Sunlight streamed into the Alchemy Workshop, falling onto the workbench.
Lu Yuan stood before the table, clutching a handful of silver leaf grass, carefully removing the soil from its roots.
Beside him, Laurina was not refining potions of Excellent quality as she usually did.
She stared at the liquid in the crucible, her brow slightly furrowed, her hand gently stirring with a wooden spoon. Her movements were much slower than usual, as if she were waiting for something.
"What are you doing?" Lu Yuan asked.
"Perfect quality." Laurina did not look up. "Sanity potion, perfect quality."
Lu Yuan's hand paused.
Potions of perfect quality were far more effective than those of Excellent quality, and their price was much higher.
However, the order from the Nightwatchers only required common quality.
"Preparing in advance?"
Laurina was silent for a few seconds before she spoke softly, "Mm."
Her voice was calm, but Lu Yuan heard a subtle hint of urgency.
They had both heard what that Nightwatcher had said last night.
The Polymath Tower was exerting pressure, and the attitude of the Nightwatchers was... hard to say.
Laurina knew better than anyone that her situation could change at any moment.
"I should gather as much as I can while I still can." Her gaze remained fixed on the crucible. "A perfect quality Sanity potion can save a life at a critical moment."
"Besides, the perfect Sanity potion is the simplest. If I cannot make this, I cannot make anything else."
Lu Yuan did not speak.
He understood her thoughts.
Rather than sitting here overthinking things, it was better to do something practical to give herself some security.
"Do you need my help?"
"Yes." Laurina nodded slightly, her eyes never leaving the crucible. "Process the silver leaf grass even more carefully. Every impurity on the roots must be completely removed. Perfect quality has very high requirements for raw materials."
Lu Yuan adjusted his technique as instructed, processing the materials in his hand with even greater care.
【Medicinal Herbology: +0.2...】
The experience bar jumped slightly.
Time passed bit by bit.
Laurina's movements became increasingly cautious, and her adjustments to the heat were precise to every subtle change.
But Lu Yuan noticed that her brow was furrowed tighter and tighter.
The color of the liquid was already very close to the standard for perfect quality, yet it was always just a tiny bit off.
"Failed again." Laurina put down the wooden spoon, her tone carrying a suppressed frustration.
"What happened?"
"A problem with the equipment." She pointed to the crucible. "The material of this crucible is not pure enough. Trace impurities seep in during heating. You do not notice it normally, but for perfect quality..."
Lu Yuan looked at the crucible.
It looked no different from an ordinary crucible, and its surface even seemed quite smooth.
"It is not just the crucible," Laurina continued. "The grinding surface of the mortar is not fine enough; the particle size of the medicinal powder cannot reach the requirement. The scale on the measuring tools is not precise enough either, leading to slight deviations in the proportions."
She paused and then added, "And the distiller. The seal is poor, so some volatile components are lost."
"This set of equipment is barely enough to make Excellent quality, but if you want to make perfect quality..." She shook her head. "One can only rely on volume..."
Lu Yuan fell silent for a moment, because time was what they lacked the most right now.
"It is a pity I could not bring my own set out, sigh..."
Laurina stopped halfway through her sentence.
It was as if she had touched upon an unpleasant memory.
Her expression froze for a moment before quickly returning to normal.
"Forget it, let's not talk about that."
Lu Yuan did not press further, only asking, "Can professional equipment be bought?"
"It is not easy." Laurina shook her head. "Professional-grade alchemical equipment is expensive, and it is not something you can buy just because you have money. It needs to be custom-ordered from an alchemical workshop, and the lead time is very long. There is simply nothing ready-made on the market in Bronze City."
Lu Yuan fell into thought.
He remembered that he still had quite a few points on his badge, accumulated back in Gelimu Port, which he had never really spent.
Perhaps... they could be exchanged for through the Nightwatchers?
And he could use the equipment himself as well.
"I will make a trip to the Nightwatchers base," Lu Yuan said. "To see if there is a way."
Laurina looked up and glanced at him.
