The wheels rumbled, kicking up the morning dust.
Su Chen was just about to step onto the footboard of the black iron carriage.
The road ahead was suddenly blocked by a carriage procession so resplendent it was almost blinding.
It was a group of guards whose style was worlds apart from the grim, disciplined air of the Mittel caravan. They wore luxurious soft armor embroidered with silver clouds and rode magnificent Wind-Walking Horses. Every face bore an arrogance that seemed to come from the very marrow of their bones.
The carriage at the head of the procession was crafted from rare Amethyst Wood, and the curtains bore the emblem of the Pill Tower, gleaming in the morning light.
Such pomp belonged to the Imperial Capital.
The seven-star Dou Shi captain of the Mittel caravan paled and hurried forward, only to be rudely stopped by one of the other guards.
The atmosphere froze in an instant.
Ya Fei's smile had only just blossomed, but deep suspicion and wariness already appeared on her lovely face.
A hand wearing a white jade thumb ring slowly lifted the curtain of the Amethyst Carriage.
A fair-faced young man with a feminine air stepped down from the carriage.
He looked to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. He wore a moon-white fourth-grade Alchemist robe, and the four silver ripples on his chest proclaimed his exalted status.
He raised his chin slightly, his gaze sweeping over the Mittel caravan's guards, who were on high alert, before finally settling on Ya Fei.
His eyes held a condescending scrutiny, as though he were appraising a piece of merchandise.
"Are you Ya Fei, the Mittel Family's representative in Wutan City?"
The young man's voice was clear, but utterly devoid of warmth, brimming with the superiority unique to the nobles of the Imperial Capital.
Ya Fei's willow brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, but she maintained a gracious smile and inclined her head slightly.
"I am Ya Fei. May I ask who you are?"
"My name is Liu Ling."
The young man gave his name in a cool, indifferent tone, as if the name itself said everything.
"By order of Master Fa Ma, president of the Jia Ma Empire's Alchemist Guild, I have come to Wutan City to meet someone."
His gaze passed over Ya Fei and, like a sharp sword, pierced straight toward the figure behind her, shrouded in a black cloak and hood.
"The flame supplier who has recently become famous at the Mittel Auction House."
***
The top-floor VIP room of the Mittel Auction House.
Calm Heart Incense burned in a precious beast-head censer, soothing the mind, yet the atmosphere in the room was taut as a string on the verge of snapping.
Ya Fei personally served Liu Ling tea, her face wearing a flawless business smile.
"Master Liu Ling, you have traveled a long way. The Wutan City branch failed to welcome you properly. Please forgive us."
Liu Ling didn't touch his tea.
He leaned back on the soft sofa, legs crossed, his posture languid, but his sharp, eagle-like gaze remained fixed on Su Chen across from him.
"Miss Ya Fei, you're too kind."
He spoke unhurriedly, every word dripping with a pricking arrogance.
"I simply didn't expect that an 'expert' capable of attracting the attention of our president would be hiding in a remote border town like Wutan City. Truly... unheard of."
He put heavy emphasis on the word "expert," making no attempt to hide his mockery and disdain.
Ya Fei's jade hand tightened slightly around her teacup.
"Mr. Yan is a discreet man who dislikes drawing attention to himself."
She tactfully came to Su Chen's defense.
"Oh? Is he discreet, or... afraid to show his face?"
Liu Ling sneered and leaned forward slightly, his feminine eyes seeming to pierce through the hood over Su Chen's head.
"Since you're a master of flames, you must have exceptional insight into flame control. I have a few questions I'd like to ask you."
He gave Su Chen no chance to refuse, immediately posing his first question.
"For instance, the Beast Flame of a third-tier magical beast, the Lava Lizard, is violent by nature, with fire poison lurking within. To separate the poison while retaining its high temperature, ordinary methods would require at least seven days of tempering. Do you know of any way to do it quickly?"
It was an extremely tricky question, touching upon the core of flame-refining arts: "flame purification."
Even an ordinary third-grade alchemist might not be able to answer it.
He was testing Su Chen—and humiliating him.
Ya Fei's heart leaped into her throat.
Beneath the shadow of his hood, Su Chen fell silent for a moment.
Then a steady voice, devoid of any discernible emotion, slowly rang out.
"Fire poison is also a kind of fire."
"Why separate it?"
The sneer on Liu Ling's face abruptly froze.
What kind of answer was that?
Without separating the poison, how could one refine pills? It was basic knowledge in the world of alchemy!
What a fraud, pretending to know what he doesn't!
He sneered inwardly, about to refute him.
But Su Chen's voice continued, unhurried.
"The Lava Lizard's fire is valued for its violence. Its poison, for its penetrating power. Use spiritual strength as a guide to construct a double-layered rune structure: the outer layer controls the fire, the inner layer locks in the poison. During alchemy, first use high heat to break through the barrier, then let the fire poison penetrate and activate the medicinal properties. The two can work in tandem. Why separate them?"
His words flowed like water.
Every syllable seemed to hold some strange, profound truth.
The smile on Liu Ling's face froze completely.
