"A Potion of Youth?"
Anbaixiu's face was calm, but his heart surged like stormy seas. What earth-shaking upheaval was this? He had only been away for a few days, and Isabel had already concocted a Potion of Youth?
Could it be that he had been stifling her talent while he was around, so the moment no one was watching over her, the girl had advanced into a legendary alchemist?
If he had known earlier, why the hell would he have become a lich? He could have just grabbed the girl... Oh, wait, no. He hadn't reincarnated because he couldn't brew a Potion of Youth, but because the ingredients were too expensive.
Could it be that the elves had reopened exports of magical herbs, bringing down the price of the Potion of Youth?
No, what did that have to do with Isabel? Leaving aside whether she could brew a potion of that caliber, even if ingredients were available, it wouldn't be Isabel's turn to mass-produce it, would it?
Could it be the God of Alchemy stirring up trouble again?
Just as Anbaixiu was about to ask a few more questions, Cardina, the maid he had met earlier, reappeared and addressed everyone: "Gentlemen, Miss Isabel is receiving you in the drawing room. Please follow me."
Young Master Mark didn't bother speaking to Anbaixiu anymore and hurried after her. The others did the same, terrified of falling behind, all eager to leave the deepest possible impression on Miss Isabel.
Curious as he was, Anbaixiu was in no particular rush. He simply blended into the crowd to see what mysterious methods Miss Isabel possessed to produce a Potion of Youth.
Though the castle had been renovated, the general layout remained unchanged. This parlor had originally been a laboratory, now slightly remodeled. A large table stood in the center, laden with bottles and jars, with rows of empty chairs arrayed in front of it.
It looked far more like a laboratory for lectures than a reception parlor.
Even so, Young Master Mark and the others obediently found seats, bickering briefly over the front row. Had Cardina not stepped in to dissuade them, they might have come to blows on the spot.
Anbaixiu picked a seat toward the back and quietly sat down. As fate would have it, Young Master Mark ended up beside him again.
The young man's collar was slightly crooked; having failed to snatch a seat in the scuffle, he had turned around only to find the first three rows completely filled, leaving him no choice but to sit at the very back with Anbaixiu.
Anbaixiu remarked casually, "Young Master Mark, we really seem to have quite a bit of fate between us."
"Hmph, I want no 'fate' with someone from the desert."
Endel Mark seemed to be venting his frustration over missing a good seat onto Anbaixiu, not showing him the slightest bit of pleasantness.
Anbaixiu could only sigh inwardly. The youngsters from certain families truly knew nothing about doing business. Who went around offending people like this? The world was round; who knew when you might need to collaborate with someone? It might very well be someone you had previously crossed.
Anbaixiu was completely different. No matter whom he did business with, even if he slashed at them with the sharpest knife, he always did his best to keep a smile on his face. You could take actions to the extreme, but you should never push your words to a dead end.
Since Young Master Mark had no desire to chat, Anbaixiu stopped talking as well and instead carefully observed the bottles and jars on the table.
He could identify ninety percent of the ingredients; only an orange-yellow solution sitting on the far right left him uncertain.
It looked like slime mucus, but the color was rather strange. Had the purification been done poorly, or were impurities left unfiltered? Why were there so many tiny white specks suspended in it?
Before Anbaixiu could figure it out, Isabel appeared before the crowd.
After not seeing each other for so long, Isabel's appearance hadn't changed much. She still wore very plain clothes, but her demeanor was completely transformed. The once timid, introverted girl could now greet everyone with graceful poise.
"Thank you all for coming. I believe everyone is here for my potion, so I won't waste your time. First, I will demonstrate the concoction process and its efficacy. Afterwards, you may begin bidding."
Isabel delivered these words in a businesslike tone, then focused attentively on handling her alchemical materials.
Extraction, heating, stirring, and blending... The series of maneuvers made even Anbaixiu praise her silently. The girl had made great strides; many operational nuances he had never taught her, yet Isabel had figured them out on her own.
*Could it really be a blessing from the God of Alchemy? What on earth is that old geezer up to?*
Anbaixiu badly wanted to take out that legendary gold coin and have a good chat with his teacher. A fine thing like a divine blessing—why hadn't he given it to him? What was the meaning of giving it to Isabel?
After working for about twenty minutes, Isabel held up an exquisitely beautiful potion. It was as if the starlit sky had been condensed inside: against a deep blue base, silver specks of light sparkled throughout. Put into a finer vial, it could easily serve as an expensive ornament.
Anbaixiu could also tell that this was not a Potion of Youth—or rather, it had nothing whatsoever to do with a Potion of Youth.
Yet Isabel handed the vial to the maid beside her, Cardina. The old woman drank the starlight potion without hesitation; judging by her expression, it didn't taste bad.
