81: First time refining a level 5 potion

After sending Aivi away, the study seemed to still retain the fresh scent of the tide that clung to her.

Linn stood alone before the massive map of Shattered Star Island, his gaze lingering long on the region in the northern highlands marked as "Unknown Hazardous Land."

Fifth-rank or even sixth-rank Demonic Beasts... this was indeed not something Star Sea Territory could touch right now.

He took a deep breath, slowly rolled up the map, and quietly suppressed the urgency for expansion in his heart with reason.

It was time to improve his strength. This thought was clear and firm.

He did not summon his servants, nor did he continue to handle the piled-up documents; instead, he walked back behind his desk, closed his eyes, and sank his consciousness into the depths of his Soul.

The next moment, his figure quietly vanished from the study.

breath of life space.

Even though he had entered many times, every time he stepped foot here, Linn still felt his heart surge with excitement at its magnificence and vitality.

After his Breakthrough to High Gold Rank, the scope of the space had expanded from the original dozens of kilometers to a full one hundred kilometers.

The hazy emerald light curtain at the edge pushed outward slowly and firmly, as if breathing and growing in silence.

The Sky presented a soft gradient like the morning light, transitioning from the clear azure above his head to the pale gold and light green streams of light in the distance.

The ground beneath his feet was thick and fertile, and the dark brown soil seemed to contain infinite vitality.

The grassland was boundless, dotted with countless flowers and Spiritual Plants emitting a faint glow.

A gentle breeze blew by, bringing air mixed with the fragrance of soil and the scents of various herbs, which was refreshing to the heart.

His gaze turned toward the core of the space—the divine spring and the ancient tree.

At the divine spring, the spring eye still gushed out crystal-clear spring water containing majestic life energy.

Around the pond, carefully planned herb fields crisscrossed.

And the most striking thing was the ancient tree beside the spring eye.

It could now truly be called "towering"; the trunk required several people to embrace, the bark presented a deep bronze color, and liquid golden light seemed to flow slowly within its veins.

The canopy was like a huge emerald cloud cover, its branches and leaves swaying slowly, scattering specks of light containing pure life energy, nourishing the entire space.

The pressure and spirituality emitted by the ancient tree made even Linn feel his own insignificance.

In the herb field area around the ancient tree, that extremely dense life energy and the strange force field emitted by the ancient tree boosted the plant ripening ability to over thirty times.

Those rare fifth-level Materials that usually required decades or centuries to mature could be harvested once in just over a year of external time by relying on this unique "ripening" effect.

This was undoubtedly the strongest trump card in Linn's hand—he could not steal more Cultivate time here, but he could quickly obtain precious resources unimaginable to the outside world.

"Master." A voice as soft as wind chimes sounded.

Linn turned his head and saw Dolia walking lightly from the direction of the ancient tree.

Her figure seemed more solid than before, her emerald long hair seemed to resonate with the vitality in the space, and her eyes were as clear as the purest spring water in the forest.

"Dolia," Linn smiled and nodded, his gaze sweeping over that piece of radiant fifth-level herb field, "It seems it is time?"

"Yes, Master." Dolia stopped by his side, "The seventeen types of fifth-level main Materials you planted before, such as 'Star Orchid,' 'Dragon Blood Coral Branch,' 'Earth Vein Purple Ganoderma,' and 'Empty Bright Epiphyllum,' as well as more than thirty types of auxiliary Materials, have all fully matured under the space's accelerated growth, and their medicinal properties have reached the Peak state, ready to be picked and refined at any time. The nourishment from the ancient tree's aura makes their quality at least thirty percent higher than their counterparts in the outside world."

A flash of light appeared in Linn's eyes.

His Soul Power had long crossed the shackles of the Gold Rank and stabilized at the Earth Rank knight level; this was the fundamental confidence he had to attempt a fifth-level potion.

A fifth-level potion already belonged to the category of Advanced potions; each bottle was invaluable, and the difficulty of refining it increased geometrically.

"Good, let's get prepared first." Linn did not rush to start, but instead walked with Dolia to the alchemy area specially cleared out under the ancient tree.

Here stood an alchemy table made entirely of dark silver and engraved with complex magic patterns, along with a series of precision vessels crafted from mithril and magic crystals.

In the following real-time, whenever there was a slight gap in his duties as a lord, Linn's consciousness would sink into the breath of life space.

He did not immediately start refining, but instead spent a lot of time with Dolia, repeatedly studying every characteristic of those fifth-level Materials.

As the Spirit of the Space, Dolia had an instinctive insight into every plant growing here, and her suggestions often pointed directly to the key.

After deducing the theory countless times, Linn officially began the first refining of a fifth-level potion.

The refining process was like dancing on the tip of a knife.

