Chapter 157: The Alchemical Laboratory

After the Blue Orchid Festival, the people in the city were still immersed in the joyful atmosphere. They were particularly impressed by the fireworks created by Jia Zhengjin!

Many villagers wanted to buy fireworks, but Jia Zhengjin had no stock left.

Besides, for him, fireworks were merely items used during festivals, and the saltpeter mine was not that abundant. It was far better to use it to manufacture bombs for city defense!

Furthermore, if he were to actually sell fireworks, it was inevitable that some clever person would discover the underlying secret. Having the gunpowder ingredients figured out wouldn't be too bad, but if they thought of increasing the gunpowder volume to create bombs, that would certainly not be a good thing.

Although this world possessed many miraculous mages whose high-level magic could far exceed the destructive power of bombs, magic was not commonplace! If the manufacturing method of bombs were to be made public, one could easily imagine how the combat effectiveness of the various empires in this world would multiply, which was by no means a good thing for him.

Yesterday, during the Blue Orchid Festival, he had killed a pack of gnolls while gathering saltpeter, resulting in a level-up and a skill point.

Jia Zhengjin allocated the skill point to the alchemy laboratory. Waiting until the bustle of the night had passed, he went to the mining site early the next morning to collect ores.

The construction materials required for the alchemy laboratory were: 15,000 lumber, 5,000 stone bricks, 10 gold ingots, 10 silver ingots, 2 glass cups, and one of each—green herb, red herb, yellow herb, blue herb, and purple herb.

The requirements were quite high, but all these materials were already in the warehouse!

The glass cups could also be crafted using sand at the workbench, so there was no issue there.

Jia Zhengjin immediately constructed the alchemy laboratory right next to his residential building.

The exterior of the alchemy laboratory resembled a very ordinary European-style bungalow, with a space of only about 15 square meters. A sign bearing a potion bottle symbol hung by the door, making its purpose immediately recognizable.

[Alchemy Laboratory Level 1] Increases potion-crafting success rate by 5%. Upgrading requires 30,000 lumber, 10,000 stone bricks, 20 gold ingots, 20 silver ingots, 4 glass cups, and 10 of each—green herb, red herb, yellow herb, blue herb, and purple herb.

The upgrade materials required were doubled, which made things a bit difficult! After all, Jia Zhengjin's tools were still inadequate at present, and he was reluctant to extensively mine gold and silver deposits. Raising it to level 10 would be even more terrifying!

Entering the laboratory, the interior currently held only a very crude wooden alchemy table, upon which sat beakers and other alchemical tools. The entire room was quite empty.

Approaching the alchemy table, an option immediately appeared before his eyes: [Brew Potion].

[Brew Potion] Randomly input two types of herbs, with a certain chance of successfully crafting a potion. Depending on the herbs used, the effects of the brewed potion will also vary.

Jia Zhengjin immediately clicked on brew potion, and the view in front of him transformed into a virtual frame containing two empty slots, designated for placing two different herbs, alongside a brew button below.

Finally, he could make potions! Playing games required the ability to pop potions to feel truly satisfying; otherwise, could it even be called a game? In high spirits, Jia Zhengjin immediately dropped two red herbs into the slots and clicked the brew button.

"Bang!" A virtual animation of a glass bottle shattering popped up before his eyes.

[Message] Potion brewing failed. You lost the herbs.

The success rate for potion brewing in a level-1 alchemy laboratory was not high, a fact he had mentally prepared for beforehand.

For the second attempt, Jia Zhengjin tried inputting two blue herbs.

[Message] Potion brewing failed. You lost the herbs.

His luck wasn't great; it shattered directly once again.

Jia Zhengjin then tried inputting two green herbs and continued.

"Ding!" An animation appeared showing a glass bottle spinning rapidly before transforming into a flask of potion.

[Message] Potion brewing successful! You have unlocked the synthesis formula for [Junior Stamina Potion]!

[Junior Stamina Potion Synthesis Formula] 2 green herbs, 20% potion-crafting success rate.

This success rate was low enough. Even with the 5% bonus from the level-1 alchemy laboratory, it was only 25%—a one-in-four chance of success.

Jia Zhengjin placed two of each herb type and conducted multiple brewing attempts, finally successfully unlocking the synthesis formulas for [Junior Health Potion] and [Junior Mana Potion].

[Junior Health Potion Synthesis Formula] 2 red herbs, 20% potion-crafting success rate.

[Junior Mana Potion Synthesis Formula] 2 blue herbs, 20% potion-crafting success rate.

[Junior Health Potion] Instantly restores 20 health points!

[Junior Mana Potion] Instantly restores 20 mana points!

[Junior Stamina Potion] Instantly restores 20 stamina points!

[Message] You have successfully unlocked all synthesis formulas of the level-1 alchemy laboratory and obtained the title [Junior Alchemist]!

It seemed that a level-1 alchemy laboratory could only make these three types of potions. To craft higher-level potions, he would first need to increase the level of the alchemy laboratory.

Of course, for now, a level-1 alchemy laboratory was more than sufficient!

Jia Zhengjin retrieved all the red, blue, and green herbs he had previously gathered and began seriously crafting potions.

A morning passed, and by the time these three types of herbs were completely exhausted, he had obtained 30 [Junior Health Potions], 35 [Junior Mana Potions], and 51 [Junior Stamina Potions].

"Kean!" When lunchtime arrived, Tina came out to look for her husband. Seeing the building that had suddenly appeared beside their home, she guessed he must be inside. Walking in, she found him just as expected and curiously approached, "What are you doing? What is this room for?"

"Tina, look!" Jia Zhengjin turned around, grinning as he pointed toward the 35 junior mana potions on the alchemy table.

"Whoa!! Are all of these junior mana potions?" Tina immediately wore a look of astonishment. "How did you get them?"

"This is my newly built alchemy laboratory. You can synthesize potions using herbs here!" Jia Zhengjin proudly hugged his wife. "I made all of these myself!"

"Goodness! Potions are extremely expensive. If you sold them, how many gold coins would that be?" Excitement flickered in Tina's eyes.

"Silly girl!" Jia Zhengjin smiled and patted her golden hair. "I can mine gold now, and after seizing so much treasure last time, am I short on just a few gold coins? I'll give all these mana potions to you. In future battles, don't hold back—drink up as soon as your magic runs out and see who can outlast you! Also, take some health potions; if you get injured, drink one and you'll recover immediately!"

"Kean, what on earth is your background?" Tina embraced her husband, once again shocked by him. "Could you be a deity from the heavenly realm who got bored and came down to play?"

"Haha!" Hearing this, Jia Zhengjin burst out laughing. "If I were an immortal, that would be great! I could go wherever I wanted—would I need to hole up here and secretly develop?"

"That's true too!" Tina held him tightly, a look of complete bliss on her face. "No matter what your background is, in my eyes, you are everything!"