Chapter 442
Even without leaving behind an extraordinary archive, failure and death were not unacceptable outcomes for Xia Er. She had already grasped the essential information in this simulation.
Given her current situation, there were a few potions that could be relatively easy to achieve in the limited time left.
She could directly speedrun from the 1st tier "Avenger" to the 2nd tier "Judicator," then transform into a "Radiant Bishop," preserving a 3rd tier "Radiant Bishop" in the process... This would become her new 3rd tier combat power.
Alternatively, she could transition from the 1st tier "Physician" to the 2nd tier "Plague Bearer"... This would allow her to save two potion archives, bringing her one step closer to unlocking the Old World simulation.
Or she could simply drink the 1st tier "Listener" potion... This was the simplest option, with the least side effects for preserving a potion archive.
As for the 1st tier "Performer" and 1st tier "Blood Painter," Xia Er had not obtained those potions yet, and acquiring them would take some time, which felt a bit risky—especially the "Performer," as that potion path was under the control of strong sound.
Now, she had to consider whether to pursue combat power, seek a higher limit, or play it safe...
After much contemplation, Xia Er decided to go for the upper limit.
Her intuition told her that the Old World simulation would greatly enhance her abilities.
Moreover, as she delved deeper into the other realm, she increasingly felt that her mental strength was somewhat lacking.
Adding to that was the way the platinum armor referred to her... It piqued her curiosity about the connection between the other realm and the Old World.
"Let's go with the Physician to Plague Bearer transition."
All she needed to do was prepare the cholera that the "Keybearer" Meng De had set up and accelerate its ignition...
"Tala, could you fetch me a bottle of 'Physician' potion and a bottle of 'Plague Bearer' potion?"
Xia Er looked at Tala and spoke.
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PS1:
Just a bit of a mess today; I took a long nap and woke up late. I hope my schedule won't fall apart.
Tomorrow, I’ll definitely write 6K words early!
Good night in advance!!!
By the way, I’m looking for votes at the end of the month!!!
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PS2: A recommendation for an orange-themed novel, "Great Rebirth! But I'm the Super Soft Rice King."
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Chapter 235: Dual Archives, Returning to Reality (5149 words)
10 AM.
West District, Ma Fei Er District, No. 22 Yise Lin Garden, Xia Er's residence.
Xia Er gazed at the two potions delivered to her, deep in thought.
Seven hours, huh...
There were nearly eight hours left until the simulation ended at 17:51.
But Xia Er needed to reserve some time; it would be best to complete the replication ritual quickly.
Time was indeed tight, but it wasn't a major issue.
After all, the "Toxicologist" potion could be consumed before completing the replication ritual. Even if she only completed half of the ritual, she could find an opportunity to make up for it later when she wanted to advance. Preserving a 2nd tier "Plague Bearer" shouldn't be a problem.
Just like Adele's teacher, Xie Lun, who had consumed the potion early and gained part of the 3rd tier abilities... only to have his replication ritual interrupted by Xia Er, leading to his failure and exposure.
"Lady Xia Er, if you could give me a bit more preparation time, I could help you obtain a more perfect potion..."
Tala, standing behind Xia Er, looked at the two potions in front of her and spoke.
"That's enough." Xia Er shook her head.
The 1st tier "Physician" potion was something she had prepared in advance during the simulation, while Tala had brought her a 2nd tier "Plague Bearer" potion from a collection of one of her 3rd tier students.
The Old World simulation only required a certain quantity of potion archives, not their quality. If she wanted to improve the quality, she could simply overwrite the archives without any negative effects.
For now, quantity took precedence.
Xia Er picked up the "Physician" potion in front of her.
Inside the potion bottle were white crystalline particles, resembling different translucent crystals, with even white, cotton-like fissures inside the crystals.
If it weren't labeled as a potion, Xia Er would have thought they were genuine crystal particles.
She uncorked the bottle and poured all the "crystals" into her mouth, swallowing them whole.
