Chapter 24: The Essence of the Moon
The small purification potion obtained from the Book of Truth had an effect beyond Donald’s expectations. After mixing it into the inferior wine he had bought, he found that the originally turbid liquid instantly became clear—topped with a bright, translucent burgundy liquid, with a layer of dark red impurities at the bottom.
Yet the greater surprise was yet to come.
Donald handed the glass back to the butler and said, “Uncle Kord, taste this wine again and see what’s different!”
Though somewhat puzzled, Kord obeyed his young master’s orders, took the glass, and drank it in one gulp with a frown. Unlike the previous inferior wine, this second glass flowed into the mouth like the smoothest honey and down the throat. Its fresh and sweet taste was unforgettable, and the previous sourness had transformed into a slightly astringent sweetness. The strange flavor on the tongue made one shiver involuntarily.
After drinking one glass, a cool sensation spread throughout his body, clearing his mind. After a while, Kord exclaimed from his awe, “What is this? It’s magnificent! This is the most delicious wine I’ve ever tasted in my life—probably even better than the finest red wines exported from the Celt Kingdom to the other nations on the continent!”
Donald also drank his own mixed wine, and indeed, it was extremely delicious. He also felt much more refreshed after drinking it.
Mixing wines? That was an idea that had suddenly occurred to him after seeing the grapevines in the villages along the way.
If asked what the most famous product of the Celt Kingdom was, eight out of ten people would say their wine.
Located in the northern part of the continent, the Celt Kingdom had a relatively dry climate, lower temperatures than other regions, and significant day-night temperature differences—conditions ideal for growing wine grapes. Especially in the mountainous areas of the Northern County, grape varieties with excellent sweetness and flavor were produced.
Thus, the wines from the Northern County were always among the top three finest wines in the entire kingdom. The high-quality wines exported by the Celt Kingdom were also among the most precious beverages on the continent. A bottle of top-tier Celt red wine could sell for over a dozen gold sols in other parts of the continent, still commanding high demand among the nobility.
Because the high-quality wines of Celt are produced in small quantities each year, and with two major dangerous barriers separating it from the countries on the continent, its territory does not border any other nations, forcing transportation via sea. Sea transport in this world is an extremely dangerous venture; although magic and other techniques assist navigation, the risks of maritime trade are far greater than during the Age of Exploration in Donald’s previous life. This is why the price of Celt wines remains high.
Having seen the vineyards in the village and recalling the Baron of Red Maple’s vineyards, Donald decided to convert one of the vacant farms on his estate into a vineyard as well. With the advanced knowledge he brought from his past life, producing high-quality wine should not be a problem. He purchased these existing homemade wines merely for experimentation.
It should be noted that the Kingdom of Celt is located in the northern part of the continent, with a relatively cold climate. Among the three most commonly consumed beverages—barley wine, firewine, and wine—barley wine sells fastest in summer, while firewine, with an alcohol content similar to the low-alcohol spirits in Donald’s previous life, is the most popular during the harsh winters.
As for wine, due to its generally high price, it is usually consumed only by merchants and nobles. However, wine has a rich flavor, and consuming it in small amounts can calm the mind and slow aging, making it the best choice for spellcasters who need to stay calm at all times. Donald bought these inferior wines to experiment with what effects would occur if some of the potions from the Book of Truth were diluted with wine.
The potions in the Book of Truth are relatively inexpensive to produce, and if sold, they would surely yield huge profits. Yet Donald had some concerns. After all, the origin of these potions was unknown, and he still hadn’t mastered much in alchemy and pharmacology, which were just beginner-level skills. Introducing so many different potions at once might allow him to charge high prices, but it could also attract the suspicion of others. His career was still in its infancy, and he wasn’t strong enough to act recklessly. If powerful professionals became aware of him, the secrets of the Book of Truth might be lost. In that case, death might even be a relief, as there were professionals in this world who possessed skills to torment souls.
Therefore, he planned to try a safer way to sell these potions—one that would allow him to earn enough funds for his development without arousing the suspicion of any factions.
