My health recovery is incredibly fast.

Xia Zuo took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing thoughts unrelated to the exam, and focused his attention back on the exam questions.

The metal box contains six ring-breathing insects, which correspond exactly to the six additional toxic effects that the elemental toxins gain after one refinement.

Each ringworm removes 1 additional toxic effect.

The prerequisite is that the anthrax knows which toxic effect it should remove.

This requires Xia Zuo to refine six more portions of the base liquid containing only one additional toxic effect.

Mix the base liquid containing only one additional toxic effect with one refined elemental toxin, then soak one ringworm in the mixture. After the ringworm swells into a spherical shape, separate the elemental toxin from the mixture.

At this point, one additional poison effect has been removed from the elemental toxins obtained.

Repeat the above steps 6 times to obtain 1 pure elemental toxin and 6 Cyclops worms that are satiated with a certain additional toxin effect and are currently dormant and digesting the toxin.

With the help of the ringworm, the removal of the additional toxicity can be completed in just 5 hours.

The challenge lies in the fact that when the anthrax worm ingests toxins carrying additional toxic effects, it unconsciously enters a state of drowsiness.

Once it enters a dormant state, the anthrax will immediately stop feeding on toxins and eventually fail to progress due to insufficient toxin dosage in its body.

Shazo must occasionally stir the annular worms in the mixture with a stirring rod during the process of removing the extra toxicity, preventing them from falling asleep before they suck up into a spherical shape.

...

It's the 7th day since we entered the Poison Alchemy Chamber.

That afternoon, Xia Zuo checked all the bottles and jars on his desk and, after confirming that the alchemical products were correct, asked the proctors behind the glass partition to end the exam early.

The results of this round of exams came out quickly.

When Xia Zuo returned to his dormitory, intending to rest properly, a letter floated down the corridor and landed in the mailbox next to the door.

Xia Zuo put his coat on the hanger, went to the door, and opened the envelope.

To examinee Xia Zuo:

You have passed the second test.

Please arrive at the alchemy room specified on your admission ticket before 8:00 AM tomorrow to participate in the third stage of the test.

[Message left at the Academic Affairs Office, Promotion and Assessment Department, Boying Academy.]

The admission ticket didn't specify what type of alchemy lab we'd be visiting tomorrow.

Xia Zuo carefully put away the letter and his examination admission ticket, then headed to the washroom. A moment later, the room echoed with the comfortable sighs of someone taking a shower.

I spent seven days in the poison alchemy lab, surrounded by glass spheres, and couldn't even take a proper shower...

Chapter 24 predicted the question correctly.

The third round of testing is the final round in the promotion assessment.

Once you pass this test, you will receive the emblem of a master poison alchemist and be able to go to the Mage Temple for further studies.

Early morning.

After having a satisfying meal at the academy's cafeteria, Xia Zuo walked towards the alchemy building and chatted with Anruer, who was taking a carriage to work, for a while using [Bloodline Sense]. Once Anruer arrived at the Energy Research Institute, Xia Zuo opened the door to the alchemy room.

This alchemy room…

Something feels off.

Xia Zuo stood at the doorway and peered inside, not immediately stepping through the door frame, all because there was a closed control panel in the center of the room, with a thick ape arm on the panel.

Along the wall of the alchemy room, there is a high-level alchemy table and a shelf for storing poison bottles, which are needed for making poison.

Deep inside the room, behind a glass partition that blocks the spread of toxins, a dozen glass spheres float in the air, where proctoring professors await the candidates' arrival.

It seems this round of testing is related to drug production.

What is the ape-like arm on the enclosed control panel for?

Xia Zuo closed the door, went into the shower room to change into the poison-making leather robe, and picked up the exam manual on the desk.

The manual says so.

On the enclosed control panel, there was an experimental sample made from a raging giant ape-type alchemical bio-armor—that is, an ape arm covered with short, thick black hair, several degrees thicker than an ordinary human arm.

First, Xia Zuo needs to identify the toxins on the experimental samples.

Then, based on his own identification results, he needs to refine the corresponding antidote and combine all the antidotes together to create the correct [compound antidote].

"You guessed the exam questions right..." Xia Zuo looked at the exam handbook, but couldn't quite manage a smile.

Creating a compound antidote is not as simple as just mixing antidotes together.

Because when antidotes with different toxic effects are mixed together, they can react, potentially creating new toxic effects or causing the antidotes to become ineffective, turning them into waste products that can only cause bodily damage.

It is conceivable that the more poison effects one wants to neutralize in one go, the more antidotes are involved, and the more difficult it becomes to produce a compound antidote.

The entire promotion assessment lasted for two months. Xia Zuo spent a total of eight days in the first two rounds, and the third round of testing would last for one month and 22 days.

Before time runs out, either Xia Zuo creates the correct compound antidote and passes this round of testing.

