Chapter 245: Golden Apple, Passion Reignited

Shock—at this moment, that word best encapsulated Moira’s state of mind. Her heart, which had grown steady and calm with age, quickened its pace at this very instant, as an emotion called excitement, unfelt for many years, took root and spread within her soul.

Involuntarily, she reached out to grasp the test tube held in Wang Yu's hand, entirely forgetting to even ask him to hand it over.

"Clack."

As her slightly withered, wrinkled hand touched the test tube, Wang Yu showed not a hint of hesitation, placing the vessel containing the raw material for the Wishing Potion directly into Moira’s palm.

As her gaze fell upon Wang Yu's remarkably composed face, inexplicably, Moira suddenly grew calm.

Bringing the test tube before her eyes, she scrutinized the colorful, undulating liquid within; she was absolutely certain that this was Starry Sky Dew.

For she had once seen a remnant of Starry Sky Dew left behind by the very pharmacist who created the Wishing Potion after completing its brewing; save for being far scarcer than the standard unit contained within the test tube before her, it was identical.

Wang Yu's extraordinarily nonchalant demeanor, coupled with his unhesitating act of handing over this immensely precious substance, gave Moira a peculiar feeling, causing the fire that had suddenly flared in her chest upon seeing the Starry Sky Dew to gradually subside.

Was this object truly so important to her? In this era, was there truly anyone left who could complete the brewing of the Wishing Potion? After all, that original pharmacist was long gone, and the top apothecaries currently on the continent—herself included—seemed to lack the capability to achieve this "bottled miracle."

"I must apologize to you and your companion. It was my arro-

gance and blind reliance on experience that caused me to overlook the possibility of you opening this object."

"You may study under me, and I will teach you everything I know. At the same time, as a reward for helping me obtain this 'Starry Sky Dew,' I shall give you something of as equal value as possible, though the discrepancy in their worth might be rather vast."

Her aged frame bent with some difficulty, performing a universal human bow to the slightly stunned Wang Yu before her.

"Uh, this...?"

Wang Yu was somewhat at a loss as to what was happening; he had no idea what Starry Sky Dew actually was. Instinctively stepping forward to support Moira, he found that the girl standing behind the old woman had already beaten him to it, gently pulling the elder's bent back upright.

"Come inside with me..."

Beckoning to Wang Yu, Moira leaned on her staff and walked into her treehouse.

Glancing at the girl who was gently holding her arm, Moira's expression filled with a touch more satisfaction; whether it was her conduct at this moment or her previous judgment regarding Wang Yu's purpose in knocking on the door, this newly accepted student had given her far too many pleasant surprises.

Holding the stone tablet that had once housed the Starry Sky Dew, Wang Yu followed Avia and Moira into the treehouse that he had previously been forbidden to enter.

Moira walked over to a corner of the treehouse's living room, rhythmically tapping it a few times with her staff while murmuring a string of somewhat obscure incantations. Several green runes infused with a distinct elemental magic emerged from the staff and sank into the wall of the corner.

The treehouse, originally fashioned from a living tree, retained its primal vitality; in essence, this room was alive.

Following Moira's movements and chanting,

the wooden wall opened automatically to reveal a cavity within, from which a vine, somewhat resembling the ones in Gawain's house, extended, holding aloft a metal box.

Moira took it, slid open the lid to reveal its contents, removed one item from within, and then placed the test tube containing the Starry Sky Dew into the box. Closing the lid, she allowed the vine to retract the box once more into the treehouse's cavity, sealing it away.

Turning around, Moira handed the item she had taken from the box to Wang Yu.

In her hand rested a plump, perfectly round apple with a golden luster. Unlike the obvious artificiality of gold plating, this apple was entirely a work of nature; though it looked like gold of the finest purity, it also possessed the fresh, ripe quality of a fruit just plucked from a tree.

