Chapter 379: Battle in Alchemy I
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Certainly the mysterious alchemist did not come in peace, as he had stirred a storm in Emerald City, people were discussing him in the most frightful expression tinted with the strangest curiosity. And the sudden fall of the random alchemist in front of his house had become part of the heat that day, people were passing messages about how he just dropped, seemingly dead and nothing appeared to be able to resuscitate the fallen.
And Ye Chong was not aware of this, obviously. He had been spending every second of his soul on researches and he would only take the incident as merely a side story at most.
Regarding the incident, people had different versions of the story, mostly were sugarcoated with drama and iced with more things that went against the reality.
The reality was, the young alchemist challenged Ye Chong that day. Nobody knew it, the young alchemist took action in the dark, he picked one hallucinogen that was both colorless and odorless, as just a tiny attempt to test the mysterious alchemist.
And that was when he realized, the rumor was indeed true, while also knowing that he had underestimated Ye Chong's capability.
Ye Chong was not harmed by the attack, not even the slightest bit, although he detected the raid immediately, as he identified the culprit among the crowd. Without hesitation, Ye Chong returned a heavier blow, not sparing the young man a second to react.
He too used a colorless and odorless reagent but one with a way stronger spreadability, that it would travel far enough to sneak into the young man's respiratory system and take over his soul before he knew it. The reagent would destroy his blood circulatory system, while being not directly fatal, since... well Ye Chong was well-aware of his outsider identity, imagine the chaos he would cause if the mysterious alchemist, the possible descendant of the great in the history turned out to be an outsider.
The unexpected however was the fact that he had underestimated this very reagent, namely the "Bloody Agony", not really the effect of it but how dramatic it would "kill" the victim, the symptoms were overwhelming to the witnesses that it brought fear as much as towards death. According to Luantic Guan's record, Bloody Agony was apparently a reagent used by the ancient tribe to perform punishment on the infidel, and Lunatic Guan just somehow managed to get its formulae, to be improvised into the current horror with greater spreadability in air and strength.
It was a taboo to "test" the others in the world of alchemist, since the competition had always been more dangerous than any other field of expertise. Things could simply happen without any forewarning, like how the young reckless man had fallen. Testing the other alchemists would be a thing to do cautiously, likelier silently, unlike the street fights between the practitioners which were common.
That was the rule of thumb written in the microchip of Lunatic Guan. Well, Lunatic Guan had been fairly convincingly on her contents. Logically speaking, nobody of the more experienced would initiate an attack without being attacked at first. The experienced would only take action when they felt their entities threatened, that would be when the foe was utterly finished.
That included Ye Chong, who grew up fighting, competing and warring. If it was not the fact that he wanted to stay low being an outsider, the counterattack would not as such.
The young alchemist remained unconscious, unable to clarify motive of his behavior. Because of that, things started to worsen, a battle in alchemy was brewing. He probably never thought of how his little gesture would have caused such havoc.
...
"What should we do?" asked Qi Wen grimly as he looked at the surrounding.
The room was filled with all the top alchemists on Dankwood. Every representative figures of alchemy of all kinds you could imagine, of all branches the studies had led, had hurried their way to Emerald City the very second they got informed about the arrival of the descendant of one who wielded the Green tempest.
Qi Wei was the leader of the Qian System, which was the strongest, also the most established archaic system in histories of alchemy on Dankwood. One could still see them on top of ranking even when put under comparison with the other planets in the space zone, and because of that, Qian System had been the chief representative of all alchemy branches on Dankwood.
Qi Wei glanced upon the experts of all different alchemy branches, as sentiments filled his mind, wondering when they had their last reunion. Was it 10 years ago? Or 20 years? He could not remember. Probably the assembly would never happen if it was not mysterious alchemist.
It was a silent assembly however, as nobody was willing to get the ball rolling. To be honest, the creator of Green Tempest had such renowned status that he looked like a total psychopath who had - for the next few decades - tainted the good name of all alchemists, but also he became the greatest contributor to the alchemy studies as he was the pioneer who had performed thorough researches on reagent of massive destruction and provided an utter new aspect of academy. He not only represented the inspiration of all alchemists, but also was the prime of alchemy on Dankwood.
Such character would be a handful one to be judged, even by Ye Chong.
