A Crown of Shadows and Starlight

Chapter 15

Meilin’s small house had already been transformed into a miniature laboratory. In reality, she had simply used a curtain to partition off an area and added an exhaust vent. Since she wasn’t planning on brewing any dangerous potions, she didn’t need a specialized laboratory—those were quite expensive. Generally, unless an apprentice specialized in alchemy or potion-making, they wouldn’t use a laboratory. Most of those who did had professional mentors, making it convenient to borrow their teachers’ labs.

In one corner of the small house stood a handmade shelf crafted by Meilin, where various materials were neatly categorized and stored. There were also some simple monitoring devices, such as temperature and humidity monitoring crystals. No matter the material, its properties would change under different environmental conditions. Even materials of the same kind could exhibit slight individual differences, and in potion-making, even the smallest variation in activity could lead to different results.

Theoretically, it would be ideal for every material to remain in a perfectly stable state, but that was entirely unrealistic. Even when stored in spatial equipment, materials would still change over time—the process was merely slowed significantly.

A competent potion maker needed to understand the properties of their materials through observation and contact, adjusting accordingly to account for any subtle changes. Only by mastering this could they ensure the success of potion-making. Therefore, if a potion had different material ratios, one should not hastily assume an error had been made—it was a common occurrence.

This field relied solely on talent and, later, the accumulation of extensive experience.

Meilin didn’t have much hands-on experience in potion-making, but opportunities favored the prepared. In terms of material preparation and understanding, she was already on par with advanced apprentice sorcerers. What she lacked was practical experience. Over the past six months, she had accumulated a fair amount of it through brewing basic potions, so now she was ready to take the next step—she was going to brew a Focus Potion on her own.

That’s right—she was going to brew it herself, rather than relying on refining discarded potions.

Currently, she could still acquire rejected potions from the academy’s disposal vault. But what would she do once she left the academy? While she still had access to a stable environment, she needed to take advantage of the opportunity to learn as much as possible and enrich her practical knowledge.

After mentally reviewing all the important details, Meilin began her first attempt at brewing the Focus Potion.

“Begin!”

With a serious expression, Meilin picked up a leaf resembling a plantain leaf—thick and primarily blue, adorned with silver streaks. Using a small blade, she carefully sliced one of the silver lines, causing a thin stream of silver-blue liquid to ooze out.

Blue Silver Grass was the primary ingredient in the Focus Potion. Though considered a basic potion, it was still quite expensive, so Meilin was extremely careful. She quickly collected every drop of liquid into a test tube before discarding the shriveled leaf into the trash bin.

The surface of the silver-blue liquid inside the test tube shimmered with a faint silver glow, giving it a dreamy, mesmerizing appearance.

Meilin then heated the cauldron while chanting an incantation. As she carefully added the pre-prepared ingredients in precise proportions, the impurities in the mixture vaporized and dissipated. Once the liquid inside turned a milky white, she poured in the Blue Silver Grass extract and stirred rapidly, increasing the speed of her chanting.

Poof!

As she recited the final set of incantations, a sudden burst of blue light flashed inside the cauldron, followed by an overwhelming stench that nearly made Meilin pass out.

“Did I fail?”

After the pungent odor faded, Meilin frowned at the blackened liquid inside the cauldron. This was a failure of the highest degree. The rejected Focus Potions she had retrieved from the academy’s disposal vault were usually gray or silver-gray, but she had never seen one turn completely black before.

Still, Meilin wasn’t discouraged. She accepted failure as part of the learning process—after all, this was her first attempt.

Just as she was about to dispose of the failed potion, a thought struck her. Inside the nebula within her mind, nearly forty silver light orbs had accumulated. Why not test their purification effect?

Without hesitation, she acted.

Gurgle…

As soon as Meilin dropped one of the silver light orbs into the black liquid, it began to boil intensely. About fifteen minutes later, the liquid calmed and turned silver-gray.

“So, even an utterly failed potion isn’t enough to reach the lowest quality standard after just one purification.”

Meilin furrowed her brows slightly and dropped in another light orb. This time, the result was a low-grade Focus Potion.

“Though it feels a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, it still saves on material costs. From that perspective, it’s a win.” Meilin let out a breath of relief.

So far, the nebula seemed to aid in meditation, while the light orbs had a purification effect. As for any other functions, she wasn’t in a rush to figure them out. Her priority was to tackle her current challenges.

An hour later…

“Whew!”

Meilin lay on her bed, exhausted. Her underclothes were completely drenched in sweat—the potion-making process was far more draining than meditation or combat training. But despite her fatigue, a hint of satisfaction curled at the corners of her lips.

She lifted her right hand to examine the object in her palm—a vial of shimmering silver liquid, emitting a soft glow.

A low-grade Focus Potion!

Even though it had taken six attempts to succeed, this was still a significant breakthrough. Besides, she had already grasped the general pattern of the process, meaning her success rate would only improve in the future. And with the rejected potions being refined into usable ones, she hadn’t really lost anything economically.

However, from a cultivation standpoint, low-grade Focus Potions were starting to fall short for her. Due to the unique nature of her meditation technique, she needed a large quantity of mid-grade Focus Potions—especially since she was on the verge of advancing to a Rank Two Apprentice.

What should she do?

Lying on her bed, Meilin contemplated her options. After a moment of silence, she clapped her hands in decision—she would refine all her low-grade Focus Potions into mid-grade ones. Not only would this ensure her advancement, but it would also extend her supply for a while after leaving the academy.

Of course, the long-term solution was to improve her potion-making skills. Though it required more time and effort, it was an investment in her future. After all, when she first started brewing stamina potions, her success rate was abysmally low, and every step was a struggle. But now? She could craft them with ease.

Mastery came with practice. And she had no intention of stopping now.