Claire ran back into the room as the projection died, bringing out a jar. It was a regular mason jar that one could find in any kitchen pantry or cupboard. The only difference was that instead of it being filled with pickles, it was full of golden-green liquid. It was massive compared to the sip worth of liquid in the purple vial. Using True Sight, Leon's eyes nearly fell out of his head at what he saw.

Absolute Lifeblood (Legendary)

Purified lifeblood refined by a master alchemist. Drawn from hundreds of different sources, this life essence has been refined into a gentle, universally applicable extract that can be used by all living beings. This substance has countless uses, ranging from extending a mortal’s lifespan by one year per drop to regenerating entire limbs. In this case, it has been used to nourish several items for countless years, the passive infusion continuing to refine the objects inside to their limits and beyond.

Curious about the whole ‘refined beyond their limits’ thing, Leon opened the jar and swirled the liquid around. He immediately spotted what was inside. It was full of pills the size of grapes, each one a milky white and without a single blemish. He tilted the jar and exposed some of the pills as he used True Sight.

[Origin Cleansing Pill (Perfect) - 100%]

The Origin Cleansing Pill is a multiversal standard for all Foundation Forging juniors. Refined using sap from a Cloud-Piercing Vine that was struck nine times by lightning and then mixed with the fruits of a Rotting Heart tree, this pill can both loosen stuck impurities and simultaneously rot them into waste products in the blood, allowing for no disgusting impurities to be released in the process.

[Marrow Tempering Pill (Perfect) - 100%]

Refined using the marrow and blood of over ten spirit beasts renowned for their powerful bodies, Marrow Tempering Pills are capable of tempering the bones to completion. While cultivating without aid in the Foundation Formation realm can usually refine most of the mind, body, and spirit, flaws can remain due to poor blood flow to those specific areas. Bones are notoriously difficult to fully refine for that reason, forcing the creation of Marrow Tempering Pills.

[Tiger Soul Pill (Perfect) - 100%]

The perfect pill for a novice alchemist. While extremely difficult to concoct due to its exclusive use of seven different E-grade tiger souls, the Tiger Soul Pill is capable of nourishing the soul itself without any negative side effects. As it is improving the soul itself, the effect on a cultivator’s soul force is all encompassing. The density, purity, quantity, and quality are all raised by its very foundation.

The high-grade dream elixir was one thing. This… This was a treasury. If a low-grade elixir was twice as effective as its inferior counterpart, how much better was a perfect pill? Ten? Twenty times? What about a perfect pill that’s been marinated in a legendary substance that could extend a person’s lifespan?

Leon had no idea of the value that these things held, but the description of his low-grade Bloodroot Extract had explained that higher rarity alchemical brews were exponentially more valuable. Whatever this jar was worth, it would likely be a fortune on a multiversal market. This was probably the equivalent of winning a billion-dollar lottery before the apocalypse. It was enough to establish someone for life… and Sophia was entitled to them all.

She solved the puzzle so it was only fair that she got first pick.

Putting the lid back on, Leon guessed that Sophia had also read the notification. He had taught them both his True Sight skill. She blinked and looked up at him, her expression one of awe and excitement. Pills that could remove impurities without leaving a mess. Pills that could establish a perfect foundation. Pills that could nourish the soul, a part of himself that likely needed some healing after that injury.

The description alone was enough to satisfy Leon. The power he had been referring to while transmuting was really called soul force. That meant the Tiger Soul Pill would be incredibly useful for his alchemy, making it far easier to transmute things without failing. If there was more than one, he would have to see if Sophia would give him some.

Handing her the Jar, Leon winked. “Make sure to use them well, Chosen One.”

Sophia looked down at the jar before looking back up at him. “I’m not taking them all. I refuse.”

“But they’re yours? You solved the puzzle.”

“And I wouldn’t have been able to if you didn’t save my life.”

“Against a squirrel?” Leon said, his eyebrow quirked up. “Claire would have done something or you would have gotten away eventually. Your life was never in danger from that furry rat.”

