My health recovery is incredibly fast.

Kulov pulled down the rope loop in the corner, opened the louvers of the vent, and waved his arms to send the pungent white mist into the vent.

He walked to the brazier and glanced at the mess inside:

"The solution to this word problem is correct, but there's a problem with the oil ratio. Fir wood itself has a high moisture content, so you need to prepare a separate oil mixture with a lower proportion of water-rich oil for it."

"Overall, out of a possible score of 100, I would probably get around 80 points."

Xia Zuo slapped his forehead, a look of regret on his face. His mentor had explained the difference between the two types of wood from the beginning, and he had completely forgotten this detail.

Kulov chuckled a few times as he saw the other person's expression and said:

"Just pay more attention next time. There are often some less obvious key points in word problems. You can circle the keywords in each sentence of the problem and then think about whether they are the key points to solve the problem."

"Yes, Professor. I understand."

Kulov glanced at the wall clock. "There's still some time before dinner. Try making a batch of mixed oil with a lower proportion of water-rich oil."

5:50 PM.

Xia Zuo tried to blend the oil three times.

The tutor raised his score from 80 to 98, saying that his temperament and proficiency in mixing oil were good, but he lacked experience in dealing with application problems.

To put it more bluntly, there's not enough hands-on experience in oil alchemy; more time needs to be spent training.

After his afternoon classes ended, Xia Zuo spent another ten minutes cleaning the alchemy room.

Although the tutor can complete this task remotely with just a flick of his finger.

However, he felt a little guilty about always having his mentor do it for him, since he was the mentor's student.

By the time he stepped out of the poison alchemy area and arrived at the castle hall, it was already past 5 p.m.

A beautiful figure skipped and hopped over.

"You're finally done with get out of class!"

Xia Zuo took the other's small hand and said, "Let's go have dinner first next time, you don't need to wait for me."

"No, I want to wait for you to eat together."

Anru crossed her arms and rubbed her shoulder. "I don't have class tonight. After we finish eating, let's go to the poison alchemy area."

Xia Zuo asked with a suspicious look in his eyes:

"You should have finished your alchemical linguistics study by now, right? Why don't you have class tonight?"

"Hmm... there are too many people in the Oil Alchemy Department. Professor Zhuo Lang not only has to teach freshmen, but also upperclassmen. Each of us freshmen can only schedule 2 to 3 classes on blending oils per week."

Anruer twirled strands of her hair with her fingers, letting the ends swirl around her fingertips:

"Moreover, my talent is not outstanding in the subject; it's neither top-notch nor bottom-notch. In the following two months, I only had three classes on blending oils during the week before the exam; at other times, I only had two."

It seems things are getting a bit heated. Indeed, wherever there are many participants, competition and internal strife are inevitable.

With half of the first semester after enrollment over, the learning atmosphere is bound to become increasingly tense as the final exams approach.

Xia Zuo led the slightly worried Anru into the restaurant, found a table in the corner, and glanced around at the nearby classmates. He didn't see his fellow townsmen from Rosac Province, the miller's daughter Keli and the blacksmith's son Xiao Moben. He guessed they were either on their way to class or studying in the library.

Senior Mars has been studying artifact alchemy lately, trying to pass the advancement exam for this branch of alchemy as soon as possible. I've rarely run into him in the restaurant lately. Even when we do bump into each other, he's always rushing by with his lunchbox, giving a quick greeting before heading into the artifact alchemy section.

In contrast, Xia Zuo was the most relaxed.

The small number of people studying poison alchemy is just one reason.

Having a cheat code and the ability to detect things are the keys to confidence during final exams.

After they sat down, they each ordered a light meal.

Xia Zuo brought over two drinks, handing the juice to An Ru'er. "Did you know that in the final exam, besides multiple-choice questions, there are also word problems?"

"Yes, Keli mentioned it to me before lunch break today. Professor Zhuo Lang also mentioned it during class this afternoon."

Anru took the juice, took a sip, and said thankfully:

"Luckily, we weren't assigned to the Potion and Alchemy department. Whether it's Mrs. Morton's supplements and healing potions branch or the head of the department's functional potions branch, the number of students is far greater than in the Oil Potion department. More than 30 alchemy tables are simply not enough. Claire dragged me along and complained for quite a while."

A single alchemy table occupies approximately 10 square meters and is equipped with a furnace, crucible, blower, two rows of shelves on the left and right, and a ventilation duct similar to a range hood.

The 30 alchemy tables occupy at least 300 square meters. When all these alchemy tables are in operation, the scene of rising steam is as lively as a cooking school class.

