The sudden interlude didn't disrupt Pei Ze's plans.
After parting ways with the members of the Star Spirit Society, he went straight to Medicine Garden No. 8.
He performed a routine check of the plants in his designated area, watering all the ones that needed it.
After finishing his work, he went to the small cottage where Yin Xue usually stayed and knocked gently on the door.
Before long, the door creaked open, revealing Yin Xue's delicate and beautiful face.
A smile appeared on Yin Xue's face when she saw it was Pei Ze.
"Oh, it's you. What can I help you with?"
"There are a few things I was hoping to ask you."
Yin Xue nodded slightly and stepped aside. "Come on in."
Upon entering the cottage, Pei Ze was immediately hit by a scent that was a mixture of spicy and sweet, mingled with something like an antiseptic smell. Fortunately, it wasn't unpleasant.
In the center of the room was a huge table that took up almost half the space. It was covered with glass bottles of all sizes, test tubes, beakers, and other tools Pei Ze didn't recognize.
Evidently, this was where Yin Xue usually concocted her potions.
Just as Pei Ze had guessed, she was indeed an Alchemist, or at least a Potion Apprentice.
Seeing Pei Ze curiously examining the equipment on the lab table, Yin Xue smiled. "Interested in making potions? Once you're promoted to a Second-level Wizard Apprentice... huh?"
Halfway through her sentence, Yin Xue suddenly realized something was off. Her silver, gem-like eyes studied Pei Ze for a moment, and a look of astonishment appeared on her face.
"You've been promoted to a Second-level Wizard Apprentice?"
Pei Ze nodded. "I just broke through yesterday."
Yin Xue gave him a deep look and sighed. "You really never fail to surprise me."
As someone who had been through it herself, she naturally understood what it meant for Pei Ze to reach the level of a Second-level Wizard Apprentice so quickly.
What surprised her even more was that Pei Ze's family wasn't well-off—otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to take the job of tending the medicine garden. To be able to break through so quickly without the support of ample resources... his talent was simply astounding!
Unaware of Yin Xue's inner astonishment, Pei Ze got straight to the point. "I came to ask for your advice about magic pets."
"I'm planning on contracting a magic pet, but I don't know what kind of animal to choose. Do you have any suggestions?"
Yin Xue snapped out of her reverie, pursed her lips, and said, "That depends on what you're looking for in a magic pet."
"Different types of animals will have different abilities after being transformed into magic pets."
"Cats, for example, usually awaken a stealth ability after being transformed, allowing them to move silently. They make great assistants for a Scout. If nurtured well, they can even awaken an ability for shadow stealth."
"Toads usually awaken a potent poison ability."
"Bats gain a wide-range sonar location ability."
"Frogs generally grow to an enormous size."
Yin Xue rattled off examples for over a dozen different animals.
"Of course, this is just what usually happens. The abilities a magic pet ultimately awakens can vary depending on the contracted creature's constitution and the Wizard's Spiritual Power. In very rare cases, they might even awaken an extremely rare ability."
"In a way, contracting a magic pet is a gamble. The outcome largely depends on your own luck."
Pei Ze nodded in understanding.
'Simply put,' Pei Ze thought, 'the process of transforming a magic pet is a bit like the gacha system in a mobile game. You never know if you've pulled an SSR or an N-rank until the very end.'
Suddenly, Pei Ze thought of the flock of crows he'd seen that morning. "What abilities do crows usually get when they become magic pets?"
"Crows?"
Yin Xue extended a slender, fair index finger and tapped her chin lightly, a gesture that was inexplicably playful and cute.
"I wouldn't recommend choosing a crow for a magic pet."
Pei Ze was taken aback. "Why not?"
"Because the most common ability a crow awakens is Command Crows."
"Command Crows?" Pei Ze froze, a bad feeling creeping up on him. "When you say 'crows'... do you mean ordinary crows?"
Yin Xue nodded, her eyes crinkling into a smile.
'So it really is...'
The corner of Pei Ze's mouth twitched.
'That ability seems pretty useless, at least for a Wizard.'
'You can't really expect a flock of ordinary crows to be of any use in a Wizard's battle, can you?'
"Don't Crow Magic Pets have any other, more useful abilities?"
"Well, it's not that they don't."
Pei Ze's spirits lifted, and he quickly asked, "What abilities are those?"
"Things like creating mist, unleashing attacks similar to a Magic Missile, shadow stealth, and so on. Wizards collectively refer to these as spell-like abilities."
"A crow that has awakened a spell-like ability is considered an excellent magic pet, and it has high potential as well."
"However, the chance of a Crow Magic Pet awakening a spell-like ability is very low, less than one in a thousand."
"Considering that each attempt to contract a magic pet consumes a portion of your maximum Spiritual Power, most Wizards aren't willing to take that gamble. Very few people choose crows for their magic pets."
Pei Ze was a little disappointed to hear that.
'So crows really aren't a good choice after all.'
Just then, with a flick of her wrist, a book appeared in Yin Xue's palm.
On its black leather cover, various animals were arranged like stars orbiting a moon, surrounding four bold words:
Encyclopedia of Magic Pets!
"There's no need to rush your decision about a magic pet. Take this book, read it carefully, and learn more about the subject. It's not too late to decide after that," Yin Xue said, handing the book to Pei Ze.
"Thank you." Pei Ze accepted it graciously, without any false modesty.
After putting the book away, Pei Ze glanced at the equipment on the lab table and asked seriously, "If I wanted to learn how to make potions, what would I need to do?"
Yin Xue thought for a moment, then flicked her finger. A piece of paper from a nearby table floated through the air and landed in her palm.
A silver light glowed at her fingertip as she scribbled on the paper.
A moment later, she handed the paper to Pei Ze.
"This is a list of the subjects you'll need to study to learn potion-making. You'd better thoroughly digest and master all of this before you even attempt to make a potion."
Pei Ze took the paper and saw it was covered in densely packed book titles, including Basic Potioneering, Medicinal Botany, Advanced Identification of Extraordinary Materials, Potion Appraisal, and so on. He estimated there were at least fifty different subjects listed.
Pei Ze was secretly dumbfounded.
'No wonder Alchemists are so rare.'
'If you have to learn this much just to get started, how astonishing must the breadth and depth of knowledge be later on?'
"Aside from needing to learn a vast amount of information, potion-making also consumes a huge amount of resources. You could say that every qualified Alchemist is built on a mountain of resources, so you need to be mentally prepared for that."
Pei Ze nodded solemnly.
'It's common knowledge that each of the four major side professions for Wizards is a black hole that swallows money.'
'And among them, potion-making is the most expensive of all.'
'The resources consumed in a single failed potion attempt can often be worth tens or even hundreds of Gold Coins.'
'A novice Potion Apprentice often has to fail more than ten times just to create a single acceptable potion.'
'Even for a certified Alchemist, the success rate for making potions isn't very high.'
'A rate over 40% is considered outstanding among Alchemists of the same rank.'
'This is also why the price of potions remains so high.'
'But I'm different,' Pei Ze thought. 'With the Eye of Omniscience, I can analyze potion formulas and precisely grasp the properties of the ingredients. That should drastically reduce errors during the process and increase my success rate.'