Chu Ying did not immediately enter a state of study; he merely scanned the collected knowledge clustered in the intellectual heart, grasped its contents, and then withdrew. However, he did commit to memory the preparation process for a High-Grade Gene Activation Potion—a fourth-level agent that carried a one-in-five chance of awakening a sub-human, second only to the top-tier eighth-level Gene Activation Potions.
He ignored the rest; there would be ample time to learn those later if he desired.
Yang Ying waved his hand, dismissing the light orbs floating in the air, and turned his gaze to Layla. Layla appeared as if she intended to study there for a while, currently absorbing knowledge from one of the orbs.
Yet, upon noticing Yang Ying looking at her, her expression became slightly hesitant. She, too, dispersed the light orbs near her. Interrupting her retrieval process didn't matter much; the Empire’s memory transmission technology was highly mature, and knowledge already accessed would not vanish from the mind. Moreover, the orb had left a bookmark-like tag in her data-slate, allowing her to resume reading next time.
“I want to see the Core Laboratory,” Yang Ying stated. “Sorry to interrupt your studies. If you’re not free right now, I can go ahead first.”
“It’s fine. Since I’m already admitted to the academy, I can come anytime. Having company to tour the campus feels much better than going alone.” Layla added, blinking her eyes and flashing a playful smile, “Isn’t there a saying—‘When a man and a woman work together, the work is not tiring’?”
“When a man and a woman work together, the work is not tiring?”
At her words, Yang Ying nearly assumed Layla was also from Earth. But he quickly realized that the Imperial language possessed similar colloquialisms. In fact, the Empire's language and culture, having developed over hundreds of millennia, possessed an accumulation of vocabulary, idioms, and set phrases far exceeding that of Earth. Yang Ying laughed, “You’re right. Let’s go together.”
It was worth noting that when Yang Ying was on Red Cloud Star, he spoke the Common Imperial Tongue. It was the same when he arrived at Glacier Star. However, upon entering the academy, the speech of those around him abruptly shifted to the Noble Imperial Language, as this language was the foundation of scientific research, its expressive capability several levels higher than the Common Tongue. Tissia, Layla, Dimas, the other cadets, and even the commoner Dannan, all spoke the Noble Language—also known as the Spirit Tongue. Thus, Yang Ying naturally switched to speaking the Noble Imperial Language as well.
Leaving the library, the two proceeded to the Experimental Building of the Potion Division.
The Medical School comprised over twenty buildings within Glacier Central Academy. The Potion Division occupied two of these: one handled teaching and administration, and the other was dedicated to experimentation. They had already visited the former building.
The Potion Experimental Building was a four-story structure shaped like a flattened cylinder. The windows on the exterior wall encircled the building, coiling upwards in a spiral ascent. The shape was highly regular.
After showing their student IDs to the robotic gate attendant at the entrance, the two successfully entered. The attendant also handed each of them a set of Laboratory Usage Guidelines, which clearly explained all the necessary common knowledge for a novice entering the labs.
The Experimental Building was a restricted zone, and new students were not allowed to wander freely. Many people were synthesizing potions here, and spiritual processing required absolute concentration; being disturbed at a critical moment could lead to synthesis failure.
Any potion synthesized in this building was no low-grade item, costing at least six figures in Imperial Credits per dose. If something went wrong, where would the responsibility ultimately lie? Disputes arising from such incidents were far from rare.
The Experimental Building had no fixed floor layout. On the exterior was a spiraling corridor, and every few steps along this corridor was a laboratory. The higher one ascended, the higher the security clearance. In total, the building housed forty-eight laboratories—a number deemed sufficient, as a time when all labs were occupied had not occurred in over a century.
Within the Potion Division, numerous mentors guided students in potion synthesis and the development of new medicines. Naturally, this work was mostly conducted in virtual laboratories. If real materials were used, the results usually appeared only near the end of the process; consequently, the physical experimental building was often quite empty.
As freshmen, Yang Ying and Layla held low clearance levels and did not yet qualify to request real materials. However, they already possessed the authorization to activate virtual laboratories.
Glacier Central Academy possessed a long history, and restrictions, many of whose origins were untraceable, were numerous. But having been passed down for so long, they had become established customs and were thus unaltered.
One such rule dictated that freshmen could only log into their virtual laboratories while inside the Experimental Building. Perhaps this was meant to motivate freshmen to strive harder, or maybe to acclimate them to the environment of a real laboratory—who knew? It was simply the established way.
The most authentic virtual laboratories were constructed upon the foundation of the Simulation Realm, their rules adhering as closely as possible to the real world, rendering them virtually indistinguishable from reality. Experiments conducted in the Simulation Realm could be replicated in the physical world.
The greatest advantage of the virtual laboratory was the open supply of materials—inexhaustible and never-ending. One could repeat failures as many times as necessary without worrying about wasting materials. All manner of wild ideas could be put to the test here, and even the most spectacular failures would only result in the loss of easily regenerated virtual resources.
