Yang Ying had prepared a vast quantity of medicinal materials, enough to produce hundreds of thousands of doses of top-tier gene stimulant serum, stored in a dedicated warehouse at the Research Institute for his immediate access. This stockpile would serve as Yang Ying’s capital for his operations within the Empire.

To mask their origin, Yang Ying set his destination for several locations near the Glacial Star known for producing rare medicinal herbs. Of course, these materials were not simply sitting in storage; currently, fifty of Yang Ying’s clones on the Floating Continent were busy refining these raw ingredients into finished serums for the Terran race, enabling them to awaken their psychic powers, just like Katerina.

Formulating this Level Eight, Class Eight serum was exceedingly complex. The Protoss had only recently begun engaging with Imperial pharmaceutics, and only select members of the High Council possessed the capability to prepare such a mixture.

Furthermore, they were tasked with the critical mission of developing Ael Star, leaving Yang Ying to personally take on the burden of serum preparation. Statistical data indicated that if each of his clones worked at full capacity, they could produce around one hundred doses daily.

The initial failure rate hovered near two percent, but it had now plummeted to one ten-thousandth. Fifty clones thus meant five thousand doses per day, capable of awakening five thousand individuals.

While this number seemed substantial, it was, in reality, a mere drop in the ocean. The Terran race currently boasted a population in the hundreds of millions, with a daily increase exceeding one million.

The Terrans had already established numerous colossal production bases in the outer Solar System, housing countless incubation pods that churned out vast numbers of clone soldiers daily. These soldiers were armed to the teeth, organized into legions, and integrated into the Terran Mercenary Corps.

Five thousand doses of serum could not even satisfy one percent of the newly added population! Consequently, after deliberation by the General Staff, Yang Ying decided to proceed with the massive undertaking of universal awakening in phased stages.

The first phase was to awaken senior military commanders and officers holding critical positions, such as captains of battlecruisers, commanders at the Division level and above, and General Staff personnel. This group totaled around one hundred thousand individuals.

Since this phase had been initiated two months prior, it had now been successfully concluded. However, as new senior officers were continuously being promoted, several hundred doses from the daily production still needed to be reserved for them.

The second phase involved awakening all Ghost Agents. Ghost Agents were the unit type most reliant on individual combat prowess and judgment, making them the foremost beneficiaries of psychic power—the enhancement made them even more formidable.

The total number of Ghost Agents under Yang Ying currently hovered around three million, with tens of thousands of new ones being produced daily. Clearly, the daily output of five thousand doses alone would be insufficient to complete this second phase.

Fortunately, intelligence gathered by the Protoss High Council indicated that the first cohort of Protoss apothecaries capable of compounding top-tier gene stimulant serum would complete their training within a year, numbering approximately fifty to sixty thousand. Although their preparation speed was slower than Yang Ying’s clones, their sheer number meant they could ultimately produce nearly one million doses of top-tier gene stimulant serum daily.

At that point, Yang Ying’s clones could disengage from this task. The third phase, following the complete awakening of all Ghost Agents, would be the awakening of the entire Terran race.

It was conceivable that the combat clones produced daily would then ascend to an entirely new level, potentially numbering in the millions or even tens of millions. The initial batch of Protoss apothecaries alone could not accomplish this monumental feat, but Protoss apothecaries would continue to be trained in successive waves.

This phase would, eventually, reach completion. Returning to the present, using fifty clones for preparation, and supported by an unconstrained supply of raw materials, Yang Ying had already manufactured close to three hundred thousand vials of top-tier gene awakening serum.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. This massive volume of compounding had elevated his comprehension of the serum to an extraordinarily subtle level.

It was certain that no one in the entire Empire understood this serum better than he did. This proficiency was a contributing factor to his ability to master Level Nine serums within just two months.

The fiftyfold acquisition of experience points provided Yang Ying with an overwhelming advantage over other Imperial apothecaries. If such conditions did not allow him to rapidly master pharmaceutics, then his status as a peak Level Three practitioner would have been in vain.

Yang Ying spent ten days touring several rare medicinal herb production sites, such as the Umeckar Nebula, where a highly unique space-grass flourished. Imperial citizens referred to it simply as Umeckar Grass, named after the nebula.

It possessed many characteristics of a plant, yet its molecular structure differed fundamentally from flora growing on planets. Umeckar Grass required no air, soil, water, or sunlight, thriving in the thin vacuum of the nebula by absorbing cosmic rays and metabolizing the hydrogen gas within the nebula—a truly miraculous form of life and an essential raw material for top-tier gene stimulant serum.

