Lan Qingyou was a young woman who placed a high premium on aesthetics, and she naturally had her own set of standards in that regard.
In her eyes, compared to the pure white of the smaller Crystal Nest, the Large Crystal Nest appeared far more vibrant and colorful.
More importantly, this thing could truly serve as a sun.
Not only did it have a natural advantage in terms of illumination, but its heat output wasn't as high as the actual sun.
It was perfectly suited for the lighting needs of her garden.
As for the smaller Crystal Nest, which housed about twenty elf butterflies, she decided to move it outside for now. After all, the herb fields out there needed them.
However, when Lan Qingyou carried the Crystal Nest out to find a place for it, the butterflies—which had entered a state of hibernation due to the cold weather—woke up one by one. They scrambled to fly toward the multicolored Large Crystal Nest and began frolicking around it.
Well then.
It seemed even elf butterflies were fickle, preferring the new over the old.
But Lan Qingyou understood. After all, that was something that could help elf butterflies evolve. If she were in their position, she would go too, without feeling the slightest bit of embarrassment.
With no other choice, she carried the cold, empty Crystal Nest back to where the Large Crystal Nest was and placed it directly into the dark hollow she had previously used to store the Star Dragon King Essence Blood.
The smaller Crystal Nest still contained the nests built by the elf butterflies; they would always need a place to sleep after a busy day.
While she didn't consider herself a particularly good person, she wasn't so cold-blooded as to destroy someone's home.
Having finished these tasks, Lan Qingyou ate a late lunch and then dove headfirst into the alchemy workshop.
The C-grade mana potion and the C-grade talent ascension potion were the two things she was currently researching.
The mana potion was simple enough.
She just needed to filter out the corresponding herbs that increased mana points and experiment using an exhaustive method.
Though it would take some time, finding the correct ratio and combination of herbs wasn't a difficult task.
The talent ascension potion, however, was a bit more challenging.
The materials were backed by the Supreme Council, but she didn't know if her previous good luck would hold.
So, Lan Qingyou decided to start with the low-hanging fruit first.
In plain terms, she would develop the mana potion first.
As for how to handle the water supply without the Stone of Repose, it was incredibly easy for Lan Qingyou.
Lest it be forgotten, Lan Qingyou possessed Psychokinesis.
Controlling a bucket to fetch water from the fountain was a simple matter.
After all, the workshop was only about 500 meters from the fountain.
For the current Lan Qingyou, whose spirit attribute was in the triple digits, it was no trouble at all.
Using a purple hair tie she had asked from Ruan Qingyi to tie her long black hair into a high ponytail, Lan Qingyou patted her cheeks with both hands as if to pump herself up before beginning her analysis of the herbs.
As she analyzed them, she also used her cards to upload the appearance, descriptions, and effects of these herbs.
Even though it was only an internal encyclopedia for the villa, it still counted as a contribution.
Even though the monthly grading no longer existed, for Lan Qingyou, this was just something she did in passing.
Besides, the Supreme Council would surely 'instruct' Chu Yuan to come have a heart-to-heart with her later because of the witches.
So, it was necessary to resolve these potential issues in advance.
As for the potion formulas... Hehe, that would be a different price altogether.
However, when Lan Qingyou picked up a herb, she suddenly realized that her understanding of it far exceeded what she had before.
It had reached a point where she could see everything clearly even without using the Analytic Magic Eye (S).
She knew exactly what the roots were for, what the leaves were for, and how to use them.
It seemed that upgrading her Herbalism—or rather, all her knowledge—wasn't without its benefits.
"This grass... sure looks like grass..."
After turning the herb over in her hands for a long time, Lan Qingyou squeezed out that bit of nonsense.
Still, this saved her a significant amount of time.
After rummaging through the warehouse, Lan Qingyou returned to her private alchemy workshop in the shelter with over a dozen types of C-grade herbs and began the balancing process.
Researching potions and elixirs was actually quite tedious, but fortunately, she now had several alchemy pedestals obtained from the Abandoned City.
Otherwise, Lan Qingyou would have had to use the old method of asking the stonemason, Li Huai, to make stone slabs.
Speaking of the alchemy pedestals, now that she had the Analytic Magic Eye (S), Lan Qingyou knew exactly what they were made of.
Besides basic iron, there were several types of mixed minerals, including Mithril—something she had never even seen before.
After half a day and a night of experimentation, Lan Qingyou finally found the most suitable herb ratio among a multitude of combinations.
【Intermediate Mana Potion (C)】
【Effect: Restores 20 mana points per second for 10 seconds.】
【Description: A mediocre potion. Nothing to praise, but nothing to mock either.】
...
How strange.
The Analytic Magic Eye (S) belonged to her, didn't it?
Why did the snarky comments in the potion descriptions feel more and more like the toxic remarks on the small screen?
Had the magic eye been assimilated?
Although she didn't understand the reason, the snarky description actually gave Lan Qingyou a bit of inspiration.
Since talent ascension potions could be experimental, why couldn't these seemingly 'conventional' potions have a bit of flair added to them?
At this thought, Lan Qingyou's eyes—despite not having slept all night—grew brighter and brighter, and her energy surged.
She immediately went to the material warehouse to rummage for suitable materials.
Yes, materials.
Lan Qingyou wanted to see if adding some monster materials could turn the mana potion into something entirely new.
Although a single C-grade mana potion could now restore 200 mana points, it was still a bit lacking compared to her mana pool of over two thousand.
She was just that greedy.
Bubble fish swim bladders, yeti crystal cores, death worm tentacles, and so on—Lan Qingyou took out every material she had that could 'probably' increase mana points and tested them one by one.
Why 'probably'? Because many monster materials didn't actually have such properties labeled.
What to use and how to use it all depended on Lan Qingyou's intuition.
However, with her current levels in Alchemy, Potion-making, and Herbalism, she certainly didn't have to worry about making mistakes during the brewing process.
And sure enough.
After another half-day of experimentation, Lan Qingyou finally obtained an upgraded version of the mana potion made using death worm tentacles.
【Intermediate Mana Potion (C++)】
【Effect: Restores 35 mana points per second for 10 seconds.】
【Description: Which bastard came up with this? Excellent job. However, it seems only the Witch race can craft this potion, which is a bit of a shame.】
Rate on N.U.
