Chapter 233: Cheering
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
But after looking, the audience felt something was wrong. It was especially so for people like Hoffman. He had a fat body, but he was somebody that specialized in researching all sorts of details of techniques. He could immediately see that this kid was not somebody that was easy to deal with. There was nothing to fault, be it the details or techniques.
Hoffman had always thought that out of all the emerging young pharmacists in these few years, Elin was the most talented; he was also Balbo’s disciple. Hoffman always perceived Elin as the most promising one, but he did not think that two youngsters would appear together at today’s gathering. Forget that Milo failed. Even though that weird recipe reached the final point, there was nothing much to commend about his skill. It was only average at best.
But this one was really impressive. This kid’s origin was unknown. He looked like he was in his twenties on the outside, but he looked like he was seventy or eighty when concocting potions. Be it skills or methods, they could all be described as perfect. From the time when he stood at the potion table, Hoffman had already noticed a certain detail. This youngster’s speed was not fast, but he was terrifyingly steady. From start to finish, his hands had never shaken once. It was as if those were not a pair of hands, but a precision machine.
Hoffman was a master pharmacist and pursued pharmaceutical techniques in a bigoted fashion. From sixteen years old to fifty, he had made contact with all sorts of potions. With perseverance and consistency, he finally tempered his pharmaceutical techniques to the point where it was full of praise from Balbo.
But when this youngster walked over to the potion table, Hoffman suddenly realized that the techniques he was so proud of could not be compared to those of this youngster in his twenties.
Hoffman was in a daze immediately…
“This, this, this… This can’t be real, right?” Hoffman stood there stupefied, watching him extract the peacebloom’s sap and then separating the Dragon Tongue Orchid from the Silverleaf. Even though his actions seemed slow, there was not a single shred of delay or mistake.
The thing that Hoffman found hardest to believe was that this youngster’s mastery of temperature was similar to a magic trick. While processing multiple herbs, he had maintained his spell-casting state. Flaming Hands and Chilling Touch were used interchangeably to constantly adjust the temperature of the crucible so as to allow the liquid within the crucible to be maintained at state near boiling.
“Is this still human?” Hoffman almost went mad on the spot.
Mages and Conjurers were similar professions. How could Hoffman not know what status a mage required to cast spell. Be it mental strength control or mana manipulation, they both required full concentration. During this process, even a small sneeze could be lethal, not to mention doing other things.
It was even harder to be like this kid, concocting a potion that had baffled all the pharmacists in Felan while executing two spells interchangeably. Furthermore, look at his expression. It was as though he was walking in a park—he was so relaxed that it made people feel like smashing their heads into the wall.
Hoffman did not dare to imagine how immense his mana reserve had to be to constantly execute these two spells.
“Andoine, where did you hire this person? Why is he so good?”
“F*ck, what hired? Would I be so despicable? Let me tell you, this is my new disciple. If you don’t believe, you can ask the assassin. I just introduced Felic to him.”
“For real?”
“Absolutely!”
Ever since he became a mage, Andoine had always been bullied by the pharmacists. He usually talked like a saint, finally adding some precious magical materials before he could exchange for a row of pathetic potions from those high and mighty pharmacists. Although he joined the Supreme Council at the end and made friends with Balbo, those pharmacists had never said anything good about him even though they did not show it on the surface.
Andoine had tolerated it for tens years before he finally held his head up high today. Why would he be so courteous towards Hoffman this time?
The old man’s neck was the same, and he looked very cocky. “Forget it. With your intelligence, it would be hard to understand.”
“You really aren’t lying?” Hoffman blinked his small eyes and he still somewhat did not believe it. “He really isn’t someone you hired to humiliate the Pharmacists Guild?”
“F*ck, am I that free…?”
“That’s true…” Hoffman thought about it carefully, and indeed, the logic was there. He immediately squinted his eyes and had a smile full of flattery. “This, Master Andoine, could you tell me whom did this youngster learn Pharmaceutics from? Why is he so good when he’s so young?”
