Chapter 356: Lethal Toxin

The Ashen Echo Draughts formulated for the Witch’s bloodline comprised four recipes in total. Each had been designed, based on her earlier research, specifically to test the stimulative effects of Anomalous ashes on the Witch’s lineage.

Being experimental in nature, none were particularly difficult to brew—fifteen minutes at most per batch. The material quantities were small, the steps relatively simplified. The emphasis lay in validating the direction, not pursuing end-product quality.

Even so, all four combined would take over an hour.

Pandora glanced at the sky through the window. The red moon was winking at her through the cloud cover. Its crimson glow, sliced into fragments by thin clouds, scattered piece by piece across the night sky, flickering between light and dark.

The night had grown deep.

Tonight’s affairs had been numerous—from the banquet to the battle in the kitchen, from inspecting the underground laboratory wing to brewing in the alchemy workshop. It was highly likely she’d be pulling another all-nighter.

Ever since she’d delegated the bulk of the Cloud Crested Currant cultivation to the office building’s laboratory, she had rarely stayed up late these past few months. Those tedious daily cultivation tasks no longer required her personal attention.

Still, considering today’s workload…

“A little late night won’t hurt.”

Though her tone carried a trace of resignation, Pandora’s eyes gleamed with energy. She wasn’t the slightest bit tired. In fact, she wore an expression of focus that bordered on excitement.

It was the instinctive reaction of a researcher confronted with the unknown.

As for Elsa, so long as she had a supply of Pandora’s blood, stamina was never an issue.

And Phoebe…

Well, the little one had long since fallen asleep against the wall. Her head tilted to one side, her breathing even and light. Only occasionally would her eyes flutter open, drowsily confirming that Pandora was still there before closing again in peace.

The motion was more an instinctive check than anything requiring conscious awareness.

Soon, over an hour had passed.

The four draughts were completed, one by one. Four sealed bottles of varying shapes stood neatly arranged upon the laboratory bench.

Pandora added a tube of her own blood to each of four clean petri dishes.

The blood fell into the dishes as if it were alive. The moment it touched the dish bottoms, it spread outward instantly, forming a thin, even layer. The speed and uniformity of that spread were beyond anything ordinary blood could achieve.

Beneath the incandescent light, the blood film pulsed faintly. Across its surface, a ruby-like luster flickered from time to time. That shimmer vanished as quickly as it appeared, yet it followed a certain rhythm—as if breathing—

revealing that beneath this layer of blood film lay a vitality far exceeding the norm.

“Next… is the drop-test with the draughts.”

Pandora picked up the first sealed bottle, drew a small amount of liquid with a dropper, and held it suspended above the petri dish.

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The liquid dripped down.

The first drop struck the blood film.

The blood film’s reaction was nearly instantaneous.

The layer of blood, previously spread flat, like a school of sharks scenting prey, would no longer remain still. The center of the blood film swelled, actively drawing toward where the draught had fallen, enveloping and consuming that drop of elixir, leaving not a trace behind.

The devouring process even carried a certain urgency, like starving cubs finally receiving food.

And after consuming the draught, the blood film displayed a clear change. Its color grew more vivid, and the original ruby-like shimmer brightened noticeably—as if it had been sated.

Pandora watched it all, her gaze flickering.

The second draught produced a similar reaction. The blood swiftly consumed it as well. But the swelling was more pronounced, and the color shift after ingestion more vivid. The pulsing frequency of the blood film also saw a slight increase.

This meant the second formula was marginally better at stimulating blood activity.

The third draught elicited a slightly weaker reaction—falling somewhere between the first and second.

Pandora noted the results without much hesitation. The three formulas showed little difference. The second was optimal; the first and third were secondary, but the direction was correct in all cases.

Then came the fourth draught—

The liquid dripped down.

At first, its reception resembled the others. The blood quickly consumed it. Perhaps even a little faster.

The blood film’s swelling was more violent, the devouring more urgent—as if its craving for this draught exceeded that for the previous three. Pandora’s brow lifted slightly. She was just about to note this finding in her records—

But then the situation diverged.

The blood began to convulse. The previously smooth blood film contracted, its edges curling inward as if attempting to protect itself, wrapping its vulnerable core in layer after layer.

The blood color drained away at a rate visible to the naked eye. The ruby-like shimmer flickered a few times, then abruptly winked out.

The instant after it contracted to its limit, it lost its original blood hue and turned gray and lifeless.

In under three seconds, all the blood in the petri dish had become a pool of dead, ashen brown.

No pulsing. No shimmer. No sign of life whatsoever.

“This is… what happened? Its vitality is completely depleted?!”

Pandora was somewhat astonished.

She stared at that pool of lifeless, ashen brown in the petri dish, her brow furrowing slightly.

Truth be told, this was the first time she had witnessed such a phenomenon. The Witch’s bloodline possessed extraordinarily potent vitality. Pandora understood this deeply, both in external manifestation and actual experience.

Even when outwardly bearing severe injuries, that formidable life force could still protect her core.

The bear’s swipe had been savage enough. Yet within mere minutes, the Sanguine Serum at the wound site had neutralized and mended the lingering traces of its power.

Common toxins were essentially useless against her. Even third-rank poisons brewed by potion-makers had little effect on her, for the most part.

All of these were manifestations of her bloodline’s immense vitality.

And yet, this new draught…

The “Ashen Echo Draught Project” targeting her own Witch’s bloodline had been underway for over a month now, counting from the very first experimental formula. In that time, she had tested many formulation directions.

Some produced faint effects, some gave slight stimulation, some elicited no response at all.

But this—a toxic reaction specifically toward her blood—Pandora was truly seeing for the first time.

Could it be? Her original intention had been to create a draught capable of stimulating her bloodline’s development, and by some accident, she had instead created a kind of lethal poison? Even… some sort of toxin specifically designed to target the Witch’s bloodline?

No.

Whether it possessed true specificity required rigorous confirmation. Judging from the reaction of a single tube of blood alone would be premature.

Where exactly did the fourth formula diverge from the first three? In the selection of core materials? Or in the auxiliary ingredient ratios?

These questions could not be answered by a dish of dead blood alone.

She needed more experimental data.

A thought stirred in Pandora’s mind, and an idea for further experimentation immediately took shape.

Her gaze swept the room, then she shook her head.

Elsa was a product of the system’s 【Myriad Alchemy】. Though she possessed a humanoid form, her essence was fundamentally an alchemical construct. Her reactions to toxins differed significantly from those of ordinary humans.

Using her to test this vitality-targeting toxic response would yield data with no reference value.

And Phoebe, in terms of toxicological response, was nothing more than an ordinary person. Never mind a third-rank lethal poison—even a standard third-rank potion would be an unacceptable toxin for her. So Phoebe was out too.

In that case… who else could she turn to?

Pandora’s thoughts circled once, her gaze subtly flickering.