The Alchemist?

The currency used in the City of Brilliance was Spirit Coins. Two or three thousand Spirit Coins were generally enough to cover a household's expenses for a year. The value of everything in the City of Brilliance was measured in Spirit Coins: War Blades and armor, Demon Crystals, the pelts of all kinds of demon beasts, medicinal herbs, and so on.

A year's tuition at Sacred Lan Academy cost over three thousand Spirit Coins, a huge expense for an ordinary family. Yet even families who had to scrimp and save would still send their children to Sacred Lan Academy. Becoming a Martial Artist or a Demon Spirit Master—even if only at the Bronze Level—could change a family's fate.

A Bronze Martial Artist serving in the City Guard could earn five or six thousand Spirit Coins a year, and could also venture deep into the Sacred Ancestor Mountain Range to earn extra income.

Nie Li's Sky Scar Family was a rather declining Noble Family. The family head, Nie Hengxun, was a Gold 1-star Demon Spirit Master, and the family earned roughly six hundred thousand Spirit Coins a year. Its expenses were enormous. Just sending the younger members of the family to school cost over three hundred thousand Spirit Coins, and the other expenses often exceeded its income. The family had no choice but to sell off various businesses to make ends meet. Even so, the Sky Scar Family still sent every one of its younger generations to Sacred Lan Academy.

Family Head Nie Hengxun had said that only outstanding younger generations could make the Sky Scar Family rise again. No matter how hard things were for them, they had to ensure that every child in the family received the best possible education.

In his previous life, Nie Li hadn't quite understood those words, and had felt somewhat distant from Family Head Nie Hengxun. The family head had been extremely strict with them. Only after his rebirth did Nie Li finally understand his good intentions.

As a member of the Sky Scar Family, I have to make it prosper and become one of the mightiest forces in the City of Brilliance!

After returning to life, Nie Li still remembered many powerful cultivation techniques. But first, he needed to get some money and buy a few Beginner Soul Crystals to test the properties of his Soul Sea. Only then could he decide which cultivation technique to practice. Finding one suited to him would make cultivating other techniques twice as effective with half the effort.

Knock, knock, knock!

The bells rang across the entire City of Brilliance. Classes were over.

The students of Sacred Lan Academy streamed out through the tall gates and onto the bustling streets outside. Vendors' cries rose and fell all around them.

"Brand-new Bronze Armor, inscribed with Snowflake Engravings! Any noble young masters or young ladies interested?" A vendor in a gray short robe called out enthusiastically. He quickly drew the students' attention. Bronze Armor wasn't something ordinary students could afford, but Sacred Lan Academy had plenty of children from Noble Families, some of them very wealthy. With a bit of luck, the vendor might still make a sale.

"Look, Bronze Armor inscribed with Snowflake Engravings!" the students exclaimed excitedly. It was a pair of gauntlets, their surfaces gleaming with a deep blue light and covered in mysterious designs. A faint, icy chill seemed to seep from them.

"How much does it cost?" one student asked quietly.

"Sixty thousand Spirit Coins!" the vendor replied with a broad smile.

"Oh my god, that's so expensive!" An ordinary family couldn't save up sixty thousand Spirit Coins even in ten years.

"These are Bronze Armor inscribed with Snowflake Engravings! The engravings were made using the Demon Crystal and Demon Blood of a Snowflake Demoness. This one was still in its prime before it was killed. Snowflake Demonesses aren't easy to hunt, and their special traits give these gauntlets tremendous offensive power! They're absolutely perfect for wind-and-snow-type Martial Artists and Demon Spirit Masters!" The vendor delivered his pitch in a torrent of spittle.

Many students gazed longingly at the Bronze gauntlets before silently walking away. They couldn't afford something so expensive.

"Bronze Armor costs sixty thousand Spirit Coins. How much must Silver Level and Gold Level armor cost?" Lu Piao muttered. His monthly allowance was only a little over five hundred Spirit Coins. His family owned a great many businesses, so he was fairly well-off. In his previous life, he'd often helped Nie Li and Du Ze out. But even with a little money to spare, Bronze Armor wasn't something he could just buy on a whim.

Nie Li, Lu Piao, and Du Ze walked along, looking around at the dazzling array of goods lining the street. You could find anything there, whether expensive or cheap.

"Nie Li, what are you looking for?" Lu Piao asked, puzzled as he watched Nie Li glance around.

While they were chatting, someone approached the vendor.

"Look, it's Shen Yue!" Lu Piao nodded toward him. "And Ye Ziyun, too!"

Nie Li looked into the distance and saw Ye Ziyun happily chatting with several girls. Her lovely face and sweet smile were radiant as sunlight, stirring the heart. Among the girls, Ye Ziyun was by far the most dazzling. Once you looked at her, it was hard to turn your eyes away.

It was as if everything around them had come to life in Ye Ziyun's presence.

Shen Yue kept glancing her way, too.

"I happen to need a pair of Bronze gauntlets. Wrap these up for me," Shen Yue said coolly to the vendor.

"Certainly, young master!" the vendor replied. His face immediately lit up as he briskly packed the Bronze gauntlets.

"That's sixty thousand Spirit Coins." Shen Yue casually took six Demon Crystal Cards from his Spatial Ring. Each card was worth ten thousand Spirit Coins.

Shen Yue tossed out sixty thousand Spirit Coins as if it were nothing and slipped the Bronze gauntlets into his Spatial Ring.

