Now that's what you call overtaking on a bend (tactical lean back

The weather was turning cooler, and Wang Shui's house was nearly finished. He would no longer need workers for the remaining work; he would use Alchemy to perfect it bit by bit.

Compared with the house, Wang Shui had something more important to do.

Over several casual visits in a little more than a month, Wang Shui had left Hohenheim with a very good impression-cheerful and generous, calm and intelligent, willing to help others, and highly talented in Alchemy. He could recite any passage from a book at will, and could even recite an entire book backward.

More than Wang Shui's knowledge of Alchemy, Hohenheim liked the self-discipline and kindness the young man inadvertently revealed.

Today, Wang Shui had come specifically to visit him. Besides the homemade food he had casually brought along, he also carried a cylindrical bottle half a meter tall.

"You want to ask me for guidance?"

Hohenheim's expression was as peaceful as ever, revealing neither whether he agreed nor what mood he was in. His eyes held a numbness and weariness that were difficult to dispel.

"I'd like to ask you for guidance on Alkahestry, to improve this experiment."

As he spoke, Wang Shui lightly pressed his palms together, activating the Transmutation Circle inside the bottle. A wheat seedling broke through the soil and grew rapidly in the sunlight on the study windowsill. Two minutes later, the wheat was ripe.

Wang Shui opened the bottle and took out the wheat head and the soil inside, placing them on coarse paper for Hohenheim to inspect.

"The wheat head looks normal, and so does the starch inside, but the soil has turned sandy. All of this is normal. That's what accelerated growth does."

After examining it, Hohenheim continued his assessment. "For agriculture, Alchemy mostly just provides favorable natural conditions-water, nutrients, temperature, pest control, and so on. It's very inefficient, and various pesticides and chemical fertilizers are gradually replacing it, creating a virtuous cycle of industrialization. This accelerated-growth technique damages the environment too much, and its limitations are too great."

"But there still isn't enough food, and not just in places with harsh environments. Even in this country, this beautiful and prosperous Amestris, many people are suffering from hunger. Mr. Hohenheim, you've traveled the world. You must have seen it."

Hohenheim nodded. He had helped some people, very few of them. He himself was also wandering, and neither his power nor his knowledge was particularly great.

"I have a solution."

Wang Shui made a startling declaration. Under Hohenheim's gaze, he plucked off the wheat head, stuffed the plant back into the bottle, then poured in some water and activated two other alchemical transmutations.

The stalk was pulverized and mixed into the soil, and the water was evenly distributed, but the soil still seemed somewhat like loose sand.

Wang Shui took out another grain of wheat and placed it inside, activating the first Transmutation Circle again. A new wheat seedling grew and ripened in the sunlight.

Hohenheim frowned. He had merely reused some materials; Hohenheim did not know what Wang Shui was trying to convey.

"Accelerated plant growth is my first plan. I believe it's the best way to solve the food problem quickly, and it's more reliable than directly transmuting air into starch."

Hohenheim looked into Wang Shui's calm eyes.

"Yes, that's also what I want to show you, so you'll know the efforts I've made to solve the food problem. Please come with me."

Wang Shui led Hohenheim outside the house and took an enormous kraft-paper scroll from the off-road vehicle.

Wang Shui unrolled it on the empty ground nearby, and Hohenheim's brow furrowed even further.

On the enormous scroll were three enormous, interconnected circular Transmutation Circles. Connecting them were densely packed lines and words. The tiny writing almost blackened the paper, and from even a little farther away, it was impossible to make out what it said.

"[Comprehension], [deconstruction], [reconstruction]-not one step is simple. The contents of this scroll are what pushed my [Equivalent Alchemy] to an advanced level overnight. Of course, I didn't come up with all this in a single night. I borrowed the wisdom of those who came before me."

Hohenheim said nothing, carefully reading the writing. As for the Transmutation Circles, they were of little use to him, because everyone's Transmutation Circles differed. Alchemy could not be replicated through diagrams alone.

Well, except for certain fixed axioms and formulas. Those Transmutation Circles were either so specialized that no personal style could be incorporated, or simplified to the utmost, allowing any alchemist to use them.

Only after Hohenheim had read through it once did Wang Shui say, "Now, I'll demonstrate."

Without placing any materials on it, Wang Shui simply pressed his palms together and activated the Transmutation Circles. Blue lightning did not shoot into the air, but flowed over the scroll in the form of plasma.

One minute, two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes.

Wang Shui had long since stood up, but plasma still coiled around his hands, and he was concentrating on guiding the Alchemy.

At twelve minutes, the light vanished. Hohenheim, who had patiently watched from beginning to end, had his gaze drawn to the final Transmutation Circle. A pile of fine white powder had appeared on the kraft paper.

He crouched down, pinched up a little to examine it carefully, then looked at Wang Shui.

Wang Shui stumbled, unable to keep his footing, and staggered two steps backward to lean against the vehicle. Somewhat weakly, he said:

"Air. Carbon dioxide, to be precise. I used it to synthesize starch, but the deconstruction and synthesis processes are extremely delicate, requiring active control over the energy. I've already written the vast majority of the fixed steps into the Transmutation Circles, but synthesizing it in large quantities is still difficult."

"An extraordinary feat," Hohenheim gave his assessment. "So you're planning to return to crop-growing techniques? What do you want to learn from me?"

"Alkahestry," Wang Shui said directly. "I need to combine Alkahestry with Alchemy. Growing crops doesn't consume much material, and the materials can be recycled, but accelerating their growth one plant at a time is useless. I need a greater, more stable power, and I also need Alkahestry's restorative effects."

"Isn't Alkahestry a technique from your country, Xing?" Hohenheim asked in confusion.

"That doesn't mean I know it. Look at how many people in this town know how to use Alchemy," Wang Shui explained.

"But I don't know Alkahestry, especially Alkahestry as it exists today. Back then, I only passed Alchemy on to them. They combined the two techniques themselves, while I've merely seen that knowledge."

"Knowledge is what I want." Wang Shui looked sincerely into Hohenheim's eyes. "Knowledge alone will do. Of course, if you're willing to teach me, I'd also like to ask you for guidance on Alchemy. My dream is simple, yet difficult. I want this world to be free of hunger."

"That's almost impossible," Hohenheim replied instinctively. "Food supplies and population numbers will keep chasing each other, and then there's war..."