Book 3: Chapter 315: Blood Copper Tincture

"Miss Sylutia, thank you for your contributions to the pathological research. The 'No. 29 Gray Rhinoceros Moon Tincture' used in this experiment has shown remarkable improvement in suppressing the disease's progression."

At the meeting a month later, the presiding master of the "Remuneration School" praised a silver-haired young woman seated in the hall, followed by a round of applause from the entire audience.

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After a month of working together, Sylutia's identity had gradually become known to the physicians and apothecaries. Initially, everyone was quite curious and astonished by her appearance, with some even wondering if she was just a pretty face, since her demeanor didn't suggest someone who had delved deeply into medicine and pharmacology.

Facing such skepticism, Sylutia didn't rush to defend herself. Instead, Master Zelalin couldn't bear it and spoke up about her achievements in resolving the Gray Sludge incident in the Darkmist Mountains years ago, which earned her newfound respect from many.

As time went on, everyone encountered numerous confusions during the pathological research. At these moments, the several research reports submitted by Sylutia resolved their doubts perfectly and pointed out clear directions.

Gradually, everyone began to believe that she was indeed a pharmacology prodigy, even if she hadn't formally studied medicine before.

With such a genius lending her aid, the process of developing the tincture was greatly accelerated. After confirming the pathological mechanism, various tinctures attempting to cure the plague entered the trial phase.

Among them, the No. 3 tincture approached from the angle of Purification, utilizing the characteristics of the Luminous Moon Aspect to eliminate the plague that had been tainted and infused by the corrupted Aspect within the blood.

However, the No. 3 tincture was not yet mature. After consumption, the Luminous Moon Aspect within it rapidly dissipated, failing to properly resolve the condition.

Subsequently, using the No. 3 tincture as the prototype, the No. 11 Chamomile Tincture and No. 19 Fine Sand Crystal Tincture were successively developed. The principle of the former was to use herbs to allow the Luminous Moon Aspect to take effect slowly and persistently, neutralizing the Distortion characteristics in the blood. The latter employed alchemical methods, grinding ore rich in the Luminous Moon Aspect into powder, then smelting it into special crystal sand, likewise achieving the goal of slow-release medicinal properties.

However, these two tinctures still couldn't be called perfect. If the plague virus in a fully mutated patient was considered 100%, then these two tinctures could only suppress the plague virus to 40%. The remaining portion hid and infiltrated deep within the internal organs, bones, and flesh, where the medicinal properties couldn't reach.

In other words, the No. 11 and No. 19 tinctures could only temporarily suppress the condition, not cure it fundamentally. Moreover, both tinctures were costly to produce, making them difficult to mass-produce and distribute widely.

The No. 29 Gray Rhinoceros Moon Tincture utilized the horn of the Moon-Gazing Gray Rhinoceros as its material. This was an ancient beast species naturally inclined to resonate with the Luminous Moon Aspect. When their horns were ground into powder, they produced peculiar effects, serving as a special medicinal ingredient that fused both Bloodline and Luminous Moon Aspects, allowing it to penetrate easily throughout the body.

For ages, the horns of Moon-Gazing Gray Rhinoceroses had been prized medicinal materials in royal palaces. Now, in facing this new plague, they demonstrated excellent efficacy as well. The newly successful No. 29 tincture could already suppress the plague virus to below 5%.

If continued refinement and development could achieve complete eradication, it remained a possibility, giving many apothecaries hope.

Three weeks later...

"No, still not working..." Staring at the faint red blood traces still floating in the reagent bottle in his hand, this apothecary wore a pained expression, his voice filled with despair.

"We've improved the Gray Rhinoceros Moon Tincture nearly twenty times now, but we still can't eradicate it completely. We can only suppress it to about 2%."

In the hall, the other apothecaries also wore dejected expressions. Some sighed heavily, while others sat in corners staring blankly at the ceiling, with scattered experimental report papers strewn around them.

This outbreak of the Flesh Plague proved far more difficult to conquer than anyone had anticipated. After nearly two months of attempts, they could still only develop tinctures that suppressed the condition rather than cure it outright.

"What if we used a higher-tier rhinoceros horn?" An apothecary with bloodshot eyes looked up.

"That won't work either. I've calculated it. Even using a Sixth Tier rhinoceros horn, we could only suppress it to 0.8%, and it would still relapse after enough time."

"Besides, where would we find that many Sixth Tier rhinoceros horns? And in the end, how many people could we actually save?" At that, more sighs echoed through the room.

In the upper level of the small hall, outside a quiet laboratory, Sylutia watched the potion gradually boiling in front of her, carefully adjusting it with great precision. When its color shifted from blue to pale red, she immediately turned off the heat, then activated the miniature magic array beneath the instrument's platform to cool the solution, allowing it to stabilize steadily.

She too was developing a new tincture, but not following the No. 3 to No. 29 route. Instead, it derived from an idea spawned by the No. 7 Poison Thistle Tincture.

The concept behind this tincture was to use targeted toxins to cause infected flesh tissue to directly undergo necrosis and die off. However, during the early trial phase, the side effects were so severe that the test subject nearly didn't survive. Other apothecaries had also made attempts afterward, such as the No. 21 Poison Arrow Herb Tincture, but the final results remained unsatisfactory, only suppressing the virus to 20%. Increasing the dosage further meant the plague wasn't killed, but the patient died first.

For the tincture Sylutia was attempting this time, she had partially altered the approach. Rather than pursuing excessively potent lethality, she instead sought other methods to inactivate the plague virus.

After completing it, Sylutia held up the test tube in her hand, light flowing through her eyes as she carefully observed and analyzed it.

[Blood Copper Tincture - Trial Type 4]: The tincture is rich in highly potent "Blood Copper Particles," which can bind with other substances bearing the Bloodline Aspect, converting them into metallic complex precipitates.

If the plague virus could be converted into metallic complex precipitates, it would lose its activity, becoming a non-toxic substance. It would no longer stimulate flesh mutation, nor would it be able to continue proliferating.

The concept behind this tincture could be described as a fusion of the Bloodline and Gold Steam Aspects. Unless someone was extremely proficient and specialized in both fields, it would be difficult to imagine anyone developing a tincture with such extraordinary properties in just one month's time.

Fortunately, Sylutia was indeed quite skilled in both domains. Even though she had never elevated the rank of her Bloodline or Gold Steam Aspects, she had personally experienced the entire life of the Blood Queen Colevanti in her memories. Combined with the teachings she received from the Named One of the Gold Steam Path, few people in this world understood these two fields more deeply than she did.

Although the potion had been successfully refined, its actual efficacy remained unknown. Sylutia stored it away, then walked out of the room.

She heard the sighs coming from the great hall on the other side. She initially wanted to go over and announce her new tincture, but on second thought, she held back.

Better to test the results first. If she raised everyone's hopes only to disappoint them, it would only make the fall harder.

Afterward, she left the building where the physicians had gathered and headed toward the now eerily quiet lower district.