In an instant, Xia Er felt a pain akin to swallowing glass; the jagged edges of the "crystals" sliced through her throat, then burrowed into the wounds, breaking down into smaller crystalline particles that entered her bloodstream.
Thanks to her photographic memory, Xia Er's foundational medical knowledge was nearly on par with a medical student who had studied for four or five years in this world, though she lacked practical experience, which would certainly affect her ability to digest the potion. It might even lead to side effects when digesting the 1st tier potion.
Ordinary 1st tier potions could now be resisted by her mental strength alone, allowing her to withstand the whispers and negative effects of the potion. Theoretically, she could drink other 1st tier potions without completing the replication ritual—though that would strip her of the possibility of future advancement.
However, this didn't significantly impact Xia Er.
With her eyes tightly shut, she felt the buzzing whispers in her mind, along with a flood of knowledge about the "Physician" pouring into her consciousness, allowing her to fully understand all the abilities of the "Physician."
So weak... But if a genius were to acquire this ability, it could unleash terrifying destruction.
After perceiving the abilities that surfaced in her mind, Xia Er gave this assessment.
The "Physician" was perhaps the weakest 1st tier potion she had consumed, second only to the "Detective."
In terms of whispers, it was less intense than the "Avenger"; in terms of physical enhancement, it was less direct than the "Assassin" or "Butcher"; and in terms of mental prowess, it was no match for the "Listener" or "Instigator."
Yet its enhancements were remarkably balanced, with minimal side effects.
Additionally, both toxin resistance and drug tolerance had significantly improved, even allowing her to actively control her metabolic rate—enabling "Physician" path extraordinary beings to more efficiently harness the power of enhancement potions.
It seemed that a large part of the combat strength of the "Physician" came from self-developed potions, and the essence of the "Physician" was to be tough and hard to kill.
Moreover, the most crucial point, which Xia Er believed could create terrifying destructive power, was that the abilities of this path could perform simple life coding even at the "Physician" stage...
However, the cost was enormous, and currently, she could only code a very small portion of cells.
Xia Er had always thought that the flying knives used by Adele were also a "Physician" ability, but now it seemed that the surgical precision was likely something Adele had learned on her own.
Xia Er raised her hand, rubbed her temples, and looked again at the other potion sitting on the table before her.
Killing so many people to complete the "Plague Bearer" potion... would that be too cruel?
This thought lingered in Xia Er's mind for just a moment before dissipating entirely.
The system ability of "Calm Reflection" was helping her break free from the potion's influence on her thoughts.
So, was this the kind of thought that the "Physician" potion induced in her...?
In a sense, the "Physician" potion was quite dangerous, at least for Xia Er.
A moment of weakness at a critical time could cause her to miss numerous opportunities.
"Let's go, Tala." Xia Er picked up the potion and casually tucked it into her pocket, saying, "Call up Pei Er Xi; we have some business to attend to."
In the time that followed, Xia Er first visited Adele's home.
As a genius in the field of pharmacology, Adele was no stranger to cholera, a classic bacterial infection. In fact, the development of the new "Dehydration Syndrome" virus was inspired by the cholera bacterium.
Adele utilized the abilities of the "Physician" to insert gene fragments of the cholera bacterium into the genome of a bacteriophage, transforming the living bacteria into a lifeless virus.
Although the new "Dehydration Syndrome" virus lost the bacteria's ability to reproduce autonomously, it gained a much stronger infectivity and cell-destructive capability than the cholera bacterium.
This was something that should have been produced by the "Toxicologist" path, yet Adele successfully created it in one go at Xie Lun's request... showcasing her mastery in the "Physician" path.
Xia Er's visit was to request the pathogen for the "Dehydration Syndrome" from Adele.
Upon seeing Xia Er become a "Physician," Adele appeared very pleased. After all, Xia Er was her good friend, and now that her good friend had embarked on the same path, it was a joy that compounded their happiness.
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