It was the very concept of "deliciousness" made manifest. This golden apple was truly so alluring that it was difficult to suppress the urge to seize it and take a deep, fierce bite; one could almost imagine the sweet, nearly cloying juice within, along with a crisp, springy flesh that hardly felt like a regular fruit at all.

"A golden apple... could it be like those consumables from my world that grant incredible healing upon consumption? But wow, it really does look delicious..."

He did not know exactly what the golden apple was, but its preciousness and absolute delectability were already entirely foreseeable.

Wang Yu harbored no false modesty; since she offered it, she surely had her reasons. He accepted the remarkably tantalizing golden apple, and the moment his fingers brushed against it, he could distinctly feel a wave of elation surging through his own flesh.

This golden apple was definitely not that simple; it couldn't possibly just be like a game where

it provided a brief yet potent healing effect. Even without intentionally using the Power of the Chariot to perceive it, the immense vitality and unique energies contained within caused his body to tingle with excitement at the mere prospect of possessing it.

"Don't rush, let's find out what this thing actually does first."

He whispered softly to himself, as if soothing his jubilant physique, and his somewhat restless body naturally quieted down.

"This object still pales in comparison to the value of the Starry Sky Dew, but for the two of you, it should provide more than enough assistance."

"This is one of the fruits borne by the Tree of Life during the previous century. Its effects are as simple as they are precious: it enhances talent. Excluding the aptitude for witchcraft, it can elevate the consumer's knight and mage talents, and those who originally lacked these two talents can manifest them after consumption."

Moira explained the efficacy of the golden apple Wang Yu held, calmly recounting the functions of an extremely rare artifact to Avia and Wang Yu.

Raising an eyebrow, Wang Yu was somewhat astonished; the value of the fruit in his hand far surpassed his expectations.

Talent was something that accompanied an individual for a lifetime, virtually determining one's path and upper limits, and objects capable of altering talent were exceptionally few and far between.

From what Wang Yu knew, most things that enhanced talent exacted a heavy toll—either sacrificing physical potential in exchange for mana affinity, or overdrawing the soul to meet the threshold for learning magic.

Only the "Keys," creations of that brilliantly talented legendary wizard Roland, were truly capable of

allowing one to acquire void affinity without any cost, though void affinity itself was a double-edged sword...

As for the golden apple in his hand, based on Moira's description combined with his own perception, Wang Yu felt that its function was less about merely enhancing talent and more about allowing life to leap toward transcendence.

"Of course, from my perspective as a pharmacist, refining it into a potion would be more aligned with my ideals. However, I lacked the confidence at the time, so I gave up on the idea."

"Now that I am old, my skills are no longer as sharp as they once were, and I am even less confident in creating a completely new potion using the golden apple as a raw ingredient."

"In truth, holding this Starry Sky Dew—the key to the supreme achievement of an apothecary, the Wishing Potion—seems rather meaningless to me now. Since I cannot even manage a refinement using a golden apple as a base, my capabilities simply cannot support the use of such precious material."

As she spoke, a trace of self-deprecation and despondency crept into Moira's tone.

"I believe that whether one is an alchemist or a pharmacist, if this discipline is something you truly love and hold fast to, then nothing is impossible. At any given moment, failure simply means you haven't made a breakthrough yet. Mastery in these fields is only elevated through successive breakthroughs."

"If you don't try, how will you ever know if it's possible? It is better to leave no regrets behind."

The girl standing beside Moira shared her perspective upon noticing the underlying emotion in the elder's words.

"..."

Moira fell silent for a moment. To try? Indeed, her younger self would never have been

this timid and hesitant.

Time had caused her physical form to wither, but her soul surely had not aged along with this body whose race she had always refused to change. If she did not try, she would probably never rest in peace with the lingering regret, even in death.

"Yes! If I cannot turn the Starry Sky Dew into a potion, then obtaining it is utterly meaningless. After over a decade of idleness, it's about time I found something to occupy myself. But now is not the time for this. Since I promised to instruct you in apothecary arts, as your mentor, I ought to teach you properly."

