My health recovery is incredibly fast.

Xia Zuo walked out of a black building with a speechless expression.

He turned to look at the signboard in front of the shop:

[Smash the ore!]

—Obsidian Alchemy Association, Starry Night City Branch】

A store with this name must have very irritable employees.

Xia Zuo has already experienced it.

The shop owner's flushed face, his constantly angry tone, and his aggressive attitude during conversations were truly impressive.

If it weren't for the Obsidian Alchemy Association's unique expertise in mineral alchemy, this shop with its terrible customer service would have closed down long ago.

Xia Zuo touched the contents of his pocket, shook his head helplessly, and continued walking along the street.

I'll have to be more careful in the future. It's best to avoid shops with names that sound intimidating.

After passing two clanging blacksmith shops and a noisy tavern, the next stop appeared before us.

The exterior of this beige shop is simple and peaceful.

The walls and pillars of the main entrance feature reliefs of golden fields. Two sheaves of plump wheat, carved from wood, are placed in hanging basins on either side of the shop entrance.

I stood in front of the door, pausing to look around.

The afternoon sun shone on the golden relief of the fields, reflecting off the scattered golden specks.

It evokes images of a bountiful harvest in the fields, with plump ears of wheat swaying bowed in delightful symphony.

The name of this store perfectly matches its style:

Golden Wheat Ears

—Certain Alchemists Association, Starry Night City Branch】

There are far fewer varieties of grains than herbs and minerals.

The research difficulty and the complexity of the alchemical products are much lower than those of herbal and mineral alchemy.

Therefore, a unified system had been formed within the field of grain alchemy.

All alchemists' associations related to grains formed the current Grain Alchemists' Association, working together to improve grain yields, increase grain survival rates, and refine grain processing methods.

It can be said that grain alchemy is the most accessible form of alchemy.

Its customers are mostly farmers, mill workers, bakers, chefs, and other ordinary residents who are involved with grains.

Inside the shop, a female shop assistant with dark red, wavy hair was introducing the new alchemical products to several farmers.

Xia Zuo greeted the other person and strolled along the crowded aisle.

Fertilizer, fertilizer, and more fertilizer; pesticide, pesticide, and more pesticide.

This shop doesn't seem to have any alchemical products related to increasing health.

However, he still used his detection skills one by one, adding the product information he received to his [knowledge reserve].

After passing several display cases, we arrived at the back of the shop.

They sell animal feed here.

From small poultry like chickens, ducks, and geese to large livestock like cattle, sheep, and pigs, all kinds of grain feed are available.

Xia Zuo cast a detection spell on the most expensive feed, then read the feedback information repeatedly with a strange expression.

He found what he was looking for.

However, the form in which this alchemical product appeared was somewhat unexpected.

[Item Name] Balanced Feed

[Item Type] Suspected product of cereal alchemy

[Item Grade] Unknown

[Item Quality] Unknown

[Associated Resistance] Unknown

[Item Description] Creator unknown.

[Item Effects]

Poultry, livestock, and any non-humanoid animals will gain significant weight and fattening after consuming this feed, with an expected random increase in maximum health of 1 to 10 points.

(Due to insufficient knowledge and perception, no further information was available.)

This feed, packaged in a cylindrical, transparent glass jar, contains small, bean-like granules.

Next to the glass jar are the price tag and a description.

The description in the introduction is vague, only stating that poultry and livestock will grow rapidly and have their growth cycle significantly shortened after eating this feed. It doesn't specify how much the growth cycle will be shortened.

The ability to randomly increase maximum health by 1 to 10 points is likely based on the cheat software's own estimation.

"Welcome to visit us again."

As the clerk saw the customer off, he turned around and saw a figure in a starry night robe staring strangely at the glass jars on the display case.

She walked towards him, her dark red hair bobbing up and down behind her head.

"Excuse me, is there anything you need?"

A gentle voice rang in his ears, and Xia Zuo snapped out of his daze, looking at the smiling female shop assistant:

"Hello, I am Xia Zuo from Rosac, a student of Starry Night Academy."

