Chapter 419: Stirring Trouble? Let Them Stir

Chapter 419: Stirring Trouble? Let Them Stir

“Assembly line production method?”

At a quiet seating spot, the female young Magic Pharmacist asked with some confusion, not entirely understanding the term.

“To put it simply, it means dividing a complex task into several simple tasks. This lets many people share the difficult work, making the task easier and boosting efficiency. The Fixation Potion you saw earlier was made using this method.”

Zheng Yichen gave a simple explanation. The female Magic Pharmacist listened very attentively. Those who could become Magic Pharmacists, like Spellcasters, might not necessarily have sky-high IQs, but their intelligence was certainly not low. Even if high intelligence didn’t make them unbelievably clever, it significantly enhanced their memory. As for comprehension, it was also essential in the field of Magic Pharmacy. So, after Zheng Yichen’s clear and straightforward explanation, she immediately understood the concept of the assembly line. Soon, she had a new question: “But isn’t that quite difficult to do? Typically, brewing a Magic Potion requires completing it in one go, doesn’t it?”

Before seeing the kind of potion Zheng Yichen made, she would have definitely insisted it must be done in one go.

“Indeed, it’s not easy at all. The reason it could be applied to the Fixation Potion is because I have an extremely deep understanding of that specific potion, which allowed me to do it. However, even so, during the production process, something had to be added to keep the Base Potion stable without interfering with its properties. This means each portion of Base Potion is an independent recipe. Researching this would be very troublesome, but you’ve seen the operational results. With enough manpower, the production efficiency for one type of Magic Potion could be several times, even dozens of times higher than before!”

When requirements are high, few people qualify. But if the requirements are lowered by half, the number of qualified people could increase a hundredfold. The original method for making the Fixation Potion was very difficult. However, Zheng Yichen had truly researched the related independent Base Potion recipes. Saying production could increase dozens of times might sound exaggerated, but increasing it over tenfold was easily achievable.

“This is a theory, but I have already demonstrated it with the Fixation Potion. That means this method is entirely feasible. The problem lies in the additional research needed on the recipes themselves, or another type of research.”

“May I ask… what is that other research?” The female Magic Pharmacist was now completely drawn in by Zheng Yichen’s pacing.

“That would be researching a unique stabilizer specifically. This stabilizer would allow the recipes of those Magic Potions to be temporarily stable even after being split into several separate parts. After that, the extra research on the recipes would just involve calculating the mixing ratios for the Base Potions correctly. However, developing a stabilizer applicable to all Magic Potions would be incredibly difficult.”

“Yes.” The female Magic Pharmacist nodded in agreement. Each Magic Potion had different effects. Even if the theoretical stabilizer Zheng Yichen mentioned could be created, it couldn’t possibly match all Magic Potions.

“Don’t be discouraged. Although it sounds hard to achieve, we can solve it another way. The stabilizer doesn’t need to work for all Magic Potions; it only needs to work for a portion of them. Many potions have very similar effects.”

…

Jenna listened to the female Magic Pharmacist’s report, growing more and more surprised. This theory showed that Zheng Yichen must have had such ideas for a long time. But this time, he took the opportunity to lay it all out. Such a theory, in anyone else’s hands, would definitely not be revealed so easily. She understood very well how much wealth this theory could bring… if it succeeded, if it worked.

But the problem was they had already seen a successful example. The Fixation Potion was a high-end potion, and it had succeeded. With enough research, how could mid and low-tier potions not succeed too? Now they had the related theory and research direction. The Border Great Wall could be a bit ruthless, kick Zheng Yichen aside, and conduct the research themselves.

He was just one person studying this, while the Potion Department here could gather many Magic Pharmacists to research together. No matter how talented Zheng Yichen was, such tedious and complex research wasn’t something one person could handle alone.

As for researching each recipe to split it into Base Potions, that was indeed another method. But Zheng Yichen had already suggested a better way. The research focus would shift to the stabilizer, not splitting recipes.

After reporting the matter, the high-level decision from the Border Great Wall came quickly. The Potion Department gained another high-priority research project. By now, the exchange meeting had been going on for three days. Initially, many people were interested in Zheng Yichen, but during the following two days, not many were willing to approach him anymore.

