Before Physician Morus returned to Quietstream Valley, Elara knew it was temporarily safe to use the small phial in this valley. Since she was the only one in the entire valley, and no outsiders would rashly intrude, this ensured no accidents would occur during this period, allowing her to use the phial boldly and with peace of mind.
Elara estimated Physician Morus's return time. She felt it was impossible for the physician to find any superior medicinal herbs in the areas near the Outpost; he would probably have to search in more distant places, most likely those unfrequented deep ancient forests. Only in such remote locations was there hope of gathering some rare herbs. But this way, the round trip, plus the time spent searching for herbs, would require at least nearly a year before he could return to the Outpost.
Nearly half a year had already passed since Physician Morus went down the mountain. Elara estimated he would probably return to Stonefist Outpost in another six or seven months. In these days before his return, Elara had to mature as many useful herbs for herself as possible and systematically acquire medicinal materials according to the several rare potion recipes she knew, without blindly wasting these emerald droplets.
These potions that Elara was about to prepare, which could help increase magical power and break through cultivation bottlenecks, were all top-tier secret medicines that Physician Morus had previously wanted to concoct but had failed to do so due to the inability to gather the required medicinal materials. Each one, if put on the market, would be enough to make an ordinary family bankrupt and cause mercenaries and adventurers to fight desperately for them; they were rarely seen treasures.
Even someone as skilled in medicine as Physician Morus had never seen any of these finished potions, let alone made them himself. It was known that although Physician Morus possessed the methods for preparing these secret medicines, without the corresponding medicinal materials, he could only sigh at the heavens.
When Elara had previously studied medicine under Physician Morus, she had been greatly interested in these rare recipes. Although she had never dared to hope she could prepare these extremely precious medicines herself, she had firmly committed many recipes to memory. Physician Morus had also adopted an indifferent attitude towards her enthusiastic study of these recipes; whenever Elara asked, he would explain in detail, without any intention of concealing anything. Perhaps Physician Morus also considered these recipes to be "chicken ribs"—of little practical use, but a pity to discard.
Now, these recipes had become Elara's most cherished treasures. She diligently matured the herbs according to the various ages specified in them, not daring to slack off in the slightest. She knew that the time left for her was not much; she had to prepare these potions before Physician Morus returned and then shelve the small phial, never to easily use it again within the Outpost.
Elara had no confidence whatsoever that she could use the small phial in front of Physician Morus without revealing her hand. She knew very well what a shrewd and extremely cautious person Physician Morus was. She had not the slightest intention of telling Physician Morus the secret of the small phial.
Elara always felt that the relationship between herself and Physician Morus was very strange, far from the simplicity of an ordinary master-disciple relationship.
Physician Morus often looked at her with a peculiar gaze, which always made Elara feel as if he was hiding some secret detrimental to her. Especially in the last year or two, this feeling of Elara's had grown even stronger. This also made it impossible for Elara and Physician Morus to be as close and open with each other as ordinary masters and disciples.
In daily life, Physician Morus was actually very good to her; he neither subjected her to beatings and kickings, nor did he speak viciously to her, and he spared no effort in creating the best possible conditions for her to cultivate her secret art. But there always seemed to be a barrier between master and disciple, an awkward atmosphere always drifting between them.
Physician Morus was clearly aware of the existence of this rift, yet he showed no intention of mending the master-disciple relationship. He continued to do as he always did, merely urging Elara to advance her cultivation of the secret art. However, the peculiar expression that used to be in his eyes when he looked at Elara seemed to have gradually lessened, and for a long time, he hadn't shown it at all.
But Elara's keen intuition vaguely told her that he had not truly given up on some unknown intention of his, but had very skillfully concealed his desires. This, in turn, made Elara even more wary of Physician Morus. Under such circumstances, how could she dare to let him know the secret of the small phial!
Elara had learned an irrefutable lesson from many historical records and legends: "One must not have the heart to harm others, but one must be vigilant against being harmed by others!"
Whether Physician Morus truly intended her harm, or if it was merely her own misjudgment, it was not a bad thing for her to be more vigilant towards Physician Morus. If Physician Morus truly harbored ill intentions towards her, her increased vigilance could prevent her from being harmed; if it was her own intuitive misjudgment, then there was nothing wrong with her heightened alertness, and she herself would not proactively betray her master. She, Elara Stonefield, was still Physician Morus's good disciple and would properly fulfill her duties as a disciple.
Thinking of this, Elara still felt somewhat uncomfortable. Such a strange master-disciple relationship as hers and Physician Morus's was probably unique within Stonefist Outpost. She couldn't help but sigh.
The small phial absolutely could not be used after Physician Morus returned; this was set in stone. As it is said, walls have ears. Even if she were lucky enough not to be discovered by Physician Morus, her secret might be stumbled upon by others in Stonefist Outpost. The safest method was to put it away, as if such a thing had never happened.
Elara made all her plans and resolved to secretly store the small phial away and not use it easily in the future. With this, her heart relaxed, and she drowsily fell asleep on her bed.
In the following months, Elara secretly used the emerald droplets from the small phial to mature a large batch of precious medicinal herbs. With these herbs, she prepared many rare potions according to the recipes. However, there were also many failures during the preparation process. Each failure made Elara's heart ache for a long time. After all, the medicinal materials used to make these potions were all top-grade materials rarely found in the world; one failure meant an unknown amount of silver coins had gone down the drain. But she couldn't be blamed for this; it was everyone's first time trying to prepare these recipes, and a few failures were inevitable. Even if Physician Morus himself were to prepare these potions, he would probably make a mistake or two. Elara could only console herself in this way.
"Dragon's Blood Essence," "Soulclear Elixir," "Golden Marrow Fluid," "Vitality Stabilizing Pill"—these rare potions, seldom seen in the outside world, were all divided into more than a dozen small medicine phials and laid out before Elara. Looking at these phials, Elara's face was also filled with unconcealed joy. With these miraculous elixirs, let alone mastering the fourth layer of her secret art, even the fifth and sixth layers would probably not require too much effort for her to achieve.
Among these potions, "Dragon's Blood Essence" and "Golden Marrow Fluid" were the most helpful for her cultivation, both possessing the wondrous efficacy of enhancing magical power and improving one's constitution. The "Soulclear Elixir" was a rare universal antidote in the world, capable of neutralizing thousands of potent poisons. The final "Vitality Stabilizing Pill" was a spiritual medicine with miraculous effects on both internal and external injuries; no matter how severe the injuries, taking one pill, even if it couldn't immediately heal the wounds or bring the dead back to life, could greatly alleviate the injuries and save one's life.