For the first time, his feminine eyes filled with uncertainty.
A double-layered rune structure?
The outer layer controlled the fire, the inner layer locked in the poison?
What kind of theory was this? He had never seen such a defiant claim in any alchemy text!
And yet, somehow, it sounded... as though it might actually work!
"Absurd!"
Liu Ling suppressed his shock and snorted, trying to seize back the initiative.
"Flames are wild, while spiritual strength is fragile. How could anyone construct such a precise structure? It's sheer fantasy!"
"Just because your spiritual strength can't do it doesn't mean no one else's can."
Su Chen's answer was simple and direct, yet it landed like an invisible slap across Liu Ling's face.
Liu Ling's face flushed crimson in an instant.
As a favored genius from the Imperial Capital, when had he ever been spoken to like this?
"Fine! Very fine—what a silver tongue!"
Fury turned his laughter cold, and a glint of ice flashed in his eyes.
"Since you're so confident in your spiritual strength, let me ask you this! If you wanted to combine the weight of Rock Fire, the corrosiveness of Green Phosphorus Fire, and the agility of Wind Wolf Fire—three entirely different Beast Flames—how would you do it?"
At that question, even Ya Fei's lovely face turned deathly pale.
This was no longer a provocation.
It was an open challenge!
Every alchemist knew that forcing three flames with completely conflicting properties to fuse could lead to only one outcome—an explosion!
At best, the alchemist would be severely injured. At worst, they would die on the spot!
Liu Ling stared fixedly at Su Chen, eager to see the hooded stranger panic and make a fool of himself.
But he was disappointed.
Su Chen didn't answer.
Beneath the hood, all was silent.
To Liu Ling, that silence proved Su Chen had run out of ideas.
"What is it? Can't answer?"
The mockery on Liu Ling's face returned in full force. He stood and looked down at Su Chen.
"I thought a place like Wutan City might actually produce a hidden dragon or phoenix. In the end, you're nothing but a charlatan who puts on airs... a fraud!"
He swept his sleeve aside and turned to leave.
"Miss Ya Fei, it seems your Mittel Family made a mistake this time. I'll report the matter to the president exactly as it happened."
He was leaving.
With the air of a victor, he would bring this farce in a remote border town to a decisive end.
Ya Fei's nails had dug deep into her palm. She opened her mouth, but couldn't think of what to say.
Just then.
The figure who had remained silent all along moved.
Su Chen slowly raised his hand.
He said nothing.
Not a ripple of Dou Qi stirred.
He simply opened one slender palm before Liu Ling.
Liu Ling stopped in his tracks without thinking.
He frowned as he looked at the palm, his eyes full of confusion and disdain.
"Trying to mystify me!"
The next moment.
Hum—!
A flame rose out of nowhere in the center of that palm!
Liu Ling's pupils contracted sharply.
It was a flame no larger than a thumb.
It was small. It was quiet.
But the instant Liu Ling recognized it, it was as though a heavenly thunderbolt had struck him squarely on the crown of his head!
His body shuddered violently!
In the blink of an eye, the face flushed red with anger drained of all color, turning deathly pale!
He saw it!
He saw it with his own eyes!
The tiny flame displayed three completely different colors!
Its outer flame was the heavy, solid orange-red of Rock Fire, steady as a red-hot iron!
Within the orange-red layer, a wisp of emerald flame slithered slowly like a venomous snake, radiating a corrosive aura that made the heart tremble!
Most unbelievable of all was the very heart of the flame!
A tiny azure spark, no bigger than a grain of rice, danced within it, like a wild gale trapped in a cage, full of swift, shifting rhythms!
Weight!
Corrosion!
Agility!
Three utterly opposing properties, as incompatible as fire and water, had been twisted and blended by an unimaginable power. At last, in a way worthy of a miracle, they coexisted perfectly in a tiny flame!
They remained distinct, yet depended on one another, forming an unprecedented and stable cycle!
Boom!
Liu Ling's mind went blank.
The pride he took in being a fourth-grade alchemist, the alchemical knowledge he had always been so proud of, and every ironclad rule of alchemy he believed in—all of it was shattered and toppled by the tiny tricolored flame before his eyes!
This wasn't a flame-refining art!
This was... this was the power to create rules, a power only gods could wield!
The arrogance, disdain, and mockery vanished from his face.
In their place came overwhelming shock and... terror, rising from the depths of his soul, impossible to suppress!
Monster!
This is a true monster!
He finally understood. Su Chen's words had been neither arrogance nor boast.
They had been a statement of fact.
A cold, undeniable fact beyond Liu Ling's ability even to comprehend.
Su Chen's spiritual strength really could do it!
"Th-this... th-this..."
Liu Ling's lips trembled. A "g-g-g" sound caught in his throat, but he couldn't manage a single complete word.
His legs gave way.
Unable to support his own weight any longer, he crumpled to the ground in a most wretched heap.
In the eyes that had once brimmed with arrogance, only a lifeless, ashen gray remained—and... boundless regret.
He knew what he had missed.
And he knew what kind of terrifying being he had offended.
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