Realm of Myths and Legends

As the mood within Seina's private crafting room became awkward, Izroth walked past the two and over to Jade.

"Were you able to find all the ingredients on the list?" Izroth asked.

Jade was baffled by Izroth's actions and the shock on her face could not be hidden. Couldn't he read the air? Also, the fact that he casually walked past and outright ignored the First Guardian—who in their Order of a Thousand Blossoms besides the Holy Maiden dared to do so?!

"Hm? Is something wrong? Could it be that you were not able to gather all the ingredients?" Izroth inquired.

Jade snapped out of it as she shook her head and responded, "No, me and senior sister Sylvia were able to find everything on the list that you requested. Although the standard total when crafting pills is twenty batches, we prepared ten times that amount."

As Jade spoke, she handed over a small sapphire ring to Izroth. It was the spatial storage item that was used to store the batches of ingredients she gathered along with Sylvia.

'Ten times? That would make it two hundred batches.'

Most of the ingredients that Izroth requested could be considered lower mid-tier at best. However, there were still a few ingredients that should have been hard to come by on such short notice.

The fact that Sylvia and Jade procured all the ingredients for not only one or two attempts, but rather two hundred hundred batches worth was an incredible feat!

Izroth took a moment to check over the ingredients inside the spatial storage ring. As he did so, he could feel a hostile gaze locked onto him.

The gaze belonged to, of course, Yuveil.

After being completely ignored by Izroth and treated as if she did not even exist, how could the First Guardian not be outraged? When was the last time someone dared act this arrogant in front of her? This was the Thousand Blossoms Peak, not some random city street!

"Hmph! What a rude little fellow...!" Yuveil scoffed.

As for Izroth, he paid no attention to Yuveil. Right now, his main goal was to cure Seina. Not to mention, based on her attitude, was she even worthy of his attention?

From the moment she saw him, there was no form of greeting or hospitable behavior. But, if it was just this much, Izroth would not have minded. After all, they were two complete strangers. She did not owe him a courteous greeting.

However, Yuveil wasted no time looking down on him with eyes full of disdain without even giving him a chance to first display his skills. This type of person was someone that Izroth could never see himself getting along with; therefore, why should he entertain her nonsense?

'Everything is in order. With the upgraded fire core, it will be a bit more difficult to control the flames; however, the higher purity of fire should increase the pill's overall quality.'

Izroth walked back towards his Dark Abyssal Cauldron and halted his steps right before it.

"You all may stay and observe. But I will say this now. If you disrupt me or cause any trouble during the crafting process, you will be kicked out without exception." Izroth stated calmly.

Normally, it would be considered rude to observe another Apothecary's pill crafting process. However, given that the current circumstances were somewhat unique, Izroth did not mind it.

It was not unusual to use one or two poisonous ingredients in pill crafting. After all, when paired with the correct substances, their poisonous nature would transform into something helpful.

However, for every last ingredient to be poisonous—this was something never heard of.

Seeing as how every last ingredient he requested was poisonous, it would be strange if there was no one to observe him while he was making it. After all, Izroth may be an Honorary Saint, but there was a limit to how trusting one could be upon a first meeting.

"Be at ease. As a fellow Apothecary, I understand quite well how important one's state of mind is when crafting pills. With me here, let's see who dares step out of line." Seina declared.

"Entrusting your fate to a scam artist... Even if you are desperate, you have to remember that you are still a Holy Maiden of our Order. If a grade-eight Apothecary could not cure you, it is impossible for this brat to do so. Just wait and see how he fails and makes a fool out of all of you. Rest assured, I will not give him any excuses to lean on for his failure." Yuveil stated with a trace of contempt.

Yuveil did not believe that an inexperienced young man could succeed where a grade-eight Apothecary failed. Such an outlook was simply common knowledge.

Yuveil did not know how he managed to deceive Seina and her disciples, but she would not fall for such insignificant tricks.

