Chapter 9 - End of the Magic Era

“Let’s go.” After finishing, Lin Yun took the three potions and left the alchemy laboratory.

Lin Yun’s words snapped Raymond out of his intense introspection about his pride, and after getting his bearings, the young mage mumbled, “Eh… Yes!” But before leaving, he seemed to recall something… If he wasn’t wrong, when Young Master Merlin cleaned the alchemy table, he seemed to have thrown the test tube used for the red coral solution into the incinerator…

Although he had already seen with his own eyes that the flame rock didn’t cause the red coral solution to erupt earlier, he still had those teachings stuck in his mind. He began to ask, “That red coral solution…”

“Don’t worry, there will be no issue.” Before Raymond had even asked anything, Lin Yun had already answered. Lin Yun knew what was troubling Raymond, which was whether the remnants of the red coral solution would explode in the incinerator.

It wouldn’t, of course.

How much longer would it take before alchemists were able to find out that the problem of red coral solution going violently out of control when heated or agitated wasn’t something unsolvable? A bit of moonlight sand and a short incantation was enough to fix that problem.

When that time came, the discovery would change the way that alchemy was taught, a great number of new techniques would emerge, and countless alchemists would be deeply immersed in studying the red coral solution. They would make use of the incredible amount of magic contained inside to make countless shocking achievements in the field.

And among these were the three Spectrum Potions in Lin Yun’s pocket.

That’s right, these weren’t Colorful Potions, they were Spectrum Potions. Naturally, Raymond wasn’t completely wrong in his assessment. The scent and magic fluctuations of the Spectrum Potion were the same as those of the Colorful Potion, and even the effects weren’t totally different.

Though, even if they were similar, they weren’t completely the same.

After all, the added effect of the red coral solution was a game changer. The only use of the Colorful Potion was to purify the mana whirlpool. There was no need to use a dangerous material that was full of mana like the red coral solution for this.

Only the Spectrum Potion had this kind of mana requirement. Even if the Spectrum Potion could also purify the mana whirlpool, the main effect was to strengthen the mana whirlpool. After bathing in the glow of the moonlight sand, the red coral solution’s mana was even more stable. Adding the thousand knot flowers made it so that the mana could be absorbed by mages.

Although absorbing the mana seemed difficult and would need a large amount of time, it was extremely valuable. Even the worst mage would be able to understand. What did a mage yearn for most? It was definitely the chance to strengthen their mana whirlpool. As long as they had a mana whirlpool that was strong enough, a mage could be nearly omnipotent.

And the Spectrum Potion offered that possibility.

Despite it not being as good at purifying the mana whirlpool as the Colorful Potion, there were no other alternatives for strengthening the mana whirlpool, so the Spectrum Potion was bound to be worth more than the Colorful Potion.

Especially for the mages that had yet to reach 9th Rank. They weren’t in a hurry to purify their mana whirlpools and were still trying to just strengthen them as much as possible. They were the true targets for the sale of the Spectrum Potion. Moreover, there were far more of those mages than the ones at 9th Rank who were on the verge of breaking through.

“Oh right, Raymond, help me with something.”

“Eh? Help?” Raymond was still a bit dazed and subconsciously expressed his confusion, but he immediately reacted and corrected himself. ‘That’s a 20-year-old alchemist, he is someone that can trample my pride anytime, I can’t offend him, I really can’t offend him.’

Thus, Raymond hurriedly answered with a smile, “Please tell me what to do.”

Unfortunately for him, Lin Yun didn’t pay attention to the fact that Raymond was addressing him so politely for the first time. He only took the three potions from his pocket and said, “Help me deliver these potions. This bottle is for the Victorious Return Main Street’s auction house, tell them that I need it sold within three days, and let them decide the price. This potion is for the Mage Guild, I need a library pass with the highest privileges. As for the remaining potion… Do as you wish.”

“Okay, auction house, Mage Guild, me… As I wish…?”

“Yes, as you wish, you can decide. If you want to drink it or give it away, do as you wish.”

“Eh…” The hand that was holding the Spectrum Potions suddenly shook, and he nearly dropped the potions.

“These are Spectrum Potions. Besides purifying the mana whirlpool, it can also strengthen the mana whirlpool. I see that you should be a 5th Rank Mage, so drinking this should be very beneficial for you.”

