Chapter 96: The Potion Begins Brewing

At this moment, Su Ming felt Shi Lin’s entire aura had transformed.

If the previous Shi Lin appeared to be a rather rigid person, then in this moment, he had become like a fanatical believer, brimming with an indescribable intensity.

“You possess the complete blood of a Nightmare Species?”Shi Lin’s gaze burned as he stared at Su Ming, his voice was deep.” “Not just blood casually shed from a Nightmare Species, but a complete Bloodline extracted through ritual?”

The difference between the two was significant.

The former was merely a portion of blood from a Nightmare Species, while the latter was what could form a Bloodline.

The Phantom Demon blood used to brew the Phantom Demon Potion wasn’t simply collecting some blood from a Phantom Demon; it had to be a completely extracted Bloodline.

To fully extract the Bloodline of a Phantom Demon, there were two basic conditions.

First, the subject must be in a perfect state with no loss of Bloodline—meaning it cannot be severely injured or weakened—only then can the Bloodline extraction be performed.

Second, a complex ritual must be conducted, using various intricate conditions and methods, to possibly extract the Bloodline.

And this was only a possibility.

The extraction could still fail, and the more powerful the Phantom Demon’s Bloodline, the more likely it was to fail.

Hence, the Bloodline of a high-level Phantom Demon was so precious: one had to capture it alive without harming it and then rely on the ritual’s success rate. Even if it wasn’t as difficult as reaching the heavens, it could be described as an arduous task.

The difficulty of extracting a Nightmare Species Bloodline went without saying. Throughout history, the number of times blood from this level of Phantom Demon had appeared could be counted on one hand.

It was precisely for this reason that the previous cub was so valuable.

A cub that hadn’t yet grown up had limited power, making it much easier to capture alive without harming it. If a Bloodline extraction ritual were performed, the cub’s resistance and struggle would be much weaker, making the extraction undoubtedly easier than with a mature individual.

But how many such rare creatures as Nightmare Species cubs could there be?

The number of Nightmare Species was already extremely small, let alone cubs that could inherit their Bloodline and power. Describing them as rare as Phoenix feathers would not be an exaggeration.

Although Shi Lin didn’t know who Su Ming was, nor was he interested in knowing, he understood that priceless treasures like Nightmare Species blood were something few in the entire world had the ability to obtain.

Whether Su Ming had such an item in his possession, Shi Lin was skeptical.

In response, Su Ming didn’t immediately reply to Shi Lin but glanced at Yun Langyue instead.

Yun Langyue noticed Su Ming’s gaze, her face still smiling enchantingly like a Fox Spirit captivating all, but she subtly nodded her head.

Su Ming’s eyes flickered slightly, and without further hesitation, he retrieved a bottle from his backpack.

Inside the bottle, crimson blood swayed like red wine, reflecting an ominous hue.

Shi Lin’s eyes were almost instantly drawn to the blood in the bottle.

The fanaticism in his eyes grew increasingly intense, and his hands trembled as he raised them.

“This color… this concentration… there’s no mistake… this is definitely the complete Bloodline of a Nightmare Species!”

Shi Lin couldn’t help but reach out toward the bottle in Su Ming’s hand.Su Ming immediately raised the hand holding the bottle, his gaze toward Shi Lin filled with a meaningful expression.

Shi Lin snapped back to reality, realizing he had lost his composure.

But he showed no sign of reflection or regret.

“I’ll take this commission!” Shi Lin declared without hesitation.

“Don’t be in such a hurry, Master Shi.” Su Ming, however, showed no excitement and spoke with complete rationality. “I have a few conditions to discuss with you.”

“I know what you mean.” Shi Lin seemed able to see through Su Ming’s thoughts. “I can sign a contract with you—I won’t reveal your existence, nor will I disclose any details of this commission.”

Shi Lin’s words made Su Ming show a surprised expression.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Shi Lin shook his head. “I know what a complete Bloodline of a Nightmare Species represents. Since you’ve chosen to commission me to refine a Phantom Demon Potion for a Nightmare Species during such a special period, it’s likely you don’t want to attract anyone’s attention. So I won’t ask about your identity, nor will I inquire about who you are. As long as I can complete the refinement of the Nightmare Species Phantom Demon Potion, I’ll be satisfied.”

It seemed this Alchemist Great Master was not foolish, just a bit straightforward.

He wasn’t the type to dig too deeply, nor did he care about the identity of the client. As long as he could complete work that interested him, he could ignore all other factors.

No wonder Yun Langyue had described him as “eccentric.”

But such a person might not necessarily be a good person.

After all, his attitude made it clear that even if the client were a vicious criminal or someone trying to use his skills to create something extremely dangerous, as long as the commission was sufficiently challenging and interesting to him, he would accept it without hesitation.

This was an Alchemist purely focused on improving his skills, challenging his limits, and completing alchemical potions that others could not.

