Chapter 8

After about two and a half hours, Guding had already refined the last potion. Apart from the first three being of the highest quality, from the fourth one onwards, the potions he refined entered the perfect quality category. Subsequently, he became increasingly proficient, and his refining speed also increased. In the end, he tried six different methods for the final fusion of the potion. From initially taking fifteen minutes to complete a refinement, he later managed to complete a vial in less than four minutes, a progress that was truly terrifying.

When Parmar came out of the private potion room and passed by the public potion room, she noticed the door was wide open and walked to the entrance in surprise. She saw a young man concentrating on refining a potion. She raised her eyebrows with a hint of joy, as she was the first potion master on the Sea Blue Star and the only potion master professor for the basic military students. Seeing a student working so hard naturally made her happy. She carefully observed the young man and realized she did not recognize him. After all, there were three potion master teachers in the academy, so he might be a student of one of the others. She did not pay much attention to whose student he was, but she had a soft spot for any student interested in potion studies.

Parmar stood silently at the door, watching the young man's refinement. The young man's movements were extremely fast, and in just ten seconds, he had completed the first step of extraction. Her eyes immediately lit up, and she stared intently at the young man's actions.

After completing the extraction, the young man simultaneously placed different materials into twelve distillation flasks, which left Parmar stunned. But what the young man did next almost made her lose control. He directly turned the flames under the twelve distillation flasks to the maximum setting.

"Ridiculous!" Parmar frowned, preparing to walk over and scold the young man, but to her surprise, he skillfully removed three flasks that had just changed color, moving neither too fast nor too slow, as if he knew exactly when the solvents would change color. In just a few seconds, the distillation was complete, and the twelve flasks were removed, the timing of which was almost terrifyingly precise.

"Heavens..." Parmar's eyes nearly popped out at the astonishing sight.

Then, she saw something that left her speechless. The young man did not even use a measuring cup, directly pouring various solutions into the fusion cup in unknown proportions. He then picked up the fusion cup and began shaking the solution with a strange method she had never seen before. In less than two minutes, the solution in the cup turned completely silver, reflecting a beautiful halo in the light.

Guding poured the solution into a pre-prepared test tube, capped it, and was about to put it into his storage space when a voice called out to him.

"Wait a moment..." A woman's voice came from the doorway.

The woman looked to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, wearing wide-rimmed glasses and a ponytail, dressed in a very efficient manner. She was wearing a teacher's uniform, and the gold-edged nameplate on her chest indicated her prestigious position as a professor.

"Can I see that potion?" The professor's voice carried a tentative tone, which other students would find almost impossible.

"Sure, but you have to return it to me after you're done. I need to sell it for money," Guding could clearly see the surprise in the woman's eyes, but there was no greed.

The professor took the potion from Guding, examined it closely, and then took off her glasses to examine it again.

Guding sighed inwardly, "She's actually quite a beauty without her glasses."

"Is this... really a perfect quality cell enhancer?!" After triple-checking, the professor finally reached a conclusion she could hardly believe. After a moment, she came to her senses, "You said you want to sell it for money. Can I buy it from you?"

"How much are you willing to pay?" Guding was not about to be taken advantage of.

"You should know that the market price for a qualified potion is 1200 star coins, and a perfect quality one is 20 times that. I don't want to shortchange you. 20 times is 24,000 star coins, and I'll give you 25,000." The professor clutched the potion tightly, clearly determined to get it.

"Deal!" Guding agreed readily.

After completing the transaction, the professor put the potion into her storage space. Seeing Guding packing up to leave, she asked, "Which teacher taught you?"

Guding was taken aback, "I'm not a student of the potion department; I'm a combat student."

"A combat student?" The professor's eyes lit up again, "Are you interested in transferring to the potion department? I'm a teacher here."

"No interest." Guding packed his things, stood up, shook his head, and then turned to leave.

"What's your name?" The professor quickly asked as he was about to leave.

"Guding."

"Guding..." The professor repeated softly, seeing Guding already at the door, "If you encounter any trouble at school, you can come to me. I'm called Parmar, and although I'm just a potion department teacher, I do have some influence in the academy."

"Okay, thanks!" Guding nodded and quickly left.

"Seeing him pack so much stuff, he must have refined more than one potion..." Parmar muttered to herself and quickly headed to the surveillance room on the top floor.