Alternatively, you can voluntarily give up this round of testing and leave the alchemy lab.

Before officially refining the compound antidote, Xia Zuo needed to spend a lot of time studying the relationships between different antidotes.

Looking back at the teaching content of the advanced level of poison alchemy, there is a mainstream approach to creating a compound antidote with stable ingredients, correct effects, and few side effects.

It is known as the "Tapsen-style compound antidote preparation method".

The core concept is:

The detoxifiers are kept isolated from each other. After the compound detoxifier enters the human body, each detoxifier is triggered in a pre-set order, ensuring that while the previous detoxifier is in effect, the other detoxifiers stay obediently in the isolation zone.

This might sound a bit abstract.

We might as well think of the compound antidote as a building.

There is a reception desk in the lobby on the first floor of the building.

The rooms upstairs are separate residences for each type of detoxification.

Between detoxification sessions, one cannot visit other rooms; one must remain in one's own room. Upon hearing one's number called at the front desk, one must leave the room, exit the building, and react with the toxins outside the building.

If we shrink this building, which houses a large number of detoxifiers, to the size of a finger, we get a pill with many independent small spaces inside, like a honeycomb.

So, how do we trigger the detoxification process sequentially?

Let's say we make each type of detoxification into a sphere with three layers, inside and out.

Sphere #1 contains Detoxifier #1, and Sphere #n contains Detoxifier #n.

The outermost layer of sphere number 1 is a substance that is miscible with water.

The middle layer of the sphere contains Detoxifier No. 1.

The innermost layer of the sphere—that is, the substance encased in toxin #1—can undergo a neutral reaction with the outermost layer of sphere #2 without interfering with the detoxification process.

The outermost layer of sphere 2 cannot react with water and can only be dissolved by the innermost layer of sphere 1.

And so on.

The outermost layer of sphere n-1 can only be dissolved by the substance in the innermost layer of sphere n-2. In this case, the detoxifying agent n-1 in the middle layer of sphere n-1 will react with the specific toxin.

Once the detoxifier n-1 is depleted, the innermost layer of the n-1 sphere will flow out and dissolve the outermost layer of the n sphere.

Throughout the entire detoxification process, only one antidote is active at any given time, and the next antidote will only be activated after all the current antidotes have reacted with the specific toxicity.

This approach to creating compound antidotes is simple, clear, and easy to understand; it's the approach most poison alchemists would normally use.

The difficulty in making the [Tapsen-style compound antidote] lies in accurately calculating the [dosage of the antidote].

The manufacturer must determine the specific [intensity of the toxicity] and produce the corresponding dose of antidote, ensuring that antidote n reacts fully with toxin n without any residue.

Otherwise, two situations will occur:

1. Antidote n has been used up, but there is still residue of antidote n. At this point, antidote n+1 may react with antidote n.

2. Toxin n has been cleared, but antidote n still remains. At this point, antidote n+1 will not be triggered.

In fact, the possibility of detoxifying toxin n completely eliminating toxin n without leaving any residue is extremely low, almost impossible.

The solution to this problem is actually quite simple.

Suppose that the observed toxicity of toxin n is a, and a doses of antidote n are needed to completely eliminate it.

Therefore, when refining a compound antidote, you can add a+1 parts of antidote number n.

In this way, when toxin n is removed, there will be approximately one part of toxin n remaining.

During the refining process, the poison master can add [Clocking Ingredient] to lock the expiration date of antidote number n.

For example, the effective period of antidote number n is set to 10 minutes.

After the recipient took the compound antidote, antidote number n reacted with toxin number n, leaving one portion of antidote number n unused.

This remaining No. n detox will be broken down into waste by the clock seasoning in 10 minutes, enter the human intestines, and be excreted with feces.

In this way, the n+1 detoxifier will react smoothly with the n+1 detoxifier due to the disappearance of the n detoxifier.

Clock condiments come from the field of functional pharmacology and are a common product of that discipline.

On the shelves in the alchemy room were many clock-related condiments for the examinees.

Xia Zuo can freely take the clock and condiments from the examination room according to his own needs.

As long as he can accurately determine the potency of the poison and disregard the concept of time, immersing himself completely in the process of refining the poison, he can completely refine the ideal product by following the pharmaceutical approach of the [Tapsen-style compound antidote].

Xia Zuo glanced at the potion box on the desk, which contained more than a dozen free proficient-level satiety potions.

He put down his exam manual, drank a few doses of regular medicine to take care of his eating, drinking, and relieving himself, then walked around his desk a few times with his arms crossed, deciding to first examine how many kinds of toxins were on the experimental equipment made from alchemical implants.

The ape-like arm on the enclosed control panel is part of the enraged giant ape-type alchemical bio-suit.

However, the manual does not specify which model it is.

Type i?

Type IV?

Even a V-shape?