Calming Potion

Stone Root Grass powder, a small packet wrapped in oil paper. Once opened, it revealed roughly five grams of grayish-white powder, carrying the bitter, astringent scent unique to plant roots. Its purpose was to act as a stabilizer, blending the medicinal properties together.

Pure Crystal Sand, a tiny pinch wrapped in an even smaller piece of oil paper. There was only about one gram, used during the final stage to precipitate impurities and improve the potion's purity.

One wooden stirring rod, two chunks of charcoal, and two translucent crystal bottles—those were all the contents of the herb packet. Li Ang carefully counted them, silently calculating.

"Two portions... enough for two Calming Potions at most," he murmured.

Old Morrie's words echoed in his ears at that moment. Successfully brewing one qualified Calming Potion would give him a chance to become Mentor Eve's apprentice.

Though he still did not fully understand how taking on apprentices worked, judging from Old Morrie's words, this was a rare opportunity. Naturally, he would not let it slip away.

He only had room for one failure. He had to be exceedingly careful.

Li Ang sat down at the table and opened Fundamentals of Potioncraft again. His fingertips brushed over the rough pages as he flipped directly to the page recording the Calming Potion formula.

He studied its contents carefully. Heat 150 milliliters of pure water to seventy degrees, then add one whole Tranquility Flower Stamen. While stirring, use mental power to guide the release of its medicinal properties.

Once the potion turned dark purple, add six Silverleaf Orchid leaves. Stir evenly, then add two grams of Stone Root Grass powder. Continue stirring, and once the liquid transformed into gold, add 0.5 grams of Pure Crystal Sand to purify it.

Li Ang softly repeated the crucial steps, matching the book's descriptions one by one with the materials spread across the table.

Li Ang quickly noticed the difficulty. This basic set did not provide any measuring tools, meaning apprentices trying to brew Calming Potion could not precisely control the temperature or dosage. This was probably the hidden test—Eve's test.

But that did not trouble Li Ang. In his previous life, he had worked in a concrete laboratory for a time. Hundreds of loss-on-ignition tests had given him a practiced hand at measuring.

He took a deep breath. First, he condensed [Breeze Technique] into a wind blade and shaved a long, thin strip from the desk leg to use as a scraper.

Then he cast [Water Creation Spell]. Invisible, tiny water molecules in the air rapidly gathered together, condensing above the desk into a crystal-clear water sphere the size of a fist.

Li Ang carefully guided it down into the crucible. Graduations were etched inside the crucible—exactly 150 milliliters, neither more nor less.

Next, he took out a pitch-black piece of charcoal and placed it in the recessed fuel slot at the bottom of the crucible, then pulled out the flint and a small piece of tinder he carried with him.

"Scrape... scrape..."

The flint struck, and a few sparks fell onto the tinder, quickly setting it alight.

Li Ang carefully stuffed the burning tinder into the crucible's fuel chamber, igniting the charcoal. The orange-red flames soon stabilized, licking at the bottom of the crucible with faint crackling sounds.

Li Ang focused completely, feeling the subtle connection between himself and the [Standard Practice Crucible Lv1].

A sense of control over temperature flowed from the crucible to him, putting him more at ease.

He had not expected binding a facility to have such a benefit. For potion-brewing, this was like being given wings to a tiger.

The temperature was about seventy degrees. First step: add the Tranquility Flower Stamen.

Li Ang picked up a flattened, dark-purple flower stamen and carefully dropped it into the water according to the illustration in the book.

The stamen sank as soon as it touched the water. A faint, tranquil fragrance slowly rose together with wisps of pale purple mist.

He did not dare slack off. He immediately picked up the wooden stirring rod and stirred counterclockwise at a steady pace, just as the book instructed.

The Astral Stars in his Mental World rotated slightly. Mental power passed through the stirring rod, guiding the stamen's dissolution in the water and the release of its medicinal properties.

At this moment, he felt the boost brought by the [Standard Practice Crucible Lv1]. The medicinal properties were released more steadily, and the mental power consumed by his guidance was reduced considerably.

When the pure water in the crucible changed from colorless to dark purple, he swiftly added six dried Silverleaf Orchid leaves.

Once the leaves touched the dark-purple potion, their edges rapidly unfurled. A faint, mint-like cool fragrance blended into the earlier delicate scent.

He began stirring again, this time three clockwise turns, allowing the medicinal properties of the two ingredients to begin their initial fusion.

With the addition of the Silverleaf Orchid, the liquid in the crucible gradually turned a murky dark red and began to churn restlessly.

Seeing this, Li Ang immediately used the small wooden strip to measure out roughly two grams of Stone Root Grass powder. Holding his breath, he steadied his wrist and evenly sprinkled the powder into the potion.

The moment the powder entered, the potion's color shifted from dark red to a slightly cloudy pale gold. Yet it remained unstable; dark red and pale gold flickered back and forth, accompanied by faint hissing sounds.

The Stone Root Grass powder was acting as a stabilizer, fusing the medicinal properties and preventing overly active energy from destroying the balance.

Li Ang's heart rose into his throat. This was the key step where Calming Potion was most likely to fail. Conflicts between medicinal properties often erupted at this very moment.

He gripped the stirring rod tightly and continued stirring and guiding, doing everything he could to maintain the stability within the potion.

Very soon, the potion calmed down, and its color stabilized into a cloudy pale gold.

He decisively picked up the smaller oil-paper packet, separated out half of the Pure Crystal Sand inside—fine as dust and glimmering faintly—and sprinkled it into the crucible.

The final step began: precipitating the impurities. The stirring rod rapidly swirled through the potion three times.

Within the cloudy pale-gold potion, extremely tiny black and brown flocculent particles, nearly invisible to the naked eye, seemed to be drawn by an invisible magnetic force. They swiftly gathered around the crystal sand, clung to it, and settled.

In just a few breaths, the upper layer of the potion became clear, displaying a pure pale gold with a gentle sheen.

"Success!" Great joy surged through Li Ang's heart, but his hands did not stop moving. He extinguished the charcoal fire and waited for the potion in the crucible to gradually cool. At this point, it gave off a faint fragrance; merely smelling it made his mind feel peaceful.

Once the potion was no longer scalding hot, he took out a crystal bottle included in the herb packet and carefully poured the still-warm pale-gold liquid into it.

When the last drop of potion slipped into the bottle's mouth, he sealed the stopper. Only then did he truly relax, his back already soaked with a fine layer of sweat.

After clearing away the remaining impurities in the crucible, Li Ang followed the same procedure and began a second round of brewing. This time, he was far more at ease, though his mental power nearing depletion midway truly gave him a scare.

If not for the effects brought by the [Acceleration Pocket Watch Lv1] and [Standard Practice Crucible Lv1], two level-zero spells and one basic potion brewing session would have been an apprentice's mental power limit.

As a wizard, keeping track of his remaining mental power at all times was the most basic requirement. This could not happen again next time, Li Ang warned himself.