“I don’t know.” An Keyi shook her head helplessly. “Before, I had another assumption… in the medicinal liquid you prepared, the use of the Seven Star Herb is to increase the final medicinal strength of the medicinal liquid, but when adding the Seven Star Herb, if too much is added, it might change the final medicinal nature. I’ve already repeatedly examined many ancient texts, the conclusion I reached was that adding a bit less of Seven Star Herb might increase the success rate a bit. If I knew earlier that we would have still failed, then we might as well just added thirty percent more Seven Star Herb.”

Light flickered past Lin Xi’s eyes. He looked at An Keyi, immediately asking, “Then that means, if we start over from the beginning again, then we can try with thirty percent more Seven Star Herb? This way, our chances of success might be a bit higher?”

He didn’t wish to know too much about the depths of medicinal theory, nor was there any way for him to fully understand it. Right now, he just wanted to know what they should do if they were to redo things.

“What else can I do?” An Keyi didn’t understand what Lin Xi’s intent was at all, a bit distracted, her voice also becoming a bit quieter. “If I don’t figure out anything else in the following four years, then this is the only thing that can be tried.”

Lin Xi took a deep breath. He picked up the crystal bottle labeled ‘Seven Star Herb Extract’, looking at the green medicinal liquid he had previously only used a small amount of, and then seriously looked at An Keyi, asking, “Teacher, from what you said just now, this Seven Star Herb Extract should just be a complimentary ingredient, not those two main ingredients, right? That’s why there is so much left over?”

“Seven Star Herb Extract is precious, but not uncommon. Even though it is valuable, for the academy, it’s not too hard to obtain. What is truly rare is the thyme and Nascent Spiritual Ginseng medicinal liquid I produced.” Due to her personality, even though the pit of her stomach felt vacant and empty, not wishing to say anything, when she heard Lin Xi’s earnest questions, An Keyi still replied earnestly.

Lin Xi looked at her and said, “Since you trust me this much, then let’s try it again.”

“What did you say?” An Keyi raised her head in shock, feeling more and more nervous. If Lin Xi was speaking nonsense because of excessive despair and craziness, then she really didn’t know what to do.

“I am saying, let’s try it again.” Lin Xi looked at her extremely firmly, repeating himself. “Whether it will succeed or not, will still depend on if adding thirty percent more of Seven Star Herb Extract will do anything. However, at the very least, I can help you try it again.”

“What’s with you? What kind of nonsense are you saying?” An Keyi was now completely flustered. She subconsciously grabbed Lin Xi’s wrist, but Lin Xi’s temperature and blood flow were extremely stable, not displaying any peculiarities.

When he felt An Keyi’s soft fingers on his wrist, saw how she was losing herself out of fear, Lin Xi couldn’t help but chuckle. “Teacher, I am fine… also, actually, I know that blade of yours is extremely soft, able to always wrap around your arm. Additionally, I also know that your arm has a small red birthmark.”

“How do you know this, this isn’t a birthmark…” An Keyi’s eyes widened, suddenly snapping out of it. She cried out in disbelief, saying, “Lin Xi, when did you… actually peeped on me…”

“I did not, I saw this in the open, just that you did not know.” Lin Xi laughed. After saying this, the expression on his face became serious. While looking at An Keyi, he quietly said, “Return!”

As the surrounding transformed in a manner Lin Xi had long grown accustomed to, everything returned to the ten minutes ago Lin Xi was familiar with.

He had just entered this medicine room, just sitting down on the other side of An Keyi, starting to chat with her.

“Teacher, the soul cores of other cultivators, can other cultivators use them?” Because he already learned many things, Lin Xi instead asked some different questions this time.

“They cannot… once this Soul Core leaves the body, the soul force will quickly dissipate, become something similar to a bone or stone. That is why this type of Soul Core that still has soul force left… especially a Soul Core from Purgatory Mountain, is still extremely rare. If you didn’t return after a few days, I would have had to find someone else to help me.”

“Then the ones who reached this State Knight level cultivation, in the border army, they should also be extremely rare, right?”

“State Knights are true knights of the state… of course they are rare. Normally, when scouting operations are conducted, infiltrating some troops, just Soul Expert level existences are already quite good.”

…

When the discussions concluded, the medicine room entered a state of quietness. An Keyi and Lin Xi began to seriously prepare the compounds at the same time.

Because of her extreme faith in Lin Xi, moreover, because her sense of time wasn’t as precise as Lin Xi’s, needing to keep an eye on the various hourglasses next to her to calculate time, An Keyi’s concentration was completely focused on her own medicinal liquid, not noticing at all that during the first two minutes, after mixing three types of medicinal liquids, when the fourth medicinal liquid, the Seven Star Herb Extract was added, Lin Xi didn’t continue as she had previously told him to, instead adding nine more drops of Seven Star Herb Extract.

The medicinal compounds were still prepared in an extremely tacit manner by both of them at the same time, and then everything was handed over to Lin Xi. It was still that bottle of deep red medicinal liquid and dark green medicinal liquid that was mixed together. Under Lin Xi’s continuous rocking, after two minutes, these two types of medicinal liquids produced a reaction, completely merging, still becoming a translucent, dark blue, gel-like substance. From the outside, it didn’t seem all that different from before at all.

