512: The Third Round of the Ladder and Advanced Potion Master
A week later, Locke arrived at the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion and showed the Red Dragon Half-dragon Person shopkeeper seven bottles of Gelas Aging Potion he had recently refined.
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person shopkeeper looked at Locke strangely, his usually calm face now showing intense changes in expression.
He looked up at Locke in confusion. The moment Locke walked in, he suddenly became very nervous, and an inexplicable fear of Locke arose in his heart, along with an involuntary desire to submit.
But he quickly activated his advanced meditation technique, maintaining his mental state in a state of neither anger nor joy, his soul calm and unruffled, overcoming this fear from the biological instinctive level.
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person scanned Locke with a puzzled look, then took out a transparent gem ring from his astral ring. But as soon as he took it out, the transparent gem ring turned golden.
The next moment, a deep purple dragon shadow suddenly appeared from within the ring, causing the surface of the gem ring to crack.
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person bowed slightly to Locke, performing a salute. "My apologies, this ring was crafted by a Bloodline Wizard who is also an Alchemist. It is a bloodline testing ring, and only beings of extremely high purity will cause the ring to change."
"Generally speaking, it is difficult for a Wizard to cause this ring to change."
"Do you possess an undying dragon scale?"
Locke hesitated slightly, then nodded.
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person's face showed a hint of reverence and an unconscious expression of submission. "That explains it then. An undying dragon scale is a mark of a True Dragon Bloodline."
"Possessing an undying dragon scale means one is a True Dragon Bloodline, no dragon body is needed, because a dragon's power comes from its scales."
Locke said, "I only possess one, does that count?"
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person smiled and said, "I truly apologize for my earlier disrespect. How many more undying dragon scales do you desire? Although the more powerful the dragon, the more undying dragon scales it possesses. Legend has it that the ancient Dragon King in the deepest part of the Dragon Mountain Range has undying dragon scales all over his body, but for a dragon, possessing one undying dragon scale is already enough."
"The Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion welcomes all True Dragon Bloodlines."
"You enjoy special privileges here."
Locke hadn't expected that the undying dragon scale he accidentally obtained from a First Ring Wizard Secret Realm would grant him special treatment at the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion.
Locke asked, "Such as what privileges?"
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person said, "Firstly, other Potion Masters participating in the Ladder cannot pause. Once they join, they must continuously participate in the Ladder test, otherwise they can only withdraw."
"Either participate, or withdraw, or fail, choose one."
"But you are a distinguished guest of our Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion, so you have the right to freely pause. You can stop participating in the subsequent Ladder tests after completing a section, and when you wish to participate again, you can rejoin the Ladder."
"In addition, you have the highest viewing access to every Magical Potion formula in the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion. You can trade for one Magical Potion formula you desire from the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion every day. This can solve your problem of needing precious Magical Potion formulas."
Locke raised an eyebrow, undoubtedly somewhat tempted.
He hadn't expected that his undying dragon scale was actually a symbol of status.
The convenience brought by that mysterious True Dragon Bloodline was simply too great.
Locke could also sense that a huge secret was hidden within this, one that he, currently in the First Ring liquefaction stage, could not investigate.
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person said, "In addition, you have one last great privilege, which is to use our Magical Potion room at half price."
Locke nodded slightly. "I understand."
He suddenly spoke, "Is the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion backed by a High Circle Potion Master related to dragon-kind?"
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person looked at Locke in surprise. "Why would you think that? The Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion only cultivates, it does not own."
"If we ourselves possessed powerful Potion Masters, why would we cultivate for the general public instead of cultivating our own students?"
"Unlike other chain stores, the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion is neither for making money nor for cultivating successors. We are a neutral organization."
Locke's eyes flickered, indeed.
Then the powerful figure behind the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion must be in great need of some powerful Potion Masters.
Is the other party a Wizard related to dragons?
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person stepped forward, picked up a bottle of Magical Potion from the tray, smelled it, and confirmed that it was a Gelas Aging Potion.
"I previously gave you ten sets of refining materials. You have now produced seven Gelas Magical Potions. Your success rate is very good."
"You are much more excellent than many Potion Masters."
Locke nodded.
