Shang Chuan: "I can do it, but I'll need partial payment upfront. Also, want me to throw in anything else?"
Lan Qingyou: "Go on."
Shang Chuan: "You've got potions that restore mana. Any that restore Health Points?"
Lan Qingyou: "Yes. That would be the Healing Potion."
Shang Chuan: "Specifics?"
Lan Qingyou: "Not sure yet. Haven't brewed one before. You could wait until I make a batch this afternoon and we'll talk then."
Shang Chuan: "Works for me."
Lan Qingyou: "For now, I'll send you ten of the +50 mana potions as a down payment."
Shang Chuan: "[OK]"
After that message, Shang Chuan began drafting the trade request and started loading the materials — which took up most of his room — onto the Small Screen one by one.
Once the trade was complete and he had the ten potions in hand, he glanced at his friends list, then fired off a message to another big client.
Shang Chuan: "Ten +50 mana potions."
After sending, he waited. He knew the other party's routine — at this hour, they probably hadn't left yet.
Li Huai: "Send them."
Before long, the reply came back.
Lan Qingyou's potions were in constant demand — supply never met demand.
A single +50 mana potion fetched 70 base units on the black market.
Looking at the 700 extra base units now sitting in his inventory, Shang Chuan's lips curved into a smile.
He was already looking forward to the profits he'd rake in once Lan Qingyou delivered the rest of the potions that afternoon.
Especially the Healing Potion she'd never brewed before — that was where the real money lay.
If the effect was good, he could easily clear a 100% margin.
Of course, he knew his place. Even if he got first access, he wouldn't set the price.
Pricing rights belonged to Lan Qingyou. He would never step on those toes.
All he needed to do was follow behind and scoop up the leftovers. That alone was more than enough to keep him well-fed at this stage.
"Ding! Congratulations to the individual named 'Lan Qingyou' in the Abandoned Forest of District 666 for being the first to upgrade to a Level 3 Shelter. You have been awarded one customizable reward. Keep up the excellent work."
Just as his mind was wandering, the World's Will announcement rang out.
'See? I told you — Level 3 Shelter upgrade.'
Shang Chuan's lips curved again, and he turned back to work.
Meanwhile, in the regional channel:
"I was about to head out when Lan Qingyou pulled this absolute power move and forced me to sit down and type this message. Catch you all tonight, folks — Level 2 Shelter coming right up."
"Sigh. We're all still grinding for Level 2, and she's already at Level 3."
"Can't compare. Simply cannot compare."
"If you already know you can't compare, why are you still running your mouth? Go collect materials already."
"You're running your mouth too."
"I've been Level 2 for a while now. Planning to take the day off."
"...You're the boss, man. Respect."
Since most people headed out at daybreak, the regional channel was actually pretty quiet.
And after upgrading to Level 3, Lan Qingyou began picking her upgrade reward.
She skipped the first three options and chose Knowledge outright.
The "Basic Potioneering" tome from last time had been an enormous help, so this time she doubled down — sticking firmly with knowledge that would advance her alchemy.
More importantly, having a new book to read meant the long hours of brewing wouldn't be boring.
The challenge now was deciding which piece of knowledge was the most useful from such a vast selection.
Especially when so many subjects were at least tangentially related to alchemy.
Take "Basic Mineralogy," for instance.
From the name, it sounded like a branch of Mechanics, Forging, or Materials Science — and it was, technically.
But alchemy used minerals too, so studying it certainly wouldn't be a waste.
At the same time, that kind of knowledge wouldn't be of much immediate use to her.
She had to weigh not only what helped now but what would pay dividends down the road.
After much deliberation, Lan Qingyou gritted her teeth, stomped her foot, and chose "Basic Magic Circuitry" as her reward.
This book served as a critical bridge between her past and future studies.
A magic circuit was essentially a structured pathway drawn with one's own mana — a series of regulated lines connecting points to create functional systems.
It wasn't as complex as Symbology, but it was far from simple.
The circles and triangles connecting each symbol on an alchemy array were, in fact, magic circuits.
Master those, and her circle-drawing ability would improve, which in turn would significantly strengthen her alchemy arrays.
Of course, there was another crucial reason for this choice.
The field of Golem Studies also required magic circuits for golem construction.
She'd actually considered selecting "Golem Studies" just now.
After all, with a few golems running around, her alchemy workflow would become infinitely more efficient.
But the prerequisite knowledge for Golem Studies was staggering — far beyond what Lan Qingyou could tackle at her current level.
So she settled for the next best thing: "Basic Magic Circuitry," which was immediately useful and would lay the groundwork for the future.
Reward claimed, Lan Qingyou threw herself into the day's work.
Working and reading at the same time — now that was bliss.
She'd promised Shang Chuan a Healing Potion, but the Sluggishness Potion she'd decided on yesterday was equally non-negotiable.
So the Healing Potion would have to be brewed in the soup pot.
After flying back and forth several times to fill both the bathroom water tank and the larger one beside it, she began her preparations.
The Novice Protection Period was about to end, and who knew what would follow — a beast horde, or something worse.
Novels always went like this, so she needed to get her hands on some means of self-defense, fast.
The "Sluggishness Potion" was her best option at this stage. No alternative — the materials she had on hand were exactly enough for one crucible batch.
Which brought up an important distinction: the difference between "potions" and "magic potions."
Both were brewed in a crucible, but they were fundamentally different.
The core difference was that a potion was meant to be drunk — or at least used on yourself.
A magic potion, on the other hand, was thrown at enemies, attacking through volatilization or adhesion on impact.
This was the simplest method of distinguishing between the two on the Kalim Continent.
If someday an enemy hurled a vial at you, don't question it — nine times out of ten, it was a magic potion attack.
As for the remaining one or two times? Probably a rookie who grabbed the wrong bottle.
Of course, that was the layperson's classification. Alchemists had their own, much more straightforward criteria.
For example, right now.
Once the water in the crucible reached a rolling boil, Lan Qingyou set down the stone stirring rod, pulled out a bottle of nutrient solution, unscrewed the cap, and tipped twenty similarly sized yellow objects into the bubbling liquid.
The yellow, worm-like things tumbled and writhed in the scalding potion.
They were a species of insect native to the Kalim Continent. Because their bodies bore numerous yellow ring-shaped markings, alchemists called them Yellow-Ringed Legless Bugs.
Of course, you could also call them by their Blue Star name — earthworms.