"Time to sleep, time to sleep. I’m dead tired!"
Andre stretched, flopped onto his bed, and fell into a deep sleep.
A month passed just like that. With only four months left until the expedition began,
Andre saw the last customer out of his Potion shop and shut the main door.
It was already 10 PM. He put on a look of utter exhaustion and went into the pharmacy room.
He was just about to take things out of his Storage Ring to concoct Potions
when a figure burst into his pharmacy room and fell heavily to the ground.
"Who did you manage to piss off?"
Andre looked at the suddenly-appeared Karina and helped her up.
Seeing a dark light flicker across Karina’s face, Andre took out a Potion and poured it down her throat.
A moment later, as the Potion took effect, Karina began to vomit blood continuously. Only after spitting out several black clots did she let out a sigh of relief and come to her senses.
"I was cursed by a Curse Divine Technique in a Secret Realm I was exploring."
Karina tried to stand, but her legs were weak. She staggered, nearly collapsing to her knees in front of Andre.
"A Curse Divine Technique? I thought the Divine Secret Realms in the White Sea World were all supposed to have been cleared out!"
Andre took out another Potion and handed it to Karina.
Karina took it, bit the cork open, and poured the Potion into her mouth. As the Potion worked its magic, her condition gradually improved.
"I ran into it by accident while exploring another world."
Once the Potion had purged the abnormal condition from her body, Karina stood up and looked at Andre.
"You’ve got some nerve. If I remember correctly, you’re also in the First Expeditionary Corps. The expedition starts in four months, and you’re still out exploring Secret Realms in other worlds? Aren’t you afraid you won’t have enough time to get back?"
Andre shook his head as he looked at Karina.
"You think everyone is like you and Qiu Ze’Er? With your mastery of Pharmacy and his of Witchcraft Artifact Study, you can use your knowledge to make money."
Karina swayed and coughed up a few more black blood clots.
"Then who’s fault is it that you didn’t learn? Can you really blame me and Qiu Ze’Er for that?"
Andre spread his hands at Karina. Seeing his gesture, Karina said no more and instead took a Memory Crystal from her Storage Ring.
"This is the information you asked me to look into. It’s yours now. As for you saving my life, we’ll settle that later."
With that, Karina tossed the Memory Crystal to Andre and turned to leave the pharmacy room.
As soon as Karina left, Andre began to collect the black blood clots she had coughed up.
"What are you doing? She’s already gone, what are you cleaning up for?"
Just then, Qiu Ze’Er heard the commotion and ran over. He happened to see Andre collecting the blood clots from the floor and gave him a knowing, suggestive look.
"Where is your mind going? This is from Karina. She was hit by a Divine Art curse while adventuring. I gave her two Potions, and this is what she threw up. If I don’t clean it up, what if I get cursed too?"
Andre collected the blood clots in a box, then took out a few more Potions. He used them to dissolve the clots, then purified the mixture to serve as material for poison.
"She went to another world to explore a Secret Realm at a time like this? Is she nuts?"
Hearing Andre’s words, the smile on Qiu Ze’Er’s face vanished instantly, and his expression turned serious.
"Who knows!" Andre shook his head. ’Everyone has their own way of getting by, I guess.’
"By the way, you’re not asleep yet!" Andre took out another Potion, cleaned up all the blood on the floor, and looked at Qiu Ze’Er.
"How could I sleep? Karina literally knocked your door down. How am I supposed to sleep through that?"
Qiu Ze’Er laughed and pointed a finger behind him.
Andre froze for a second, then walked over to look at his door.
Just as Qiu Ze’Er had said, the main door to his Potion shop had been forced open by Karina.
"It’s a good thing I didn’t set up any Witchcraft on it. Otherwise, Karina would probably be dead outside my shop."
Andre walked to the doorway and touched the large hole in the door. His expression looked somewhat eerie under the moonlight.
"You really have never been in a relationship. If you had, you would never say something like that."
A look of disdain flashed across Qiu Ze’Er’s face as he saw Andre looking heartbroken over the door.
"Get lost. You think I’m like you, flitting from one woman to another every day, lost in bars every night? Sooner or later, those sirens from the Flesh and Blood School are going to hollow you out completely."
Andre took two wooden planks from his Storage Ring and temporarily boarded up the large hole Karina had made.
"My friend, this is called ’passing through a field of flowers without a single petal clinging to you.’ It’s a Realm you couldn’t possibly understand."
With that, Qiu Ze’Er left Andre’s Potion shop.
Andre rolled his eyes at Qiu Ze’Er’s smug look, then ended up sleeping by the shop’s entrance for the night.
After having someone fix it the next day, the Potion shop opened for business as usual. And just like that, another three months passed.
With only one month left before the expedition began, Andre received a message from Radak.
He hurriedly closed the Potion shop and rushed to the location mentioned in the message.
"Teacher!" Upon arriving, a flash of joy crossed Andre’s face as he saw Radak, whose appearance had now reverted to that of a man in his forties or fifties.
The younger Radak looked, the higher the probability that he would successfully break through to become a Morning Star Great Wizard.
"In less than a month, you’ll be leaving for the expedition. This is from your senior uncles and senior brothers, for you to use during the expedition."
Radak said, handing a Storage Bracelet to Andre.
Andre took it and looked inside. He couldn’t even get a clear look at the items because he was so shocked by the space within the bracelet—a full 10,000 square meters.
And that 10,000-square-meter storage space was almost completely stuffed with things.
After watching Andre put the Storage Bracelet on his wrist, Radak clapped him on the shoulder.
"Come back alive." At these words, Andre froze for a moment, then nodded heavily. ’Of course I’ll come back alive!’
Radak then transformed into a streak of light and vanished from before him.
’The expedition is about to start. I should trade everything I have, aside from the essentials, for supplies I’ll need.’
Andre immediately flew to the trading hall. He spent half of the thirty to forty million Medium Magic Stones he had accumulated over the past year or so, purchasing a massive quantity of items. Only after stuffing his Secret Realm to the point where it could hold no more did he return to his Potion shop to await the start of the expedition.