“Meow!” Pete looked up at him and glared.

“I wasn’t talking about you, dummy. Go back to sleep.”

He playfully bit Leon’s calf before rolling over.

Sophia crossed her arms. “We’re all getting an equal share. I refuse any other conditions. If you don’t accept then I’ll dissolve your share into a stew and trick you into eating it.”

Claire walked out and shrugged. “You did solve the puzzle, Sophia.”

“And I owe you, too. Since I’m the one holding all the favours, how about we agree to stop counting favours and simply work together?”

“Agreed.”

They both turned to Leon, both of their gazes unrelenting. Leon knew they wouldn’t accept anything other than a firm yes.

“I guess I have no choice,” He said, holding out both of his hands to shake. “Friends?”

Claire grabbed one, clasping it tightly. “I think we’re life and death allies at this point.”

“And I say we may as well all be family,” Sophia said, grasping both of the hands.

“Well, aren’t life and death allies closer than family since there’s the implied-”

Sophia’s glare was enough to melt steel.

“Alright, alright. I get the message, no need to scowl! You’re only thirteen, you don’t need stress wrinkles yet.”

Leon chuckled as Claire ran over to Sophia and poked her forehead, leaving him with a cube and a vial. The cube was a dark brown wooden box with flowery silver engravings all over it. As he sunk his Qi in, Leon came to confront the same damn puzzles that he had been trying, and failing, to solve for the last few weeks.

But it wasn’t just the first ten.

[Ten Thousand Threads Puzzle Box (Rare)]

Renowned throughout the multiverse, this puzzle box is a standard training tool for alchemists and other mentalists. This box only contains three layers and is thus incomplete.

The outer layer possesses ten puzzles designed to challenge mortals.

The middle contains one hundred puzzles, their intended users to be in the F-grade.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Last is the inner layer containing a thousand puzzles designed to challenge E-grades.

Leon would have to borrow this. Although he had lamented doing the puzzles, that was before finding the Tiger Soul Pill. It also helped that it would become a game to do in his spare time rather than a way to distract themselves from their situation. If it wasn’t for Tyler and his group likely being out in the central plane, they would have moved on after two days of failure.

None of them wanted to hang around here, but the idea of confronting a group of trained soldiers made them decide to stay.

While there was abundant food and water, they were not getting any healthier in this pocket world. They would be malnourished if they couldn’t cultivate. Their bodies were simply becoming more resilient faster than they could starve to death. A diet of meat, herbs, and berries was simply not enough to sustain a regular person for more than a few months, but they had no choice in the matter.

Waiting for Tyler to leave the pocket world was by far the smartest decision compared to chasing after him and getting shot.

The other item was a round bottle. Looking like a Christmas bauble that one would hang on a tree, it was full of orange and white liquid, the orange shining brightly while the white had a gentler glow. Between the two sides, the orange and white mixed into a thin line of chaotically shifting rainbows.

Using True Sight, the most robust prompt he had ever seen showed up, taking up most of his vision.

[Boundless Spirit Nectar (Perfect) - 100%]

A true alchemical masterpiece that was refined by a burgeoning genius. Unfortunately, he was killed in the crossfire between two powerhouses, and his string of fate snipped before its allotted time. This creation is unique and has not been recreated anywhere else in the multiverse.

Utilises the essence drawn from the petals of a rare Snow Pea flower. As the flower mutated to grow on an igneous rock at the heart of a volcano, its snow and magma essences partially merged into a unique nectar with a special effect. When drawn into the spirit of a living being, the rainbow essence is believed to evolve the spirit. This change raises the foundation of the spirit itself. Other benefits are unknown. As the effect is quite violent, the alchemist has infused purified Spiritual Essence into the mixture. Now, it is so safe to absorb that even a mortal could use it without there being a chance of it damaging their spirit.

Warning: The nectar is mutually supported by the magma and snow essence, meaning that it can only be absorbed by one person or else the entire elixir will become unbalanced and potentially erupt.

