My mom is waiting for treatment, and you're summoning me to be a hero?

Lin Mo had a sumptuous dinner with Yin Xue and the others.

After a quick wash, I checked into a luxurious room arranged by Aotemu.

Lin Mo lay in bed.

Beneath her were soft, expensive silk bedding, a stark contrast to the hard wooden bed in the stone house and the cold ground of the wilderness.

He forced himself to close his eyes.

Before long, a clear image suddenly appeared before his eyes.

The hospital's stark white lights and the pungent smell of disinfectant seemed to transcend time and space, lingering around my nose.

Zhou Xiaomei, the mother, was lying in a hospital bed.

That once rosy and plump face is now so thin that her cheekbones are prominent.

Her eyes were closed, and even in her sleep, her brows were unconsciously furrowed slightly, as if she were enduring pain.

On the back of the hand with the IV needle inserted, the veins and needle marks were clearly visible, and the fingertips were slightly curled.

The scene shifts to the father, Lin Feng.

The man I always remember, with his straight back and hearty laughter.

At this moment, however, he was hunched over, sitting on a plastic stool next to the hospital bed, his hands tightly clasped together.

He kept his head down, and Lin Mo could even see the glaring white hairs newly appearing at his temples.

And the deep weariness and worry in his eyes, and... a profound sense of helplessness.

The father's gaze remained fixed on the mother, as if she would disappear in the blink of an eye.

In the quiet ward, only the monotonous beeping of the monitor could be heard.

Each sound was like a countdown.

These images flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern, every detail crystal clear.

A sense of guilt welled up inside Lin Mo, gripping his heart tightly.

Lin Mo suddenly opened his eyes; it was already late at night.

I let out a long sigh, not knowing whether it was because I was too upset or because the room was too stuffy.

All he wants to do right now is go out for a walk.

At this moment, the huge city lord's mansion was completely empty, without a single person in sight.

The lights in every room were off, and occasionally you could hear soft snoring.

And so Lin Mo walked into the courtyard of the city lord's mansion.

He suddenly noticed that the lights were still on in Liu Yishou's alchemy room.

Is he still busy so late?

Lin Mo frowned slightly, and his steps involuntarily turned in that direction.

The closer you get, the stronger the herbal scent in the air becomes, even more so than during the day.

Arriving at the alchemist's door, I peered inside through the crack.

Inside, Liu Yishou was not operating the metal refining equipment as expected.

Instead, he was lying on the large desk, holding a quill pen in his hand.

It seems to be recording something.

He frowned, pausing every now and then to pick up a crystal bottle and examine it under the light.

He was muttering to himself, completely absorbed in his own world.

His gray hair was slightly disheveled, revealing a pure focus.

Seemingly noticing the movement at the door, Liu Yi didn't even look up, simply asking, "What's wrong? Can't sleep?"

Lin Mo paused for a moment, then pushed open the door and went inside.

Liu Yishou then raised his head and adjusted the crystal lenses on his nose, which were attached to the bridge of his nose by a thin chain.

Under the dim light, Lin Mo's face showed little expression.

But Liu Yishou still managed to capture the tension and fatigue in his eyes.

"You,"

Liu put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and rubbed his sore eyes.

"You're too preoccupied, you overthink things. I see you're not that old, yet you've managed to turn the whole city upside down. Logically speaking, someone who has achieved success at a young age should be full of vigor and ambition. What could possibly make you so worried, wandering around like a ghost in the middle of the night?"

Lin Mo's lips moved, but in the end, he could only manage a very faint curve that could hardly be called a smile.

"It's nothing, I'm sorry to have bothered you, Master. Please get some rest, I'll head back now."

As he spoke, he turned to leave.

"etc."

Liu Yishou called out to him.

Lin Mo stopped in his tracks, but did not turn around.

Liu Yishou looked at the young man's straight back, even when he was relaxed, and shook his head.

As if lost in some kind of memory, her voice softened considerably.

