"Potioneering pursues pharmacological formulation. It is an understanding of the principles of plants, animals, and even minerals, producing the most wondrous results through refinement and combination. In a broader sense, it could be called an exploration and understanding of the fundamentals of all things."
"Preparing potions merely makes simple use of a portion of basic pharmacological knowledge. It is only a crude, simple application of principles, nowhere near their subtle application on a deeper level, let alone pursuing the limits of things."
"Take the Xianlita in my hand. I'm merely using its ability to stimulate potential. But why can Xianlita stimulate potential? What component within it is working? And what gives that component this ability?"
"Take the adrenaline discovered on Earth. It produces a brief burst entirely at the cost of overtaxing the body, with very serious aftereffects. Yet Xianlita has no such side effects. Their functions are similar, but their aftereffects differ. Where does the difference lie?"
"Then could Xianlita replace adrenaline?"
"If we keep delving into its principles, could we reduce the aftereffects, or even eliminate them entirely?"
Thinking of discoveries on Earth, many people could unleash several times their normal strength in a crisis. A woman trying to save her child trapped beneath a car could even unleash enough strength to lift it.
It was as though the human body naturally possessed a hidden switch, one that only a tiny handful of people could flip under certain circumstances, unleashing unimaginable strength.
Then could that switch be found?
Once found, could it be flipped?
If it could, could that ability become a normal state?
If it could be found and routinely activated, with its side effects reduced, would attack power instantly increase severalfold?
Leo froze in the middle of preparing a potion, ignoring even the boiling water in his test tube.
He had never expected that simply thinking about potioneering would lead him to so many ideas at once.
Is this divergent thinking? Pursuing the limits?
Seeing the world from a wizard's perspective? Making the impossible possible?
At that moment, Leo could clearly hear his heart pounding in his chest like a drum, so loudly that even Lilith on his head glanced over.
"I... I..."
Leo wanted to say something, but did not know where to begin. His mouth felt dry, and his mind had become a tangled ball of thread, with no beginning to be found and no end in sight.
A mess. A complete mess!
"Ribbit, ribbit."
Seeing Leo standing there in a daze, Lilith croaked.
When Leo failed to respond, she instantly shot out her tongue, snatched the test tube from his hand, and took over the remaining steps just before his potion preparation failed.
Her practiced movements made Leo blush. The gap between him and Lilith was like that between an apprentice worker and a grade-eight worker—worlds apart.
In no time, Lilith had lined up the prepared potions, then gave Leo a sidelong look with her frog eyes, clearly questioning him. Why had he suddenly stopped? Didn't he know that behavior like that would make the experiment fail?
Getting full of yourself?
Don't want to buy me bug platters anymore?
Facing Lilith's questioning gaze, Leo could only smile awkwardly. He could hardly tell her that his thoughts had just carried him all the way to godhood!
Heh. A wizard might come up with countless ideas over a lifetime, but only a handful can ultimately be verified and turned into combat power. I've only just had an idea, yet I'm already this pleased with myself. No wonder even Lilith looks down on me.
Leo forcibly suppressed the strange ideas popping up in his mind. Even if he had ten thousand ideas right now, he could do nothing with them. His accumulated knowledge was insufficient, and he had no idea where to begin.
It was like a kindergarten child or elementary school student tackling a problem of the century-completely unrealistic.
It was better to keep his feet on the ground. If he lacked knowledge, he would learn.
If he could not conduct experiments, he would conduct them.
If he did not know where to start, he would look.
A Wizard Apprentice could live for three hundred years, and a Level One Formal Wizard could live for a thousand. There was still time for everything!
As Leo made delivery after delivery to the Purple Golden Flower Shop, eight years passed, meaning he had spent a full ten years in Gavarci Tower.
Viewed from an Earth perspective, it was indeed a lengthy experience. A human lifetime amounted to only six or seven decades.
But to a wizard, ten years passed in the blink of an eye.
Even Leo had barely noticed anything. He was busy every day, either conducting experiments or being experimented on.
All manner of novel knowledge filled Leo's mind, leaving him unable to stop.
Only when Gavarci called him over did Leo touch his cheek in realization. It was a little prickly. Without noticing, he had actually grown ten years older.
"Leo, my experiment has succeeded. You can leave whenever you wish," Gavarci told him.
"Sorry for imposing on you all this time, Master. You've taught me so much, and I will never forget it. If I have the ability and qualifications in the future, please come to me whenever you need anything. This is the promise of an apprentice who has received your instruction for ten years."
Time helped people grow, quietly teaching them lessons as well. Leo was no longer as flighty as he had been ten years ago. Ten years of accumulated knowledge had made him steadier. Even faced with a sudden parting, he could remain composed rather than looking as forlorn as a homeless puppy.
