News of the Alchemist

The warm sunlight spilled onto the land. It was late autumn, and even the stubborn wild grass by the roadside had to follow nature's law, its once vibrant green turning to withered yellow.

Dripping dew condensed and fell, bringing new hope to this tenacious life.

And within this beautiful picture of an autumn morning, a man, his clothes tattered and his body reeking, ran towards Hui Dun City with a face full of panic, stumbling along the main road.

If anyone didn't know better, seeing him like this, they'd think he was being chased by demons.

As he neared the city gates, the guards stationed there caught a whiff of an extremely foul, fermented cow dung odor emanating from him.

Seemingly in a daze, he tried to enter the city, but the guards at the gate immediately raised their spears, blocking him.

Before the guards could even shout to drive him away, the man, who had been in a daze, seemed to snap back to reality.

At this moment, his dung-covered face no longer held the dazed panic from before; his eyes, previously listless, were now filled with an unusual excitement.

Just then, some civilians who had been waiting a long time to enter the city saw him. However, upon smelling the stench on him, they all kept their distance.

They covered their noses and cursed, calling him a madman.

His legs gave out at this point, and he directly collapsed before the city gates.

Then, he lunged forward with all his might towards the guards and, with his last ounce of strength, shouted:

"Alchemist... there's an alche... an alchemist..."

After uttering these words, the man immediately breathed his last. The civilians and guards preparing to enter the city were stunned at first, and then many recalled the terrifying rumors about alchemists they had heard from traveling merchants.

According to the rumors, alchemists weren't a single person but a group.

These individuals were a lawless, wicked bunch.

They started as mere impoverished mages, lacking the funds to support their magical studies. Then, they had a wild idea to create some sort of alchemy, to turn stones into gold.

This was the initial objective of their gathering.

However, as they grew in scale, their research began to change.

While the ultimate goal remained turning stones into gold, the process became extremely bloody and cruel.

And to achieve their so-called objectives, they even developed a systematic cultivation system belonging to dark cultivators.

For example, potion control.

Potion control was originally a strange concoction developed by alchemists for turning stone into gold, but it later became a potion that could truly drive people mad.

These potions had various functions: some could induce madness, while others could turn the deceased into undead creatures, making them immortal.

After creating these monstrous beings, they would be controlled by the alchemists, thus endangering the region.

And this was just one example.

Wherever these individuals went, they would use the strange alchemy-related magic they had developed, and most of this magic would ultimately result in a terrifying monster that would slaughter the area.

As they researched alchemy, these people became increasingly bizarre, eventually becoming synonymous with danger and evil.

Consequently, whenever an alchemist appeared, the local authorities had to dispatch their strongest individuals to eliminate them and immediately report to the royal capital.

The civilians standing at the city gates erupted in an uproar. They immediately abandoned their plans to enter the city and headed back towards their villages outside the city.

They intended to inform their villagers that alchemists had arrived and that they must immediately migrate into the city.

The guard was also sweating profusely from fear. He dared not make a decision and immediately headed towards the city's magistrate's office.

Magistrate Tofis had been on edge these past few days. He now understood how foolish his previous actions had been.

He was truly afraid that Hui Dun would get angry and banish him, rendering his years of knowledge and learning useless.

Since Hui Dun hadn't ordered his punishment these past few days, he had been in a constant state of anxiety, unable to focus on anything else.

At this moment, his door was knocked upon, and his heart leaped into his throat.

He had told his subordinates not to bother him these days unless it was absolutely necessary. Now that someone was here, had Hui Dun made a decision about him?

Tofis got up and opened the door, only to see a guard holding a weapon, looking at him with a tense expression.

Seeing the armed guard, Tofis thought to himself:

"Alas, the end has finally come. It seems my old life is about to be forfeit."

Thinking this, Tofis almost fainted from fear.

Fortunately, this guard was not one to dawdle. He immediately spoke, reporting the incident at the city gates.

Seeing that he wasn't there to kill him, Tofis was initially relieved, but then, remembering that an alchemist had appeared, his heart immediately tensed up again.

Why would these crazy mages, the alchemists, come to their remote little town? Should he immediately report to the academy and inform Count?

Tofis didn't deliberate for long. His previous experiences had made him jumpy these days; it was better to be cautious this time.

However, before he left, he called the guard back and instructed:

"Go now and ask a painter to sketch the portrait of the messenger. Then, post a public notice in the city asking if anyone recognizes this person.

If anyone recognizes him, immediately question them about his origin and dispatch people to his place of residence to verify the situation.

