End of the Magic Era

Lin Yun was full of confidence because, despite his current alchemy standards as an Artisan transcending the entire era, he couldn’t have come up with an antidote formula for the poison of the Ancient Poison Dragon even if he went all-out.

He had found the formula for the potion that could deal with the Ancient Poison Dragon in the decaying library and had casually read through it back then, but he hadn’t expected to use it now.

Moreover, the way to compound that potion was only prepared by a Saint Alchemist ten millennia later.

The main part was that this potion’s main materials were those small plants in the cracks surrounding the hole. Without those small plants, it would be impossible to deal with the Ancient Poison Dragon’s poison, even with the formula.

After all, the most terrifying thing about Ancient Poison Dragons was the fact that each one had poison that was different.

If there was a slight difference in the materials, detoxifying would be impossible.

That most important material for detoxification could only be found in the surroundings of an Ancient Poison Dragon’s resting place.

Thus, Lin Yun’s first reaction when finding the corpse of the Ancient Poison Dragon wasn’t to walk forward, but rather to crazily search the surroundings.

And sure enough, he found eight stalks of Poison Dragon Grass. All of it had been collected by Lin Yun, so he wasn’t afraid that someone would snatch the body of the Ancient Poison Dragon.

In any case, since no one could touch the Ancient Poison Dragon’s corpse, moving it was impossible. Anyone who touched it would die. Going back to get a good understanding of the antidote before interacting with the Dragon was the logical course of action.

Lin Yun’s unhesitant departure stunned Deloy. He anxiously looked at the corpse of the Ancient Poison Dragon before leaving the Poison Mist Valley.

Lin Yun didn’t immediately take his group back to the pit after the Gaugass Battlemages left, but instead dispatched someone to guard the surroundings of the Poison Mist Valley. In any case, no one but the Gaugass Battlemages would go into the Poison Mist Valley.

He had found the greatest harvest of the Poison Mist Valley, but had no way to get it. He believed that the Gaugass Battlemages would also lose interest in that place eventually. Without Lin Yun’s poison resistance potion, the unexplored parts of the Poison Mist Valley were quite worthless.

Lin Yun wasn’t worried. After returning, he would settle in his laboratory and start compounding the antidote for the Ancient Poison Dragon’s poison.

With the Poison Dragon Grass he had collected, he could compound many antidotes, and it would be an antidote that could perfectly offset the poison of that Ancient Poison Dragon. With the antidote’s protection, the corpse of the Ancient Poison Dragon would be no different from an ordinary Dragon’s corpse. That way, they would be able to smoothly harvest and use the corpse of the Ancient Poison Dragon to its full potential.

That formula had appeared at the peak of Noscent, and although the compounding requirements weren’t especially high, it did need an Artisan. Lin Yun just happened to be an Artisan far beyond the standards of this era.

While compounding, there would be many details and complicated parts, and the Poison Dragon Grass itself was very toxic, so the compounding tools needed to be specially forged. Just forging a new set of alchemy tools took Lin Yun three days.

But while compounding the antidote, it was necessary to retain the toxicity of the Poison Dragon Grass, while also making sure that the potion wouldn’t directly poison someone. This balance was very important. A small deviation and the antidote would be just like the Ancient Poison Dragon’s poison, killing people with a single touch.

With the standards of this era’s alchemists, if one lacked the complete formula or the compounding details, even a peak Artisan wouldn’t succeed without thousands upon thousands of experiments.

That formula came from a Saint Alchemist. The skills that such a powerhouse casually used, as well as his detailed and accurate machine-like work, wasn’t something an Artisan could compare to.

Thus, as Lin Yun compounded, he was on edge as if he was facing an enemy. Not only did he keep his mana active so that he could react at a moment’s notice, but he also kept a specially forged thirty-centimeter-thick Steel Essence Shield at his side, and he could hide behind it immediately. That thick shield could delay the poison for at least a second.

That time would be enough for Lin Yun to escape.

After all, that Poison Dragon Grass had grown from absorbing the essence of the Ancient Poison Dragon’s poison. For an ordinary person, touching it was no different from touching the Ancient Poison Dragon itself. They would die an ugly death.

Lin Yun worked rapidly and accurately with the efficiency of a machine for a dozen continuous hours. He broke down this work into hundreds of small steps and procedures and followed the compounding method to quickly compound the potion.

