Chapter 25 – Preparing for Alchemy

After Punk waved his hand and spent seventy gold coins, a dilapidated, gloomy little house of about two hundred square meters officially became his property. The kind of house that no one might even want for free actually sold for seventy gold coins—the owner probably laughed himself awake in his dreams!

Punk cast a disdainful glance at the middle-aged man who clutched the gold coins and scurried away, afraid Punk would change his mind. He shook his head at these ignorant commoners, then “examined” his “new home.” He never expected that the dream of owning a house, which had been unattainable on Earth, was now realized so easily.

“But there’s no sense of belonging or security. Could it be that I’ve grown accustomed to being rootless since I crossed over?”

Punk couldn’t help but mock himself.

After calmly casting a few detection spells on the house to confirm it was safe, Punk finally stepped onto the old, creaking steps at the entrance.

Upon entering the small house, Punk was greeted by a centimeter-thick layer of dust piled on the floor and spiders lurking in every corner. The dust billowed into the air as the door opened, filling the entire living room with a “hazy gloom.”

“I paid so much, and they didn’t even throw in a bit of housekeeping service. No wonder your house couldn’t sell.”

While complaining about the seller’s poor service attitude, which couldn’t compare to his counterparts on Earth, Punk began using a minimally powered Gust of Wind spell to clear away the dust and cobwebs.

As the strong mini-cyclone swept through every corner of the shabby house, the rotting wooden structure groaned piercingly under the force of the wind, making one worry that the rickety building might collapse at any moment.

Punk directed the dust gathered by the strong wind out through the door, creating a small sandstorm outside that coated the leaves of a nearby sapling in a layer of gray-black grime.

Looking at the much cleaner, albeit still shabby, house, Punk felt relatively satisfied. With no furniture, the space was exceptionally open and bright, ideal for placing various alchemical bottles and jars. Besides, Punk had no intention of adding any furniture. As a mage who used meditation instead of sleep, he didn’t need a bed. As a “cook” who couldn’t even fry an egg, he didn’t need a kitchen—he could just buy food from the street.

After setting up a few simple defensive spells, Punk entered a relatively inner room on the shady side of the house. Closing the door plunged the room into near-total darkness, with only a few holes in the roof, chewed by insects, letting in minimal light.

In the small room, which now had the atmosphere of a haunted house, Punk cast an Apprentice-Level evocation spell—Dancing Lights. A bright little orb, comparable to an incandescent lamp, appeared in his hand and floated up to the ceiling. The soft light it emitted illuminated every detail of the room. As an Apprentice-Level utility spell, it could remain brightly lit for a full two days, making it a far superior “facility” compared to electric lights or the like.Afterward, Punk used magic to create a large table. These simple life-oriented spells could already be adjusted and modified to some extent by Punk, who was now an apprentice mage. For instance, this spell originally only allowed the creation of round tables, but after Punk used the System to analyze and adjust the structural model of the spell’s form, he could produce an extra-large rectangular experiment table like the one before him. Although it was just a minor modification to the spell’s secondary structure, it represented Punk’s deeper understanding of magic.

With the experiment table prepared, Punk carefully took out some alchemy tools engraved with faint magical patterns from his pocket. This set of tools was not the kind of easily damaged “cheap goods” (the ten Gold Coin ones were practically disposable—once Punk had money, he didn’t even glance at them again). These tools were a “limited edition custom-made” set worth two hundred Gold Coins (according to the Old Mage, though it was unclear how reliable that claim was). Not only were they made from relatively high-quality materials, but they also had some magical inscriptions enhancing their quality to varying degrees.

Punk picked up a light-red transparent beaker inscribed with pale yellow flame-shaped patterns. The patterns, resembling splashing sparks, emitted a warm temperature on the cup’s surface. This beaker was made from Yalie Red Crystal, not only sturdy but also effective at slowing energy dissipation. The inscriptions on it provided excellent heat retention, making it the “good helper” every novice alchemist dreamed of. Although this set of tools immediately drained the Gold Coins Punk had just acquired, they were absolutely worth the price!

Punk neatly arranged the alchemy tools on the experiment table, then took out the thin booklet “Night Vision Potion Formula Detailed Explanation” and began studying it. The bag containing the alchemical materials was placed at his feet, making it convenient for Punk to take out materials for comparison at any time.

Time passed bit by bit. As Punk delved deeper into his study, he gained a thorough understanding of the Night Vision Potion. This potion achieved its effect through biomimetic means. After refinement, the potion would become a semi-energy-based transparent liquid. Through alchemical transformation, a fixed magical program was added to the potion, setting a specific transformation pattern. Once the potion entered the human body, it would travel in an energy state along the bloodstream, quickly gathering in the eyes. Then, the magical “program” integrated with the potion would activate, finally forming a highly light-sensitive energy film behind the retina. In bright conditions, the semi-materialized part of the potion would take effect, allowing light to form images normally on the retina. Once in dim light, when the retina could no longer form images effectively, the semi-energy-based part of the potion would activate, enabling faint light to form images on the highly light-sensitive energy membrane.

The principle was miraculous yet simple. However, the process of implementation… was likely complex and difficult…

Punk closed the book, which had already been recorded word-for-word by the System, and rubbed the slightly wrinkled, rough cover as he fell into thought.

The key to crafting this potion lay in two points: First, refining a bunch of strange ingredients into the potion’s main body with special light-sensitive properties.

The second point was setting the potion to automatically identify visual organs within the human body and form the energy film in the correct location.The first point was particularly complex and difficult. The second could be followed step by step, imitating predecessors’ methods to create one’s own version—with enough practice, it could eventually be mastered. However, separating material energy, fusing multiple structures, and altering the properties of the potion were extremely challenging. After all, even materials of the same type could never be completely identical in characteristics. Thus, alchemy required not only precise control but also constant adjustments based on changes in the materials. Countless mages had been driven dizzy by these numerous, chaotic, and intricate operations.

Punk set down the formula book and rubbed his temples with his index finger. Even with the System’s analysis and the perception of his soul, he found this Alchemical Potion quite daunting. No wonder there were so few alchemists, and no wonder even that short golem had looked at him with a hint of mockery when he purchased the potion formula. This damned thing was truly no ordinary difficulty!

(End of Chapter)