Chapter 64: The Powerful Formula
[Marine Essence] was placed upright on the stone table by Su Xiao. Just by approaching this potion, one could almost hear all kinds of sounds from the sea.
“An alchemical potion I’ve never seen before.”
Holy Maiden picked up the [Marine Essence] on the table, her gaze turning to Su Xiao, meaning, could she open it and study it.
“Go ahead.”
Su Xiao naturally wouldn’t care about this one bottle of [Marine Essence]. The cost of this potion was 15 Soul Coins, which was nothing compared to the profits he was about to gain.
“This potion… is probably quite good, right.”
As Holy Maiden spoke, she tossed the Marine Essence to White Bull. White Bull poured out a fifth of it into another small vial. He certainly wouldn’t believe Su Xiao had the same alchemical skill as Tree Sage just based on Su Xiao’s words alone. White Bull planned to have his subordinates identify the potion.
Blade Demon didn’t take the Marine Essence, still sitting in the mist without a word. Tuanzhang, however, was very interested in the Marine Essence; he could directly check the potion’s resources—that was one of the advantages of the Paradise faction.
“Bai Ye, to commission an alchemical product, what do I need to pay?”
Tuanzhang spoke.
“A formula, and the materials.”
For the first time helping members of the Starry Sky Seat concoct potions or create alchemical items, Su Xiao didn’t plan to charge a fee. Formulas themselves were very valuable. In subsequent transactions, Su Xiao would consider charging manufacturing fees. He believed that the alchemical formulas brought by the Starry Sky Seat members wouldn’t be bad.
“A formula, huh.”
Tuanzhang basically understood, knowing the difference between Su Xiao and Tree Sage. Commissioning potions or alchemical items from Tree Sage basically didn’t require a formula, but instead required paying an astonishingly high manufacturing fee.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t prepared anything in this regard. I’ll have to wait for the next opportunity.”
White Bull maintained a wait-and-see attitude. Tuanzhang seemed not to have any alchemical formulas on hand. Among those present, Tuanzhang had the best understanding of Su Xiao’s alchemical skill, after all, [Marine Essence] was a permanent enhancement potion with a Holy Spirit rank and a 927 rating, certified by Reincarnation Paradise.
“As for alchemical potion formulas, I have one. Let me find it.”
Holy Maiden closed her eyes for a moment, then an ancient-looking animal hide appeared. The hide was a light yellow color, rolled up, with signs of damage at the edges.
“The materials will take a moment. Let’s just concoct 1 bottle first. Someone will send 2 sets of materials.”
When commissioning an alchemist to concoct a potion, one had to bear a 50% failure rate. This was a recognized fact in the Void. Some alchemists even negotiated a failure rate of 90%, meaning ten sets of materials would yield only one successful potion.
Su Xiao took the ancient animal hide thrown by Holy Maiden. The benefits of alchemy wouldn’t be as straightforward as the Black Maple Tree, but it could yield formulas. If there was a potion formula suitable for Su Xiao’s own use, that would be a huge gain.
[You have obtained: Holy Flame Baptism (Potion Formula)]
[Holy Flame Baptism: Each creation requires 12,000 Mana Points. Consumed materials: Prayer Light Dust, Liquid Holy Flame, Amethyst Tree Fruit, Stable Polymer Substance, Red Amber Coagulum, Soul Sprout… Soul Crystal (Complete) × 5, Crystal Vial.]
Seeing the dozens of material names, Su Xiao frowned. For an alchemist, the ‘material catalysis’ and ‘fusion reaction’ of this potion were a nightmare.
Even for Su Xiao, the success rate for concocting this potion was only about 60%. Don’t think this was high; his alchemy ‘Plant Harmony Chapter’ skill level was as high as Lv.61.
The concoction of [Holy Flame Baptism] wasn’t a major issue. Su Xiao checked its effects.
[Effect: Upon drinking, you will be baptized by the holy flame, completely restoring soul damage (This potion is effective for those with Soul Strength below 1800 points. Each person can use it a maximum of three times).]
“A secret medicine for restoring the soul.”
