It has been one bad news after another for Emery.

The price for the fey wolf gene recipes increased from 100.000 to 200.00 spirit stones. Combined with the price of the void crystal, the total spirit stones he needed had increased to a whooping 300.000. Even if he decided to go all in and trade all the contribution points he had saved up, he still would not have enough.

Emery had considered giving up, but he had one last idea in mind.

After finishing his business in Zodiac City, Emery took a portal and returned to the Golden City. He took one of the flying boats to the apothecary institute and found Cedric being busy with his research on the 15th floor.

Emery took out one of the extra serums he bought with one-tenth of the actual price and showed it to Cedric.

"Senior, would it be possible to copy and recreate this?"

Emery talked to Cedric about his gene bloodline, about the deal he was offered and the serum he had received. He hoped his senior apothecary acolyte would be able to give him some tips before he started using the [Fragmentation] skill on the serum.

Cedric took the serum from Emery's hand, walked to a nearby box-shaped machine filled with slots and placed the bottle into one of the slots.

"Alright. Before you dissect it, it's important we remember to scan it first."

After placing the bottle, Cedric pushed the slotted bottle down and pressed a combination of buttons. The machine whirred to life and started to make a quiet humming noise. Within a few minutes, the information about the potion appeared on a floating screen.

[Gene Booster]

[Classification – Unknown]

"Of course…" Cedric muttered and shook his head. "The guy who made it isn't stupid, he knew not to register the recipe."

"Show me the content of what you got from the scan?" Emery asked.

[Water 21%]

[Protein 15%]

[Carbon 11%]

[Natrium 5%]

[Glucoacid 2%]

There were almost three dozen other substances listed on the screen, each with decreasing percentages. They looked at the list for a while, trying to decode the ingredients used.

"Alright, we should save its data. We can use this as a base. This will be the base of its 100% potency, we can recreate this and come up with a recipe that is close to this data." Cedric explained.

"Whoa, you're impressive! You really are worth the title of 'senior'!" Emery clapped.

"Of course, Emery! After all, your senior here is a rank 5 artisan! haha."

"So senior… What should we do next?"

Cedric played with his glasses, glanced at the screen one last time and said. "Well, this is all we can do for now… We should dissect it. Alright, Emery, do it."

Emery took the bottle out from the machine before casting his spell.

[Fragmentation]

[3 essences found]

[Unknown], [Unknown], [Reagent]

"…"

Emery was stunned into silence, the fragmentation result was not helpful at all.

The serum floated out of the vial and separated into three distinctly different liquids. One part had a red color similar to oxygenated blood with a sticky texture, one had a lime-color that seemed to emanate a burning, acidic smell, while the last one was black like crude oil.

Those are the components of the three main ingredients. Cedric put the three parts into separate bottles and performed further analysis on it, while Emery could only watch.

"So, how is it, senior?"

Cedric did not answer and continued performing the analysis. However, it seemed Emery did not have to wait long for an answer, as Cedric's confidence instantly disappeared without a trace.

"Alright, Emery…" Cedric took a deep breath and explained. "The third essence is the reagent and it's the easiest one to identify. Basically, it's similar to a strengthener normally used for high-rank potions. There are a few combinations of plants that could be used to create this. As for the other two, I'm sure the first one is made from blood or might actually even be blood, while the lime-colored one is a lethal poison."

"Lethal poison?" Emery's eyes widened, realizing he had consumed the potion once. Was he being poisoned?

Seeing Emery's expression, Cedric smiled and shook his head. "No, it's lethal poison, yes, but there are ways to neutralize it. The most likely scenario is that this poison interacts with something in the blood or the straightener, causing its harmful effects to disappear… It's an amazing thing, really."

Cedric did a few more tests and concluded he needed some more time to do a complete study on the two liquids.

Tomorrow, Emery still had some mandatory elite classes to attend. So, he decided to give his thanks and greetings and return to his place for some much-needed sleep.

The next day, as planned, Emery met his friends in his elite class residence. The five gathered together and shared what they had learned.

Emery talked about the offer he got from the Wellenstain faction, along with the offer from the Bullfrog faction.

At first, the group laughed at the name, but when Emery told them the details of the contract, all of them suddenly went quiet. Julian was the only one who did not laugh and took Emery's story seriously.

"Oh right, speaking of factions, guys… Actually…" Julian started.

Julian talked about the deal he had with the Hartlight faction and what he had obtained so far. On one hand, Roran did keep his word and Julian really became an actual member of the faction. However, Julian was merely an outer member, meaning he was given access to tutelage and the Hartlights' library, but without artifacts or spirit stones support. The bright side of only being an outer member of the Harlight faction was that there wasn't much commitment. He could just pay his membership by doing several jobs for the faction later on.

Julian talked to Emery about his own deals with the Hartlight family and urged him to accept either the Wellensteins' or the Bullfrogs' offer.

Emery definitely could see the benefits of accepting one offer and he could see how the offer would eventually benefit Earth's future. He also definitely needed the 100.000 spirit stones it offered. However, he couldn't accept not returning to Earth next month.

He spent the next five days with his friends and attending the elite classes. Other than attending the lectures and workshops, Emery also busied himself by continuing the duels with the third-year acolytes. By the end of the fifth day, Emery finally managed to rack up 50 wins and he became eligible to receive his second spirit foundation pill.

Day 66

Five days had passed by quickly. Emery took a portal to return to the apothecary institute and immediately looked for Cedric. He was dying to know the results of his research.

Unfortunately, "I am really sorry, Emery. The blood essence is really, really out of my current expertise. Don't worry, I've scheduled a workshop with Master Grom and I'll bring this up to him to see if he can help."

Emery was half-expecting this, but it would be a lie if he said he was not disappointed in encountering another block to his journey.

If the serum was that easy to copy, it would not be that expensive.

"Anyway, Emery…" Cedric started. "As for the poison, I was able to identify it, it's a rank 3 acid. If you could find me a few acid potions, I could use it to do more testing. Can you do that?"

Cedric's question made Emery instantly remember a certain planet with a certain plant suitable to make tier 3 acid.

"Yes, senior. If it helps, I will definitely get you some."