priceless thing to an apothecary.

"Honored King of the Green Forest, is this formula worth the price?"

Seeing the green-eyed old man staring blankly at the parchment, Anthony Silvercoin spoke and shattered the silent atmosphere.

"It is! Worth a thousand times the price, ten thousand times the price."

The green-eyed old man reined in his life radiation, took out a storage wizard artifact, and tossed it to Anthony Silvercoin. After pondering for a moment, his face darkened slightly. "If you can guarantee that the formula will not leak, I am willing to pay ten times, even a hundred times the price."

Anthony Silvercoin shook his head with a regretful expression. "What a pity! This fortune and I were not fated for one another. Those who should know already know!"

The Golden Sore Medicine formula was useless to individual apothecaries. For an individual to cultivate extraordinary bacteria and then develop a potion from them, they would have to wait until monkeys grew old.

It was useful only to major powers such as the Warlock Alliance and Wizard Black Tower, which possessed countless apothecaries.

Anthony Silvercoin was grateful that he had taken a peek—no, accidentally glimpsed the formula's contents while changing its packaging. Otherwise, he might even have been silenced.

"..."

On the third day, Anthony Silvercoin delivered a wooden case.

Inside lay the rewards for this transaction: a Second-Ring Lava Demon Bloodline Potion, a Second-Ring Blood-Melting Potion, a Second-Ring Lava Troll True-Name Totem, and a Zero-Ring Wizardry scroll, Wizard's Hand.

"A scroll! A wizard talisman."

Yin Ming's eyes lit up at the sight of the scroll.

He wanted the scroll in order to analyze the materials composing it, obtain the technique for preserving true blood activity, and create Talismans.

Therefore, he did not care whether the wizardry sealed within the scroll was powerful.

He directly destroyed the rune energy circuit on the beast-hide scroll. Only after its activity had dissipated did he place it into the Scavenger Gourd for analysis.

[Name: Wizardry Scroll (Damaged).]

[Components: First-Ring Devouring Snake Hide, First-Ring Blood, Soul Crystal (Liquid), Star Sand...]

[Note: A wizardry scroll deliberately damaged by someone. Though it had not been of much use to begin with.]

[Extractable:...]

Talismans could reduce the consumption of wizardry and let wizards use wizardry directly without tracing runes.

They made up for the problem of wizards being ambushed and having no time to cast wizardry, as well as being unable to cast after exhausting their spiritual power and magic power.

They might not increase a wizard's combat strength as much as an outer elixir dharma form, but they could vastly improve a wizard's ability to survive.

"A scroll... The substance preserving true blood activity is actually Soul Crystal—liquid."

Yin Ming naturally knew of Soul Crystal, a mineral specialty of the Abyss, but he had never heard of Liquid Soul Crystal.

This was not some metallic substance that could simply be heated continuously until it melted into liquid.

"Extract:..."

Yin Ming chose to extract the Liquid Soul Crystal.

Only grayish-brown blood rune traces remained on the scroll, while a drop of iridescent gelatinous liquid condensed out.

Liquid Soul Crystal had no difference in effect from the solid form. Since it was not a material substance like a spiritual power crystal, how could it transform from solid into liquid?

For the time being, Yin Ming could find no clue and could only put the creation of Talismans on hold once again.

"..."

Afterward.

Yin Ming combined the Second-Ring Bloodline Potion and the Blood-Melting Potion into one.

He created the Second-Ring Lava Troll Bloodline Potion 2.0.

[Name: Bloodline Potion 2.0 (Second-Ring).]

[Components: (Second-Ring) Lava Troll Essence Blood: 32%, (First-Ring) Blood Crystal of the Crimsonblood Vine: 32%, Gold-Eroding Water: 7%...]

[Note: When you gaze into the Abyss, the Abyss also gazes into you. This potion can completely transform you into an Abyssal Lava Troll King. Comment: You don't actually think the method of use is oral consumption, do you?]

[Mutation: 99%.]

As long as he inscribed the true-name totem pattern onto the outer elixir, the Lava Troll form's upper limit could rise from First-Ring to Second-Ring.

Yin Ming did not feel particularly excited. The dharma form was indeed powerful, but its greatest problem was that it lasted far too briefly.

At First-Ring, it could only endure for a dozen seconds or so. At Second-Ring, he was afraid he simply... could not sustain it at all.

"A Junior Wizard Apprentice's magic power and spiritual power simply don't last! The urgent matter is not increasing wizardry's power, but raising my cultivation and increasing my spiritual power and magic power limits."

"It's time to leave the underground city for a while and raise my cultivation."

"..."

Before leaving.

Yin Ming first went to the exchange building, intending to use merit points to exchange for some materials.

"Scholar Eno, what good things have you brought to sell this time?"

Anthony Silvercoin welcomed him warmly. Although he had not collected any commission from this transaction, the deal with Wizard Black Tower had been pure profit.

"Nothing! I need to exchange for a large amount of Quasit true blood. Start with 500,000 merit points' worth. If your stock is insufficient, give me everything you have left," Yin Ming said.