Gerald opened Eastern Herbology Studies and quickly skimmed through it.
The book's author was a wizard named Calvin Byrne.
He had spent several years in the East when he was younger, collecting information about Eastern herbs during his travels.
Calvin believed that these herbs from the ancient East must possess extraordinary properties unknown to outsiders, and he had visited more than a dozen local wizards to investigate.
He had been told that the ways these herbs were used were deeply rooted in local Taoism.
Calvin had also visited several sacred Taoist sites, where he was told that the ancient alchemical formulas had all been lost.
But he suspected they had not told him the truth.
Most of the remaining content consisted of his records of those herbs' appearances and growing habits, much of it borrowed from the Compendium of Materia Medica.
Gerald closed the book and sighed inwardly.
It seemed he would have to figure this out himself, little by little.
Gerald briefly skimmed the other three books as well and discovered that Potions was far more sophisticated than he had imagined.
The Cure for Boils and Swelling Solution in the first-year textbooks did not even qualify as introductory potions. They merely familiarized students with the basic procedures.
True potion-making was an exceptionally precise, systematic undertaking. Ingredient selection, preparation methods, the order of addition, heat control, stirring direction and frequency, and the timing and intensity of magic infusion-every variable affected the final product.
Its underlying principles were astonishingly consistent with alchemy's hierarchy of principal, supporting, assisting, and guiding ingredients, its nine cycles of heat control, and its alchemical incantations and hand seals. The only differences were whether the driving energy was magic or spiritual energy, and whether the vessel was a cauldron or an alchemical furnace.
I'd better borrow these and read them later. There's something more important to do this afternoon.
Gerald closed the book and stood up.
Carrying the four books, he walked to the borrowing desk and stacked them on the counter.
Madam Pince put down her enormous magnifying glass, leaned halfway out from behind the desk, and glanced at the stack of books.
"Reading books this advanced in your first year?"
"I'm just taking a look, Madam Pince." Gerald gave her a perfectly well-behaved smile.
Madam Pince's eyebrows twitched slightly, but she did not question him further.
She waved her wand, and the quill on the counter began writing in the borrowing register.
"Gerard Green of Gryffindor, correct? You have two months. No scribbling in them or damaging them. If you do damage them, repair them yourself before returning them." She glanced at the name badge on Gerald's robes as she spoke.
"Thank you. I'll remember."
After leaving the library, Gerald headed straight out of the castle toward Hagrid's Hut, his arms full of books.
With four library books, two first-year Potions textbooks, a pewter cauldron, and a set of glass potion bottles, his hands were completely occupied.
He had been walking for less than five minutes before he began to miss the backpack from his previous life.
That amount of weight was nothing to Gerald.
Still, carrying everything like this was inconvenient.
If only I had a storage ring. Failing that, even a little beaded bag with an Undetectable Extension Charm like Hermione's would do.
The Divine Firmament Five-Elements Heavenly Thunder Art in Gerald's mind did contain instructions for a basic talisman called an Object-Storing Talisman.
But he would have to enter the essence refining into qi realm before he could draw one.
Its material requirements were modest. Ordinary yellow paper and cinnabar would suffice.
It worked much like a storage ring, but its capacity was tiny-roughly equivalent to a small chest.
Although it was nowhere near as impressive as those advanced storage magic artifacts that could hold an entire warehouse, it had more than enough room for a few books, a few bottles of potions, and a few Spirit Herbs.
Once he had one, he would not have to go to so much trouble.
I really need to hurry up and improve my cultivation.
With that thought, Gerald quickened his pace toward Hagrid's Hut.
When he reached the door, Gerald awkwardly knocked on the wood with his elbow.
The door shuddered a few times, and Fang's excited barking and Hagrid's booming voice immediately came from inside.
"Coming, coming!"
The door opened, and Hagrid's enormous body filled the entire doorway.
He looked down at Gerald, his big, hairy face lighting up at once, before a trace of apology crossed it.
"You're here, little Green! Sorry, I still haven't found your pet rat. I've been keeping an eye out every night on my rounds, but the Forbidden Forest's so big. It's far too easy for a rat to hide."
"It's all right, Mr. Hagrid."
Gerald hurriedly shook his head, unable to suppress a twinge of guilt.
Hagrid had genuinely taken the matter to heart, helping him search every night for a pet rat that did not even exist.
