Potions Class 1

The orange glow of the sunset blanketed the sky, its lingering rays casting lazy light upon the ground and stretching Wen Jiu’s shadow behind her. Perhaps because the cold season was approaching, the temperature dropped a little more with each passing day. Wen Jiu had only been at the academy for a few days, yet the chill was already comparable to early winter in her modern era. It was hard to imagine how unbearable the cold season would truly be.

A gust of cold wind swept by, causing Wen Jiu to tuck her hands into her sleeves and shiver as she continued toward the library. Academy 3047 had no evening classes; students were free to choose between extra training at the grounds or self-study in the library. Most, however, opted for the training grounds, making the library a quiet refuge.

In the interstellar era, most books were presented in digital format. After registering at the desk, Wen Jiu found a vacant seat among the rows of desks and chairs. Once she entered her student ID into the light-screen panel in front of her, she could browse the academy’s digital collection at will. She quickly pulled up several biological encyclopedias and began to read quietly.

There was no denying that high technology had its advantages. She opened a biological encyclopedia, which mainly documented the various animals that had mutated since the beginning of the interstellar era. With a simple tap on an animal's illustration, the panel would automatically display a holographic recording, allowing the reader to understand the creature’s appearance at every stage of its life and access detailed information.

Wen Jiu remained engrossed for hours, only leaving just before the library closed. Her memory was extraordinary; she could retain complex information after a single reading. In these few short hours, she had memorized everything she had browsed. She discovered that while most creatures had mutated due to the passage of time, a small number still retained characteristics from the ancient Huaxia period. For instance, the shepherd's purse and toon sprouts she had found in the kitchen were identical to their ancient counterparts. Even the mutated creatures often kept one or two original traits. The spiny fish, for example, had grown larger and sprouted sharp quills, but its essence remained much like that of a common crucian carp. The "gulu" beast looked essentially like a pig from the past, possessing only the new traits of sharp tusks and a rumbling sound it made when attacking.

Of course, entirely new species had also emerged, though the encyclopedia she browsed that night didn't cover them in much detail; she would need to find specialized texts to learn more.

Back in her dormitory, Wen Jiu quickly added a thin blanket to her bed; she was dreadfully sensitive to the cold. Fortunately, the academy provided all daily necessities for every student, and additional supplies for the cold season would be distributed later.

The next morning, while Qiao Shishi was still struggling to get out of bed, Wen Jiu had already changed into her thick school uniform and was on the balcony, performing her daily martial arts practice. Because their schedules differed, the two chatted briefly before heading off to their respective classrooms.

Wen Jiu’s morning class was Herb Identification and Preparation. When she had seen this elective while choosing her courses, it had piqued her great interest, so she arrived at the classroom half an hour early. Unlike what she had imagined, each desk was equipped with a set of strange instruments, and iron trays nearby were filled with various herbs. She chose a seat near the podium; at this point, only a few students were scattered around the room.

Wen Jiu curiously examined the instruments. A small portion were familiar, such as beakers and test tubes, but most of the tools were entirely foreign to her, so she sat obediently and observed without touching anything. Soon, as the bell rang, a gray-haired, energetic teacher walked slowly into the room.

To Wen Jiu’s surprise, there were only seven or eight students enrolled in the class. The spacious room felt exceptionally empty. However, the teacher seemed unsurprised and began his self-introduction and lecture with a cheerful demeanor. Wen Jiu listened intently to the kind old man; though he spoke slowly, his content was solid, useful, and clearly structured with important points highlighted. She promptly opened her smart-ring interface and carefully recorded the key takeaways.

"Next, I will teach you how to make a low-level stamina recovery potion," Mr. Yan said with a kindly face. "The process is relatively simple, so please be sure to note the steps carefully." He then demonstrated how to process the herbs and the proper ratios, teaching them step-by-step how to use the equipment. Despite the small class size, he maintained a rigorous and earnest approach to teaching.

Once he had successfully completed the preparation, he allowed Wen Jiu and the others to try it themselves. Wen Jiu first put on gloves to sterilize her hands and then focused on the practical application, following Mr. Yan’s steps. She used tweezers to pick up a sprig of "mist-grass," weighed it on the instrument, and once it reached the exact weight specified by Mr. Yan, she placed it into the machine to grind it into powder. She then processed the other required herbs in the same orderly fashion before beginning the preparation.

Wen Jiu retrieved two reagent bottles and, following the formula taught by Mr. Yan, added the processed herbal powders and juices one by one. After successfully completing the first bottle, she prepared another batch of materials and began to concoct the potion again.

Mr. Yan walked past Wen Jiu and, seeing that she had processed every herb perfectly, was about to move on to the next student. However, he suddenly noticed that the order in which she was placing the materials seemed to be scrambled, so he turned back to observe her actions.

"Your order is wrong, child," Mr. Yan said, frowning at her. "You should add five grams of mist-grass powder first, followed by one gram of puff-mushroom juice."

Wen Jiu merely nodded, but the order in which she placed the herbs remained different from what Mr. Yan had taught. She had made one bottle following his exact instructions, but during the process, she felt the formula could be improved. That was why she had prepared a second batch—to experiment with her own ideas.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Mr. Yan became anxious and tried to stop her, fearing that her deviation from the standard procedure might cause an explosion. Especially when she added the ice-grass powder, the light blue liquid in the bottle instantly turned deep red.

Alarmed, Mr. Yan snatched the reagent bottle from her hand and said sternly, "Students, please do not change the preparation sequence at will, otherwise..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he watched as the deep red liquid in the bottle gradually turned back to light blue—and it was even clearer and more transparent than the original.