“Nonsense. Of course my disciple learnt it from me. Otherwise, could it be that he learnt it from you?”
“…” Hoffman rolled his eyes, and thought to himself, Yeah, right, as if I will believe you.
Of course, he did not dare to say that.
“Yes, yes, yes, of course you taught him.” Hoffman was currying favor continuously, and his smile became even more flattering. “I mean, other than you, did anyone else teach him?”
“Nope,” Andoine replied in a proud way.
“…”
Thankfully, Hoffman’s skin was thick enough. He did not even get the least bit angry after being taunted by Andoine. Instead, he was eagerly soliciting the old man’s answer. He used “master” the whole time, just that he did not use “sir”.
“Master Andoine, could you allow your disciple to speak with me after this gathering has ended?”
“I can’t make the decision…”
This time, Andoine was not spouting nonsense. He couldn’t make this decision. This kid, Felic, was too secretive. Even Andoine, who was the closest to him, frequently did not know what he was thinking. Hoffman said he wanted to speak to Lin Li, but who knew what he wanted to talk about. Andoine did not dare to casually make promises about such things.
“If that’s the case…” Hoffman thought about it, and asked in flattering manner, “How about this, Master Andoine. Help me tell him that Hoffman has a few questions for him. If he could help me solve these questions, I would be willing to give him the Book of Ten Thousand Incantations.”
“Book of Ten Thousand Incantations!” Andoine’s voice was raised by a few decibels, but he quickly realized he was losing his composure. The old man quickly stopped his slavering and looked gentlemanly again. “Ok, I’ll try my best…”
“Thank you very much, Master Andoine.”
“This damned fatty really does not pay any mind to expenses. He even used the Book of Ten Thousand Incantations…” After watching Hoffman leave, Andoine started mumbling to himself repeatedly. The Book of Ten Thousand Incantations was something really good. Although Andoine was already a legendary powerhouse, even he could not help but slaver when he first heard it. It was not exaggerating to say that of the achievements that Hoffman had now, at least half of it was due to the Book of Ten Thousand Incantations. It was by relying on this thing that Hoffman was able to stand tall in Breezy Plains, where powerhouses ran amok, without ever falling with a mere level-16 power.
Seems like there’s a need to tell this to that kid, Felic…
At this point, Lin Li’s Void Power Potion was almost completed.
Out of ten herbs, eight had already been placed in the crucible. At this moment, there were two crucibles beside his hand. One was filled with Moonlight Grass, and the other was filled with Sunflower. To guarantee the effects of the Sunflower, Lin Li even specially created some ice cubes and placed them on top. Within the sparkling ice cubes, the Sunflower’s unique red color was exceptionally brilliant.
Balbo gaze was fixed, staring at Lin Li’s hands from the start. Everything that this youngster had exhibited had once again overthrown his common sense. The perfect fusion of magic and pharmaceutics. Even Balbo, who had pharmaceutics as a partner for tens of years, was instantly lost in wonder.
“Burnside, help me think of a way quickly.” When Balbo said this, his expression was abnormally serious. “Whatever the cost, the Pharmacists Guild needs this genius. Otherwise, I will become the sinner of the Pharmacists Guild.”
“President, I have no suggestions this time. Just now, I helped you ascertain his feelings. He would definitely not leave the Jarrosus Guild of Magic…” Old Grimm spread his arms in despair and produced a forced smile.
“Then there is no other way?”
“What other way is there?” Old Grimm could not help but feel a bit angered. “Could it be that we both have to appear and accept him as our disciple by all means? Stop joking, it’s not like you didn’t see it. Andoine has lived for a hundred or more years and he only has this disciple. He treats him like a treasure every day, when we will ever have the chance to get in the way?”
“Andoine, this as*hole, was too lucky.” Balbo thought for a while, but he had to admit that what Old Grimm said was the truth. “If only we made a move earlier…”
“Oh, yes. I remembered something!” Just when they were in low spirits, Old Grimm suddenly remembered something. “Maybe you can think of an idea from this.”
