Wu Xiaoyan's desire to climb up the social ladder had nothing to do with Bai Xiaowan.
Bai Xiaowen felt that Wu Xiaoyan was either pitiful, hateful, or both. In conclusion, both of them had nothing in common and were not on the same path.
Regardless of whether Wu Xiaoyan could marry into the Zhou family, even if she got her wish and became the young mistress of the Zhou family, she would not be able to keep a philanderer like Zhou Yi in check.
After all, Zhou Yi was probably playing around with Wu Xiaoyan and not serious about her.
Wu Xiaoyan was probably aware of that too. From what Bai Xiaowen knew of her, she was no simple woman.
Both people were willing parties in that relationship, so Bai Xiaowen could not be bothered to interfere. As for her offer of helping him to enter Allomancy Pharmaceuticals… No matter how he looked at it, such charity from her seemed a little queer.
"Forget it, I won't think about it anymore. In three days will be the week-long actual field training. Class 17 will have to go to the buffer zone to fight mutated beasts. I have to make full use of these three days. Apart from concocting enhancement potions to increase my attribute points, I also have to improve on my combat specialty," he thought.
In the afternoon.
Bai Xiaowen walked into the training room.
"Ho!"
"Ha!"
Bai Xiaowen executed his Basic Combat moves one after another. Each of his punches and kicks was accompanied by the sound of the wind. Though he exuded an imposing aura, his movements were a little stiff.
Following Bai Xiaowen's actions, the spiritual particles contained in the B-grade enhancement food that he had eaten in the afternoon also started to spread out in his body, slowly strengthening his Physique.
After finishing a set of Basic Combat moves, Bai Xiaowen was sweating profusely.
He thought, "I've only done one set of Basic Combat Action 1, yet I'm already sweating all over. I've used up at least a quarter of my stamina. My Physique attributes is still too low!"
Bai Xiaowen's Physique increased from 1.7 to 2.1 when he first transmigrated, but it was still considered weak.
A notification entered his mind:
"Basic Combat moves completed. Strength: 4, Precision: 2, Continuity: 2. Evaluation: Good."
"Basic Combat proficiency increased."
"Basic Combat has been upgraded to Level 2!"
Bai Xiaowen heaved a sigh of relief. He had finally raised his Basic Combat to Level 2.
He thought, "My Strength is 4.5, so the 'strength' of my attacks is very strong! However, 'precision' and 'continuity' are so much lousier. This is because I'm being dragged down by Agility! Otherwise, with my Level 2 basic combat specialty, the evaluation for a combat move with a 4.5 strength should be excellent, no matter what. The proficiency that I would have obtained would have doubled!"
Combat specialties could only be improved through the accumulation of proficiency. The higher the evaluation of each training, the more proficiency one would obtain and the faster one would improve.
As for the evaluation of training, it was determined entirely by one's attributes. Therefore, the higher one's attributes were, the faster one's combat specialty would increase. This was an indisputable fact.
In the past, Bai Xiaowen only had a Strength of 1.8 and an Agility of 2.1. The combat moves that he practiced, be it in terms of strength, precision, or continuity, rarely reached 2. Hence, his evaluation often failed and he did not obtain any proficiency!
His Physique was originally only 1.7. With such poor physical fitness, there was no way he could train for a long time. This further hindered the upgrade of his combat specialty. After staying in the high school combat class for three years, his Basic Combat was still stuck at Level 1.
And now, after a few days of practice, his basic combat skills had already reached Level 2. This was all thanks to the enhancement potion—Power of Ruby—which had significantly increased his strength.
"Master Sun made simple combat potions during the day and complicated enhancements potions at night. This decision that he made has both advantages and disadvantages for me. On one hand, I need to learn the enhancement potion formula to increase my attributes. However, on the other hand, since it's so close to the date of my field training, I also need some combat potions to increase my combat strength!"
Potions were divided into two types: enhancement potions and combat potions.
Enhancement potions were generally of very high grades. They were also complicated to make and expensive. For example, the Gargoyle Power Potion and the Power of Ruby were both enhancement potions that could permanently increase one's Strength. However, the side effects were very severe and the chances of failure were very high.
As for combat potions, they were relatively cheap and easy to concoct. An example would be the Stone Skin Potion that Bai Xiaowen had seen previously. That was a combat potion. After consuming it, one could increase his defense and reduce bleeding, but it only lasted for 120 seconds.
As long as one did not use those extremely high-grade combat potions that far exceeded one's strength, generally speaking, they would not fail in getting its effects. An exception would be if they bought fake medicine.
Bai Xiaowen made a few preparations and took a deep breath. "All right… Now, I'll give it a try. Basic Combat Action 2! Although the stamina consumed will be twice that of Basic Combat Action 1, as long as I pass the evaluation, my proficiency will increase exponentially."
At 9 p.m..
In Sun Hecheng's exclusive alchemy lab in the Super Divine Potion Shop.
"You're very efficient today, to be able to complete your tasks ahead of time."
Sun Hecheng chuckled and added, "With you around, my success rate in concocting high-level potions has increased by at least 10%! I even received praise from the store manager during yesterday's pharmaceutical department meeting. So tell me, how should I reward you?"
Increasing the success rate by 10% meant that not only did it increase the output by 10%, but it also prevented the wastage of 10% of the materials. This meant that Bai Xiaowen had increased the output of a high-level pharmacist like Sun Hecheng by 20%.
It was only natural that Sun Hecheng wanted to reward Bai Xiaowen.
