An alchemy workshop, as the name suggests, was where alchemists performed their work.
It contained the most basic supporting equipment to allow an alchemist to refine magic potions more conveniently.
In this era, alchemy magic potions prioritized precision.
One could not simply refine a potion by relying on “gut feelings,” “intuition,” “appropriate amounts,” or “a slight bit” of idealistic guesswork.
Precise dispensing, control of temperature, and the various tedious steps of extraction all served a single goal: the standardization of a magic potion so it could be replicated afterward.
Only an alchemy magic potion that could be replicated could truly be called a magic potion.
Those that could not be replicated were simply called miracles.
The cost of building a workshop was immense, and maintaining one was equally expensive.
It was already remarkable for an ordinary alchemist to own a few pieces of professional equipment; anyone who owned their own alchemy workshop was essentially qualified to be the founding ancestor of an alchemy faction.
Therefore, alchemists generally did not refer to themselves by their faction, but rather by which workshop they belonged to.
When Shu Yue was first led inside, her eyes had nearly turned green with envy at the sight of the equipment.
The tools her Scabby Head master possessed were all ancient relics.
Many of the measuring instruments had obvious deviations, and he relied entirely on his senses.
Whether a potion succeeded or failed depended entirely on a miracle.
As a rogue alchemist, Shu Yue deeply appreciated this professional atmosphere.
‘Now, this is what I call professional!’
She turned her head and pointed to a spot for the several people responsible for carrying the Dragon Blood.
“Alright, just put them here. You can leave now.”
Though the workers were curious, they did not dare to pry.
They set the baskets down and left the workshop in silence.
Shu Yue closed the heavy iron door.
Now that she was alone, she could do whatever she pleased.
The alchemy workshop provided by the guild was certainly not top-tier, and its area was relatively small.
The alchemy tools were of decent quality but were ultimately just basic instruments; there was no high-end equipment.
Shu Yue had heard that this world possessed devices similar to centrifuges, though she would not need the tools here anyway.
Shu Yue’s alchemy was very simple: she threw things into a fire and burned them until what she wanted emerged.
The guild likely would not install surveillance devices inside a workshop, but Shu Yue checked everything once to be safe.
After confirming there were no eyes on her, she turned her gaze toward the batch of glass test tubes filled with bright red blood.
The giant dragon bloodline within them was already stirring her desires.
Thoughts of devouring it flooded her mind, but fortunately, she could keep them under control.
Sub-dragon Magic Beasts were different; they attacked and devoured each other to seize power.
This was a desire for convergence originating from the blood of the Giant Dragon.
Countless years of continuation had carved this into their genetic instincts, which was why sub-dragons were always powerful and violent.
From that perspective, Dragon Blood was indeed more tempting to Shu Yue than Vanessa was.
Besides, if Shu Yue wanted to see a beautiful girl, she could use her bloodline power to transform into a Dragon Princess and look in a mirror.
She could look as much as she wanted and even touch herself whenever she pleased!
Could Vanessa do that?
Shu Yue’s mood brightened significantly at the sight of the baskets of Dragon Blood.
This was much faster than hunting sub-dragons in the wild.
Although it cost a lot, it was all Liya White’s money.
Since she could not take it all with her in the end anyway, it was better to spend it and turn it into her own strength.
To be safe, she activated a Curtain.
This was one of Shu Yue’s applications of alchemy.
The Star Tempering Art was extremely practical.
Although an item could only yield one trait, it was enough for Shu Yue to use alchemy magic potions like skills.
She could refine a spell and merge it with the medicinal liquid, temporarily storing a spell skill that could be used just by breaking the seal on the bottle.
Curtain was a concealment spell skill that Anna practiced.
After the hazy black curtain covered the area, Shu Yue took a deep breath and aimed her palms at the Dragon Blood.
These had already undergone a primary purification, and their purity was more than double that of raw blood.
It truly moved the decimal point one place forward, which was a massive improvement.
**”FIRE CALLING METHOD, IGNITE… STAR TEMPERING ART.”**
Magic Power ignited a fire before Shu Yue’s palms.
The orange-red fireball was about the size of an egg, constantly shifting its shape while emitting light and heat.
However, the moment she spoke the words of the Star Tempering Art…
The originally orange-red flame instantly transformed into a cluster of bright but non-stinging silver light.
Shu Yue was amazed every time she saw this conversion.
The name “Star Tempering Art” came from the Stone Tablet of Heavenly Scriptures.
She was not entirely clear on its meaning, but she had some vague guesses.
Back on Earth, she knew that true alchemy in the universe occurred during supernova explosions or neutron star collisions.
Using terrifying levels of energy, these events forcibly fused elements into gold.
Man-made gold in laboratories also required immense energy to produce a tiny speck of gold, making the cost and return completely disproportionate.
Could the Star Tempering Art be something of that level?
Perhaps it really was…
Shu Yue pushed the cluster of silver fire toward the Dragon Blood.
When the flames touched the baskets, they attached themselves and spread rapidly, burning the baskets, the glass tubes, and the Dragon Blood all at once.
