Above The Sky
Chapter 559 - 559 528

559: 528 559: 528 It was a very happy evening, and Ian hadn’t laughed so freely and without pressure in a long time.

He even used Yisen Gard’s communication device to contact his family at Harrison Port.

Although the signal was significantly distorted due to the long distance between the Imperial Capital and Harrison Port, he could still hear Elder Prude and Brother Alan’s intermittent blessings.

In recent times, Ian had also sent some refined magical beast materials back to Harrison Port—whether it was Elder Prude or Brother Alan, or Green Tide and Scott, the people around him needed reasons and resources to advance.

To ensure that his team could take shape, Ian had to prepare early.

According to Elder Prude, they had received the resources Ian sent, but they didn’t need them yet.

Alan was only just starting his physical training, and his basic qualities weren’t yet sufficient to become a Sublimator, which Ian was well aware of, as Alan wouldn’t receive the formal inheritance in the Worm Nest Path until five or six years later.

Even with his intervention, the earliest he could advance would be by a year or two; any faster would actually be harmful.

Advancing as a Sublimator was not a pleasant affair; Ian himself had found it extremely painful and unbearable.

This was not a challenge that could be overcome by willpower alone; failing to meet the physical standards could easily lead to death.

Scott, too, was training his body and swordsmanship—speaking of which, Green Tide had indeed reached the peak of the First Energy Level.

However, Ian had not yet found the inheritance related to “Wave Scout,” so Green Tide would have to wait a little longer.

Although the young man held the inheritance of “Tide Messenger” in its True Form, this inheritance conflicted with that of the Wave Scout.

If he really wanted to change, it would be best to wait for Ian to officiate personally.

As for Green Tide’s own plans, he felt that he needed to train for a while longer, perfecting his swordsmanship and physique before considering obtaining materials.

Without Ian, the process of acquiring materials could have taken a lifetime, and he indeed realized that his knowledge was lacking—his culture was severely deficient, and he was lacking in conviction and ambition, traits essential for forming a “Spiritual Body Fledgling.”

If he advanced rashly, he would likely fail.

“Ian…

I’ve found a clue.”

At last, Elder Prude concluded with a somewhat meaningful statement, “When you return to South Ridge again, there might be a surprise waiting for you.”

“Oh?”

Ian knew this meant something was going to happen that couldn’t be heard by others.

He thought for a moment and understood that this was probably the “Twin Leaves of Foresight” Elder Prude had always been seeking.

The leaves of foresight were a sacred object of the Redwood Natives, produced only in the heart of the Great Redwood Forest.

They granted the user the ability to briefly perceive the future.

It was with this power that the Redwood Natives had survived for so long and managed to contend with The Empire’s forces under disadvantageous conditions, and it was also one of the trump cards the Redwood People relied on during their covert struggles with the Mountain People before the Imperial People arrived.

As a Prophet, Ian naturally was very interested in something that could artificially create prophets.

But the Twin Leaves of Foresight did indeed possess some prophet-like qualities, making it difficult for Ian’s Spirit Energy to locate them, and he anticipated that pursuing them could be troublesome, so he hadn’t actively sought them out.

Instead, it was Elder Prude who, after many years of covertly searching for clues, and with the Redwood Natives nearly collapsing and all under the rule of Viscount Grant with no one to obstruct him, managed to find a lead.

However, Ian had heard a different theory from the Dragon Worship Cult—that the Great Redwood Forest Sea might have already Sublimated, becoming the entire coastal ecological circle of the southern region of South Ridge, and what was known as the Redwood Forest was merely the remains left from before its Sublimation, much like the exuviae left by the Fae before reincarnation.

The true Twin Leaves of Foresight might not be in the heart of the Redwood Forest, but rather a gift from the autonomous ecological circle… Ian planned to write a letter to Elder Prude to remind him of this possibility.

This was probably the first birthday Ian had celebrated since coming to Terra.

After all, there was no such sentiment as birthdays in South Ridge, and Ian himself was not particularly concerned with such matters, but experiencing it occasionally with friends did indeed feel very joyful.

After a night of revelry, morning dawned once more.

Waking up, Ian discovered a scent of grape juice on his shoulders and hair.

Clearly, the Frost Butterfly had habitually slept on his hair again.

“This little darling.”

With a sigh, Ian got up, took a bath, and headed out to continue his experiments.

In the two months, Ian had nearly replicated all the valuable books from the alchemy and history sections of the Imperial Capital Grand Library into the Silver Chip.

He hadn’t missed a single one of value.

Moved by Ian’s assistance in discovering the theft of books at the Spirit Wisdom Institute, Count Phoenix generously granted Ian reading access to all areas.

