Chapter 293: Wound Healing Alchemical Potion
“Alright! Focus on this!”
After giving Betty a proper adjustment, she finally stopped acting like she did earlier.
It seems the pressure on the seniors at Witch Academy is quite intense. Many of them may have reached the age where they’re called ‘senior,’ yet they still have so much they don’t know.
However, this situation is quite normal. The college-issued phone has so many features related to the academy system that most of the software on it is connected to this. Even the academy system icon cannot be deleted.
After all, I know there are plenty of functions inside that I haven’t fully explored. For instance, if it weren’t for Sister Bai, I wouldn’t have even known that I could choose courses on this; those alchemy and rune literature courses require additional payment. Although it costs money, it is also a channel for acquiring knowledge.
“This is great… I can read books directly on my phone without having to travel far… But if the instructor finds out, I won’t have a reason to use the library to avoid her!”
Betty sighed as she looked at the online library opened on her phone, then quickly came to her senses.
“Look at the bright side; with this, you can directly find the detailed steps for this potion. You won’t have to spend a lot of money on materials and constantly try and fail, saving you a lot of money.” I couldn’t help but intervene to reassure her.
“That’s true… But let’s start trying this potion recipe anyway.”
“Okay.”
I nodded. During the time Betty was dawdling, I had already memorized the process for the wound healing potion, and now I was looking at a second copy that explained each step in detail.
“By the way, Betty, where did you get the materials? Or have you already prepared them?” I looked up from my documents to see Betty. I didn’t see any materials around here, and it seemed there was no place to store them either.
However… if Betty hadn’t bought the materials, I’d highly recommend she purchase some processed materials.
After all, alchemical potions are not about using the freshest raw materials but rather achieving effective results. Many efficient alchemists start with “pre-made” materials that have undergone primary processing; this method saves a great deal of time, and the price isn’t much higher than that of raw materials.
But for us just starting with alchemy, such materials aren’t necessarily required; we need to practice our own skills and thought processes rather than just looking for convenience.
Perhaps this was the intention behind the simplified recipe that Instructor Betty gave her, hoping Betty could explore more and practice her hands-on skills.
“About that… I remembered to buy some yesterday, and I got several portions. Since I’m a bit cash-strapped, it’s roughly six portions. Well… we should avoid wasting them.”
“Six portions? That doesn’t seem like much.” I nodded. Making six portions separately would definitely take quite some time, but much of that time is spent on processing the materials.
You can’t use many things directly without processing them. Since alchemical potions are separate from regular medicinal products, they naturally possess extraordinary attributes.
If regular medicines rely on chemical reactions, extractions, etc., then alchemical potions depend on the craftsmanship of making them.
Betty also took out a pile of materials from her storage equipment, most of which were specially packaged. After pulling them all out, Betty thoughtfully divided them into six portions.
“How about we don’t separate them too much since we’re collaborating anyway? What’s the difference if we each do our own work?”
“That seems reasonable…”
Following my suggestion, she nodded and started our first alchemical attempt.
However, since it was our first time and lacked familiarity, we ended up making quite a few blunders. In a haphazard manner, we finally set up the necessary alchemical formation.
We also needed to use spells to process some materials.
Ultimately, after much effort and wasting over a portion of materials, we finally achieved a complete “pre-made” auxiliary and main ingredient.
“We finally made it to this step, wasted so much… Why is this so hard… The next step is the final fusion ceremony, right?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded while comparing the information flow with the documents, but my gaze kept scanning these semi-finished products. The so-called purity mentioned in the documents does not simply refer to impurities within the materials but to the purity of the specific extraordinary energy contained in these materials once completed.
However, before filtering, this purity and impurity content are proportionally related in data, so before filtering, impurity content is indeed the simplest and most visible way to distinguish purity.
The subsequent filtering removes unnecessary impurities, but that doesn’t mean the extraordinary purity of the liquid increases afterward; that would be self-deception. Similarly, it’s the area where the “fake purity” of pre-made materials is most severe.
Thus, most alchemical masters or potion masters disdain purchasing these pre-made items, preferring to create their own for peace of mind.
