8mi The Hidden Map in Chapter 31 Notes
The Hidden Map in Chapter 31 Notes
The pen tip grazed the paper, making a soft scratching sound. Under the effect of [Magic Comprehension +20%], the words seemed to come alive.
This notebook records everything from the rate at which the medicinal properties of the same herb are released at different temperatures, how to select better quality materials, and even which shops offer herbs that are both inexpensive and effective.
However, after finishing copying one book, Li Ang's brows furrowed slightly.
At first, it was just a vague feeling. Under the intense concentration and the extraordinary insights brought by the quill pen, his vision seemed to penetrate the individual characters, noticing certain unusual patterns.
He stopped writing and stared intently at the contents of the notebook.
The handwriting in the notebook was neat, but the spacing was uneven. In certain paragraphs, the blank spaces between the words seemed to be... deliberately widened a little bit compared to other places? This difference was extremely subtle, and he would not have noticed it at all if he had not been experiencing a surge in his understanding at this moment.
Moreover, the locations where these widened gaps have been placed do not appear to be randomly distributed…
Li Ang's heart raced slightly. He immediately flipped back to the pages he had already copied and quickly browsed through them.
Sure enough, starting from the first page, those slightly spaced blank dots, if you ignore the text itself and connect them with invisible lines…
He picked up a quill pen, dipped it in ink, and on the back of a scrap of paper, tried to gently mark the center points of the several unusual blank spaces on the previous page, then connected them according to some kind of intuition.
A slightly tortuous, intermittent line faintly emerges.
This doesn't seem like an error from handwriting or simply a matter of layout habits; it's more like a concealment technique, hiding the real information within the most ordinary text layout.
Li Ang immediately perked up and began recording the information hidden between the lines, page by page.
Dots were continuously marked on the scrap paper, and the lines gradually increased...
After an unknown amount of time, when Lottie slowly awoke from her deep meditation, she was overjoyed to find that her previously empty spiritual world had finally gained a trace of spiritual power. She was so excited that she almost cried.
She wanted to share her joy with Li Ang immediately, but she saw him hunched over his desk, deep in thought, staring at a piece of paper covered with messy dots and lines.
"Mr. Leon?" Lottie called softly, her voice filled with barely suppressed joy.
As if waking from a dream, Li Ang turned around and looked at Lottie, whose face was filled with excitement, and asked.
"How's it going? Judging from your expression, there seems to be progress."
Lotte, as happy as a child, reported the results to Li Ang.
"Yes... Mr. Li Ang, thank you so much. I have finally... finally managed to gather a trace of spiritual power."
Li Ang nodded. This was much faster than he had expected, and it seemed the potion was working even better than he had anticipated. He calmly instructed:
"Now that you can sense and initially guide your mental energy, the rest is simple. You need to imagine a core in your own mental world. This core can be anything you feel can wrap around and condense the threads of mental energy, such as a spindle, a spool, or even a vortex. Then, try to continuously wrap those scattered threads of mental energy around this core."
Li Ang paused, then added details about the effects of the medicine and the subsequent arrangements:
"The potion's effects will last approximately three days. Try to meditate as much as possible each day, and come back to me after you've successfully gathered starlight. Then we'll proceed to the next step: learning how to brew the Night Owl potion."
"Yes, Mr. Leon. I will certainly not let you down." Lottie nodded vigorously, engraving every word Leon said into her heart.
She bowed solemnly to Li Ang once more before leaving his dormitory with light and quick steps.
After seeing Lottie off, Li Ang sat back down at his desk, his gaze once again falling on the scrap of paper covered with dots and lines. Lottie's successful entry into the class had eased his mind considerably.
He carefully put the paper away, placing it together with the notebook. The secrets hidden in the notebook were certainly tempting, but right now, improving his strength and earning resources were the most important things.
For the next two days, the small classes were suspended because all the reserve apprentices were punished by copying propaganda leaflets. Li Ang spent almost all his daytime hours in his mentor Eve's workshop.
On the workshop's order board, the demand for calming potions seemed perpetually high. Li Ang was happy with this, as it provided him with a stable source of silver coins.
After delivering another commission and seeing a few more gleaming silver coins appear in his purse, Li Ang turned his attention to two other important facilities in the workshop: the [Magic Heat Furnace], which provides a stable heat source for the crucible, and the [Rune Distiller], which produces distilled water. He had already upgraded all the upgradable facilities to LV2, and it was time to bind the new facilities.
【Magic Furnace: Lv0】
[Status: Bindable]
[Binding Cost: 5 Spirit Points]
[Rune Dispenser: Lv0]
[Status: Bindable]
[Binding Cost: 5 Spirit Points]
"Binding." With a slight thought, two strands of mental energy were extracted again and connected with the two facilities.
[Binding successful]
[Magic Furnace: Current Level Lv0]
[Current function: Provides a stable heat source]
[Level 1 Efficiency: Slightly adjustable temperature, heat transfer efficiency +10%]
[Upgrade Requirements: 1 Magic Stars in the Spirit World, 5 Spirit Points consumed]
[Binding successful]
[Rune Distiller: Current Level Lv0]
[Current effect: Improved efficiency in producing distilled water]
[Level 1 Effect: Distillation efficiency +10%, Water purity +10%]
[Upgrade Requirements: 1 Magic Stars in the Spirit World, 5 Spirit Points consumed]
The reason these two seemingly useless facilities were chosen is because Li Ang knew that the calming potion and night owl potion he was currently refining were only the most basic, beginner-level potions. Their requirements for temperature and water quality weren't extremely demanding, and with his current skills and the aid of these facilities, he could seemingly easily guarantee a high success rate and quality. However, when it came to more advanced potions, any slight deviation could lead to complete failure. Binding these facilities was to lay the foundation for intermediate and even advanced potions later on.
During the day, Li Ang refined medicine and accumulated funds. Back in his dormitory at night, he continued studying Mr. Polk's notebook, trying to decipher more secrets hidden between the lines. More and more dots and lines appeared, and the pattern on the back of the scrap of paper gradually took shape, seemingly pointing to a certain area within the tower, but its exact location remained unclear.
On the afternoon of the third day, near lunchtime, Li Ang returned to his dormitory from the workshop. He touched his chest; although he had left the damp cabin and his living conditions had greatly improved, and his cough rarely flared up, he still occasionally felt a dull ache deep in his lungs, especially after some slightly strenuous exercise. This old ailment of his body was like a buried nail, reminding him that his body was not entirely healthy.