Nothing remained as residue under the silver fire; there was only a 100% pure extract.
This was the content of the first part of the Star Tempering Art.
The Stone Tablet of Heavenly Scriptures had not listed the subsequent parts, so Shu Yue did not know the details.
However, just this first part was already a dream-like technique that every alchemist fantasized about.
A 100% pure extract only existed in theory!
Shu Yue had achieved it using the Star Tempering Art, yet she did not feel much of a sense of accomplishment.
She even felt it was quite normal; since she had always been able to do it, she did not view it as an impossibility like others did.
The silver fire consumed the baskets, followed by the glass tubes, until the Dragon Blood was gathered in the center of the flames.
Shu Yue began using both hands to control the fire, her expression more solemn than ever before.
Her Spirituality was draining rapidly!
Spirituality was the term for soul energy, which people used to drive Magic Power, so its importance could not be overstated.
The Star Tempering Art consumed a massive amount of Spirituality, and the higher the entropy of the item being refined, the more Spirituality Shu Yue had to pay.
Fortunately, it was recoverable, just like Magic Power.
Beads of sweat had already formed on Shu Yue’s fair forehead, and her damp bangs stuck to her skin.
She supported the Star Tempering Art with all her might to prevent the refinement of the Dragon Blood from failing, which would cause all her efforts to go to waste.
As the silver fireball shrank from the size of a large vat to the size of a basin, Shu Yue’s Spirituality was half depleted.
By the time it shrank from a basin to the size of an apple, another half of her remaining Spirituality was gone.
However, the refinement of the Dragon Blood was not yet finished, and Shu Yue still could not relax.
Looking at the silver flame cluster as it gradually pulled inward and the red blood that continued to diminish within it, Shu Yue could not help but give a bitter smile.
‘I was a bit greedy this time. I feel like I’m being sucked dry…’
It went from the size of an apple to an egg, then to a pigeon egg, and finally to the size of a single bean.
The color of the blood transformed from red to gold, emitting an unusual pressure that struck fear into the hearts of ordinary mortals and caused the bloodline within Shu Yue to resonate intensely.
The refinement was complete.
Shu Yue had only 1/10 of her Spirituality left.
Her head felt incredibly heavy, and she felt a dull, throbbing pain.
It was similar to the feeling of staying awake for 2 days straight—dizzy and swollen-headed.
She quickly took out a small vial she had prepared beforehand, which contained a transparent liquid, and caught the bean-sized bead of blood.
The bead did not disperse after entering the liquid, remaining a solid cluster.
After capping the vial and holding it in her hand, Shu Yue felt the weight of this tiny potion was immense.
She wanted to drink it right now and let the Giant Dragon blood merge with her internal bloodline, but her reason stopped her.
If she drank it, her bloodline would inevitably be triggered.
It would take Shu Yue at least 12 hours to change back from her Dragon Princess form.
She could not stay here for 12 hours.
The people outside would think something had happened to her.
When they opened the door, what would they think if Liya White had gone in, but a silver-haired, golden-eyed outsider came out?
Shu Yue would have no way to explain herself.
This was the Alchemists Guild; she would not even have a chance to escape before being pinned down by the experts stationed here and sent away to be dissected for research.
Having her blood drawn and scales peeled would be the light treatment; they would pull her bones and cut out her heart…
Only an alchemist understood the cruelty of another alchemist!
Shu Yue suppressed her desire to swallow it and stored the item in a small satchel hidden inside her clothes.
This was one of the few legacies left by her Scabby Head master—a small pouch that was larger on the inside, capable of storing items much larger than its volume.
It was made from the stomach of some Magic Beast.
After finishing all this, she found a place to lie down for a while, waiting for her Spirituality to recover naturally.
Recovering Spirituality took time.
Unlike Magic Power, it could not be replenished by chugging potions.
After all, it concerned the soul, which was usually the most fragile part of a person.
If the body was injured, it could still be mended, but if the brain was damaged, one would become an idiot!
Despite her extreme exhaustion, Shu Yue was very happy.
‘It looks like this cluster of Dragon Blood is about 0.07 milliliters, which is equivalent to roughly 1.5 drops. I’ll absorb it after I return tonight. It should allow my constitution to reach the peak of Tier 1 Tier Combat Power. If I release my bloodline power and become a Dragon Princess, I might even reach Tier 2…’
The concepts of Tier 1 and Tier 2 were a bit difficult to understand, but a simple calculation made it very clear.
If an ordinary person was counted as 1, an entry-level apprentice was equal to 1 + 2.7.
Trainee and Official Apprentices were both the previous level + 2.7.
Thus, an Official Apprentice was roughly equal to nine ordinary people.
But everything changed after the apprentice stage.
Tier 1 was equal to 9 x 2.7, and Tier 2 was 9 x 2.7 x 2.7.
As for Tier 3 Tier Combat Power, Shu Yue had never seen it before.
However, she was certain that there was a fundamental difference between Tier 3 and Tier 2 that could not be explained with a simple formula.
Why was it 2.7?
Shu Yue did not understand either, but the number just happened to be 2.7…