Theoretically, this was against the rules because Ian was not a professor but rather an ordinary Elite Alchemist, not even at the Second Energy Level.

Obviously, no one expressed any opinion about this.

However, Ian always remembered this point—now it was because Count Phoenix helped him and recently everyone still remembered his reputation, that is why there were no whispers and rumors.

Once some time passed, if he still had no achievements, these privileges would be taken back one by one.

Ability could bring power, and power could also bring a set of demands.

The “Efficacy Potion” that Ian planned to publish this time was the result he planned to focus on as his main research project over the recent years.

About half a week ago, Ian had already published a paper in the Royal Alchemy Association, discussing the “special potential” of some potions.

For example, the “Demonic Weapon Potion.” When this potion was applied to weapons or bullets, it could make the weapon more durable and possessed the ability to directly shatter some light magical shields and resistances.

Similarly, entities without a physical form, like Phantoms, Spirit Energy Shields, or Ethereal Body Curses, could also be shattered by a weapon enchanted with this potion.

The duration of this potion usually lasted from several tens of minutes to over an hour.

The Highest Level “Perfect Demonic Weapon Potion” could last two hours.

In addition to the aforementioned capabilities, it could also inflict Origin Quality damage; the property of the Origin Quality depended on the user, and the effect was very powerful and quite expensive.

But, it was limited to the First Power Level.

At the Second Energy Level, a Sublimator could manipulate the free Origin Quality in the air or even Natural Spirit Energy to enhance their own body, naturally including their weapons.

Although the effect was not as strong as Demonic Weapons, it was not that much different.

And because the Origin Quality of the Demonic Weapon Potion came from the potion itself, even though it could take on the user’s properties, it could not stack.

This was incompatible.

Therefore, this potion was only popular among some veteran Mercenary Corps and Adventurer teams without Second Energy Level members—only they could afford such an expensive potion, and only they had the experience and strength to utilize the power of this potion.

This was the awkwardness of the Demonic Weapon Potion.

Those at high energy levels could not use it, and those at lower levels would find it too expensive.

Yet, once truly utilized, it could indeed provide a considerable enhancement.

It couldn’t be said to be ineffective.

Very awkward.

Ian believed that the awkward situation of the Demonic Weapon Potion could be improved, such as the “Extreme Efficacy Enhancement” technique he proposed.

Ian strengthened the “catalyst” by weakening the “power supplier” in the original potion, allowing the Demonic Weapon Potion, after a short period of Origin Quality tuning by the user, to enhance the weapon together with the user’s Origin Quality.

The enhancement could now stack.

Let’s put it in a simple way: the original Demonic Weapon would increase the weapon damage by +20, with additional damage to spiritual bodies, penetrating 35% of shields and 20% of Origin Quality resistance—a very powerful property.

A powerful swordsman, say, Green Tide.

If Green Tide had a Demonic Weapon Potion in the Labyrinthine Abyss, he alone could defend the camp.

Those Frost-Seduction Moths and Parasitic Beasts attacking the camp were nothing but trash, annihilated by his sword in batches.

Too bad he couldn’t afford it…

or rather, this thing was similar to a life-saving item, used only when staking one’s life.

But the “Origin Quality Enhancement” of a Second Level Sublimator could add +15 to their weapon’s damage, the rest being the same, and the effect would continue to grow with the improvement of Sublimation Skills.

The two could not stack.

However, after Ian’s concept, the effect of this potion became “on the basis of Origin Quality Enhancement, increase weapon damage by 10 points and increase weapon damage by another 10%, with an additional 20% shield penetration and 10% Origin Quality resistance penetration.”

At a glance, the effect seemed weakened, but in reality, the difference between stackable and unstackable was enormous.

Besides, the potion’s enhancement could scale with the user’s strength in percentage terms, making it even more valuable.

Not only that, but the term “extreme efficacy” refers to the potion having an extremely special quality in a certain aspect—the extreme aspect of the Demonic Weapon Potion was its duration.

With Ian’s improvements, as long as the user held their weapon and provided Origin Quality for maintenance, the duration of this potion could exceed twenty-four hours.

This was enough to support a high-intensity war.

This was just the beginning—Ian was ready to establish his own Alchemy theories based on Efficacy Potions, with the Demonic Weapon Potion being the most intuitive in effect and the easiest to be proven, which was why it was the first to be published.

Of course, there was an even more important point.

That is, this theory was very convenient for writing papers.

Every improvement to a potion could result in a paper.

Continuing like this, Ian’s annual paper output could equal others’ ten or even twenty years.