For someone like Shi Lin, trying to persuade him with status or money was useless. Only the refinement of a sufficiently challenging alchemical potion could move him.

Su Ming could roughly guess how Yun Langyue had managed to invite this Great Master here.

As long as she told him there was work here that would interest him, he would naturally come.

For this, he was even willing to take some risks.

“Since you’re so straightforward, I won’t say more.” Su Ming thought for a moment but added, “However, besides not disclosing this matter or my existence, I also hope you can detoxify a friend of mine.”

“Detoxify?” Shi Lin frowned.

“That’s right.” Su Ming continued as if he hadn’t noticed Shi Lin’s reaction. “She’s been poisoned by a Toxic Glue Demon. I hope you can help treat her.”

“No problem.” Shi Lin agreed immediately, completely disregarding how tricky and troublesome detoxifying a Toxic Glue Demon’s poison could be.

Perhaps, for him, this was also a challenge worth taking on.

In any case, Su Ming could see his indifference.

“Then let’s sign the contract.”

Su Ming was also a decisive person. Once he made a decision, he immediately took a contract scroll out of his backpack.The quality of this contract was significantly higher than the one Su Ming had signed with Xu Qianqian last time, and its effects were far more potent. If anyone were to violate this contract, they would likely die on the spot with no chance of survival.

This contract had also been obtained by Su Ming from one of his packages.

Su Ming had acquired quite a few contracts from his packages, and this one was the highest Rank, comparable to the top-tier contracts used between Base Cities for signing various treaties. Once a name was signed on it, no one would ever think of breaking it.

Su Ming had already drafted the contents of the contract and handed it directly to Shi Lin.

Shi Lin glanced at it briefly, then signed his name without hesitation.

Bang!

The contract instantly burst into flames and took effect on the spot.

Unlike the contract between Su Ming and Xu Qianqian, which had split into two halves for each party to keep, this highest-level contract left no physical record. Instead, it functioned like a weapon of Karma, constantly active and effective, undetectable yet undeniably real.

It was said that contracts of this level could only be made using the hide of an evolved individual of the Black Heart Demon.

In other words, only by skinning an Advanced Phantom Demon that had evolved from a Black Heart Demon could a contract of this Rank be produced.

“Oh dear,” Yun Langyue remarked offhandedly from the side, “should I sign a contract too?”

Su Ming couldn’t help but roll his eyes, too lazy to deal with this self-pitying, self-amusing Fox Spirit.

“Give it to me.”

Shi Lin’s eyes were now fixated solely on the vial of Nightmare Species blood, with no room for anything else.

Su Ming handed over the Nightmare Species blood and even took out all the auxiliary Materials he had prepared in advance.

To refine the Phantom Demon Potion, Phantom Demon blood was the main ingredient, but other auxiliary Materials were essential as well.

Especially for refining the Phantom Demon Potion of an Advanced Phantom Demon, even the auxiliary Materials alone numbered over a hundred, many of which were Hazardous Species.

The auxiliary Materials for the Nightmare Species Phantom Demon Potion were even more numerous. Missing even one or two could lead to failure in refinement or a drop in quality.

Naturally, Su Ming wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen, so over the past year, he had deliberately collected all the auxiliary refining Materials for the Nightmare Species Phantom Demon Potion.

Some of these Materials came from packages, while others were purchased.

Of course, the ones that could be bought were relatively common, while the rarer auxiliary Materials were obtained by Su Ming from his packages.

Fortunately, among the previous 147 packages, many of the precious auxiliary Materials Su Ming hadn’t yet collected had appeared. Otherwise, he would still be struggling with gathering the necessary auxiliary Materials.

Now, the issue was resolved all at once.

The only remaining problem was…

“Do you need any tools, Master Shi?” Su Ming asked Shi Lin.

“I’ve brought all the tools I need. Don’t worry about it.”

Shi Lin had been caressing the vial of Nightmare Species blood, his expression filled with intoxication, and his attitude toward Su Ming had become dismissive.

Yun Langyue promptly retrieved an oversized toolbox from the off-road vehicle and placed it in front of Shi Lin.”Prepare a workshop for me.” Shi Lin reluctantly set down the vial of Nightmare Species blood, briefly inspected his tools, then said to Yun Langyue, “The environment here isn’t very stable, but I don’t wish to be disturbed by anyone, including Phantom Demons.”

“Rest assured, Master Shi.” Yun Langyue pursed her lips into a smile and said, “I’ll have the workshop prepared for you.”

“Are you sure?” Su Ming couldn’t help but ask Yun Langyue, “This is the Frontline Camp. Do you have a way to prepare such a workshop?”

“Just a phone call away, no trouble at all.” Yun Langyue tapped her cheek with slender fingers, then beamed radiantly. “Just remember what you promised me. I’ll handle the rest, my great benefactor.”

Hearing this, Su Ming smiled wryly.

This was exactly why he couldn’t do anything about this woman.

(End of Chapter)