Wizards: Starting with Fairy Crests

048: Water of Life

Lin Qi returned to his study in the manor and had just hung up his cloak, which was slightly damp from the forest, when a barely audible sound came from the corridor outside the door.

It's Lucy.

A few months ago, he certainly wouldn't have noticed it, but now, with the formation of the sixth Will Rune and a significant increase in his mental perception, his "grasp" of the surrounding environment is completely different.

A moment later, a regular knocking sounded: "Knock, knock, knock. Master, are you back?"

"Come in." Lin Qi sat down behind the desk.

The door was gently pushed open, and Lucy strode in. She was still wearing a dark gray travel cloak, the edges of which were stained with a little dust and night dew.

She took off her hood, revealing long, silver-gray hair and her signature cat ears, which were now trembling slightly.

She then strode to the desk, took out a small, square box made of ordinary oak from inside her cloak, and gently placed it on the table with both hands.

"Master, the matter has been resolved." Lucy said, unlocking the wooden box and lifting the lid.

The box was lined with absorbent lime, and on top of the lime lay a human head, its expression frozen in utter terror, mouth agape—

It was Jackman.

According to the information from Shadow's Nest's investigation, neither of them has any particularly strong background or identity. Their biggest advantage is that they are both apprentices of the same wizard, Hossman, as Lynch.

With his higher status and strength, Dai Senqi took matters into his own hands, while Jack Man Lynch arranged for Lucy to practice, so that even if she failed, he could clean up the mess.

Lynch's gaze fell on Jackman's wide-open mouth.

After a moment, he looked up at Lucy: "Did he say anything before he died?"

Lucy lowered her eyes slightly and recalled, "He...he called your name, Master. In his final moments, he seemed to understand something and asked in a hoarse voice...asked if it was you who did it, Master."

Ah!

A cold, sharp smile curved Lin Qi's lips.

This Jackman is actually a little smarter than that good-for-nothing Dyson.

Lucy took two steps forward, almost touching the edge of the desk, and looked up at Lin Qi. Her eyes, which had taken on some dark gold vertical pupil features, revealed an undisguised desire for recognition.

"Master," her voice had a slightly nasal, kitten-like quality, yet her posture inexplicably gave the impression that an invisible tail was gently swaying, "Was Lucy's cooking... alright?"

Lynch nodded: "Well done."

As he spoke, he subconsciously reached out and, as if petting a pet, first rubbed the pair of fluffy cat ears on the top of her head.

Then, his fingers slid down and gently rubbed her chin with his knuckles.

Lucy immediately let out a very soft, satisfied purr, like a kitten whose itch had been scratched. Her eyes involuntarily narrowed slightly, and her body relaxed a little.

Upon receiving explicit praise, Lucy's face immediately broke into a genuine smile.

However, beneath this joy of recognition, a clear trace of disappointment could still be seen deep within her light gray eyes.

More than touching, she hoped to have a physical relationship with Lynch.

After all, Lucy knew that there were few opportunities to prove her worth. Only those who were used habitually by their masters and even developed a dependence on them had a truly stable position.

Lynch had no idea what Lucy was thinking, nor did he have the energy to waste on such things.

Having traveled such a long way, we were inevitably a bit travel-worn.

So he said, "Come with me to take a bath."

The dejected kitten perked up immediately. Although she hadn't passed the next step, her owner still loved her body and would play with her during bath time, especially...

......

With Dyson and Jackman eliminated as potential threats, Lynch finally felt relieved.

With external disturbances temporarily subsided, he devoted all his energy and accumulated resources to a grander and more fundamental goal.

That is the eternal pursuit of all intelligent life, especially wizards who seek power and truth—

Life itself.

A few days later, deep within Lynch Manor, in the Potions Room.

The candlelight flickered and burned, the air was so clean that not a speck of dust was visible, and the temperature and humidity were precisely maintained within a specific range by the rune array.

In the center was a large workbench made from a single piece of anti-magic obsidian. On the workbench were neatly arranged dozens of processed materials, various crystal-clear glasswares, and several exquisitely crafted magical instruments.

Lynch stood in front of the worktable and changed into a specially made plain white robe that would not attract any particles.

His expression was one of unprecedented focus and solemnity, with a calm yet burning light gleaming in his eyes.

Today, he was going to try to concoct the priceless recipe he had brought from the core of the Crimson Court ruins—

Water of life!

The Water of Life he brought from the Potions Garden was a complete set of potion recipes, covering everything from apprentice to wizard levels, but he could only prepare the apprentice level recipes at the moment.

Although it's only the apprentice level, its complexity and the precision required still far exceed any potion Lynch has ever encountered before.

He prepared for this for a full month, repeatedly studying every obscure term and metaphor in the formula, and conducting several simulations and small-scale preliminary experiments using materials purchased from Tree Town before daring to actually start today.

Preparation begins.

He first activated a small siphon energy stabilization array. A pale silver light shone from the runes on the table, forming a stable energy field that enveloped the core reaction area.

Then, he took out a crystal tube sealed in a lead box, which contained three drops of "Marrow from a Thousand-Year-Old Tree," which was amber in color and as viscous as honey.

He guided it with his mental power, dripping it extremely slowly into a pure silver crucible that had been preheated to a specific temperature.

The moment the essence fell in, there was no sound, but it caused warm, pale golden ripples to spread across the originally calm, colorless base solvent in the crucible.

Next up is "stardust silver powder," which is ground to the nanoscale and exposed to moonlight for seven nights.

The powder was gently swept into the solution by a specially made feather brush. Upon contact with the heart marrow solution, it immediately emitted a subtle "sizzling" sound, and the solution turned into a restrained silvery-white color, with extremely faint starlight shimmering within it.

The process was slow and orderly, with each step accompanied by precise mental control and subtle temperature adjustments.

Lin Qi added "Dawn Dew" which had been purified nine times and "Activated Crystal Microparticles" that had been treated with sound waves at a specific frequency.

Each addition of a material causes significant changes in the color, viscosity, or energy fluctuations of the mixture in the crucible, like a silent chemical symphony unfolding.

A strange, complex scent began to fill the air: a fresh, grassy aroma, a cold metallic smell, a faint hint of blood, and a sense of vitality that defies description, like the burgeoning life of spring.

The most crucial step had arrived. Lin Qi took a deep breath and retrieved the material labeled "Core Catalyst and Morphology Setter" from the plan—

A three-inch-long, hair-thin "deep red soul thread" that constantly twists on its own.

This was a small, extremely unstable fragment that he had painstakingly cultivated using a special cultivation method described in the appendix of the plan, after expending considerable resources.

He must intervene at the moment its activity reaches its peak and immediately inject powerful mental energy to suppress and guide it.

Lin Qi was completely focused, amplifying his mental perception to the limit, and even using the abnormal focus brought about by the Evil Eye's contamination to lock onto every bit of activity fluctuation in the soul thread.

It's now!

With a flick of his finger, the crimson soul thread transformed into a ray of light and shot into the crucible!