The girls nearby let out quiet gasps. He'd just tossed out sixty thousand Spirit Coins without a second thought—he was so rich! A few of the prettier girls gazed at him with sparkling eyes and fluttered their eyelashes at him. Shen Yue ignored them completely. He shot a haughty glance at Nie Li and his friends, then turned affectionately toward Ye Ziyun. His gaze clearly said, You're the only one in my eyes.

"That's despicable!" Lu Piao growled, baring his teeth. "He's attacking with silver bullets!"

"What a rich show-off! He can toss out sixty thousand Spirit Coins just like that, and he even has a Spatial Ring." Du Ze spread his hands, then shook his head at Nie Li. "Nie Li, he's handsome and rich. What have you got to compete with him?"

"Heh, Ziyun doesn't care about money!" Nie Li replied unconcernedly. Looking over, he saw Ye Ziyun completely ignoring Shen Yue as she continued chatting with the other girls. Every so often, she glanced at Xiao Ninger, who stood to one side, looking somewhat distracted.

Xiao Ninger's expression was cool and distant. She usually kept to herself and rarely interacted with her classmates.

Nie Li knew that what Ye Ziyun wanted most right now was friendship. In his previous life, she had always wanted to be friends with Xiao Ninger, but the difference in their status had gradually driven them apart.

Seeing Ye Ziyun's expression, Shen Yue looked a little dejected.

"All right, Ye Ziyun really doesn't care about money. Nie Li, maybe she likes women. Looks like you're still out of luck!" Lu Piao teased, blinking at him.

Nie Li smiled. Naturally, he didn't take Lu Piao's teasing to heart. In his previous life, he had been Ye Ziyun's one and only man. He smiled and said, "Let's go. I'm going to put my plan into action!"

Lu Piao and Du Ze straightened up and nodded.

"Lu Piao, go buy two Light Crossbows and five barrels of bolts, a hundred bolts to each barrel. Each crossbow should cost a hundred and sixty Spirit Coins, and each barrel of bolts should cost thirty. Don't let the vendor rip you off!" Nie Li told Lu Piao. "We'll meet at the entrance to the academy's trial grounds."

"Got it!" Lu Piao nodded. He was a little curious. Had Nie Li bought Light Crossbows and bolts before? How did he even know the prices?

Nie Li's monthly allowance was only fifty Spirit Coins. He was always short on money, so he'd never have been able to buy such expensive things before.

"Du Ze, come with me to buy some Black Marsh Grass," Nie Li said. Black Marsh Grass had a mild numbing effect.

Du Ze's family was even worse off than Nie Li's. Of course Nie Li wasn't going to make him pay, so Nie Li always covered the cost whenever they bought anything.

Black Marsh Grass was cheap. One Spirit Coin could buy a whole handful. In addition, Nie Li bought some low-grade Fusion Potion and went to a small hill beside the City of Brilliance to pull up a lot of Zoysia Grass.

"What are you planning to do?" Du Ze asked, puzzled.

Nie Li smiled mysteriously. "Black Marsh Grass has a numbing effect, but it's very weak. It's usually applied to wounds to relieve pain. Zoysia Grass is a common weed, and no one has discovered its use yet. But if you mix it with Black Marsh Grass using Fusion Potion, you can greatly strengthen the numbing effect!"

Du Ze stared at him for a moment, then asked, "How strong would the numbing effect be?"

Nie Li smiled. "It doesn't do much to ordinary demon beasts. It's far weaker than low-grade numbing potions. But have you ever noticed that Horned Sheep never eat Zoysia Grass?"

"Horned Sheep?" Du Ze fell silent for a moment. It seemed he'd guessed what Nie Li was getting at. His eyes lit up slightly. "Nie Li, are you an alchemist?"

"An alchemist?" Nie Li thought it over, then laughed. "You could say that."

Alchemists were people who used various medicinal herbs to make pills or concoct mixtures. Nie Li hadn't been an alchemist in his previous life; he'd only dabbled in medicinal herbs. But the people who concocted potions in the City of Brilliance were so unskilled they couldn't even be called true alchemists! Nie Li could look down on every one of those so-called alchemists! Besides, when he had adventured across the Sacred Spirit Continent in his previous life, he had once entered the Great Poison Forest. Some people lived there, surviving tenaciously beneath the relentless hunts of poisonous demon beasts. Those were the true alchemists!

Nie Li began concocting the potion, making enough to fill six bottles.

The Sacred Lan Academy trial grounds had been established by the legendary Demon Spirit Master Lord Ye Mo and the Sacred Lan Academy's principal, the Black Gold Demon Spirit Master Gao Yuan. High walls surrounded the area, and every year the powerful experts of the City of Brilliance captured low-level demon beasts and released them inside. Any Sacred Lan Academy student below Silver Level could enter. Students were free to keep anything they obtained from hunting demon beasts, including pelts, Demon Crystals, and Demon Spirits. Students from poor families could hunt demon beasts in the trial grounds to help support their households.

Nie Li, Lu Piao, and Du Ze hadn't even reached Bronze 1-star. They were heading for the safest area of the trial grounds, where there were only Horned Sheep. Horned Sheep were highly aggressive herbivores, but they would only injure a person severely before stopping their attack, so the area was relatively safe.

After meeting up at the entrance to the trial grounds, the three of them showed their credentials to the guards and entered together.

The trial grounds, novice apprentice area.

Among the sparse trees were patches of grass where Horned Sheep wandered slowly. Their eyes were bloodshot, and they were savage and wild. They would prick up their ears from time to time, listening. If an outsider entered their territory, they would attack without mercy.

Just then, a sudden noise came from nearby. The closest Horned Sheep let out a low growl and charged toward it.