Ge Zheng snorted, "What fierce reputation? Isn't it more of an infamous one?" He knew himself well.
Miss Feifei giggled, "It's the same, it's all the same." Ge Zheng violently punished the head of the school discipline department, and defeated the duo of Pei Lin and Wei Xi. He also successively taught a lesson to the top two students in the alchemy department. For a while, his nefarious reputation grew, appearing to have the momentum of the number one villain in Dongsheng Academy.
"Is Monsieur really that despicable?" Ge Zheng said, "I think the young man looks good, comes from a good family, and seems sincere to you. Even if he has made mistakes in the past, shouldn't we give a lost lamb a chance to correct his mistakes?"
Feifei pouted, "Teacher, he is not a lost lamb, he is a hungry wolf. I am the helpless lamb, at the mercy of others!"
Ge Zheng wanted to persuade her again, but Feifei quickly said, "Teacher, I don't want to think about these things until I succeed in my studies."
Watching Miss Feifei busy instructing the servant to move things inside, Ge Zheng shook his head, "A lousy excuse. Before achieving success in studies, don't want to think about this issue, and what about after? Before achieving success in career, don't want to think about it, and after achieving success in career, and before achieving success in family business, uh..."
Soon, Ge Zheng experienced the relentless pursuit of Monsieur Monsel and the next morning, the door was already filled with luscious crane flowers. These were the most popular flowers for girls to show affection in the Alchemy World, much like roses on Earth.
Even though winter was coming to an end, spring had not yet arrived so quickly. If it weren't for the "Imperial Moneybag", the Sistine family's second young master, there wouldn't be many people who could afford to spend this much. The priests were using life magic indoors to make the crane flowers bloom.
But maybe it was because of Ge Zheng's notorious reputation, although Monsel kept making small moves, he never dared to appear in front of Ge Zheng. Miss Feifei became much quieter.
...The new issue of the "Alchemy Technology Report" was published. The large, bold headline read: "A New Birth in Water." Just this headline immediately caused a huge uproar.
Every alchemist knew that new materials are born in flames, so when someone dared to boast about birthing them in water, the first instinct of every alchemist who read the newspaper was to curse at it.
Mars and Emmons represented all alchemists. Whenever it came to academia and alchemy issues, they would become ferocious beasts, relentless until the opponents were torn to pieces.
Almost all the alchemists were reading the newspaper while having breakfast that day. As a result, countless alchemists on the continent smashed their glasses of milk.
They cursed loudly while reading the article. After a third of the article, two-thirds of the alchemists had lost their appetites. By the halfway point, almost all alchemists couldn't wait to rush into the lab.
One-third of alchemy shops on the continent delayed their opening. The alchemy department teachers in the academies were almost all late. Even some royal alchemists from various countries were absent from the royal meeting.
Not all alchemists subscribed to this particular newspaper, which was why only some of them were cursing. After conducting the experiment, those who cursed were left speechless. Only through practical testing could the real truth be verified. The seemingly absurd theory had indeed been realized in the experiments!
A wave of invisible excitement was quietly sweeping across the Star Alchemy World as the "Alchemy Technology Report" suddenly sold out. Master Magnus was well-prepared, immediately notifying the regional alchemist associations to print twice the usual number of copies.
The alchemists who flocked to buy the extra copies were not stingy, and the two million extra copies were quickly sold out. This was something Master Magnus had not anticipated, so the regional branches were busy printing more...
In the end, this issue's total print run reached an astonishing six million copies, breaking the record for the "Alchemy Technology Report," doubling the previous sales record. It was an incredible achievement for a newspaper with a limited readership, and Master Magnus was extremely pleased with it.
The authors of the other articles in this issue of the newspaper also made a fortune thanks to Ge Zheng's article, although their earnings were certainly not as high as his.
...At the headquarters of the Alchemist Association, Master Magnus handed a bottle of fine Delong red wine to Benat: "Here, I admit defeat to you, but this time I am willing to lose. Strange, how did you know this article would cause such a stir?" Master Benat thought to himself that he could tell just by looking at the author. However, this was a "confidential matter."
He caught the bottle of wine and glanced at the vintage: "Not bad, it's a three-year vintage, just right to drink now." Generally, Delong red wine could be stored for over a hundred years under certain conditions, and from three to thirty years was the best time to drink it. Of course, the optimum storage time for wines of different vintages also varied.
"You're good friends with Old Ramil from Dongsheng Academy, say hello to him, and if he has any more articles in the future, ask him to notify me first." Magnus said.