“This… isn’t this too precious?” Raymond hadn’t expected that the last bottle of potion would actually be given to himself. It turned out that this wasn’t the Colorful Potion that he’d thought it was, but just by listening to the description of its effects, he could tell that this potion was a treasure among treasures. Purifying and strengthening the mana whirlpool at the same time, either of these two effects was something that every mage longed for, yet this did both at the same time!

Considering that Raymond had just been thinking about how he should curry favor with Lin Yun, this was a bit too much. He originally thought that since he had attacked a future Great Alchemist, even if he didn’t die, he would still be in a precarious situation. He had already been trying to figure out how to resolve this issue.

Yet in the end, after leaving the Gilded Rose, a pie fell from the sky, leaving Raymond feeling confused and stunned. Even after a long time, he still didn’t know what to do.

“Okay, hurry up and take care of it.” Gifting a bottle of Spectrum Potion wasn’t that big of a deal to Lin Yun, so he didn’t take it to heart.

Only in the current era would a Spectrum Potion be regarded as precious, because no technique to handle red coral solution had appeared yet. However, that technique was nothing secret later on, and red coral could be seen everywhere in this era. As long as Lin Yun wanted, he could make dozens of Spectrum Potions, so giving out just one potion as a reward was just being polite.

Raymond had helped him with enchanting the bottles, so he gave him a Spectrum Potion as a reward, it was that simple.

As for what Raymond thought, Lin Yun truly didn’t have the time to care about it…

After seeing the world end with his own eyes just a short while ago, he had inexplicably ended up in an unfamiliar body. With such an exciting and satisfying experience, he still hadn’t fully recovered from it. How could he care about what sorts of social intrigue others were thinking?

…

Raymond did his work efficiently, and on the 3rd day at noon, the bell of the Merlin family house resounded. After explaining to his father why he had disappeared for two days, he went upstairs to Lin Yun’s room.

“This is the thirty thousand gold from the sale of the Spectrum Potion at the auction house.” Raymond handed a crystal card over, some regret showing on his face. “Unfortunately, time was too tight. The auction house didn’t have enough time to spread the information about the item. It could only reach the ears of the mages in Thousand Sails City, so in the end, an 8th Rank Mage bought it. The auction staff said that if they had a few more days, they could definitely have sold this Spectrum Potion for at least fifty thousand gold.”

“Thirty thousand is enough.” Lin Yun shook his head. Whether it was thirty thousand or fifty thousand, each was the same in his eyes. Indeed, Lin Yun was in need of money, but just tens of thousands was really too little. What Lin Yun wanted to do wasn’t something that could be accomplished with a few tens of thousands gold, or even hundreds of thousands.

But thirty thousand gold would be enough for their immediate daily expenses. For Lin Yun, the first thing he needed to do was to get a better understanding of this time period. Mafa Merlin was only a Magic Apprentice, so he only knew things up to that level. He had no understanding of the higher realms. His understanding of this world through his memories was too limited to begin with.

Thus, Lin Yun was even more concerned about the whereabouts of the 2nd Spectrum Potion.

“What about the Mage Guild?”

“Eh? The Mage Guild…” Raymond had still been feeling regretful about the loss of twenty thousand gold. Upon hearing Lin Yun’s words, he remembered something and fished out a 2nd crystal card from his bag. “It went very smoothly with the Mage Guild. I found a senior working there and the higher-ups expressed their approval. But they asked something. They would like for you to visit them when you have time.”

“There will be an opportunity for that.” Lin Yun put away the two crystal cards, not expressing a clear refusal to the Mage Guild’s proposition.

Since he wanted to access the Mage Guild’s Library, there was no way he could choose not to meet them. Rather than having someone inquiring, it was better to meet them openly to see what they wanted.

“Good, I’ll go give the answer to my senior.”

“Wait a bit, I still need your help with something.”

‘A-again?’ Raymond almost spat out. After running around with the Spectrum Potions these past few days, how could Raymond not know of their true worth? That time, the auction house had disturbed their chief alchemist to have him personally appraise that potion. The Mage Guild even bothered one of their three big shots, someone that would rarely appear in public, but he did come out to personally receive a mere 5th Rank Mage. And for what? Out of respect for the Spectrum Potion…