Chapter 452: The Ladder Test of the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion
Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion.
Locke and Alicia arrived at the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion, where the Half-Dragon Wizard in the pavilion had been replaced.
Locke looked curiously at the unfamiliar Red Dragon Half-Dragon Wizard and asked, "The previous shopkeeper was a Blue Dragon Half-Dragon, right?"
The Red Dragon Half-Dragon Wizard's emotions were indifferent, his reptile bloodline suppressing his feelings. "Yes, he was promoted because he accumulated enough C-rank members. Now, I am in charge here. Potion Master Augustine, I have reviewed your test contract; you are currently in the first round of the Ladder test."
Locke asked, "The Ladder?"
The Red Dragon Half-Dragon opened his mouth, remnants of sulfur color between his teeth, and a distinct smell of sulfur emanated from his mouth as he spoke, "It is a form of special test for the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion. Countless Potion Masters are currently participating in the tests of the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion all over the world."
"Each round passed grants some rewards, and the more tests one passes, the more rewards one receives."
"A Potion Master only gets one chance in their lifetime to participate in the Ladder of the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion. Once they fail, they will never be able to participate again."
"Regardless of what level of wizard they are."
The Red Dragon Half-Dragon extended his right hand, "Please let me see the Main Brain Control Potion you concocted."
Locke took out twenty-four bottles of Main Brain Control Potion from his astral ring.
The Red Dragon Half-Dragon glanced at them with surprise. "Can the success rate of concocting Main Brain Control Potion be this high without using Primal Fire?"
"With thirty sets of materials, you actually managed to successfully concoct twenty-four, failing only six. Generally, the success rate for Potion Masters who can concoct Main Brain Control Potion is only 60%."
The Red Dragon Half-Dragon placed these twenty-four bottles of potion on the counter and took out a dried maple leaf.
Then, he placed the maple leaf under his nose, gave a slight sneeze, spewed a spark from his nasal cavity, and ignited the red dried maple leaf.
The maple leaf instantly caught fire, emitting thick smoke.
Subsequently, a faint red magical glow appeared within each of the twenty-four bottles of Main Brain Control Potion.
Only then did Locke realize that the materials for the Main Brain Control Potion that the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion had given him earlier all contained specific fluorescent components.
And that red maple leaf was a leaf called the "Revealing Maple Leaf," a common tool in Potionology used to make specific fluorescent marks visible after they have been placed on a target.
It is slightly complicated to make and requires a larger personal potion lab to produce.
The Red Dragon Half-Dragon checked the concentration of the glow in each Main Brain Control Potion and nodded. "There are no issues at all."
"The materials for concocting these Main Brain Control Potions were all provided to you by the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion. Furthermore, there are no traces of Primal Fire inside, and these materials were all concocted by your own hands; otherwise, the special magical fluorescent mark would not have appeared."
Locke was not surprised by this.
He had long guessed that the materials the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion gave him had been imbued with special magical imprints, making it absolutely impossible for him to have other Potion Masters concoct them and then submit them himself.
The Red Dragon Half-Dragon took out a black iron magic box with a question mark pattern on the front from his astral ring. "This is the reward for the first round of the Ladder. It is a Black Iron Magic Box. After opening it, you can obtain a random reward, all of which are related to Potionology."
"Wizard Augustine, this is the special potion key to open the Question Mark Magic Box. Here you go."
Locke glanced at the Red Dragon Half-Dragon, took the magic box and the key, inserted the key into the lock on the side of the magic box with the question mark pattern, and gently turned it. Instantly, the entire Black Iron Magic Box vanished.
Locke noticed that this Black Iron Magic Box had evaporated and sublimated like water.
Or rather, this Black Iron Magic Box was itself a special type of solid water created using Alchemy School magic. As soon as it was opened with the key, the magic box would instantly sublimate and disappear.
After the box disappeared, a paper recipe appeared on the counter. Locke picked up the recipe and glanced at it, seeing the name written on it: "Laughter Potion."
The drinker would laugh heartily and be completely unable to stop, laughing until they died. It was a type of First Ring potion belonging to toxicology.
Locke scanned the recipe, and after memorizing it, placed the recipe into his astral ring.
The Red Dragon Half-Dragon said, "The quality of the reward obtainable in the first round of the Ladder is limited, but the Laughter Potion recipe is indeed a very interesting potion. In the hands of a capable Potion Master, it will have different uses."
"Potion Master Augustine, this is the test for the second round of the Ladder."
Locke took the document from the Red Dragon Half-Dragon, and Alicia also leaned in to look. It read: "Within one year, using ten sets of materials, concoct one Gelas Aging Potion; you must succeed five times, and you must not use Primal Fire."
Alicia's expression changed slightly. "Gelas Aging Potion? That is a potion only slightly simpler than a Sun Potion. Is the second round of the Ladder this difficult?"
Before entering the Ladder, the three potion concoctions used to test whether a Potion Master was qualified to enter the Ladder already indicated that the Potion Master needed to have sufficient experience at the First Ring stage.
Those three potions tested the Potion Master's comprehensive abilities to a very high degree.
The first round of the Ladder, the Main Brain Control Potion, already belonged to the difficult category among First Ring potions.
And this second round of the Ladder, the Gelas Aging Potion, actually required such a complex level of concoction; it could be considered hell difficulty.
Alicia thought of something and looked at the Red Dragon Half-Dragon, saying, "Does this mean the third round of the Ladder requires concocting a First Ring potion of top-tier difficulty equivalent to a Sun Potion? Without using Primal Fire, who could concoct a potion of that difficulty?"
The Red Dragon Half-Dragon said with an indifferent expression, "I cannot say. Wizard Alicia, do you have the intention to participate in the Ladder test?"
Alicia's expression flickered, but she shook her head and said, "No, I have been busy with matters recently. I do not have time to participate in such tests."
After receiving a clear refusal, the Red Dragon Half-Dragon did not dwell on it but looked at Locke and handed him two medals.
One was the Feathered Serpent Medal representing passing the first round of the Ladder, with a '1' written on it; the second was actually an Official Potion Master Certification Medal.
The Red Dragon Half-Dragon explained to Locke, "The Ladder test of the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion is recognized by the White Wizard Association. Wizards who can pass the first round of the test can be directly granted an Official Potion Master Certification Medal if they do not already have one."
Locke nodded in surprise. "So, a One-Ring Wizard can completely skip the Official Potion Master exam and directly use the Ladder to obtain the Official Potion Master Certification Medal?"
The Red Dragon Half-Dragon said, "You can understand it that way."
Alicia smiled and whispered to Locke, "Generally, no one would choose this way, right? Let alone concocting complex potions like the Main Brain Control Potion, even the concoction of the three potions before participating in the Ladder exceeded the difficulty of the ordinary Official Potion Master certification exam."
"Who would give up an easy path and choose a difficult method?"
Locke nodded. "Then I accept the second round of the Ladder test. Give me the materials."
Locke saw an unfamiliar old wizard out of the corner of his eye walking into the shop, his eyes remaining vigilant, as if he were ready to run away at the slightest sign of trouble.