Chapter 4: Ghostskin
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After the long talk with Lin Li, Andoine seemed to have forgotten about the matter.
As usual, he spent his time in the potion lab, making Lin Li’s blood run cold with the things he did from time to time.
Lin Li had been wondering whether the stubborn old man would be blown up one day.
But for the time being, his body was still intact despite being subjected to various accidents every day.
It was not until the seventh day after the long talk that the stubborn old man, who was still in one piece, called Lin Li out of the log cabin.
“How about helping me?”
For reasons unknown, Lin Li constantly felt that the smile on the old man’s face was somewhat sinister.
But thinking it over, he had been living as a freeloader for the past month and still had magic to learn from him. It was hardly justifiable if he couldn’t even offer a little help. Hence, he braced himself and replied, “Tell me about it. I’ll do my best to help if it’s within my means.”
“Actually, it’s no big deal…” Andoine rubbed his hands embarrassedly. “You know, I’ve been unlucky these days. There have been many accidents in the lab for a few days in a row. Although the accidents weren’t serious, they cost me a lot of ingredients.”
“Afraid it’s not just bad luck…” Lin Li muttered to himself. After living here for more than a month, he could see that old Andoine’s attainments in magic were truly unparalleled. But in pharmaceutics, he was worse than an apprentice who had just started out. An apprentice would at least learn how to do it gradually, but Andoine completely ignored the proper steps and chose to take up challenging tasks from the beginning. Now that there was a potion master around to clean up whatever trouble he caused, the old man became more brazen in his actions, making it seem as if there was Spring Festival celebration every day in the lab. If there were no explosions someday, it would be because the old man had taken the wrong medicine.
“But, fortunately, I did an inventory count this morning. Most of the ingredients are no problem, only the wild steelbloom stock suffered the biggest losses…”
Only a large number of wild steelbloom was lost—that was indeed a stroke of good luck in the midst of bad. Compared to the leaves of the Wisdom Tree, wild steelbloom was much more common. The only condition for its growth was shade. The darker and damper the place was, the more it thrived. Such environment could be found anywhere—there were countless such places just in the Sunset Mountains alone.
“So, you want me to…” Lin Li had guessed what Andoine was about to say. Thinking it was not a big deal picking wild steelbloom for him, and that there was nothing else he could do but practice elemental sequencing anyway, Lin Li answered coolly, “No problem. If you can’t excuse yourself for the moment, it’ll be the same if I go and pick some for you.”
“Thank God…” Old Andoine heaved a sigh of relief and explained rather embarrassedly, “I am waiting for some very important news these days; it’s really hard to find time to go. It’s great that you’re willing to help!”
After inquiring about the location where the wild steelbloom grew, Lin Li went out without much delay.
It was the first time he wandered far from Andoine’s cabin since having transmigrated here.
Walking in the dark forest, Lin Li felt complicated emotions. He was split between curiosity and nervousness.
Being both curious and nervous, Lin Li naturally could not have noticed that Andoine had recited a spell the moment the former stepped out of the cabin. Following the completion of the spell, a figure of Lin Li began to emerge on the crystal ball in front of him…
According to Andoine, not far away—only a few minutes of walk from the log cabin—was a spot where the wild steelbloom grew. It was said that the place had once been the nest of Manticores, but they had died out during the last black tide. No one knew which demons had killed them, and even Andoine could only guess based on the traces in the surroundings. According to him, they had probably encountered their nemesis, the Black Dragon, during the black tide.
Lin Li stood outside the nest. It had only been a year, but the nest was completely deserted.There were weeds all around and a bed of wild flowers bloomed in brilliance at the entrance of the cave.
Lin Li could only feel a rush of cold, damp air on his face as he approached the overgrown cave. As soon as Lin Li came near, he knew he had not found the wrong place. The cave was dark and damp—the perfect place for wild steelbloom to grow.
As in most places where the wild steelbloom grew, the cave entrance was dark and damp, and the surrounding stone walls so slippery it almost felt like touching a giant python. There was no light in the darkness ahead. Lin Li had no choice but to light a torch and explore the depths of the cave with it as his only source of light.
In fact, Lin Li saw a sea of wild steelbloom not long after entering the cave.
But he did not pick any, and instead continued to explore with the torch in his hand.
It was because he remembered that there was another herb which had the same habitual nature as the wild steelbloom, the ghostskin. It preferred dark and damp environment, and mostly grew in caves. However, the ghostskins were buried deeper and hidden better than the wild steelbloom.
Lin Li’s experience told him that the ghostskins were more likely to be found where the wild steelbloom flourished best.
He wanted to find out whether his past experiences could be applied to this world.
So, he didn’t even look back.
The route ahead seemed to be getting wider; it was only a small cave when he just came in, but as the forest grew deeper, the cave seemed to have turned into a maze.
Lin Li circled the maze for a long time and went through one passage after another before he suddenly saw light ahead.
It was a stretch of underground wilderness, empty and vast. Seas of wild steelbloom prospered on the wild land. The blaze of purple and red was interspersed with dots of gray, the color of ghostskin.
Lin Li felt his heart leap upon seeing the little gray dots among the flowers.
No one in this world could ever understand how Lin Li felt at the moment—not even Andoine who was the closest to him.
His experience in the Endless World could be adapted to the world of Anril.
What did this imply? This implied that in the world of Anril, Lin Li was also a master of all professions!
It included not just professions like pharmacy, metallurgy, and forging. It was more on the knowledge aspect, like the knowledge of herbs—he also had a mastery level in it!
It was not until the ghostskins had been gathered that Lin Li was able to contain his excitement. This was probably what made him the happiest since he had transmigrated. Lin Li knew very well what it meant to be a master of all professions. It was almost like being an omnipotent superman. With a background like that, his future in this unfamiliar world seemed to become clearer.
It took Lin Li almost an hour to gather all the ghostskins from the underground wild land. Even with his assets, he was not willing to let go of any of it. Compared with the wild steelbloom, ghostskin had too many uses. Besides refining the Wisdom Potion, it could also be found in potions that had broader applications, like the Hastening Potion and Fossilizing Potion.
Wild steelbloom was also picked by him on the way. But a Herb Master like Lin Li would not be interested in that kind of cheap herb. He simply picked some, thinking it’d be enough for the old fellow to squander away, and refused to waste any more energy bending over his back.
Lin Li was about to leave the cave after finishing his errand when he inhaled a foul stench.
The stench was thick with blood, like a pool of fresh, viscous blood.
Lin Li had yet to regain his composure when a low roar came from behind him.
He turned his head in a hurry, just in time to see a dark-red shadow lurking there.
“F*ck!”