"Go ahead," she responded softly, her fingers unconsciously stroking the edge of the wooden spoon. "I will continue making Excellent quality ones with this set for now. The Nightwatchers' order cannot be delayed."
The streets of Bronze City were very wide.
Sunlight shone on the stone roads as pedestrians came and went.
Lu Yuan crossed several streets and arrived at the area where the Nightwatchers branch was located.
The current atmosphere at the Nightwatchers base was very oppressive.
One could feel that something had been happening recently.
The Nightwatchers going in and out walked hurriedly with solemn expressions, and few people stopped to talk.
Lu Yuan presented his badge and successfully entered the base.
He found the place responsible for point redemption, a window located in a side building, where a middle-aged man sat with an indifferent expression.
"Redemption." Lu Yuan handed over his badge.
The middle-aged man took the badge and placed it on a metal tray.
The runes on the tray lit up, and numbers began to emerge.
Then.
The middle-aged man's movements stopped.
He stared at the numbers on the tray, his eyes shifting from indifference to shock, and then he suddenly stood up.
The chair made a piercing scraping sound.
"Nine hundred and thirty-seven?"
His voice rose an octave, as if he had seen something unbelievable.
Lu Yuan was also taken aback.
One had to know that a single mission usually only gave about ten points.
Back in Gelimu Port, he had saved for a long time just to have enough points to exchange for a revolver.
Which mission of his had been granted so many points?
But that was no longer important. What mattered was that he seemed to be 'rich'.
The middle-aged man sat back down, but his posture was completely different.
His back was straight, and his expression became respectful and cautious.
"My apologies for my rudeness." He took a deep breath and re-confirmed the numbers on the tray. "I have worked here for thirteen years, and this is the first time I have seen more than five hundred points."
He looked up, his gaze filled with obvious respect.
"It seems you have made outstanding contributions to the empire."
Lu Yuan did not answer.
But Nightwatchers points could not be faked.
Every point underwent strict auditing, and each represented a life-and-death struggle in a mission.
"What do you need to exchange for?" The middle-aged man's attitude had completely changed, his tone carrying a careful politeness. "Tools, weapons, potions... or the special category? I can give you a detailed introduction."
He paused and added, "With points like yours, many restricted items can be exchanged. And..."
He lowered his voice, his tone somewhat fawning, "For the items you exchange, we can provide free home delivery or assistance with their use."
"Let me see the catalog first." Lu Yuan did not answer immediately.
"Of course." The middle-aged man immediately pulled out a thick book from under the counter and pushed it respectfully toward Lu Yuan. "Please take a look."
Lu Yuan flipped open the book.
The first page was for tools.
He quickly found what he needed.
The options for alchemical equipment were very clear:
Basic Alchemy Equipment Set: 10 points
Professional Alchemy Equipment Set: 25 points
Master-grade Alchemy Equipment Set: 150 points
He looked at the description for the professional-grade set: Includes a refined crucible, a fine-grinding mortar, precision measuring tools, a sealed distiller, etc., suitable for refining potions from Excellent to perfect quality.
This would work.
Lu Yuan made a mental note and continued flipping through.
Weapon category.
Silver-plated shortsword: 15 points
Enchanted revolver: 30 points
Mithril dagger: 80 points
Rune longbow: 120 points
...
Potions category.
Sanity potion (Excellent): 1 point/bottle
Healing potion (perfect): 3 points/bottle
Blessing potion (rare): 40 points/bottle
...
Materials category.
Guangyin grass: 1 point/bundle
Mithril powder: 2 points/gram
Deep sea whale scale: 35 points/piece
...
Lu Yuan flipped through page after page.
937 points was indeed a significant sum.
But he was in no hurry to make a decision, as he did not currently lack anything else.
Until he flipped to the last few pages.
Special category.
The options on this page were noticeably fewer, and the layout was more sparse. Each item was marked with a high point cost.
Emergency evacuation order: 300 points
Identity reset document: 500 points
Lu Yuan's gaze continued to scan downward.
And then it stopped.
Rate on N.U.
