The Lucky Prodigal

"What? Ban's Alchemy Notes?" Everyone who knew what that item was was astonished. Now they understood why the Emperor was so surprised; anyone would be.

Ban was a legendary alchemist from a thousand years ago. His alchemical skills were beyond human comprehension. Obtaining his techniques would make a nation stronger.

It was somewhat similar to modern technology on Earth; the nation with the most advanced technology would become prosperous.

Many people had offered countless tempting conditions to obtain his techniques, but he had never agreed. Some had tried to steal them, only to find it nearly impossible.

Alchemists originally had their own special ways of fighting. They would use alchemy arrays to summon magical elements. They could also alter things in their surroundings, some merely changing their shape, while others even transformed their material structure.

A powerful alchemist could absolutely contend with a comparable mage or warrior. Furthermore, they usually carried certain alchemical items, making them even more difficult to deal with.

However, alchemists had to calculate various factors while fighting and accurately draw alchemy arrays, making the conditions extremely harsh. Most alchemists could at most learn to protect themselves; it was very difficult to advance to become a master, with masters appearing only once every hundred years.

But if alchemists were given enough time to prepare beforehand, they could easily blast a master into dust.

"Yes, that's what the news says. The item is currently in our imperial capital," the Emperor nodded and said.

"What? Who has it now? We must obtain it, no matter the cost," said a seemingly brave general. The general was quite old and appeared to be the empire's Grand Marshal.

As the Grand Marshal of a nation, he naturally knew the benefits of Ban's Alchemy Notes for the army. Creating one or two powerful alchemical magic devices could make them invincible.

"This... the person mentioned above, it makes me very surprised," the Emperor said with a strange expression, glancing at Ye Chengtian beside him.

"?" Ye Chengtian didn't understand the meaning of this strange expression. Others, not knowing the truth, might have thought the item had fallen into the Ye Family's hands.

"Chengtian, if your Ye Family obtained this, just bring it out. You can't keep it for yourself. At most, I'll favor you a bit later, and I'll definitely support you wholeheartedly in becoming the family head," the Grand Marshal said very directly.

"Uncle Li, if our Ye Family had this, with my father's personality, wouldn't he have shown it to you as a treasure long ago?" Ye Chengtian said helplessly.

The relationship between Grand Marshal Li and Ye Yi could be described in three words: best buddies. They grew up together, caused trouble together, chased girls together, traveled the world together...

Even though both were now like grandfathers, they bickered every time they met and argued over trivial matters. Of course, these were just expressions of their strong bond.

"That's true. If you guys got this, he would have come here immediately today instead of hiding at home being intimate with Sister Lian'er." Even without anyone mentioning it, Grand Marshal Li knew Ye Yi must be inseparable from Ruan Lian'er. He couldn't understand how these two, who had been married for so long, could maintain such a state. His own relationship with his wife had become much more subdued.

However, Grand Marshal Li wouldn't think his love for his wife was less than Ye Yi's; it was just expressed differently.

"Chengtian, the person who obtained this item is indeed from your Ye Family, but you just don't know it. Perhaps, he himself doesn't know it either," the Emperor said something incomprehensible at this moment.

"?" Ye Chengtian looked at the Emperor in confusion, wanting to hear his next words.

"Little Ye Lang, come here for a moment. I have a question for you." The Emperor beckoned to the little prodigal son who was still talking to Ye Lanyu. The little prodigal son completely ignored him, which frustrated the Emperor for a while.

However, when the Emperor called out to the little prodigal son, everyone seemed to understand a little. Could it be...

"Your Majesty, what is it?" the little prodigal son asked directly after being pulled over by Tiger Girl.

"Little Ye Lang, did you buy a strange box at the auction house today?" the Emperor asked with a slight smile.

"Yes, I bought it for a hundred thousand gold coins," the little prodigal son replied.

"Do you know what's inside?" the Emperor asked tentatively.

"No," the little prodigal son shook his head.

"As expected. Since you don't know, why did you buy it?" the Emperor asked with some confusion.

"I want to be a prodigal," the little prodigal son said righteously.

"..."

The Ye family members, both the older and younger generations, covered their foreheads, showing extreme helplessness. They had all guessed this would be the answer.

"How can you not stop him from being such a prodigal? Does your Ye Family have that much money?" Grand Marshal Li said. He had heard about this Ye Family prodigal son but only realized the extent of it today.

"Do you think we don't want to? But he likes it this way, and we can't do anything about it. Moreover, the items he buys are often strange and rare, with unimaginable value," Ye Chengtian said with a strange expression.

That's right, if it weren't for the fact that this little prodigal son occasionally bought extremely rare treasures, the Ye family probably wouldn't have let him squander money like this. At least they would have tried to control him, limiting him to spending a hundred thousand gold coins at most.

But was this what you called control?

"That's right, I know about this too. He seems to have been favored by the goddess of fortune since he was young. Take this instance, for example. The box he bought for a hundred thousand gold coins is worth far more than anything he's squandered before. Even ten million would be cheap," the Emperor said.

"Could it be that Ban's Alchemy Notes are in the box? Little Ye Lang, quickly show your Grandpa Li the box you bought." Grand Marshal Li said.

"Okay, that... who is Grandpa Li?" The little prodigal son nodded, then realized he didn't seem to know who Grandpa Li was.

"..."

"Pfft..."

The people around let out a light chuckle, then immediately pretended to be serious, their expressions completely denying that they had just laughed. Among them, it seemed, were the Emperor and others.

"Son, he is your Grandpa Li. You met him when you were little," Long Anqi said, suppressing a laugh, and tapped the little prodigal son.

"When?" The little prodigal son still couldn't remember.

"On your full moon."

"Oh..."

"..."