It’s clear that the materials we created also displayed significant discrepancies. Although they looked free of impurities after filtering, my spirit vision could clearly discern the purity of the extraordinary energy. The complexity and conflict of that energy might be invisible to Betty, but to me, it was “visible to the n*ked eye.”
Even my portion couldn’t be considered particularly pure, after all, it was our first time, so it was inevitable that we were inexperienced.
And Betty, right before my eyes, managed to shatter a beaker. I finally understood why she frequently encountered experimental accidents; because she “couldn’t see” her mistakes. Spirit vision granted me the perspective to stop losses in time, so most mistakes I made could be salvaged.
Next, we had to mix them together in the established order.
“Um… Xiao Han, why don’t you go first this time? I feel like you’re better at alchemy than I am.”
“This task was assigned to you by your instructor, and you bought the materials, so you should go first.” I spoke up.
Of course, it wasn’t false modesty—though it had some elements of that—but I was more concerned about the data in the materials regarding the final fusion. I needed to observe the specific phenomena to ensure the correct process.
If I operated it myself, I might not be able to compare that data smoothly.
“Alright, I’ll get started.” Once Betty heard my suggestion, she ceased her hesitation and promptly began. I watched this step carefully by her side.
“First, this base liquid… heat it to this temperature and maintain it…” Betty was also focused on carrying out the operation; the final step requires a seamless flow, so she needed to commit the steps completely to memory.
I directly used spirit vision to observe the underlying principles behind the data, such as why this temperature was necessary, how long it needed to be maintained, and how the base liquid’s concentration and extraordinary energy purity were related…
I swiftly recorded this information on the memory shelf, which was a more convenient means than taking handwritten notes.
Some data flickers by; if you get distracted while recording, you might miss it in the next moment.
The potion was gradually mixed through Betty’s hands, and I gathered a lot of data.
Until Betty made an error, and she seemed not to have noticed it.
I didn’t remind her; that was a comprehensive decision. Since we didn’t have much material left, we naturally needed several experiments to gather enough information. If I interrupted, it would directly disrupt this attempt. Even if there was an error this time, at least we could determine how much of a flaw this error would cause to the whole.
But when Betty reached the last step, I understood I might have been wrong; this could no longer be described as just a “flaw.”
In that moment, I sensed the conflict of energies within that semi-finished potion; this premonition of energy levels was more direct than anything visible to the eye.
When the potion began exhibiting strange phenomena of shaking without actually moving, it was too late for Betty to throw away what she had in her hands.
Boom—!
“Ah!”
A dull thud accompanied by the sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the laboratory, followed by Betty’s piercing scream.
Fortunately, a reverse shield enveloped both Betty’s hand holding the potion bottle and the breaking glass shards along with the potion.
Otherwise, this explosion would have likely impacted a larger area.
“Ugh… Hoo… Hoo…” At this moment, a still slightly shaken Betty breathed heavily. Upon seeing the shield wrapped around her, she finally relaxed.
In that moment of explosion, she realized she had seemingly caused an accident. Even if the explosion wasn’t massive, these waste liquids would likely stain the equipment. If the instructor found out, she’d surely be spanked!
“Thank… goodness… No! Thank you, Xiao Han, your reflexes are just too fast!”
“Not a big deal. I was just observing, so I naturally have to take responsibility for some other things. How are your hands?” I looked at Betty’s hands, now covered in waste liquid and glass shards. It seemed the explosion’s force was not small, and bl**d trickled from her wounds, yet she didn’t appear to be crying in pain.
“My… hands… Ahh… it hurts… it really hurts! I’m going to d*e…”
Seeing Betty react so dramatically, I realized I might have overestimated her; it turned out she had a long reflex arc.
“Let me heal you.” I sighed and said to her.
“Xiao Han, do you have healing magic? Oh… I remember now… Yes, thank you, Xiao Han, you’re so kind.”
“Just a small matter.”
