Yang Ying’s life at the Academy began to settle into a routine: attending classes on schedule, then diving into the library to absorb knowledge, followed by logging into the virtual laboratory for practical verification.

He would carve out time once a week to visit the experimental building to create potions. The real-world laboratory bore a striking resemblance to the virtual one, clearly sharing a common heritage. A robotic assistant was also present in the physical lab to provide precision processing services.

Unlike the virtual lab, however, the real-world facility could not offer an unlimited supply of raw materials. The first time Yang Ying entered, he discovered that the two potions he coveted—the Youth Elixir and the Rejuvenation Draught—required exceptionally precious components. The weekly quotas for these materials had long been reserved; it seemed he was not the only one looking to profit from alchemy.

Other Level Seven potions rarely matched the profit margin of the Youth Elixir, though the Advanced Gene Activation Potion was one exception. However, its ingredients were even rarer, making reservations even more competitive than for the Youth Elixir. Some materials remained unsold each week, available for on-the-spot acquisition, but the resulting potions fetched meager prices, maxing out around four or five hundred thousand credits.

Thus, Yang Ying had no choice but to start by reserving materials for the following week. He put in requests for the Youth Elixir, the Rejuvenation Draught, the Advanced Gene Activation Potion, and several other high-profit potions he knew how to compound. The Academy would then select participants from the reserved pool, much like a lottery, notifying successful applicants via their optical computers to collect the materials.

On his first day in the physical lab, unwilling to do nothing, Yang Ying requested the materials needed for a Level Seven Healing Potion. This potion, one of the Level Seven, Class Five category, was incredibly versatile, capable of curing numerous ailments—it could almost be called a panacea. Cancers, leukemias, and similar diseases existed in the Empire, and a single swallow of the Level Seven Healing Potion cured them all.

"Panacea" sounded impressive, yet the market price for this potion hovered around only 250,000 credits, which is why materials for it often went unused. The reason for the low price was the Empire's highly advanced medical technology. Essentially, any ailment curable by healing potions up to and including Level Eight could be treated in an Imperial hospital for far less than 250,000 Imperial credits.

Consequently, healing potions below Level Eight were somewhat redundant. Few would willingly overpay for them, except for those facing inconvenient circumstances or having specific reasons.

However, once a healing potion reached Level Nine, the cost skyrocketed, representing a massive gulf between the two tiers—one in the heavens, the other on the earth. A Level Nine Healing Potion could cure diseases entirely resistant to conventional medical arts, causing its value to soar.

To return to the matter at hand, Yang Ying succeeded in reserving materials for the Level Seven Healing Potion. He compounded five doses in total. He entrusted four to the lab supervisor for consignment sale and purchased the remaining one himself, effectively getting it for half price since half the cost would eventually return to his pocket.

This single vial of Level Seven Healing Potion was the first true potion he had ever created. Yang Ying planned to take it back and submit it to the Floating Continent Research Institute, hoping they could unravel its essence and replicate it directly using raw silicon ore.

A few days later, the Institute sent back a message: replication was impossible. The reason cited was that the transformation of silicon ore was itself a process of precision engineering requiring high accuracy. While accuracy wasn't the issue, the process did not enter the realm of spiritual refinement; thus, the chance of directly replicating the potion was near zero.

Yang Ying frowned upon hearing this. If silicon ore couldn't be directly transformed into the potion, did that mean he had to compound every single dose himself?

The Floating Continent Research Institute had integrated Shen Clan scientists, evolving into a joint Human-Shen research facility. Their findings were, naturally, based on the combined technologies of both races.

After much deliberation, Yang Ying communicated with the high-ranking officials of both the Human and Shen races and devised a somewhat cumbersome solution: popularizing potion science throughout the entire Shen Clan.

Through the mental linkage of the Kala Path, Yang Ying could transmit potion knowledge directly to the Shen populace via the Optical Consul, Cass. The Advanced Gene Activation Potion was a Level Eight, Class Eight potion—neither low nor high in rank. While difficult to master, it wasn't beyond the Shen Clan's capacity to accept.

Given the intelligence of the Shen people and the direct transmission offered by the mental link, they could completely bypass the Empire's method of knowledge transfer via optical computers. Yang Ying merely had to will it, and he could instantly input the knowledge for the Advanced Gene Activation Potion into the Shen mental linkage network.

After weighing his options, Yang Ying proceeded with this plan. He bundled the potion knowledge he acquired in the Empire and injected it into the Shen mental linkage network, allowing them to learn through this spiritual medium.

