200: Chapter 0200 Small Wool-Plucking

Barmont stood at the edge of the forest, gazing at the distant city with eyes full of unwillingness.

The necromantic servants that exceeded the base Mental Energy portion gradually lost control as the Mental Energy amplification effect dissipated, and the aftereffects of Mental Energy overdraft left him in pain all over.

"Li Size... I lost..." he muttered under his breath, "But next time, I will definitely beat you!" Barmont turned and left the forest, disappearing into the night.

The abnormal situation triggered by Barmont and Li Size during the examination forced the Second Rank Liquefied Wizard, Kalun, to intervene urgently, temporarily adding a new rule:

All supplies obtained at the edge of the Secret Realm are strictly forbidden from being taken out of the Secret Realm.

Li Size knew clearly that this rule was aimed squarely at him; after all, besides him, who else could profit so much through that method?

Just think, the Materials exchangeable for seven hundred thousand points were priceless; even the wealthy Ministry of Education would probably tremble with heartache.

Such a huge sum of resources just vanished—who wouldn't feel the pinch?

However, Kalun was not an unreasonable person.

To appease Li Size, he personally sought out the outstanding examinee and proposed a compensation plan:

His drone could remain in the Secret Realm and, after the Grand Examination concluded, assist the Ministry of Education administrators in periodic Magic Monster harvesting operations.

These Magic Monsters reproduced extremely fast and required regular clearing. Li Size receiving one-tenth of the kill rewards from the drone was a decent compensation.

Although Li Size felt the sting of losing a large amount of Materials worth four hundred thousand points, he also knew it was impossible to fleece the Ministry of Education like that.

Moreover, gaining a permanent tenth share of the future long-term drone kill rewards was not bad either.

He also took the opportunity to make a request:

He would refine Zero Ring Potions that could permanently enhance Agility and Mental Energy attributes for the Ministry of Education, guaranteeing a 50% success rate, but he would keep one potion for every ten refined.

Unexpectedly, the Liquefied Wizard Kalun, who seemed to hail from the marketplace, forcefully cut Li Size's proposed rate in half. They finally reached an agreement:

Li Size could keep one potion for every twenty refined.

After all, the Materials were supplied by the Ministry of Education. However, Li Size's goal was proficiency; he resolved:

In the remaining two days he was stationed at the Secret Realm examination site, he absolutely had to Pay-to-Win his way to optimizing the formula deduction for these two rare potions!

Furthermore, Li Size concealed one detail: his potion success rate was 100%, not 50%!

So, in reality, he didn't just get one in twenty; he could actually keep one for every one he handed over to the Ministry of Education.

It was just that he knew he would definitely be inspected for any carried items when leaving this Secret Realm, making it impossible to take these concealed potions out.

However, his drone remained here. If he could figure out this Secret Realm's name someday, he could retrieve them if he ever had the chance to enter again.

Besides, getting one in twenty was already quite good!

His current formula level was Proficient; reaching Perfection at the Master Rank required refining at least 200 potions of each type. Getting one in twenty would still leave him with ten of each type.

Thus, he stopped haggling and agreed with Wizard Kalun, which greatly satisfied the latter!

Kalun felt like he had gained another worker doing unpaid labor.

After all, if one were to refine potions that permanently increased attributes for others in the Crimson Soul Duchy, generally, two potions would be refined, and the alchemist would keep one.

Of course, the outside world could not provide the nearly infinite supply of Materials that the Ministry of Education could.

Kalun knew Li Size's objective wasn't making money but practicing to improve his proficiency and success rate in refining these two potions, so Kalun felt his terms were not unfair to Li Size.

Kalun, for his part, was quite satisfied with the results of this Secret Realm examination; he felt the colleague who proposed this Secret Realm examination site was incredibly farsighted.

Just look at the artifacts produced and the resources gained from hunting Magic Monsters by these fierce students from the Southwest Region—tsk tsk, the Ministry of Education directly got rich!

He now looked at Li Size's adorable students as if they were the top-tier workhorses in his own studio—so lovable.

Free labor! Fantastic!

Kalun felt certain his year-end bonus would be at least triple the usual amount!

After settling matters with Wizard Kalun, Li Size walked out of the Laboratory and headed to the Material Exchange counter, preparing to fleece the Ministry of Education!

Even if he couldn't pull off a big fleece, he would manage a small one!

The exchange specialist immediately stood up respectfully upon seeing him: "Lord Li Size, what would you like to exchange for?"

Li Size placed his points card on the counter and stated the raw Materials needed to refine the brain in a vat and swift spirit:

"Hmm, I want to exchange for Hallucinogenic Bewitching Butterfly powder gland, melancholy fruit, Silver Ring Trout, Mithril, magic crystal powder, red copper, raw iron, and so on."

The specialist was dumbfounded:

"You... Are you sure? These Materials are relatively rare, and the difficulty of refining the potions is high, meaning the success rate will be lower. If you fail, the points are wasted. Isn't that a poor trade?"

Li Size smiled and said:

"Points are meant to be used; they're mine in the end anyway."

He exchanged for a massive amount of potion raw Materials, piled them in the Laboratory, and then began crafting the brain in a vat and swift spirit.

The following time passed peacefully, except for Li Size's army of 4,000 drones which continued to harvest points like a deluge...

On the tenth day, the bell signaling the end of the Grand Examination rang, and the points leaderboard in the plaza finally settled.

Li Size's points surpassed 1 million, far exceeding Barmont's 300,000.

Kalun Von Hohenzollern walked onto the high platform and announced:

"The first place winner of this Grand Examination is... Li Size!

His Mechanical Alchemy technique has not only subverted traditional sorcery but also displayed astonishing creativity!

I have already contacted the supervisors of other Secret Realm examination sites. Congratulations to our Li Size for not only winning first place in the Southwest Regional Grand Examination...

But also first place in the Duchy Grand Examination!

Let us cheer for the number one Genius!"

The plaza erupted in deafening cheers. Li Size, as a candidate from the Southwest Region winning first place in the Duchy, made them feel honored. Li Size stood on the roof of the Laboratory, looking at the crowd below, a faint smile playing on his lips.

It couldn't be helped; he was very happy too.

This Grand Examination not only successfully secured the national first Rank but also earned him ten brain in a vat potions and ten swift spirit potions—and these were after optimizing the formula deduction!

This was because, just before the exam ended, he had spent all his remaining energy points to Pay-to-Win the formula deduction and optimization for both the swift spirit and brain in a vat recipes!

Optimized brain in a vat (Non-upgradable): Permanently increases the consumer's Mental Energy by 1.0 point. Effective only when Mental Energy is below 15 points. Limited to two doses per person.

Optimized swift spirit (Non-upgradable): Permanently increases the consumer's Agility by 1.0 point. Effective only when Agility is below 15 points. Limited to two doses per person.

Combined with his Strong Potion Refining (Zero Ring) skill and the generous effect of the Proficient Rank Stingy Meditation Method, the medicinal effect amplification could increase to 2.1 points.

Awesome! The free ride was a success!