Free Web NovelChapter 186: Chapter 184: Black Hole Potion?
Ian’s eyes burned with intensity as he imagined the enemies he was about to face.
A fully armed Level One Liquidation Wizard, their Protective Spiritual Light flaring, might be able to tank his Frost Ash Beam, or perhaps even dodge his Gravity Collapse Ball.
’But at the critical moment, this silent, subtle ’gaze’ of mine...’
"Gaga?" Gaga flew over and landed on Ian’s shoulder.
It peered at the hole with its little head, then looked up at Ian’s eyes and shrank back.
"Ian, your eyes... were a little scary just now, gaga."
"Were they?" Ian smiled and ruffled the feathers on Gaga’s head.
"It’s just a new trick. It’ll be safer when we’re out and about from now on."
"That’s great, gaga!" Gaga rubbed its head against him.
"My wings are almost healed. Is there any more Blood Essence? I feel like I’m about to reach the Middle Stage!"
"Yes, plenty to go around." Ian was in a great mood.
He took a Jade Bottle from his Dimension Ring and poured out five dark-red pellets of Blood Essence.
Gaga let out a cheer, snatched them with lightning-fast claws, and tilted its head back to swallow them all.
Then, fully satisfied, it flew back to a shadowy corner to continue digesting.
Ian put away the empty metal box, which contained only a few Ashes, and walked to the Alchemy Platform.
His Realm had advanced and he had a new trump card, but his preparations were far from sufficient.
The Sleeping Underground Palace was a chaotic mix of three major powers and all sorts of other individuals.
’Just the Withered Council alone might have ruthless characters like that Curse Bearer squad.’
Ian calculated as he cleaned the platform.
’The Deep Red Royal Court isn’t friendly either, not to mention the ancient traps and unknown dangers within the Underground Palace itself.’
He had to grind his Gravity Collapse Ball to a higher Skill Level as quickly as possible to shorten the casting time.
He also needed to extend its duration and, ideally, be able to form two at once.
’My Furnace Body Tempering Skill has reached the Skilled level, so my progress is starting to slow down. But I can’t stop. The stronger my physical body, the higher my margin for error.’
Potions were even more critical: healing, antidotes, spiritual recovery, temporary enhancements...
He needed a large stock of each, and they had to be of the highest quality.
He lit the furnace fire and set a Crucible on it.
The eerie blue flames licked the bottom of the pot, reflecting off his calm, focused face.
First, he would brew the Strong Healing Potion.
The main ingredients were Moonlight Grass Juice and Blood Orchid Powder, supplemented by seven neutralizing herbs.
Ian’s technique was masterful. He processed the ingredients, controlled the heat, and stirred them to combine, using his Spiritual Power with microscopic precision to guide the alchemical changes.
Two hours later, a pot of azure liquid exuding a woody, herbal scent was complete. He decanted it into twelve Crystal Tubes.
A single tube was enough to instantly stop bleeding and regenerate flesh on a wound deep enough to expose bone.
Next was the High-level Antitoxic Potion.
The environment of the Underground Palace was complex; he might encounter poisonous insects, miasma, or strange, lingering ancient toxins.
He took out his treasured Rainbow Lizard Poison Sac and Pure Light Moss and began to process them carefully.
This process required extreme patience. The slightest deviation could drastically reduce the Potion’s efficacy, or even turn it into a poison.
In the Alchemy Room, only the faint sounds of ingredients being processed and Ian’s steady breathing could be heard.
「A day and a night passed.」
The Alchemy Platform was now covered with Potion vials of various colors, all crystal-clear, looking like rows of art pieces.
There were Potions for healing, detoxification, spiritual recovery, and stamina replenishment. There was also the Stone Skin Potion for temporarily enhancing skin toughness, and the Spirit Cat Potion for boosting reaction speed for a short time...
In total, there were over fifty vials.
These were all top-quality products from Ian’s private stash. If sold outside, every single one would be fought over by Wizards.
But Ian felt it still wasn’t enough.
’I’m still missing... a truly powerful trump card, something that can seal the deal or turn the tables in a desperate situation.’
