The "Alchemy Technical Report" is distributed simultaneously across three continents, and the basic circulation of 2 million is not large. After all, the price of two gold coins is quite expensive.
Ge Zheng's mind pondered: for the first submission of the Water Alchemy technique, and then the King's Seal theorem, he should expect to receive at least 200,000 gold coins. The Alchemist's Association is much more generous than the fourth king, Mejev.
"Thank you for your guidance, Master. I will start drafting the paper right away!"
After two class sessions, Ge Zheng had another period of free time. This time, he was going to carefully study the sonic weapons he had conceived.
The ribcage of the pythacrocet had no useful parts, except for a whole spine, which was good material. Initially, Ge Zheng had planned to make a harp out of the pythacrocet tendons, but they looked strong, yet swiftly turned into a pile of goo when condensed, leaving Ge Zheng helpless.
Originally intending to go to the Adventurers' Guild's consignment shop to see if there were any good materials for making harp strings, Ge Zheng's gaze landed on the spine.
The shape of the spine was irregular, with a circular hole in the middle. If it were a human spine, the hole wouldn't be too large, but this was a huge pythacrocet's spine, with each segment being the size of a ball, and the hole in the middle was big enough to fit Ge Zheng's fist.
In addition to the central hole, there were several small holes on both sides of the spine.
Ge Zheng pieced together several sections of the spine, creating a super-sized "bone flute". However, it seemed that this thing couldn't be blown solely with human power.
By substituting the equation, he pieced together the nine segments of the spine, then polished them with wind magic to form a long and thick "flute tube". However, the next step could not be rushed.
There aren't many sonic weapons in this world, and Ge Zheng searched through the libraries of the think tanks and academies but only found three reference models, and among them, only one was a wind flute.
Pausing his alchemy work, he stored all of the original materials in his storage space and walked out of the lab. "Comings, come with me to the market."
The desert fairy jumped out of the room. "Yes, sir!"
Comings had plenty of experience haggling, and now even Diola had him buy her personal underwear, so Ge Zheng's gold coins were not to be wasted, of course.
Delson's grocery market was exceptionally lively, as it was the place that affected the livelihood of the people and best reflected the character of a city. It was extremely bustling, with people coming and going.
Ge Zheng found a music store. "Boss, do you have any wind flutes without drilled sound holes?" The boss, busy tuning instruments inside the shop, looked at Ge Zheng with surprise. "The instruments in my shop are all handmade. I have an unfinished wind flute without the holes, but what would you need it for?"
Upon hearing that they had it, Ge Zheng immediately withdrew and signaled Comings, who jumped out and began to weave a plausible story. After a short while, the price was slashed from two silver coins to one, and a deal was struck.
Fifty unfinished wind flutes were wrapped in a bag and carried on Comings' back. The flutes were about the same size as him, making for a comical sight.
Back home, Ge Zheng immediately dived into the lab. Flipping through the books he copied from the library, he found an example with detailed markings for each sound hole on a wind flute.
Following the markings on the book, Ge Zheng began experimenting with the unfinished products he had bought.
Following the markings in the book, Ge Zheng used wind magic to carve out the sound holes on the unfinished products. In half an hour, a brand new wind flute was born in Ge Zheng's hands.
He imitated the appearance of a minstrel and blew the pipe. "Dudu dudu..." Although the sound was unpleasant, there was still a considerable gap compared to the "magical sound."
Ge Zheng looked at the flute in his hand and shook his head. "The ancients taught us to trust not in books but lack of books." With a toss, he pulled out another half-finished flute to continue the experiment.
Without realizing it, fifty half-finished flutes had been consumed, and Ge Zheng had become immersed in this experiment, losing all sense of time.
Beside his feet, there was a pile of discarded flutes. Among them, a few had excellent tones. Taken to the market, they might even fetch a good price.
Ge Zheng's perseverance finally paid off. After discarding forty-three flutes, he successfully crafted the first magical flute.
Placing it to his lips and blowing, the magical flute emitted a deep, muffled sound, like a demonic roar. Visible ripples shot out from the flute's pipe and hit the opposite wall with a "hum."
Ge Zheng put down the magical flute and walked over expectantly. Running his hand along the wall, his fingers suddenly sank into a depression.
"Phew..." He blew into the depression on the wall, and white, fine powder scattered everywhere, revealing a deep hole. He inserted his little finger into the hole, finding it to be as deep as two finger joints. This was merely the power of pure sound waves, without any magic enhancement, and the flute itself was made of ordinary materials.
