Chapter 20

After Zoro left, Lin Yun did not return to his room. Instead, he washed his face with cold water, then picked up the two scrolls Zoro had given him and went back to the alchemy lab where he had spent the whole night working.

Zoro's visit was not surprising. The value of the Universal Elixir was known even to beginners like Raymond, let alone the Sages' Tower, which had three Archmages. What truly puzzled Lin Yun were the two scrolls Zoro had brought...

On the two scrolls were recorded several alchemy formulas, all of which were quite rare. They would cost several thousand gold coins on the market, making them more than suitable as gifts.

However, for Lin Yun, the alchemy formulas were not the main point. The real focus was the scrolls themselves.

At first, when he received the scrolls, Lin Yun did not pay much attention. Having lived in the post-apocalyptic world for over twenty years, he had accumulated a vast number of alchemy formulas, more than he could use. Why would he bother with other formulas?

But after a few glances, Lin Yun suddenly noticed that the writing on the scrolls seemed too vivid...

Upon closer inspection, he realized that the scrolls were written in dragon blood ink.

"Absolutely outrageous!" Lin Yun exclaimed, his face filled with indignation.

It was too luxurious, too wasteful...

The best use for dragon blood ink should be in constructing alchemy arrays, as dragon blood itself carries astonishing magical power, which is very easy to control. Just a few small runes can maximize the utilization of this power. Once an alchemy array uses dragon blood ink, the requirements for a mana source can be significantly reduced, as the magical power of the dragon blood can support most of the array's operation, with the mana source merely serving as an auxiliary.

But now, the dragon blood ink was merely used to write alchemy formulas.

Do alchemy formulas require such precious dragon blood?

"I wonder which bastard is so wasteful..." Lin Yun muttered as he entered the alchemy lab with the two scrolls, completely unaware that in a distant cloud tower, an old mage sneezed...

Then, Lin Yun began to work...

Lin Yun, who was usually frugal to the point of being stingy, was surprisingly generous this time. He took out various magical materials and prepared them into small bottles of reagents. From the afternoon until midnight, he worked for over ten hours without a break.

Because the dragon blood ink was truly important to him...

As mentioned earlier, Mafa Merlin's body was far below the average standard in terms of magical talent. Without Lin Yun's arrival, Mafa Merlin would never have advanced to the Mage level on his own.

This physical defect was almost unsolvable in this era, and only Lin Yun, who came from the post-apocalyptic world, could think of some solutions. However, these solutions were not easy, either involving special meditation techniques or the preparation of specific alchemy potions.

Since meditation techniques required too much time, Lin Yun chose the alchemy potion without hesitation.

This alchemy potion was called Mana Baptism. During the peak of Noscent's magical civilization, almost every newborn would receive a Mana Baptism. This baptism not only allowed them to complete their first mana accumulation but also greatly improved their physical constitution. In that era, almost everyone was a genius mage, standing on the same starting line, with talent no longer being a limiting factor. Their future achievements were determined solely by their own efforts and opportunities.

However, as Noscent's mana gradually depleted, fewer and fewer newborns could enjoy the Mana Baptism. After the most powerful mages were buried, the entire Noscent world never saw another bottle of Mana Baptism.

Because, at that time, no mage could slay a dragon.

Dragon blood was the most important material for Mana Baptism. Without dragon blood, the potion was just an ordinary alchemy potion, incapable of bringing about the first mana accumulation or improving physical constitution.

Even in this era of abundant resources, Lin Yun still had to worry about obtaining dragon blood, as it was extremely rare. Even many Archmages might never see a drop of dragon blood in their lifetimes.

Dragons were far above the rank of Archmages, with formidable physical strength and magical abilities inherited through their bloodline, placing them at the top of Noscent's food chain. Throughout history, the number of heroes who successfully slew a dragon could be counted on one hand, each of them a true legend and a true myth!

When Lin Yun asked Raymond, he only had a slim hope and did not expect to get any useful information.

He was even prepared for a long-term struggle.

If all else failed, he would first establish the Flash Gold Guild, then use its immense wealth to offer a substantial reward, starting at 100,000 gold coins and increasing to 1,000,000 gold coins if necessary. Even if it meant bankrupting himself, he had to obtain that drop of dragon blood.

Lin Yun never imagined that someone would soon bring a drop of dragon blood to him...

Of course, it was a bit premature to say it was a drop of dragon blood...

At most, it was just a few alchemy formulas written in dragon blood ink...

But for Lin Yun, this was enough.

The alchemy formulas were written in dragon blood ink, which necessarily contained dragon blood. Lin Yun's task was to convert these formulas back into dragon blood ink and then extract the true dragon blood from it.

It sounded simple, but the actual process was quite complex...

First, there were thirty-seven different recipes for dragon blood ink. Even though Lin Yun was familiar with all thirty-seven recipes, he could not determine which one was used for the two scrolls in a short time.

The only way was to test them one by one...

This was a massive undertaking. The significance of dragon blood ink lay in constructing alchemy arrays, using the power of dragon blood to enhance the array's power or even replace the mana source. In a sense, each drop of dragon blood ink was a miniature alchemy formula, making its recipe notoriously complex.

Over the next ten hours, Lin Yun prepared nearly a hundred bottles of various reagents and began testing them one by one. By the afternoon of the next day, after twenty-four hours, he had only managed to rule out two of the thirty-seven recipes.

By the afternoon of the next day, Lin Yun was already struggling to keep going.

Analyzing the recipe for dragon blood ink was not just a matter of using reagents; it relied more on the alchemist's own skills, with the reagents serving only as an auxiliary.

Each analysis consumed a large amount of the alchemist's energy and mana. Normally, several or even a dozen alchemists would work together, and the idea of one person attempting to analyze dragon blood ink alone would shock many.

After ruling out two recipes, Lin Yun dared not continue, as he might collapse before extracting the dragon blood.

He washed his face with cold water again, then told the old butler that no one was to enter the alchemy lab without his permission. After doing this, he returned to his room to continue the sleep he had interrupted for over twenty hours.

For the next few days, Lin Yun spent almost all his time in the alchemy lab, increasing the number of analyzed recipes from two to over twenty. If nothing went wrong, he would complete the analysis of all recipes within half a month.

Meanwhile, the business of the Gilded Rose began to improve. Being in the most prime location in Thousand Sails City and having the Flash Gold Guild's reputation, even a fool as the owner would not do poorly, let alone Lin Yun, who was not a fool.

The alchemy potions Lin Yun personally prepared had been sold out a week ago, and the enchanted armors and weapons he had crafted were sold at high prices a few days ago. Now, most of the items on the shelves of the Gilded Rose were various alchemy items the old butler had collected from outside, which were not expensive but very practical.

This also showed that the alchemy business was indeed a highly profitable one. After Lin Yun's initial personal involvement, the Gilded Rose mainly engaged in buying low and selling high, earning nearly ten thousand gold coins with minimal effort.

The old butler was already planning to hire two more alchemists at a high price next month to ensure a steady supply of magical materials from the mercenary groups, aiming to restore the Gilded Rose to its former glory of making a fortune daily.

Half a month passed quickly. After writing down the correct recipe on a piece of paper, Lin Yun did not leave the alchemy lab immediately. He worked for two more days before emerging, exhausted.

...

Look, it's already twenty chapters. How about celebrating with twenty recommendation tickets?