77: Chapter 77 Two Types of Medicine

"mandrake" is a rather bizarre plant, but its medicinal potency is quite substantial.

Its appearance consists of normal green leaves above ground, while the underground part resembles a ginseng structure.

However, the upper part of the root bears a somewhat terrifying, illusory human face.

If a passerby accidentally steps on it at night, it will even let out a soft, whimpering sound like a crying child.

"The recipe Materials for this [crimson potion] are also not difficult to obtain."

"I can get some unicorn horn powder from the cultivation room. The 'double-winged Pegasus' there is itself a type of unicorn. This Demonic Beast sheds some of its stratum corneum during its growth, making it a naturally occurring material."

"As for the "mandrake", I need to purchase some myself, but this plant has strong medicinal potency; a single one can refine at least 5 Potions."

Unicorn horn powder, as a derivative of its "unicorn horn," aside from the wasteful method of cutting it off directly,

is collected during its annual growth period from where it lives, having fallen to the ground or rubbed against hard stones.

In this potion, the unicorn horn powder is the most precious, but for Ross, this is not a difficult task at all.

He could just take some from the storeroom for use and let the Goblin Supervisor know.

Such minor matters were not enough to keep bothering Professor Pulang.

——

When all the Materials in his hands were gathered, Ross placed them one by one on the insulation table.

These Materials still carry some vitality, for example, the unicorn horn powder chosen by Ross is what he just took from the horn of that "double-winged Pegasus".

To keep the Materials fresh, Ross spent a lot of effort and used some fresh forage to appease that Pegasus before grinding some horn powder from its horn.

The "mandrake" was also freshly picked from the market by Ross. Magical plants used for refining Potions were better bought fresh, as their medicinal potency would be stronger, saving a lot of trouble.

At this moment, the refrigeration unit was still continuously hissing and emitting a thin white mist while these magical Materials lay on the table.

"Everything is prepared; we can proceed with processing and refining."

"Unicorn horn powder and morning dew are very difficult to mix, which requires rapid oscillation under high temperature to promote their Fusion..."

"The nature of the "mandrake" means that its vocal organs need to be removed during processing. That is a sac-like organ hidden at the bottom of the root. It is best not to disturb it, and then drop the knife swiftly..."

Compared to the [calming potion], these Materials were much more complicated to process, but to Ross, an engineering-minded man, it just required paying attention to some details.

Many wizards in the Wizard World directly contacted the power of mysterious Domains like magic. Although they occasionally touched upon conventional true science, it ultimately only shared a superficial shell.

Following the previous steps of refining the [calming potion], he used the [Magic Flame] to heat the horn powder and morning dew to promote Fusion, while casting the [Hand of Magic] to wrap the two in a ball of liquid composed of magic, and then oscillated up and down at high speed.

After a short while, it presented a saturated pre-solution emitting a snow-white scale-powder glow.

Then Ross put this pre-made 'unicorn horn powder and morning dew' into the crucible.

After Ross removed its vocal organs, the "mandrake" seemed to have lost all strength and means. Previously it could make some sobbing sounds, but at this time there were only some faint hissing sounds left.

Then, after being crushed by a pestle, this "mandrake" was thrown directly into the crucible.

This processing was relatively crude because Ross wanted to try high-heat refining this time. After all, whether it was unicorn horn powder or "mandrake", they were Materials difficult to refine slowly.

Under the continuous simmering of a blazing fire, the [crimson potion] also quickly took shape.

"It's done."

Taking the potion out of the crucible, it had now become a paste-like substance due to the drop in temperature.

Ross packed these ointments into test tubes, left a little for testing, and then sealed the rest.

A sharp blade of light flashed across Ross's arm, and a tiny wound appeared on his body.

When Ross evenly applied the refined ointment to the wound, he felt a hint of warmth at the wound site, followed by a tingling sensation.

After about 5 minutes, the wound almost disappeared, leaving only a shallow trace, which would recover into smooth skin under the body's metabolism in about a week.

"Now I have basically mastered both the [calming potion] and the [crimson potion]. The difficulty of these apprentice-level Potions is about the same for me."

"As for the three Potions required by Potions, it is more appropriate to choose the [siling ointment] as the last one."

Choosing [siling ointment] as the final potion was not a whim of Ross; rather, this potion's effect in assisting the enhancement of Mental Energy was truly exceptional.

In Ross's view, although the costs of the [calming potion] and the [crimson potion] were low, he could basically keep the cost of each potion within 5 magic stones.

As for the standard Potions sold on the market, the price for both was 20 magic stones.

The profit margin was over four times, but Ross had heard that some wizard pharmaceutical factories specializing in concocting Potions possessed special formulas or improved methods that could further compress costs.

Therefore, if Ross only wanted to sell sporadically, it wouldn't be a problem; however, if he wanted to sell in large quantities, relying solely on himself would likely incur a high time cost.

Whether recruiting Wizard Apprentices to help with refining, working at a wizard pharmaceutical factory, or cooperating with one, Ross currently held no particular advantages.

After all, Ross's potion recipe was a classic formula redeemed from the academy, making it almost impossible to rival mature, marketized pharmaceutical factories.

Unless Ross can improve the formula or reduce costs.

But none of these were simple matters, and Ross had no intention of making an enemy of these "capitalized" pharmaceutical factories.

His objective was very clear: to complete the assessment requirements for Potions.

Having tested that he still had some talent in Potions, he could consider it as an option in his future plans.

After all, once he achieved a Breakthrough to an Official Wizard, not only would his lifespan increase significantly, but he would also have ample time to choose the path he wanted to develop.

"It's just that the exchange price for [siling ointment] is not low, requiring 1,000 magic stones or 50 points."

Right now, he only had 15 points left; the points in his hands were not enough for the exchange, nor were his magic stones sufficient to make up the difference.

"I can only put it off for now. When the thesis reward comes down, I estimate I'll be able to get some more academy points."