Concocting a potion sounded straightforward, but the actual details and techniques were, unsurprisingly, complicated and involved a significant amount of manual labor. The preparation process for each ingredient was even more intense than with Potions #1 and #2. There were over a hundred auxiliary herbs required for Potion #3, each of which had to be prepared with painstaking care.

It took Zhang Lie an entire day and a half of preparatory labor before he was ready to brew the potion in earnest. In front of him were over a hundred herbal essences of various shades and colors, and what Zhang Lie had to do now was to add these essences to each other in an orderly, sequential manner.

Despite the seeming simplicity of this process, the slightest error could propagate, and timing was of absolute importance. For instance, if two of the essences being combined were at different temperatures, the temperature gradient alone could ruin the synthesis.

He only had enough ingredients to prepare Potion #3 once. The preparation had already consumed four stalks of cosmos leaf, along with hundreds of other herbs and the rare wasteland essence and magical yams. This would be his only chance at crafting Potion #3 in the first realm, so Zhang Lie was fully focused on the work in front of him.

After four hours of extremely careful manipulation, Zhang Lie was left with a potion the color of sapphires.

"It's a success!" Only when he saw the potion's signature deep blue shine did Zhang Lie finally sigh in relief.

Next, he would have to consume the potion. Because Zhang Lie's [Ninecarp Transformation] was a growth-type framework, every potion Zhang Lie downed was an opportunity to evolve his framework further. It was for this reason that Zhang Lie had chosen to prepare Potion #3 at this critical juncture.

He sucked in a deep breath and downed the entire potion in one gulp, feeling an unusual refreshing sensation coating his throat and quickly spreading through the rest of his body. Moments afterward, a fiery sensation, as though he were being burned alive from the inside, enveloped his entire body.

Waves of pain spiked through each of Zhang Lie's nerves and muscles. Compared to Potions #1 and #2, the side effects of Potion #3 were notably more severe. 

Zhang Lie felt each of his cells burning up, but despite the discomfort, he sat upright in a cross-legged position and began to circulate genetic energy in the manner dictated by [Ninecarp Transformation]. His multicolored genetic core began to spin violently as sapphire waves of herbal energy impacted it, causing it to vibrate following a certain rhythm.

As it vibrated, the black serpent within ignited in blue flame, causing it to lose its vitality and to start to melt. In a matter of moments, the black serpent had vanished from sight, but its dark coloring had also dyed the flames black. The flames shuddered, then split in triplicate. Sapphire waves of herbal energy continued to pour into Zhang Lie's genetic core, but it was dyed black the moment it entered the vicinity of the core.

Next was the arduous process of accepting, purifying, and condensing that herbal energy and transforming it into pure genetic energy. During this process, Zhang Lie could clearly sense his genetic energy changing on a qualitative level.

It took another day before the three black flames in Zhang Lie's genetic core took form once more. 

The first was a small carp, which darted agilely in the core: the grace and vitality of water.

The second was a serpent, its figure fuzzy: the mystery and majesty of darkness.

Finally, the third was a winged tiger: the resilience and sharpness of gold.

The water-attuned carp could swallow flames, the darkness-attuned serpent could corrode, and the gold-attuned winged tiger could sharpen part of its body. Naturally, this final transformation was indicative of [Ninecarp Transformation]'s third evolution.

Zhang Lie's reservoir of genetic energy had at least quintupled, and he had gained yet another elemental attunement, that of gold. Zhang Lie's framework was now an extremely rare water-, darkness, and gold-attuned one, with three animal archetypes that he could draw on and combine at will. The speed at which his stamina and genetic energy recovered was far improved from before.

He waved his right arm. Genetic energy in burnished gold swept down his arm, leaving his fingers and palm as sharp as a blade.

The fire that seemed to have spread all over Zhang Lie's body was finally quenched. His strength had increased again by leaps and bounds, and a pool of sweat, dotted with black impurities that had been forced out of his body, had formed by his feet. He seemed to have just recovered from a major illness.

[For consuming an unknown potion, your superior gene capacity has been increased.]

The pain vanished. A sapphire-blue glow appeared over the surface of Zhang Lie's body, only to vanish in the very next moment.

