Chapter 62: 【Apprentice Artisan (Alchemy)】

Time flew by in the blink of an eye. With Higgins already dead and Lei Mengde unable to give up any useful information, the smuggling case had ground to a halt for the time being.

Still, even though it had stalled, Danica's squad still had to keep watch on Lei Mengde day and night—after all, who knew whether he might privately contact the so-called 'Razor'.

Fortunately, this was no real problem for Li Ang; he was simply changing locations to grind levels.

Inside an unremarkable sedan, Li Ang opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

【Entry-Level Qi Refiner lv7 (14/700) / Qi Refiner (Triad) lv5 (423/500)】, 【Reverse Birth: Three Layers (Proficient 302/1000)】.

He looked at the information on the panel and couldn't help sighing inwardly:

'Slacking off at work is what you call earning money; toiling away can only be called trading labor for pay.'

'In a little while, 【Entry-Level Qi Refiner】 should be maxed out.'

This was already the fifth day they had been watching Lei Mengde.

At that moment, Danica in the passenger seat noticed through the rearview mirror that Li Ang had opened his eyes, and said aloud: "Awake? The bureau just arranged for someone else to watch Lei Mengde. We can head back and rest."

"The chief has some other arrangement for us, right?"

Li Ang didn't think their chief was that kind-hearted.

Hearing that, Danica shrugged: "Who knows."

Then, upon seeing an identical vehicle parked ahead, she had Cole drive her and Li Ang back to the dormitory. On the way, however, Li Ang asked Cole to make a detour to buy some props for practicing alchemy.

In front of the dormitory, Danica looked at the tools in Li Ang's hands and said, somewhat surprised: "You're really going to practice alchemy? Without a class bonus, success is still pretty hard."

After a moment's thought, she went on: "My suggestion is, if you have the energy, it'd be better to spend it looking for a class path."

"After all, your class potential isn't bad. As long as you can keep going, your future treatment may well be no worse than an 【Artisan】."

Li Ang knew Danica was saying this out of goodwill—after all, she didn't know that the number of class slots he could hold was unlimited.

But the key issue was—

The advancement requirement for 【Qi Refiner (Triad)】's class change to 【Immortal】 was absurdly demanding; he truly lacked the ability, and could only find roundabout ways to act.

Li Ang opened the door as he spoke: "Trying it won't hurt. If I don't have the talent, I'll just give up."

"Fair enough."

Hearing that, Danica stopped trying to persuade him. In her view, Li Ang would naturally give up after a few failures.

Stepping inside, Li Ang didn't rush into his first attempt at alchemy, but first took a simple wash.

After cleaning the grime from his body, he sat down at the desk feeling refreshed.

"Alchemy, activate!"

Unfortunately, because he had no Alchemical item for Li Ang to inscribe on, he could only try on the metal block he'd bought along with the tools.

Taking a deep breath, Li Ang quickly calmed himself with the help of 【Calm Heart】. Then his fair palm picked up the metal block, and he began inscribing the 【Concealment】 array from the book in front of him with a graver.

For a classless 【Commoner】, this step would clearly be very difficult—after all, inscribing on a metal block still required a certain physical strength.

But Li Ang had no such trouble, and soon a metal block inscribed with a crude array appeared in his hand.

"Huff—"

Li Ang blew away the metal shavings on the surface and examined it closely.

After a while, he tilted his head in some confusion: "Did it fail?"

In Li Ang's eyes, the metal block in his hand showed no change whatsoever from before, which made him suspect he had failed.

Puzzled, he flipped through "A Detailed Guide to the Introduction of Alchemy" again.

It didn't take long for Li Ang to find the answer.

No energy drive.

According to the normal procedure, arrays in alchemy are only inscribed on Alchemical items, or at the very least on items that can supply energy, so that they can take effect.

And the metal block in Li Ang's hand clearly had no such capability.

'Where should I get energy from?'

Li Ang rubbed his chin and fell into thought.

As he thought, his eyes suddenly lit up. A wisp of milky-white energy appeared on his fair palm, and he grabbed the metal block on the desk again.

The next moment, under Li Ang's gaze, the metal block before him seemed to turn invisible, its color fading slightly.

'It actually worked?!'

That's right—what Li Ang had just used was the class skill 【Qi Control】 that came with 【Entry-Level Qi Refiner】.

He had originally taken a try-and-see attitude, but hadn't expected alchemy to welcome all comers.

'Am I really a genius? Succeeded on the first try.'

Li Ang hadn't expected to succeed on his first try either.

Just then, his class panel popped up a message at just the right moment.

【You have completed one alchemical work. Available class: Apprentice Artisan (Alchemy)】.

【Class taken: Apprentice Artisan (Alchemy)】.

——

【Class: Apprentice Artisan (Alchemy)】

【Level: 1/10 (0/100)】

【Attribute Bonus: Spirit Strength +0.3 per level, Energy +1 per level】

【Class Skill: Basic Construction (Entry 0/100)】

【Class Feat: Nimble Hands】

【Advancement Paths: Alchemist, Pharmacist, Human-Body Alchemy Heretic Sorcerer.】

——

【Basic Construction: You can perform a simple analysis of raw materials.】

【Dexterous Hands: Your hands now gain improved stability when performing precision work.】

Accompanied by a cool sensation in his mind, Li Ang succeeded in taking up the profession of 【Apprentice Craftsman (Alchemy)】.

And when he saw the attribute bonuses of 【Apprentice Craftsman (Alchemy)】, a thought flashed unbidden through his mind:

'There's actually no physical strength bonus at all? No wonder Lei Mengde is so squishy.'

But then again, alchemy was never a skill meant to strengthen oneself for combat.

At the very least, low-rank alchemists weren't.

But for Li Ang, this wasn't a fatal problem. After all, given his current physical strength, if an opponent of the same level treated him as a little squishy, he could show them what it meant for this humble Daoist to also know a bit of fisticuffs.

After briefly collecting himself, Li Ang prepared to inscribe the 【Concealment】 formation on the firearm issued by the Security Bureau.

It wasn't that he didn't want to refine 【Scale of Garros】; the main reason was that the materials required were somewhat hard to find.

【Scale of Garros: one dragon scale (substitutable with other scales), any metal 200 kilograms】.

Where would Li Ang even find a dragon scale?

'Wait.'

'Could the carapaces of those bugs from before be used?'

He suddenly recalled the strange beetle he had run into earlier in Technical Talent Settlement Area 2, whose carapace was covered in fine, dense scales.