Potion Brewing

Dago sat on a wooden stump and let out a satisfied burp. Clearly, he had eaten well.

If this method works, I won't have to worry about magic stones anymore.

With that thought, he got up, entered the shelter, and opened his pack.

Inside, Moonlight Flowers the size of ginseng blossoms had been neatly stacked in layers. Their faint fragrance filled the air, and one deep breath left him feeling refreshed.

He counted them. There were six plants in total, each with six petals.

That was right. He planned to brew a Mental Potion according to Witch Rosalyn's manuscript.

According to the steps in the manuscript, the first step was to air-dry the entire Moonlight Flower in the shade for a day...

It could not be exposed to sunlight during the day, and at night, it had to be placed beneath the moonlight of the Origin Moon for an entire night.

Dago first placed the Moonlight Flowers one by one in a cool, shaded corner of the shelter.

"We'll deal with the rest tonight. For now, I should cultivate and earn some progress points." Dago brushed the dirt from his hands.

Then he left the shelter and went to the open space outside to cultivate and gain progress points.

Time passed slowly beneath the icy wind. The trees around the shelter had more or less been pierced with ice pillars, making the place look like an inferno of ice.

Yet Dago seemed not to notice, mechanically meditating and casting spells.

It was not until evening that Dago emerged from his cultivation state and started a fire to cook.

After comforting his weary body and mind with delicious food, Dago slowly recovered his energy.

Before he knew it, the twin moons had climbed into the night sky, their radiance spreading across Emerald Forest.

Dago returned to the shelter, took out the considerably withered Moonlight Flowers, and placed them on a stone bathed in moonlight.

The moonlight of the Origin Moon brushed over the withered Moonlight Flowers like silk.

It was as if their petals had been infused with some magical power by the moonlight. Their six pale-purple petals became plump again, giving off a faint glow.

Dago quietly admired the magical, beautiful scene. Only after a long while did he turn and head to the open space beside the shelter to cultivate, returning indoors to sleep only when he was exhausted.

Before dawn, while the sky was still dark, Dago, bleary-eyed and yawning, pushed open the shelter's wooden door.

He had not cultivated too late the previous night because he needed to get up early and put away the Moonlight Flowers before they were exposed to sunlight.

Otherwise, it would severely affect the extraordinary substances contained within the Moonlight Flowers, lowering the quality of the Mental Potion.

He walked over to the drying stone and collected the six Moonlight Flowers. Their petals remained plump, but the rest of the plants had already withered and dried up.

After putting them back in the shelter, Dago came out again to prepare breakfast: simple noodles stewed with strips of meat.

At the same time, he planned to collect Dew of the Rising Sun, which was also one of the ingredients for the Mental Potion...

It had to be collected in glass bottles under the first ray of the rising sun.

The instant the sun rose was the most majestic awakening in heaven and earth—the darkness had yet to fully fade, but the light had already burst through the clouds with scorching force. The dew on the grass gleamed brightly, every droplet becoming a tiny sun.

"Glug glug—"

His small iron pot hung from a triangular rack over the bonfire in the clearing, its boiling contents cooking his breakfast for the day.

Meanwhile, Dago had his butt stuck out as he diligently collected dew from the grass nearby. Three glass bottles filled with Dew of the Rising Sun hung from his belt.

As the sun gradually rose higher, Dago stopped collecting. Holding the small iron pot, he noisily slurped down noodles while considering his next plan.

By the afternoon, the Moonlight Flower petals would meet the requirements for brewing a Mental Potion. Next, he needed to head into the forest and gather some Two-Eared Grass, which was fairly common there.

Then all the magical ingredients needed for the Mental Potion would be assembled, and he could begin trying to brew it.

Dago did not think he was some kind of potion-making genius. He could not afford to skip any of the time that needed to be spent.

At seven or eight in the morning, Dago walked through the quiet forest, looking here and there for Two-Eared Grass as though he were taking a leisurely stroll.

Every so often, he fired an Air Bullet into the sky, using the sound to drive away nearby small animals and keep them from disturbing his search for Two-Eared Grass.

This magical plant had a distinctive appearance. Just like its name suggested, it grew two blades resembling ears.

It took him about an hour to find the odd-looking plant. After another ten minutes or so spent gathering it and packing it into his bag, he prepared to head back.

After returning to the shelter, he put away the gathered materials and washed the dirt from his hands...

Then he went back to the open space outside to cultivate diligently. He trained until four in the afternoon, and for lunch, he had casually thrown together a flatbread stuffed with magical beast meat.

Sunlight streamed through the open door of the shelter, illuminating the interior.

Dago sat behind his newly built little wooden table. It was crooked and ugly, but stable enough that he could stand on it and dance without any problem.

On the little wooden table sat the potion-brewing tools he had previously bought at the academy square: a silver crucible, a stone mortar, a glass pestle, a brass scale, and more.

Next, he planned to use the cold-brew method from his previous life to make a Mental Potion. This was an entirely new attempt.

