Chapter 78 Potions
The heavy wooden door of the Potions Lab closed gently behind him, isolating him from the noise of the outside world.
The spacious space was filled with the scent of dried herbs, mineral dust, and a subtle hint of old parchment.
Sunlight filtered through the tall arched windows, casting several beams of light onto the polished quartz laboratory table, illuminating the tiny particles of dust suspended in the air.
Benjamin took a deep breath and let the unique tranquility of the laboratory calm his mind.
Before my eyes, crucibles, retorts, condensers, beakers of various shapes and grinding tools are arranged in an orderly manner, like a silent army waiting for command.
Today's goal is to refine a "concentration potion" that can temporarily enhance mental concentration. It is a relatively high-level potion in the apprentice stage, but the ingredients are not very complicated.
He walked to the material rack on the side and his eyes fell on the items he needed: a bunch of fluorescent grass emitting a refreshing scent, a few pieces of moon silver ore fragments with star-like silver spots, a small bottle of sticky luminous moss extract, and a few dried petals of flame flowers with veins like flame patterns.
Benjamin put on gloves as thin as cicada wings. These gloves were specially used in potions. Not only could they isolate the body from the erosion of various materials, but his fingertips could still keenly feel the "pulsation" of the materials.
He picked up the fluorescent grass, but instead of simply cutting it, he placed his fingertips lightly on the grass stem.
A faint, cold touch came along my fingertips.
He closed his eyes, activated the analysis technique, and immersed his mind in it. He seemed to be able to see the energy flow as cold as moonlight flowing inside the grass leaves, as well as several tiny impurity nodes with a turbid feeling.
"The activity is acceptable, but there are a lot of impurities in the roots."
Benjamin took a small silver knife inlaid with pure crystal.
His movements were gentle and precise, the tip of the knife following specific energy veins.
After peeling off the impurities, he put the processed grass leaves into a warm white jade mortar.
Grinding is not about brute force, but about adding mental strength with a unique rhythm. Each crushing releases the essence of the grass leaves just right without destroying its core energy structure.
Soon, the grass leaves turned into a pool of green juice emitting a faint glow.
Dealing with moonsilver ore fragments is a test of patience.
Jemin put them into a grinder with fine runes engraved on the inner wall.
The grinding beads inside were driven, and with a low hum, the hard ore was broken down into uniform, fine, and star-like silver powder under the resonance of magic.
Throughout the process, he was using alchemical techniques to "scan" the powder for uniformity, ensuring that each grain was essentially the same.
After completing all the preliminary preparations, we finally came to the core step of making the potion.
Benjamin ignited the constant temperature magic crucible in the center of the experimental table, and a faint blue flame burned silently at the bottom of the crucible.
He first slowly poured the processed fluorescent grass juice into the preheated crucible. When the liquid came into contact with the heat source, it immediately made a slight "sizzling" sound and a cool mist rose up.
He was focused, his eyes sharp as an eagle.
Complex formulas and ratios are clearly marked on the open book.
He picked up a crystal dropper with micro-scale precision and carefully drew the prescribed amount of luminous moss extract.
One drop, two drops...
The viscous liquid dripped into the emerald green juice, but did not merge immediately. Instead, it was like ink dripping into water, with a circle of fluorescent light spreading around the edge that seemed to be slowly wriggling.
"The energy conflict has begun..." The knowledge from the book immediately flashed through Benjamin's mind, and he threw the moon silver powder into the crucible without hesitation.
The moment the powder touches the liquid surface, it’s like a spark is thrown into the air!
The liquid in the crucible suddenly became unstable, the emerald green and fluorescent light violently repelled each other, and even tiny silver electric sparks were churning in the center area, emitting a low crackling sound.
A mixed smell of metallic smell and rotting grass and wood filled the air.
This is the critical moment!
Benjamin decisively released his mental power, and the analysis technique was like an invisible and precise network, instantly covering the entire crucible.
His consciousness sank into it, no longer just observing the boiling and color change on the surface, but going deep into the microscopic level to "sense" how those violent energy particles collided, combined, and annihilated.
In his mental vision, it seemed as if a small cosmic storm was taking place in the crucible. The energy of the fluorescent grass tried to calm the restlessness of the luminous moss, while the metallic energy of the moon silver acted like a catalyst, forcibly building a bridge between the two and triggering a more violent reaction.
What he has to do is to accurately grasp the timing and intensity of the intervention of the Moon Silver Energy. If he is not careful, the balance will be broken.
Benjamin held his breath, gathering a trace of mental strength at his fingertips, ready to control the temperature of the flame or add neutralizing materials at any time, his entire mind focused on that boiling microcosm.
The storm gradually subsided, and the emerald green, fluorescent and silver light began to merge, forming a deep indigo liquid that seemed to contain the starry sky.
However, just as Benjamin was about to add the last ingredient - flame petal powder, his mental power captured an extremely subtle energy fluctuation. It was a tiny crystal in the moon silver powder that was not completely ground. It suddenly underwent an unexpected change under the continuous high temperature!
"Not good!" Alarm bells rang in his heart, but he could not withdraw his fingers.
The powder of flame petals fell into the indigo liquid with scorching energy.
Puff—boom!
As if dynamite had been ignited, the liquid in the crucible instantly turned from indigo to a dazzling bright purple, expanding violently and emitting a shrill scream!
A foul odor of sulfur and burnt feathers erupted violently. Benjamin reacted extremely quickly and ducked down to hide behind a special protective crystal plate.
Bang!
With a dull thud, the crucible lid was blown away by the violent airflow, and the hot and sticky purple waste liquid splashed all over the protective plate and the crystal table, making a hissing sound and emitting unpleasant white smoke.
A few drops of liquid splashed onto Jemin's arm, and small holes were immediately corroded on the alchemical gloves.
There was also some gray-black smoke on his face, making him look quite disheveled.
The laboratory was in a mess and the pungent smell lingered for a long time.
After the smoke and dust cleared, Benjamin didn't bother to clean himself up. He immediately rushed to the laboratory table and carefully collected some waste liquid residues that had not completely evaporated and strange crystals condensed after the explosion with special corrosion-resistant tweezers.
He pulled out a thick lab notebook and carefully observed the crystal using alchemy and analysis. A quill automatically floated up and danced rapidly across the page.
"Record of the 17th Mind-Concentrating Potion Refining:
Failure Stage: Final Fusion Stage (after the Flame Petals are added).
Phenomenon: The liquid medicine instantly turns from indigo to bright purple, boils and expands violently, accompanied by a pungent sulfur smell and a slight explosion (energy overload type furnace explosion).
Key points of mental observation: 0.3 seconds before adding the flame petals, an abnormal energy spike was detected in the area numbered G7 in the moon silver powder (suspected to be the incompletely crushed microcrystal core being stimulated by the flame energy).
This spike and the blazing sun properties of the flame petals produced a violent chain reaction, far exceeding the formula design threshold..."
(End of this chapter)
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