A clear, low-frequency sound rang in his ears, so close that it even made his eardrums tingle a bit. Shijing Xuan snapped back to reality, hurriedly pulling his gaze away. 

But the surprise in his heart didn’t diminish at all. 

Shijing Xuan had participated in nearly a hundred repair tasks, encountering countless stunning individuals along the way. Even the despicable Yuan Xiao from this time could be considered a rare beauty. However, Shijing Xuan could objectively say that even if he combined all the beautiful people he had seen before, they would still struggle to compete with the person in front of him. 

In the top-level research room, there was a floor-to-ceiling window, and the early morning sun poured in, casting light that seemed to focus entirely on the visitor. The golden long hair shimmered with a faint glow, and the extraordinarily handsome face made one hold their breath. Beneath the deep-set brows, a pair of azure blue eyes resembled an endless ocean, making one aware of the danger yet willingly willing to sink into it. 

The tied-up golden hair softened the aggressive aura that came from his striking appearance, yet his extraordinary and noble temperament made it impossible to mistake his gender. This kind of rare grace in the mundane world could even leave one in a state of shock, as if a deity had descended. 

No matter how flowery the words, they could not perfectly encapsulate his figure, and no brush could capture even a fraction of this transcendent beauty. But just one glance, and his appearance would be deeply imprinted in one’s mind, impossible to erase. Especially with the faint fragrance emanating from him, combined with those blue eyes, it felt as if one was wrapped in the azure sea, with no room for retreat. 

This person’s looks were simply too outstanding, almost as if he had a gravitational pull, tempting one to sink deeper. 

However, what truly shocked Shijing Xuan to the point where he almost dropped the book box was the identity of the person. Despite being far more dazzling than the person Ji Xuanran remembered, and despite his golden hair and blue eyes being worlds apart from Ji Xuanran’s black hair and black eyes, Shijing Xuan still recognized him from the similar features. 

—That prince, Lan Luohai, who should have been far away in the core country, unexpectedly appeared in the research room of A Country’s Fendelin. 

“Are you okay?” 

Generally speaking, someone with such outstanding looks would unintentionally bring some pressure to those around them, not to mention that the other party was a prince of extremely noble status. But when Shijing Xuan came back to his senses, he found that the man in front of him looked so gentle, like being bathed in a refreshing sea breeze. 

“…I’m fine, thank you.” 

Taking the book box from the man’s arms, Shijing Xuan quietly expressed his gratitude. He could feel that Lan Luohai was also looking at him—after all, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that they bore a resemblance in appearance. 

However, Lan Luohai didn’t say much. After confirming that Shijing Xuan had secured the book box, he proactively stepped aside, holding the door open to let him pass. Only after Shijing Xuan walked by did he enter the research room. 

As the door closed behind him, the faint fragrance was cut off. Shijing Xuan took a deep breath, glanced back at the tightly shut door, and hurried downstairs. 

After storing the book box in his storage ring, Shijing Xuan absentmindedly collected materials from the third floor. He didn’t leave the research institute but instead found an empty research room and used his code to unlock it. 

After just finishing a conversation with Fendelin, the other party had directly restored his assistant status. Within the entire research institute, Shijing Xuan now held the second-highest level of authority, just below Fendelin. 

While processing the materials, Shijing Xuan recalled the task plot at this time point. Ji Xuanran had never seen Lan Luohai in A Country; this prince should have been hiding his identity. 

But the more Shijing Xuan thought about it, the stranger it felt. The Lan Luohai he met today was too different from the one in Ji Xuanran’s memory. 

—The latter, while also outstanding, was absolutely not as perfect as what he saw today. 

Could it be that Ji Xuanran’s rival filter had automatically distorted Lan Luohai’s appearance? 

That shouldn’t be the case; this kind of situation had never happened before. Moreover, even if there was distortion, it should have first applied to Yuan Xiao. 

Or perhaps it was due to the S-level task? Had he changed the original choices of his body, leading to more changes and making the outcome harder to control… 

Doubts aside, Shijing Xuan didn’t forget the work in his hands. He currently had too little information, and making the potion at hand was the most urgent matter. 

With Ji Xuanran’s current level, making an emergency antidote would take eight hours. Plus, with perfect quality potions reducing waste, he could produce at most two crystal vials in one go. Ten vials in fifteen days was still a relatively relaxed timeline. 

However, during this period, Shijing Xuan also needed to study advanced potion books, which meant he had to eliminate any other potential distractions in advance. 

After initially processing the materials, Shijing Xuan called Yuan Xiao. On this planet, where humans were at odds with intelligent plants, although electricity couldn’t harm intelligent plants, it still played a very broad role in infrastructure. 

The call was answered by Yuan Xiao’s assistant, and Shijing Xuan didn’t intend to talk to Yuan Xiao directly. Ji Xuanran’s abilities and influence were insufficient at this time; if he truly wanted to take revenge on Yuan Xiao, he would at least have to wait until he became a real advanced potion master. 

Previously, Yuan Xiao had cleared out the Split Tooth Fruit and brought back many Split Tooth Fruit trunks. The royal potion master was about to study them, and Fendelin’s research institute was also coming for some raw materials. Shijing Xuan used this as an excuse. 

“I will be researching the toxins of the Split Tooth Fruit with Master Fendelin, so I won’t have time to return for the next few days. I’ve informed the butler about several large potion stores that can offer discounted prices; you can go there for supplies.” 

After hanging up, just as Shijing Xuan was about to continue cleaning the materials, someone knocked on the research room door. 

