My health recovery is incredibly fast.

Lady Sylvia, dressed in a starry night robe, cast an inquiring glance at the masters on either side of her.

After receiving an affirmative reply, she looked at the figure on the alchemy table and said:

"The second round of testing is over, and you have passed this round. In the final round, we need you to determine the potency of this poison. You can test it yourself or use conventional identification methods. As long as you provide the correct potency, you will pass the test."

Xia Zuo lowered his head, rubbed his temples, and glanced at his health bar.

[Health] 50/50 (Healthy)

Theoretically speaking, drinking this entire bottle of refined poison would at most deduct 24 points of health, and wouldn't even trigger the [Emergency Hour] event.

However, drinking the entire bottle directly would seem reckless and inconsistent with his previous cautious persona, which might raise questions among the inspection team.

Most importantly, a line of text in the investigation results caught his attention:

The excruciating pain effect is cumulative, and the duration of each layer of excruciating pain effect is calculated separately.

This is a data-driven description.

To be specific

Suppose that at 10:00:00, one-third of a bottle of poison is consumed, creating a bulge, which will disappear at 10:00:02.

After taking the first sip, wait one second before drinking another third of the poison. The resulting bulge will not disappear until 10:00:03.

To determine the specifics of the poison's effects, it must be ingested at least twice. Crucially, the refined poison's effects only last for two seconds. The interval between the two tests must not exceed one second.

thin.

Too thin.

It's so damn detailed.

After a moment's thought, Xia Zuo came up with a precise plan.

First, it is necessary to determine the dosage required for the toxicity to take effect.

According to the unwritten rules of poison alchemy, when the critical dose is unknown, drinking one-third of the bottle first is always the right thing to do.

Xia Zuo uncorked the bottle, poured one-third of it into the measuring cup, picked up the cup, tilted his head back, and drank it down.

A round, bulging bulge suddenly appeared on my back, as if something was trying to break out of my body. The tip of the bulge swayed from side to side as if struggling.

Two seconds passed in the blink of an eye.

The pain comes and goes without a trace.

Xia Zuo took a few breaths and recovered from the discomfort caused by the severe pain.

Next, he took another measuring cup and poured the poison into the two measuring cups in front of him.

He looked at the wall clock, calculated the time, and drank two cups of poison one second apart.

On each of my arms, a bulge appeared, and then disappeared one after the other.

"Ms. Sylvia."

Xia Zuo pressed his temples twice to drive away the dizziness caused by the rapid loss of health in a short period of time.

"As you and everyone here can see, I have confirmed the toxicity of this refined poison through testing."

"After drinking about a third of the liquid, a bump will appear on a random part of the body. The bump will cause severe pain that lasts for 2 seconds."

"After drinking one-third of the poison initially, subsequent doses will not make the existing bumps bigger or prolong their duration. Instead, new bumps will appear in random locations, and their duration will also be 2 seconds."

“Then,” Sylvia exchanged glances with the masters, then looked towards the advanced alchemy table and smiled, “Is that so?”

"Congratulations, Xia Zuo. You have passed the inspection team's test."

Chapter 43 East-West Divide

Kulov stood up with a smile, pulled the bowing student along, and walked towards the small door in the wall of the Great Alchemy Chamber. "Come on, I'll take you to cleanse yourself of the toxins, and then wait outside for a while."

A few minutes later, Xia Zuo changed into a clean starry night robe and followed his mentor into the corridor.

Kulov closed the door behind him and said:

“Excellent. I knew you would pass the test when you were inspecting the alchemical equipment. With your level of caution, discovering the unique effects of that poison will be a piece of cake.”

Xia Zuo smiled modestly, "It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Professor."

"Heh heh." Kulov stroked his beard with a smile. "You can be unusually smooth sometimes, you don't even blush when you're praising someone."

The two went to the terrace where they had been standing and looked out at the bustling city of Starry Night.

"My teacher, Master Adanavanados, and I have discussed it and decided to use a Master-level Elemental Bottle as the reward for passing the test. Besides helping you complete your first meditation, the Master-level Elemental Bottle has another purpose..."

Kulov introduced the concept of talent spells, which sounded similar to what Senior Mars had said, only in more detail.

Kurofu specifically mentioned that the talent spells obtainable through Master-level Elemental Bottles will be among the spells fully mastered by the Elemental Bottle maker.

The soon-to-be-obtained Master Element Bottle was made by Master Adanavados.

He himself experienced the dark days before the advent of Black Eye Poison, a period of arduous struggle where poison alchemists could only improve their elemental resistance through pain and explore unknown toxins.

Master Adanavardos thus mastered a great many auxiliary spells for detection, self-protection, and other effects.

If one is fortunate enough to acquire a talent spell, it will surely come in handy.