This achievement greatly excited Ge Zheng. Carefully comparing the position and size of the flute holes on the magical flute, he meticulously sketched them on the surface of the giant bone flute with a pen.
After careful calculation and confirmation, Ge Zheng activated the wind magic. The rotating wind blade quickly drilled a flute hole on the bone flute and continued to enlarge it.
After processing the bone flute, the next problem was how to blow into the giant bone flute.
The colossal bone flute, made up of nine spinal bones, was nearly eight feet long, resembling a thick cannon barrel. Even if Ge Zheng's lung capacity was enough, he did not have a mouth large enough to block the basketball-sized diameter of the flute's tube and blow into it.
But that certainly did not defeat him. It was a simple device powered by a magic crystal, creating strong winds using wind magic to blow the magical bone flute.
Seeing the freshly made magical weapon, Ge Zheng was eager to test it. He thought for a moment, then packed the bone flute and wind magic array device and headed straight to the Dongsheng Academy.
He was not going to the Alchemy Department but to the Warrior Department.
Elf Aldor, the head mentor of the Warrior Department, had already returned after sending Master Benat back to the Adventurer's Guild headquarters. Hearing Ge Zheng's request, he looked at him somewhat puzzled. "Ge, what does an alchemist like you want to do in the warrior training ground?" Ge Zheng had no way to explain to him. "I have my own purpose. I need the most advanced and sealed lessons. You cannot fool me."
Aldor patted his chest. "Rest assured, my reputation is the best in Dongsheng!"
Ge Zheng had no time to pay attention to the boasting of the burly man, and he pulled him out. He really wanted to see just how powerful the new magical weapon was.
"This is the best training ground on the entire continent. Even if it's an all-out strike from Duan Luo, the legendary god of war, the training ground wouldn't be destroyed. Even if it's pitch dark inside, people outside won't hear a thing."
Aldor was famous for his big mouth in the Dongsheng Academy.
He took out his own crystal card and inserted it into the adjacent slot. After a magical sound, the heavy magic array gate slid open, and Ge Zheng rushed in. "Big Brother Aldor, I owe you one."
As soon as Ge Zheng entered, the gate of the magic array closed automatically with a "clang." Behind the door, a faint blue magic array emitted a faint blue light, the array started running, and the magic locks clicked shut, sealing the door.
In front of Ge Zheng was a broad space with a diameter of sixty meters. Above was a hemispherical dome, with the highest point about eighty meters from the ground.
"Beep beep," two magical alert tones rang out, and a humanoid target slowly rose thirty meters in front of Ge Zheng.
The target was made of extremely hard alloy, a product of the Alchemy Department of Dongsheng Academy, personally supervised by Master Aquina and worked on by the alchemy mentors. It could withstand three strikes of level twelve battle energy or one strike of level thirteen battle energy.
Ge Zheng took the giant bone flute from the storage space and arranged it in front of the target. Standing behind it, he lightly gripped a magic crystal, and all the magic crystals in the magic array had been filled, leaving only this last one.
As he let go of the crystal, a pale blue light rose from the magic array, the strong wind blowing, and the wind magic elements all around were sucked into the magic array, forming a powerful angry wind that blew into the flute.
Ge Zheng gazed expectantly at the bone flute, but the anticipated enormous sound wave did not appear. It was as if an apprentice flute player with inadequate lung capacity had let out a weak breath, and the air stream leaked from the flute's tube.
Ge Zheng was stunned: "This is unbelievable. Even a six-level magic array can't blow this bone flute? This is too surprising."
Though it seemed inconceivable, it was the reality right before his eyes. The target stood silently nearby, thankfully not mocking him.
Nevertheless, he decided to try again and modified the magic array to a seven-level wind magic array. This modification was quite troublesome, as the air duct connecting the magic array and the bone flute needed to be adjusted; otherwise, it wouldn't withstand the power of the seven-level wind magic.
After the modifications, he started the experiment again.
As the magic crystal dropped into the magic array, a sharp whistling sound was emitted from the seven-level wind magic array. A violent wind blew into the bone flute, but to his surprise, the result was the same as before! Ge Zheng began to suspect whether the bone flute was merely a mute flute that could not be blown.
Nonetheless, he decided to try once more, this time changing the magic array to an eight-level magic array and refining the relevant equipment. Fortunately, this place was completely isolated, making it convenient as an alchemy laboratory for experiments.
The power of eight-level wind magic was already significant. The pedestal of Ge Zheng's magic array was almost unable to bear it, starting to sway and collide with the ground with a clanging sound.
