"Huh, it's supposed to help one relax, have more intense dreams, making one feel as if they were real." Startled by the sudden question, Sheeren automatically answered it.
'Why is he asking me about it if he only ended up with a potion rather than a pill? So he wish to insult me?!' Suddenly flaring up, Sheeren finally reached the limit of his patience. Direct insults didn't faze him at all, but suggesting that a lowly potion would be on par with a properly crafted, condensed pill?!
There was a reason why the pills were much more expensive than potions of the same quality with the same effects. It was just that the pills were more effective! The one reason that was believed to cause it, was that medicinal energies from the pill would usually release all into one's body before the pill would be properly consumed. On the other hand, potions would just mix with gastric acids inside one's stomach, turning most of it into nothing but a nourishing tonic instead!
"Ah, I know we decided to craft the pills, but I don't like wasting stuff. That's why I decided to skip the consolidation and just go with the potion." Sending a wink to the alchemist, Sebian then nodded at Zen to approach. "Since we are talking about the hallucinogenic strength of our concoctions, let's have our friend here test them for us." Turning his head to the elder of the two, Sebian smiled. "I assume you do possess some detoxification tonics?"
In the end, all the drugs were harmful. Even if some of them would be used in alchemy for various reasons, using them would always be associated with risk. Thankfully, as long as one supplied one's body with a nourishing tonic, the body itself would get enough energy from it to fight the harmful elements.
"Yes, I do have them." Understanding the intent of the stranger, Sheeren swallowed his saliva. Making Zen a judge of the effectiveness required wits even greater than one's balls. After all, wasn't it clear that this sect elder had some kind of ties with him?
"Great, then let's not wait any longer. Zed, if you could…?" Pointing his hand at the pill brewed by the elder, Sebian smiled. But there was no warmth behind his curled lips. Rather than that, his eyes inevitably wandered towards Aina's pained face.
After a moment of hesitation, Zen finally released a deep sigh before approaching the pill only to throw it right into his mouth. Swallowing the medicine, he then quickly moved on a sofa before stabilizing his breath. For an experienced cultivator like him, falling asleep on the spot was no challenge at all. Soon, his expression relaxed, as if all the worries of the day disappeared, but rather than observing the changes happening on the man's face, Sebian directed his attention to the materials remaining after his first product.
For the next several minutes, Zen enjoyed his intense dreams, while Sheeren noted even the slightest blush that would appear on his face. In the back of the room, Aina continued to cope with the finally fading headache, while Sebian frantically continued to mix all seven of the different waters in specific rations.
"Okay, that will be enough." Rather than bringing up some kind of special tonic, the elder pulled out a small stack of herbs with a smell so pungent that both Sebian and Aina inevitably moved their hands to cover their noses.
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"AH!" With the stinky herb delivered right under his nostrils, it didn't take long before Zen shook awake. Noticing the colours returning to his partner's face, Sheeren took the herbs away, hiding them in a special pouch.
"From his reactions, it seems that my pill reached the lower middle of the perfection. As long as your concoction will prove to be stronger, I will proclaim my defeat." Finally regaining enough of his attention to look at the man, Sheeren noticed that rather than watching the duel with his utmost focus, he was already working on another potion!
"Ah, sure! The cup is on the table." Not even bothering to raise his head, Sebian pointed at the cup with his chin before returning to his work. Shaking his head with disappointment, Sheeren then picked the cup and approached his partner.
"Zen, if you could…" Receiving the cup, the elder of the sect initially wanted to chug it all down when…
"STOP! Are you fucking insane?!" Noticing the intent of the man with a corner of his eyes, Sebian's face whitened down. Shaking it to regain his voice, Sebian then looked at the elder. "Go and bring the tonic I spoke about earlier. And you, you damned idiot. If you don't want to die, don't drink more than a small sip!"
Startled by the sudden outburst of the stranger, Zen looked at his older partner. Only when he saw the nod of approval of the elder's head, did he raise the cup and took a small sip as ordered.
This time, he didn't even need to fall asleep. Zen's eyes dilated, as his pupils grew so big they covered all the whites of his eyes. His body fell powerless down on the sofa while saliva started to trickle down the man's chin.
"Eee… eee… haaaa!" Uttering only some impossible to understand notes, Zen sank in the dreamland of the hallucinations created by the potion. Unable to move his body at all, only a huge boner that quickly created a hill on his robes proved that he was still alive and kicking.
"What the hell?!" Noticing the strange situation, Sheeren took two steps to the back, completely taken aback by what he saw. In terms of the drug potency, just a single damned sip of this potion was capable of cutting down an expert from the damned Glory Sect!
'How in the hell?!' While the elder's heart was filled with desperation, there was also a great joy that suddenly exploded in his head. Even if he were to lose this duel and his shop with it, if he could just ask for a few pointers from such an expert, then he could revolutionize the alchemy in the entire damned city!
"Quick, feed him some nourishing tonics now, or his state will only worsen. At the current rate, he might be out for several days." Judging the situation with just a single look, Sebian finally managed to finish the concoction compromised of all eight types of liquids in special ratios. And just as the elder dashed to save his partner from several days long blackout, the alchemist raised his cup and chugged all of its content down.
A wave of heat instantly spread through his entire body. For the potion consisting of seven kinds of materia secunda and a base made out of an enriched materia prima, this was one of the most advanced potions he was capable of creating with his cultivation.
But rather than aiming for a potion that would allow him to clear the energy intoxication from his body and quickly advance his cultivation, he went for something else.
With the medicinal energy of the potion soaring through his body, Sebian approached the silent girl before kneeling on one knee before her. Grabbing her hands, the alchemist forced Aina to look him in the eyes.
"I'm sorry for that, but I should finally be able to help you." Startling the girl with this opening sentence, Sebian had to actually her back when she suddenly attempted to escape. Thankfully, he didn't need to do much.
"Tell me, why do you stick to this gloryhole sect so much?"