Su Xiao put away the [Holy Flame Baptism] formula and said nothing more.
“If you can concoct it, there will be a heavy reward.”
Although Holy Maiden said this, she didn’t hold much hope. She had already sought out several alchemists, and the answer was always the same: they couldn’t concoct this potion. Even if they forced it, the success rate was pitifully low, and the effects were greatly diminished.
As for finding an alchemical master like Tree Sage, it was simply impossible. The faction behind Holy Maiden was hostile to the Demon Race. Tree Sage was a guest of honor for the Demon Race and wouldn’t help Holy Maiden or her faction concoct potions.
The [Holy Flame Baptism] formula was quite good. This was the first time Su Xiao had seen a potion that could restore soul damage. Even within the Paradise, soul damage was very troublesome. It couldn’t be restored just by returning to Reincarnation Paradise; special permissions were needed.
[Holy Flame Baptism] could be used three times in a person’s lifetime, which further increased its value. But this thing wasn’t suitable for concocting and selling directly. Not because few people suffered soul injuries, but because most people who suffered soul damage would die within a short time.
Moreover, the potion’s activity of [Holy Flame Baptism] was only one month, making it more suitable for commissions.
The ancient animal hide disappeared in Su Xiao’s hand, and a large amount of knowledge about the [Holy Flame Baptism] potion appeared in his mind.
Su Xiao leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes to organize the knowledge in his mind. The subsequent transactions of the Empty Seat Banquet were basically unrelated to him. He had no more items to trade.
The transactions between Tuanzhang, White Bull, Holy Maiden, and Blade Demon began. The trading method of the Empty Seat Banquet was barter. As long as the price difference wasn’t too great and both parties needed what the other had, a deal was sure to be reached.
Soon, the four completed their transactions. Seeing this, the black mist figure sitting at position 0 spoke:
“Everyone, if any of you need assistance from others to accomplish certain tasks, you can propose them now. Of course, seeking assistance requires corresponding compensation.”
After the black mist figure finished speaking, there was a moment of silence in the Starry Sky Seat. No one needed assistance.
“Since that’s the case, let’s begin the final round. Everyone, if you have any items you need, you can propose them now.”
This was a tradition of the Empty Seat Banquet. At the end of each session, the members of the Starry Sky Seat present would state what they needed. Other members would keep an eye out for these items, increasing the chances of obtaining them.
Analyzing carefully, the members of the Empty Seat Banquet present each had their own characteristics. Blade Demon represented slaughter; he owned a Black Maple Tree, and the deepest part of the Abyss was his territory, which produced many rare resources.
White Bull represented the underground dark forces. Intelligence, assassination, hiring, contraband trading—all could be conducted through him. He commanded many dark forces.
Interestingly, the exile ground where Sefeiliya had previously hired assassins to go was one of White Bull’s territories. The leader of the exile ground, Polelu, was one of White Bull’s minor underlings.
Holy Maiden represented traditional Void forces. Tuanzhang represented the Paradise faction. Su Xiao represented the Law Destroyers + Paradise faction.
“I need ‘Life Source.’ No limit on quantity.”
White Bull seemed to have an injury, which he was suppressing with some method, so he urgently needed something called ‘Life Source.’
“I still need ‘Star Seal Imprint.’”
Holy Maiden spoke weakly. This time, she had finally found a ‘Star Seal Imprint,’ but it had already had its energy drained by Blade Demon.
“I’ve been needing ‘Space-Time Power’ recently.”
Tuanzhang spoke with a hint of a smile. Hearing this, Su Xiao thought that Tuanzhang might be planning something big recently. He had just obtained a World Core, and now he was trying to get Space-Time Power.
“Soul Severing Shadow Stone.”
Su Xiao spoke. The Soul Severing Shadow Stone·Fragment was missing only the last piece to synthesize a complete Soul Severing Shadow Stone. But so far, there wasn’t even a trace of news about the last piece.
“Soul Severing… Shadow Stone.”
Holy Maiden’s expression became serious. Seeing this, Su Xiao felt a significant stir in his heart. He had been searching for the Soul Severing Shadow Stone for far too long.