Then, go to the church and ask Bishop Jamir to send a priest to investigate the cause of this person's death. I want the answers to these matters before the Count arrives at the scene."

Once Tofis made up his mind, he brought out all his seasoned methods of handling affairs and immediately gave orderly instructions to his subordinates.

The guard, also somewhat nervously, nodded in agreement. Just as he was about to leave, Tofis called out to him again. He then took his magistrate's seal from his office drawer and handed it to the guard, saying:

"I don't have time to write you an authorization. Take my seal and get it done.

If anyone tries to stop you, arrest them and throw them in jail."

Watching the guard leave, Tofis tidied up his thoughts and then had someone prepare a carriage to take him to the academy.

Meanwhile, at the academy, with Hui Dun studying there, all the noble children were trying to get noticed by the Count, hoping Hui Dun would remember them.

If they could become familiar faces, then if they inherited their family's titles in the future, perhaps because of this familiarity today, the Count would think of them first when good opportunities arose.

These actions directly prevented Hui Dun from quietly reading in the library.

They didn't even consider that they were disturbing Hui Dun's studies. They had already been placed in the category of disliked individuals by Hui Dun, and it was unlikely they would receive any favors in the future. Instead, they would be the first ones thought of for any misfortune.

The only one in a bad mood at this time was our little loli, Coles. He had been observing Chen Cheng from the shadows these past few days, hoping to see him ordered to be executed by the enraged Count.

The reason he wasn't loitering in front of Hui Dun like the other guys was because he had a guilty conscience. He was afraid Hui Dun would recognize him as the one who placed the Image Recording Crystal.

However, while he hadn't seen the scene of Hui Dun dealing with Chen Cheng that he wanted to, he had seen Chen Cheng being called for private tutoring by Professor Pempes from time to time.

Honestly, this little loli Coles had a real talent for hiding his tracks and lurking to spy.

He shouldn't be studying formal spellcasting duels, but rather techniques for concealing oneself and carrying out assassinations.

Perhaps one day, this continent would gain another assassination king.

And if not an assassination king, then being a master thief would certainly be more than enough.

But clearly, our little villain hadn't noticed his talent for sneaking around at all.

Of course, Pempes's so-called tutoring for Chen Cheng was just the public explanation. To Principal Adolf and the others, it was Pempes treating Chen Cheng's body every few days.

However, they would never have imagined that these two weren't on the first or second level, but on the third.

The real situation was that Chen Cheng was teaching Pempes, or rather, they were engaged in academic discussions.

They were discussing and researching the fundamental structures of basic magic runes.

This was a massive undertaking.

They needed to break down each Magic Markings into its constituent rune corridors. These corridors had to have a certain universality, and the magical effects of the Magic Rune could not be lost.

Previously, Chen Cheng could research using the vast reserve of Magic Markings in the Sea of Magic, but his final achievement was only an unstable gold-tier magic.

So, it was truly a long and arduous road.

With the addition of Professor Pempes, a senior figure, many unnecessary trial-and-error steps could be skipped, greatly shortening the time.

As for the injuries within Chen Cheng's body, a few days ago, out of boredom, Chen Cheng tested them with his mental power. He discovered that the Crystal Pendant his mother had given him before she died could enhance his mental power.

Therefore, he could completely clear out those fragmented Magic Markings himself. At the same time, he could also research them, looking for future improvement directions, and see if he could make them more stable.

It could be said that Chen Cheng was still immersed in the thrill of constantly exploring the unknown and discovering the unknown. Perhaps this was his destined path as a research genius.

In the backyard of the church, Jamir frowned slightly after listening to his subordinate's report. He then waved his hand, dismissing the subordinate.

He never expected an Alchemist to come here at this time. Could all of this be too coincidental?

You see, because he had previously plotted against Hui Dun, the warning statues in the church had been damaged. And as fate would have it, just at this moment, the Alchemist arrived.

Then Jamir spoke to a monk outside:

"For the time being, have Father Hodoss preside over the prayers. If anyone from the government comes seeking help, have Father Hodoss step forward to assist them."

Then he heard a "Yes," and a monk wearing white robes with black trim hurried away to relay Bishop Jamir's orders.

Meanwhile, Jamir began to ponder what this Alchemist who had traveled from afar truly wanted, and how much profit the church could gain from this.

Perhaps he could even scheme to use this crisis with the Alchemist to get rid of Hui Dun.

This was because his spies had reported bad news to him a few days ago: that old fellow Pempes had become Hui Dun's new master.

However, what everyone didn't know was that this Alchemist now had an army of Undead Skeletons at his side.