Calming Potion

Stone Root Grass powder, a small packet wrapped in oil paper. Once opened, it contained about five grams of grayish-white powder with the bitter scent unique to plant roots. Its purpose was to serve as a stabilizer and fuse the potion's effects.

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

A wooden stirring rod, two pieces of charcoal, and two translucent crystal bottles—that was everything in the herb package. Li Ang carefully counted them, silently calculating.

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

Old Morrie's words echoed in his ears. If he successfully brewed one qualified Calming Potion, he would have a chance to become Eve's apprentice.

Though he still did not fully understand how she chose apprentices, 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 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 carefully studied the contents. Heat 150 milliliters of pure water to seventy degrees, then add one whole Tranquility Flower Stamen. Stir while using 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 turned golden, add 0.5 grams of Pure Crystal Sand to purify it.

Li Ang quietly recited the key steps, matching the book's descriptions with the materials spread across the table one by one.

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

However, this did not trouble Li Ang. In his previous life, he had worked in a concrete laboratory for a while. Hundreds of loss-on-ignition tests had given him a knack for weighing materials.

He took a deep breath and first used [Breeze Technique] to condense a wind blade, cutting a thin strip of wood from a desk leg to use as a scraper.

Next, he cast [Water Creation Spell]. Invisible, tiny water molecules in the air rapidly gathered, forming a fist-sized, crystal-clear ball of water above the desk.

Li Ang carefully guided it into the crucible. Markings were etched inside, and it came to exactly 150 milliliters.

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

"Scratch... scratch..."

The flint struck together, sending several sparks onto the tinder and quickly igniting it.

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

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

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

So binding a facility came with benefits like this. It was practically divine assistance for potion brewing.

The temperature was nearly seventy degrees. The 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, soothing fragrance rose slowly alongside a pale purple mist.

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

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

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

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

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

He began stirring again, this time three clockwise rotations, allowing the medicinal properties of the two ingredients to begin merging.

With the addition of the Silverleaf Orchid, the liquid in the crucible gradually turned a cloudy 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 liquid.

As soon as the powder was added, the liquid's color instantly shifted from dark red to a slightly cloudy pale gold. But it was unstable, fluctuating between dark red and pale gold while emitting faint hissing sounds.

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

Li Ang's heart rose to his throat. This was the crucial point where Calming Potions most easily failed; conflicts between medicinal properties often erupted at this moment.

He gripped the stirring rod tightly, continuously stirring and guiding the liquid as he did everything he could to maintain its internal stability.

Soon, the liquid calmed down, and its color stabilized into a cloudy pale gold.

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

The final step of precipitating impurities began. The stirring rod rapidly churned the liquid three times.

Within the cloudy pale-gold liquid, extremely tiny black or brown flocculent particles, almost invisible to the naked eye, seemed to be drawn by an invisible magnetic force. They quickly gathered around the Crystal Sand, adhered to it, and settled.

Within only a few breaths, the upper layer of the liquid turned clear, becoming a pure pale gold with a soft 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 liquid in the crucible to gradually cool. At this point, it gave off a faint fragrance; simply smelling it made his mind feel calm.

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

When the final drop slid into the bottle, he sealed the stopper. Only then did he truly relax, his back already soaked with fine sweat.

After cleaning out the remaining impurities in the crucible, Li Ang followed the same process and began the second batch. This time, he was much more at ease, though his mental power nearing depletion midway through gave him quite a fright.

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

As a wizard, keeping track of his remaining mental power at all times was the most basic requirement. He could not let something like this happen again. Li Ang warned himself inwardly.