He stroked his chin, his gaze drifting over the shelves of ingredients.
’I have enough conventional Potions. I need something... unconventional.’
He recalled an incomplete, ancient recipe he had once seen in the Central Library.
It came from some obscure, ancient Alchemy School.
The recipe had no name, and its effects were vaguely described. It only mentioned that it required several energy materials with violently conflicting properties.
Through a special technique, they were forcibly fused and compressed, ultimately creating an extremely unstable "Energy Aggregation."
’Conflicting properties... forced fusion... extremely unstable...’
Ian’s eyes slowly lit up.
This description was somewhat similar to his own line of thought when he improved the Collapsar Starburst, wasn’t it?
The only difference was that one was a Witchcraft Model, and this was a physical Potion.
’Maybe... I could give it a try?’ A bold idea popped into his head.
In the Underground Palace, he might have to face more than one powerful enemy, or perhaps some ancient constructs that would be difficult to defeat by force.
If there was something that, like a super-enhanced version of the Gravity Collapse Ball, could be thrown to create a large-scale, terrifying annihilation effect...
No sooner said than done.
He immediately recalled the incomplete recipe in his mind and, combining it with his experience in improving the Witchcraft Model, began to theorize.
’I need at least three different types of fuel, and the best choice would be high-purity Energy Crystals.
’...Abyssal Crystal Fragments can be one, for the Chaos attribute.
’I also need one for Order and light, like Holy Light Embers, or its substitute, Sun Crystal Powder...
’I’ll also need a neutral one, preferably with a spatial attribute. Void Dust would be most suitable, but I don’t have any...
’I can use Dimension Stone Dust as a substitute. The effect will be a bit weaker, but the properties match...’
’As for the fusion medium, it needs to be extremely stable and inclusive... Star Realm Gel? That stuff is too rare.
’Perhaps I can use the essence refined from multiple portions of Solid Boundary Dust, combined with my Spiritual Power for forced containment...’
’Finally, the trigger mechanism... I need to think this through carefully. I can’t blow myself up.
’It has to be made into a safe Throwing Object... The shell must be strong enough to contain the unstable energy inside.
’Yet it also has to be fragile enough to shatter easily when needed...
’An Alchemy Crystal Shell mixed with a Brittleness Rune?’
The more Ian thought about it, the more feasible it seemed, and the more excited he became.
If he could pull this off, its power would absolutely surpass any of his current offensive methods.
The only issue was the extremely high risk of the creation process. A single slip in control, and not just the Alchemy Room, but he himself could be torn to shreds by the runaway energy.
’High risk, high reward.’
Ian licked his lips. There wasn’t a trace of fear in his eyes, only the sharp glint of someone eager to try.
’Let’s do it! Going to a place like the Underground Palace without a life-or-death ace up my sleeve makes me uneasy.’
He began to rummage through his materials.
He had Abyssal Crystal Fragments in stock, and he had acquired a small amount of Sun Crystal Powder at the last exchange meet.
The Dimension Stone Dust was more troublesome, but he remembered that the deposit Alevia had given him seemed to contain a few high-quality Dimension Stones he could grind himself...
The shop had recently stocked a lot of Solid Boundary Dust, but its purification would take time.
The Alchemy Crystal and the Brittleness Rune were also easy to solve.
’First, to tackle the most troublesome part... the forced fusion and containment of the energy.’
Ian set out several small Crucibles and ignited the miniature Fine-Controlled Furnace Fire.
He first processed the Solid Boundary Dust, using high heat and filtering it with his Spiritual Power to extract a small pinch of the most essential silver powder. This process alone took up most of the day.
Next, he placed a portion of Abyssal Crystal Fragments, a portion of golden-white Sun Crystal Powder, and a portion of freshly ground Dimension Stone Dust into three separate small crystal bowls.
He took a deep breath.
His Spiritual Power extended into the three small bowls simultaneously, like the most precise probes and tweezers.
’First, contact...’
He controlled the three small pinches of energy powder, each with vastly different properties, and slowly brought them closer.
