The Alchemist’s Secret Realm and a Friend’s Return

After practicing cooking for five hours, Lin Shenyue immersed herself in alchemy once more.

Having first acquired some materials from Bloodthirsty Rose, she resumed refining potions. During their monster hunting that day, they had also dropped several intermediate potion recipes.

These were primarily system-issued Intermediate Health Potions and Intermediate Mana Potions. While the drop rate for these recipes was relatively high, they served mainly to accumulate alchemy experience.

To truly profit, one needed to acquire rarer intermediate potion recipes.

In the early stages, alchemists with only novice or intermediate mastery could, at best, break even. A basic potion, once refined, might sell for a maximum of 8 copper, with production costs typically around 3 copper.

Factoring in success rates, this usually meant they barely avoided losses. Some even incurred losses if their success rate was particularly low.

Upon reaching intermediate alchemy, the success rate plummeted further, with one successful refinement out of five attempts considered normal. While the success rate for basic potions increased, the experience gained diminished significantly, and they offered little profit.

Intermediate potions cost approximately 10 copper to produce. To sell them, one had to price them lower than the system shop, typically between 40-45 copper, which almost always resulted in a loss.

Lin Shenyue herself could barely break even. However, mutated potions offered additional income, with mutated basic potions fetching around 20 copper, and mutated intermediate ones selling for over 1 silver.

Bloodthirsty Rose likely intended to invest in Lin Shenyue, also hoping to foster good relations with the team behind her. This was why she provided the funds, despite the fact that the potions Lin Shenyue gave her in return for materials still represented a slight loss for Bloodthirsty Rose.

After another five hours of practicing alchemy, Lin Shenyue decided to take a break and check the forums.

At this moment, the most popular topic on the forums was the black hole that had appeared in Novice Village No. 1. Following closely was Bai Xiaosheng’s detailed professional guide.

Lin Shenyue read it carefully. It listed the skills for the first two levels of all combat professions, along with the corresponding values for each attribute, proving quite comprehensive.

He also enumerated all current life professions: alchemy, forging, and tailoring. He noted that only these three life professions had appeared in the novice village so far.

Other professions, he speculated, would gradually emerge after players left the novice village, though he didn’t rule out the possibility of rare hidden professions being obtained and kept secret. Lin Shenyue’s cooking skill, for instance, was one such example.

Despite having acquired it, she hadn’t publicized it. Furthermore, this life profession was indeed difficult to obtain in the novice village, as learning cooking required gaining the chef’s favorability.

Players who left the novice village after only four or five days would typically not have accumulated enough favorability to learn it. The other three life skills, however, had no such favorability requirements.

Additionally, Bai Xiaosheng explained some basic and advanced game operations. Although the explanations were somewhat superficial, they were highly popular among new players.

Lin Shenyue pondered for a moment after finishing the guide. This Bai Xiaosheng clearly had a rather extensive team, otherwise, they wouldn’t have amassed so much game knowledge in such a short time.

She then shook her head. ‘What does any of this have to do with me? Why should I care so much?’

Lin Shenyue used the game’s built-in network connection to access the outside world and check for information. After days of contemplation, she had come to terms with her situation: since she was here, she would make the best of it.

Understanding the real world would help her prepare for the future. After a brief overview of the world, Lin Shenyue began to consider how to handle the relationships left behind by her predecessor.

Even though she had been unconscious for several years, she must have had close friends. Indeed, others had visited her during her rest, but seeing her unchanged, they had merely said a few words and left.

Currently, no one had added her as a friend in the game. She wondered if her friends were unaware of the game or her in-game nickname.

Amidst Lin Shenyue’s musings, Grove emerged. Seeing her lost in thought, he looked slightly displeased. “Yue’er, why are you slacking off?”

Lin Shenyue snapped back to reality. Noticing her master’s mild displeasure, she quickly explained, “I just finished refining potions, and now I’m recovering my mental energy.”