In his previous life, cold brewing had mostly been used for tea and coffee, so Dago understood it a little. After all, even if he had never eaten pork, he had at least seen pigs run. Still, he was not confident and could only take things one step at a time.

The extraordinary substance contained in Moonlight Flowers preferred cold over heat. Under the scorching of magical flames, much of their medicinal efficacy would be lost...

Using the cold-brew method, which relied on a low-temperature environment for selective extraction, should produce better results.

Based on Dago's research into Moonlight Flowers and Witch Rosalyn's manuscript, he believed this method could be modified for brewing a Mental Potion.

First, he placed twelve pale-purple Moonlight Flower petals into the stone mortar and ground them into powder with the glass pestle, then poured the powder into the silver crucible.

Next, he ground the Two-Eared Grass into juice using the same method and measured out an appropriate amount of Two-Eared Grass juice and Dew of the Rising Sun with the brass scale.

He mixed the three ingredients in the silver crucible and stirred them together. According to the usual method in the wizarding world, he should then boil the mixture over magical flames and send it into condensing equipment for collection.

But Dago did the opposite. He planned to cold-brew the liquid in the silver crucible with ice water.

Halos appeared and revolved in his eyes as he used his mental power to awaken the dormant ice elements...

A small corner of the white glove floated up and fell into the mixed liquid inside the silver crucible.

Dago slowly stirred with a glass rod. At the same time, he gradually increased the output of his mental power, controlling the temperature of the mixed liquid.

Threads of cold air drifted from the silver crucible. The mixed liquid inside gradually grew colder, and Dago stared intently at every change.

The result disappointed him. All he got was a solid block of frozen mixed liquid. He had failed.

Bang! With a muffled sound, the ice block exploded. It was not powerful enough to damage the silver crucible, but shards of frozen potion scattered everywhere.

Expressionless, Dago brushed the ice chips from his robe.

"Where exactly did I go wrong?" Dago recalled the failed attempt and analyzed the reason for it.

He still had twenty-four Moonlight Flower petals left, which meant he had two more chances.

Dago took a towel and wiped the melted ice water that had splashed onto his face.

He decided to try again. This time, he would activate his spiritual vision and observe the flow of energy particles inside the mixed liquid.

As he ground the Moonlight Flower petals into powder, his spiritual vision emitted a faint silver glow.

The juice from the Two-Eared Grass, which had been ground into pulp, gave off a pale-green glow, while the dew contained threads of orange-yellow light.

After mixing and stirring the three together, some extraordinary substance glowing purple slowly separated out and dissolved into the water.

Then Dago mixed his ice elements into it. As he continued outputting mental power...

The ice elements became increasingly active. The lower the temperature fell, the more unstable the extraordinary substance glowing purple became, until it underwent an explosive reaction.

Bang! The frozen mixed liquid shattered again. Dago picked up the towel and wiped the potion that had splashed onto his face.

Now he understood. The extraordinary substance that glowed purple became increasingly unstable in a low-temperature environment.

Sure enough, not a single ingredient in the standard potion formulas passed down through the wizarding world was unnecessary.

They also knew that Moonlight Flowers lost much of their medicinal efficacy under high temperatures. The wizarding world's solution was to add another material containing fire elements, improving the extraordinary substance's tolerance for high temperatures within the mixture.

"There's only one attempt left. Otherwise, I'll have to risk my life and pick Moonlight Flowers at Moonlight Lake again."

Dago sighed softly. He had no desire to risk his life there again anytime soon.

He had named that dangerous lake where Moonlight Flowers grew Moonlight Lake. It was a beautiful name.

He hoped the final attempt would go as he imagined.

The third attempt began. This time, Dago removed Dew of the Rising Sun from the ingredients and directly mixed Moonlight Flower petal powder and Two-Eared Grass juice into ice water created with the Ice Crystal Technique.

This time, the silver-glowing substance emitted by the Moonlight Flower powder absorbed the pale-green light from the Two-Eared Grass juice, but it could not merge with the ice elements in the ice water.

Dago continuously controlled his mental power output toward the ice elements. After an hour, within ice water containing ice elements at a specific level of activity...

Just like Dew of the Rising Sun was a potion ingredient, this ice water containing ice elements at a specific activity level could also be considered a potion ingredient.

Only then did the silver-glowing substance in the potion liquid absorb the ice elements, forming thumb-sized silver-white ice cubes that floated atop the ice water.

The system panel instantly appeared.

[Detected improvable skill: Potion Brewing. Would you like to improve it?]

Dago decisively selected yes. He had not expected this could be recorded in the system as well.

He had continuously consumed mental power to control the ice elements and find a point of balance. By the end, both his mental power and physical strength were struggling to keep up, leaving him completely exhausted.

He scooped up all the silver-white ice cubes, placed them in a glass bottle, and set it on the little wooden table to wait for them to melt.

Then he went to wash the towel, wet it, pressed it against his face, and wiped away the fatigue between his brows.