Chapter 67: Life Spring Water

Time flew by.

Unbeknownst to them, several days had already passed.

This day.

The weather was as cold as ever.

Antu Kang District, Purple Cotton Street No. 51, Deep爵 Castle.

This was precisely where Gune's alchemy potion secret chamber was located.

Clop, clop, clop...

Accompanied by a series of clopping hoofbeats.

A spacious carriage came to a stop at the entrance of Deep爵 Castle.

The carriage door opened, and the first to descend was Gune, clad in an alchemist's cloak.

Today was the official move-in day, so naturally, the attire had to be more formal.

Following him, out of the carriage came Veya, Alex, Old Cohen, and Meersha.

"Good morning, Alchemist Gune."

The butler "Fress," who had been waiting at the entrance, gave Gune a slight bow.

"Good morning, Sir Fress."

This Sir Fress was the butler of Deep爵 Castle.

He was said to be a veteran who had retired from the front lines of the Pioneer Corps.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, everyone proceeded into the castle.

The castle was quite spacious, and Gune naturally led everyone on a tour, showing them around inside and out.

At this time, the castle was fully equipped with food, clothing, shelter, guards, and servants—everything was in place.

The main objective during this period was to renovate the alchemy secret chamber.

As for the alchemy secret chamber, Gune had already inspected it and was very satisfied with its construction.

Once that batch of junior alchemists arrived, Gune could begin mass-producing potions.

But before that, Gune needed to teach them the rough processing of various herbs with supernatural properties.

As for the further steps—extraction, distillation, and a series of other operations, along with subsequent blending—they were beyond their current grasp.

As they toured and watched, everyone was cheerful; Meersha was especially delighted, flitting about the castle like a little bird.

When everyone was on the second floor viewing the living quarters and the surrounding scenery,

at the castle entrance, a large number of carriages had pulled up by the roadside.

Gune looked out and saw there were probably over a dozen of them.

"So many people?" Gune looked at Fress.

"Including Sir Alex, there are twelve in total," the butler Fress reported, stepping forward.

"Twelve people." Gune's brow twitched. "I didn't ask for that many."

Gune looked at Veya.

"I only reported that you needed five or six people," Veya said, also looking innocent.

Gune withdrew his gaze and then looked at the many young noble alchemists in white alchemist robes, speaking softly.

"I guess after you reported it, the higher-ups turned it into six or seven. Then further up, it became eight or nine."

"Fortunately, there weren't too many intermediate reporting nodes; otherwise, those guys would have stuffed a legion in here," Gune said mockingly.

Everyone laughed at that.

"Having more trainees isn't bad either. In the preparation of high-grade potions, there are many steps fraught with danger."

"A certain amount of loss is inevitable."

Everyone: "..."

"Anyway, their salaries aren't my concern; a few more doesn't matter," Gune muttered to himself.

Then Gune looked at Fress.

"Are the potion materials ready?"

"They were ready a few days ago—over three hundred portions. And they urgently need this batch of supplies. They hope you can start work as soon as possible."

"No problem. After lunch, I'll lead this group to learn how to handle the herbs," Gune said softly, rubbing his hands.

...

In the afternoon.

Old Cohen and the others had already left.

In the outer hall at the entrance to the underground alchemy secret chamber.

Twelve alchemists, including Alex, had now assembled.

These twelve alchemists were all young, between sixteen and twenty years old.

Among them, more than four were mid-grade alchemists, all newly promoted.

The remaining eight, though junior alchemists, were experienced and close to the level of second-grade alchemists; they were not far from becoming mid-grade alchemists.

Regardless, having been sent by their families to Gune, they were all talented alchemists.

"Who has experience managing the in-and-out inventory of potions and potion materials?" Gune asked.

The inventory of potions and materials was important, so Gune naturally needed someone to help manage it.

A few seconds later.

"I do." A female alchemist with red curly hair, about eighteen or nineteen, raised her hand.

"What's your name?"

"Leona." Leona, in a white alchemist robe with red hair, spoke in a voice that was soft yet crisp.

"Good. From now on, you'll be in charge of the in-and-out inventory of potions and materials."

"Yes, Lord Gune." Leona nodded very seriously.

"Also, Alex has been studying the preparation of high-grade precious potions with me for some time."