Because he knew the result of the last time, this time, Lin Xi was much more nervous than before. Only after taking a deep breath, did Lin Xi open the ceramic glaze bottle containing the blood, qi, and Soul Core from a Purgatory Mountain cultivator, transferring three drops of dark blue medicinal liquid inside.

Chi!

As expected, a wave of clear smoke rose from the ceramic glaze medicinal bottle.

However, what made Lin Xi’s eyes immediately widen, his breathing also couldn’t help but stop, was that this time, the black blood in the ceramic glaze medicinal bottle almost completely came to a boil. Moreover, the instant the three drops of medicinal liquid scattered, all of the black blood in the medicinal bottle became a bright red color!

An Keyi immediately became quiet.

Only, this time, her lips were trembling slightly, her face developing a flush of redness that was difficult to hide.

An Keyi’s expression was the verification Lin Xi needed. The smoke that scattered from this bottle, as he watched the ceramic glaze bottle’s contents turned completely red, while Lin Xi felt excitement, he couldn’t help but sigh with admiration. 

“This world’s medicinal theory really is profound after all…”

Only after remaining quiet for a long time, did An Keyi stand up, actually bowing deeply towards Lin Xi in a serious manner, “Thank you.”

This immediately left Lin Xi a bit bewildered. His years of upbringing from back in Deerwood Town immediately made him return the courtesy.

“Thank you so much… I finally didn’t let down the worthy predecessors and all those who shed blood over this research project.” Meanwhile, An Keyi’s following sentence even more so left Lin Xi in awe.

It was clear that for this project, it wasn’t only An Keyi who paid a great price.

Fortunately, this research project still finally succeeded.

“Even though Vice Principal Xia said that this bottle of medicinal liquid will be given to you as a reward, and he has his reasoning for doing so, this bottle is extremely precious. When you use it in the future, do not waste it.” Then, after remaining quiet for several minutes, An Keyi looked at Lin Xi and said, “Based on the medicinal strength just now, I believe that just applying a thin layer over your weapons, as long as a bit of the medicinal strength can pierce through the enemy’s skin, it should already be effective.”

“However, I do not know if after it counteracts the demonic transformation medicinal strength stored within Purgatory Mountain experts’ bodies, it can still be extracted again through some means.” When Lin Xi nodded and put away this crystal bottle, An Keyi added, “After all, Purgatory Mountain and other cultivation lands are the same, they have some secrets that we cannot understand, which is why it is best if you only use it when you truly face a demonized Purgatory Mountain cultivator. Moreover, once you use it, it is best if you don’t leave a living mouth… remember, this is our Green Luan Academy’s secret.”

“This student understands.” Lin Xi was a bit troubled by how he was going to explain adding those extra drops of Seven Star Herb Extract. After thinking for a bit, he looked at An Keyi and said, “Teacher, even though the formulation has been researched, the ingredients are still hard to obtain… just how many more years will it take before they can be gathered again?”

With this success, after An Keyi’s initial excitement, she then recovered her usual nature, calmly saying, “Indeed, it will still be three or four years at the earliest. During these three or four years, our Medicine Department’s main mission should be to find and procreate the main ingredients… However, it will still take a few years. After a few years, we should be able to produce quite a bit of this medicinal liquid.”

When he confirmed that this was a matter that would happen several years in the future, that there wasn’t that much of a rush, after a smile, he instead looked at An Keyi extremely seriously. “Student has one request, I wonder if teacher can agree to it or not.”

An Keyi’s brows furrowed slightly, thinking that Lin Xi better not seize the opportunity to make some greedy demand, or else her view of him would definitely change greatly. However, what left her a bit stunned was that Lin Xi instead said, “This matter possesses extremely great significance to me, and I have experience as well, so when it is time for us to refine this medicinal liquid again, I still wish for teacher and I to compound it together.”

“This isn’t a bad idea.” An Keyi’s voice sunk a bit, saying, “Even if the medicine can be successfully produced in the future, a good amount of it can be made as well, the prescription will still be the academy’s secret, so it is best if only you and me prepare it. This is something I have the authority to promise you.”

When he saw An Keyi’s current appearance, and then how miserable An Keyi was last time, Lin Xi immediately felt happy. He smiled again, saying, “Then this student will thank teacher ahead of time. Since I am now the owner of this medicinal liquid, why don’t I first divide it up with teacher?”

An Keyi seriously thought to herself, and then shook her head, “There aren’t many chances of me leaving Green Luan Academy… this medicinal liquid was originally to be given out to students with training and missions to carry out, precisely to be used during danger… However, right now, it is still a period of time where it must be kept a secret. That is why even when you head out in the future, encounter danger, when your companions wish to use it, what needs to be hidden must still be hidden.”

Lin Xi thought for a bit, and then nodded.

An Keyi also nodded, still saying with a reading voice, “The amount of time you need for cultivation is extremely long… my research during this period has also concluded. That is why starting from tomorrow, you don’t need to come for some time.”

“Soon, I will report news of success, so when you leave, you can receive your two course points of rewards. This time, I recommend you to exchange for a Soul Gathering Pill, it should be able to increase your cultivation by quite a bit.”

“In the future, if you have any areas of confusion regarding point exchange or medicinal theory, you can come and directly ask me… also, once I obtain a new research project and need your assistance again, would you be interested in helping me?”

When he heard the first line, Lin Xi felt a bit of disappointment, but when he heard the following words, Lin Xi immediately became filled with joy, a brilliant smile appearing on his face. “Of course!”