So Stingy?

In a corner of the sewer, a large number of slimes had been driven into a dead end.

Amber Xiu stood before a freshly drawn magic circle, waiting for the disgusting, writhing monsters to walk right into his trap.

One by one, they were instantly teleported away.

Cages had already been prepared in Amber Xiu's Ancient Castle. The slimes would be teleported straight into them and trapped securely inside.

Naomi had marked the right spot. It was indeed a gathering place for a large number of slimes.

Amber Xiu had captured most of the slimes, but he hadn't fished them all out. After catching forty or fifty, he stopped. He planned to leave a hidden Teleportation Array there, so any slime that passed by would be teleported away.

It was a little less efficient this way, but it might bring him a steady supply of experimental materials.

With the slime problem taken care of, Amber Xiu returned to Alchemy City and put the equipment he'd received from the Druid up for consignment. At the current market rate, it would probably take half a month to sell everything.

In a fairly good mood, Amber Xiu returned to the Ancient Castle and threw himself back into his experiments.

Amber Xiu didn't want to get involved in the so-called prophecy in Alchemy City's sewers. His instincts told him that those lunatics were up to some kind of scheme. Anyone who went down into the sewers now would most likely be a little rabbit running straight into a trap.

Once Amber Xiu began experimenting, he gave it his undivided attention.

And because he'd earned some extra income on this trip, Amber Xiu added a few extravagant options to his experimental plans.

That made the experiments go much more smoothly.

Slimes were low-level monsters, after all. As carrion eaters, they had relatively simple body structures. Aside from their body of sludge, they had only simple digestive and nervous systems. Their intelligence was very low, and most had only the instincts to hunt and reproduce by splitting apart.

However, the slimes captured in Alchemy City's sewers were a little different. They were more intelligent than their kin, and their sludge-like bodies had undergone varying degrees of metallic mutation.

This was probably related to Alchemy City's careless disposal of alchemical waste. After consuming the waste, the slimes had become "diseased."

Yes, this wasn't evolution. They'd contracted a serious, potentially fatal disease.

Their lifespans had shortened, they'd become more violent, and some had even begun attacking their own kind.

This caused Amber Xiu a little trouble, since he first needed to remove the effects of the mutation before he could study the normal physiology of slimes.

It took a little time, but after dissecting over a hundred slimes, Amber Xiu finally advanced his experiment to its second stage: modifying Living Mercury.

Living Mercury was a mutated slime. It had gained powerful resistance to magic, but lost many important organs. It even lacked a soul. From the moment it was created, all that awaited it was a slow, torturous death.

Amber Xiu now needed to replace its missing organs, turning it into a perfect body that could house the "artificial soul" he had created.

Amber Xiu carefully studied the characteristics of this mercury transformation. The lunatics in Alchemy City really were brilliant and utterly insane when it came to this kind of research. The alchemical techniques they'd used left him awestruck.

If it hadn't failed, it would have been a new invention on par with a Legendary Spell.

Innovation was hard; replication was much easier. Amber Xiu quickly figured out how to turn slimes into mercury through reverse engineering.

It wasn't a perfect reproduction of the original, but he'd managed to restore the missing organs.

The experiment hadn't taken long, but it had been truly expensive.

In total, he'd spent over 120,000 gold coins. He'd gone through several vials of Living Mercury potion alone. They were all counterfeits, but they still made Amber Xiu wince.

If the potion made from the hag's scalp hadn't sold for a high price, Amber Xiu wouldn't even have had enough money to complete the experiment.

That was why even a legendary figure could be broke. If they simply lived a quiet life, they could certainly enjoy wealth and comfort. But for a scholar like Amber Xiu, who devoted himself to research, every experiment cost a fortune. No matter how much he earned, it was never enough.

In the laboratory, Amber Xiu solemnly set down a Memory Crystal and began recording.

"Optimization Experiment for a New Soul Puppet Creation Technique, Trial 46.

"After many previous experiments, I've created a relatively complete Soul Puppet body. The modified Living Mercury has not only had its missing organs restored and can remain alive for a long time, but has also gained a new talent—Transformation Spell.

"This inspiration came from the shape-shifters. I imitated their talent and gave Living Mercury the ability to change its appearance. After all, we're creating Soul Puppet warriors, and a simple slime form doesn't have enough combat power.

"Now, I'll merge the artificial soul with the Living Mercury body and see if I can successfully create a Soul Puppet..."

As he explained, Amber Xiu took out the artificial soul he'd prepared earlier and placed it on the Living Mercury's body.

As he recited the incantation, the artificial soul quickly merged with the Living Mercury. Ripples appeared across the mercury body, which had been still until then, followed by continuous trembling. After a minute or two, two black dots appeared on its smooth surface. They looked just like a pair of eyes.

Then the Living Mercury began to wriggle inside the glass jar, like a newborn baby eager to escape its cage and explore the world.

Amber Xiu hurriedly let the little fellow out. The Living Mercury wriggled happily across the table, then swallowed every piece of metal it came across.

After eating all the metal on the table, the Living Mercury cheerfully bounced into Amber Xiu's arms. Its heavy body nearly broke his ribs.

Amber Xiu patted the little fellow's head, sensing the connection between their souls.

As its creator, Amber Xiu had naturally added a safeguard to its soul. The little fellow would be especially attached to him and remain as loyal as possible.

Just as Amber Xiu was about to continue testing Living Mercury's abilities, Isabelle suddenly knocked urgently on the laboratory door. Her anxious voice came from outside. "Master Lich, something terrible has happened! An army has appeared outside the Ancient Castle. There are a lot of them."

Amber Xiu felt only a little irritated. He wasn't all that surprised.

So many days had passed. It was about time something happened.

Amber Xiu knew that the nearby lords would be quite displeased with him for taking in so many Freemen. The fact that they'd held back this long had already surprised him.

"I should settle this once and for all."

Amber Xiu left the laboratory. As soon as he stepped out of the Ancient Castle, he saw something that took him by surprise.

The Paladin from the Lyne Empire, whom he'd swindled out of several thousand gold coins before, was standing among the troops.

Seriously? Was this Paladin so stingy that he'd brought an army to attack?