“What is it?”
“Just now, when I was helping you to ascertain his feelings, Felic once told me that he wanted to wanted to purchase some Leaf of the Origin Tree from the guild. Why not you use this as a bargaining chip to negotiate with him?”
“Let me think…”
When both of them were discussing, the concoction of the Void Power Potion had entered the final phase.
Just as the red petals of the Sunflower had entered the crucible, all of the pharmacist started to feel anxious simultaneously.
Everyone knew this was the last step.
Just now that young mage, Milo, failed at this step. The question that was on everyone’s mind was whether this mage that was younger than Milo would be able to overcome this crucial step. If he could not overcome it, then naturally there was nothing to be said, but if he were to overcome it, it would also mean that a new star had been born in pharmaceutics.
And this star was brighter than any other before.
This recipe had baffled the whole Pharmacists Guild, and even all of the pharmacists in the Felan Kingdom. Hoffman’s technique could be considered as flawless, right? The Necromancer Sendros’ potion attainments could also be considered unfathomable, right? Yet even they could not complete this weird recipe.
If a youngster that was not even twenty could complete it, it would be something that would shake the whole Alanna.
“Kid, do it well. Let Hoffman, that damned fatty, know that being fat would not mean that pharmaceutical standard would be high!” someone from the crowd shouted, and it immediately invited a roaring laughter.
“Kid, come on!”
“Yes, do it well, kid. If you can complete this recipe, I will introduce my daughter to you!”
“Garrison, you’re always so shameless. You should accumulate some virtue. Your daughter is almost forty, and you got the cheek to allow her to rob the cradle?”
“F*ck, I’m talking about my younger daughter!”
“What the f*ck, your younger daughter is not even thirteen, right? Do you need to be so relentless?”
“What, indignant? Give birth to a daughter too if you have the guts…”
The atmosphere in the guild pharmaceutical lab started to become bustling for no apparent reason.
At this point, almost all of the pharmacists were cheering Lin Li on.
Among them, there were a few of them that had looked down on him for knowing High Elves Print previously. There were some of them that had dealings with the Thunder City Guild of Magic. There were even more unfamiliar pharmacists that Lin Li had never met before. Their cheering had nothing to do with friendship or gratitude or enmity. It was purely out of passion for pharmaceutics.
At this point, everyone had hoped from the bottom of their hearts that he would succeed.
“Thank you everyone for your support!”
The instant that the sunflower petals’ flare flashed, Lin Li gently added the Moonlight Grass that had a silver shimmer. This was followed by a white smoke permeating the air. Lin Li stood within the white smoke and smoothly extinguished the fire below the crucible. He then turned around and bowed to the onlooking pharmacist. After that, he left the potion table without even turning back…
The permeating white smoke had a tinge of sweet smell. It made the whole guild pharmaceutical lab blurry. The group of pharmacists were focused on the smoke.
Balbo was the first to stand up. Because his actions were too intense, the vine chair under him had been knocked over. Although he looked very calm, both of his hands that were firmly placed on the sides had started shaking slightly. The next person to stand up was Grimm Burnside, and then it was the anxious Andoine. This was followed by all of the pharmacists in succession…
They used this manner to pay respects to this young mage.
Indeed, he’d really succeeded.
Based on the description on the recipe, once the potion had been concocted, it would be in a dense and transparent state. A sweet smell could be smelt when near. It was like the smell of barley candy. Everything was exactly the same as the liquid in the crucible.
This young mage that was not even twenty had solved a difficult problem that no pharmacist in the whole Felan could solve. Today’s gathering would definitely allow this young man to be the brightest star in pharmaceutics.
After a moment of silence, the pharmaceutical lab erupted with cheers. Hundred or more pharmacists, regardless if they knew each other or if they had any sentiments towards each other, were drowning in joy at this moment. What this young mage had solved was not a simple potion issue, but a difficult problem that had frustrated all of the pharmacists in Felan. The birth of this potion also signified a giant step forward for pharmaceutics!