After all, as a descendant of the Prince family, even though Ian had never met anyone in the family besides Snape, he still had to somewhat consider the dignity of his family.
Magic Potion Family.
Only good for brewing traditional medicine?
That's quite laughable.
"Saplings?"
The pharmacist froze.
The potion bottle in his hand almost fell into the fire.
"You want to grow them yourself?"
He clearly hadn't anticipated Ian's request, sizing Ian up and suddenly coming to a realization, "Looks like you come from a place with very scarce resources, hero."
For the world outside the storm, most people in this place had little awareness, so the pharmacist was merely guessing, yet his speculation wasn't inaccurate.
After all.
The era Ian lived in was indeed the End of the Dharma Era, not only were many powerful magic potion materials extinct, the power of wizards had also greatly waned.
So calling it scarce resources was quite reasonable.
Because of this.
Ian nodded.
"Alright, of course, no problem." The pharmacist had no intention of being secretive, already rushing to the apothecary enthusiastically, "Come with me, hero! I'll get you the best seedlings!"
This was indeed a helpful and very enthusiastic resident.
The nursery in the apothecary's backyard opened Ian's eyes. The Moon Shadow Grass glowed faintly blue and moved on its own without wind, the Silver Bell Mushrooms making bell sounds moved in groups underground.
The most astonishing was a plant called "Dragon Bone Vine"—its root system surprisingly formed the skeleton shape of a miniature dragon. These were things Ian learned from the pharmacist's explanations, most items matched names with future materials but in appearance and actuality were entirely different.
Ian thanked the pharmacist for the explanation.
The pharmacist merely smiled.
"You youngsters are willing to risk yourselves for others, worthy for us to share all we know." His tone carried a hint of emotion as he carefully dug out a sapling with golden veins on its leaves.
"I'll prepare a bit of everything for you, but be careful tending to these delicate plants, like this one, the Star Vein Grass needs music daily for proper growth."
"I usually let the musical calf sing lullabies to it." Saying this, he handed Ian a finely woven pouch filled with seventy or eighty peculiar plant saplings.
Flame Moss: red moss that can burn in your palm without causing burns.
Mica Root: a special tuber that crystallizes into a mirror-like shape at the root.
Teleporting Fern: a fern that spontaneously jumps through space every hour.
...
The pharmacist explained every kind of herb to Ian. Ian surely memorized them; it's fair to say the potency of these magic materials was largely due to their inherent magical nature.
It's often said, the more potent the material, the harsher its growth conditions, fortunately, with the middle-aged pharmacist's full guidance, Ian need not explore planting methods on his own.
Clearly.
The people here didn't brew true magic potions but their accomplishments in plant cultivation far surpassed future generations, as they lacked magic and relied purely on experience to explore.
Consequently, the development in herbalism had reached a very high level.
"This is the most precious." The pharmacist finally took out a Crystal Box, inside lay a seed that constantly changed colors, "Rainbow Heart, bears fruit once every thirty years. The fruit can heal any emotional trauma..."
As Ian pondered what such a wondrous item might be used for, the pharmacist lowered his voice again, "Last year the mayor's Thunder Dragon was in a bad mood and fasting, this was used to calm it down."
Undoubtedly.
This truly left Ian speechless.
He had already thought of over a dozen uses, including removing the emotional pollution left by dark arts, never imagining they'd use such a thing to soothe fantastic beasts.
Is this really precious?
Using something bearing fruit once every thirty years to placate fantastic beasts? Ian wasn't prejudiced against them, just felt that using such a thing was like using a nuke to swat a mosquito.
Oh well.
A place rich in resources can afford such whims, reflecting perhaps that people here truly considered fantastic beasts as family; even Newt coming here would just be an ordinary fantastic beast lover.
At least Newt didn't marry a fantastic beast, right?
Ian solemnly received these gifts, suddenly noticing a black plant locked in an iron cage, constantly striking the bars, its trunk seemed very flexible.
"What's that?"
"Nightmare Mandala." The pharmacist's expression changed, "Don't touch it! Last time Xiao Ya's brother snuck a touch, the whole town had nightmares for three days, dreaming of being chased by dancing broccoli."
Alright.
This must be an excellent dark arts material. Ian immediately asked for some seeds—returning to the celebration, the atmosphere grew more intense. Townsfolk danced a wild ring dance under the still smoldering remains of buildings, the lead dancing blacksmith uncle even let his Molten Turtle partner spit fire pillars as lighting effects.
"Hero! Come dance!" The silver-haired girl he had met earlier approached him again; she had a glowing vine snake coiled around her wrist, writhing to the music.
Ian's words of polite refusal barely left his lips when the girl was already pulled into the dance circle by another youth.
Truly, a capricious, flirtatious girl.