Craftsman family conquered with simple but smart technology from Neo. The prices of their inventions weren't high. They aimed at ordinary people and ordinary people didn't have money to afford something expensive.
Despite years of declination, there were many talents in craftsmanship and proper guidance will make them soar like phoenixes that rose from the ashes. The problem was education, Neo needed to educate the first generation to let them teach next generations. It was a long-term investment, after a few years, they will enlighten the society with tons of knowledge.
(I am quite disappointed because this city relies most on importing the goods from other cities. I can understand that we are surrounded by danger but it's still stupid.)
The boy focused on entering the 6th level of soul embryo. The alchemy recipes that he was aiming for a required high level of control and it couldn't be achieved by runes. It could actually boost the level of control but there were limits in everything.
He closed himself in his room and focused on meditation and cultivation. When he wasn't meditating, he exercising breathing technique. The cycle continued until he finally broke through the 6th level of soul embryo, however, he didn't stop at this point. It was important to a breakthrough in cultivation too.
As he was able to concoct the new recipes, he ordered the ingredients and started to train the new recipes. Even with the assistance of AI, it took many tries to succeed and the first elixir was ready. It was higher level healing elixir. The low-level elixirs didn't have any show-off names, ancient alchemists treated them like water. Effects weren't miraculous, it could heal the non-fatal wounds. This elixir worked on the inner organs too that made it actually miracle medicine in this era.
There were many more elixirs that alchemy practitioners could actually concoct. The beauty cream, intelligence elixir and many more. From detoxification mixtures to a potent aphrodisiac, alchemy practitioners sold their good mostly for nobles and martial artists.
This world has martial artist and alchemist, he could assume that the traditions are the same. It was good to help ordinary people but greed was greater than most principles. For Neo, money was just another resource, you couldn't buy many things for money.
(These people pursue short-term advantages. I don't see the point in being a high and mighty alchemist in the world of ordinary people. Where is their ambition? Bunch of fools...)
The future meeting between him and this world alchemists will be quite disastrous. Days passed and Neo focused on the useful recipes like intelligence elixir or detoxification mixture. Intelligence elixir improved the speed of creation of neural connections and speed of thinking. The effect was better on people with lower intelligence. Neo took one dose, his speed of thought was slightly boosted after absorbing the memories, his brain got used to the rapid speed of creation of neural connections
The beauty potion was out of the question as he couldn't sell it and it wasn't useful for his people. It was more for people like nobles and ordinary people. Inner energy improved the body and appearance was improved too. It was miraculous but normal that ugly martial artist was a rare sight.
Although some practice methods used different means to improve body strength and the side effect was an ugly look or other unwanted looks.
His cultivation was slower than in his previous life but more stable and he had enormous potential in the future. The more inner energy was required to achieve the skin strengthening realm but he was happy and eager to practice.
Days passed slowly and first glass was produced, it was delivered to Marcus lab. He was happy to have new toys for his experiments. Entire mansion was like ant hive, none was slacking off. If people didn't train they would study or work. Some people competed between themselves in various ways, while others used it as entertainment.
Neo was happy to see this kind of situation, most of these people were living in misery and he brought light into their lives. Although he had the ability to save many people, the boy needed to plan it cautiously. The people in power don't care about ordinary citizens and their only concern is how to get more money and more power. The kid wasn't a hypocrite, the risk of trouble from these people was too high so he planned carefully his every step. The influence? Money? Fame? All of these things will slowly be gained through hard work of Aurum and he didn't need to extort money from innocents or other evil deeds.
A month passed and he finally broke through the first stage of skin strengthening. The feeling wasn't so impressive, his strength was of 3 adult males.
(Finally, I can go and explore the forest. It's regretful that making a tunnel will take a lot of time. These tunnels cannot be made to close to the surface and another thing is safety. I cannot let anyone is killed by the collapse of the tunnel.)
The tunnel will be ready in few more months, the tunnel quite big and it will be a good shelter during bad times. He created a hidden mechanism, entering without knowledge was almost impossible.
(I should think about improving more fields of life. I need to get some blacksmith followers so I can give them some alloy formulas. There are many new minerals in this world. Creating new alloys and stronger metal will be interesting too.)
The exploration required the necessary preparation, he couldn't just rush into the forest. The strongest aspect of his powerful eyes was a sight. The range weapons will give him an advantage even over stronger beasts.
During his previous life, he was mercenary, he was exposed to many kinds of weapons. Although he preferred using the guns over bows. He knew how to make a compound bow, the compound bow will be a good partner in this hunt. The drawings of this bow will be not available for outsiders and he planned to use it as an advantage for his bowmen.
(I could give them more technology but I am sure they would use later to take advantage of me. The greed never changes, nobles or politicians. It will be always about people in power and people in poverty.)
Neo treated it more likely like a field trip than something filled with danger. The change of surroundings will be good for my cultivation and mental health. Most of the people were worried, some insisted on going with him but he was adamant and it will be solo trip. The group of people leaving the city would arouse suspicion.