Parmar spent two and a half hours watching the surveillance footage, and her shock only increased. "In two and a half hours, he refined twenty vials of potions. The first vial took the longest, about 15 minutes, and he was clearly flustered during the distillation stage. He remained tense throughout the refinement process, clearly a first-timer. There were minor mistakes in the second and third refinements, but the color of the potions indicated they were at least high-quality, possibly even the highest quality. From the fourth refinement onwards, he completed a zero-error operation, producing the first perfect quality potion. By the fifth refinement, he started to relax, and his proficiency clearly increased. The sixth refinement was faster, and the seventh and eighth even faster. By the ninth refinement, the final fusion technique began to change... Apart from the first three vials, the remaining 17 vials were all perfect quality. What kind of monster is this guy to have such terrifying talent? Unfortunately, the camera angle only showed his back, so I couldn't see the entire refinement process."

Guding was completely unaware that his refinement process had been recorded. Sea King knew this very well and deliberately did not block the camera, hoping that someone would discover Guding's talent in potions, draw attention, and provide him with more resources.

By now, Guding had returned to his residence in the Red Light District. He was in his final year, and he had already accumulated enough credits for graduation. The remaining courses were optional, and he could freely allocate his time.

"Using hot water to soak your body will speed up the absorption of the potion's effects," Sea King reminded him.

"Okay," Guding had seen this advice online before. He went to the bathroom, filled the bathtub with hot water, and stripped down to soak in it. He then reached into his storage space, took out a perfect quality F-grade cell enhancer, and drank it in one gulp.

A wave of heat rolled down his throat into his abdomen, and at the moment it entered, it burst with astonishing heat, spreading throughout his body. Guding instantly felt as if his body was on fire.

"Don't resist this heat. Let it cleanse every cell in your body. Try to stay conscious. If you pass out, the absorption rate will be halved. Although the cell composite index will increase by 7 points regardless, some people can fully absorb the effects in a week, while others take more than two months. During the initial burst of the potion's effects, the absorption is most effective and the fastest," Sea King explained.

Guding clenched his fists, enduring the pain, trying not to think about the burning sensation.

The fiery heat flowed through Guding's body, and every place it passed felt like being branded with a hot iron, a pain that was not easily bearable.

After an unknown amount of time, Guding's consciousness began to blur, and strange images appeared in his mind.

Snowflakes were falling from the sky, and a middle-aged man was holding a baby, walking towards the Rose Tavern. At the entrance, he placed the baby in the trash bin.

"Hey, what are you doing? Abandoning a baby is strictly prohibited by federal law and carries a sentence of at least twenty years!" Guding shouted at the man, running to stop him.

But when he reached the man, his hand passed through the man's body as if he were transparent. He looked up and saw the man's face, "Dad?!"

The man quietly looked at the baby in the trash bin. A snowflake landed on the baby's forehead, and the man brushed it away. The baby's tiny hands reached out and grabbed the man's little finger, giggling.

A peculiar light flashed in the man's eyes, and he closed them for a long time before picking up the baby again and entering the Rose Tavern.

"You were picked up from the trash bin," Guding remembered. Every time he asked about his origins, his dad would always say this, reeking of alcohol.

"The first time I saw you, you were a baby, wrapped tightly in the arms of that drunk," Guding remembered, "Meat Silk" Auntie had also said this.

"How could you possibly be my biological child? My eyes are blue, yours are black. My hair is brown, yours is black, and I have a bit of natural curl, though not very noticeable. I'm so tall, and you're so small. And, you know, I'm so handsome, and you... well, you're somewhat handsome, but that can't be genetic. How many times do I have to tell you that you were picked up from the trash bin?" This was what his dad would say every time he proudly compared himself to Guding, pointing out his shortcomings.

"You idiot, fighting again? Your thighs aren't even as thick as their arms, so losing is normal. Why are you crying... I'll teach you, next time, pick someone smaller to fight," his dad would always rub his head and comfort him, even though he knew Guding was the smallest among the kids.

"Come, have a sip. You're ten years old and can't even drink. Are you even a man?" When Guding was ten, the first time his dad encouraged him to drink, the Rose Tavern erupted in laughter.

"According to an old friend's agreement, the fifteen-year period of taking care of you has ended. Don't come looking for me." This was the last thing his dad wrote on a piece of white paper, which was held down by a cup. The cup had been smashed into pieces by Guding half a year ago, and the paper had been torn into shreds.

"Dad..." Guding's tears flowed uncontrollably.

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