Grove observed Lin Shenyue, and, sensing she wasn’t lying, he nodded. “I have a task for you.”

Lin Shenyue looked at Grove curiously. “What task?”

Grove looked at her and said calmly, “Some time ago, while gathering herbs, I discovered a medicinal spot. While collecting, I found an alchemist’s secret realm. It’s of no use to me, but it should be greatly beneficial to you. You can go take a look.”

[Ding! Do you accept the quest ‘Explore the Secret Realm’?]

“Yes.”

Grove said blandly, “You must explore this secret realm alone. You’re a bit fatigued from continuous potion refinement, so it’s a good opportunity to explore.”

Lin Shenyue hesitated for a long time, muttering, “I won’t be able to find my way.”

Grove’s mouth twitched fiercely. He remembered his apprentice’s terrible sense of direction. He sighed helplessly and said, “Come on, I’ll take you there.”

Lin Shenyue’s small face flushed with embarrassment; her poor sense of direction was a constant source of frustration. She hoped it would improve in the future, at least enough for her not to get lost in familiar places.

Grove waved his hand, and a door-like object appeared before them. He looked at the curious Lin Shenyue and said calmly, “This is a Spatial Gate, used for long-distance teleportation.”

Lin Shenyue was secretly astonished, realizing her master was an unexpectedly powerful hidden expert. As she stood there in a daze, she heard Grove’s voice. “Go on in. You’ll arrive at the entrance of the secret realm.”

Lin Shenyue hesitated. “How do I come back?”

Grove rubbed his forehead, sighing in exasperation. “Take this. Use it when you want to come out, and I will open the Spatial Gate again.”

With that, he handed Lin Shenyue a piece of paper adorned with strange symbols.

After receiving it, Lin Shenyue said, “Then, Master, I’ll go.”

Grove nodded, watching Lin Shenyue enter the Spatial Gate.

Upon stepping out, Lin Shenyue found herself before a desolate wasteland. She was still wondering why her master had brought her here when she suddenly saw a whirlpool appear before her.

Lin Shenyue hesitated for a moment, then walked into it. As she entered, the whirlpool vanished.

****

At this very moment, in a luxurious mansion in the real world, a girl was on the phone.

“Uncle, I finally convinced my parents. They agreed to let me in!” the girl exclaimed excitedly.

“Oh? Your stubborn old father actually agreed?” A male voice, clearly that of Lin Feimu, came through the phone.

“Hehe, I told them I was going to take care of Yue’er, and they agreed. Honestly, I don’t even know whose parents they are sometimes!” the girl said, a hint of indignation in her voice.

“Haha, your parents are just concerned about you. Linglong, are you going in to find Yue’er?” Lin Feimu asked.

Xu Linglong affirmed, “Of course! Yue’er hasn’t seen me in so long, I wonder if she even remembers me. Plus, I can seize the opportunity to play the game myself.”

Lin Feimu shook his head, chuckling. “The latter reason is the main one, isn’t it?”

Xu Linglong stomped her foot. “It is not! Uncle Lin, what’s Yue’er’s nickname in the game?”

Lin Feimu replied, “It’s simply ‘Yue’er’. Once you’re in, please help me look after her. The game just launched, and her mother and I are very busy and don’t have time to care for her. Also, keep an eye on someone named Peerless Karma Fire; he’s been quite close to Yue’er recently.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Linglong became slightly excited. “Yue’er already has a boyfriend? I’ll have to thoroughly vet him!”

Lin Feimu sighed helplessly. “How could she have a boyfriend? Though Yue’er is already eighteen, her physical development is only that of a fourteen or fifteen-year-old.”

Xu Linglong said indifferently, “Got it, Uncle Lin. I’ll vet him for you.”

Lin Feimu watched Xu Linglong hang up, shaking his head with a helpless smile. He could only hope Xu Linglong would take good care of Lin Shenyue.