His stats had grown to a nightmarish level. In terms of framework, techniques, soulshards, and gene fragments, he eclipsed any other hunter of the first realm.

Zhang Lie: a mortal lifeform

Framework: Foundation, Lv. MAX; Ninecarp Transformation, Third Form: Winged Tiger

Techniques: Rippling Walk (pinnacle), Three-Wave Crescendo (pinnacle), Calm Waters (pinnacle), Fists of the Silent Sea (pinnacle), The Boundless Blade (advanced), Eclipse (novice)       

Genes: Basic, 160; Mutated, 150; Superior, 100

Soulshards: White Grub (superior), Galewolf (mutated), Blood Ant (superior), Potbellied Toad (mutated), Venombane Scorpion (superior), Eternalspring Cocoon (superior), Forest Wolfman (superior), Flamewing Eagle (superior), Runic Salamander (superior)

Zhang Lie opened his eyes wide and stood up. As he circulated his genetic energy, three figures appeared to his sides and behind him, the agile fish, the mysterious serpent, and the bladed tiger.

"The moonlight wyrm will be mine!" Even Zhang Lie couldn't help but let out a whoop of joy.

He cleaned up after himself and immediately left the underground laboratory. After all, he had promised to meet up with the members of Team Zenith at 5 PM in front of the Blacksteel Inn, and it was just about this time in the real world.

"Zhang Lie!" However, the moment he stepped into the Blacksteel Inn's lobby, a familiar voice called out to him. "You're still dressed like this? I'm sick and tired of it!" Chu Xun's voice could be heard from a distance.

Zhang Lie turned in that direction to see her heading toward him with Chu Feng in tow. He teased, "What's the matter, Young Master Chu? What's so urgent that you would bring your sister here to find me?"

Chu Feng clearly wanted to say something, but he didn't seem to want to broach the topic.

"Forget it, Brother! Even I'm not so thick-skinned!" Chu Xun pursed her lips and stepped toward Zhang Lie instead.

Chu Feng clicked his tongue. If not for the fact that he needed his sister's acutely developed sense of smell to find Zhang Lie, he wouldn't have agreed to let her come with him today.

"We're friends, aren't we?" Zhang Lie said. "If you need my help, let me know."

"On behalf of the Chu clan, I hope you'll continue to cooperate with us with regards to developing your Potion #1. We'll try our best to satisfy your demands," Chu Feng requested, lowering his head.

Zhang Lie glanced at him appraisingly. The reason he had terminated his partnership with the Chu and Yun clans was because they didn't help him out in a time of need. However, now that his star was rising, the two clans wanted to take advantage of his expertise and newfound fame.

"I refuse," Zhang Lie stated curtly. "You know that I'm a forthright person, and you know my reasons for declining. Before the two of you become the heads of your respective clans, with final say in the clan's decisions, I don't intend on working with either of your clans."

Zhang Lie's final words suddenly caused Chu Feng to brighten up. "Zhang Lie, thank you! No matter what, I'll always be a friend of yours!"

"I recognize you as a friend, and I certainly hope my friends will grow stronger with me. On that note, here's Potion #1." Zhang Lie handed a bottle to Chu Feng.

It was true that the two of them had initially worked together for profit and individual gain, but they had grown to become friends. That being said, Chu Feng was Chu Feng, whereas the Chu clan was the Chu clan. The two entities weren't, and wouldn't be, synonymous. He was willing to help Chu Feng out, but he certainly wouldn't supply these potions to the Chu clan.

"Th-This is far too precious!" Chu Feng was clearly surprised by Zhang Lie's generosity, but despite his words, he claimed the gift almost immediately.

Chu Feng uncorked the bottle and was about to down it all in one gulp when Zhang Lie's eyes widened.

"Wait! If you don't want to die, go somewhere secluded and start circulating your genetic energy before drinking it."

"Ah, I can't just drink this directly?"

"You'll see once you experience its effects for yourse—"

"Zhang Lie, aren't you being a little too biased?" Yun Bing had arrived out of nowhere. She was frowning at the sight of the transaction, an aggrieved expression on her face.