Linn was fully focused, his Soul Power like the most precise tentacles, wrapping, peeling, and extracting the most essential parts of each material.

Magic power turned into a soft flame, leaping under the alchemy table in a mysterious rhythm.

Various Materials emitting majestic energy slowly fused under the traction of magic power.

However, the complexity of a fifth-level potion far exceeded a fourth-level potion.

At the final moment before it was about to form, two streams of energy with vastly different properties failed to fully reconcile, producing a trace of extremely subtle repulsion.

It was this trace of repulsion that was drastically magnified in the high-energy environment inside the potion—

"Bang!"

With a low muffled sound, the protective magic light shield on the alchemy table flickered violently, and the magnificent medicinal liquid inside that was about to condense and form suddenly went out of control, turning into a cloud of mist mixed with violent energy and scattering, leaving only a pungent smell mixed with a burnt odor and a strange medicinal fragrance.

Failed.

Linn's face turned slightly pale, fine sweat oozed from his forehead, and his Soul Power consumption was not small.

But there was not much frustration in his eyes; instead, they shone with the light of contemplation.

He stood quietly on the spot, savoring the details of every step just now.

"Master, it was because the Fusion timing between the starlight extract of the 'Star Orchid' and the earth qi essence of the 'Earth Vein Purple Ganoderma' was off by a hair, and at the same time, the scorching attribute of the 'Dragon Blood Coral Branch' was not completely neutralized, leaving a trace of restlessness, which became the trigger." Dolia said softly.

"Hmm, and my Soul Power output during the final Fusion stage appeared slightly unstable." Linn added, wiping the sweat from his forehead, "A fifth-level potion indeed tolerates no errors. Interesting, let's try again next time!"

He did not rush in, but sat cross-legged by the divine spring, drank a few mouthfuls of spring water to restore his spirit and magic power, and then threw himself into deduction again.

The experience of failure was more precious than the theory of success.

After several more attempts and deeper deductions in the space, he started a new round of attempts.

This time, he was more composed, and his control of Soul Power reached the Transcendent state.

The light on the alchemy table flowed, and the medicinal liquid fused like flowing clouds and running water.

However, just before the moment of condensing into a potion, an anomaly occurred again.

This time, the medicinal properties of the 'Empty Bright Epiphyllum' underwent an unexpected sublimation mutation under high temperature. Although Dolia reminded him in time and Linn made adjustments, the chain reaction had already been triggered. In the end, although the medicinal liquid barely avoided exploding, it condensed into a solid block with dull color and mottled energy, completely ruined.

Failed again.

Linn let out a long breath, his eyes still sharp.

"My understanding of 'Empty Bright Epiphyllum' is still not deep enough; its change spectrum in extreme energy environments needs to be re-established." He looked at Dolia, "We need more detailed data on these Materials in high-pressure, high-speed reactions. This requires time, and... more Materials to experiment with."

"Yes, Master. We have plenty of Materials, and there is no rush for this moment." Dolia suggested.

Linn nodded.

He knew deeply that refining a fifth-level potion was by no means an overnight success.

Even with Earth Rank Soul Power and the breath of life accelerating the cultivation of Materials, this was a path that required real time, patience, talent, and countless trials and errors to walk through.

The space gave him the possibility to quickly accumulate Advanced Materials, but the journey of research and Breakthrough could not be simply "accelerated."

He was not discouraged, but rather full of passion for the challenge.

While focusing on overcoming the difficulties of the fifth-level potion, Linn did not forget more practical production.

Fifth-level Materials were precious and could not be wasted endlessly on attempts.

Therefore, whenever he felt his Soul was tired or needed to change his train of thought, he would turn to refining fourth-level potions that he was already proficient in.

The refining of fourth-level potions was, for the current Linn, as natural as breathing.

He could refine them with an extremely high success rate and near-perfect quality.

On the alchemy table, the firelight was stable, and the Materials in his hands seemed to be endowed with life, being processed, fused, and condensed like flowing clouds and running water.

Bottles of fourth-level potions flashing with charming luster were manufactured and neatly placed on the storage rack made of cold jade beside him.

Each bottle of fourth-level potion could be sold on the market for a high price of at least three hundred gold coins, and it was in short supply.

Linn was methodically hoarding these "hard currencies."

He knew that the development of the territory, the strengthening of the army, and the procurement of Advanced supplies all required a massive amount of gold coins.

These manually refined potions were one of the solid economic pillars of Star Sea Territory.

The light specks scattered by the ancient tree fell silently, and the divine spring flowed gurglingly.

Linn was immersed in this world that belonged solely to him, using time as firewood, patience as fire, and precious Materials nurtured by the space's acceleration as the foundation, tempering his skills, step by step solidifying the path to a stronger Realm, and also accumulating a deeper and more dazzling capital for the future of Star Sea Territory.