Farming Games are All About Grinding
Chapter 307 - 298: Powerful Potion

Chapter 307: Chapter 298: Powerful Potion

Han Qiwu sat in front of the counter, didn’t bother to make excuses for Egger, and after greeting Sister Jin Tu next to him, he went straight to the point: "Sister Jin Tu, I want to try making the Strength Potion again. The Dreamback Potion from last time turned out great."

Hearing Han Qiwu’s words, Jin Tu walked over, tidying up some empty bottles while laughing, "Sure, I think you’ve got a knack for potion-crafting. Come on in."

Han Qiwu nodded and followed behind Sister Jin Tu into the inner room.

Seeing that Han Qiwu’s topic-shifting strategy had worked, Egger exhaled in relief and gave Han Qiwu a thumbs-up.

Nice one!

Once inside the crafting room, Jin Tu explained to Han Qiwu, "I just failed at making a potion, so it’s a bit messy in here. You can use the corner workstation."

"Alright." Han Qiwu didn’t pry about what potion she had been brewing. Instead, he walked to the corner, using a mortar to mash mushrooms and spinach until they were pulped and packed into a container.

"Make sure to grind thoroughly, as fine as you can," Jin Tu reminded.

"Here’s a counter. Once you hit start, it’ll begin counting. Don’t go over the required hops." Jin Tu pointed to a small quartz counter next to him.

Han Qiwu acknowledged her instructions, grabbed the container, and started hopping up and down.

After reaching two hundred hops, he switched it up, shaking the container back and forth manually.

Half an hour later.

Sweating profusely, Han Qiwu muttered under his breath, "798, 799, 800."

Once he finished counting the final number, he immediately collapsed onto a nearby chair, putting the container down.

[Congratulations! You’ve successfully crafted a Strength Potion (Silver-Star Quality☆)]

[Effect: Greatly enhances strength for ten minutes after consumption, +50 Attack Power, Critical Hit Rate increases to 50%]

[Cooldown: Five days]

[Note: Use it at a crucial moment]

The crafted Strength Potion was about the same color as spinach but slightly paler, looking quite clear and free of impurities.

Additionally, due to its silver-star quality, the potion’s duration doubled compared to the time stated on the recipe.

Han Qiwu, satisfied, poured it out and informed Sister Jin Tu about his success.

Sister Jin Tu nodded, smiling as she said, "Not bad at all, this is high quality. In that case, I’ll give you another recipe as a gift; you can use it once you’ve gathered the required ingredients."

With that, she pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to Han Qiwu.

Han Qiwu hurriedly thanked her as he reached out to take it.

[You have received the Freezing Potion Recipe from Jin Tu]

[Freezing Potion Recipe]

[Ingredients: Mushrooms with freezing properties ×2, Mint ×3, Any Nuts ×2]

[Crafting Steps: Step 1: Steam the mushrooms and freeze them into a set shape. Step 2: Grind the frozen mushrooms into fine ice shards, sprinkle with crushed nuts and mint, and place into a container. Step 3: Swing the container back and forth 500 times.]

[Effect: Freezes enemies or negates buffs on the user.]

[Note: A must-have potion for high-temperature mining layers]

After skimming through the recipe, Han Qiwu thought this freezing potion seemed pretty appetizing.

It looked like a nutty shaved ice dessert.

Mint, he recalled, thrives best in temperatures between 25°C and 30°C. He had grown some before and remembered sprinkling a pinch on iced rice pudding in the summer—it tasted fantastic.

Given time, it shouldn’t be too hard to forage some.

As for the nuts, he had seen a few hickory trees when he went up the mountains before, but hickories mature late, so the waiting time might be too long.

"Take it slow. I’ll check if anyone in town has nut trees at their place later."

"You can head out for now. I have more experimenting to do. Feel free to drop by again next time," Jin Tu cheerfully said, opening the door for Han Qiwu.

"Alright, thank you," he replied.

Taking the potion and the recipe, Han Qiwu left the crafting room and headed back to the front counter. He grinned at Egger, "Egger, you can’t keep using me as a scapegoat, you know."

"Ahem, well, wasn’t the timing just right?" Egger replied with a slightly sheepish look.

Han Qiwu shook his head at Egger, "You can’t treat a friend like that. By the way, do you know how to forge? Can you make this into a cloak for me?"

With that, Han Qiwu placed the Flame Bird Wing he had long been holding onto onto the counter.

Initially, he meant to ask Master Shuzi to forge it, but Master Shuzi was always busy with too much on his plate.

Now seemed like a good opportunity to have a shot at it.

If it worked, great. If not, so be it.

"Oh, my forging skills aren’t up to par. Don’t even talk about a cloak... Wait! This intense flaming aura—what material is this?" Egger started a lazy protest but swallowed his words as he caught sight of the wing on the counter.

"Can’t forge it? Then forget it," Han Qiwu said, grabbing the Flame Bird Wing and turning to leave.

Panic-stricken, Egger leapt out from behind the counter to stop Han Qiwu, saying, "Wait, wait, wait! I can do it! Though I haven’t touched a forging hammer in ages, an old ship still has a few nails left—I can manage to forge a cloak."

"How much will it cost?" Han Qiwu cut straight to the point.

Egger rubbed his hands together with a sheepish smile, "No charge. We’re friends, after all!"

"Then what do you want?" Han Qiwu asked cautiously.

Egger excitedly plucked a slightly warm feather from the Flame Bird Wing, saying, "Five feathers will do. These high-temperature feathers can be used for a special cocktail recipe I’ve been eager to try."

"Deal! When can I come pick it up?" Han Qiwu agreed and nodded.

Egger thought for a moment and said, "Four days—it’s a bit of a pain to craft a cloak."

"Alright, I’ll leave it to you then." Han Qiwu nodded, left the Flame Bird Wing, and departed from the Explorer Guild.

Returning to the first layer of the mine, he picked up Xiao Lai from the ground and shouted into the depths, "Little Thunder!!"

"Chirp, chirp!"

Hearing his call, Little Thunder immediately responded and flew back, flapping its wings.

However, judging from its tone, it sounded a bit dispirited.

Three minutes later, the soot-covered Little Thunder returned, clutching a small bag in its beak, visibly exhausted.

Han Qiwu took the bag and counted.

Sixteen pieces of coal.

Not a bad haul.

Flying creatures sure are amazing.

Before Han Qiwu could say anything, Little Thunder slumped pitifully to the ground, eyes lifeless.

"I’m done."

"I’ve run out of Thunderlight Fish. Mining is too hard."

"Without Thunderlight Fish, how am I supposed to improve, let alone zap that wretched woman to death!"

Small. Pitiful. Helpless.

Seeing Little Thunder like this, Han Qiwu chuckled to himself and said, "Ahem, considering you did a decent job today, I’ll make an exception and reward you with a Thunderlight Fish. Do better next time!"

"Chirp, chirp!"

Hearing this, Little Thunder shot up like it was spring-loaded, eager to nuzzle up to Han Qiwu.

"Don’t move."

Han Qiwu quickly dodged and pulled out two buckets of water, pouring them over the coal-dusted Little Thunder.

Watching this, Xiao Lai scooched a bit farther away on the ground, thinking to himself, "Master definitely prefers a clean, well-behaved pet like me."

Such joy!