Due to its incredibly slow growth and sparse distribution across hundreds of millions of kilometers, finding it was akin to searching for a needle in a haystack, long considered the most difficult raw material to procure for the top-tier gene stimulant serum. To increase its yield, the Empire had begun cultivating Umeckar Grass in various nebulae long ago.

Regrettably, environmental factors had a profound impact on its medicinal efficacy. Only the native Umeckar Nebula produced authentic Umeckar Grass; materials sourced from other nebulae were all substandard.

Substandard material could be used to formulate advanced gene stimulant serum, but only the genuine article was effective for compounding the top-tier serum. Yang Ying rented a starship and navigated through the nebula.

This was all part of a performance. Though he had no audience, he maintained his required demeanor, acting as if he had stumbled upon incredible luck and occasionally acquired some rare materials.

However, perhaps guided by his psychic abilities, he actually did find a single stalk of Umeckar Grass. Gazing at the palm-sized, silvery sprout displayed on the screen, Yang Ying paused.

One such stalk could be used twice, valued on the open market at approximately seven to eight hundred thousand Imperial Credits. He piloted the ship closer, retrieving the sprout using a tractor beam.

Once the Umeckar Grass was secured, he retrieved a high-frequency sonic knife from his portable tool kit—one of the standard field instruments for an apothecary. With the small blade, he gently slit a small sac at the tip of the Umeckar Grass and extracted three seeds, tossing them out through the ship’s waste disposal chute.

This was the customary procedure among apothecaries for handling Umeckar Grass; since the seeds were not needed for compounding, they were left behind in the nebula for posterity. If left untended for more than a few hours outside the nebula, the seeds would wither.

Fleeing without leaving the seeds behind was considered a violation of apothecary professional ethics. In addition to the Umeckar Nebula, Yang Ying visited several other locations.

Some yielded results; others did not. For him, however, the success of the harvest made no difference, as he had not come for these meager findings anyway.

Ten days after his departure, Yang Ying returned to Eternal Snow City. Before heading back to the Academy, he placed an order with a medicinal supply company.

The materials in the order consisted of common auxiliary components, industrially produced, available in any quantity, and not expensive—enough auxiliary materials for twenty doses of top-tier gene stimulant serum cost a mere ten thousand Imperial Credits in total. Yang Ying had also established similar production lines on the Floating Continent, even dedicating an entire industrial park to the production of various auxiliary pharmaceutical materials.

In his view, these items were not worth converting from silicon ore; reducing costs wherever possible was always prudent. Upon returning to the Academy, Yang Ying first sent a message to Dean Fascalen and Layah, notifying them of his return and mentioning that his expedition had yielded extremely large, astonishing results.

Soon, Dean Fascalen replied, requesting that he come to the Dean’s office for a meeting. Yang Ying arrived at the Dean’s office to find Vice-Dean Thisal, as well as Layah, Dannan, and Dimas already present, in addition to the Dean.

It was a rest day, so none of them had classes. After an initial greeting and some small talk, Dean Fascalen chuckled, “How was your ten-day trip out?” “Excellent,” Yang Ying laughed.

“I visited the Umeckar Nebula, along with Tusang Star, Kah Star, and others. I found quite a few good things.

I just returned from Rorran Planet.” “Rorran?” Dean Fascalen stroked his white beard. “Ah, there’s a trading market affiliated with the Imperial Apothecary Association there.

Did you visit it?” “As expected of the Dean,” Yang Ying nodded. “I did go inside.” “The trading market?” Layah interjected.

“Did you go there to buy materials?” “Heh,” Dean Fascalen laughed. “The Rorran Market specializes exclusively in the exchange of rare medicinal herbs—exchange only, no sales.

If Igor could get in, it must have been by using rare herbs he carried as a ticket.” Thisal added, “I’ve been to the Rorran Market a few times myself. There are many excellent items there.

If you needed one or two rare herbs for a specific formulation that you couldn't acquire elsewhere, you could try your luck there—provided you had rare herbs you didn't need and the other party was willing to trade.” “The Dean and Vice-Dean are correct,” Yang Ying confirmed. “I heard about the Rorran Market on my travels and decided to check it out.

Indeed, my haul was significant.” “Igor, did you perhaps trade for something good there?” Dannan inquired. “I traded,” Yang Ying nodded.

“And quite a bit.” Hearing this, the others immediately became energized. “Did you manage to assemble the formula for a certain Level Nine serum?” Layah asked, her eyes shining.

“Was it Level Nine Class One, Class Two, or something higher?”