The assembly room was dead silent, the atmosphere was almost suffocating, as nobody was able to do anything about the fall of the young alchemist, including Qi Wei. Well, it did not mean these alchemists were utterly incapable, the Qian System was known for their hallucinogenic productions but they knew nothing about the other branches. Disregarding that, there was one thing every one of them was sure - the action taken by the mysterious alchemist this time was hardly tip of the iceberg.
"Uh..." The first who attempted to break the dead silent was a middle-aged man in black clothing, with an emaciated face and sinking eyes, although brilliance glowed in his stare sometimes. He appeared to be one with a forgiving heart and a certain standing among the alchemists on Dankwood. He was the leader of the Incense branch, namely Fei Lidu.
Contrary to its aromatic name, the researches of Incense branch focused on the offensive aspects while the apprentices favored provocation as they wielded their ever-changing attack styles and there were a few amazing products from their forebears. So the other alchemists would treat their provocation with caution, and ... well... the fallen young alchemist, as restless as he was, turned out to be part of the apprenticeship too.
"The owner of Green Tempest did possess a deadly weapon in hand. And if the descendant of his did wield such weapon once again, I truly wonder what could possibly happen... Would it be another record to the incident last time?" asked Fei Lidu slowly.
That was a frightening reminder to the people. The incident last time remained rooted in the mind of all alchemists, even though had faded away from the memories of folks.
Alchemists today struck a positive image on people. They were highly regarded and supported, certainly they would not want to lose the privilege by the same incident again.
That was also why they hurried their way there.
The sudden fall of the Incense branch apprentice was somehow a sign of the upcoming tempest.
The room might be silent, the people might have no word, but their expression was tensed, as angered by the sudden change. Meanwhile Guang Wei gave a cold stare upon them, criticizing that low apprentice of the Incense branch. Nothing good ever came out of the Incense branch, no doubt. Thought he as he reminisced the times he was insulted by the apprentices. Nevertheless, the Incense branch was not a group which the fallen Smoke branch could simply mess with. So he could only stay quiet. The Smoke branch had sunken way back, with most skills buried by time and he, being the part of the branch, knew nothing much than a few smoky tricks and no way he could triumph over the Incense branch at the moment.
And he was well-informed of how the Smoke branch would never have the rights of expression in an important meeting like this. It would be a cold stare-to-stare if he ever voiced a different opinion. Nothing would happen other than enraging the Incense branch. Knowing the nature of Fei Lidu being the vengeful kind, he would rather stay quiet and watch the show.
You can never be spectator of such finale as you wish! Thought he.
Qi Wei would not want to disrupt the current status of alchemy on Dankwood, while being undesirable of messing with Incense branch, so he tacitly consented to the raised issue.
Other branches soon showed the same agreement, as Qi Wei's silent treatment had affected all neutral alchemists.
Annihilating an alchemist who would likelier cause more harm than good - whether if it was right or wrong based on all sorts of consideration, would never get an absolute judgement by the people. So they showed zero attitude towards the situation, they would let the ball just roll as it wished.
As long as they would fight in crowd, even the most potent alchemist like this uninvited visitor would fall. The greatest threat he could impose would be none other than the Green Tempest.
Green Tempest might be notorious of the destructive it caused, but it was already a technique of the very past, that they strongly believed the evolution of their branches had already surpassed this piece of undying antique, especially when they had discovered the counter for it.
Ye Chong was researching. He had hidden the crates underground, so those precious materials remained intact.
The recent encounters had given him a better understanding of alchemy, while also initiating intense interests in him. He requested a massive amount of alchemy apparatuses from the Emerald City owner who certainly would nod his head hard upon meeting. The owner had sent him the best apparatus in the city, hoping that those toys would keep the boy quiet at least, since that was the owner's sole wish - having peace and quiet.
Thanks to the apparatus, Ye Chong's research progressed smoothly. He had been producing all kinds of reagents unlisted in his recipe, that his table was tinted by bottles and bottles of them, like glowing stars of different colors.
The encyclopedia Lunatic Guan provided was very rich in data and Ye Chong had just hit a small portion of it. While exclaiming the greatness of alchemy, Ye Chong had fully indulged himself in the fun of research.
He had planned an escape plan before, but he was at one critical point of his research, that he must delay his escape plan. He was almost there, almost... almost...
Regarding his reward, well Han Yue had sent him on the first day they arrived at the city.
Ironically, probably Ye Chong would never expect how the little delay he made was able to drag him into the most intense battle of flasks and beakers ever.