...In the Ator Empire, at the Melting Bridge Academy, one of the five major alchemy and martial arts academies on the continent, the head mentor of the largest alchemy department on the Starry Sky continent, the senior level twelve alchemist, Esis, put down the freshly bought "Alchemy Technology Report" and unexpectedly said to his students, "I never expected that in the arcane alchemy desert area of Osta, a thoughtful alchemist would emerge." He chuckled, "You all need to be careful. In the last inter-academy exchange competition, because you were careless, the kid Mercel from Dongsheng stole the championship formula decryption. Next time, our Melting Bridge Academy wants to dominate the alchemy competition, so you all need to step up!"
...On the distant Starry Sky continent, an inconspicuous old man had just bought a new copy of the "Alchemy Technology Report" from the Alchemists' Association. He shook the newspaper, chuckled quietly, and said to himself, "I knew this kid could do it." At his feet, a pet with a pair of rabbit ears hopped and jumped, constantly pointing to its own head with its front paws, squeaking away. The old man chuckled, "I understand, I understand. This is all thanks to our Miss Bean." The pet with the long ears proudly puffed out its chest, feeling very pleased with itself. The old man glanced at the newspaper again, "I just didn't expect him to do so well..."
At the same time, Emperor Mayer the Fourth, who was on a military expedition, was furious and tore the newspaper to shreds, "Does that alchemist forget that he is a royal alchemist? I entrusted him with a task, dragging his feet, yet he has time to do all sorts of nonsense. Did he forget his status!" The old Prime Minister Fenley dared not speak up, but he was quite disgruntled. After all, a royal alchemist was just a title, and he hadn't sold anything to the royal family.
Emperor Mayer the Fourth was narrow-minded, he couldn't dare to disobey the emperor at this time.
...Ge Zheng wrapped a sample of alloy in parchment and called for Kangming, "Take it to the academy and hand it over to his Highness Elunhoros, the Fourth Prince."
Kangming went there, waiting outside the academy for the whole morning, and when the class was over at noon, he handed the alloy to Elunhoros who had just walked out of the academy.
Inside the royal emblem carriage, Elunhoros looked at the alloy sample and gave a smug smile. Kangming and Elunhoros's coachman sat outside, with the desert sprite wondering what these two secretive individuals were up to, carrying out this mystery affair.
The carriage door suddenly opened, and a crystal card was handed out, "Take this back to your master, I'll wait for you here." Kangming was stunned, then the crystal card jumped off the carriage and headed back in a hurry. Halfway through, he quietly checked the crystal card, oh my, a five, followed by many zeros.
Ge Zheng received the money and, of course, wrote down the alloy formula and refining process, and had Kangming deliver it to his Highness the Fourth Prince. Kangming had a lot of questions, but didn't dare to speak out, so he had to go on another trip.
Sitting at home, Ge Zheng played with the crystal card in his hand, his current wealth was close to ten million, he calculated, now if he squandered his wealth, he should be able to buy the eyeball of a cracked toothed dragonfish.
After calculating, he suddenly felt a headache: there was still half a bag of black marsh nine-seed grass, and two kilograms of the venom of the rhinoceros-headed mad snake. These two items would probably cost tens of billions of gold coins to buy!
Kangming returned out of breath, "Master, the Fourth Prince said, in five days, he is going to carry out an experiment at the target ground of the Western City Royal Guards camp. If you are interested, please come to observe."
Ge Zheng had no intention of going back, he didn't want anyone to know this secret, and the Fourth Prince himself understood that, so this invitation was just a polite courtesy.
Kangming hesitated for a long time, but couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked, "Master, what's this all about..." Before the desert sprite could finish speaking, a voice suddenly came from the door, "Excuse me, is this the residence of the Royal Alchemist, Master Ge?"
Kangming turned around, and the door was half pushed open, a dusty merchant was standing at the door, peering inside.
Kangming looked at Ge Zheng, who said, "Yes, do you have something to discuss?"
The merchant took off his woolen hat: "Hello, I am a merchant from the western empire, my name is Grosov, and I would like to make a trade with the master."
Ge Zheng waved his hand: "Please come in, I am Ge Zheng, what is the matter?"
Grosov shook off the dust from his body outside before entering. Ge Zheng told Kang Ming to "bring the tea." The desert fairy obeyed.
Grosov took out a magic crystal from his arms, it was an image magic crystal, projecting a magical screen on the wall, depicting the scene of Ge Zheng winning the alchemy competition on the night of the championship.