"Seeing you like this reminds me of many years ago... Back then, I was about your age, and I was almost kicked out of the Alchemist Guild's Life Academy, and permanently stripped of my alchemy qualifications."

Lin Mo paused almost imperceptibly as he walked away.

Liu Yishou ignored his reaction and continued talking to himself.

"The Alchemy Guild has several academies. The Life Academy, where I am, specializes in researching various potions for treating, restoring, and enhancing life states. The greatest wish of everyone in the academy is to create a new formula and thus establish their own school of thought."

"Back then, everyone was focused on figuring out how to improve their attributes, how to increase their combat power, and how to recover quickly..."

"Those medicines are highly profitable and in high demand; they are the mainstream. If a similar formula is developed, one can live a life of ease."

"But back then, I was young and impetuous, and I wanted to try a different path."

He paused, his gaze becoming distant.

"I was thinking, since there are medicines that can increase attributes, why can't there be... medicines that decrease attributes?"

A potion that reduces attributes?

Lin Mo, who was about to leave, stopped abruptly.

He turned slightly to look at Liu Yishou, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

This idea... is indeed bizarre, and even sounds utterly useless.

Who would want to lower their own attributes?

Liu Yishou seemed to see through his thoughts and laughed self-deprecatingly: "Yeah, it sounds stupid, right? That's what everyone in the academy thought back then. They thought I was crazy, researching this kind of self-harming, useless stuff."

He picked up the teacup beside him, took a sip of the now-cold tea, and continued, "Actually, at first I just found it interesting, but the more I researched it, the more I became so engrossed that I forgot to eat and sleep. Fortunately, I had some talent back then, and I actually found a method..."

He put down his teacup as he spoke, his voice carrying a hint of resentment from back then.

"But before I could even officially begin the alchemy process, the academy forbade me from using the alchemy platform, citing that I was wasting the academy's resources."

"If it weren't for the retired dean who pleaded for me because I still had some talent... I probably would have been kicked out of the academy long ago and never touched alchemy again for the rest of my life."

Lin Mo frowned slightly as he listened from the side.

Liu Yishou thought his story had worked, and said with a wry smile, "So, you also think that potion is useless, right? Actually..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Mo shook his head: "No, a potion that lowers attributes... It doesn't sound very useful at first glance, but if it were actually developed, it would definitely be bought up in large quantities."

Liu Yishou was taken aback, and Lin Mo continued.

"If I were the king of the empire, I would use this potion on unruly slaves, prisoners who need to be controlled, or even ordinary citizens, so that I could monopolize the fighting power. This is something that rulers would dream of. It can only be said that those people back then had too narrow a vision."

Liu Yishou's lips twitched; even he hadn't expected the medicine to be used in this way.

It sounds absurd, but upon closer inspection, it does seem to be true.

However, doing so would be too hurtful to people.

Even a demon king wouldn't do something like this to completely cut off any possibility of others becoming stronger in order to maintain his rule.

Seeing that Lin Mo was still thinking, Liu Yishou quickly interrupted his train of thought.

"What I want to tell you is that when you encounter a problem that you can't solve, try a different approach, take a detour, or step back. Perhaps... a sudden enlightenment will appear before you, and there will be an even better solution waiting for you."

Let's try a different approach...

These words echoed in Lin Mo's mind.

Problems that I can't solve right now?

The main reason is that there are no more monsters around Mingbei City, and I can't leave Mingbei City for a while because I have to wait for the Qingyuan Elixir.

Another issue is the Holy Revelation.

But what if we change our perspective?

In order to ensure a stable supply of resources during times of war, the Holy Ancient Empire set up wartime teleportation arrays in each city.

This teleportation array leads directly to the border city.

If we use a teleportation array to transport the medicine, then there won't be any problem.

As for the Holy Revelation...

Thinking of the Holy Revelation, a flash of inspiration struck Lin Mo!

He suddenly raised his head and stared intently at Liu Yishou.

"Master, you are very experienced. Do you know... where the Heroes' Guild's stronghold is in the border town?"