“I have new information" said the elf who entered a small branch of the cave that functioned as something like an alchemist's laboratory.

  It had been over a month since May had moved here, in fact, it was almost two months.

  At first, she thought it would take less time, but the entire sect was busy fighting the Goblin King, who had caused the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. His army was a much greater threat than some parasites whose territory was limited to a single mountain.

  “The sect will probably send a High Elder soon to deal with the situation.” he said, while a white dove sat on his shoulder, whispering in his ear.

  “They’re not in a hurry.” May replied, mixing herbs.

  The room was filled with a terrible and overwhelming smell of burning. This was her second attempt at making the potion she had received the recipe for from an elf.

  “They have no reason to. They assumed that no one had survived. The parasites are also aware that they must flee. For the first time in a long time, there was chaos among them on the academy grounds.”

  Scar had the ability to control animals; he was their master and trainer. He ordered the birds to watch the academy from above.

  “Are they preparing to escape?” she asked.

  “Yes, contrary to appearances, these parasites are not that strong, and they are easy to detect. They can only prey on the weak. The only reason they managed to take over the academy was because of the ongoing war. However, with a Golden Core cultivator, they don't stand a chance.”

  May was slightly pleased, but also slightly concerned. She would have preferred them all to die rather than escape.

  “Any news about my sister?”

  “Still nothing. They haven't managed to take over anything except the academy for young children. Pathetic creatures.” he replied.

  “Are you sure that Elder can handle it?” she asked.

  “You don't realize how strong they are. It's a completely different level. Foundation Establishment is the limit of what the parasites can take over. That's why they never left the Swamp Monster area,” he said. “As soon as the snow melts, the Inner Court will take action.”

  But for some reason, they left their territory. the Elf thought.

  An attack and war with the goblins, as well as the parasites. The Elf knew that something was causing all kinds of monsters to leave the Swamp Monster territory. Something terrible. The Elf himself was born there, so he understood well that something big was brewing. However, he shook his head, knowing that it was none of his business.

  “The proportions are wrong. Too much Cardiac Weed and not enough Superb Parsley. It should be 1:4.5, not 1:4.35.”

  May was slightly annoyed. She had no scales or other measuring instruments here. In this world, such things were expected to be done by eye. However, for May, it was torture; she was used to the precisely calibrated machines of the modern world.

  May sighed. She had learned from Scar that there were machines that could help with such things, but they were rare and generally not used. For some reason, most alchemists in this world preferred to rely on their own experience and intuition rather than machines.

  Despite her recent difficulties, her alchemy skills had skyrocketed. Although Elf specialized in agriculture, his knowledge of alchemy was probably the best in the entire Eastern Outer Court.

  Having a personal teacher was much more effective than studying at an academy, where teachers had to divide their attention among many students. In addition, she was able to learn potions that no one else knew.

  “You have a talent for alchemy,” he said, nodding his head. “You are patient, but also composed, you have the most important qualities needed to practice this profession.”

  He didn't expect this, most people, especially those so young, tried to rush too much, which caused them to make mistakes. May, however, performed even the simplest tasks slowly and carefully. She didn't seem to be bothered by failure either. Most people would be angry after a few failures.

  Well, I have experience in a laboratory from another world. I'm used to this kind of work.

  May had spent a large part of her life doing tedious and repetitive laboratory work. To tell the truth, the elf's laboratory was exciting for her: here she could experiment with proportions and look for the right solutions.

  “I have something for you,” said the elf, showing her something she didn't recognize at first.

  “Wait... No, I can't accept this, it's too precious...”

  It took her a moment to realize what he was holding in his hand. It was ginseng. She didn't recognize it because of its golden color, which indicated its age. It was thousand-year-old ginseng!

  Although she had read and heard about it, it grew only in the wildest and most remote corners of the forest and was absolutely priceless, even to cultivators at the Golden Core stage.

  The elf shook his head, however.

  “It's worthless to me, I had already reached my limit when I decided to bind myself to this mountain. You, on the other hand, have slowed down your cultivation progress by living here.”

  Although this was true in theory: her progress had been slower with cultivation, but it was still faster than most people. In addition, although she had no one to help her with cultivation, the alchemy lessons she received from Scar were just as valuable, if not more so.

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  “Maybe, but it's still a little...” She couldn't find the words to express it.

  “I know more or less what you mean,” he replied calmly. “But I've gotten to know you well enough to know that you don't hold hatred for elves in your heart...”

  Well, in her childhood, she had been told that elves were worse than monsters, that they ate children, treated humans as slaves, and considered themselves gods... But she had always viewed it as a fairy tale for children. As a person born in the 21st century, it was difficult for her to seriously treat elves different, as they were basically just ordinary humans that had long ears.

  “You won't betray me either, because you know the consequences...”

