My health recovery is incredibly fast.

"Hmm, why don't you think about it again? I didn't know this problem was so important. I thought it was just trouble you encountered while refining poison."

Xia Zuo looked up and sighed helplessly, his eyes reflecting the floating clouds and the sunset. "I really can't think of a better answer."

He thoroughly examined his past life, meticulously recalling every day he could remember, but no new inspiration emerged.

If this continues, most of the time will be wasted.

Over the past few months, Xia Zuo has learned indirectly that Professor Zhuo Lang has not revealed the details of elemental properties to Anruer.

Only the Poison Alchemy Society is so special that it allows its students to practice meditation in advance.

Consider Kulov and his teacher, Master Adanavados, both of whom had the appearance of elderly people.

While not quite nearing the end of their lives, the field of poison alchemy is indeed facing a severe shortage of personnel and urgently needs to train a group of young, expert-level poison alchemists to cope with future territorial expansion plans.

The small group of practitioners of artifact alchemy, on the other hand, do not have this problem. Their alchemy work can be delegated to their elemental servants.

Due to the special nature of toxins, the alchemy of poisons can only be carried out by alchemists themselves.

The setting sun gradually sank below the horizon.

The two strolled around the lake for a while before heading to their respective alchemy areas.

...

Within the poison alchemy zone.

Yolanda is teaching Black Eye Poison, and two freshmen are operating the alchemy table under her guidance.

Kulov lay on the soft sofa, meditating.

Xia Zuo quietly entered the advanced alchemy room, refined a beginner-level poison, and then came out during the new students' testing period.

7:30pm.

Kulov sat behind the desk.

Xia Zuo stood beside his mentor, watching two new students try out the Black Eye Poison.

When he watched Yolanda, Hodge, and Bisanger test the poison, he was somewhat of a spectator.

At this moment, faced with the same scene, his thoughts were completely different.

Failure to pass the Black Eye Poison trial means being unable to use this poison to improve elemental resistance, having to persevere through endless suffering, and finding it difficult to become a skilled poison alchemist.

It's better to be eliminated by trials than to suffer hardship or even lose your life.

The two freshmen drank the blackening agent one after the other.

The result was pretty good.

One boy passed the trial. The other boy was eliminated and will transfer to the Medicine and Remedies department tomorrow.

After Yulanda and the new students left, Kurov looked at Shazo beside him and asked, "Ready to submit your proposed elemental traits?"

"Yes, Professor."

Xia Zuo took out a pre-written note from his pocket and handed it over:

Fire element: combustion, heating, drying, explosion

Earth element: shaping, stabilizing, settling, resisting.

Water element: moisturizes, contains, permeates, nourishes.

[Wind element: intangible, drifting, connecting, spreading]

"Are you sure it won't change?" Kurov asked, staring at the note.

“I’m sure.” Xia Zuo nodded emphatically.

"Alright. Here, give me the pendant. The test from the last expedition team can also be considered a promotion test for skilled poison alchemists. The new pendant has been prepared for a long time, just waiting for you to submit your elemental concept before I replace it with one."

Kurov took out the old pendant, then took a new one from the drawer, saying:

"I have something to tell you."

Xia Zuo put on the new pendant and noticed that her mentor seemed a little reluctant to part with her.

“Starting tomorrow, your mentor will be changed from me to Head of the Department of Beatrice.”

"Huh? The Dean?" Xia Zuo was stunned by this unexpected news.

“Yes.” Kulov patted the other person’s arm:

"She is a master alchemist specializing in both potions and poisons. She was my mentor at the proficient level. You can learn even more from her."

"Mentor, this..." Xia Zuo's lips moved, unsure of what to say. He had thought he would stay in this poison alchemy zone forever, until he became an expert-level poison alchemist.

"Of course, there is another reason."

Kurov tapped his fingertip on the slip of paper with the elemental properties written on it:

"Although I can guide you through your first meditation, it certainly won't be as comprehensive as the headmaster's guidance. With her help and the master-level elemental bottle, your success rate for your first meditation will be much higher than if I guided you."

Kulov took out Shazo's student catalog from the drawer, put the note inside, and clipped it in:

"Wait for me in the castle hall at seven o'clock tomorrow morning, after breakfast."

"Yes, Professor."

Xia Zuo looked up at the other person's gray hair and beard, "I will come back to visit often."

...

The next day, at dawn.