A dozen seconds after Cardina drank it, the white-haired, wrinkle-faced old woman transformed into a youthful maiden in her twenties.
Anbaixiu's soul fire nearly burned straight out of his eye sockets. Can this stuff really restore youth?!
This wasn't any effect of Polymorph, but a genuine alteration of the flesh!
At this point, Isabel explained, "A single bottle can make someone younger by anywhere from ten to thirty years, depending on the drinker's absorption. However, it only lasts for three to five days, and it cannot be taken again within one month of use, or there will be side effects of dizziness and vomiting.
"Although no other side effects have been found for now, this is a new type of potion after all, so we do not rule out the possibility of new side effects appearing later. In other words, we take no responsibility for any other effects of this potion. Our starting price is thirty gold coins per bottle, in the same volume as demonstrated just now. You may now begin placing bids."
Even though Isabel's words sounded utterly irresponsible, much like shady merchants peddling unregulated knockoffs, the moment she finished speaking, the young people below erupted into frenzied bidding.
Starting from thirty gold coins a bottle, within a short span it was called up to five hundred, and it kept climbing rapidly.
Anbaixiu calculated quickly. Excluding that bottle of mucus whose nature he didn't know, the other ingredients combined probably cost around twenty gold coins. That meant the bottle of mucus alone cost ten gold coins—which was indeed not cheap, but if produced in bulk, the cost could be pressed down further.
In other words, a cost of under thirty gold coins could sell for five hundred gold coins a bottle! The profit margin was so high it made Anbaixiu green with envy.
Anbaixiu had once looked down on Harvey's way of making money through gambling, because after bustling around for half a month, he might only make tens of thousands, only to have to deal with endless trouble afterward. Now, looking at Isabel's new product, he suddenly felt as though he were the one being looked down upon.
But Anbaixiu soon let it go. Wasn't Isabel's stuff essentially his anyway?
Seeing how lively the bidding was, Anbaixiu called out a high price: "Eight hundred gold coins!"
The previous bidder had only just shouted six hundred and fifty gold coins. Anbaixiu jumped straight to eight hundred, a figure that gave quite a few people a fright.
Young Master Mark beside him looked at Anbaixiu in shock and couldn't resist snapping, "Do you even know how to do business? Bidding eight hundred—are you here just to cause trouble? Transportation costs, sales costs, plus the upfront advance payment needed to stock the shelves—do you have any idea how much risk you're taking?"
Anbaixiu glanced at Endel Mark and smiled. "Young Master Mark, you're still underestimating the market for this potion. Right now, alchemical products are exceedingly scarce. In another two months, the continent's thirst for alchemical potions will reach its peak. By then, even a random bottle of Vigor Potion will command an astronomical price, let alone a miraculous potion like this.
"Is eight hundred gold coins a bottle expensive? A genuine Potion of Youth costs five hundred thousand a bottle; even if the price starts dropping now, it won't fall below three hundred thousand. It's merely eight hundred gold coins—even if I raise it to a thousand, people will scramble to buy it."
Endel Mark retorted, "A true Potion of Youth doesn't have any duration limit! Restoring thirty years of youth means actually being thirty years younger. This potion only lasts three to five days. It's completely different!"
Anbaixiu wagged a finger and continued, "Young Master Mark, I think you've lived in comfort for too long to understand just how crucial a youthful state of three to five days can be. An illness that poses no problem at all to the young can be fatal to the elderly. If they can't afford a five-hundred-thousand-gold Potion of Youth, can they not afford one for a thousand gold coins?
"With just three to five days of youthful vitality, a doctor can perform surgery on a patient or use treatments that an elderly body couldn't withstand, saving a life.
"Furthermore, I believe everyone here understands that while taking lovers is commonplace for nobles, it can never be aired out in public. This potion not only restores your vigor, but also reduces the chance of being recognized. Who would imagine that an old count in his sixties or seventies could turn into a young man and party all night?
"Five hundred thousand isn't cost-effective for them, and after becoming young again, they'd have to face the resentful glares of their heirs. After all, you can't buy five-hundred-thousand-gold Potions of Youth for all your children. And if you become thirty years younger, how long will they have to wait before inheriting your title? The very next day might see a family tragedy where the old man ends up dead at his son's hands.
"But what if it's only a thousand gold coins to be young for a few days and experience that feeling of youthful vitality? I'm confident none of those nobles would refuse. Nor would there be any nasty repercussions.
"Consider other scenarios as well. When the young children can't yet support the family, while the elders are too frail and worn down by old age to toil, the elderly lack the energy to plan and strategize for their descendants when the family's future hangs in the balance. At such a moment, if there's a potion that can restore a few days of youth, might the family's future not turn out completely different?"
Chapter 235