The raging wind magic elements rushed into the air duct, all the way up to strike the walls of the bone flute, creating resonance. A turbulent gust of wind burst out from the sound hole, and a faint gray sound wave shot out with a "swish."
The target remained unscathed.
Ge Zheng stood about five to six meters from the target, took a deep breath, rallied the true element in his dantian, and blew hard.
"Phew..." A sword-like air blade shot out five meters, then dissipated into a soft breeze. The target turned into a cloud of dust, swept away by the breeze.
"Haha!" Ge Zheng laughed heartily, with such a powerful weapon, he no longer had to worry even if he were besieged by an army.
The power of this strike was no less than that of a level thirteen professional, perhaps even stronger!
Ge Zheng slid the magic lock on the door and stepped out, but Aldor was no longer there. Returning to his home, he immediately went back to the laboratory.
The base of the magic array was not very stable, but Ge Zheng had a solution: using dense dragon steel.
Ultimately, he turned the base of the magic array into the base of the entire magical bone flute device, hoisting the giant bone flute high. Ge Zheng grinned. "Let's call you the Soundwave Cannon!"
A turntable was installed on the base. The Soundwave Cannon could rotate sixty degrees and elevate ninety degrees.
After taking care of these details, Ge Zheng found a busy, non-discerning space to fit the Soundwave Cannon.
As he flicked his fingertip against the coin's edge, a sudden thought came to Ge Zheng's mind: if a magical item is refined with the master's essence blood, it can connect to the master's spirit and be controlled out of thin air. Even if thrown, it can be automatically retrieved with a thought.
However, in the cultivation world, nobody would use their precious essence blood to refine an ordinary coin. But now, Ge Zheng had new ideas.
The coin's level was very low and didn't require much blood. Ge Zheng invoked the Ge Family Method and carried the coin in his hands, channeling his true element, raising the coin with a burst of energy. He bit his tongue and let a drop of blood out of his mouth, then sprayed his true element onto the blood, turning it into a mist that enveloped the coin.
A flash of golden light emanated from the coin as the blood mist was entirely absorbed into it, causing the original brass-colored coin to turn a faint golden color.
Ge Zheng swallowed and carried the load, took a break, and then leaped up.
Looking at the square inch of money in his hand, with a flick of his mind, it penetrated the skin and dissolved into the sea of Qi. Another thought, and it came back out. There was still a slight sluggishness, it seemed to require two or three refinements to achieve a state of unobstructed flow.
With a casual toss, the square inch of money drew a golden line in the air and instantly turned into a sound wave cannon!
Ge Zheng revealed a satisfied smile: "This feels really good. In the future, I'll handle any powerful magic weapon like this, throw out a coin, and create everything!"
With a wave of his hand, he retracted the sound wave cannon into the money and it returned to his hand.
There were still many spines of the crocodile's vertebrae left. Ge Zheng pondered that when he had time, he would refine more sound wave cannons and establish an interdimensional artillery regiment!
But for now, this plan could not be realized. Not to mention that he didn't have that much time, but there were also few Dragonsteel left to use as a base. This stuff was not cheap, and it was hard to come by.
He opened the door of the laboratory and stepped out. Kangmings handed him a purple bamboo card: "Sir, a cold woman came to see you. This is the card she left behind."
In the Star Refining World, business cards had just started to become popular. Previously, people were more accustomed to using family crests, but only the main members of the family could use them. Business cards were a new thing, and non-primary members of the family could also make their own.
Ge Zheng recognized the purple bamboo card, a rare alchemy material called Dripping Bamboo, an advanced water attribute magic material. This piece of Dripping Bamboo was of excellent quality. Even if it were placed in an alchemy material store, it would cost two gold coins to buy.
Ge Zheng couldn't help but mutter, "So wealthy..."
He looked down at the name on the card and furrowed his brow. The card had no emblem or any indication of identity, only a simple name: Adaweiden.
Cold woman, Adaweiden, the Fallen War God.
"Fallen War God? Weishi's teacher. Could she be here seeking vengeance for her student?" Ge Zheng muttered to himself. "Gudong," Kangmings twitched his limbs and fell to the ground next to Ge Zheng.
Ge Zheng was shocked, "Kangmings, are you okay?" He helped up the desert fairy, wanting to check if he had been poisoned. Kangmings' lips trembled. "I-I'm fine, sir. Is she the War God?" Ge Zheng nodded. "Yes. What's the matter with you?"
Kangmings regained his composure a little and wiped his forehead. Normally, the desert fairies did not sweat, but after he wiped his forehead, there were beads of sweat!