A gentle breeze swept across the restaurant's terrace, carrying the aroma of breakfast across the lake.

Xia Zuo withdrew his gaze from the ripples on the lake and looked at Anruer beside him, who was gulping down her milk:

“I spoke with my advisor last night.”

"Hmm?" Anru took a sip from the rim of her cup, casting a questioning look at her.

“My advisor has changed to the head of the department. He told me to wait in the castle hall.”

Anru swallowed the milk in her mouth, patted her chest to catch her breath, and asked, "Is the Dean your mentor now? Have you transferred to the Functional Pharmacy discipline?"

Xia Zuo pulled out his pendant from under his robe, which still bore the inscription "Poison Alchemy":

"The subject hasn't changed; I'm still a student of poison alchemy. Only my advisor has changed. Professor Kurov said that the head of the department is a master alchemist in both potions and poisons, so I'll learn even more from her..."

He intended to reveal his meditation practice, but suddenly realized something:

Anruer seemed unaware that there was a certain chance of failure when practicing meditation for the first time.

Xia Zuo withdrew the words that were about to come out, and said with slight hesitation:

"There are some things I haven't told you, but that wasn't my intention. The professor asked me to keep them a secret for now..."

“I know. Those things involve the secrets of poison alchemy.”

Anru rested her chin on her hand at the dining table, gazing at her lover, and gently stroked his face:

“A few months ago, I asked my mentor, Professor Zhuo Lang, if I could transfer you to the field of oil alchemy. I felt toxins were too dangerous… He told me that you are very important to poison alchemy…”

Xia Zuo held her soft hand and left a kiss mark on the back of it. "When I first practice meditation, I may disappear for a while, maybe a few months."

He sensed that the other person was a little nervous, and that their small hands had become cold, so he gently comforted them:

"Don't worry, it will be a while before I start practicing meditation. The headmaster will arrange everything for me."

"Mmm." Anru'er snuggled close to her boyfriend's chest, her arms wrapped around his waist, reluctant to let go.

Chapter 45 The Soul

7 a.m. the next day.

Xia Zuo stood under the pillar of light in the hall, looking up at the huge ball of light floating high in the sky.

After his mental attribute reached 15 points, he could vaguely see the things inside the huge ball of light.

It was an octahedral alchemical product that floated and slowly rotated along its vertical axis.

It looks very smooth.

I don't know if it's because of the stained glass on the ceiling, but the octahedrons in different light beams are all different colors.

"Xia Zuo."

Kulov appeared silently behind the student and gently patted him on the shoulder. "Come with me."

"Yes, Professor."

The two ascended the spiral staircase to the castle tower, arriving once again at the great alchemy chamber where the expedition had tested Xia Zuo.

The space has been rearranged, with the sofas and chairs removed, and a toxin cabinet placed against the wall, along with temporarily empty shelves.

"From now on, you will come in through this door behind us. The first step is to change into the drug-making leather robe next to the door."

Kulov pointed to the heavy main door of the Great Alchemy Chamber and the wardrobe next to it, then pointed to the small door on the left:

"When you leave, go this way. You'll need to shower as well. Put the poison-contaminated robe into the iron wardrobe, and then leave through the door at the other end of the shower room."

Xia Zuo nodded. He had followed this route once before when the expedition ended.

The shower room in this large alchemy chamber is small and designed for a single user, with only an iron wardrobe and a shower stall.

"Alright, put on the poison-making robe first and familiarize yourself with this large alchemy room. There are textbooks for the proficient level on the table at the alchemy station. The head of the department will be giving general education classes to the freshmen in the morning, and will come to guide you in the afternoon and evening."

Xia Zuo watched his first mentor leave, then walked to the wardrobe and put on the poison-making leather robe.

He walked slowly past the toxin cabinet, checking each bottle one by one. In addition to the 60 basic toxins, there were also many compound toxins he had never seen before.

Xia Zuo spared no effort in using his detection skills, collecting all the information about these compound toxins into his [Knowledge Reserve].

The detection technique reported a truly diverse range of poison effects…

What makes toes swell, arms as soft as candy, spikes grow in armpits, and horns sprout from the top of the head? Among the nearly one hundred compound toxins I've encountered along the way, none of their effects are the same.

The most terrifying thing is that there is a compound toxin that is only effective on men, and that will cause those who take it to experience the excruciating pain of childbirth.

Simply outrageous.