"Once he fails, I can use it as an excuse to officially strip him of his status as an Honorary Saint for misleading us. After that, I will repay the disrespect he has shown me. When that time comes, let's see how arrogant he can remain without the protection of the Holy Maiden." Yuveil thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Izroth tapped the side of his cauldron as the flames within flared up.

'So this is an A-ranked fire core. The heat is several times more intense than that of a B-rank fire core. With this, I won't have to worry about any impurities forming.'

After testing the limits of his new fire core, Izroth reduced the heat to a stable temperature as the flames became gentle yet fierce.

The next moment, Izroth closed his eyes and cleared his mind.

〈Battle Alert: You have activated the skill «Time Dilation»!〉

〈Battle Alert: Due to the effects of «Time Dilation», you will now perceive everything at [90%] of its original speed!〉

〈System Alert: You have entered the state «Mind of Craft».〉

〈System Alert: Your crafting speed and senses have been temporarily increased by 300%.〉

'Let's begin.'

Izroth removed the first ingredient from the spatial ring.

It was a small dark purple leaf with white spots called the Stargazing Leaf due to the white spots that resembled sparkling stars in the night sky on its surface.

«Resisted»

«Resisted»

The moment the leaf appeared in Izroth's hand, its poisonous effects attempted to spread. However, thanks to his poison resistance, something of this level could not affect him.

Izroth dropped the leaf into the Dark Abyssal Cauldron. And, the instant it made contact with the flames, the poisonous fumes began to spread all throughout the room.

At the same time, Seina lightly tapped her foot on the floor as a group of magic sequences formed.

She activated one of the room's atmosphere control magic formations to contain the poison and stop it from spreading.

"The Stargazing Leaf... While it is not lethal, it can still cause those who come into contact with it to experience paralysis. If not handled with care, one would be rendered helpless the moment they touch it. To not show any signs of paralysis must mean he possesses a special physique that's capable of resisting poisons. Still, it's strange. I have heard of a Stargazing Leaf being used as a sedative when mixed with a few other ingredients, but never in pills created for recovery purposes." Seina thought to herself as she closely observed Izroth.

As the one who would be potentially consuming the pill, naturally, Seina planned to carefully watch every one of Izroth's moves. But, at the same time, the Apothecary side of her was curious to see how Izroth planned to utilize ingredients that were typically meant to bring about one's demise.

After Izroth threw in the first ingredient, it did not take long for the second to follow. Then, a third and a fourth.

One by one without pause, Izroth started to add the ingredients nonstop to the cauldron, causing it to violently tremble every time something new was added.

By the time he reached the twentieth ingredient, a gleeful expression had formed on Yuveil's face.

Yuveil was a grade-six Apothecary; therefore, her knowledge when it came to pill crafting was far from shallow.

That's why when she saw Izroth casually throwing the ingredients into the cauldron without a single care in a world, she almost failed to contain her mocking laughter.

Fool! This person was an absolute fool!

It was not uncommon for some pill recipes to add a few ingredients to the cauldron at the same time. However, it was generally never more than five. In some rare cases, it could even go as far as seven or eight. But, adding twenty ingredients consecutively to a cauldron without pause—such a pill crafting method did not exist!

In Yuveil's eyes, Izroth was an absolute amateur when it came to being an Apothecary. The fact that he could even heat up the cauldron was already a miracle in her eyes.

Yuveil glanced over at Seina with a delighted grin on her face.

As for Seina, she had not taken her eyes off Izroth as she looked on with furrowed brows.

At first, Izroth piqued her interest with his bizarre crafting method. However, that interest was slowly turning into bewilderment.

"What is his purpose? If he does have one, I cannot see its end... Let us hope that he truly does have one." Seina internalized as she remained silent.

At this point, it was too late to turn back. Seina could only place her hopes in Izroth and hope that her sense of judgment had not indeed been clouded by her condition.