Kangmings opened his mouth, "She, she waited for you for two hours, and I argued with her for an hour and a half, and it's not that she couldn't wait, but that I scolded her away..."
Ge Zheng immediately saw a change in his eyes and gave him a thumbs up from the bottom of his heart.
Kangmings rambled on. Adaweiden's most irritating feature was her infuriating mouth. Fortunately, there were not many people at home today, only Kangmings stayed behind. They were at odds with each other. If it were anyone else, they would have thought they were getting "too much" with each other, but these two would spar with each other, like a battle of wits, attack and defend, and it was evenly matched!
Adaweiden was not run off by Kangmings, she had other things to attend to. However, in Kangmings' eyes, if she suddenly left in the middle of a quarrel, it meant she was driven off by him.
It turned out that the person he scolded away was the Fallen War God—after learning this terrifying news, poor Kangmings collapsed and remained in fear for the rest of the days. Even though Ge Zheng reassured him repeatedly that the War God wouldn't bother with him, Kangmings still prayed to the moon goddess every night before going to bed, asking her to bless him so that he would wake up the next day with his head still on his neck.
Ge Zheng found it strange. Why did Adaweiden come to him?
This question was answered the next day. When Ge Zheng finished class, Weishi was standing at the door with a tall, frosty-faced woman standing nearby.
"Hey, come over here..." The young girl waved to Ge Zheng in a hurry. Ge Zheng walked over with a smile. "Hey hey, don't just call me 'hey', in the future, when you see me, call me Teacher Ge, or you can call me Big Brother Ge." Weishi frowned, "Why do you need those random titles? My teacher has something to talk to you about."
Adaweiden approached them, "Is it Master Ge? Hello, I am Weishi's teacher, Adaweiden. Can we find a place to talk?"
Usually, when someone in the academy wanted to "talk" to you, it was never that simple. Ge Zheng secretly prepared his alchemic flying sword and the Eternal Rift, with the sound wave cannon as a deadly weapon ready at any time.
The Bar of Giants and Blades outside the academy, Weishi also liked this place.
The three of them got a high-end private room with a partition. Adaweiden took something out, "Is this your work, Master?" Ge Zheng glanced at it. It was the Dragonsteel hammer he used to buy Weishi a few days ago.
He nodded, "Yes, it is my work." Weishi pouted, dissatisfied, "I thought you would make something amazing for me, but it's just like my previous one, just a little heavier. I wish I hadn't helped persuade Peilin for you."
Adaweiden looked at her disciple, "This work, did it buy you?"
Weishi shrunk back and coquettishly smiled at her teacher, "Hehe!"
Adaweiden nodded, "You're really hard to buy. This work represents the pinnacle of refining on the Starry Sky Continent, yet it still couldn't buy you."
Weishi couldn't see what was so good about this thing. Upon hearing Adaweiden's words, she was filled with admiration for her teacher and asked in surprise, "This thing is so good!"
Adaweiden didn't answer her disciple, but turned to Ge Zheng, "Master, my fallen hammer was broken in the battle with the wolf-shaped giant, and you know the importance of a good weapon for a warrior. If I had the Longdong Dagger Ring that day, I would have the confidence to break the monster's defense."
Ge Zheng understood, "You want me to forge a weapon for you?" Adaweiden nodded, "Please."
Ge Zheng thought to himself, that day he saw her weapon was clearly a handleless sword, but it was called a "hammer", she was indeed a strange person.
"But why did you choose me? There are many alchemy masters on the mainland, with higher reputations and ranks than me. I'm just a nobody."
Adaweiden shook her head, "I don't need mediocre works. Among the famous alchemists, only Paraschellus has some skills. As for the others, they are just chasing fame and reputation, with only a few who are truly skilled. I cannot find an extraordinary craftsman, and looking for others would be futile. But your work, Master, has given me hope."
After thinking for a moment, Ge Zheng said, "I can help you forge a weapon, no problem, but there are two things I need to clarify in advance."
"Master please speak," Adaweiden was more polite in her tone, but her assessment of the other alchemists was a hint of her skill with words.
"First, I can guarantee that the weapon I forge for you will be a quasi-divine artifact, but I cannot guarantee what level of quasi-divine artifact it will be. Second, the pricing of quasi-divine artifacts at the Gem Alchemy Shop is transparent and fair, the price for a quasi-miraculous artifact is one million gold coins."
"So expensive..." Weishi started to count on her small fingers, "One million gold coins, that's two years of my pocket money!" Ge Zheng felt he should actually raise the price.