After a simple search, Alan finally understood the truth about the so-called Snake Skin Potion. Strictly speaking, creating the Elixir of Life is not as simple as merely brewing a potion; it is divided into two parts: an alchemy ritual and potion-making.
One of the most important steps is a ritual recorded in the notes called Life Transmutation. During the ritual, a living creature from which life force is to be extracted is placed on an alchemy array inscribed with a Life Transmutation charm. Then, the array is activated to extract the life force from the living creature. This product, containing a large amount of life energy, is referred to in the notes as Unstable Life Essence.
After extracting this Life Essence, it is then used as the main raw material, along with corresponding auxiliary ingredients, to concoct the so-called Elixir of Life. At the same time, the notes not only clearly documented the potion-making method but also specifically noted that the Life Essence extracted using this relatively crude array is somewhat toxic.
Although the Elixir of Life made from this raw material can indeed prolong life, it can also cause some unignorable side effects, such as mutations after long-term consumption, and weaknesses like the snake shedding period. This is because all magical creatures' magic and life force are influenced by emotions and will. These wills are not removed by the Life Transmutation ritual; instead, they contaminate the Unstable Life Essence, forming a byproduct called thought toxin.
Alan also found that, just as he had previously suspected, humans, as living beings, can indeed be used as raw materials for Life Transmutation. However, intelligent beings like humans produce more thought toxins due to their rich emotions, and the quality of the Life Essence produced is very poor. This is probably why the Rune Serpent never considered using wizards to make potions.
Therefore, the so-called Snake Skin Potion, in Alan's eyes, seemed like a semi-finished product, because judging from the original owner's tone in the notes, he seemed dissatisfied with the effects of this Elixir of Life, appearing quite disdainful. However, this original owner probably never imagined that what he considered trash would become a treasure in the eyes of the Rune Serpent and the various club leaders.
"So, this thing that looks like an altar is the so-called Life Transmutation array? No wonder I can sense a strong bloody aura on it." After a little research, Alan also figured out the truth about the so-called Elixir of Life. It turns out this is an alchemy product.
Alan has always avoided such potions with obvious side effects and those that go against natural principles, let alone now seeing so many hidden side effects. However, the knowledge contained within it made Alan quite envious, especially the so-called Life Transmutation alchemy array. It would be very useful for enriching his own knowledge base or for drawing inferences.
But at the same time, Alan was worried about another matter: after his Eclipse evolved into a Holy Artifact, it seemed to possess the ability to draw magic and life force from enemies and feed it back to him. Although the proportion of feedback is not much, even for a creature like the Rune Serpent, which has astonishingly strong physique and magic, it only added over two hundred points to his magic limit.
But this truly is directly extracting life force from living beings. Do these energies fed back to him also carry the so-called thought toxins? If it is truly as recorded, wouldn't the enhancements he gained from Eclipse also have hidden dangers? Alan did not want to become like the Rune Serpent, a creature whose mind and body were somewhat abnormal.
However, when he previously received the magic and life force feedback from Eclipse, he did not feel the slightest abnormality; those energies left him with the impression of being very pure. So, although Alan does not plan to make the Elixir of Life, he will probably have to study this so-called Life Transmutation array in depth, at least to compare whether the Unstable Life Essence is consistent with the energy he obtains from Eclipse.
Alan could feel that the life energy transformed by Eclipse was probably much more advanced than the Life Essence created through this Life Transmutation ritual. Perhaps he could even upgrade the Life Transmutation array to a more superior form. However, these studies will have to be completed later; for now, the priority is to tally the gains.
Alan did not linger in the room. He had already obtained the array's blueprint; he just needed to figure out a way to transport the existing transmutation array later. After he walked out of the room on the left, he went straight to the room on the right side of the entrance. According to Beaumont in the portrait, this should be the Rune Serpent's storeroom.
Upon pushing the door open, he was greeted by hundreds of exquisitely carved wooden shelves, though more than half of them were empty. It seemed that, as Beaumont said, many supplies had already been transferred to the club's storeroom.
