Chapter 69: Generosity and Stinginess
After staring at the Mysterious Eye for a while, Su Xiao felt mental fatigue. He blinked his somewhat sore eyes and shifted his gaze to the back of the first page.
On it were densely packed patterns of imprints, interwoven and overlapping each other. As Su Xiao examined these imprints, Bubu Wang's dog head poked over.
Covering the Mysterious Eye with another book, Su Xiao continued deciphering the alchemy formula. If Bubu Wang saw the Mysterious Eye, it would be no joke—it could very likely cause permanent mental damage.
After a preliminary interpretation, Su Xiao learned that this was a potion formula. Unfortunately, it wasn't a recovery potion but one called [Oceanic Essence].
[Oceanic Essence: Each creation requires 2,400 mana points. Required materials: Non-characteristic Spiritual Polymer, Stardust Powder, Shadow Tree Tendrils, Polar Ice Essence, Stellar Force Crystal, Oceanic Energy Creature Soul Blood (Spirit-type), Soul Crystal (Medium) x1, Crystal Vial.]
[Effect: After consumption, greatly increases mental strength and resilience. (This potion is effective below 200 True Attributes; repeated use is ineffective.)]
With Su Xiao's current level of alchemy, concocting a bottle of [Oceanic Essence] wasn't difficult. He began exchanging materials through his authority, spending a total of 15 Soul Coins to obtain one set of ingredients.
The concoction began. After deciphering the first page of the Alchemy Codex, Su Xiao felt that his alchemy level was now close to that of Tree Sage, though he didn't have as many formulas. If formulas weren't counted, and only mastery of alchemy was considered, Tree Sage was already inferior to Su Xiao. Perhaps at their next meeting, Tree Sage would no longer have that aloof, transcendent attitude of ignoring Su Xiao.
[You have obtained Oceanic Essence (Holy Spirit Rank).]
Su Xiao checked the information on [Oceanic Essence]. The potion's effect was simple: greatly increase mental strength. Clearly, this was prepared by the alchemists of the Second Era to help later generations better decipher the Alchemy Codex. This demonstrated the selflessness of those predecessors before their destruction.
[Oceanic Essence] had a rating of 927 points, which wasn't low. Su Xiao pinched the test tube between two fingers and swirled the ice-blue liquid inside. The liquid had a slight viscosity.
He tilted his head back and drank the potion. As soon as it entered his mouth, Su Xiao felt a cool, jelly-like sensation sliding down his esophagus without any special taste.
With just a small tilt, not a drop remained in the test tube. Su Xiao began to perceive the changes in his body.
Vaguely, he seemed to hear the sound of waves by his ears, mermaids singing softly, and giant whales letting out long, resonant calls.
Gurgle~
The scene before Su Xiao changed. He was still in the alchemy laboratory, but the surroundings were filled with seawater. A few bubbles rose near him. Two pale arms reached from behind his shoulders, wrapping around his neck from behind, and a wide, beautiful fish tail coiled around, covered in crimson scales.
"Suosuoya mi (Unknown language)."
A mermaid he had never seen before whispered in Su Xiao's ear. Eventually, she dissolved into crimson seawater with specks of light, merging into the surroundings.
A giant whale that had already clipped through the model swam overhead. Su Xiao could even feel the water currents and the pulling sensation caused by the whale's passage.
With a crackling sound, everything around him dissipated, and the alchemy laboratory returned to normal.
Su Xiao looked at the empty test tube in his hand. At this moment, he had a new understanding of alchemical potions. Was everything just now an illusion? Perhaps half of it was.
Su Xiao touched the wall of the test tube with his fingertip, picking up a drop of water stain, and tasted it. It was salty with a hint of bitterness—seawater.
Not only that, but Su Xiao found that his mental strength and resilience had at least doubled.
Su Xiao sat back down at the workbench, exchanged materials again, and concocted another [Oceanic Essence]. Soon, a finished potion was produced.
"Beini."
Hearing Su Xiao's call, Beini, who was looking at herself in a small mirror, looked up.
"Come here."
"Meow."
Beini jumped onto the workbench. Su Xiao placed the [Oceanic Essence] beside her.
"Contact Chen or Solomon. They should be interested in this."
"Meow."
Beini took out a communicator, projected it onto the wall, and began contacting Chen in text. The message read:
Flame Cat: "Are you there?"
Chen: "Busy. Wait a moment."
...
Clearly, Chen was still as aloof as ever. This all-system mage lord had killed quite a few people recently and was no longer the aloof, chuunibyou youth he once was. He had become the mad mage lord of Reincarnation Paradise.
Flame Cat: "Then I won't disturb you. (Attached: Oceanic Essence attributes.)"
Chen: "I'm not busy now. Miss Meow, please disregard my previous message. Also, good afternoon."
Flame Cat: "Friend price, 30 Soul Coins."
Chen: "At most 5 minutes. Converting Paradise Coins to Soul Coins requires contacting the merchant guild. If possible, please wait."
Flame Cat: "I'll save it for you. Only one bottle for now. Meow~"
Chen: "Thank you. Within the Sixth Rank, if you need anyone killed, contact me. 50% off."
...
From Chen's brief words, it was clear how tempting [Oceanic Essence] was for magic-type users. Mental strength = magic-type ability power; mental resilience = magic-type ability stability.
Let alone a potion that greatly increased both, even a slight increase would be hyped to astronomical prices. Mages were undoubtedly powerful, but the resources they needed were incredibly expensive, and only they knew the bitterness of that cost.
Su Xiao looked at the Alchemy Codex on the workbench, hesitating whether to consume another page of the [Book of Doors] to make a deal with the void entities.
Exchanging for a legendary item like the Alchemy Codex again was impossible. The reason he had obtained it was simple: Su Xiao was an alchemist, an alchemist who held the [Book of Doors].
The [Book of Doors] had nine pages left, each usable for one trade. After weighing the pros and cons, Su Xiao decided to try again. It had been three world progressions since his last trade with the void entities.
Opening the [Book of Doors], Su Xiao picked up a pen and began writing. This time, he only wrote five words: Soul Severing Shadow Stone.
Closing the cover of the [Book of Doors], Su Xiao began to wait. But this time, he waited a long time, and the [Book of Doors] showed no reaction. He wasn't surprised by this.
This was just an experiment. The attribute of the [Book of Doors] was that it could only trade knowledge-type items with the void entities. The Soul Severing Shadow Stone was a inheritance-type item plus a gem, which couldn't receive dual authentication from the Void Tree and Reincarnation Paradise.
Su Xiao scribbled out the five words "Soul Severing Shadow Stone." After thinking for a moment, he wrote "Melee Combat Grandmaster."
This time, he didn't wait long. The [Book of Doors] opened on its own, and a Treeborn Page floated up. The entire page disappeared inch by inch, replaced by a material resembling parchment. Eventually, it rolled up and fell onto the table.
[You have obtained an Ancient Scroll: After using this scroll, the Melee Combat Grandmaster ability can be increased by Lv.10 to Lv.15. This process takes 6 to 15 natural days and cannot exceed Lv.50.]