The Only Player in ‘Child of Stardust’
Chapter 225 - 155 Our Comrades Are Spread Across Five Lakes and Four Seas and Have Even Infiltrated the Enemy’s Ranks_2

Chapter 225: Chapter 155 Our Comrades Are Spread Across Five Lakes and Four Seas and Have Even Infiltrated the Enemy’s Ranks_2

Saba sneered, "You’d better not. The magic potion is cursed. If you dare to betray me, your internal organs will rot into blood and you will die in extreme pain."

Zhou Yuan’s face changed slightly, and he hurriedly said, "You are Mr. Saba! Being able to have you as my teacher is the greatest fortune of my life. How dare I betray you, teacher? I wish I could learn from you until I die!

The academy’s competition in a few days is on me, I will definitely make you proud, teacher!"

"Hmm... a 4-star alchemist, even if you can’t win the championship, you can still get into the top three."

Saba didn’t change his cold demeanor because of Zhou Yuan’s flattery, and said coldly, "Remember, in this competition, you must get a place in the top three. If you don’t... see those materials over there? If you don’t, you will become one of them."

Zhou Yuan turned his head to look and saw a pile of human remains stored under ice magic. He could clearly see a few extremely terrified and despairing human faces.

He pretended to be scared but then forced himself to calm down, "I will do my best!"

"First, make a 4-star magic enhancement potion," Saba ordered.

A magic enhancement potion, as the name suggests, could increase the power and speed of magic casting for five minutes after consumption, allowing one to cast two or even three spells in the time it takes an opponent to cast one.

Zhou Yuan immediately ran over to start making it. With the knowledge that had suddenly appeared in his mind, he was confident he could succeed on the first try.

Before he started, he heard the sound of the system’s prompt in his ear.

[Event detected, generating task...]

[Task name: "Our comrades are all over the world, even infiltrated the enemy’s ranks"]

[Stage one task goal: Win first place in the academy competition.]

First place, huh...

Zhou Yuan didn’t stop working. With his strength, wasn’t winning first place in the students’ competition a piece of cake?

Seven or eight minutes later, he took the processed materials and threw them into the heated crucible, stirring vigorously while chanting.

As time passed, the liquid in the crucible gradually turned transparent, like clear water, but more viscous and emitting a pleasant fragrance.

It’s done.

Zhou Yuan bottled the potion and respectfully presented it to Saba, "Teacher, the task is completed."

Saba examined the potion, his expression finally softened slightly, and he nodded, "Not bad, continue your training. I will go organize your opponent’s information."

"Yes," Zhou Yuan replied.

After Saba left the potion classroom, Zhou Yuan went to the restroom and, after making sure there were no surveillance items around, took out the [Abnormal Effect Clearing Spray] and sprayed himself.

A negative status disappeared from his status bar.

Then, he returned to the hall as if nothing had happened.

What’s the next potion to make?

After a brief thought, Zhou Yuan had an idea and began selecting materials.

Not long after, he completed the initial extraction and obtained a lump of red substance similar to dough.

Then he crushed several kinds of plant leaves, added them in, kneading the mixture thoroughly. Finally, he threw the red dough into the boiling crucible, added pure water, stirred constantly, and gradually increased the heat.

The liquid in the crucible gradually changed color. Under the intense heat, the water evaporated rapidly, and it was eventually baked completely dry, leaving only a pile of fine pink powder.

Zhou Yuan carefully sealed this substance.

"Cough."

A cough suddenly came from the air, startling Zhou Yuan, who looked around guiltily, "Who is it?"

"Who else could it be?" Jiang Wuming’s voice came from the air. They were invisible and had sneaked in at some point.

"The small fry outside have already been cleaned up. We were worried about you, so we came to check. We didn’t expect to find you brewing an aphrodisiac?"

Jiang Wuming questioned sternly, "Who are you going to use it on?"

Zhou Yuan’s face turned red, "I was just curious, okay, just curious!"

"Heh, men," Huo Yan Luo chuckled.

Will spoke calmly, "Don’t be embarrassed. According to incomplete statistics, 70% of men, after mastering alchemy skills, will first create potency pills. The remaining 30% will make aphrodisiacs.

Your behavior is completely normal, and it also shows that you are confident in your own abilities, not needing potency pills."

Who the hell conducted this survey... Zhou Yuan was speechless.

Bai Lang got to the point, "We got some intel. The top three in the academy competition not only get rich rewards but also have a chance to meet the Demon King directly."

"Hmm?" Zhou Yuan was taken aback, "The academy is sealed, how do we meet the Demon King?"

"We don’t know either. Those small fry were too low-level to know more, but the information is definitely true. Perhaps the higher-ups in the Magic Academy already have a way to remove the barrier."

"Hmm... meeting the Demon King..."

Zhou Yuan pondered, "Do you think I have a chance to directly assassinate the Demon King?"

"Assassinating the Demon King seems a bit unrealistic," Jiang Wuming thought for a moment, "but infiltrating the Demon King’s army as a mole is feasible. Maybe we could even rescue the princess."

Zhou Yuan thought for a long time, "Then I’ll continue to stay undercover."

"Alright, we’ll continue with the assassinations. This place is full of monsters, it will take a while to clear out. But you also need to focus on leveling up."

Jiang Wuming paused, then his tone became urgent, "Saba is coming back; we need to disappear."

After speaking, the room fell silent.

Zhou Yuan quickly cleaned up the scene and started making the next potion, this time choosing the [Speed Potion], which could increase the drinker’s movement and casting speed.

Soon, Saba returned and tossed a booklet onto the table, "All the intelligence is here. Examine it yourself; I’m going to rest."

"Okay, teacher," Zhou Yuan responded.

After finishing the potion, he went to the table, picked up the intelligence booklet, and started reading.

Twelve departments participated in the academy competition, with a total of seventy-two mages competing. Only one contestant came from the Potion Department.

The booklet contained information on the seventy-two people, including Zhou Yuan’s alias, "Halizhente."

He skimmed through the minor challengers until he reached the back, where his expression turned serious.

[LV79·Franster, adept at Thunder Magic...]

[LV77·Lixia, adept at Mental Magic...]

[...]

[LV85·Cain, adept at All-Elemental Magic...]

Zhou Yuan: "..."

He stared at the information silently.

The highest level was 85?

Seriously, this level was higher than Professor Saba’s. And they were participating in a students’ competition? Have they failed for ten years straight and still haven’t graduated?

Zhou Yuan felt numb. An 85-level opponent—no matter how many potions he consumed, he couldn’t beat that. But there was still a chance, because he could level up during this time.

Lost in thought, a bold idea emerged in his mind.

Zhou Yuan took the intelligence booklet and left the potion classroom, contacting his teammates through the mental communication channel to meet at a concealed spot.

"What’s up?"

At the rendezvous point, the invisible Jiang Wuming asked.

Zhou Yuan waved the intelligence booklet, "I plan to kill everyone listed here from the bottom up. It will reduce the competition pressure and help me level up, otherwise, I can’t beat the strongest participant."

"Won’t a large number of deaths among the contestants raise suspicion?" Huo Yan Luo raised an eyebrow, thinking it was too risky.

Zhou Yuan shook his head, "No, everyone in the academy has gone mad. Even if a large number of deaths occur, they’ll think it’s due to fierce competition in secret.

You must have seen many apprentices fighting each other, trying to seize each other’s eyeballs, right?"

The group pondered and agreed.

"Alright, then we’ll take action tonight. Let’s go mark our targets first."