Alan carefully inspected the shelves and then saw a dozen bottles of finished Elixir of Life, enough for several years' use. It seemed the Rune Serpent also knew how to keep some for herself. Secondly, on more shelves, there were large quantities of magical creature by-products, including magical creature fur, bones, teeth, etc., which could be measured in tons. These should have been peeled off after the Life Transmutation was completed.
Because many of the animal furs appeared dull and lifeless, clearly lacking life force, but after inspection, Alan found that although these leathers were not as high quality as raw materials directly peeled off, their quality was still acceptable, at least for producing alchemy tools without major problems. In addition, there were also many magical creature resources on the shelves, but overall, that was about it.
Galleons? Not a single one.
Alchemy materials? Not a single one.
"There's a lot less stuff in here than I imagined. It seems the bulk is still at the headquarters. After clearing out the things here, I'll go take over the Silver Spears headquarters." Alan shook his head helplessly, then turned and walked out of the room. At this time, Shalltear and the others had also entered the basement and were quietly waiting in the hall.
"My Lord, the upstairs was quite thoroughly destroyed. I didn't find any Muggle artworks, but there were quite a few living magical creatures stunned at the edge of the valley, probably those who didn't manage to escape earlier. I've already put them all into my suitcase," Shalltear reported to Alan with a grin.
"Very good. There are large quantities of magical creature products in the room behind me. You transport them all and place them in Warehouse No. 3 of the experimental building. The space there should still be enough," Alan instructed, pointing to the door behind him.
Just as Shalltear accepted the order and was about to act, a sudden gasp came from nearby.
"How can there be vampires and magical creatures? Are you really not Goodwin?" Beaumont in the portrait stared at Alan and his group, showing an expression of disbelief.
"None of your business. This broken painting of yours was left in this godforsaken place by the Rune Serpent, so it's probably not a good thing either." With that, Shalltear turned her head and asked Alan, "My Lord, why don't we burn them all later?"
Alan shook his head at her words. "Let these portraits decide for themselves. Although they are just paintings, they are, after all, famous people from centuries ago. Let's give them some final respect."
"Goodwin is dead! Goodwin is dead!" Beaumont paid no attention to Alan and the others' words, only excitedly shouting, instantly waking up the other portraits in the hall. Immediately, these magic portraits began to talk among themselves, seemingly sharing their joy.
"My Lord, it seems we've been ignored…" Shalltear muttered, looking at the self-absorbed portraits, quite speechless.
"Then we'll ignore them too," Alan chuckled. "Go do your work first, and then find me in this middle room after you're done." With that, he bothered no further with the noisy portraits and purposefully entered the room directly opposite the entrance.
The Rune Serpent's private library was considerably larger than the other two rooms. Its interior clearly had been expanded with a Traceless Stretching Charm, boasting two full floors and an almost endless expanse of bookshelves. However, after a brief review by Alan, he found that the library's materials were quite complex, with a large portion of them being various newspapers and periodicals from the last hundred years.
At the same time, the bookshelves also collected a large number of entertainment books from the Muggle world, such as world classics, and Alan even saw gossip magazines from various countries. In addition, books related to wizards were equally comprehensive, including various wizard autobiographies, travelogues, and even things like cookbooks. It seems the Rune Serpent, who lived for several hundred years, was truly bored. Perhaps she relied on these books to help her pass the long hours.
Alan spent several hours in the library, along with Shalltear who joined him later, roughly classifying the books. They were divided into useless pure entertainment Muggle and wizard books, possibly useful wizard newspapers, not very useful various academic periodicals from previous years, and useful magic-related materials. After further subdivision, Alan found that these materials were still very rich; the useful content alone could fill dozens of bookshelves.
Alan also unexpectedly found the Rune Serpent's personal notes, a total of six large boxes worth, most of which were her diaries, recording quite a lot of club-related content. As for Alan's most concerned aspect, personal magic research, the content recorded by the Rune Serpent was quite sparse. Unlike wizards of exceptional talent like Phoenix and Thunderbird, the Rune Serpent had almost no original magic research of her own. The magic she excelled at was almost entirely learned from others.
This included the gravitational magic and other spells he had witnessed before, which Alan was most interested in.