Recalling the previous knock on Fendelin’s office door, Shijing Xuan felt a hint of unease. 

Unfortunately, that unease turned out to be true. 

“…” Recalling the almost called-out Prince Lan, Shijing Xuan showed a slightly surprised expression, “You are…?” 

Outside the door, Lan Luohai smiled lightly, like a gentle spring breeze, making one almost mistakenly think that a halo was resting on his golden hair. 

“May I ask if this is Master Ji?” 

Shijing Xuan nodded, trying to recall Lan Luohai’s appearance from Ji Xuanran’s memory, working hard to lower the impact of his looks with a distortion filter. 

“My surname is Lan, and I am the buyer of the emergency antidote. I heard from Master Fendelin that the potion is being made by you.” Lan Luohai pointed to the screen at the door displaying the code 13913, “Can we go in and talk?” 

Shijing Xuan stepped aside to let him in, casually saying, “If you’re worried about the quality of the potion, you can rest assured; my teacher has already checked the emergency antidote I made, and the quality is fine.” 

Lan Luohai seemed taken aback that Shijing Xuan would bring this up. He paused for a moment before chuckling, “Of course, I wouldn’t worry about that.” 

He looked at Shijing Xuan with his gentle azure eyes, “I’m just curious because I’ve never seen such a young prospective advanced potion master before.” 

This prospective advanced potion master lost his ability to make potions to save you, Shijing Xuan thought, but didn’t say anything. 

Lan Luohai continued with his low, magnetic voice, “I happen to have some advanced potion books here; I wonder if Master Ji would be interested?” 

Shijing Xuan immediately became alert. 

No good deed goes unpunished; it’s either a scheme or a theft. 

He cleared his throat, “I didn’t expect Mr. Lan to be so generous, bringing a big gift right at our first meeting.” 

“To be honest, I want to build a good relationship with the future advanced potion master in advance,” Lan Luohai said frankly, “After all, it’s hard to find another young advanced potion master like this on the entire continent.” 

Shijing Xuan still had no intention of accepting. 

Advanced potion books were extremely rare; aside from a few senior potion masters, only the royal family might have them in their collection. By saying this, Lan Luohai was almost actively exposing his background. 

But he had clearly hidden his identity when he came to A Country. Shijing Xuan hadn’t figured out the reasoning behind his actions yet. 

Ignoring the flickering progress bar that was itching to move, Shijing Xuan politely declined, “My teacher just gave me some books; I want to finish reading these before considering anything else.” 

Lan Luohai blinked, his long, soft eyelashes making one want to reach out and touch them. 

He said, “Among those books, there are also notes from Master Fendelin.” 

Shijing Xuan: “…” 

He wasn’t dazzled by Lan Luohai’s face, but he was almost blinded by the excited progress bar. 

“…Then, I’ll trouble Mr. Lan.” 

After Shijing Xuan agreed, Lan Luohai smiled and said goodbye, going back to help fetch the books. Before leaving, he even gently closed the research room door, making hardly any noise. 

Shijing Xuan felt puzzled; was Lan Luohai in Ji Xuanran’s memory really this considerate? 

…Could it be that not only his appearance but even his personality had a rival filter? 

By the afternoon, Lan Luohai brought over the organized books. Shijing Xuan was just in the middle of a critical step for the emergency antidote, so he didn’t have time to greet him and simply acknowledged him a few times before focusing intently on the potion reaction. 

Once the reaction stabilized and entered a smooth fusion phase, Shijing Xuan finally had the chance to step away from the experimental table. 

Lan Luohai had already left, and only a book box he had left behind remained in the room. Shijing Xuan took off his gloves, opened the book box, and flipped through it briefly, only to be stunned by the contents inside. 

He hurriedly glanced back at the potion that was still reacting, confirming there were no abnormalities, then turned back and carefully flipped through the thick stack of books. 

After this look, Shijing Xuan had no words left to say. 

The books Fendelin had given him recorded all the formulas for advanced potions, summarized in the most precise and concise language, suitable for memorization but not easy to truly understand, which was the normal order of learning. 

However, the books Lan Luohai gave him, aside from the printed formal texts, included many carefully organized personal notes. The first one he flipped through was Fendelin’s notes, which not only contained annotations for the formulas but also recorded many practical operational processes. Reading through it felt almost like Fendelin was teaching him hands-on. 

Other notes, clearly spontaneous inspirations or new discoveries, were also organized chronologically. Each sentence in the thick book was worth pondering over repeatedly. 

To be honest, even for a mid-level potion master, such detailed and clear notes would be priceless, let alone that these notes came from the renowned Master Fendelin. 

Its value was simply unimaginable. 

After finishing this already astonishing book, Shijing Xuan found no less than five different personal notes in the book box. Judging from the formulas in the notes, all five authors were advanced potion masters. 

Shijing Xuan couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose. 

It’s no exaggeration to say that the notes Lan Luohai gave him were equivalent to hiring more than five advanced potion masters as his guiding teachers. 

—And there were no more than ten advanced potion masters on the entire continent. 

If the formulas could be faked, then the incredibly detailed experimental data could not possibly have any tricks. The book box contained genuine materials, and even holding them in his hands felt somewhat heavy. 

This prince’s attempt to win him over… was a bit too earnest. 

If it weren’t for knowing that Lan Luohai was an ability user, Shijing Xuan would almost suspect that he and Ji Xuanran were related by blood. But in reality, abilities and potion-making skills are inherited based on bloodlines, and it’s impossible for an ability user family to have a potion master descendant. 

So why was Lan Luohai going to such lengths to help Ji Xuanran?