Setting aside her "eulogy" for Li Huai, Lan Qingyou picked up her herb bag.
The healing potion situation had given her an idea.
If healing potions worked both internally and externally — just with different effects — could the same be true for mana potions?
After all, the herb bag and the Moonbright Stone Dagger could both be repaired.
They just needed mana for maintenance.
Obviously, using her own pitiful few dozen mana points to maintain two potentially high-level magic items was like throwing a cup of water on a bonfire.
But what about mana potions?
She'd brewed 600 today.
Setting aside the 200 +50 potions earmarked for Li Huai, couldn't she try soaking the items in some of the +30 potions instead of just selling them?
With that thought, Lan Qingyou stood and walked over to the two crucibles that hadn't been bottled yet.
She'd use these two batches as a test.
Combined, these two batches represented potions worth a total of 12,000 mana points of recovery.
Using them for the experiment made the most sense.
So Lan Qingyou began filtering the two batches.
Once filtered, she poured everything into the now-empty crucible, then dropped the Moonbright Stone Dagger in to soak and see what happened.
Then she picked up the medicine pounding mortar, loaded in some dried centipedes, grabbed the hammer, and started pounding away — thunk, thunk, thunk.
All while reading the book propped open on the desk. Work and study, simultaneously. Peak efficiency.
The next day.
After a good night's rest, Lan Qingyou's morning routine began with checking the regional channel. Nothing notable beyond some people complaining about strong winds overnight.
So she went to check on the dagger in the crucible.
The potion, which should have been a pale blue, had turned white.
Even without being sealed, potions couldn't possibly evaporate to this extent overnight.
'Could soaking items in potions actually do something?'
Lan Qingyou quickly fished out the dagger, dried it with a towel, and placed it on the Small Screen.
"Moonbright Stone Dagger (C)"
"Effect: Damage +50, Strength +31."
"Description: A dagger forged from moonbright stone. Crafted by a master smith, making it exceptionally sharp. However, prolonged mana depletion has significantly reduced its damage and stat bonuses."
"Description 2: Slowly recovering due to absorption of a small amount of mana."
"Ha ha ha ha! It worked! It actually worked!"
Seeing the +1 increase in Strength and the new second description, Lan Qingyou couldn't help but throw her head back and laugh.
Being able to restore the dagger this way was fantastic, but the real prize was the herb bag!
Spatial storage! She couldn't even imagine how much capacity it would gain after upgrading!
Although — 12,000 mana points and the dagger's appraisal still called it a "small amount." The item's original level must have been astronomical.
She'd suspected she'd picked up a treasure, but Lan Qingyou still couldn't resist lifting the dagger and kissing it twice, then breathing on it and wiping it with a towel.
Now that she knew how to restore both pieces of equipment, there was no time to waste. She immediately began brewing potions.
But first.
She emptied the herb bag, then tossed it and the dagger into a wooden bucket before starting the brew.
The wooden bucket was filled with the +50 mana potions originally set aside for Li Huai.
The man was dead anyway — keeping them around served no purpose beyond resale. Might as well invest in her precious gear.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
A little after two in the afternoon, the desk pinged with a friend notification.
Lan Qingyou set down the stone stirring rod and floated out of the Alchemy Workshop.
She checked her friends list. It was from Li Huai.
Li Huai: "Do you have any antidotes?"
Lan Qingyou: "You're alive?!"
Lan Qingyou was genuinely surprised.
Li Huai: "Dead people get removed from the Magic Desk's friends list. The day you can't find my name — that's when I'm really gone."
Lan Qingyou: "Heh. Nice joke. Got a chuckle out of me."
She had no idea what he'd been up to yesterday, but since he wasn't dead, the deal was still on.
His condition, however, looked rough — evident even from his real-time avatar.
Pale face. Bloodless lips.
Lan Qingyou: "What type of antidote do you need, specifically?"
Li Huai: "Fire-type antidote."
Lan Qingyou: "Don't have one ready."
Li Huai: "Can you make one?"
Lan Qingyou: "Eight hours. Overtime pay is up to you."
Li Huai: "Deal."
It was already past two in the afternoon. Eight hours meant ten at night.
So Li Huai didn't haggle.
He immediately traded over everything he currently had on hand.
Lan Qingyou looked it over: besides the Obsidian she needed, there were some herbs and a supply box.
Li Huai: "There's something in the supply box I think you'll find useful. Consider it the overtime pay."
Lan Qingyou read his message, then opened the box.
Inside was a plump, fleshy lump wedged into the container.
She reached in, pulled it out, and examined it closely.
'Good lord!'
Not a lump of meat at all — it was some kind of... worm, probably?
The creature looked like a fleshy tumor, completely boneless, roughly twenty-odd centimeters long and weighing just over half a kilogram. Short, stubby legs lined both sides of its belly, supporting its body and enabling locomotion.
Lan Qingyou frowned, then ran an appraisal on the Small Screen.
"Volcanic Worm"
"Racial Talent: ■■■■"
"Skills: ■■■■, ■■■"
"Description: A worm mutated by prolonged exposure to extreme heat. Its carcass is an alchemist's dream. Don't be fooled by its lack of mouth and eyes — its mental attacks are formidable. Not recommended for survivors below Level 10."
......
'A Spirit-type monster? First time seeing one.'
'But what does "an alchemist's dream" mean?'
Lan Qingyou: "Is this what poisoned you?"
After stuffing the Volcanic Worm back into the box, she asked.
Li Huai: "No. Something higher-level than this one. If I hadn't blasted it into the lava and vaporized it, I probably wouldn't have made it back."
Lan Qingyou: "That complicates things a bit. Without the toxin source, the best I can do is brew an apprentice-level antidote and see if it works."
With so many types of poison, Lan Qingyou couldn't make any guarantees.
The antidote she was referring to was essentially a universal antidote.
It either worked or it didn't — a true coin flip when it came to detoxification.
So she needed to manage Li Huai's expectations upfront.
Li Huai: "Just do what you can."
Whether it was "treating a dead horse as a living one" or just giving up entirely, it was hard to say.
Either way, Li Huai agreed.
So Lan Qingyou stood up, set the supply box containing the worm aside, and headed to the Alchemy Workshop. The batch that was nearly finished — she killed the fire and dumped it.
Since she'd already acquired a Level 10+ monster carcass, sacrificing one batch was a small price to pay.
As for the "alchemist's dream" business — that would have to wait until she had time to investigate.