Chapter 196: To be on good terms

.Although the pill itself held incredible value, far surpassing the mid-grade level 3 pill that Ethan had previously possessed, its recipe was priceless.

If Ethan truly had the complete recipe for the pill, then this would be a discovery of great importance for the field of alchemy. S~eaʀᴄh the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

This is because if one studied it and uncovered the principles behind it and how it produced so many miraculous effects on the body without any side effects, the alchemical knowledge of the Long Empire would advance by leaps and bounds, enabling the application of these new principles in other professions and even the creation of new alchemical recipes.

Needless to say, more than the pill itself, what Bai Huò Shān was most interested in was the recipe.

Ethan, taking a sip of the still-steaming tea, said calmly,

"I indeed have the recipe for the pill, but it's not the one that was lost; it's one I created myself."

At these words, Bai Huò Shān almost spat out the tea he had just drunk and, with some difficulty, said,

"D-did you really manage to create the recipe successfully?" he asked, still somewhat incredulous about what he had just heard.

Ethan simply nodded.

Bai Huò Shān's impression of Ethan's alchemical abilities reached a new height of admiration.

If before he had been somewhat uncertain, now he was sure that the person in front of him was much more than a simple three-star alchemy master.

He wouldn't be surprised if he were already at his level,

In other words, a grandmaster alchemist.

"It seems the fifth one has appeared," he thought, pleased that their empire had finally gained another alchemist at their level.

Being a grandmaster himself, he knew how difficult it was to reach this rank.

It had taken him over three centuries of continuous experiments and study to attain this level.

The thought of someone so young achieving this level made it even harder to believe, but facts were facts, and he could only accept it.

"Those old folks who are so proud of their rank will be tossing and turning in their beds if they find out about this monster," he thought.

"There's no need to tell you how important a recipe of this level is to us.

You're probably already aware that attempts were made to recreate this recipe many times in the past, all without success," he said, and Ethan nodded.

Indeed, during his studies on the level of alchemical knowledge in this plane, he discovered that there had been numerous attempts to recover lost recipes like that of the Eternal Youth Pill.

Many had failed, with only a few successes, and even those were partial.

At his level, he was able to create a pill with similar or even better effects, but thanks to his system's lab, he managed to recover the actual recipe.

Then he found that this recipe had certain basic flaws that didn't escape the eyes of an expert like him, and he made adjustments, elevating the recipe to the next level.

Ethan had experimented extensively with the system's alchemy lab and had to admit that it had many useful functions; this ability to design and recreate certain recipes was only a part of its effective capabilities.

Ethan had essentially recovered almost all the lost recipes, even enhancing the effects to make them even higher than before.

His improved recipe was level 4, but he decided to only use the level 3 one as it was already strong enough for the people of this plane.

In the end, Ethan agreed to give him the recipe for the Eternal Youth Pill in exchange for a future favor.

Bai Huò Shān hadn't expected the other party to hand over the recipe so easily.

He had anticipated needing to pay a fortune, yet here it was, given in exchange for a mere favor.

He could only assume that the favor would be something significant, but for now, it was important to secure the pill's recipe.

He was sure he could satisfy most of the requests the other party might make, but considering his level, perhaps it wouldn't be as easy as he expected.

But that was a problem for the future.

He also asked if he could buy the pill directly, but Ethan said he intended to put it up for auction after the tournament.

Although disappointed, he agreed.

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He knew that news of the pill had likely already spread and that those other two old folks would show up in the coming days.

His only consolation was having the recipe, so regardless of whether he could obtain it or not, he would at least have the means to create it.

Or so he thought, but when he read the section listing the materials, his expression changed instantly.

Many of the materials listed were rare, though this wasn't a problem for him as he already had most of them, and he could easily obtain the others.

However, there was one particular material he could not find: Scarlet Essence Heart.

"…"

Reading this material, his expression shifted from joy to despair as he wondered where in the world he could find a Scarlet Essence Heart.

The recipe indicated that other types of essence hearts could be used, but the problem was that even those were almost impossible to find, and just like the Scarlet Essence Heart, none had been seen for a long time.

Although obtaining the recipe was already a great achievement, knowing that there was little chance of actually using it to refine was painful for a dedicated alchemist like him.

In the end, he could only shake his head.

He had thought of asking the other party if he had another, but then reconsidered.

Having one was already too much; having two would be something that even an extremely fortunate person couldn't hope for.

And in the unlikely event he did indeed have one, what were the chances the other party would part with such a treasure?

After all these considerations, Bai Huò Shān gave up.

He was at the peak of the fourth stage, so he could tell that the other party was someone no weaker than himself.

He already had a good relationship with the masked boy, so attempting to ruin it over an herb he might or might not possess wasn't worth it.

In the end, he decided to act in advance and gather all the wealth he could to ensure he could secure the pill at the auction.

Too bad for him, as while he emptied his reserves of gold and other materials, Ethan's herb garden continued to grow a bountiful harvest of elemental essence hearts.

From scarlet fire elements to all the others, including the rarest ones like lightning and ice.