Whether one sought to train spiritual processing abilities, learn the synthesis methods for various potions, or invent new ones—the virtual laboratory was the best helper for any pharmacist. There was one other noteworthy detail: one could log into a virtual laboratory even after leaving the Experimental Building, or even leaving the campus area. That external virtual laboratory looked the same as the standard ones, but its essence was vastly different.
The external lab was merely for show; it was not built on the Simulation Realm. Some of its rules differed from the real world. It was fine for casual play, but for scientific research, it was an outright fantasy.
Most critically, external labs did not support spiritual processing, and without spiritual processing, high-level potions could not be synthesized at all.
Therefore, that system had an unofficial moniker: the "Shell Lab," descriptive of its appearance being entirely without substance inside.
However, access to virtual laboratories was not strictly confined to the Experimental Building. Once the freshman year was over, excellent performance in the year-end evaluation would grant the qualification to log into the Simulation Realm virtual labs from outside the building.
If an excellent grade was not achieved in the first year, obtaining a satisfactory grade in the second year would also grant this privilege—serving as motivation for the students.
Furthermore, if the Dean’s approval could be secured, even a freshman could immediately gain this qualification.
Now, returning the focus to the Experimental Building, after clarifying these regulations, Yang Ying and Layla each requested to open a virtual laboratory.
Virtual laboratories were not free; they had to be rented, much like the computer labs in Earth universities, which weren't open to all students without cost.
The fee, however, was not high—just one Imperial Credit per hour, matching the price of private rooms on the sixth floor of the library.
In the center of the ground floor lobby of the Experimental Building stood a crystal sphere, about a person’s height. This was the building's information terminal and the place to rent virtual labs. Yang Ying projected a blue beam of light from his forehead into the crystal sphere. A transparent panel for renting a virtual lab immediately appeared before him. He manipulated the panel with his fingers, setting the duration for one hour and paying one Imperial Credit.
Layla performed the same action. Her data-slate was a necklace worn across her chest, emitting a jade-green light as she used it.
A robot approached to guide them, leading the pair down a sloping ramp to the basement level. Here lay a row of small rooms prepared for freshmen. These rooms were specifically for logging into the virtual labs, as a person entering a virtual world became akin to being asleep, an inappropriate state for being in a public area.
Each small room was about ten square meters. Along one wall was a metal cot, apparently equipped with life-support functions. Underneath the opposite wall was an ordinary mat, lacking any life support.
Yang Ying sat cross-legged on the mat and logged into the virtual laboratory with ease. The surroundings instantly transformed into a clean, orderly lab: white walls, spacious area, and over a dozen large instruments capable of supporting the synthesis of any potion.
A robot was present in the room and greeted Yang Ying. “I am the pharmacist assistant robot for this laboratory. You may call me Assistant. I can prepare any raw material you require. Do you need Level Seven, Eight, Nine, or Ten? Even materials from the far reaches of the galaxy, or those already extinct, I can procure for you. Furthermore, I possess the capability for precise processing of medicinal ingredients; general treatment of materials can entirely be left to me.”
Hearing this, Yang Ying smiled, quite satisfied with the assistant robot. He organized his thoughts; back in the library, he had noted down the formula for a fourth-level agent, the High-Grade Gene Activation Potion, and now was the perfect time to test it.
“Then, please prepare the materials for one dose of the High-Grade Gene Activation Potion, Assistant,” Yang Ying requested.
“Please wait a moment.” The robot moved to a corner of the lab and opened a cabinet. Inside, there was no physical object, but rather a shimmering, distorted void, as if looking into a churning gel where even light seemed warped. The robot extended its right hand into this space. Its left hand suddenly morphed into liquid silver, extending to form a tray. It continuously pulled various materials from the cabinet with its right hand, placing them on the tray. Once all materials were gathered, it closed the cabinet and presented the tray before Yang Ying: “Here are your requested materials for one standard dose of High-Grade Gene Activation Potion.”
“Place them on the empty lab bench over there.” Yang Ying pointed to an empty workbench, then gestured toward the cabinet, asking, “What is this? How are you retrieving items from inside?”
The robot set the materials on the bench while answering, “The rules of the Simulation Realm are infinitely close to reality, which prohibits infinite replication of materials. Therefore, the cabinet connects to an Imagination Realm. I transmit a request for the material you need, it materializes in the Imagination Realm, and then I retrieve it through the cabinet. Once the cabinet is closed, the rules of the Imagination Realm can no longer affect the laboratory.”
A clever design, Yang Ying thought, praising it internally, and then commenced the experiment to synthesize the High-Grade Gene Activation Potion.
Wishing everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival and family reunion. Only one chapter today; I will make up the difference tomorrow. For the continuation of this story, please log in… for more chapters, support the author, support legitimate reading!