"Master, is this person in the image you?" Grosov wanted to confirm. Ge Zheng nodded, "Yes, it's me." Grosov immediately said, "Master, during that competition, do you still have the medicine furnace you created?" Perhaps fearing Ge Zheng's suspicion, he quickly added, "Master, this medicine furnace is a product of the championship alchemy competition and has a very high collection value. If you have no use for it, I am willing to purchase it at a high price."
Ge Zheng smiled slyly, "A high price?"
Grosov hurriedly said, "Yes, a high price, you can name your price."
Ge Zheng looked at him and tentatively said, "One hundred thousand gold coins?" Grosov immediately said, "No problem!"
Ge Zheng showed a apologetic expression: "I'm sorry, I was just joking. I don't even know where that piece is. How about this, you prepare the gold coins, and I will look for it at home and when I find it, we can make the exchange?"
Grosov looked clearly disappointed, "Master, you must find it..." Ge Zheng made perfunctory responses and sent him away.
Since the night of the championship, Ge Zheng had never brought out that furnace again. But this sudden appearance of Grosov made him reconsider the importance of the furnace.
Ge Zheng was sure that Grosov was not a merchant; apart from his clothes, there was nothing about him that resembled a merchant. Ge Zheng was eighty percent certain that Grosov was an alchemist. There was no solid basis for this, perhaps it was due to the strange connection between alchemists.
Ge Zheng rushed upstairs and entered his laboratory. Kang Ming, on the other hand, slowly emerged from the kitchen with two cups of tea, and wondered where everybody was.
In the laboratory, Ge Zheng took out the furnace from the storage space and cast an appraisal spell. He was already familiar with the attributes of the furnace, and Master Benat had also seen it, finding nothing particularly special about it.
Alchemy Furnace:
Level: Seven
Attribute: Increases the efficiency of herbs by thirty percent
Note: Upgradable
Ge Zheng had not noticed this note during the championship night, it was understandable given the tension at that time. If Grosov hadn't shown up and prompted him to appraise the piece again, Ge Zheng wouldn't have remembered about the "upgradable" attribute.
While it was upgradable, Ge Zheng had no idea how to do it. Perhaps Grosov could tell him the answer.
However, given Grosov's actions of disguising himself as a merchant to approach him, Ge Zheng decided that he wouldn't easily divulge the answer. He resolved to find the answer himself.
He arrived at the library of Dongsheng Academy. The collection here was vast, and one could always expect unexpected gains. Ge Zheng was a frequent visitor and had already become acquainted with the librarian, Old Sobi, who greeted him with a smile and without the need to show his teacher's badge.
As he reached the door, someone suddenly rushed out, moving at a remarkable speed. If Ge Zheng hadn't been agile enough to dodge, he might have been knocked down.
The person was gone in a flash, leaving Old Sobi with a shrug, seeming powerless to enforce the rules.
Ge Zheng asked, "Who was that?" Old Sobi chuckled, "Don't you know? That's the mad alchemist instructor Solskya in your alchemy department."
Ge Zheng had heard of this person before. He had been at Dongsheng Academy for a while and had met all of his alchemy colleagues except for this mad alchemist Solskya, who had never made an appearance.
It was said that his purpose for coming to Dongsheng was the same as Ge Zheng's and he had taken an interest in the library and the experimental equipment here. He never attended classes arranged for him by Gertchell, and had skipped numerous times, causing Gertchell to complain to Master Aquila.
But Master Aquila couldn't do anything about it, and despite this mad alchemist's behavior, he still managed to publish several articles in the Alchemy Technology Journal every year, making him a rare powerhouse in the alchemy department. In resignation, Master Aquila instructed Gertchell not to assign him any classes.
Solskya had bolted off at an incredible speed and was now out of sight. Ge Zheng shook his head and entered the library reading room, hoping to find information related to the medicine furnace.
After spending an entire afternoon at the library, Ge Zheng found nothing that he was looking for. There was plenty of information on alchemical furnaces, but not the specifics that Ge Zheng was seeking.
As he was leaving the library before closing time, he ran into Gertchell, who immediately dashed over to him: "Quick, Master Aquila has been looking for you all afternoon..."
Master Aquila wasn't waiting at his office, but was with all the teachers from the alchemy department at the alchemy department's office, waiting for Ge Zheng.
As soon as Ge Zheng entered, he was overwhelmed. The alchemy department's teachers had never gathered like this before! Apart from him, even the mad alchemist he had met that afternoon was present.
