Anticipation

"But... it's truly unbelievable. This was clearly extremely pure gold, so why could it be refined into something like Adamantine? And although its density was very high, its mass was nearly half what it had been before. Where did the other substances and mass go? And what exactly were those impurities?"

Although the process of refining Adamantine was extremely "Cultivation-like," it was not at all "scientific," nor was it even remotely "wizard-like."

Benjamin picked up the stone cauldron and inspected it carefully, confirming that no material remained inside.

He then used the Magic Network Terminal to examine the amount and mass of waste gas processed by the laboratory. Although quite a few "impurities" had turned into black smoke and vanished, even after accounting for the mass of that exhaust gas, a considerable amount of mass had still disappeared into thin air during the refining process.

"What a... fascinating phenomenon."

If he had encountered this in the Immortal Cultivation World, Benjamin might not have been so interested. But this was the Wizard World. From the knowledge he had learned in the Basic Alchemy Manual, the material structure of the Wizard World resembled that of his previous life, consisting of all kinds of fundamental particles.

Therefore, in theory, even if gold were purified to its utmost limit, it could only remain "gold." There should have been no possibility of further refining it into a substance like Adamantine.

But now was not the time to study such things. If he had merely wanted to verify whether the refining method could truly produce Adamantine, Benjamin would not have paid such a steep price.

After all, renting the laboratory alone had already consumed most of his remaining points. What he needed to do now was use this bit of Adamantine to recoup his costs, perhaps even make an extra profit and obtain his initial capital.

Thank goodness the Wizard World placed such extreme importance on knowledge. As long as Benjamin was not foolish enough to sell the raw materials directly, no one would dare pry too deeply into matters such as the manufacturing process or underlying principles.

As for how to monetize it, the original Benjamin had planned to take things slowly. But when he had "gone online" just now, he had found a rather excellent "market."

He entered commands into the Magic Network Terminal beside the laboratory wall and connected to the Academy's internal Magic Network.

Benjamin searched with his spiritual power for information on materials related to "stability," "isolation," "magic resistance," and "anti-detection."

The search results immediately appeared.

The Academy's internal database indeed contained all manner of isolation materials. They were widely used for laboratory protection, shielding sensitive areas, storing precious items, and even manufacturing certain special equipment.

What delighted Benjamin most was that these materials were not only expensive, but could also be considered semi-consumables in a sense.

The data showed that while basic isolation materials were quite cheap, those advanced isolation materials were outrageously expensive. Some particularly special materials even required astronomical amounts of points to exchange for!

Because they often needed to conduct all sorts of chaotic experiments, the Wizard System seemed to have an immense need for materials capable of resisting the erosion of various energies and spiritual power. Moreover, frequent accidents caused severe losses, so these materials were practically consumables, with enormous demand.

"Haha... hahahaha..." Benjamin could not help roaring with laughter inwardly.

His "Adamantine" was so stable that it was almost entirely unaffected by any energy. Even compared with the isolation materials in the database, it counted as a high-end product.

As for the cost, setting aside the hard-to-measure value of knowledge from other systems, it consisted only of gold consumption, laboratory rental, and labor costs.

The laboratory expense could not be saved; each use cost at least five points. But that had already been included in his previous plans. Labor costs could be ignored altogether. As for the remaining cost of gold...

Benjamin checked the price of directly purchasing gold through the Magic Network, and the corner of his mouth immediately twitched. "One point can be exchanged for one cubic meter of non-extraordinary metal... holy shit!"

Though gold was precious in the eyes of ordinary people, it was still merely within the category of non-extraordinary metals to wizards.

"So... this is what it feels like to possess core technology? It's utterly intoxicating!"

After the excitement subsided, Benjamin immediately began calculating.

He did not need to refine a large amount of Adamantine. That would consume too much True Essence, and if its effect as an isolation material were too good, it would also attract attention.

He only needed to refine a small amount of Adamantine, then use Alchemy's adhesion technique to "plate" this layer of Adamantine onto an ordinary metal base, granting it powerful isolation properties.

Compared with pure blocks of Adamantine, this Adamantine coating consumed very little Adamantine, and its effects would not be excessively outstanding either.

Once he thought of it, he did it. Without further hesitation, Benjamin decisively spent his last remaining points to purchase one cubic meter of white iron.

This was an extremely common metal material. Its properties in every respect were fairly ordinary, but it was highly malleable and served as a base material for all kinds of alloys.

When someone knocked on the laboratory door, Benjamin opened it and saw a silver-white magic puppet standing outside, carrying a massive block of iron.

After directing the magic puppet to place the white iron in the center of the laboratory, Benjamin watched it merge back into the silver-white wall of the corridor outside.

White iron, just like its name suggested, was overall pale white in color.

Benjamin took out the Alchemy Disk and placed it upside down atop the white iron block. Closing his eyes and steadying his mind, he drew upon the Truth Runes deep within his Spirit Sea.

More than half a month had passed since his first class, and Benjamin had also constructed a second Truth Rune within his Spirit Sea.

As an apprentice of Alchemy Studies, the core pattern represented by his second Truth Rune was precisely the concept of "fusion" in Alchemy, and it was also the main reason Benjamin had only begun acting today.

What Benjamin intended to do was simple. The main material would be white iron. Most of the white iron would be made into standard iron sheets, while the Adamantine would be fused with the white iron and used as a thin film, "plated" onto the surface of the iron sheets through Alchemy.

Selling them would be even simpler. The laboratory's Magic Network Terminal had a function for listing products. Wizards in need could purchase them directly online, and the balance from each sale would automatically be transferred into Benjamin's account.

However, before they could be sold, these items still needed to undergo the Academy's testing to confirm their specific properties and level of isolation.

But those matters had little to do with Benjamin. He simply handed all the products, along with the original test samples, to the magic puppet outside the laboratory. All that remained was to wait.

He glanced at the time. There were only a few minutes left before his laboratory access expired.

He smashed the stone furnace he had molded himself, cleared away every trace, and ensured that the low-level laboratory was restored to its original state.

The moment he stepped out of the laboratory, Benjamin felt physically weak from the extensive Alchemy, but his spirit was unusually exhilarated.

"My original idea was right. The Great Dao Library contains knowledge of artifact refining, talismans, formations... so much knowledge. Once I find suitable materials and methods to realize them in this world, I'll become the richest alchemist in the Wizard World!"

It was as though he could already see countless points and rare resources beckoning to him.

(Extra chapter today. There's one more chapter.)