This Isn't Fleecing the Sheep, It's Equivalent Exchange

The key?

Song Qing's mind raced as he analyzed this success alongside his several previous failures.

None of the earlier steps had changed. The real difference had to be the last step: the lightning strike!

How was this lightning strike different from the last one?

A few faint electric arcs flashed through his mind. Song Qing's body jolted, and he exclaimed, "I understand! I understand!"

"Xu Ningyan, you really are a remarkable alchemy genius."

"Even though you never saw our previous failures, you already knew, didn't you? You knew the real reason we failed all along."

No, I only know you're gradually talking yourself into a misunderstanding. Xu Qi'an smiled without a word.

"What was the key? Senior Brother Song, what did you understand?"

"Senior Brother Song, oh, stop keeping us in suspense and tell us! This alchemy technique has practically become my heart demon."

The white-robed Alchemists pressed him with questions.

Song Qing coughed, looked around at his junior brothers, and said gravely, "It was the intensity of the lightning strike."

With that, he looked to Xu Qi'an for confirmation.

Xu Qi'an smiled and nodded, offering a hint. "I've named it voltage."

The voltage used to refine sodium had to be kept between six and fifteen volts.

Voltage?!

Song Qing was taken aback. It was another term he had never heard before. He knew what electricity was, but what was voltage?

Instinctively, he felt this was a remarkable piece of knowledge, as profound as the essence of all things described in that blue book.

A white-robed Alchemist stepped forward and cupped his hands to Xu Qi'an. "Please enlighten us, brother. What is voltage?"

"Please teach us," the other white-robed Alchemists said in unison, cupping their hands.

Chu Caiwei, standing nearby, was terribly envious. She loved the feeling of being a teacher and instructing disciples most of all. Unfortunately, she was only a Feng Shui Master and wasn't qualified to teach disciples yet.

Voltage is also called electric potential difference or potential difference. It's a physical quantity that measures the difference in energy per unit charge caused by differing electric potentials in an electrostatic field. Of course, you wouldn't understand a word of that. Xu Qi'an coughed, his expression serious.

"Electricity is like flowing water. It flows toward a lower point."

Xu Qi'an raised a teacup and poured out the water inside. "Anyone would be fine if this cupful were poured over them, but if someone were caught beneath a waterfall, the force of the water would break their bones or even kill them. Electricity is the same. I call this phenomenon voltage."

He used this easy-to-understand example to explain voltage.

The Bureau of Astronomy's white robes frowned and sank into thought. They hadn't understood Xu Qi'an's words very well.

Although they were Alchemists, all capable of manipulating lightning, that didn't mean they understood the nature of electricity.

Song Qing suddenly understood something and said excitedly, "So, when lightning strikes a tree on a rainy day, it's also because the tree is at a lower point? The same principle applies when it strikes a person. Also, a weak electric current would only numb us at most, but if we were struck by heavenly lightning, we'd die and our Dao would perish."

"The truth is, the voltage of heavenly lightning is so powerful that it exceeds the limits of what mortals can withstand, like a waterfall. A weak electric current, on the other hand, is like a cup of water. It can be endured."

Hearing Song Qing's words, the white-robed Alchemists saw the light. Thrilled as if they had grasped the profound mysteries of truth, they looked to Xu Qi'an for confirmation.

Uh, is that how it works? Isn't the reason trees get struck by lightning the conductivity of rainwater? My middle school teacher didn't explain it clearly. Xu Qi'an wasn't sure himself, but he wore a smile. "A promising pupil."

"Was that also written in that secret alchemy manual?" a young man in white asked, his face full of thirst for knowledge.

"Yes. I'm the only one who has read and studied that secret alchemy manual. The contents of the notes I had sent to the Bureau of Astronomy were merely a single grain in the vast ocean." Xu Qi'an paused, then said gravely:

"That ancient alchemy text records not only knowledge, but also many alchemy techniques you've never even heard of."

Alchemy techniques they had never even heard of. Everyone present began to breathe more heavily.

Xu Qi'an smiled and made a promise that sent the white robes into an uproar. "I've decided to share the secret alchemy manual with the Bureau of Astronomy."

Whoa!

Nearly twenty Alchemists erupted on the spot, overcome with excitement.

