Holy moly!
Everything else at least had some kind of basic description, but this one? Straight-up triple unknowns!
And what did that mean?
It meant this was the real deal!
Shaking her head and suppressing her excitement, Lan Qingyou groped around the area where the information window had appeared, not caring one bit even as she churned the well water into a murky mess.
Eventually, she pried a stone loose from the silt at the bottom.
The stone was an irregular oval, roughly palm-sized and smooth to the touch — not a single strand of watergrass growing on it.
But Lan Qingyou didn't have time to examine it closely. After all, the water was still up to her neck.
After a quick scan confirming no more information windows had appeared, she floated back out.
She continued searching the surrounding area until the sky began to burn with the fiery hues of sunset, and only then did she head home.
The first thing Lan Qingyou did upon returning wasn't appraising her finds — it was taking a bath.
After soaking in that freezing well water for so long and then being battered by the wind while flying back, she was terrified of catching a cold if she didn't warm up properly.
Once she'd finished bathing and changed into fresh clothes, she finally laid out the day's entire haul.
A meter-long wooden stick as thick as half her forearm, a broken compass, chrysalises in a glass jar, a bottle of spring water, Water Elemental Essences, and the unknown stone.
And of course, there was also the crucible she'd been using for days.
"Deep Sea Meteoric Iron Cauldron (C)"
"Function: Increases potion and elixir success rate by 50%."
"Description: The ultimate tool every alchemist dreams of. A world-class magical instrument recognized by the World's Will. Whoever owns it is blessed — everyone who's used it sings its praises. Unfortunately, after prolonged neglect, its power has diminished. Perhaps frequent use could reawaken this slumbering world-class artifact."
"Verdant Stirring Rod (C)"
"Function: Increases potion success rate by 50%."
"Description: A stirring rod crafted from a branch of the World Tree. Using this rod eliminates any worry of cross-contamination, and it even adds a hint of the world's essence to your potions. Unfortunately, after prolonged neglect, its power has diminished. Perhaps frequent use could reawaken this slumbering world-class artifact."
"Damaged Thorium Compass (E)"
"Function: Increases the efficiency of your magic circles and alchemy arrays by 50%."
"Description: Circles drawn with it are capable of — Unfortunately, it is damaged. You may try having a mechanist repair it. But be warned: its allure to mechanists is no less than its allure to array masters and alchemists."
"Elf Butterfly Chrysalis (S)"
"Description: An unhatched Elf Butterfly chrysalis. You're quite lucky to have obtained a magical creature of this caliber. Find a way to hatch it, and you will behold the gentlest, most beautiful butterfly in the entire world."
"Spring of Rest (C)"
"Function: Irrigation, forging, enchanting, alchemy."
"Description: Spring water brimming with concentrated mana. It can be used directly as base water for alchemists. Though not high-ranked, it is exceptionally precious."
"Water Elemental Essence (D)"
"Function: Can be used in alchemy, enchanting, and irrigation. Effectively accelerates the growth of water-attribute plants."
"Description: The purest concentration of water-element energy, born from the prolonged intertwining of water-based mana."
"Stone of Rest (S)"
"Function: Place it on the ground and it will produce an endless flow of Spring of Rest, with a chance to generate Water Elemental Essences."
"Description: Legend has it that a certain audacious alchemist, fed up with having to prepare mana water every time he brewed potions, teamed up with an equally audacious magical tool-crafting grandmaster to develop this stone. It is a world-class artifact recognized by the World's Will."
So the Water Elemental Essences and the Spring of Rest had all been produced by this Stone of Rest.
And that "audacious alchemist" mentioned in the description was almost certainly Albert.
After reading through all the appraisal results, Lan Qingyou let out a long, deep breath.
"Whew — I never expected Albert's legacy to be this rich. Looks like whenever I have free time, I should go on archaeological expeditions to his old workshop. Who knows what other surprises might be waiting?"
That was what Lan Qingyou thought.
Then she placed one hand solemnly over her chest, closed her eyes, and spoke with an almost sacred reverence.
"Therefore, you, Albert, are hereby my master whom I've never met — from this day forward. If you have any more treasures, please do leave them at that site. So that your humble student may bask in the radiance of your glory."
Having inherited so many of his tools — and being a fellow alchemist herself — Lan Qingyou was genuinely grateful to Albert from the bottom of her heart.
Of course, if even more tools showed up, that would be the best outcome of all.
However...
There was still work to do.
Newly armed with all these tools from the grand alchemist Albert, Lan Qingyou switched gears immediately, her face brimming with determination as she began filtering potions, portioning them out, and then delivering them to her various "creditors."
First up, naturally, was the person who'd sold her the "Monsterology" textbook.
It was just a trade request for now, but a deal was a deal.
Until the transaction was fulfilled, the "Monsterology" book wouldn't reach her hands.
And though she already had the Appraisal Glasses, they needed knowledge to unlock their full potential.
Regardless of the field — as long as she broke through to D-rank proficiency, the Appraisal Glasses would level up with her, becoming capable of identifying D-rank items.
From that perspective, the glasses were essentially a growth-type magical instrument.
Next was Shang Chuan. She was short by a few dozen potions, but receiving the first batch was enough to put his anxious heart at ease.
After finishing all of that, Lan Qingyou headed back and turned her attention to processing the day's haul.
First and foremost was the Stone of Rest — the one that could self-produce Spring of Rest.
Previously, Lan Qingyou had been agonizing over the water problem.
After all, relying on others to deliver water forever was hardly a sustainable plan.
Now, with the Stone of Rest, she could obtain water anywhere, anytime.
However, since the stone produced a continuous flow of Spring of Rest, finding the right place to put it took some deliberation.
Eventually, after dropping the stone into the water tank — which was almost empty by then — she noticed something important.
The thing did indeed produce water, but it would only fill up to about fifty centimeters.
The same water level as in the old well.
This put Lan Qingyou's mind at ease.
After all, if water came gushing out of her treehouse, anyone passing by would probably look up, right?
Keeping it in the water tank, on the other hand, was perfect.
Not only was there no risk of exposure, but whenever she needed to do alchemy, she could just open the valve and let the water flow — ridiculously convenient.
She felt a little bad about wasting a hundred-liter water tank like this, but for now, it was the only option.
The Verdant Stirring Rod and the other tools she'd used that day were washed clean and placed in the workshop.
The Thorium Compass she couldn't do anything about — she had no clue how to repair it, so it would have to wait.
As for how to hatch the Elf Butterfly Chrysalis, she had no idea about that either.
Even the "Monsterology" textbook she'd just acquired didn't cover it.
Well... it wasn't really that kind of book anyway. "Monsterology" didn't catalog individual creatures.
Rather, it systematically explained the entire concept of "monsters" as a whole.
Beneath Monsterology, there were two branches: Botany and Beast Studies.
And under Botany, there were further sub-branches.
One was the "Herbology" that Lan Qingyou was already familiar with, and the other was "Magical Botany."
The Man-Eating Flowers she'd encountered before fell under the Magical Botany classification of monsters.
She couldn't help but marvel at how absurdly rich the academic disciplines of this world were.
'Plenty to study, that's for sure.'