The creator doesn't know exactly which spell they will obtain; it depends on the specific creation process.

Kulov didn't elaborate, only saying that once a Master-level Element Bottle was completed, it would be completely sealed away.

Only the user can know the specific contents of the element bottle during use.

The teacher and student chatted casually, and the topic gradually turned to the Eastern Continent.

Kulov pointed to the distant city area filled with stone houses and said:

"You've been reading quite a few books about the Eastern Continent lately. What do you think are the differences between the Starry Night Kingdom and the Eastern Continent?"

"Hmm..." Xia Zuo pondered for a few seconds and said:

"I feel that the strange things in the Eastern Continent are even more abundant."

"In contrast, the Starry Night Kingdom is more like a pure country of commoners, untouched by magical beasts and monsters, with almost no magical herbs or mines growing in its natural environment. If it weren't for the bandits causing trouble, the Starry Night Kingdom would be very peaceful."

Monsters and beasts are collectively referred to as monsters.

Strange resources refer to monsters, magical herbs, and magical ores.

Xia Zuo discovered this while shopping.

The Starry Night Kingdom only produces ordinary ores and herbs. The general education textbook mentions magical herbs, magical ores, magical beasts, and monsters—all of which are unique to the Eastern Continent.

To the locals of the Starry Night Kingdom, strange things were more like something out of legend.

"That's right, the place where the Starry Night Kingdom is located is called the Western Continent..."

Kulov stood with his hands behind his back and began to introduce the history of the Western Continent in a calm tone.

A vast ocean lies between two continents, dividing them into eastern and western continents.

The Eastern Continent is the cradle of human civilization.

It was only a few hundred years ago that someone first crossed the ocean and discovered the western continent where the Starry Night Kingdom was located.

The natural environment here is completely different from that of the Eastern Continent.

Wild animals, just ordinary tigers, wolves, bears, and so on.

There were no ferocious, blood-smelling monsters. No demonic herbs leaped from the earth to flee from humanity. No monsters devoured corpses or burrowed into the water to escape pursuit…

Even the natives of this continent are just a group of ordinary people wielding knives, forks, and sticks, shouting and yelling.

The strange phenomena discovered upon their initial arrival on the Western Continent made visitors from the Eastern Continent reluctant to leave.

Compared to the turbulent and monster-infested Eastern Continent, the Western Continent is the only place truly suitable for human habitation.

News of the discovery of the Western Continent was immediately blocked by the Mage Temple and other schools of thought, and several mages were dispatched to investigate.

The many beings within the temple sought to understand the reasons for the significant differences between the two continents, lest a large-scale migration turn the western continent into another land ravaged by monsters.

The mages on the reconnaissance mission discovered that there were unruly elements present here, and in large numbers.

They planted magical herbs from the Eastern Continent on this land, attempted to cultivate magical beasts, and even brought in monsters for experiments.

Without exception, all were successful.

The results of these experiments sparked heated discussions within the temple.

Is it the monsters that caused the turmoil in the Eastern Continent, or is the Eastern Continent itself a breeding ground for monsters?

The mage tames the unruly elements and gathers the obedient ones into the ocean of the spirit.

Is it because too many elements have been plundered from nature that monsters keep appearing on the Eastern Continent?

But... weren't the sages of the past trying to incorporate elements to become mages and thus develop many schools of thought to fight against monsters?

In short, this great debate, filled with affirmation and denial, persistence and criticism, continues to this day without ending.

However, the various schools of thought reached a consensus on one thing:

We will not undertake a large-scale migration until we have fully understood the reason for the appearance of the monsters.

So, who is best suited to explore the Western Continent?

It was undoubtedly the Alchemy School and the Warriors' Guild.

The Western Continent has no magical beasts or monsters, rendering the Witcher school of thought useless. The scholars of the High Tower have no interest in anything other than magic.

The various branches of alchemy are closely related to the lives of ordinary people, and can function normally even without exotic resources, thereby improving the productivity and living standards of ordinary people.

The Warriors Guild has low entry requirements, which helps to train troops and city guards, using ordinary weapons to fight against stubborn natives and beasts, and avoiding the use of magic in violent conflicts.

The journey of exploration began when Lady Starry Night established the Starry Night Kingdom, and 200 years have passed since then.

The Alchemy School's permission for Starry Night Academy to enroll students with acquired affinity is a signal that the exploration work has entered its second phase.

At the same time, the alchemy school wanted to take this opportunity to prove to other schools that learning alchemy was the best choice for those with acquired affinity to become sorcerers.

After listening to his mentor's description, Xia Zuo felt his horizons broaden considerably, as if a grand chessboard of schools of thought were unfolding before him.

The winner of this game can lead humanity to flourish on the western continent!