During this year, he had frequently discussed Magical Potion Studies with Alicia, so his progress was naturally rapid, and his success rate far exceeded his expectations.
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person handed Locke a magic box and a key. "This is your reward for passing the second round of the Ladder. This is the water magic box, and this is the key."
Locke took the key, then inserted it into the water magic box and opened it. The magic box immediately turned into liquid and evaporated completely.
A blue stone floated in mid-air.
The surface of this stone was covered with fine pores.
Upon seeing this, the Red Dragon Half-dragon Person immediately said, "Lord Locke, your luck is very good. This is a treasure, a gem for Potion Masters, called [Purifying Flow Filter Stone]."
"It comes from the elemental core of a mutated elemental lord, extremely rare. Although it is only a First Ring item, and elemental lords are not difficult to deal with, the problem is that only one in a million elemental lords might produce a mutated elemental lord capable of yielding a [Purifying Flow Filter Stone]."
"So it is extremely precious."
"When you refine a potion, if you add this stone to the potion, it can filter out various materials in the Magical Potion raw materials, which can increase the Magical Potion's effect by about 10% out of thin air."
"Even Second Ring Potion Masters would find this gem useful."
Locke put this Purifying Flow Filter Stone into his astral ring. This rare Potion Master equipment was considered his accumulation.
Such a thing would be very difficult to purchase on the market, as it purely depends on one's luck. If it were truly put on the market for trade, the premium would likely be very high.
Locke said, "I didn't expect such a good item to appear as a Ladder reward."
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person said, "It's your good luck. Also, the quality of our Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion's Ladder rewards is inherently high, otherwise, so many Potion Masters wouldn't actively join our Ladder test."
"Of course, your luck within the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion will definitely increase."
Locke looked at the Red Dragon Half-dragon Person in confusion.
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person explained, "All Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilions are blessed by the [Dragon's Lair Protection Spell]."
"As a True Dragon Bloodline, your luck within the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion will automatically rise by one level. This can be considered a hidden privilege you have within the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion. Whether it's preparing Magical Potions or drawing Ladder rewards, you will have a greater advantage than other Potion Masters."
Locke increasingly felt that the powerful Wizard behind this Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion had a very close relationship with the dragon race.
However, as long as the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion was useful to him now, that was all that mattered.
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person said to Locke, "Lord Locke, would you like to participate in the third round of the Ladder now?"
Locke thought for a moment and said, "I'll participate."
Although he might soon enter the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge, this wouldn't prevent him from studying the test Magical Potion for the third round on the way, and he could still discuss Magical Potion Studies with Alicia during his journey.
Therefore, there was actually no reason not to participate in the third Ladder.
On the contrary, for the fourth Ladder test, he would stop if he could, because according to the increasing difficulty of this Ladder, the fourth round would very likely require refining Second Ring level Magical Potions.
And Second Ring level Magical Potions are not ordinary First Ring Magical Potions; Potion Masters above Second Ring are extremely rare.
Many First Ring Potion Masters, even if they become Second Ring Wizards, may not necessarily become Second Ring Potion Masters.
A Second Ring Potion Master is already an Advanced Potion Master.
Therefore, for the fourth round of the Ladder, he would indeed need to use the privilege brought by his undying dragon scale and pause.
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person said, "This test will last for three years."
"You need to use ten sets of materials to successfully refine one... Lucky Potion."
Locke was stunned, because Lucky Potion was one of the most difficult Magical Potions among First Ring Magical Potions, if not the most difficult.
Moreover, its formula... logically speaking, should also be inaccessible to ordinary Potion Masters.
He was right after all; the third round of the Ladder test directly tested the refining of the most difficult First Ring Magical Potions.
Then the fourth round of the Ladder test would inevitably enter the Second Ring Magical Potion level.
Locke smiled wryly. "Lucky Potion, that difficulty is truly too high, but if I can have the opportunity to see the formula for Lucky Potion once, it will be worth the trip."
The Red Dragon Half-dragon Person said, "Lord Locke, you are too modest. But in reality, very few Potion Masters can enter the third round of the Ladder. You are already very excellent. And you might even be able to acquire the ability to refine Lucky Potion within three years."
"Likewise, this time, you still cannot use Primal Fire, nor can you use the Purifying Flow Filter Stone."