My health recovery is incredibly fast.

【experience】

11540-3000→8540/1300

[Spiritual Medium]

[Transcription Progress]

27% + 30% → 57%

...

The transcription progress suddenly increased.

Xia Zuo instantly felt a flood of words and images rush into his mind. After lingering in his mind for a few seconds, the character template blurred for a moment, and a vortex-like suction force emanated from the four characters "Knowledge Reserve," drawing all the newly appeared knowledge into "Knowledge Reserve."

The knowledge in the spiritual medium is half master-level textbooks on poison alchemy and the other half master-level textbooks on biological materials science.

Once the transcription progress exceeded 50%, Xia Zuo immediately finished studying the textbook on poison alchemy, and also memorized a small portion of biological material science knowledge.

He was so engrossed in the feeling of easily acquiring knowledge that he didn't come to his senses until he heard footsteps outside the door—his classmates from the same alchemy lab were about to come and do an experiment, so he had to hurry up and get ready.

"This is amazing..." Xia Zuo sighed silently, waved his hand to dismiss the Blood Element servants, and put the Master-level Bait Element into the metal box where he had submitted his work.

The moment the door to the alchemy room opened, he had already begun making the next batch of master-level bait.

It's somewhat astonishing that a master-level bait of exceptional quality could be produced in just two attempts.

Xia Zuo planned to deliberately create several defective or scrapped products to make himself appear less outstanding.

This wasn't to fool my mentor, Master Adanavados, but simply to avoid attracting the attention of my classmates.

After Emily entered the alchemy room, she curiously glanced at Xia Zuo, who was engrossed in his work. After discovering that he was developing a substance, she gave up the idea of ​​greeting him and went to work at her alchemy table.

It was 9 p.m. that evening.

Xia Zuo reset the observation chair, shook his slightly numb arms, and tidied up his metal box.

Emily and the others had left the alchemy room just minutes earlier, unlike the previous days when they returned to their dormitory to read in the evening.

This is probably because their advanced studies are about to end.

Because of his classmates, Xia Zuo has been unable to use his Blood Element Servants to help cut through the poison.

With his true skill, he successfully destroyed two master-level toxins... and obtained a bunch of waste and a tiny bit of experience.

Starting tonight, Xia Zuo is changing his meditation plan.

Each night's deep meditation time is no longer used for memorizing knowledge, but for fully utilizing basic meditation techniques to explore the ocean of the mind.

Chapter 37 A Wise Choice

Five days later.

Xia Zuo produced the bait corresponding to the five compound toxins, a full seven days ahead of the deadline specified in the training manual.

He gained some profound insights into developing his own bait formulation.

Without the help of blood element servants, he could develop a skilled-level method for cutting blood element in about 5 to 8 attempts.

This data is significantly better than the average level recorded in the textbook, which is consistent with the persona of a top-potential alchemist.

It is extremely difficult to extract expert-grade and master-grade bait that is stable in the air.

With Blood Servant support, the success rate is 100%, and the product quality is at least 95%.

Without Blood Servant... then it's purely luck-based, with a success rate of less than 5%, and the quality of the product fluctuates wildly, ranging from 80% to 96%.

Besides relying on blood element servants, Xia Zuo also came up with another method.

He can add the free attribute points he gains later to [Perception], and then cultivate the [Eye of Kolas] meditation method to further enhance his visual observation ability and greatly improve the efficiency of cutting toxins.

The idea was inspired by Master Adannavados, who was standing in front of Shaza and recounting his experiences.

Adanavardos initially studied poison alchemy. After encountering the Ensu and the bionic alchemy system, he went on to study artifact alchemy, aiming to use the [Eye of Kolas] meditation method to better create Ensu.

Xia Zuo stood quietly beside his mentor, and after listening to this experience, asked:

"Master, do you think I need to practice the [Eye of Kolas] meditation method?"

On the desk in front of Adanavados lay the bait that Xia Zuo had developed himself.

He lowered his head, looked at the bottles and jars, and, as if lost in thought, said in a low voice:

“Of course, Shazo. Practicing the [Eye of Kolas] meditation method is an essential path for every alchemist aspiring to study pheromones.”

After he finished speaking, he swept his arm lightly and used the "Hand of Wind" to put the glass bottle on the desk back into the metal box.

"Come with me, Xia Zuo."

Sunlight streamed down from the glass dome, with one beam of light standing out particularly brightly.

As the two stepped inside, the beam of light suddenly brightened, filling the surrounding space with a brief burst of intense light. The next second, the light subsided, and two figures disappeared from the office.

...

An aged voice could be heard coming from the dimly lit room.

"During last year's Winter Veil Festival, the Temple intercepted more than 80 sets of Type VI and Type VII cleavage weapons in the Silvermoon Federation and other territories."

"The most numerous of them are the alchemical bio-armor codenamed Hidden Tail Serpent."

Adanavardos coughed lightly.

The alchemical lamps in the room lit up, illuminating the surrounding culture tanks.

Xia Zuo's pupils dilated as the brightness changed, staring intently at the flawless white... uh... pig-nosed snake in front of him?

Pignose snake is an alternative name, while pufferfish is the scientific name.

