The Alchemist

"Rest assured, I believe no one will laugh at you anymore."

Professor Pempes said this final remark in a joking manner, though it wasn't particularly funny.

His words also indicated his support for Hui Dun. Those who wanted to see a good show could now be dealt with by Hui Dun.

"Today's wine is to my liking. I must go have a few more glasses."

Then, the old man, slightly tipsy, walked out of the reception room.

At this moment, Hui Dun wanted to let out a long roar to the heavens, while Chen Cheng beside him had an unreadable expression.

The two then exchanged a glance, looking at the tipsy Professor Pempes, both showing a helpless expression towards the professor.

"It seems we'll have to carry the professor back later."

Fini also said apologetically:

"Earl Hui Dun must know that Professor Pempes is just that kind of old man, so..."

She thought that Professor Pempes's drunken state had angered the Earl.

Hui Dun waved his hand:

"It's fine. The professor has accepted me as his disciple now, so the professor is my master."

Then, the two also got up and bid Hui Dun farewell.

After the banquet concluded, Professor Pempes was indeed as Chen Cheng had said, drunk to the point of unconsciousness. In the end, Hui Dun arranged for servants to carry him back.

A blood moon hung high in the sky, its moonlight casting a red tide upon the land.

The cawing of crows echoed from a hillside covered in graves. Mixed with the blood-red night and the cold wind whistling through the mountains, it painted a grim and terrifying picture.

And on this lonely mountain path, a horse-drawn carriage with a kerosene lamp chugged its way up.

As the horse reached the mountain, it let out a neigh, startling all the crows perched on the gravestones into flight.

From behind the carriage curtain, an old hand with unusually long fingernails and chicken-skin-like skin emerged.

Then, a hunched-over alchemist, with a face like a withered crane and wearing a wizard's robe, holding a round magic crystal, stepped out of the carriage.

The alchemist approached the graves, muttering in an unknown, strange tongue, punctuated by his sharp, cold laughter.

Then, he brushed his wrinkled palm over the magic crystal in his hand, and a bottle of dark green potion appeared.

He uncorked the potion bottle, chanted an incantation, and slowly poured the potion onto the ground.

As his spell continued, the green potion on the ground, like living creatures, divided into many streams and flowed into the graves, some neat, some neglected.

Then, with a rustling sound of falling earth, skeletons or corpses with rotting flesh crawled out from the graves.

At this point, the commotion finally alerted the tomb keeper in the wooden house.

A cursing voice came from the other side of the graves, followed by the sound of a door opening.

"You sons of bitches who didn't get any sons, daring to set your sights on me, your Grandpa Peiqi! Today, I'll..."

When Peiqi thought it was some grave robbers trying to steal from his territory, he opened the door and saw the alchemist, illuminated by the blood-red moonlight, looking like a demon from hell.

Before he could react, the alchemist gave him a sinister smile.

This nearly scared Peiqi to death. The curses he was about to unleash immediately stopped, and he let out a series of terrified screams.

Perhaps his screams startled the horse grazing nearby. He then saw the ordinary horse transform into a talking skeleton horse.

"The soul aura is still quite strong."

At this very moment, Peiqi completely lost his composure. He ran screaming down the hillside, and in his haste, his foot caught on a stone, sending him tumbling down.

The skeleton horse then took a deep breath towards Peiqi, and a phantom image of Peiqi, identical to him, was seen being sucked from his body and swallowed by the skeleton horse.

After consuming Peiqi's soul, the skeleton horse reverted to its ordinary horse appearance, continuing to graze on the grass with its head lowered. However, within its exhaled breath, a faint image of a wailing person could be seen.

As the alchemist finished pouring his magic potion, skeletons finally emerged from the graves.

Among these skeletons, only a very small number had ignited their soul fire and become dark creatures, Undead Skeletons.

And at the forefront of these skeletons was an Undead Knight, its body misty, clad in armor, with crimson eyes, riding a skeleton horse.

The alchemist was very satisfied with his creation. He then walked towards the carriage, and the skeletons followed behind the carriage, led by the Undead Knight.

The carriage wheels began to roll, and pulled by the horse, the entire carriage moved through the forest as if on level ground.

The morning sun shone upon the land, awakening the people who had slept through the night.

And our great Earl Hui Dun stood before the gates of Huidun Academy in the golden rays of the morning sun.

At this time, his mind was filled with thoughts of what had happened last night, and the Image Recording Crystal placed on his office desk.

He didn't know where the crystal came from, but recalling Adolf's attitude towards him before, the images within it didn't seem to be baseless rumors.

However, with his firm grasp on the governing power of his territory, he had long heard of a miraculous invention appearing on the market – glasses.

Melinda's eyes were able to see the world clearly again thanks to this small pair of glasses.

And after experiencing Achilles' death before his eyes, his mindset had grown at that moment. He was no longer that reckless young noble, easily misled by unfounded rumors, almost leading to the annihilation of his entire force.

Furthermore, he even held a degree of appreciation for that little slave.

Currently, the greatest source of help within his territory was the Academy, and there were only a few students within the Academy who were known as geniuses.

Among them was Brown, a student who was a slave, and closely associated with him was Fini, a newly renowned and most famous genius.

And considering the favor of him inventing glasses to solve Melinda's eye problems, the connections he had made were even more numerous.

If he were to act as rashly as before, and if that inexplicable recording were to truly frame Chen Cheng, then his chance of turning his life around would be truly gone.

He also vaguely felt that the person employing underhanded tactics behind the scenes had a grudge against this little slave, Brown. This person dared not openly defy the Academy's discipline to deal with Chen Cheng, so they set their sights on him instead.

When he thought about being used as a fool again, a surge of anger welled up within him.

Therefore, after watching the recording on the Image Recording Crystal, he immediately destroyed the crystal and simultaneously used detection magic to investigate the identity of the person behind it.

However, it was a shame that Coles, this little loli, truly had the makings of a villain. When placing the crystal, he had actually used a Shadow Tracing Magic Crystal.

And so, he couldn't detect anything.

But now that he was at the Academy, he could slowly investigate in the days to come, to see who had a grudge against Chen Cheng. He could also see if Melinda truly had an unusual relationship with Chen Cheng, this little slave.

That's right, although he knew this was someone trying to use him, and the scenes within the recording were likely deliberately captured. He still wanted to confirm it.

However, he would not be as reckless as before; instead, he would devise a foolproof plan.

Just like Huidun, Coles, this little loli hiding in the shadows like a venomous snake, also had a sleepless night.

Yesterday, after he placed that Image Recording Crystal, his heart had been pounding incessantly. This was the first time he had done something so wicked, especially the torment of waiting for the outcome of his scheme to unfold, which was something he had never experienced before.

Before this, he had only viewed Chen Cheng as a mere little slave. As long as this deceptive recording reached the Count's hands, Chen Cheng's death would be a foregone conclusion.

But his rapid heartbeat at this moment was telling him that Chen Cheng was no longer an ant that could be easily crushed. He was the undisputed number one genius in the Academy, and his discourteous behavior at the banquet had not incurred the Count's punishment. Instead, he had been invited to the reception room.

All of this indicated to him that Chen Cheng was no longer an ant; he had become a very difficult enemy to deal with.