Chapter Summaries

Li Ang won the Cold-Repelling Potion assessment with the fastest and highest-quality brew, while Rufus and Lottie placed second and third. After the mentors selected their personal disciples, Li Ang borrowed a book on potion-property fusion and unexpectedly encountered Kavi in the library corridor.

• The reserve apprentices began the assessment, and Li Ang, Rufus, and Lottie brewed Cold-Repelling Potions using their distinct methods.
• Li Ang finished first, followed by Rufus and Lottie, and Edwin praised Li Ang's potion for its purity, stable fusion, and excellent quality.
• Li Ang took first place, Rufus second, and Lottie third; Edwin chose Rufus as his personal disciple, while Karin took the other three apprentices who had passed.
• Li Ang returned borrowed books and checked out Theory of Potion Property Conflicts and Fusion Balance to study potion-property fusion.
• A tall attendant carrying a large burlap sack nearly collided with Li Ang in a fourth-floor corridor, and Li Ang recognized him as Kavi.

Li Ang began developing his high-level Muscle-Building Potion despite realizing the formula exceeded his current ability. After his first brewing attempt failed, he identified the ingredients’ clashing energies as the problem and returned to his dormitory to devise an improved formula.

• Kavi recognized Li Ang, begged him for forgiveness, and claimed Matthew had forced him to attack Li Ang; Li Ang walked past him without responding.
• Li Ang read that the six-ingredient Muscle-Building Potion required skills beyond those of a Level 0 Apprentice, but decided to keep trying rather than copy an existing formula.
• Li Ang used Mentor Eve’s workshop and materials to attempt the potion, but the mixture erupted when he added Frost-Patterned Tiger Blood.
• Li Ang stabilized the cauldron with his mental power and Breeze Technique, but the potion became unusable waste and nearly exhausted him.
• Li Ang analyzed the failure, concluded that the ingredients’ similar fire-aligned properties caused violent clashes, and returned to his dormitory to work on an improved formula.

Li Ang devised a compound stabilizer and a cold-extraction method for brewing potions, then successfully made the stabilizer in Mentor Eve’s workshop. He began his first cold-extraction experiment by placing a Sunflower in chilled magical water.

• Li Ang developed a compound stabilizer using Stone Root Grass Crystal, Ice Crystal Stone, and mental-strength-infused Soul Stone, and considered using cold extraction instead of constant heating.
• Li Ang bound the Everfrost Rune Cabinet and upgraded it to level 1 so he could sense and control its temperature more precisely.
• Li Ang spent several hours extracting and distilling Stone Root Grass, then ground Ice Crystal Stone and Soul Stone into fine powders.
• Li Ang combined the three materials and successfully created about 10 grams of compound stabilizer.
• Li Ang placed magical water and anticoagulant in a crucible inside the Everfrost Rune Cabinet, then added a Sunflower to begin testing cold extraction.

Li Ang tested cold extraction by leaving six fire-attribute ingredients in a low-temperature crucible overnight, then returned to add a stabilizer. Eve, curious about his progress and eager to read the rest of his unfinished novel, secretly watched him work and sensed that the potion contained several merging ingredients.

• Li Ang found that low temperatures slowed the release of the Sunflower and Dragonblood Fruit’s medicinal properties, then added four more fire-attribute ingredients to the cold crucible.
• Li Ang estimated the ingredients would need at least twelve hours to release their properties, tidied the workshop, and left for the night.
• Eve reread Li Ang’s unfinished manuscript, worried about his competition preparations, and struggled to decide whether to visit him.
• Eve went to the workshop the next morning before Li Ang arrived, intending to check on his work, and hid behind a medicine cabinet when he entered.
• Li Ang took the overnight mixture from the Everfrost Rune Cabinet and added a measured amount of grayish-blue compound stabilizer.
• Eve sensed the potion’s magical power reviving and merging, and realized that multiple ingredients were inside the crucible.

Li Ang successfully brewed a new high-level Muscle-Building Potion, shocking Eve, who had secretly watched him work. Unsure of its safety and pressed for time before the competition, he asked Eve to supervise as he tested it himself, and she agreed.