"I'm not here to look for Little Gray this time."
Gerald lifted the cauldron and books in his arms slightly so that Hagrid could see what he was carrying.
"I'd like to borrow your place to brew some potions. The dormitory isn't suitable. The smell from the cauldron would bother my roommates, and it could easily trigger the Fireproofing Charm."
"Brew potions?"
Hagrid looked down at the cauldron in his arms, surprise appearing on his rugged face.
"Of course, no problem. Come in, come in. There's plenty of room here. Use whatever you need."
Gerald stepped over the threshold and entered the hut.
Hagrid cleared off a cutting board in the middle of the stove, making a flat workspace.
"You can use this spot. How hot do you need it? I can adjust the fire in the fireplace for you."
"A low flame will do."
Gerald set the cauldron on the iron rack in Hagrid's fireplace, then took out the glass potion bottles and lined them up.
Hagrid crouched down and waved an umbrella at the fireplace. The flames immediately shrank.
Gerald pulled a small cloth bag from his inner pocket, revealing the Ironwire Vine, Heaven-Subduing Flower, and Seven-Star Grass inside.
"Aren't those the wild plants you picked in the Forbidden Forest that day?"
Hagrid leaned closer curiously. Fang poked his head over as well, sniffing around the edge of the table with his wet nose.
"Yes. They're ingredients for an ancient Eastern potion."
Gerald glanced at the cultivation field on his panel.
[Cultivation] Eighth Layer of Chain-Form Refining Essence (1465/1600)
He was only 135 points away from the ninth level.
If he could refine all these Spirit Herbs into spiritual liquid today, his absorption efficiency after taking them would be much higher than if he ate them directly.
Gerald took the Ironwire Vine out of the cloth bag.
There were more than a dozen Ironwire Vines, each plump, thick-leaved, and brimming with spiritual energy.
In all his years gathering Ironwire Vine in Nameless Town, he had never seen any of such excellent quality.
Although alchemy and potion-making were similar, their specific
methods of operation differed.
Following the extraction method recorded in the alchemy appendix of the Divine Firmament Five-Elements Heavenly Thunder Art, he placed the Ironwire Vine in the cauldron and heated it over a low flame, simultaneously infusing a thread of spiritual power to draw out its medicinal properties.
With a cauldron standing in for an alchemical furnace, he could not follow the standard alchemical procedure exactly, but he could still manage the extraction.
About ten minutes later, the Ironwire Vine in the cauldron had completely melted into a pool of dark green liquid.
Gerald picked up a glass potion bottle and poured the liquid into it.
The spiritual liquid swayed gently inside the bottle, a clear emerald green, like melted jade.
Foundation-Stabilizing Liquid.
The spiritual liquid extracted from the First-Tier Spirit Herb Ironwire Vine was thirty to fifty percent more effective than eating the vine directly.
This was what made alchemy superior to consuming Spirit Herbs as they were.
Gerald set the first bottle of Foundation-Stabilizing Liquid aside and continued refining the remaining Ironwire Vine.
One plant, two plants, three plants...
One by one, the Ironwire Vine plants in the cauldron became emerald-green spiritual liquid, filling glass bottle after glass bottle.
Eleven bottles.
Gerald looked at the row of emerald-green bottles and nodded in satisfaction.
Next came the Heaven-Subduing Flower and Seven-Star Grass.
Heaven-Subduing Flower was much more delicate than Ironwire Vine. Its petals were as thin as cicada wings and could not withstand high temperatures, so it required the lowest possible flame.
Seven-Star Grass was precisely the opposite. It required fierce heat.
With Hagrid's help, the flames were adjusted to just the right intensity.
He then obtained Three-Yang Water refined from Heaven-Subduing Flower and Seven-Star Dew refined from Seven-Star Grass.
Gerald picked up the bottle containing the pale golden Seven-Star Dew.
The anticipation in his heart was almost overflowing.
The last time he had directly consumed Moonlight Fern, a second-tier Spirit Herb, it had increased his cultivation by two hundred points.
Spiritual liquid refined from a third-tier spiritual herb was even more effective than eating Seven-Star Grass directly.
How many points would he gain from drinking this scant half-bottle?
And he also had the Three-Yang Water extracted from Heaven-Subduing Flower, a second-tier Spirit Herb.
If I really drank all this-I'd soar!
Before you continue