He pointed to a purple pattern on his cuff. "I am a novice poison alchemist."

"Good afternoon, I'm Teresa."

Theresa bent her arm, rested her elbow on the glass countertop of the display case, pointed to the glass jar below, and said with a smile:

"Are you looking at this can of balanced feed? Doesn't it look a little different from the alchemical products at Starry Night Academy?"

"Yes, that's right."

Xia Zuo looked at the other person, his gaze unconsciously drawn to the long, wavy hair.

Her hair was thick, smooth, and lustrous. To be honest, Teresa's hair was much better than Anjou's. Her skin was fair and firm, and her demeanor was slightly mature; she looked only three or four years older than Anjou.

Xia Zuo shifted his gaze back to the glass jar. "This is the first time I've ever seen such an alchemical product. It can actually make animals grow rapidly. Could I have one to take a closer look?"

“Of course.” Teresa bent down, her long, wavy hair cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall.

She opened the glass jar, scooped out a few pellets of feed with a small spoon, and put them into a glass dish.

"Here, take your time reading."

Theresa blinked her right eye and smiled subtly. "I know what you're going to ask. Every year, one or two students from different universities come to me with the same question."

Xia Zuo rubbed the feed pellets between his fingers. "Uh, really? It seems we really are thinking the same thing."

Theresa raised her index finger. "First question, can people eat this feed? The answer is yes, they can, but it has no effect on them. After eating it, it will be excreted unchanged the next day."

“It’s completely useless…why?” Xia Zuo asked, sniffing the feed pellets; they had no smell.

Teresa wiggled her index finger from side to side:

"Oh, so this is the second question your student council asked. Unfortunately, I cannot give you the answer."

"However, since you are a student of Starry Night Academy, I can give you a tiny bit of information. Anyway, you'll learn it later."

Teresa pointed to a poster hanging on the wall, which featured a plump domestic pig:

"The physical structure of poultry and livestock is much simpler than that of humans. You should have learned about this in your anatomy course."

"For poultry and livestock, their growth cycle is determined solely by their size and weight. Once they have grown large enough and weighed enough, they will enter the next growth stage."

She pointed to her head. "We humans are different. This is the key part that determines the growth cycle."

Any research becomes complex and difficult once it involves the brain.

Moreover, in this world, there is also a spiritual ocean, so the brain's function is not simply to control the body.

Gaining weight and fattening up allows animals to grow rapidly.

But what will become of humans if they keep getting fat and heavy? A bunch of low-IQ, low-ability fat?

Looking at strength, agility, endurance, vitality, and perception from the perspective of human anatomy, you'll find that the Golden Finger has simplified the complex.

Simply by using your mind and lightly clicking the plus sign next to the attribute, you can improve your physical attributes without any side effects.

There will be absolutely no variation in limb coordination, body shape, or thick legs and thin arms.

Gaining weight or fat to improve the body's resistance to blows and indirectly increase maximum health will sacrifice agility, stamina, or other attributes.

Thinking about it this way, it becomes clear why there are no alchemical products that humans can use to increase their maximum health.

No, no, that's not right.

This alchemical product may have existed before.

However, it was eliminated or even completely shelved due to its severe side effects.

Xia Zuo nodded thoughtfully, as if he had an epiphany.

"Thank you for your answer, Teresa."

He put the feed pellets back in his hand, chatted casually with the other person for a few minutes, and then left.

The sun was hanging in the western sky, it was about 5 pm, time to head back to the university for a free dinner.

Xia Zuo checked the contents of his pockets and took a shortcut to the Golden Bauhinia skincare specialty store, "Flower Protection".

He peered inside from the doorway.

A saleswoman in a fitted dress walked over gracefully and invited him to come in and sit for a while. It turned out that Anru was in the back room trying out products and would have to wait a few more minutes before coming over.

...

At the same time.

The Poison Alchemy Zone.

Kulov stopped meditating, stood up from the sofa, stretched, straightened his robe, and walked toward the castle hall.