CHAPTER 211: CHAPTER 177: KNIGHT GROWTH POTION

"No, it’s just... my whole body feels lighter, my Fighting Energy seems to be alive again, and my mind is clearer, but I can’t quite explain it..." Weir scratched his head, showing a somewhat embarrassed smile, "I’m not very good with words..."

"You don’t need to be good with words," Louis sighed softly, patting his shoulder, "you just need to keep getting stronger."

Then he suppressed his amazement and turned to Hillco: "How many of these potions do you have left?"

"Seven portions, mainly due to material issues." Hillco spread his hands, his tone somewhat regretful, "The Azure Patterned Honey is easy to cultivate, but the Frost Blood Redberry is the biggest problem. This batch was the first to bear fruit in the experimental field, and the quantity is indeed small."

"It was the first time planting, after all." Louis nodded, indicating his understanding, "Small quantity as it is, it’s still a result. The next batch doubling the yield will make things much easier."

He shifted his focus and looked at Lambert standing to the side.

"Arrange to find the five knights who have performed the best recently, from different ages and cultivation stages. I want to see the effects of the potion on different people."

"Yes, my Lord!" Lambert immediately took the order and left.

In less than half an hour, he returned to the lab with five knights.

Among them were battle-hardened old knights, newcomers in their early twenties, and even a young apprentice knight—all with expectant expressions and bright eyes.

"I’ve noted your recent achievements." Louis stated directly, "As a reward, each of you will receive a special Combat Qi Potion. It’s crafted in our territory, intended to accelerate your cultivation."

The five heard they would receive a "cultivation-enhancing" mysterious potion, and their eyes almost simultaneously lit up with surprise and excitement.

"This... is specifically for us?" The older knight, with weathered eyes, murmured as if afraid he had misheard.

"Can we really use such a precious potion?" The young knight blinked, his voice slightly trembling.

"I’ve never drunk anything of this level in my life!" Another thin middle-aged knight could hardly contain his joy, his fingers trembling as if holding a sacred artifact.

"Can I, as an apprentice knight, drink this too?" The youngest apprentice knight stared in disbelief at the faint purple glow in the bottle.

"Drink it." Louis’s tone was indifferent, yet it contained encouragement.

With these words, the five seemed ignited like fuses, exchanged an excited look, and almost spoke in unison:

"Thank you for your great kindness, my Lord!"

"Long live Lord Louis!"

"Bottoms up!"

"I can’t wait to break through!"

"With this power, I vow to repay Red Tide!"

They received the potions as if they were treasures, gently uncorked them, and smelled the sweet aroma mixed with a hint of coldness, their eyes once again showing awe.

The purplish-red liquid flowed slowly in the bottles, its dim light jumping like a soul, every drop seemingly condensed with their longing for power.

"To our destiny." The older knight murmured, raising his head and drinking it all.

"Drinking it, I must become stronger!" The young man grinned and gulped it down.

Thus, the five drank the potions one after another, their bodies tensed almost simultaneously, some frowning, some gritting their teeth, their expressions becoming solemn and focused.

They immediately sat cross-legged, using their familiar breathing techniques to guide the potion’s power into a cultivation state.

A moment later, a faint warm current surged in the air, as if a mysterious pulse resonated within the room.

The floor trembled slightly, invisible waves of Fighting Energy silently spreading from the five, like ripples on water.

Hillco and Jenny had already taken out pen and paper, quickly recording their changes for future improvement reference.

Louis stood by with crossed arms, calmly scanning those five figures, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

About a quarter of an hour later, the first to break through was the middle-aged knight who had been stuck at the peak of the initial stage.

He suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp light shooting from them, sweat pouring down like rain, exhaling a long breath of foul air.

"I... broke through?" He looked at his hands incredulously, gently clenching his fists, feeling the smooth, surging movement of Fighting Energy within, almost moved to tears,

"I’ve been stuck at the Junior Elite Knight level for four whole years... this potion... it actually helped me cross the bottleneck!"

Another followed, his face slightly flushed, clearly not yet breaking through due to the potion, but still full of joy: "Although I didn’t break through, I feel my Fighting Energy is about twenty percent more than before.

It flows more steadily too. It’s like... I’ve cultivated for an extra two months!"

"Me too!" The youngest apprentice knight looked up excitedly, his voice betraying uncontrollable excitement, "My Fighting Energy seemed to be lifted, naturally spreading throughout my body... I never thought it would feel like this!"

The rest gained varying degrees of benefit.

While not everyone broke through at once, the sense of "training efficiency being doubled" filled them with hope for the future.

They rose, once again facing Louis, cupping their fists in gratitude:

"Thank you, my Lord, for the granting of the potion!"

"I swear with my life to serve Red Tide!"

"Such kindness is engraved in my heart and never forgotten!"

They hadn’t expected their lord to be so generous as to grant them such a precious drug.

Seeing their excited, flushed faces, a hint of satisfaction crossed Louis’s eyes.

"The effect is better than expected." He assessed internally: "Though it’s not the ’instant transformation with one sip’ kind of mythical potion from games, it already has strategic value in promoting qualitative change, and the key is that it can be mass-produced."

"This batch of potions is just the first edition." He turned to look at Hillco and Jenny, smiling: "Once the Frost Blood Redberry is widely ripe, we can produce them in bulk to cultivate knights truly belonging to Red Tide Territory."

"We’ll optimize the management of the main materials." Hillco immediately supplemented, his expression serious, "At the current efficiency, we can produce twenty to thirty potions next round."

As the five knights left in high spirits, Louis slowly withdrew his gaze, swiftly reflecting on the entire process just now.

Those who broke through were concentrated at bottlenecks, especially those stuck at thresholds.

This indicates that the best use of these potions is ’assisting breakthroughs’ rather than ’forcing growth.’

This potion isn’t one of those legendary elixirs that could transform someone with just one drink.

It’s more like a springboard that provides precise thrust at the right moment.

Especially for those knights stuck at bottlenecks, it can save months, even years, of hard cultivation time.

This improvement in efficiency is the crucial factor in altering the structure of combat strength.

In the future, as long as raw material supply is stable, the potion can be mass-produced, becoming a strategic resource for Red Tide Territory.

Even more importantly, this experiment’s success not only confirmed the potion’s efficacy but also strengthened the knights’ sense of belonging to him.

They would firmly remember who made them stronger, who could make them stronger.

Then Louis looked at the last two remaining potions, pondered for a moment, and casually handed one to Lambert beside him.

"You should drink one too." He spoke offhandedly, as if merely offering a cup of tea.

Lambert took the potion, bowing his head slightly: "Thank you, my Lord."

He wasn’t too excited, as with his relationship with Louis, he figured he would receive one, yet still felt grateful.

"As for this last bottle..." Louis glanced at the remaining potion in his palm, its purple-red glow, thoughtful, "I’ll keep it for myself, and drink it whenever I hit a bottleneck."