For the Shen Clan, whose existing civilization was already magnificent—they were a race of perfect form, distinct from the essential perfection of the Insectoid race—their strength lay in their civilization and their spiritual connection to one another. Now, adding the art of potion-making to their existing framework seemed a logical step.

Privately, Yang Ying believed the Shen spiritual network, built upon energy matrices, surpassed the virtual network established by the Empire on optical computers.

Yang Ying held absolute faith in the Shen Clan, confident that once he obtained the database from the virtual laboratory, they would utilize it perfectly, ensuring he would never again lack top-tier Gene Activation Potions.

Another four weeks passed, and Yang Ying finally drew the quota for the Rejuvenation Draught. He had become quite proficient at compounding this Level Eight, Class One potion. Over those four weeks, he had mastered five more Level Eight, Class One potions and was now moving to attack a Level Eight, Class Two formulation.

After successfully compounding the Rejuvenation Draught in the lab, Yang Ying let out a sigh of relief. During the preceding four weeks, he had witnessed senior students weeping bitterly in the corridor of the experimental building after simple, low-level errors caused the entire compounding process to fail.

Sometimes, mastering potion-making in the virtual lab using simulated materials did not translate seamlessly to handling real materials in the physical world. A psychological factor was at play; undue nervousness, dwelling on the consequences of failure, often led directly to that failure.

Fortunately, these issues did not affect Yang Ying. His spirit had been forged on the battlefield; whether in the virtual lab or the real one, he could perform at his normal level.

He handed over the Rejuvenation Draught for consignment sale, smiling faintly as he saw the envious glint in the supervisor's eyes, and returned to await news.

Four weeks prior, it had taken a full day to sell his four doses of the Level Seven Healing Potion, netting him 500,000 credits. Today, however, as he walked out of the experimental building, news arrived: someone had already purchased the Rejuvenation Draught. Seven and a half million credits had already been transferred to his account.

Now, Igor's private account held over ten million Imperial credits. Yang Ying lived quietly at the Academy, rarely venturing out, spending his time either studying or experimenting, leaving him little opportunity to spend money, so it all accumulated.

Seasons turned, and without notice, a full year had passed since Yang Ying enrolled in the Glacier Central Academy.

On this day, Yang Ying shed his status as a freshman, becoming a proud sophomore. The new batch of freshmen had already entered the campus; this was the day the Academy reopened after its long vacation.

"Igor, Professor Thessia mentioned you stayed on campus throughout the break, absorbing a Level Ten course. Now that the break is over, were you successful?"

At the freshman welcoming gala, Laya managed to corner Yang Ying, bombarding him with questions. She hadn't seen him for the entire semester break.

"I was successful, and I've already passed the Dean's examination," Yang Ying replied, leaning against a corner of the multi-function hall. He watched the freshmen celebrating their entry into the Glacier Central Academy with songs and dances, the memory of his own arrival a year ago seeming vividly close.

"Which course did you choose?" Danan walked over as well.

Yang Ying paused before answering, "The Resurrection Potion."

"Level Ten, Class Ten, the Resurrection Potion!" Danan and Laya exclaimed in unison. Unnoticed until then, Dimas appeared beside the trio, moving as silently and suddenly as a phantom.

Level Ten, Class Ten, was without question the pinnacle of the Empire's potion classification system. The Resurrection Potion was a mythical super-elixir, said to exist almost only in legend. The last person recorded to have synthesized it was the Dean of the Potion Department at the First Royal Academy on the Capital Star, Du Neihow—who was also the mentor of Dean Faskelen of their own department, and a Level Four existence himself!

"Have you gone mad?" Laya asked, her eyes wide with astonishment. "The Resurrection Potion. It’s questionable whether materials to compound it even exist anywhere in the galaxy."

Yang Ying smiled faintly. "I believe the universe wouldn't allow something as miraculous as the Resurrection Potion to vanish so easily. Perhaps the materials needed to compound it remain hidden somewhere in a corner of the galaxy."

"You certainly are optimistic," Laya patted Yang Ying’s shoulder. "With this, your theoretical credits should be sufficient, right? One hundred Level Seven courses, twenty Level Eight courses, five Level Nine courses, and now one Level Ten course—you have them all. As for practical work, you mastered ten Level Eight potions half a year ago, and Level Nine potions shouldn't challenge you now. Perhaps during the break, you managed to synthesize the Level Nine potions? A master at the Third Level Limit!"

"Alas, I wish that were true, but it is not. Studying the principles of the Resurrection Potion has been difficult enough, consuming the majority of my break energy. My practical growth has been negligible. I am currently preparing to study Level Eight, Class Eight potions—my target is the Top-Tier Gene Awakening Potion, ha ha," Yang Ying said with a chuckle.