No sooner had Angel finished speaking—
than Benbo heard Algalong's voice in his mind. "Good!"
Though it was only one syllable, it brimmed with urgency.
"Agree to him quickly. Tell him I'll return to the Artifact Embryo Factory in Anjing Town soon, and ask him to wait a moment!"
The urgency in Algalong's tone gave Benbo the feeling that it feared Angel might change his mind or suddenly leave.
It could not wait to keep Angel here.
And all because Angel had proposed an... alchemy exchange.
After being dazed for a moment, Benbo gradually understood why his original self was so eager to rush forward.
What was an exchange?
Things flowed across, spreading between both sides.
In other words, an exchange was not one person sharing their techniques. It was both sides sharing their respective skills and insights.
Yet Algalong had not held an alchemy exchange with anyone for a long time, because nearly every exchange had amounted to it unilaterally passing on its techniques and experience.
That was not an exchange. That was teaching.
An exchange meant that both sides gained something. Only then did it count as an exchange. If there was no way to gain new techniques or new perspectives, then why exchange at all?
That thought had long been etched into Algalong's heart, and only began to change after it met Angel.
It did not wish to engage in alchemy exchanges with others because it felt they could not help it improve.
But Angel was different. In Algalong's eyes, Angel's invention of the Login Device proved the breadth of his knowledge; the Fantasy Alchemy he displayed proved the heights of his inspiration; and his discovery of two new complementary traits in such a short time proved the depth of his talent.
With knowledge and techniques, inspiration