• Li Ang completed the Muscle-Building Potion using his low-temperature fusion method, while Eve watched unseen and realized it was a high-level potion.
• After Li Ang left, Eve was left stunned by his achievement and the unfamiliar brewing techniques he had used.
• Li Ang considered how to test the unverified potion, rejected using the servants, and decided to test it himself under Eve's protection.
• Li Ang ate despite having no appetite, then asked Ginny to arrange an audience with Eve, explaining that he had important progress to report.
• Li Ang presented Eve with the potion and asked to drink it under her supervision, and Eve agreed.

Li Ang tested his Muscle-Building Potion and explained the unconventional Cold Extraction method that let him brew it. Eve recognized the method’s enormous potential and warned him that his situation was dangerous.

• Eve brought out a treasured potion box, then dismissed Ginny before Li Ang drank the Muscle-Building Potion.
• Li Ang felt the potion strengthen his muscles and body, though he thought the visible results were modest.
• Eve sensed that Li Ang’s strength, bone density, and cellular vitality had been permanently enhanced without side effects.
• Eve questioned Li Ang about how he brewed the potion, and he described Cold Extraction, a composite stabilizer, Ice Crystal Stone, and Soul Stone.
• Eve realized Li Ang’s method could let wizards brew high-tier potions without relying on exceptional mental power and warned him that he was in danger.

Eve warned Li Ang that his Muscle-Building Potion could help life break past its limits and that his Cold Extraction Method could draw the Dark Witch World’s attention. After writing his knight novel late into the night, Li Ang was woken by a knock and found an unseen visitor calling up to him.

• Eve explained that Li Ang’s Muscle-Building Potion could push living beings beyond the limits of their level of life, making him a target for factions seeking that breakthrough.
• Eve warned that Li Ang’s Cold Extraction Method threatened the established potion system and could provoke assassinations or a forced recruitment attempt by the Dark Witch World.
• Eve said Li Ang’s Compound Stabilizer would be enough to win the competition, then encouraged him to balance work with rest and agreed to read his novels.
• Li Ang brewed Underwater Breathing Potions for commissions, earned five silver coins, and wrote more than twenty chapters of his knight novel before going to sleep at three in the morning.
• An impolite knock woke Li Ang, and when he opened the door to an empty corridor, a displeased voice told him to look down.

Shandrameya Maxwell declared Li Ang her knight and paid him a gold coin, then ordered him to accompany her to the Whispering Forest. After she left, Li Ang recalled that the forest lay about fifty kilometers northwest of the Wizard Tower and was regularly cleared of dangerous magical beasts.

• Shandrameya Maxwell entered Li Ang’s room and proclaimed that she had made him her knight, but Li Ang ignored her and tried to go back to sleep.
• Shandrameya described the heroic adventures her ten knights would undertake, and Li Ang realized the knights were part of her fantasy.
• Shandrameya offered Li Ang a gold coin, and he accepted it after kissing her ring and agreeing to serve her.
• Shandrameya ordered Li Ang to leave the tower with her in two hours and travel to the Whispering Forest.
• After Shandrameya left, Li Ang recalled that the Whispering Forest was near the Wizard Tower and regularly cleared of powerful magical beasts.

Li Ang met Shandra Meiya for their expedition to Whispering Forest and learned that she planned to gather ten knights, including him, to challenge her father for the Dwarf throne. When she discovered that he had no wand, she took him to Artisan Street to buy one.

• Li Ang packed healing, antidote, and Night Owl potions before setting out to meet his employer.
• Shandra Meiya arrived in full armor and declared that she was a knight-king first and a wizard second.
• Shandra Meiya named Li Ang her first knight and future knight commander in her plan to gather ten knights and challenge her father.
• Shandra Meiya noticed that Li Ang had no wand and insisted on taking him to buy proper equipment.
• Shandra Meiya paid extra carriage fare for her warhammer as she and Li Ang rode to Artisan Street.

Li Ang chose and upgraded a basic Windhawk Wand before traveling with Shandra Meiya to the Whispering Forest. They entered the woods together, where Shandra Meiya warned him to stay alert and Li Ang noticed glowing blue companion grass.

• Shandra Meiya took Li Ang to Wisdom and Arcana and asked the shopkeeper to pick out a wand for him.
• Li Ang bought the inexpensive Windhawk Wand, bound it, and upgraded it to level one.
• Shandra Meiya bought tickets for herself and Li Ang to travel by airship to the Whispering Forest.
• Li Ang meditated during the flight and restored his mental power before the airship reached the forest.
• Shandra Meiya led Li Ang into the woods and warned him about lingering dangers as he spotted glowing blue companion grass.