Chapter 14

Eight o'clock at night.

Harbor District ore warehouse area.

A high‑end black‑topped hired carriage weaved among the grid‑like warehouses.

At each warehouse the carriage stopped, and a tall 'middle‑aged man' in a black short robe stepped out and chatted with the warehouse manager for a while.

As they talked, the 'middle‑aged man' would buy some inconspicuous raw materials from the warehouse, never more than about ten jin each time.

The middle‑aged man was, of course, Luosen after transformation.

While purchasing, he also carefully explained the mysteries to the Princess, who knew nothing of worldly affairs.

"Each warehouse is allowed a certain normal loss, and what we're buying is that 'loss.'"

"Their quality is no different from genuine goods, but the price is at least half the market rate."

Of course, the most important reason is that these warehouse managers are his natural allies, instinctively concealing these gray transactions, making them hard to trace.

When the Night Goddess fully takes over the world and even the bustling Harbor District falls into silence, the carriage finally stops at the doorway of an empty warehouse.

Luosen packed all the raw materials he had collected along the way into a large wooden crate, totaling a little over a hundred kilograms, costing less than 50 Gold Ogre.

Now, he has casually tossed the crate onto the roadside.

After alighting, Luosen, while Selena was not looking, turned and gave the driver a glance.

"Immediately go to the security office in the northern Temple district and say you were hijacked by a young couple."

"When the chief asks for details, tell him the young couple forced you to take them to the city wall, then they leapt over the wall toward the northern outskirts."

In an instant, the Mind Imprint Technique silently etched the information into the driver's mind.

The driver flicked his whip and drove straight away.

Only then did Luosen walk to the side door of the warehouse and knock lightly.

"Hey~ what are you doing?"

An elderly man with graying hair stepped out of the warehouse; his attire made it clear he was the warehouse manager.

Luosen gave a slight smile and, in front of Selena, released a Mind Suggestion Technique.

"Sir, I'm your distant nephew—don't you recognize me?"

The old manager nodded groggily: "Ah, distant nephew… oh, you really are… it's cold outside, come in and warm up."

Luosen hoisted the large wooden crate and led Selena into the warehouse.

When the side door was locked from inside, he raised his hand and pointed at the old man: "Have a good sleep."

The old man immediately slumped, then Luosen used Mage Hand to move him onto a mat against the wall.

After that, he took the materials and walked toward the deepest part of the warehouse.

Selena followed all the way, becoming increasingly puzzled.

"Luosen, you intend to forge a magical artifact with these?"

"These don't even count as spellcraft materials."

There are more than twenty varieties of these materials.

Some are stones ground by painters into pigments, some are building‑craftsmen's ground stone used for plastering walls, some are doctors' preservative solutions, and others are various nameless oils.

They have many uses, but they have little to do with spellcraft.

She couldn't understand how these things could become powerful artifacts. Luosen smiled and nodded: "Exactly, that's the point."

"Fine, even if these things are useful. But the warehouse is empty, with no alchemical tools at all—how can we forge?"

Luosen, while taking the materials out of the crate and laying them on the warehouse floor one by one, asked in return.

"Madam, have you read Master Kladi's 'Transformation and Alchemy'?"

"I've heard of it. It's said to be a brand‑new alchemical field, but I haven't had time to read it. The book is very recent, and its contents are quite controversial."

Luosen smiled: "I've read it, studied it intensively, and achieved some results."

That's a modest claim.

In fact, the reason he dares claim he has trained Laifu to the pinnacle of transformation ability is not because of the deceptive 'sheep‑to‑human' trick, but because he built upon the Transformation Technique and developed Transmutation Alchemy.

He wouldn't claim it as his own original alchemy, since wise men are countless in the world.

But he does say that he has gone the farthest in the Transmutation Alchemy field.

And that is a major source of Luosen's confidence in taking over the barren island.

Selena, curious, asked: "What marvelous ideas did Master Kladi propose?"

Luosen retorted: "Madam, may I ask, what composes the material world?"

"Obviously, elements."

Luosen shook his head: "That description is crude, but not entirely wrong. Now, I continue—what are elements made of?"

"Elements… elements precipitate from the Genesis Ring."

When she said that, Selena's tone was very insecure.

Clearly, she was merely repeating what others say.

Luosen smiled: "The creation myth says so; we mortals cannot verify it for now, so there is no right or wrong."

"But Master Kladi says there are two kinds of elements in the world."

"One is the basic element. The other is a compound element formed by the combination of basic elements."

As he said this, he spread his arms wide in an embracing gesture.

"The Master believes that almost everything we see is composed of compound elements, with only a tiny fraction made of pure basic elements."

"And as long as one discerns the rules by which basic elements construct compound elements, one can obtain a portion of the creative powers that originally belong only to the Creator."

Selena frowned slightly as she listened: "Calling it creative power is truly arrogant. No wonder many say Kladi is a delusional person."

Luosen did not argue: "Master Kladi is indeed somewhat arrogant, but his research is undeniably highly inspiring."

And I, building on the foundation created by the Master, have achieved some decent results.

In fact, it's not just some, but many, many; he has conducted verification research on every element of the entire periodic table.

But that would be too shocking to the world; exposing it without sufficient strength to protect oneself would only bring misfortune.

While speaking, Luosen felt out from the stone pile a piece of dark gray, opaque stone with a fish-scale-like pattern on its surface, about the size of a goose egg.

"Madam, please look; this was originally a very ordinary gray scale stone, because its texture is soft and its color fine, it is generally used by painters to mix pigments, and its value is 10 kelun."

Selena nodded: "Then what?"

Luosen covered the stone with both hands and gently rubbed it.

