Chapter 19: The Alchemist and His Apprentice

When Mali left Meimiao Tiyan, he had twelve bottles of Animal Communication Potion and sixty Gold Eagles on him, temporarily resolving his language and financial crises.

He drank a bottle of the potion just as he stepped out of the shop.

The taste was better than he imagined, a bit like pomegranate juice mixed with a little red wine.

But immediately after, a wave of dizziness hit his brain, as if an earthquake had occurred, and the street before him began to sway.

However, this feeling came and went quickly.

In the blink of an eye, the world returned to normal. The sounds of the surroundings flooded back into Mali's ears, but this time they were no longer meaningless noise; Mali could finally understand what they meant.

For instance, a noble lady who had just passed by him was discussing with her companion whose ball had the best refreshments.

An apprentice at a jewelry store was complaining about his boss withholding wages, and a passerby was talking about the farce that had happened at the Dwarf's Hammer yesterday afternoon.

It was said that those who had bought weapons and equipment there were now looking for the missing gnome blacksmith, but that guy had slipped away quickly when he saw the situation, and it was estimated he had already left the city.

"How is it?" Xia'er asked from the side. "Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

"No, I'm fine." Mali paused and added, "Why did I barely feel any magical backlash?"

The half-elf girl was not surprised at all, nodding, "That's only natural. You're an alchemist, you possess magic power yourself, so your body naturally won't have such a strong reaction when drinking a potion."

"Actually, even ordinary people gradually get used to it if they drink potions often. Because it was my first time, my reaction was so strong."

"Magic power?"

This was a familiar yet strange term for Mali. He had, of course, seen mages use magic power in novels and movies, but this was the first time he had been associated with the word himself.

"It's getting late, I need to go to the City Hall to see Lord Yueruiwen," Xia'er said. "What are your plans for now?"

"I'm going to the Alchemy Association," Mali said.

He had two goals in coming to Yingjiao City: one was to deal with the language crisis. Although he hadn't been able to buy the potion that could make one instantly master a foreign language, he had now obtained twelve bottles of Animal Communication Potion, which could be considered a temporary solution.

After that, it was to see if he could obtain the status of an alchemist.

Mali still needed this quite a bit. He had just made a fortune selling industrialized trinkets like lighters and thermoses, but it would inevitably attract the covetousness of some people.

In fact, as he walked down the street now, he faintly sensed gazes probing from behind, and he didn't know if they were eyes sent by Barta.

Although the owner of Meimiao Tiyan had hidden it well and had almost no change in expression during the trade, the greed in his eyes had betrayed his true inner thoughts.

The four trinkets Mali had taken out could earn him a lot of money, and precisely because of that, it would make him even more eager to get his hands on the other things in the backpack.

Human greed is always endless.

Fortunately, this was the Old District, where public security was relatively good. Mali had just passed an intersection and saw no fewer than two patrols of guards.

He and Xia'er agreed to meet at Jinliyu, and then they went their separate ways.

The Alchemy Association Mali was going to was easy to find; he just had to look for the tallest Baita in the city, and it wasn't far from Meimiao Tiyan.

He adjusted the shoulder strap of his mountaineering backpack and walked toward the target location.

…………

Leini tried to stop her teacher. He had already made a fool of himself by causing a scene at the School Council, and although Principal Jieresi had withstood the pressure from the council and hadn't expelled him, he had given him an indefinite long vacation, which was equivalent to a disguised expulsion.

Every time she thought of this, Leini couldn't help but sigh. She had originally thought that entering the Guangyao Staff and becoming an alchemist would allow her to escape poverty and improve her family's situation.

But she hadn't expected that all of this would eventually be ruined by an unreliable mentor. As Liweier's only student, she had no choice but to leave the school with her teacher.

Alchemists valued heritage, and as a disciple, she could hardly defy her teacher's orders. And this wasn't the worst part; the chief course she had chosen (similar to a research direction)—Ancient Alchemy Exploration—had also been canceled by the school.

And this was the reason Liweier had caused a scene at the council, because the number of students choosing his course had decreased year by year, until finally, only Leini was left.

To be honest, Leini no longer expected to learn anything from Liweier's classroom. She had been secretly self-studying potionology and alchemy principles in private, and her only wish was to graduate safely, become an alchemist, and then find a potion shop to make potions and earn money.

But now she felt she was getting further and further away from this dream, and her teacher had fallen ill again today. Ever since he had walked around the second floor, he had been hooked by something.

Afterward, he strode toward the front desk. It was hard to imagine that a ninety-year-old man could have such vigorous steps. The white beard on his chin was blown apart by the wind he created. Liweier's eyes were wide open, like an old lion.

"Quick, tell me! Where did this thing come from?!" The old alchemist almost stuck the small iron box in his hand onto the receptionist's face.

The latter was startled. "May I ask where you found it?"

"The Zuzhou Wupin Shoucangshi," Leini, who had followed breathlessly from behind, hurriedly added.

"What cursed item? This is a genuine ancient alchemy creation!" Liweier said dissatisfiedly.

"Uh... no matter how you look at it, this thing doesn't have anything to do with the ancient times," Leini said, leaning in to look closer.

"To be precise, it's a restoration. This is even more incredible, meaning someone has already successfully replicated an ancient alchemy creation before me." The old alchemist looked at his disciple. "What, what does that expression of yours mean?"

"Well, I was just thinking, is there really anyone else studying ancient alchemy creations besides us?"

"How could there not be? The ancient times were the peak of alchemy! Haven't you heard the story of the Duofama Fukongcheng? They even built a city that could fly over the earth and never land. Those ancestors, their attainments in alchemy are simply not something we later generations can imagine."

"I have heard of it, but I thought it was just a legend."

"Oh, Leini, my dear disciple, caution is one of the fine qualities of an alchemist. However, never let it become an obstacle on your path to seeking knowledge, and especially remember not to become like those stubborn and self-satisfied bastards on the School Council."

"But the bastards you speak of drove us out of the Guangyao Staff."

"So what? Fools may occupy the upper hand for a while, but the wise will always have the last laugh. I will prove the value of my research to those idiots, and then they will cry and beg me to return to the school to teach."

"Or you could choose to apologize to those councilors, and we could go back now."

"No way, I will never bow to anything other than the truth!" Liweier said proudly, straightening his back. ===== CHAPTER 20 =====