  That was true: if she had turned him in, he would have revealed the relationship between him, May, and her mother during the interrogations in revenge. And the fact that her mother had helped him was punishable by death. Even if there had been no risk in betraying him, she still wouldn't have done it, because why would she? For a few gold coins? Friendship with someone so powerful is more valuable.

  “That's the decision I've made. Now we'll prepare the potion together, and you'll learn something in the process.”

  She was moved by this, knowing that it must have been worth millions of mu.

  However, I think he also does it because he is lonely...

  During her time here, she learned that she was the first person he had spoken to (who wasn't an unintelligent beast) since her mother! So he hadn't had anyone else to talk to for decades.

  She suspected that this might be the reason for his talkativeness and his extraordinary hospitality towards her. He helped her not only because of his debt, but also because of his loneliness. However, it worked out to her advantage.

  They proceeded to brew a potion from thousand-year-old ginseng.

  “I found this recipe over two hundred years ago in the Swamps... I never had the chance to use it and thought I never would...” he said.

  Ah, so this was also his first time.

  The recipe was written in a strange variation of a language she knew. It resembled a dialect, and May was only able to understand seventy percent of it. The elf, however, had no problem with it and explained the meaning of various words to her.

  “You're really knowledgeable. How do you know this variation of the Common Tongue?” she asked.

  “It's a dialect used by people living near the Swamp Monster Area. They're quite isolated, hence the differences,” he said with satisfaction, proud of his knowledge. “But it's nothing special when you've lived as long as I have.”

  It made sense. Although she didn't know his age, he was certainly old. Theoretically, you don't have to be a genius if you live a long life.

  They began with preparations. First, May thoroughly cleaned the tools needed to prepare the mixture.

  Then she began to grind the High Cowish Grass, which would serve as the base, into a fine powder and mixed it with Reinforced Moon Water at a concentration of about 87%, then lit a fire.

  Scar took care of the thousand-year-old ginseng, as it was too precious to waste, so May just watched as the elf skillfully removed impurities from the ginseng and then processed it in various liquids.

  Alchemical processes were very tedious and time-consuming. This was especially true here, where a higher-grade pill was being prepared. Too much haste could compromise its quality.

  May was preparing a pill for the first time; until now, she had only made common-grade potions. Their preparation took an hour or two at most and consisted mainly of mixing ingredients.

  Here, just preparing the base took over five hours.

  “Well, we've got the basics done, now for the hardest part.”

  “The basics?” May was devastated, her whole body covered in sweat. Her mind was extremely sluggish, as she had been working non-stop for hours. She was even afraid to drink water, as something could happen at any moment.

  “Yes, now comes the longest stage of combining the ingredients... It will take at least twelve hours of continuous work, if not longer,” he replied.

  May was shocked at how much work it required. Admittedly, the elf was responsible for most of the work, while she mainly cleaned and moved ingredients, as well as taking care of less important tasks that required simple movements, such as mixing two ingredients continuously for half an hour.

  “You should rest.” Scar said. “I'll take care of the rest.”

  “No.” She refused. Although she was tired, she might never have the opportunity to make pills of such quality again. She couldn't miss it. She watched the elf's every move closely, wanting to understand as much as possible.

  At her words, the elf smiled and nodded.

  Scar wasn't lying. The next stage was far more difficult. For the first time since arriving in this world, she had a headache. Being in the cave all the time meant she had no sense of time, but she felt that almost a whole day had passed.

  With great mental effort, she tried to measure out the right amount of Vernian Snake Venom.

  Then she strained her muscles and crushed more herbs in the mortar.

  It took many hours of crushing, mixing, heating, distilling, and separating. She was also impressed by Scar, who was doing much more than she was.

  Finally, after many hours, they finished.

  Although it was supposed to be a “pill,” it was actually the size of her entire fist. It was huge, yet she felt a great energy emanating from it.

  The elf handed it to her.

  “Here, first you should rest, then take it. Go to sleep.”

  He was right, she was very sleepy. If she wanted to use it all, she had to rest first.

  She thanked the elf many times and made her way to her room.

  She decided to check the description of the pill.

  Four... million!

  She had never seen such a large amount of money in her life and was in complete shock. She had also never seen an item of higher rank than rare...

  Rare... Very Rare... Epic and Pseudo-legendary! That's more than 4 steps higher, this pill is priceless!

  She considered selling it to the system, but realized that the elf would notice that her cultivation had not increased, so she abandoned the idea. The pill was valuable in itself, and there was no point in selling it.

  It's just a shame that the quality is Superior, rather than perfect. It's one level lower in quality.

  Until now, all the pills they bought were of perfect quality. However, it was logical, as the system did everything perfectly, and the work of human hands was not always so. She knew she wouldn't regret eating it.

  But first she had to rest.