Chapter 230 - Shortcut (2/2)

“You b*tches, I will teach you a lesson one of these days.” Hoffman strutted over to the potion table. He looked at those mean people with an angry gaze while proficiently categorizing the different herbs.

“Aye, this fatty can’t be looked down on…” Lin Li stood within the crowd and saw everything clearly. When Hoffman was categorizing the different herbs, his technique could be described as unusually proficient. It could be seen that he was a person that had been stacking herbs for years. It was especially so for a detail that Lin Li noticed. When he reached the Dragon Tongue Orchid, this fatty actually had the awareness to place the Dragon Tongue Orchid and Silverleaf together.

This was a detail that couldn’t be missed. Even Lin Li himself only figured it out slowly after he’d broken through the guru level. When the Dragon Tongue Orchid was exposed, it’d automatically leak out some sap, which had a strong corrosive property. Pharmacists usually placed the Dragon Tongue Orchid in a goblet, but there was an exception. When a certain recipe required both Dragon Tongue Orchid and Silverleaf, the Dragon Tongue Orchid could be placed together with the Silverleaf because the sap would not corrode the Silverleaf. Instead, it helped to bring out the medicinal potential of the Silverleaf. It would save the pharmacist a lot of energy during the concoction process.

“Of course you can’t look down on this fatty.” Only heaven knew when Andoine stood up. These words that appeared out of nowhere almost scared the living daylight out of Lin Li.

“…” Lin Li wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead with an annoyed expression, and spoke to Andoine, “Mentor, do you know that a person can scare another to death? The next time when you want to appear, could you make a sound so that I can mentally prepare myself?”

“Is it? Then next time I’ll just make a squeak.” Andoine’s expression was like he took it for granted.

“Forget it…” Lin Li shook his head. He knew that talking about logic with this old man would not result in anything. He wisely changed the topic. “Mentor, are you familiar with Hoffman?”

“Yes, he can be considered an old friend.” Andoine nodded and retracted the joking expression. He started to grow serious slowly. “Let me tell you, you can’t look down on this fella. Don’t look at him being gentle at the Pharmacists Guild. Do you know what he does secretly?”

“What does he do…?”

“What this guy does is a highly dangerous profession.”

“Killer?”

“It’s much more formidable than a killer.” Andoine glanced at Hoffman and whispered into Lin Li’s ears, “Conjurer…”

“F*ck me!” Lin Li had a shock and immediately thought of the Saruman Family in Jarrosus.

“Anyhow, just don’t mess with him. When I look at him now, I’m somewhat fearful…”

Just when the two of them were whispering, Hoffman had already announced his failure.

There was no choice. He had started off from the wrong foot even though he was a senior pharmacist. Regardless of technique or detail, he had handled it well, but he went in the wrong direction. Everything else thereafter naturally failed. What Hoffman used was the method that had been discussed the most back in the guild hall. Categorizing all the herbs, processing them separately according to the recipe’s requirements and mixing them together once the processing was complete. To complete this complicated work, Hoffman even requested from Balbo some Leaf of the Origin Tree to allow these herbs to fuse together better after they had been mixed together.

But the result was still a failure…

Without a single doubt.

“F*ck, I didn’t make any mistakes. Why did I fail for no rhyme or reason…” After the fatty failed, he did not look disappointed. He only mumbled some words and went back into the crowd.

This time, n.o.body made fun of him. After all, they were all senior pharmacists. Everyone saw what Hoffman had done. Everyone knew that if it were themselves, their technique would not be better than Hoffman’s. They would have met with the same incomprehensible failure as Hoffman if it were them.

After that, there was another two pharmacists that came forward.

One was a Necromancer that was as thin as a stick, and the other was an a.s.sa.s.sin from the biggest a.s.sa.s.sin organization.

The Necromancer’s failure was almost identical to Hoffman’s. There was nothing wrong with his technique, but because he chose the wrong path, his Void Power Potion became poison mysteriously. It was just that the Necromancer’s mastery was obviously not as good as Hoffman’s. After retreating into the crowd, his pale face was livid. Even the priest that was his acquaintance did not dare to invite contempt onto himself.

There was no need to mention the a.s.sa.s.sin…

It was just a farce. This fella’s pharmaceutical standard was about the same as that of Andoine’s. It was more befitting for him to concoct Arcane Magic Potion or Sobriety Potion. It was the same as courting death to concoct the Void Power Potion. He did not even process the herbs after walking to the potion table before he stepped down in a sorry manner.