I extended my hand and cast Flesh Healing, removing the waste liquid from her wounds; the glass shards fell away too. The healing process was indeed quite arduous. The pain from the wound and the regeneration of bodily nerves created an intense itch; the dual sensations of pain and itch were the most tormenting, and you couldn’t scratch.
After Betty let out a series of agonized screams, the process finally ended.
“Ugh… that healing process was truly painful…”
“Let’s tidy up a bit; afterward, we’ll review just what happened. I have a general idea of the cause.” I suggested.
However, Betty’s accident also made me realize a crucial difference: alchemy is not the same as biochemistry. Even if it’s just potion preparation, and even if there’s no violent chemical reaction, explosions can still occur, just like earlier—it was the conflict of extraordinary energy, and the potion merely served as a facilitator of explosive force.
At this moment, I watched the power of the waste liquid explode due to the conflict of extraordinary energies, accelerating the movement of particles, which meant rising temperature and the boiling waste liquid continued to bubble, releasing a wave of steam.
“Hey? Did you just figure something out? You were merely observing!”
“Just observing from the perspective of a bystander allows clearer comprehension.”
I organized the materials from earlier, all stored in the memory shelf, but I needed to present them clearly to Betty.
“But still, that’s incredible.” Betty exclaimed while tidying up the aftermath, not expecting such a disastrous start, which undoubtedly shook her confidence.
I thought it was manageable; after all, it was just a failure. If one cannot learn the key to success from failure, then that failure is the real failure.
Once everything was tidied up, I was ready.
“Now, I’ll summarize what just happened.” I opened the Earth Vein System; such a tool is standard equipment in the laboratory, so I knew how to operate it.
Then, I took out the glasses that Teacher Ji had given me to relieve eye fatigue. I felt that wearing them now would create a more instructive atmosphere.
At that moment, Betty was already very focused on watching, as she was certain she had followed the steps precisely, yet she still felt a little lost about why the explosion occurred.
“Now that the experiment has been recorded by the Earth Vein System and replayed, there were basically no issues in the first part; let’s advance to when the explosion happened. The issue lies here.”
“Huh? At this time? Isn’t the potion merging fine at this point?”
“Indeed, from the outside, everything seems normal.” I glanced at the recorded video, regrettably knowing it was only a recording; I had seen during that moment how the extraordinary energy within the potion began to conflict.
“At this point, look at the temperature gauge beside you; hasn’t it risen significantly? At this stage, there’s actually no need to deliberately maintain the temperature, so you ignored this anomaly, but the temperature rose abnormally while there was no noticeable reaction in the liquid. This can only be attributed to a conflict of energy levels. If we had noticed this abnormality and intervened, we could have saved it. However, neither of us, due to our inexperience, reacted in time…”
After my explanation, Betty’s confidence re-emerged, wanting to give it another try.
I naturally wouldn’t miss Betty’s eagerness. I discovered my observations might be even more useful than practical experience.
After the second attempt, Betty finally tasted the sweetness of success.
At this moment, Betty looked at the clear, transparent liquid in her hand, feeling so excited that words couldn’t express her joy.
Meanwhile, I silently recorded everything from earlier, knowing full well this was merely a wound healing potion.
Yet, even now, I still held reservations about the potion Betty had concocted, so I cautiously suggested, “How about we find something to test it on first? Like a little white mouse or something?”
“That sounds good! I remember the instructor has a special breeding chamber for little white mice! I’ll go borrow a few!”
“There’s that too?”
I watched as the energetic Betty rushed out. It seemed that the delight from her success had yet to settle in, and I felt a bit sorry for her instructor—she truly was a spender…
Or perhaps that instructor just seemed strict and punitive but was fundamentally indulgent towards Betty?
Otherwise, Betty wouldn’t have cultivated such a habit of squandering her instructor’s resources. Without her instructor’s pampering, how could she dare to act this way?
Of course, I was mainly curious about the effects of the potion. When I used my spirit vision to look deeper, I did feel that something was off, yet there was no evidence.
Let’s let facts speak for themselves; rather than having me question Betty, it would be better for her to prove for herself whether there was a problem.
Of course, if all was well, it would be a happy outcome for everyone.