"From now on, he will be fully responsible for the allocation of material rough processing."

"Leona, Alex, you two must cooperate well, understand?"

"Yes, Lord Gune." Both responded simultaneously.

Being able to join the management meant they would have more time to be close to Gune.

This was crucial for their alchemy careers.

"Alright, next we will begin the material processing stage for high-grade precious potions."

"I will explain the processing of all materials to you in detail."

Hearing that Gune was going to start work on high-grade precious potions directly, everyone's expressions stirred.

Among them, some were mid-grade alchemists, others were junior alchemists close to the mid-grade level.

For them, preparing mid-grade potions was no longer a big problem.

What they urgently needed was experience with high-grade potions.

And Gune, right from the start, was giving them work on high-grade precious potions.

Although it was difficult, this high difficulty, combined with Gune's guidance, would bring them the greatest improvement and growth.

They were all in desperate need of such growth and learning.

Half an hour later.

The two high-grade precious potions Gune currently needed to prepare.

Essence Dragon Blood Potion and Essence Nightmare Potion, had already been explained in detail by Gune.

Along the way, Gune also analyzed the rationality of their medicinal property combinations, explaining from the essential level of supernatural properties.

These trainees had previously followed high-grade alchemists.

But someone like Gune—a top expert alchemist, even possessing abilities close to a half-step master alchemist—they had never followed before.

Gune's explanations naturally opened their minds in many areas, giving them numerous insights and understandings.

After the explanation, many raised questions, and Gune answered them one by one.

"As you all know,"

"Currently, above high-grade precious potions are the secret pattern potions."

"Those master alchemists are the ones who can prepare secret pattern potions."

"But the current 'secret pattern potions' have both positive and negative effects in equal measure."

"One bottle replenishes a portion of supernatural traits while eroding supernatural traits in other aspects."

"The self-consistency and compatibility of supernatural properties are the hardest problems to solve at present."

"Lord Gune, do you have a solution now?" someone in the crowd asked.

"Not yet, but I already have several ideas."

"In the upcoming work, I will conduct various experiments, and all of this requires your cooperation."

Hearing that they would participate in the research on "secret pattern potions," everyone's spirits soared.

They were all alchemists and deeply understood the powerful effects of secret pattern potions.

Regarding secret pattern potions,

through this period of continuous preparation of various high-grade precious potions,

Gune had indeed gained some ideas, especially last night after he planted the Elf Life Tree seed.

The Elf Life Tree was a lord-level plant.

During its growth, it could gather many miraculous supernatural treasures.

For instance, "Life Spring Water" would condense beneath the Elf Life Tree.

Long-term consumption of this Life Spring Water could increase one's lifespan limit.

As far as humans knew, only the depths of the "Twisted Jungle Domain" in the north possessed Life Spring Water, which the Blood Ear Elves and a few other elf clans could obtain.

Those elves often had lifespans of several hundred or even a thousand years, largely related to this Life Spring Water.

And with Gune planting that Life Tree seed on his planting plot,

Gune also discovered through the system that the Elf Life Tree, in a sufficiently perfect environment, could condense "Essence Life Spring Water."

And on the planting plot, obviously, the environment was the most perfect.

Gune had also heard a little about this Essence Life Spring Water. In ancient texts, he had read that the Life Tree's essence spring water contained extraordinary vitality; one bottle could save even the most severe injuries.

This Essence Life Spring Water was a tier higher in effect than Life Spring Water.

At this stage, a major direction was to use highly compatible spring water for blending various properties.

For example, using Source Spring Water, Essence Source Spring Water, etc., as "extraction fluids" to extract supernatural properties.

And Life Spring Water was a higher-level "extraction fluid" than Essence Source Spring Water.

It was said that some factions had obtained a certain amount of Life Spring Water from the Blood Ear Elves, and with its help, they had made slight breakthroughs in secret pattern potion research.

Now, Gune had planted the Life Tree, and with about a thousandfold acceleration, Life Spring Water would soon emerge.

This Elf Life Tree was in perfect form, and in the near future, it would produce an even higher level of Life Essence Spring Water.

Most importantly, this Life Tree belonged solely to Gune.

Gune had abundant resources to conduct breakthroughs in secret pattern potion research.