Chapter 628: The Saint Medicine Teeters on the Edge

The moment the cracks appeared across the surface of the thick blue liquid, everyone’s nerves tightened. It wasn’t just Marcus who became anxious. Princess Phoenix and Princess Celeste both watched the rapidly deteriorating mixture with worried expressions, while even Alana’s attention sharpened as she closely monitored the changes inside the cauldron.

Fortunately, Marcus reacted immediately.

"Celie, give me the Jade Purification Vase!"

Princess Celeste quickly handed over the Mythic Artifact. Marcus took the vase, activated it, and directed its contents into the Dragon Flame Cauldron.

The Spring of Purity poured out in a clear, shimmering stream.

Its powerful healing energy immediately spread through the mixture. True to its reputation as one of the Five Legendary Springs of the Dreamland Continent, the Spring of Purity stabilized the medicinal liquid almost as soon as it entered. The blue mixture, which had been rapidly drying out, gradually recovered its lost volume and returned to a stable state.

’Damn!’

If that was what it took, then he would go all in.

For the Saint-tier medicine, for the giant panda, and for the chance to personally refine such an incredible elixir, Marcus wasn’t going to hold back now. If he had to use up every drop of the Spring of Purity he possessed, so be it. Today, he was going to go all out.

But just as he finished pouring a full vat of Spring of Purity into the cauldron, Alana, who had been overseeing the entire refinement, suddenly spoke.

"Master, the energy contained in the Spring of Purity is too intense. You can’t add any more. If you do, the refining time will exceed our limit."

Marcus’s expression immediately stiffened.

’Damn.’

Without the Spring of Purity, the blue medicinal liquid would dry out and burn before the ingredients could finish fusing. But if he added too much Spring of Purity, the sheer amount of energy it contributed would slow the fusion process so much that they would run out of time before the medicine could take shape.

Either way, they were trapped.

Saint-tier medicine was far more difficult to refine than Marcus had imagined. And the situation was even worse because they had only sixteen minutes remaining before the dark assassin, the Seven-Soul Devil, would regain control of the Divine Embroidery Paradise.

They couldn’t afford to waste even a second.

Marcus, Princess Phoenix, and Princess Celeste continued pouring the red Super Health Potion into the cauldron to replenish the liquid being consumed by the flames. For the next three minutes, they desperately maintained the balance while the thick blue mixture spun rapidly around the Asclepius’ Herbal Staff.

Gradually, the Spring of Purity was absorbed into the mixture.

The medicinal energies continued converging, but as the process progressed, the red health potion once again began evaporating faster than they could replenish it.

The blue liquid was drying out again.

"Alana," Marcus asked urgently, "how much longer until it’s finished?"

Alana kept her attention fixed on the swirling mixture and carefully sensed the way the various energies were converging.

"Master, judging from the way the energies are combining inside the blue liquid, as long as we can prevent it from drying out, it should take about ten more minutes."

’Ten minutes.’

Marcus’s face darkened.

He looked at the rapidly evaporating blue liquid and estimated that, at the current rate, it would completely dry out and begin burning in roughly two minutes.

There was no way it could survive another ten minutes.

The problem was the Dragon-Phoenix Alchemical Flame. Its power was far greater than even Alana had anticipated. It had melted the high-grade ingredients at an astonishing speed, but that same overwhelming heat was now consuming the medicinal liquid faster than they could replenish it, leaving the ingredients without enough time to complete their fusion.

There seemed to be only one option left.

Alana’s gaze shifted toward the Wyvern Saint Knight Lyanna standing behind Marcus. A risky idea had already begun forming in her mind. It wasn’t an ideal solution, but under the circumstances, it might be their only chance.

She opened her mouth, preparing to explain it.

But before she could say a word, Marcus suddenly pulled out the Jade Purification Vase again.

"Let’s try this."

Alana paused.

Marcus didn’t pour out the Spring of Purity this time.

Instead, a thick, fragrant liquid flowed from the vase and dropped into the Dragon Flame Cauldron. It was a mixture of the Mythic-grade Green Tide Aged Brew he had obtained from Crescent Island and the special Millennium Fire-Apricot Wine from Dragon’s Roar Town.

He hadn’t acted on impulse. Marcus had already thought it through.

Both the Green Tide Aged Brew and the Millennium Fire-Apricot Wine were Mythic-grade wines. They were high enough in quality that they wouldn’t introduce troublesome impurities into the Saint-tier medicine or interfere with the ingredients already being refined. At the same time, unlike the Spring of Purity, they didn’t contain such an overwhelming concentration of healing energy that they would dramatically slow the fusion process.

If this worked, it would solve both problems at once.

If it didn’t, Marcus would have no choice but to use the Spring of Purity again, even if that meant abandoning the Yin-Yang Panda Egg and putting everything into completing the Saint-tier medicine before the time ran out.

Fortunately, his gamble paid off.