Bai Xiaowen shook his head. "Master Sun, let's not talk about the rewards first. I have something to tell you. All I ask is that you won't be angry after hearing it."
"What is it? Tell me," Sun Hecheng said.
"You know that I'm in the combat class. Recently, the form teacher has organized an actual field training for a week. Students in the combat class are required to participate. Therefore, I want to take a week off…"
He had just become an assistant and had gotten familiar with his work, yet he was asking to take off from work. This was indeed a subject that he found hard to bring up.
However, Bai Xiaowen did not want to be kicked out of the combat class. Only the students of the combat class were qualified to enroll in the combat faculty of a focal university. Bai Xiaowen did not want to lose this qualification.
Sun Hecheng frowned and muttered, "You have indeed placed me in a difficult situation…"
Bai Xiaowen sighed. "Why don't you choose another assistant to replace me?"
Bai Xiaowen's words were sincere. After he got into university, he was not sure if he would continue to work in the Super Divine Potion Shop. It was only a matter of time before he left the assistant position in the pharmaceutical department.
Sun Hecheng thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "Forget it. When I chose you as my assistant, I already knew that such a day would come. Don't worry and just go for the field training. I can make simple potions by myself. As for complicated potions, I can get Zheng Li to help me for some time. When your actual field training is over, you can come back and continue working."
Although Sun Hecheng had only been partnered with Bai Xiaowen for a week, he had already gained a deep understanding of how well they worked together. If Bai Xiaowen's abilities were average, he could have changed his partner. However, Bai Xiaowen was outstanding, so Sun Hecheng could not give up on this partner.
"Thank you so much!" Bai Xiaowen thanked him profusely.
"You're welcome. Also, you still have to be rewarded." Their mission for the day had been completed very early, so Sun Hecheng was in high spirits. "These days, you've been assisting me in making complicated potions, but I doubt you can understand anything from it yet. Since I have time today, I'll concoct some simple potions and give you some pointers. How's this for a reward?"
Bai Xiaowen was elated and thanked him again.
Although Bai Xiao had an abnormal memory and could "copy" Sun Hecheng's concoction process and even use it to concoct high-level strengthening potions, he knew most of the steps but did not know the reason behind them.
For example, he had to add 15 milliliters of distilled water halfway through the concoction process. This step seemed ordinary, so why must he add water, and why must it be 15 milliliters? Bai Xiaowen had no idea the kind of complicated proportional formula there was.
Besides, Sun Hecheng took the initiative to teach Bai Xiaowen so that he could understand the profundities of making potions. Pharmaceutics was profound and it was impossible to learn it just by looking at it. Hence, he was very delighted to hear Sun Hecheng's words.
The teaching began.
During the concoction process, Sun Hecheng explained the principles behind each step to Bai Xiaowen in detail.
"Look, the beaker is boiling. Under the influence of the Kerrilla Vine Powder, the bull's blood inside has already turned dark blue. At this point, you can add the Golden Orange Pollen. Be sure to take note of the amount. There's a formula here. The ratio of Golden Orange Pollen is related to the amount of the Bull's Blood Crystal and Kerra Vine Powder. You can't put too much or too little…"
Sun Hecheng carefully shook the Golden Orange Pollen that he had already measured out into the beaker.
In just two seconds, the liquid in the beaker turned from blue to golden.
Sun Hecheng checked on the potion before adding two more rounds of distilled water and slowly cooled it. He carefully looked at the concentration and transparency of the liquid in the beaker and nodded. "All right, this Brutal Bull's Strength combat potion is successfully concocted. The purity of the potion won't be lower than 85%. It's a high-quality product."
Bai Xiaowen had Insight, so he was able to see more clearly.
[Brutal Bull's Strength]
[Potion Grade: Grade 1 Level 3]
[Purity: 82% (Excellent)]
[Composition: Barbaric Bull Blood 13.84%, Kerrilla Vine Powder 1.77%, Golden Orange Pollen 4.74%, Water 79.65%]
[Effect: Increases Strength by 6 points for 120 seconds.]
Bai Xiaowen was secretly impressed. Sun Hecheng could tell the purity of the potion based on his experience alone. This was definitely a result of having concocted countless bottles of potion. It was almost comparable to his Insight talent.
The combat potion only had temporary strengthening effects. It was mainly used in combat situations where one needed to have explosive power because survival was impossible. Although it could not permanently increase one's strength like the enhancement potions, the combat potion's enhancement effect was very high and was often favored by Awakened.
Of course, there were also restrictions on the use of combat potions. They could only be consumed once in a battle. This was also the reason why the price of combat potions was relatively low. Other than the purchasers sent by large guilds, no one would buy combat potions in large quantities. Even the Awakened who often roamed the wilderness would not do so.
"How much did you learn just now?" Sun Hecheng asked.
"Can I try?" Bai Xiaowen asked cautiously.
"Haha, of course. The ingredients for the Brutal Bull's Strength potion are nothing." Sun Hecheng smiled and said, "However, if you want to use more expensive ingredients to practice, you have to sign a stricter commercial contract with the shop."
Every assistant who became a pharmacist had to use a large amount of medicinal herbs to practice. Once they became a pharmacist and were poached by other shops, the shop would suffer a huge loss. Therefore, if the assistant wanted to be nurtured, he had to sign a contract with the shop. If he left before the period stated in the contract, he had to pay a considerable penalty.
Bai Xiaowen nodded. One set of medicinal herbs was enough for him.