Xia Zuo couldn't help but worry about the quality of his classes next semester.

In a few months, a new batch of students will arrive at the university.

Their numbers are at least double the current number of students.

At that time, Anru will inevitably have to queue up with them to use the alchemy table.

The thought of having only one alchemy table in the poison alchemy area sent chills down his spine. He wondered how Kurov would solve this problem.

Once their plates were served, the two quickly ate and headed into the poison alchemy area before their evening class began.

Under the bright alchemical lamplight, Kurov lay quietly on the soft sofa.

Xia Zuo tiptoed, pulled An Ru'er around the soft sofa, and said in a low voice:

"The professor is meditating, so let's keep our voices down. The applied problem in poison alchemy is the creation and identification of compound toxins. Tonight I'll teach you how to make Black Eye Toxin, which you can then use as a reference for toxin isolation to identify it."

Anru'er gripped the other person's hand tightly and said nervously:

"If I fail to identify the black eye toxin, will I anger Professor Kulov? My tutor gets furious every time a student misbehaves in class."

"It's okay, as long as you don't make any serious mistakes."

Xia Zuo paused, recalling the process of refining the Black Eye Toxin.

Evaporating the moisture is a bit difficult.

When the toxins evaporate into the air, the nose will feel sour due to the pungent smell.

If one's willpower is weak, they might be unable to resist sneezing, ruining a pot of alchemical products.

Xia Zuo glanced at his own attributes.

..

Willpower 5

..

I also checked Anru'er's willpower attribute, which is also 5 points.

The likelihood of an accident is low.

However, the mistake she made might be attributed to me, so I need to be more careful. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, I might disappoint my supervisor's good intentions and even cause a rift between us.

Xia Zuo pondered for a few seconds and then came up with an idea.

He approached the alchemy table, had Anruer stand half a meter behind him, and said in a slightly serious tone:

"I'll demonstrate how to refine it first. If you can't get used to the refining process, then just identify the alchemical compound toxins. After all, this exam won't let us refine compound toxins ourselves."

"Mmm." Anru nodded and obediently stood where the other person pointed.

Xia Zuo found two masks, put one on himself first, and then put one on the other person, carefully tucking her hair into the hood so that the mask and the brim fit snugly, without revealing a single bit of skin.

"When I'm simmering it over low heat, the liquid in the crucible will gradually evaporate. The smell is awful. If you feel like sneezing, take a few steps back and make sure you don't touch me."

"Hmm!" Anruer nervously clenched her hands, staring intently at the other person's movements.

"Then I'll begin. First, add water and pour it to the one-fifth mark in the crucible."

Xia Zuo picked up the ceramic pot filled with water and began to work on it, slowing down the speed at which he added the poison so that Anruer could see it more clearly.

The first few steps are relatively simple, and it's not a problem to explain them while demonstrating.

When he was simmering the brown liquid over a low flame, he only had time to turn his head and give a "be careful" look before he immediately started stirring.

This step requires constant monitoring of the water surface and timely extinguishing of the fire to prevent the pot from burning.

The vents above the alchemy table were drawing away the toxic brown mist with a whooshing sound, but a small amount still drifted into the surrounding area.

Amidst the bubbling sound, I heard soft footsteps behind me.

Anru seemed to take a few steps back, then approached again, without making any further moves.

With a firm resolve, Xia Zuo continued stirring the crucible.

After about five minutes, the brown liquid in the pot turned into a thick substance.

He turned off the stove, flipped the thick substance over with a spatula, and stirred it like frying an egg, using the residual heat at the bottom of the pot to evaporate the remaining moisture.

Chapter 20 Word Problems Practice (Part 2)

"finished."

Xia Zuo poured the viscous substance into a glass container and placed it on the alchemy table. "This is Black Eye Toxin. Hehe, doesn't it look like a bouncy gummy candy?"

Anru poked the viscous substance with a glass rod; a small dent appeared on its outer layer before it slowly bounced back.

"It really does look like it. It's a pity that the elemental light inside is so gray and dull, it doesn't look appetizing at all."

She pulled out the toxin separation kit from her bag, shook the book, and said, "Let's start the analysis."

Xia Zuo nodded, picked up the aggregate of toxins, and sat down at the desk.

..

Classical text title: Aggregation of toxins

Classic works of exceptional quality

Memory reward: 70 experience points, 0.4 points of mental attribute value.

Classical text combination 1

Textbook for the basic course of poison alchemy, 37

...A reward of 22 experience points.

Classical text combination 2

Exam material for skilled poison alchemists, 37