"White Rhinoceros Blood, White Rhinoceros Horn, Red Cloud Grass, Su Hexiang..."
On the challenge stage, Guding prepared each material he needed one by one.
The crowd watched as he selected his alchemical ingredients. The pharmacists present were all bewildered. The basic materials needed for the concoction of a White Rhinoceros Enhancer were well-known to pharmacists, and neither White Rhinoceros Horn nor Su Hexiang were among them. When Guding finally laid out all his pharmaceutical materials, observers noticed the absence of the Cold Fragrance Flower from his ingredients.
Cold Fragrance Flower and Su Hexiang were similar in properties, both used as catalysts. However, the catalytic strength of Su Hexiang was more than ten times greater than that of Cold Fragrance Flower. The more difficult the potion was to concoct, the less likely Su Hexiang would be used, as higher catalytic strengths made the alchemical process more uncontrollable.
After comparing the two pharmaceutical materials, Guding quickly determined that the White Rhinoceros Horn in his recipe served as a blending agent in the potion.
Sazer did not underestimate his opponent, even though Guding looked younger than himself. Seeing the materials Guding chose, he did not show any disdain, but instead stared intently at the two additional ingredients, his expression seeming to contemplate something.
The extraction process for the Genetic Potion was much more complicated than for other potions due to the added step of segregating and extracting the gene chain. This step had to be performed under a microscope.
Standing next to the microscope, Guding took a moment to acclimate. Observing his awkwardness with the instrument, many pharmacists in the audience chuckled quietly. It was clear to them that Guding had never used a microscope before. They were not wrong; it was indeed Guding's first encounter with one. As a former student from the Federation Basic Military Academy's Combat Department, the knowledge he was exposed to from the start pertained to combat, and he had only been in an alchemy room once, with most of the apparatuses remaining untouched.
After spending a few minutes adjusting it, Guding finally placed a drop of White Rhinoceros Blood onto the microscope's slide. Approximately five minutes passed before he located the gene chain needing separation.
This efficiency made numerous observing pharmacists frown slightly, realizing Guding was likely concocting a White Rhinoceros Enhancer for the first time, given the extended time he took. Anyone with prior experience making it would easily find the specified gene chain within thirty seconds.
Although Guding's pace was slow, Sazer did not underestimate him. He too surmised that it was Guding's first attempt at making a White Rhinoceros Enhancer. Yet observing Guding's unflustered expression and his deliberate but steady technique, Sazer instinctively felt the likelihood of Guding's failure was small. He was also somewhat eager to see the quality of Guding's completed potion.
Having located the required gene chain, Guding commenced the separation process. Using the Genetic Staining Agent, he treated the gene chain he needed before adding the Genetic Separation Liquid. The linked genes, upon contact with the separation liquid, detached and separated from one another.
Since the gene chain Guding needed was already stained, he easily identified the marked chain. The ensuing extraction process was straightforward: he isolated the chain, moved it onto another slide, and cleaned it with washing liquid to thoroughly eliminate any separation liquid residue.
Guding finally completed the first segment, executing the task with extreme caution, consuming a full fifteen minutes. Within this same timeframe, a skilled Genetic Potion Master could have entirely concocted the White Rhinoceros Enhancer.
Of course, achieving successful separation on his first attempt using a microscope slightly changed the opinions of many onlooking pharmacists. Operating under a microscope was more than ten times more challenging than ordinary techniques, and most people failed in their initial attempts, even those with good aptitude requiring at least three to four failures before succeeding. Despite Guding's slow movements, his successful concoction signified his talent. Succeeding in his first microscope operation was sufficient to classify him as a genius.
After concluding the initial phase, Guding finally exhaled in relief. He was unfamiliar with manipulating the microscope, which made him deliberately slow to avoid errors. However, having accomplished the most challenging phase, he commenced the remaining alchemical process.
Following extraction of the other ingredients, he retrieved eleven distillation bottles, poured each of the eleven substances into the bottles, and began heating for distillation.
Witnessing this scene, everyone, including Sazer, was stunned. He could manage up to four distillation bottles simultaneously, as similar distillation rates for many potions made full attention difficult with concurrent distillations.
In just one or two minutes, Guding had successively removed all eleven distillation bottles, his actions as fluid as flowing clouds and waters, his precision terrifyingly accurate. Sazer's mouth was half-open in astonishment; it was his first time seeing an F-level pharmacist control a process better than himself, especially in someone so young.
Guding swiftly transitioned to the next stage: combining.
Given that Guding's ingredients differed from those known for the White Rhinoceros Enhancer, the crowd was eager to see how his component proportions would turn out. The varying ingredients rendered the dosage proportions and the sequence of adding them a mystery.
Those initially unconvinced of Guding's skills were now somewhat expectant after witnessing his astonishing distillation phase. They hoped to see the quality of Guding's resultant potion.
At this point, Guding was entirely absorbed in his process, ignoring the thoughts of others, focusing solely on the pharmaceutical materials.
He quickly established his combination order, first adding the crystalline powder of White Rhinoceros Horn, with the subsequent sequence and proportions generally aligning with those of widely recognized pharmaceutical formulas.
Yet soon, his sequence defied everyone's understanding; Guding introduced Su Hexiang, the catalyst, before integrating the White Rhinoceros Gene Chain.
Conventionally, catalysts were added after all other ingredients were present and after achieving a certain fusion stability. Adding the catalyst first would usually destabilize later ingredients, dramatically decreasing the odds of success.
To everyone's further disbelief, Guding directly employed a Fusion Cup to hasten the potion's fusion with a Fusion Technique.
"Did he forget to include the White Rhinoceros gene chain?" an E-level pharmacist uncertainly asked a D-level pharmacist nearby.
"That seems quite unlikely," the D-level pharmacist replied, equally unsure.
Sazer was intensely focused on the changes within Guding's Fusion Bottle. He was unsure if Guding forgot the gene chain, yet he had a faint sense that Guding did it deliberately.
Sure enough, after thirty seconds, the potion within the Fusion Bottle unexpectedly changed color. Observers were dumbfounded; how could the potion be completed without the main ingredient, the genetic chain?!
At that moment, Guding swiftly introduced the gene chain into the Fusion Bottle.
The potion inside the Fusion Bottle changed color once again, from pale yellow to milky white...
"It's Perfect Quality!" Sazer was utterly amazed, as were the pharmacologists crowding around...
(Still in the city, woke at half-past seven to start writing. Sent friends off around six in the afternoon, might return home a bit late. There will be another update tonight, which should be uploaded before nine.)