The instant they touched, a violent energy conflict erupted in the bowls!
Dark-purple, golden-white, and gray lights flashed wildly!
They repelled and clashed against each other, emitting a CRACKLING sound, on the verge of exploding.
Sweat beaded on Ian’s forehead as he instantly increased his Spiritual Power output, like three invisible giant hands clamping down on the restless energy.
At the same time, he sprinkled that pinch of refined, silver Solid Realm Dust Essence evenly into the center of the conflict.
As soon as the Solid Realm Dust Essence was added, the conflicting lights faltered slightly but remained intense.
’It’s not enough... I need stronger containment and guidance!’
Ian gritted his teeth and actually mobilized the new Spiritual Power from his Sea of Spirit—the one that carried a trace of the Crystallization Attribute!
An extremely faint golden luster mixed into his invisible spiritual tentacles.
BUZZ!
The effect was immediate.
When the three violently conflicting energies came into contact with this strand of higher-level Spiritual Power, which carried the majesty of "Crystallization," it was as if they had met their nemesis. Their resistance weakened noticeably!
’Now! Fuse!’
Ian seized the opportunity, his Spiritual Power acting like the nimblest of looms.
He forcibly pulled and twisted the three streams of energy...
Following the unstable equilibrium structure he had theorized, he began to forcibly weave and compress them!
The dark-purple, golden-white, and gray lights no longer clashed but began to twist and intertwine, forming an extremely unstable, slowly rotating, tri-colored miniature Energy Vortex.
At the center of the vortex was a "point," almost invisible to the naked eye, that emitted heart-palpitating fluctuations.
Ian felt his Spiritual Power rapidly depleting, and sharp pains stabbed at his mind.
But he didn’t dare to stop, cautiously maintaining the fragile structure.
At the same time, he took out the prepared crystal solution, which had been mixed with the powder of a Brittleness Rune.
Using his Spiritual Power, he levitated the walnut-sized, tri-colored Energy Ball and slowly submerged it into the crystal solution.
The solution solidified rapidly, encasing the Energy Ball within it and forming a transparent Crystal Ball with faint patterns.
The moment the final layer of crystal completely solidified and sealed the opening,
Ian immediately severed all spiritual connections and shot backward!
The Crystal Ball landed on a tray covered with a thick Anti-Magic Beast Hide, lying there quietly.
Its surface was smooth, while inside, the tri-colored energy swirled slowly, both beautiful and deadly.
Ian panted heavily, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead as he stared at the Crystal Ball from a distance.
He had succeeded... at least for now.
He carefully moved the tray to the practice room and set up protective measures.
Then, he picked up a discarded metal stirring rod from nearby and cautiously poked the Crystal Ball.
CRACK.
An extremely faint, crisp sound.
A crack, thinner than a strand of hair, appeared on the surface of the Crystal Ball where he had poked it.
The instant the crack appeared!
BOOM!!!
There was no deafening explosion, only a low, muffled boom, as if space itself was groaning.
With the Crystal Ball at its center, a completely black "sphere" less than two meters in diameter appeared in an instant!
The air, the tray, the beast hide, and even a small piece of the runed floor beneath it vanished without a sound, leaving behind a cutaway as smooth as a mirror.
Immediately after, the dark sphere violently imploded, then erupted with a silent, distorted, transparent shockwave!
BANG!
Thirty meters away, several Refined Gold Targets, tough enough to withstand Tier One Witchcraft, were swept by the shockwave and instantly pulverized into dust.
The light of the Protective Array on the walls flared to life, flickering violently.
A few seconds later, everything calmed down.
Before Ian, the tray and everything on it had vanished.
In its place was a hemispherical crater with smooth edges, three meters deep. The bottom of the pit was a vitrified substance, melted and then cooled.
’The power is even greater than I expected, especially at the center of the black hole.’
It would only require some slight improvements to drastically increase its safety.
Ian looked at the crater, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled into a cold, satisfied smile.
’The range is a bit small, but the annihilation effect... is definitely potent enough.’
’The most crucial part is, it can be stored!’