Crush to paste, dissolve, use centrifugal force, dialyze, counteract, catalyze…

After a series of operations that could make an Artisan’s eyes blur, it took ten hours to successfully compound a few bottles of antidote.

Looking at the few bottles on the tablet, Lin Yun sighed in relief and almost went limp on the ground.

These few potion bottles represented the peak of his level. If he hadn’t known the formula and compounding process in advance, he wouldn’t have been able to compound them.

Despite this, he had to keep going until the end.

After all, the key to the process was its speed. Each step had to be done without hesitation, and it had very strict time requirements. A difference of one second could completely alter the process and make it all fail.

And now, the alchemy bottles in front of him were engraved with numerous runes. The potions seemed to be floating within the bottles because the potion in itself was highly toxic and could corrode the bottles on contact.

Taking the potion was also tricky… Without knowing the trick, this was nothing more than a terrifying poison.

After several days, Lin Yun came out of the alchemy laboratory with a poor appearance. His subordinates reported that a few days ago, a few Gaugass Battlemages appeared in the Poison Mist Valley, and no one went there in the past two days.

That desolate and dangerous region wasn’t a place anyone could run to.

While everyone was resting at Night, Lin Yun took Xiuban, Reina, and Enderfa and quietly departed the Storm Fort, entering the Poison Mist Valley under the cover of the night.

After going back to the hole, they noticed traces of people in the surroundings. The Ancient Poison Dragon’s corpse was still in the hole, unchanged. Green smoke was still coming out of its corpse and spreading over the horizon.

After reaching the bottom of the hole, Lin Yun gave a bottle of the new antidote to everyone, including Enderfa and the puppet.

After all, Ancient Poison Dragons were so formidable because their poison was effective against everything, including Magic Tool Incarnations, puppets, intangible beings, and even rocks. Everything could be corroded.

Lin Yun held a bottle of the antidote in one hand as he walked to the side of the Ancient Poison Dragon’s body while the others were scared witless.

“Sir Merlin, are you sure there is no problem with the antidote?” Xiuban was a bit pale, his legs shivering.

Everyone had seen what happened to Kempes the other day.

If something went wrong, they might as well slit their own throats and die.

Lin Yun stopped and coldly snorted before kicking Xiuban.

“Go, feel this Ancient Poison Dragon’s corpse, and the moment you touch it, drink that antidote. Remember, you have to feel the Ancient Poison Dragon’s corpse then drink the antidote. Otherwise, you’ll die.”

Xiuban was sullen, his face filled with fear. He was so scared that he fell on his butt, paralyzed. On the side, Reina and Enderfa’s pale expressions couldn’t help looking a bit better.

Seeing Xiuban being scared like he’d soil his pants, Lin Yun grinned and walked to the side of the corpse on his own before putting his hand on the Ancient Poison Dragon’s corpse as if he was petting a pet.

Enderfa’s three faces were filled with horror, as if Lin Yun was doing something crazy.

Xiuban paled even more and watched Lin Yun’s movement with his mouth wide open.

Reina already subconsciously ran towards Lin Yun.

Under everyone’s frightened gazes, Lin Yun’s left hand softly caressed the corpse…

Immediately, Lin Yun’s fingertips turned dark green, and a terrifying poison rapidly spread from Lin Yun’s fingers towards his body. His mana was instantly poisoned, and it rapidly spread through his body.

Lin Yun’s expression remained stable. He raised his head and poured the antidote in his right hand into his mouth.

A ripple appeared on his left hand, starting from his fingertips. It spread through Lin Yun’s body in an instant and Lin Yun’s skin turned dark green.

Then, a faint light was emitted from his dark green skin, and it darkened with every flicker. After eight flickers, Lin Yun’s body regained its original color.

Those fierce mana fluctuations also returned to normal.

In just a few seconds, Xiuban and Reina were already sweating as they looked at Lin Yun as if he was a God.

Enderfa’s three faces had strange expressions as he told Lin Yun, “Merlin, are you sure you aren’t the reincarnation of the Plague God? This is a f*cking Ancient Poison Dragon, yet you can actually detoxify its poison! Damn, this world is changing too fast, I can’t keep up. In those days, apart from Gods, no one could survive the poison of an Ancient Poison Dragon. You are definitely the first person in Noscent to touch an Ancient Poison Dragon without being affected…”