They couldn’t get any information about Base Potions from him. The Potion Department had classified it as top secret. As for normal exchange, Zheng Yichen didn’t quite see eye-to-eye with them. They discussed traditional methods for innovating Magic Potion creation, developing new techniques based on that foundation. Zheng Yichen, however, directly innovated potions through conflict-based mutation… not to increase the chances of successful potion innovation in creation, but to rely on chance to peel away the unwanted?

Even though this novel theory made them curious, like the Magic Pharmacists from the old Potion Masters Association who rejected this method, they felt this approach was utterly destructive!! Veteran Magic Pharmacists like them could afford the consequences of such recklessness if they tried it, but once young Magic Pharmacists got caught up in it, they might never have a chance to recover.

After all, many young Magic Pharmacists, as long as they learned and researched step by step, could always carve out a decent path. Tradition meant sufficient stability, able to withstand storms and trials, rather than burying a large number of highly talented Magic Pharmacists, with only a few managing to succeed.

This might be acceptable during a peak period of Magic Pharmacist numbers, but if some crisis struck, it could sever the inheritance! Not to mention, with the attention Zheng Yichen was attracting now, once young Magic Pharmacists learned about this method, imagine how many might go astray… The fear wasn’t in trying, but in addiction!

It was a crooked path, like gambling. Once exposed, especially if lucky enough to taste success early on, addiction would only make one sink deeper!

After that, not only did no Magic Pharmacists seek exchange with Zheng Yichen, but those with apprentices also pulled their disciples far away from him, lest his unconventional methods ruin their own apprentices and turn them into good-for-nothings…

Even so, this method had already spread within this circle, planting a seed in many Magic Pharmacists’ minds. Even the Magic Weapon Forum had some related information. The Potion Masters Association noticed this problem immediately, but it didn’t affect them much now.

Someone had to step forward and bear the risks of this method no matter what. Now that Zheng Yichen had proactively explained it, the Potion Masters Association saved themselves the trouble, even feeling somewhat pleased. If Zheng Yichen ruined his own reputation through this behavior…

Presumably, the forces interested in him would decrease significantly. That would increase their own chances.

Relying on material conflict mutation in potions to produce more effects, relying on this uncertain outcome for innovative potion creation—even though the Magic Pharmacists who learned about it weren’t keen on spreading it carelessly, not everyone could control their mouths. A spark had already ignited in the dry grass. Without extinguishing it immediately, the fire would only grow stronger and stronger.

In the end, even the Potion Department was alarmed. Jenna hadn’t expected Zheng Yichen to stir up trouble like this. A proper Magic Pharmacist exchange meeting was forcefully dragged into a rather bizarre rhythm by him alone. Even some youngsters in the Potion Department couldn’t resist secretly imitating it in private.

They weren’t using high-tier potion materials, just very common, low-tier ones. But was this a good sign? Not at all! Low-tier potion materials had the greatest variety. This meant such materials were easily obtainable for Magic Pharmacists. Coupled with sufficient quantities, they could conduct a large number of experiments in a short time… The real impact wouldn’t show at this stage.

Once they achieved results, could they resist moving on to mid-tier or even high-tier materials?

“He really… knows how to stir things up.” Jenna rubbed her forehead, somewhat regretting letting Zheng Yichen attend the exchange meeting. Although, she thought, Zheng Yichen’s unique, unconventional approach was indeed special. An individual Magic Pharmacist couldn’t sustain it, but a faction with enough resources could fund such research. So, looking at it not from an individual’s perspective but from a faction’s, this was also a rare new path for Magic Potion research.

The problem was, most Magic Pharmacists wouldn’t view this from a faction’s perspective! Breaking tradition didn’t only bring praise; more often, it brought critical questioning. Clearly, after the previous wave of skepticism had barely settled, Zheng Yichen was once again at the center of the storm, and he had jumped into it himself this time.

As a person, how could you be so bold? Would it kill you to hold back a little? The Undying Witch was still causing trouble over there. If you want to grab headlines, wait until later. Why cause a stir right now?

As Jenna predicted, after this matter spread at the Magic Pharmacist exchange meeting, some people couldn’t resist jumping out again. Jenna could guess some of their motives… For instance, Zheng Yichen’s confident claim that this method worked, along with his successful examples, was probably to force him to expose some of his unique techniques.

But the question was, did Zheng Yichen care about these troublemakers?

“Stirring trouble? Let them stir. I don’t want to go through another experience of being intensely surrounded like before. Let them stir all they want.”