Donald first used the cheapest small purification potion for experiments, and the results were unexpectedly successful. So he ordered his butler to rush to Maple Town and Giant Rock City to buy as many crystal bottles as possible for storing high-quality wine, as well as order seedlings of several excellent wine grape varieties. It seemed he was determined to pursue the wine-making industry to the end. After tasting the top-quality wine, Butler Cord was very optimistic about his young master’s wine-making venture and immediately set off to carry out his orders. After the butler left, Donald spent some more energy to obtain three types of magical potions: life potion, magic potion, and recovery potion. After testing them in wine glasses, the results were not satisfactory. Aside from the purification potion, the other three potions still had some effects even after dilution, but they lacked the ability of the purification potion to transform inferior wine into something exquisite, making it difficult to satisfy mages and nobles. The tasks he had assigned the butler were to create such magical wines and sell them to wealthy mages and nobles. After deducting the negligible cost of inferior wine, if successful, these wines could earn him enough profit in just one year to equal ten years’ worth of normal output from his estate. This would bring immeasurable benefits to his career advancement and the future development of his estate’s business. “How is this possible? Could it be that only the purification potion has a purifying effect, which is why it improves the quality of inferior wine?” After half a day of research, night had fallen, and the butler had brought back most of the goods, except that the grapevine seedlings would arrive in a few days. By then, Donald had finally developed wines with various magical effects. After multiple trials, he discovered that purifying the wine with a small amount of purification potion first, followed by mixing in potions with other properties, could result in wine that not only had a wonderful taste but also possessed those magical effects. However, he also realized that this would greatly increase costs. After deducting the prices of the purification potion and other potions, the profit would be significantly reduced, so Donald temporarily abandoned this idea. After a hearty dinner, he looked up and saw the moon shining brightly outside—the world’s pale silver moon had risen. This made him suddenly wonder if the Moon Well on the Tree of Life had already started functioning!
Thinking of this, Donald quickly mounted a horse from the manor and rushed toward the location of the Tree of Life in the rear. In just two minutes, Donald arrived at the Tree of Life. He ordered the tree to take him to the top of its canopy, and at first glance, he saw a small pool of liquid glowing with a crystal-clear light hidden among the dense branches. Carefully, he used a bottle to collect the shallow amount of liquid—less than a teaspoon in total. After dropping a few drops into his mouth, he immediately felt as though his body was enveloped in a gentle coolness, with both his physical strength and mental energy instantly replenished. “It tastes good! Its effects must be comparable to those of life potions or magic potions of the same amount! Moreover, the moon essence produced by this moon well differs from the monotonous potions created by the Books of Truth; it possesses the vitality of nature. With long-term use, it can also effectively restore internal injuries and boost vitality!” “But the amount is too small! Tree of Life, is there no way to increase the output of the moon well?” After asking the Tree of Life, Donald concluded that its level was still low, so it could only create three moon wells at present. Beyond that, it could no longer control the transformation process, making any additional wells useless. Each moon well could only produce about a large cup of moon essence per night by fully absorbing moonlight energy, and it would likely take at least half a year to fill a pool. So Donald spent energy to command the Books of Truth to build two more moon wells, having the Tree of Life wrap them around its canopy. Then he returned to his room with the half-bottle of moon essence he had collected, picked up a glass of wine, and tried it again. This time, the material used for the experiment was not the magic potions obtained through exchanges, but the moon essence produced jointly by the Tree of Life and the moon wells. After dropping a few drops of moon essence, as expected, the quality of the wine improved significantly. “As I thought, natural moon essence can greatly enhance the quality of water, and thus it can also improve the quality of wine! Although its effect differs from that of purification potions, it still has its own advantages!” Seeing this result, Donald excitedly called for his butler, ordered two large pots of hot water to be boiled, disinfected all the crystal bottles purchased, and filled them with the wine he had blended. He then sealed them with cork stoppers that had been sterilized by heat and covered them with wax.
He bought a total of five barrels of wine from that village, three of which were red wine and two were white wine. After using a small half-barrel of red wine for experiments, he bottled seventy bottles of red wine and fifty bottles of white wine in total.
Donald found that red wine matched the properties of Moon Essence best. He added undiluted Moon Essence to each barrel of red wine. After dilution by the wine, not only did it have an excellent taste, but these red wines also had a slight effect of restoring physical and mental strength, as well as nourishing the body.
As for the two barrels of white wine, he mixed them with two bottles of purification potion to achieve an outstanding taste. This larger bottle of purification potion was much more effective than the smaller ones, giving the white wine a strong ability to restore mental clarity and help people focus on tasks. This was due to the purification potion’s ability to purify mental energy, enhance its cohesion, and eliminate the effects of negative states.
With the cost-free Moon Essence, Donald saved half of the cost associated with those potions, allowing him to implement his plans more effectively. The cost of crystal bottles ranged from two to three silver moons, and each bottle of purification potion only consumed a small amount of energy. Yet Donald priced each bottle of his two types of fine wine at at least fifty gold sols, several times the price of top-quality Celtic wines. If all 120 bottles were sold, they could generate a total of 6,000 gold sols for him, with a net profit of over 90%.
In other words, the profit from this business could be nearly a hundred times the cost. With such high profits, if he could continue operating it for a long time, he would likely become the richest man on the continent.
“Of course, we also need to consider the balance between supply and demand. The nobles and mages on the continent are after all a minority; they can’t consume these fine wines indefinitely. So, it’s better to sell them in batches at regular intervals. Otherwise, an oversupply could lead to a decline in value, and they wouldn’t fetch such high prices anymore.”
So, he immediately instructed his butler, Kord, to have the coachman prepare the carriage early the next morning. He intended to take these two types of wine to Giant Stone City to test the market!