The Map Hidden in the Notes

The nib scratched across the paper with a soft rustle. Under the effect of [Magic Insight +20%], the words seemed to come alive.

The notes recorded everything: how quickly the medicinal properties of the same herb were released at different temperatures, how to select higher-quality ingredients, even which shops sold herbs that were both cheap and effective.

Yet after copying out an entire notebook, Li Ang's brows knitted slightly.

At first, it was only a vague feeling. With his mind intensely focused and the extraordinary insight brought by the quill, his gaze seemed to pierce through the individual words and notice certain unusual patterns.

He set down his pen and carefully studied the contents recorded in the notebook.

The handwriting in the notebook was neat, but the spacing was uneven. In certain specific passages, the blank spaces between words seemed... to have been deliberately widened by a tiny amount compared to elsewhere? The difference was extremely subtle. If not for his heightened insight at this moment, there was no way he could have noticed it.

Moreover, the locations where the spacing had been widened did not seem randomly distributed...

Li Ang's heartbeat quickened slightly. He immediately flipped back through the pages he had already copied and skimmed through them.

Sure enough, starting from the first page, if he ignored the words themselves and connected those slightly wider blank spaces with invisible lines...

He picked up the quill, dipped it in ink, and on the back of a scrap sheet, tried lightly marking the center points of several unusual gaps from that page. Then, following a certain instinct, he connected them.

A somewhat winding, broken line faintly emerged.

This did not look like an error caused by handwriting, nor was it merely a formatting habit. It was more like a method of concealment, hiding the true information within the most ordinary text layout.

Li Ang immediately perked up and began recording, page by page, the information hidden between the lines.

Dots were continuously marked across the scrap paper, and the lines gradually increased...

Who knew how much time passed before Lottie slowly awoke from her deep meditation. To her delighted surprise, her Mental World, which had always been completely empty, finally held a trace of spiritual power. She was so overwhelmed that she nearly cried.

She wanted to immediately share her joy with Li Ang, only to see him bent over the desk, staring intently at a sheet of paper covered in chaotic dots and lines.

"Mr. Li Ang?" Lottie called softly, unable to suppress the delight in her voice.

Li Ang seemed to wake from a dream. He turned back, glanced at Lottie's excited expression, and asked,

"How did it go? Judging by your expression, you must have made some progress."

Lottie was as happy as a child as she reported her achievement to Li Ang.

"Yes... Mr. Li Ang, thank you so much. I finally... finally condensed a trace of spiritual power."

Li Ang nodded. This was much faster than he had expected. It seemed the potion had worked even better than anticipated. In a calm tone, he guided her:

"Now that you can sense and initially guide spiritual power, the next part is simple. In your own Mental World, imagine a core. This core can be anything you think can wind up and gather threads of spiritual power—a spindle, a spool, even a vortex. Then, try to continuously wind those scattered threads of spiritual power around that core."

Li Ang paused, then added the potion's duration and the next arrangement:

"The potion's effects should last around three days. Meditate as much as possible every day. Once you successfully condense an Astral Star, come find me again. Then we'll move on to the next step and learn how to brew the Night Owl Potion."

"Alright, Mr. Li Ang. I definitely won't let down your expectations." Lottie nodded vigorously, carving every word Li Ang had said into her heart.

She solemnly bowed to Li Ang once more before leaving his dormitory with light steps.

After seeing Lottie off, Li Ang returned to the desk. His gaze fell once more on the scrap paper covered in dots and lines. Lottie's successful first step had lightened his mood considerably as well.

He carefully put the sheet away with the notebook. The secret hidden in the notes was certainly tempting, but for now, increasing his strength and earning resources were the foundations of everything.

Over the next two days, all the reserve apprentices were punished with copying promotional flyers, so the small classes were suspended. Li Ang spent nearly all his daytime hours in Instructor Eve's workshop.

The demand for Calming Potion on the workshop's commission board seemed impossible to fill. Li Ang was more than happy about that; to him, it was a steady source of silver coins.

After completing another commission and watching several more gleaming silver coins enter his money pouch, Li Ang turned his attention to two other important facilities in the workshop: the [Magic Heat Furnace], which provided a stable heat source for crucibles, and the [Rune Distiller], which produced distilled water. He had already upgraded every facility that could be upgraded to LV2. It was time to bind new facilities.

[Magic Heat Furnace: Lv0]

[Status: Can be bound]

[Binding cost: 5 spiritual power points]

[Rune Distiller: Lv0]

[Status: Can be bound]

[Binding cost: 5 spiritual power points]

"Bind." With a thought, two more strands of spiritual power were drawn out and connected with the two facilities.

[Binding successful]

[Magic Heat Furnace: Current level Lv0]

[Current effect: Provides a stable heat source]

[Lv1 effect: Freely adjusts temperature within a small range, heat conduction efficiency +10%]

[Upgrade condition: Number of Magic Starlets in Mental World reaches 1, consume 5 spiritual power points]

[Binding successful]

[Rune Distiller: Current level Lv0]

[Current effect: Improved efficiency in producing distilled water]

[Lv1 effect: Distillation efficiency +10%, output water purity +10%]

[Upgrade condition: Number of Magic Starlets in Mental World reaches 1, consume 5 spiritual power points]

The reason he chose these two seemingly insignificant facilities was because Li Ang knew full well that the Calming Potion and Night Owl Potion he was currently brewing were both the most basic beginner potions. Their requirements for temperature and water quality were not especially harsh. Only with his current skills and the support of the facilities could he seemingly guarantee success rates and quality so easily. Once he began dealing with more advanced potions, any tiny deviation could cause all previous efforts to go down the drain. Binding these facilities was laying the groundwork for intermediate and even high-tier potions later on.

During the day, he brewed potions and accumulated funds. At night, after returning to his dormitory, Li Ang continued studying Old Mr. Polk's notebook, trying to crack more secrets hidden between the lines. More and more dots and lines appeared, and the pattern on the back of that scrap paper gradually took shape. It seemed to point toward some area within the tower, but exactly where remained unclear.

Near mealtime on the third afternoon, Li Ang returned to his dormitory from the workshop. He touched his chest. Although he had left the damp ship cabin behind and his living conditions had improved greatly, making his coughing fits rare, a faint dull ache still occasionally rose from deep within his lungs—especially after he exercised a little too strenuously. The old ailment in this body was like a buried nail, reminding him that this body was not completely healthy.