Moira's raspy voice suddenly rose a few pitches, her surging emotions plain to see.

Leaning on her staff, Moira began to ascend to the second floor of the treehouse, gesturing for Wang Yu and the other to follow. As their apothecary teacher, Moira was about to deliver to Wang Yu and Avia their very first lesson in the elven capital of Liahim.

...

"Heat, separate, dehydrate, isolate gas, add solvent..."

Wang Yu reminded himself of the steps internally as he processed a flame-wreathed flower on the desk—a Flameheart Flower.

It was a rare magical plant that was exceedingly difficult to handle; a single misstep would either cause the fire elements to lose control and detonate into a shower of sparks, or render the plant inert, causing its property of activating fire elements to vanish entirely.

For an apothecary to properly handle this type of magical plant, they needed to prepare adequate protection to avoid injury while utilizing various instruments to enhance their operational precision, ensuring that the processed material was flawless.

Yet at this moment, Wang Yu merely cupped his hands around the Flameheart Flower, cloaking the central bloom with the Power of the Chariot as an invisible

force meticulously manipulated the simple apparatus on the desk, processing the Flameheart Flower with extreme precision.

Some maneuvers did not even require equipment; with the Power of the Chariot enveloping the Flameheart Flower, he locked onto and controlled the moisture inherent to the plant, guiding it out of the blossom to effortlessly complete the dehydration step.

Isolating gases was much the same; his absolute concentration allowed him to separate the air and form a vacuum domain. Ingredients that required sophisticated machinery for others to handle were entry-level simple to Wang Yu.

"Now I understand why you said you didn't need to worry too much about processing materials. This kid is just too ridiculously useful..."

Moira leaned on her staff, watching Wang Yu utilize the Power of the Chariot to process the Flameheart Flower, a tempest raging in her heart. As a master apothecary, she had seen many pharmacists substitute instruments with fine manipulations using a Wizard's Hand or magic.

However, someone capable of achieving such an exaggerated effect as Wang Yu—directly commanding and controlling matter with the Power of the Chariot—was unprecedented. To her, this fellow was practically a human-shaped brewing station, and a fully automated one at that.

"Right?"

Avia wore a faint smile, her voice tinged with a touch of pride as she recalled how Wang Yu had once relied solely on ripples and his knightly constitution to assist her back in the capital, whereas now, having awakened the power of the Chariot, his capabilities had undergone a qualitative leap.

"Splash."

Completely dehydrated and sealed from the air, the Flameheart Flower, its activated fire elements still flickering with a steady burn, was gently lowered by Wang Yu into the solution of fire-elemental magic crystals; submerged, the flower continued to smolder, its unfurled petals possessing an ethereal, haunting beauty.

"It is finished. Professor Moira, what do you think?"

Wang Yu handed the vial containing the Flameheart Flower to Moira, awaiting her expert judgment on the quality of his preparation.

"Flawless. There is not a single blemish to be found. Your ability is truly tailor-made for the processing of such materials. To be honest, even if I were to handle it myself, I could not have achieved such perfection. There are many factors at play, but it is an undeniable fact: in the realm of material preparation, your talent far surpasses both mine and Avia's."

Moira inspected the Flameheart Flower as it burned slowly within the solution, and after delivering a verdict of perfection, she marveled at how seamlessly Wang Yu’s Chariot power integrated with the art of alchemy.

"How about this? While I continue your instruction, I would like to hire you to assist me with the processing of various medicinal ingredients. You two youngsters have rekindled my passion for pharmacology; it is time I shook off this lethargy and got to work. Would you accept payment in the form of the rare magical flora I have collected?"

Moira turned her gaze toward Wang Yu, proposing the arrangement with profound sincerity.

"This? Of course, I have no objections."

Finding no reason to refuse, Wang Yu agreed without a moment's hesitation.

(The protagonist skillfully utilizes his abilities to achieve his various goals; for me, this is quite a satisfying point to write about!)