Chapter 54

"Why, why did you complete every test?" Jia Anda asked in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Mali also stopped his steps.

"The first test was to appraise your affinity with the water element," the female alchemist explained.

"No wonder my wooden bucket was always leaking," Mali realized, "This should mean that my affinity with the water element is very poor."

"That's right, but you still extinguished the fire in the end."

"Should I have given up early?"

Jia Anda shook her head, "Once the appraisal starts, it cannot be given up. This test will only terminate automatically when the fire reaches a certain degree, and being able to completely extinguish the fire is something that at least a tester with a score of 7 or higher can do. This is unreasonable.

"The other three tests are the same. Why were you able to complete every test smoothly in the end?" The female alchemist repeated again, "Did you carry anything on your body that would affect the test results?"

"For example?"

"I don't know, Element Crystals, Sage's Stones, or something like that?"

"Impossible," Lievre said flatly, "The Four-Position Instrument was designed from the beginning to shield interference caused by external objects, making the appraisal results as accurate and true as possible. This is also the reason why the test must be conducted in the spiritual world.

"The history of magic academies using the Four-Position Instrument to test new students has been a full two hundred years, and there have been almost no mishaps during this period."

"Then why is the appraisal result this time like this?" Jia Anda's beautiful eyes were full of confusion, and she stared at Mali and said softly.

"What exactly is helping you?"

The old alchemist also became interested, "As far as I know, there is only one possibility for this situation: other elements have mixed into the spiritual world constructed by the Four-Position Instrument."

"But you just said that no external objects can interfere with the results of the Four-Position Instrument."

"That's right, unless that element has completely merged with his body," Lievre said, "And it cannot be the four main elements of wind, fire, water, and earth, as well as the secondary elements evolved from the main elements, as they would only be absorbed and decomposed by the Element Crystals on the Four-Position Instrument."

"This means," he slowed down his speech, and his tone became more excited, "This is a brand-new magic element that has not yet been discovered!"

The old alchemist's inspiration came from that mysterious magnetic field, but on the other side, what Mali associated with was the Red Mist covering Luoyang.

He didn't know how long he had stayed in the Red Mist, but anyway, according to the standard of pickling mustard, he should have been pickled well.

If those Red Mists were really a magic element, and his body was covered with this magic element, it could explain why things brought out from the Red Mist wouldn't disappear beside him.

Did that also mean that through research and practice, he might be able to use or even control that Red Mist in the future?

"This... shouldn't be possible."

Jia Anda now also felt that Lievre's thinking was a bit too detached; no wonder there were rumors that this former Vice Dean of the Guangyao Staff Alchemy Branch had already become obsessed with researching ancient alchemy.

The origin of the world is composed of the four main elements of wind, fire, water, and earth—this has long been a truth recognized by the magic world for thousands of years.

He actually wanted to overturn the iron law verified by countless sages because of an abnormal test result; this was a bit too rash.

But Lievre was a senior after all, and the female alchemist didn't say anything more; she just looked at Mali again.

"Are you willing to let me... conduct some research on your body? Perhaps we can find the answer."

This sentence sounded somewhat ambiguous, and even with Jia Anda's consistent rigor, she felt a bit hot when she said it.

Fortunately, Mali didn't seem to think much about it, and he nodded, "It's possible, but we have to wait a bit. I have other things to do on this trip."

"What things?"

"I just formed a caravan and plan to find a guild to join, first to travel around the continent and earn some money," Mali didn't hide his plan.

Jia Anda didn't think he was neglecting his proper work, although there were many people on the Leiwateleisi Dalu who called alchemists "hens that lay golden eggs" behind their backs.

However, there were still many alchemists, especially those with poor qualifications, who would be troubled by money in the early stages.

Doing business was of course also an option.

"Do you need me to recommend a few guilds for you?"

"Eh, do you also know about guilds?"

Jia Anda nodded, "The Association has a high demand for alchemy materials and instruments, and sometimes it also helps members collect some relatively rare raw materials. I have dealt with many guilds, but among them, there are only two I truly recommend.

"The Rose Alliance and the Southern Alliance. The former is a commercial alliance formed by Lady Amanda and a group of political newcomers in the Wangdu. Although it hasn't been established for long, only less than ten years, its development momentum is very strong.

"Lady Amanda is the King's sister, the widow of Duke Ralph, and also the richest person in the entire Menia Kingdom. And the supporters behind the Southern Alliance are the lords of the south."

The situation was about the same as Mali had imagined; trade in this world was not so easy.

In addition to the monsters and bandits that might be encountered along the way, one also had to deal with nobles who might turn against them at any time, messy tax checkpoints; without a strong political backer, it was basically impossible to go far.

"Which one are you more inclined to among these two?" Mali asked next.

"That depends on what kind of trade you want to do. The activities of the Rose Alliance members cover a wider range. Their footprints are not limited to the Menia Kingdom and the Jiadelan Gongguo, the River Bay Kingdom, the Lowland City-States... the Northern Empire, and even the Dwarves and Elves have their trade strongholds.

"And the Southern Alliance mainly operates in the twelve cities in the south, but joining them also has advantages. You can enjoy the lowest taxes in these twelve cities, and there are also franchise rights for some commodities, which can bring more generous profits."

Mali already had the answer in his heart; he was still more inclined to join the Rose Alliance, which could maximize his current mobility advantage. As for low taxes and franchise rights, although they were also good, they were not necessary for him; the price difference could be earned back in one long-distance trip.

Of course, if this were a game, the best strategy would definitely be to join the Southern Alliance first to earn the first pot of gold, and then jump ship to the Rose Alliance. It was a pity that Mali had asked Jia Anda, and transfers between merchants were not frequent, especially competitive guilds, which rarely accepted merchants from rival guilds.

In addition, he had also had some conflicts with the Morales Family before because of Baimu Cun, and Yingzui City was clearly also in the Southern Alliance, so Mali didn't want to deal with them again.