"The blue book I gave the Bureau of Astronomy was a gift of thanks for saving me. My guidance in perfecting the false silver refinement technique, as well as the knowledge of voltage I just taught you, was not free," Xu Qi'an said fluently.

"Of course, that also includes the secret alchemy manual to come."

"Never forget: the principle of alchemy is equivalent exchange!"

Song Qing nodded, agreeing with Xu Ningyan's reasoning, and asked on behalf of his junior brothers:

"How much silver do you want?"

"Vulgar!" Xu Qi'an said gravely. "How could alchemy be measured in silver?"

What costs nothing is the most expensive of all, he silently added.

Changle County yamen, side hall.

Xu Lingyue held her youngest sister, who was fast asleep, and clutched a handkerchief as she sobbed.

The constables of the rapid-response squad felt their hearts breaking at the sight of the little beauty, like a pear blossom drenched in rain. They hadn't expected Xu Ningyan to have such a pretty, beautiful sister.

Even Head Constable Wang, who had visited the Imperial Academy of Music, was struck by the little beauty's looks.

The atmosphere in the side hall was somewhat oppressive. The constables looked grim and dejected.

Head Constable Wang poured a cup of tea and placed it before Xu Lingyue. The little beauty had been crying for ages, and her tears hadn't stopped. Women really were made of water.

"Don't worry, Miss Xu. The hundred-man commander will find a way to rescue Ningyan."

The other constables offered comfort one after another, cursing Young Master Zhou bitterly.

Big Brother gets along very well with his colleagues. Xu Lingyue was somewhat surprised. The constables' indignant expressions didn't seem feigned.

As if he had noticed her surprise, Head Constable Wang smiled. "Ningyan is a man worthy of respect."

"Respect?" Xu Lingyue was startled. She gave a sob and asked softly, "Head Constable Wang, could you tell me about my big brother?"

Head Constable Wang fell silent for a moment, then lowered his voice without realizing it. "The truth is, how could people like us have clean hands?"

"We count ourselves conscientious if we don't prey on ordinary people. As for those wealthy merchants, isn't it only natural to squeeze a little profit out of them?"

"But your big brother doesn't. Whether they're commoners or wealthy merchants, he never extorts or blackmails them. A while ago, considering the great calamity that had befallen the Xu Household, I decided to take him along to make some money." At this point, Head Constable Wang's expression grew strange, a mixture of embarrassment, shame, and admiration.

"He agreed with a grin, and afterward I gave him five qian of silver as his share. But later, he quietly returned it to the people it came from."

"If you say he knows how the world works, doesn't he understand that water which is too clear has no fish? But if you say he doesn't, he's good at handling things and gets along with everyone. He's a slippery fellow. That's why everyone feels terrible that something happened to him."

Xu Lingyue listened in a daze. The image of her big brother in her heart grew taller, brighter, and more imposing.

She had admired Xu Xinnian since childhood, because all pursuits were inferior to the study of books, and because her mother had always told her that her second brother was the Xu Household's only seed of a scholar and its future pillar.

That admiration had reached its peak this year after Xu Xinnian passed the autumn examinations and became a juren.

But then came the tax silver case, and the whole family was thrown into prison. When they were helpless and in despair, her big brother had carved a path to survival for the whole family out of a desperate situation.

Xu Lingyue had turned her attention back to her big brother and grown a little curious about him.

Only today did she realize just how dependable her big brother was, just as he had been when he rescued them from prison a month ago.

But what she had felt then surely hadn't been as profound as this time.

The moment she saw her big brother save her little sister, his image in Xu Lingyue's heart became equal to her second brother's.

Now, hearing Head Constable Wang's heartfelt words, an image of a man of noble character, with principles and lines he would not cross, arose in her heart. It rose higher and higher, surpassing even the second brother she had always admired.

At that moment, light and shadow shifted at the entrance to the side hall. Xu Pingzhi and his son had finally returned to the Changle County yamen. Seeing that his younger sister and his daughter were safe and sound, father and son breathed sighs of relief.

Xu Lingyue raised her head, tears streaming down her face, and said mournfully, "Father, you have to save Big Brother. If he can't come back, I won't go on living either."

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