Sssss—

His palm continuously flashed with faint white light, accompanied by a sound Selena had never heard before, and at the same time, many powders fell from the gaps in his hands.

After about five minutes, Luosen opened his hands. The ugly gray scale stone had disappeared, and in its place was a dove-egg-sized, warm, pale yellow crystal.

"Look, I 'transmuted' it into a decent-quality yellow crystal."

Selena gasped in surprise and immediately picked it up to examine.

The moment the yellow crystal entered her hand, it felt slightly warm, as if it had just been boiled in hot water.

Its surface felt as smooth and warm as water, exactly like the yellow crystal she remembered.

Upon further examining its magical properties, it actually had the effect of 'Weak Mind Focus', sufficient for crafting low-tier magical devices.

Its market price also jumped from 10 kelun to over 50 ogres.

She was utterly astonished: "How did you do this?"

Luosen brushed off the stone dust from his hands.

"I can't explain the specific principle. In short, this is a transmutation alchemy formula I accidentally discovered."

Selena stared blankly: "Oh~~ Your achievement is enough to drive the magical community crazy."

"Madam, it's not that exaggerated."

"This transmutation alchemy is hard to master; the casting difficulty is estimated to be over 20 stars, and it also consumes a lot of mana. I too succeeded only after much exploration and training."

"Moreover, due to my own ability limitations, most of the formulas I currently master are low-level, and their value is not high."

Luosen spoke half-truthfully, then picked up a milky-white stone, a red stone, and a brown stone from the ground.

"Madam, would you like to experience transmutation alchemy?"

Selena, already very curious: "How to experience it?"

Luosen passed the three differently colored stones over.

"We will use Spiritual Whisper to build a soul bridge, with you condensing high-level transmutation power, and me controlling that power."

"Mmm~ I've heard of the soul bridge technique, but I've never used it."

"I've used it before, and I'm quite proficient; I'll guide you."

While speaking, Luosen walked behind Selena, opened his arms, reached around her body from behind, grabbed her two hands, and had her hold the stones.

"Madam, do you feel the touch in the spirit?" These words were spoken by Spiritual Whisper.

"I feel it, a bit like soaking in a hot spring."

Selena shrank her neck, her cheeks flushed; she had never been this close to a man before.

However, she did not resist in her heart; instead, she felt a bit of joy, after all, he was the lover she herself had chosen.

"Good, now sink into the hot spring, just like that; now the soul bridge has been successfully built, begin condensing the magical energy of transmutation."

"Yes, just like that; once the energy appears, I'll take over the guidance. Yes, good."

"Oh~ Madam, your high-level transmutation energy is strong and pure. I have previously derived several high-level alchemy formulas; now is a good time to verify them."

Luosen said while wrapping his hands around hers, gently guiding her to continuously pour high-level transmutation energy into the stones in her hands.

Similar strange movements and sounds appeared again, as before.

After several minutes, Luosen released Selena's hands.

She immediately opened her hands; the three stones had vanished, and in their place appeared a piece of shining silver metal.

"The soft stone actually turned into gleaming silver mithril, not ordinary mithril, but hardened mithril!"

Selena recognized the alchemical product in her hand.

Hardened mithril, a rare alchemical product, has the properties of being rust-proof, lightweight, and sturdy, and also possesses decent conductive magical properties; it is generally used to craft mid- to high-level magical devices.

But that is what this world says; in Luosen's eyes, this thing is just an aluminum alloy.

In his years of magical experiments, he had long discovered that this world's basic elements are essentially the same as Earth's; the biggest difference is the addition of various magical properties.

He also discovered that not only can alchemy synthesize various materials, but using physicochemical methods similar to those on Earth can also synthesize them.

If one further combines the two techniques into one, taking strengths and compensating for weaknesses, it is practically a divine skill, capable of reaching unimaginable heights.

Getting back to the point.

Luosen responded to Selena's shock with a face full of relief.

"I never expected it to succeed; truly, it is the blessing of Mother Nature."

He then said with an excited face: "Madam, I have derived a total of four mid-to-high-level formulas; let's try them one by one. If they all succeed, we can continue crafting powerful magical devices."

"Derivation? You can actually derive them?"

Being able to derive new knowledge from the known, and having that new knowledge verified as correct, shows that Luosen has pioneered and fully mastered transmutation alchemy!

Pioneering new knowledge is the eternal pursuit of mages.

Even if one lacks the ability to pioneer, it does not hinder a mage's heartfelt reverence for such conduct.

Selena is also a mage, and naturally she was greatly shocked as well.

She couldn't help but turn around to look at Luosen behind her.

She was looking up, while Luosen was looking down, and their lips lightly brushed.

Ah~

Selena let out a low cry, instinctively stepped back two paces, and only after several seconds did she come to her senses.

"Luosen, this knowledge of yours is truly precious!"

Luosen nodded repeatedly, excited.

"Madam, I was originally worried about letting you endure a hard life. Now that I have these alchemy formulas, I can finally rest easy."

Selena, however, shook her head repeatedly, looking serious: "No, no, no, you can't be so rash."

"The alchemy formulas you've mastered, plus your method for deriving new formulas, are enough to drive all alchemists mad."

"Once it gets out, it will surely attract the covetous gazes of countless powerhouses."

"For now we must keep it secret; only when we have enough strength to protect it can we truly profit from it."

"Luosen nodded repeatedly: 'Madam, you're absolutely right.'"

"He asked again: 'Shall we continue alchemy, Madam?'"

"Same as before?"

"Of course."

"No problem, I find this rather interesting."

Selena was eager to try, like a child who's just discovered a new toy.

Her cheeks were also a bit red; she didn't know whether it was from the excitement of discovering new knowledge or from shyness.

(End of chapter)