As soon as the wine mixture entered the cauldron, Alana, who was still channeling Asclepius’ Elixir Inquiry, immediately sensed the change.

"Master, it’s working! The energy in the wine is just right. It’s replenishing the medicinal liquid without disrupting the fusion!"

There was genuine admiration in Alana’s voice.

She hadn’t expected Marcus to come up with a solution so quickly. Her own idea had already been moving toward a desperate choice that would require them to give something up, yet her master had found another way to stabilize the refinement without sacrificing the medicine’s progress.

"Good!"

Relieved, Marcus continued pouring the Green Tide Aged Brew and Millennium Fire-Apricot Wine into the Dragon Flame Cauldron. Princess Phoenix and Princess Celeste also continued adding the red Super Health Potions, ensuring that the final medicine would retain its powerful healing properties.

For the moment, the crisis had been resolved.

Watching the thick blue medicinal liquid gradually return to a stable state, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Princess Celeste couldn’t help but look at Marcus with amazement.

"Stone, you really have so many treasures..."

Marcus couldn’t help smiling. That was certainly nice to hear.

The refinement continued.

By now, the thick blue medicinal liquid was spinning faster and faster. Under the blazing Dragon-Phoenix Alchemical Flame, it gradually began emitting a soft blue radiance. The liquid contracted inward, becoming increasingly dense as its shape slowly changed.

It was beginning to form a pill. Things were finally looking promising.

But just when Marcus and the two princesses thought the worst was over, another problem emerged.

As the spinning blue liquid gradually condensed into a pill, the red health potions from the princesses and the wine mixture Marcus had added could no longer keep up with the rate at which the medicinal liquid was being consumed.

The blue mass continued shrinking.

Soon, it had condensed into a hard blue orb roughly the size of two fists.

Then the surface began drying out.

The Dragon-Phoenix Alchemical Flame was simply too fierce. The replenished potion and wine were being absorbed almost immediately, yet they still couldn’t provide enough liquid to counteract the tremendous heat surrounding the forming medicine.

Fine cracks began spreading across the surface of the blue orb once more.

"Damn!"

Marcus’s expression tightened.

The Dragon-Phoenix Alchemical Flame was simply too powerful.

Of course, that power was also the reason they had been able to dissolve those top-tier ingredients so quickly in the first place. If the flames hadn’t been powerful enough, the Three-Star Sacred Lotus and the other Divine-grade materials would never have melted within the required time.

But now that same power had become their greatest obstacle.

Marcus had no way to pour the Mythic-grade wine and Super Health Potions into the cauldron any faster. The blue orb was already undergoing its final transformation, and there was simply too little liquid left to keep it from continuing to dry out.

This was madness.

Did he really have to use the Spring of Purity again?

But if he did, the tremendous energy of the legendary spring would disrupt the final condensation of the medicine. The orb would be forced to undergo another lengthy fusion process, and they no longer had the time for that.

Only five minutes remained before the Seven-Soul Devil reached the Divine Bamboo Paradise.

Marcus clenched his teeth. Was he really going to have to give up?

Just as he was preparing himself for that possibility, Alana suddenly looked past him toward Lyanna.

"Master, borrow the energy of the Divine Beast Glacier Ice Dragon."

Marcus froze.

"Glacier Ice Dragon?"

Then his eyes lit up. ’Of course!’

Alana really was brilliant. Why hadn’t he thought of that?

Without the slightest hesitation, Marcus sent a mental command to Lyanna. Their Intimacy had already reached 93, and the connection between them was strong enough that she immediately understood what he wanted.

Lyanna gracefully dismounted from the Glacier Ice Dragon and walked to Marcus’s side.

She raised her hand and gave the order.

The Glacier Ice Dragon immediately let out a mighty roar.

A vast blue aura erupted from its body, and an immense surge of Water and Ice energy flooded the entire alchemy chamber. The temperature around the cauldron seemed to change as the powerful elemental energy spread outward, opposing the overwhelming heat of the Dragon-Phoenix Alchemical Flame.

Then the level 53 Glacier Ice Dragon moved.

Its abilities were only beginning to reveal their true potential, yet the Water energy surrounding its body was already astonishingly powerful. The enormous dragon surged toward the Dragon Flame Cauldron, wrapped in a torrent of blue elemental energy.

Just like the Divine Beast Phoenix before it, the moment the Glacier Ice Dragon approached the cauldron, its enormous body began shrinking rapidly.

In an instant, the massive Divine Beast had become roughly the same size as the crimson dragon carved into the cauldron.

But unlike the Phoenix, it did not fly toward the two fiery creatures circling the cauldron.

Instead, the shrunken Glacier Ice Dragon turned downward and plunged directly into the Dragon Flame Cauldron.

Its target was the cracking blue orb at the center of the boiling medicinal energy.

Everyone watched in astonishment as the Divine Beast Glacier Ice Dragon, wrapped in a tremendous surge of Water and Ice energy, charged straight toward the unstable blue orb.