He did it. Despite being so unsure, Bai Wei pulled off the impossible and made some kind of treasure. A wave of melancholy came over Leon. Holding it in his hand, the weight of it felt wrong. It was too… light. Was this really the final legacy of a genius that even the System recognised? Bai Wei had been destined for greatness and yet his life was snuffed out by accident. A simple passing battle between two people who were so much more powerful than him.

Reading that description while holding the vial was surreal.

This was a dead man’s legacy. He’d been the young master of a powerful clan, his status as high as the stars. His mother would’ve been incredibly high up in their empire. Likely second in command, judging by her ability to see the future.

And now his entire life; his every waking minute, drop of sweat, thought, feeling, and fear was gone, all of it culminating in a stranger in a strange land holding a bottle that represented his final act of hope.

***

There was a difference between using True Sight and summoning a description. For the latter, it was almost like Leon’s desire was sent into the heavens where, if there was information to be found, it would be relayed back to him. After all, True Sight was nothing more than a technique. Leon sent Qi into his eyes and his visual abilities would slightly improve.

What he found interesting was that the ability to identify things only came after learning True Sight in the first place. It was almost like a reward for trying to learn more, the System kicking in to give him a little push. Most of what he read in the descriptions were things he figured out by analysing the object himself. The descriptions simply catalogued and named these phenomena, sometimes giving him extra details about the ingredients or history of the item.

While not good enough to be called a cheat, it was extremely useful for a number of reasons. For example, Leon could feel that the Absolute Lifeblood was made of pure life essence. And even though he couldn’t tell what had been done to make it like that, he could sense that it was extremely gentle and pure, reminding him of the elixirs he had previously made.

Where the system helped was in the usage. It specifically stated that it could be used to regenerate limbs and that one drop had the power to extend a person’s lifespan by an entire year. The next biggest detail was that it was used to nourish pills. Leon had no idea that was even possible, granting him a slew of ideas to try on any pills he made in the future.

What the system did was provide ideas. Hints that, if flamed by someone passionate, could turn into a roaring fire that revolutionised entire industries. Leon believed that half of the battle was knowing something was even possible; a proof of concept that could result in real-world benefits.

Whoever made the System was a genius.

Rather than telling people what do to by giving away step-by-step instructions, the system gently guided them into using established concepts and ideas that worked. No two planets would have exactly the same species of plants and animals, but even the far-off Evergard Empire had tigers. If Leon wished to concoct a soul-nourishing agent in the future, he would base his research on tigers and mixing the souls of similar species.

While it may seem easier to just hand someone the recipe to make the pill, Leon knew that Earth probably didn’t have spirit tigers. If any did appear, they would be born from the currently living Bengal and Siberian tigers, and so on. Not the species that the Evergard Empire had. So if he decided to wipe out all of the tiger beasts and collect their souls, only to realise that they were useless for making elixirs, he would have no recourse after wiping out an entire species.

That made a skill like True Sight incredible.

Of course, while it was largely useless in battle, it did still help with its original function. Leon stopped and waved his hand the second he spotted it. He pointed into the distance where two panthers were staring at each other. Since they had looted everything from the basements and begun their journey once again, they had bumped into three different panthers in less than a week.

The panthers, who had been having a standoff before they arrived, now turned to watch them. Their bodies were completely still as they went into full alert. Claire and Sophia began to retreat, their steps light and their movements slow, but their efforts were wasted.

The beasts didn’t care about any of them.

At least not the humans, for that matter.

As with the previous attacks, both panthers locked eyes on their baby relative. Pete stood to the left of Sophia’s feet. He ignored the intruders and lazily sat down on his furry rump. Acting as if the car-sized monsters didn’t exist, Pete began to lick his paw and wipe his cheeks, grooming himself despite realistically having no chance at surviving against either of them alone.

The adult panther’s eyes widened. Bloody Qi erupted out of their pores, swirling around their muscular bodies as they began to move. The haze seemed to weigh the air down. Wherever the panthers moved, bloody trails of fog were left in their wake, Pete making no move besides yawning.

Was he really antagonising them on purpose?