Chapter 196: The Emerald Tonic
In his previous life, Zhou Ning had never done this quest involving the collection of Undead Cores—he only knew the name of the alchemy shop: Doyle Alchemy Store. Its location was fairly remote.
Compared to the relatively affluent eastern trade district, this area was still bustling and noisy, but passersby were dressed more plainly—some even in rags.
Zhou Ning also noticed a new building under construction beside the garden and lawn in the center of the street. Word had it that it was going to be a new almshouse.
After searching around the vicinity, he finally located the alchemy shop in the far western corner. It looked newly opened, but business didn't seem too good. As soon as he walked in, he spotted a familiar figure.
Sitting in a wheelchair was an old man with a thick, stark-white head of stiff, unruly hair. Zhou Ning was stunned—wasn't that Old Turing?
He'd suspected before that this man might be a master alchemist, but he never expected the eccentric old man collecting Undead Cores to actually be him. Zhou Ning was pleasantly surprised.
What a small world.
Slowing his pace, he stepped inside and lifted his hat in greeting. "Hello, Mr. Turing."
Using Aura Vision, Zhou Ning sensed that Mr. Turing's health was in poor shape—his aura was dim. That is to say, while he wasn't suffering from any major illness, he was quite frail.
Old Turing turned to look at Zhou Ning and asked in surprise, "Wayne? What brings you here?"
"Pure coincidence," Zhou Ning replied with a smile. "I heard you're collecting Undead Cores?"
Turing's eyes lit up and he asked eagerly, "That's right! But I need high-quality ones. How many do you have? Show me."
A prompt appeared on Zhou Ning's interface:
[You have triggered D-Rank Quest: The Grand Alchemist's New Invention]
[Quest Description: The elderly man before you is a once-famous legendary alchemist of Bryston. He needs some Undead Cores. Give him 10 Undead Cores and he will reward you handsomely.]
[Quest Requirement: Hand over 10 or more high-purity Undead Cores.]
[Reward: 85,000 EXP]
This must be the quest. Zhou Ning was delighted and immediately accepted it.
He retrieved a pile of Undead Cores from his inventory—about thirty in total—and placed them on the table. "Are these high enough quality?"
"…Yes, they are," Mr. Turing said after examining them closely. "I can trade them for some of my specially made potions. I won't shortchange you—ten Cores of this quality per vial."
"Deal." That price matched what Zhou Ning had seen on the forums, so he agreed without fuss.
"Follow me." Old Turing wheeled himself deeper into the alchemy shop. Inside was a fully equipped alchemical laboratory.
He rolled up to the workbench and used tongs to take out three test tubes filled with emerald-green liquid, handing them to Zhou Ning. "This is an Emerald Tonic that slightly boosts mental strength. I'll trade these three vials for your 29 Undead Cores. You're welcome to browse the other items in my shop as well. If anything catches your interest, let me know."
"Alright."
Zhou Ning nodded and picked up a vial, giving it a gentle shake. It didn't look very appealing—kind of like sulfuric acid—but its utility was the real deal. Among all the potions players could acquire in his past life, it consistently ranked near the top.
Unlike the Mongoose Tonic, which had a chance of lowering other stats, the Emerald Tonic had no side effects whatsoever—making it extremely valuable to players.
After exchanging for the three Emerald Tonics, a system prompt appeared:
[Quest The Grand Alchemist's New Invention Completed]
[You gained 85,000 EXP]
[Darian Turing Favorability +30 – Trading Available]
Zhou Ning quickly spotted a personal shop entry on his game panel—Old Turing's item list. It included all sorts of strange and rare potions.
Some were even crafted by Master- or Legendary-level alchemists. In addition to the Emerald Tonic, there was the PVP artifact Refined Wisdom Tonic and the Elixir of Wind, which permanently increased movement speed.
Undead Cores could be used as currency here.
What surprised Zhou Ning most was that there was even a blueprint for the Emerald Tonic available. It was a Master-level recipe, though the price was outrageous—300 Undead Cores for a single copy.
There were also several bizarre and inexpensive formulae, most of which were unseen in the outside world.
Zhou Ning was overjoyed—he hadn't expected this kind of bonus. Good thing he had hoarded a bunch of Undead Cores from the expedition team; now he could splurge with ease.
He quickly selected three blueprints and bought them. The remaining Cores were just enough to trade for five more Emerald Tonics.
"I'll give you a word of advice," Turing added kindly after the transaction. "The Emerald Tonic can only be consumed up to five times per person. Any more, and it'll backfire."
Zhou Ning nodded to show he understood. He had now acquired eight vials of Emerald Tonic in total. While the extra three couldn't be used, he could still hold on to them for now.
"Wait…"
Just as Zhou Ning was about to leave, Turing suddenly called out to him. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "If you can, help me find some Life Cores as well. I'll reward you generously."
[You have triggered D-Rank Quest: The Grand Alchemist's New Invention II]
[Quest Description: Your friend Old Turing is now in urgent need of Life Cores. Give him 10 Life Cores and he will reward you handsomely.]
[Quest Requirement: Hand over 10 or more high-purity Life Cores.]
[Reward: 85,000 EXP]
"There's a follow-up?" Zhou Ning didn't hesitate and immediately accepted.
Life Cores drop from Nature-type monsters and are primarily used to craft potions that grant resistance to natural elements. There was a swamp near Novice Village in South Westshire full of Nature-type monsters. If memory served, the Adventurer's Guild even had a fairly difficult bounty quest located there.
Once he headed back to South Westshire to "harvest some greenhorns," he could work on both quests at the same time. As the saying goes: if the reward's good enough, even steel plating can be drilled through.
…
Leaving Doyle Alchemy Store, Zhou Ning was in high spirits. He had gained a lot this time. He planned to return to his home at 117 Gibbon Street and enter seclusion to craft items—time to replenish his depleted ammo and potions, and possibly begin work on his second job advancement.
Opening the simulator panel, he saw that the panda was still diligently pedaling the tricycle. The progress bar beneath it had already reached 49%. Zhou Ning paid it no mind and headed home by carriage.
When he opened the door, he saw that his hired housekeeper, Jacqueline, was busy at work. The coachman and maid-of-all-work had already been hired, and the whole house was spotless and in order. Zhou Ning nodded in satisfaction. Truth be told, Jacqueline perfectly matched his ideal image of a housekeeper: patient, professional, capable, and skilled at handling all kinds of trouble.
Her only flaw—she was just too old.
"I'll be busy in the lab for a while. Don't let anyone disturb me."
After dinner, Zhou Ning gave his instructions to Jacqueline.
"Understood, sir," she replied humbly.
Saying no more, Zhou Ning entered his lab and locked the door behind him.
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