Considering the proximity to Thunder Valley, the chances of being struck by lightning were much higher here than in other places. As a result, the roof and walls of the stone house were built exceptionally thick—about thirty centimeters wide.
The rocks produced by Shilut were incredibly solid. With such thick walls, it was estimated that not even a few thunderstorms would pose any problem.
After completing the construction of three rooms and a hall, Rowe immediately returned to Asgard.
In the days that followed, he devoted nearly all his energy to focused training in the production of the talent mixture.
As a seventh-level potion in the Sanctuary evaluation system, the talent mixture was the most potent potion he had ever encountered—and naturally, it was extremely difficult to create.
Ever since traveling to this world, nearly all of Rowe's herbal knowledge studies had been aimed at preparing for this one potion.
Yet, even now, he felt far from confident and knew he needed much more practice.
Thus, all unrelated activities—whether summary language, martial arts training, or general herbal studies—were halted. The pharmacy was effectively shut down, all in service of a single goal: to successfully produce the talent mixture as soon as possible.
In addition, Rowe made regular trips to Thunder Valley to study the distribution of lightning fruit within the valley, ensuring he could gather the necessary fruits at the critical moment.
In this way, several years passed in preparation, until at last, on his fiftieth birthday, he decided the time had come to attempt the creation of the talent mixture.
Today was Rowe's fiftieth birthday. Sitting before a mirror, he quietly shaved, resembling a sloppy and weary uncle.
For the past few years, his daily life had been nothing but reciting pharmacology, refining pharmaceutical techniques, burning ointments, and crafting sundials—day and night, living almost completely isolated from the world.
He had spent nearly a thousand runes solely on medicinal herbs for practice.
This unshaven, rough appearance had become the norm for Rowe in recent years.
Yet all this effort was worth it. Now, he finally felt confident that he possessed the skills necessary to produce the talent mixture.
After shaving and taking a shower, Rowe began the first step: producing Uru powder.
Making Uru powder was technically the simplest step, but also the most physically exhausting.
In principle, it was straightforward: grind Uru into powder.
However, as one of the most durable metals in the universe, Uru's toughness was unimaginable. Very few things could even scratch it—let alone grind it into powder.
Rowe's grinding tool was crafted from a rare spar called "light red diamond." Though brittle, light red diamond was extremely hard and capable of damaging Uru at an acceptable loss rate.
Additionally, its texture was lighter than water, so when mixed with Uru powder, the two could be easily separated by immersing them in water.
The amount of Uru powder needed for the talent mixture was minuscule—less than a gram. The small fragment of Uru among his father's relics was more than sufficient.
However, grinding even that tiny amount took Rowe an entire day.
"Finally done," Rowe muttered with a sigh, weighing the Uru powder on a precision magic scale purchased specially from Norvi. Seeing that the weight was sufficient, he allowed himself a rare smile.
Step one of the talent mixture: Uru powder—complete.
By then, night had fallen. Rowe had a quick meal and went to rest.
The next morning, he set out, heading straight to Tialfi's house.
"Roar—"
The sound of a dragon's roar echoed from a distance.
Dragons were truly difficult creatures to tame. Despite years of effort, using both gentle methods and forceful ones, Tialfi had made little progress.
Even now, whenever it found an opportunity, the young dragon would spray dragon flames at him.
Tialfi opened the door looking utterly disheveled, his clothes singed—clearly the victim of another dragon flame attack. "Cough... Rowe... you're here for the dragon blood?"
"Yes, this time it's official," Rowe replied.
Over the years, he had visited several times, but each time only taking a few drops for testing purposes.
In the talent mixture, the effectiveness of dragon blood was heavily influenced by the dragon's age. Blood from adult dragons was unsuitable, but neither was blood from dragons that were too young.
The dragon Tialfi had raised was still somewhat young, and Rowe had waited all these years precisely to allow it to grow to the optimal age.
In recent years, the substitution degree of its dragon blood had gradually improved and had stabilized by last year.
"Roar—"
Suppressing the young dragon, Rowe took out an immortal steel dagger and sliced a small wound on its forepaw. He collected the flowing blood into a crystal bottle.
After filling the bottle and sealing it, Rowe's hand glowed with holy light as he applied the gift of faith to heal the wound.
In just moments, the young dragon's injury healed completely, and it resumed its energetic struggles, looking no different from before the bloodletting.
Rowe couldn't help but remark, "Tialfi, are you still determined to tame it?"
"Of course," Tialfi answered, though his expression betrayed years of hardship and setbacks.
Rowe shook his head slightly. "I hope you succeed. But if you haven't tamed it by the time it becomes an adult, you should probably give up... once it starts spraying adult dragon flames, it'll be much harder to handle."
Just as he finished speaking, the young dragon spat out another mouthful of dragon flame. Though its mouth was shackled, some flames still leaked out, bringing a wave of heat.
"By the way, Tialfi," Rowe added, recalling something, "didn't you once encounter a pair of young dragon brothers, but one escaped?"
"I didn't let it go—it escaped after reaching the assembly point, and we had to drive it away with help from the light elves," Tialfi said, a hint of fear in his voice. "That one... was a freak. Too strong."
He paused, then continued, "When that dragon grows up, it'll definitely become a high-level dragon—maybe even a terrifying force."
"I'm a little curious what it looks like," Rowe said, smiling.
"You'd better hope you never meet it," Tialfi warned seriously. "That's not something anyone wants."
"I'm just saying. Dragons are creatures that can traverse the cosmos. The universe is vast—what are the chances of running into it?" Rowe laughed.
With that, he returned home carrying the young dragon's blood.
"Buzz!" Shilut, who was sitting on the ground gnawing stones, waved at him in greeting.
In the few years that had passed, Shilut had fallen into another long sleep. After waking up, he had grown taller—finally over one meter—and all his teeth had come in. His "buzzing" had also evolved slightly, though he still couldn't form real words.
Rowe casually ruffled Shilut's rocky forehead, then entered the pharmaceutical room to identify the dragon blood.
[107% Blood Replacement: Young Dragon]
The blood substitution rate remained the same as the previous test—107%. This confirmed that the young dragon was now at the optimal age for the talent mixture.
Satisfied, Rowe began the preliminary processing of the materials, including the dragon blood.
Talent mixtures were complex potions.
The term "mixture" referred to the blending of multiple sub-agents—and the talent mixture required three sub-agents combined.
Once the first sub-agent was created, a seven-day countdown began; the components had to be fused and consumed within seven days, or the potency would vanish.
Thus, "preliminary processing" meant completing all steps up to but not including the final combination of the sub-agents.
To ensure he had enough time, Rowe needed to finish the final preparation stages at his Thunder Valley base—the three-room, one-hall stone house.
If he brewed in Asgard, merely reaching Thunder Valley afterward would consume precious days. Any unexpected delay could ruin everything. Once the seven days passed, all his efforts would have been wasted.
After finishing the preliminary treatment, Rowe summoned Shilut. Carrying one stone at a time, they passed through the space portal's back door to Vanaheim, heading straight for Thunder Valley.
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