This snake is non-venomous and harmless to humans. When startled, it inflates its neck and emits a loud hiss to intimidate enemies. If the intimidation fails, it will coil its body, turn belly up, and stick out its tongue to play dead.

To determine whether it is truly dead or feigning death, simply look at the position of its tail.

If a snake is coiled up with its tail tucked under its body, ready to use its body as leverage to escape, then it is feigning death.

The name "hidden-tailed snake" comes from this.

The tarantula inside the jar is over 2 meters long, entirely white with black eyes, and its entire body is white except for its eyes and nostrils.

"This is a Type VII Hidden Tail Serpent Alchemy Armor. After activating this alchemy armor, the user will transform into the appearance of a Hidden Tail Serpent and possess all of the Hidden Tail Serpent's positive characteristics, and the effects of these characteristics will be even more powerful."

Adanavados turned to the side and asked, "You should have studied the Apprentice-level bioalchemy on your own, right? Do you still remember the characteristics of the Hidden-tailed Serpent?"

Xia Zuo recalled for a moment and said:

"Its white scales can reflect all light. Adult tarantulas can control the type and intensity of reflected light to achieve optical camouflage, thus blending into their surroundings."

"It has a funnel-shaped vocal cord on its neck, and the sound it makes when it hisses at full power can startle anyone who is not prepared."

"Its snakeskin is made of a special material, so it makes almost no sound or vibration when it moves."

“Not bad.” Adanavados nodded with a hint of approval. “The V-type and higher-level Hidden Tail Serpent alchemical armor possesses the characteristics you mentioned. With each upgrade, the characteristics become more powerful. The V-type Hidden Tail Serpent’s stealth effect can be detected using high-grade detection spells. To detect a VI-type Hidden Tail Serpent, you need to use high-power, high-grade detection spells.”

He paused, then said somewhat somberly:

"If we encounter the Type VII Hidden Tail Serpent Alchemy Armor... it will be difficult to detect it using detection spells alone; we will need to use special alchemy equipment."

Adanavardos swept his hand across the cultivation tanks in front of him. "Fortunately, the cloaking effect of the Hidden Tail Alchemy Armor is not perfect; there are still subtle differences in its appearance compared to the surrounding light. If we can fully master the manufacturing method of the Type VII Hidden Tail, we can decipher the principle behind the cloaking effect of this alchemy armor and obtain all the parameters of its cloaking effect."

He pressed on the culture jar.

The serpent inside the jar was struck by several beams of light shot from the base, breaking into several segments in mid-air, with countless visible rays of venom appearing on the cross-sections.

Xia Zuo activated his [Toxin Sensing], and his eyes narrowed involuntarily.

The complex toxins found in type vii tarantulas are all at least at the expert level.

The alchemical armor uses complex toxins as a carrier for transmitting commands.

The grade of a compound toxin corresponds one-to-one with the complexity of the instruction.

In other words, there are no commands below the expert level on the Type VI Hidden Serpent. Every action made by its user is accompanied by a series of auxiliary commands to help the main command accurately convey the user's intention.

"You have completed your advanced course in toxicology ahead of schedule, giving you ample time to study biological materials science."

Adanavardos stroked his beard and said:

"You have independently developed three types of proficient-level bait. As promised, I grant you permission to stay in the temple's teaching area for an additional nine days."

"I will give you the secret medicine that infuses you with expert-level bio-alchemy knowledge in a little while. This is your reward for developing expert-level bait on your own."

"Nine days is enough time for you to memorize the knowledge in the mental medium."

"The following month will be the same as this month; you will be in the alchemy lab researching the raw materials for the alchemical bionic system."

"As for the reward for the self-developed master-level bait, the outer hall is still discussing it. I will let you know as soon as we have the results."

Adanavados took out another study manual, placed it in Shazo's hand, and said:

"Your assignment when you were studying biomaterials was to research this type VI-1 tarantula snake, select a part of it, identify the compound toxins and develop the corresponding bait, as well as the raw materials for the alchemical biomimetic system that matches these baits."

"This..." Xia Zuo flipped through the study manual, feeling a bit overwhelmed...

He had never systematically studied bioalchemy before, nor did he have any experience in performing alchemy in a bioalchemy chamber.

At this point, thanks to the knowledge he acquired from spiritual mediums, he was able to understand his mentor's words and comprehend the terms in the manual.

But he had absolutely no recollection of the meanings behind the various terms, nor of the corresponding experimental procedures…

It's like suddenly asking someone who's been a bricklayer for years to fix a truck... they have no idea where to begin.

"It's difficult, isn't it?"

Adanavardos laughed and said:

“I have taken that into account.”

"The situation of bio-alchemists at the expert level is similar to that of toxicology alchemists. The alchemical school has very few textbooks, and they spend most of their time conducting experiments and refining biological materials."

"Therefore, the secret medicine I'm about to give you contains the experimental experiences of several bio-alchemists. After you've absorbed the knowledge from the secret medicine, and then train in the alchemy lab for a few days, you'll be able to find that familiar feeling."

"I see." Xia Zuo nodded slowly.

People like him, who rely on enlightenment magic to acquire theoretical knowledge, lack practical experience the most.