More remarkable still, despite being only a Wizard Apprentice, he dared to make a promise to an Official Wizard who had lived for a thousand years, and felt perfectly justified in doing so.
Ten years ago, that would never have happened.
"I'll remember that. If I need anything in the future, I'll contact you."
Gavarci did not laugh. He seemed to have genuinely taken a Wizard Apprentice's promise to heart.
Leo gazed reluctantly around the place where he had spent ten years, especially the laboratory. It was practically his second home in his short life.
He tapped his foot lightly. The shadow beneath him twisted and churned, and platters of bugs appeared on the floor, all prepared by Leo long beforehand.
"And thank you for looking after me, Master Lilith. If I find any tasty bugs in the future, I'll be sure to bring them back for you."
Having thanked Gavarci, he naturally could not forget Lilith. Through their long companionship, Leo had come to understand what a wizard's companion meant.
They were not pets, as he had once thought, but true companions who could spend a lifetime together and fight alongside each other.
Leo wanted a companion of his own, too. Wonderful as Lilith was, she was Gavarci's.
"Ribbit, ribbit."
A dark blur flashed past, and every plate was instantly empty.
"..."
Leo looked at Lilith sitting upright on Gavarci's head. She was as fast as ever.
Hearing that Leo was leaving, Lilith simply croaked twice, then continued sitting on Gavarci's head in a daze. Perhaps, to her, brief meetings and partings were merely a normal part of life. After all, her lifespan was enough to witness the rise and fall of several dynasties.
There was nothing much to linger over. Perhaps the next time Leo came, Lilith would merely think he had been gone for a little while, just like every time he delivered potions to the Purple Golden Flower Shop.
"Teacher Gru."
In Gru's little courtyard on the edge of the Purple Flame Wizard Academy, Leo calmly bowed in greeting to Gru, whose entire body exuded strength.
After ten years apart, Gru had not changed at all. Time had not left the slightest trace on his face.
This time, Gru did not start a fight as soon as they met. Instead, he clicked his tongue as he looked Leo over, as though examining something novel.
"I only took a nap. How have you changed so much?" Gru asked curiously.
"Have I changed?" Leo met Gru's scrutinizing gaze calmly and directly.
"I taught you the path of a Body Refinement Wizard. Look at yourself. Do you look anything like one anymore? You've completely turned into an elemental wizard's apprentice," Gru accused disapprovingly.
"Teacher Gru, is there any difference between Body Refinement Wizards and elemental wizards? They're all merely tools for pursuing the ultimate."
Gru visibly paused at Leo's question, then burst out laughing, so loudly that the entire courtyard shook.
Frowning, Leo mobilized the mana in his body to resist it with considerable difficulty. The shadow beneath his feet churned constantly as well, counteracting the force coming through the surrounding space.
Over those ten years, Leo's strength had not improved at all. Tormented by poisons for a full decade, his body had long since become terribly weak. Had his foundation as a Body Refinement Wizard Apprentice not remained, he would have regressed considerably.
Gru laughed for a full five minutes before stopping. An unprecedented seriousness appeared on his face—the first time Leo had ever seen him wear such an expression. "To think you would understand the wizard's path in just ten short years. Good. Very good."
"I have your guidance to thank for that, Teacher Gru," Leo said.
"Enough of that useless talk. You must follow the path of a Body Refinement Wizard. I won't interfere with anything else. As long as you meet my requirements, you can do whatever you like." Gru waved a hand, his tone carrying a regard and respect that had not been there before.
If the former Leo had been merely a pawn to be manipulated at will, he was now a pawn who could see his own fate clearly, with more freedom to choose his direction.
"Thank you, Teacher Gru."
Leo immediately understood what Gru meant. Gru had granted him greater freedom.
"Under the original plan, you should have fully adapted to triple gravity in three to five years. Then circumstances changed, causing this delay. You'll train with me now. Once you've fully mastered exerting your strength normally under triple gravity, we'll leave." Gru laid out the upcoming training plan in simple terms, then sent Leo away.
"I'll follow your arrangements, Teacher Gru."
Having only just escaped the torment of the poisons, Leo was still recovering and had no particular training plan. His body could not handle one now anyway. Everything was left to Leo's own arrangements. Only once his body returned to normal could the next stage of training begin.
The Healing Rune Array operated around the clock, treating every minute injury in his body.
Countless poisons had been tested on his body over those ten years, leaving it badly damaged. Much of the toxicity deposited in his blood could not even be dispelled.
Even as the power of the Healing Rune Array washed through his body again and again, the deepest toxicity still could not be removed.
This was the price Leo had paid, and his most important task at present—restoring his body!