Familiar teachers gathered in groups discussing something in hushed tones, while Master Aquila sat with his student Esge and the mad alchemist Solskya, engrossed in a discussion with items on the table.
Gertchell brought Ge Zheng to Master Aquila: "Master, I have found the main instructor."
Master Aquila raised his head and pointed to the chair beside him: "Sit down first." He then instructed the mad alchemist Solskya to "discuss your ideas with the main instructor."
This was the first time Ge Zheng had faced the famous mad alchemist directly. Solskya looked malnourished, with pale skin, heavy eye bags, sunken eyes, and curly hair like a bird's nest.
Solskya stretched out his claw-like hand and pointed to a stack of papers on the table, saying, "Take a look at this..."
On the topmost piece of paper was a drawing of a metal doll, with its detailed dismantled parts. Gertchell explained on the side, "This is the most famous and expensive alchemical toy in the history of the Star Alchemy World. It's named 'Hal,' powered by magic crystals, and can walk and perform various actions just like a human. At the time, its selling price was twenty thousand gold coins."
Solskya shook the stack of papers, revealing various designs and some copied alchemical equations underneath.
The mad alchemist said, "Imagine, if we make Hal as big as the wolf-shaped giant and take it a step further, turning it into a combat-type alchemical creature, we will have a super-warrior to fight against the tide-born warrior of the wolf-type giant! These plans and equations will help us realize this dream!"
Ge Zheng thought to himself: Truly a madman! To use an alchemical toy as a blueprint, imagining creating a giant robot, only a madman could come up with such an idea.
He looked around, and everyone, including Master Aquila, was looking at him. Ge Zheng was surprised, "You're all convinced by him, aren't you?"
The expressions of the others told the tale. Ge Zheng shook his head directly, "Insane, all of you are insane, a bunch of lunatics!" Master Aquila said, "Ge, it's not that we're insane, but this plan has a sixty percent chance of success!"
Beneath his pale and bloodshot eyelids, Solskya's eyes emitted a dazzling light: "Think about it, even the thirteen-level titled gods and thirteen-level titled war gods, thrown under the feet of alchemy—we are not doing it for ourselves, we are doing it for alchemy, for the alchemists who influence the Star Alchemy World, we are taking risks!"
Ge Zheng had to admit that the madman's rhetoric was very persuasive, no wonder everyone had been convinced by him.
If this adventure succeeded, alchemists would most likely rise up, surpassing both warriors and mages, and become the premier profession in the Star Alchemy World!
"Ge!" Master Aquila looked at him. Given the situation, what could Ge Zheng choose to do? He raised his hands, "Alright, alright, count me in!"
"Hooray!" His colleagues cheered together, and within a short time since Ge Zheng had arrived at Dongsheng Academy, he had managed to impress everyone with a series of performances. With Ge Zheng on board, everyone felt that their chances of success had greatly increased.
Master Aquila remained composed, but his student Esge's expression seemed awkward.
Ke Zheng looked at his colleagues. Even if all the alchemy department's professors, lecturers, and teaching assistants were put together, they would only amount to over twenty people. Relying on such a small number of people to accomplish a feat that had never been achieved in the history of the Star Alchemy World, the power seemed insufficient. After considering for a moment, he suggested, "I'm afraid it would be difficult for us alone to complete the giant magic refining creature. It might be better to select some capable students to help us."
Ke Zheng had long decided that among the students, Prince Elonhos, the fourth prince, must be selected. As the fourth prince was also reaching the age to officially join the succession battle, and developing the new magical cannon to catch the attention of the fourth Emperor Meiji, he would definitely participate in something that could draw the Emperor's attention.
This kid was so well-fed, it was just the right amount to squeeze some benefits out of him.
"Alright, the selection of students must be done in secret," Master Aquinas said. "This matter must be kept confidential!" Everyone understood that even Master Aquinas himself didn't have full confidence in the plan. If they made a big fuss about it and it ended in failure, the Alchemy Department of the Eastern Victory Academy would become the laughingstock of the continent.
The task of selecting outstanding students was entrusted to Gecil, as he, the teaching assistant, had not lectured much and only handled these miscellaneous tasks.
Sorskier enthusiastically explained his ideas to all the teachers. Theoretically, as long as the doll was enlarged several hundred times, the strength of the alloy used to make the doll's body was increased several hundred times, the power output of the magic reaction furnace providing power to the doll was increased several hundred times, and the agility of the doll was increased several hundred times, then it was not entirely impossible to achieve Sorskier's goal.