Chapter 375: Alchemy Performance

uddenly, a figure rushed into his tent.

Even in the dark, Ye Chong could see everything clearly. The person who came in wore a mask and fitting black clothing. Only his eyes were visible. His sharp eyes and quick movements all betrayed his superior abilities.

It was too bad that no matter how strong a person was, it was still hard to avoid an ambush like this. Ye Chong’s tent was filled with a very dense cloud of knockout agents. Ye Chong would not have stayed in the tent if he did not have his smoke pearl.

There were sharp cries coming from outside. It seemed that the ambushers were noticed. Ye Chong could even hear Han Yue’s angry yell.

However, he was still focused on his immediate surroundings. It was not yet time to worry about Han Yue and the rest of the group.

The tent was dark inside. The ambusher entered the tent and immediately went unconscious, falling to the ground.

Ye Chong felt reassured, seeing the knockout agents taking effect. He stepped forward and caught the man in black clothing before he reached the ground, then pushed him quietly to a corner.

He knew how competent Han Yue’s group was. These ambushers must have planned their operation ahead of time. This meant that they were familiar with Han Yue’s group too. Since they decided to attack anyway, they must be stronger than Han Yue’s group.

Fortunately, he still had many alchemy products with him. Here in the darkness, Ye Chong’s ability as a fully stocked alchemist was not to be underestimated. Additionally, he was a combat expert, familiar with the attack strategies of other combat experts.

Ye Chong offered no mercy. He put force into his hands, and the unconscious man stopped breathing immediately.

“109 … 109 …” The person outside did not enter right after, but whispered the code name of the now dead man. However, no matter how they called, the tent remained silent.

The men in black exchanged looks, knowing that 109 was probably incapacitated.

The leader made a signalling gesture, and the five of them threw out the weapons in their hands towards the tent.

Rip! The tough fabric of the tent was torn as the five weapons shot into the tent simultaneously.

Ye Chong heard the sound of rushing wind the moment they threw their weapons and was slightly surprised. As expected, these people were not easy to deal with. That they would act so carefully even in an ambush in the dark spoke volumes of their rich experience in actual combat. This was the kind of opponent that Ye Chong wanted to avoid the most. These people always knew the best strategy against any situation, and they had very low chances of making mistakes. If it was a group of similar people, his current situation would be very dangerous.

Ye Chong bent down forcefully, lying low to the ground. The five weapons flew past right above his head. One lance was only centimeters from his head. Ye Chong felt a chill down his spine. He was only human after all. If that lance had hit him, he would be dead by now.

“Careful, it’s an alchemist inside,” the leader warned his subordinates. He was highly alert. The knockout agents began to escape through the five holes in the tent made with their weapons. While the agents were colorless and scentless, he was also very experienced. With just an inhale, he felt a slight dizziness and quickly stepped back, surprised by the strength of the knockout agents.

The rest of the team stepped back as well, looking at the tent warily.

As these five people were met with resistance, the same went for the rest of the ambushers. Han Yue had brought with him elites who could react fast and coordinate perfectly with each other. The situation quickly turned into a stalemate.

Han Yue was surprised and furious. As the strongest tribe on Dankwood planet, the Han Family had long since received challenges like this. However, he quickly calmed down. They were not too far from Emerald city now. If they could hold on for a bit longer, reinforcements would arrive soon.

The opponent attacked aggressively, seemingly with a clear objective.

Could it be …

Han Yue’s heart skipped a beat as he turned to look towards the Old Mistress. As expected, they were receiving the bulk of the enemy’s forces. The ten bodyguards of the Old Mistress were skilled, holding off the enemy for now. However, he could see that they were slowly losing ground.

As it was, he was too deep in his own fight to lend assistance. The ambushers had chosen an effective attack strategy. His own forces were now scattered about, unable to converge.

Han Yue was anxious, but there was nothing he could do.

Just then, a loud and clear voice boomed, “Which member of the Han Family is here?”

Han Yue was surprised, but also delighted. He used his sword to force his enemy back and shouted back, “Brother Luo, please come help!”

A loud whistle was heard over the battle, and a human figure made its way towards Han Yue in an incredible speed. It was hard to recognize a person in the dark, so the figured appeared to move like a ghost. He was attacked along the way, but this person that Han Yue called Brother Luo was highly skilled. He was not hurt, but instead injured three others.

“Haha, I didn’t expect to see you here, Brother Han,” the man said with a smile. He killed two people before finishing his sentence. Han Yue felt the pressure on him ease up, and his sword moved faster, seeking the throats of his enemies.

“Brother Luo, please take care of that old woman,” Han Yue pleaded.

The man understood their urgent situation and did not delay in agreeing, “Alright.” He quickly made his way to the Old Mistress. This greatly reduced enemy forces around the Old Mistress . He attacked with determination, killing with his every move.

Han Yue understood that if he could gather his forces together now, they would be able to win.

Ye Chong heard the loud whistle clearly, but he did not have time to investigate. Perhaps it was his luck, but three of the five ambushers outside his tent were ranked in the top ten of this group of enemies. They had expected to finish dealing with him quickly, but had encountered a strong alchemist instead.

They decided then to kill this alchemist. In this chaotic battle in the dark, having a strong alchemist on the other side would have terrible consequences. Besides, that untraceable knockout agent just now had made them wary.

Alchemists were usually physically weak, and would delay the speed of the entire assault team. Since an ambush depended on speed to work, they did not bring any alchemist with them. This was another reason for them to end this alchemist’s life quickly.

How did alchemists attack?

These five ambushers were able to fully appreciate the alchemist’s creativity that night!

A few glowing blue flashes shot out of the tent, fast like an arrow towards the five ambushers.

One of them was prepared to block it with his weapon, but the leader yelled, “Don’t!” That member was surprised, but he was also a seasoned fighter. He forced his body to bend awkwardly, narrowly avoiding the blue light.

Splat! That blue light hit a corpse behind him.

He could now make out the blue light to be a blue colored flame. What happened next sent a chill down their spines. The thumbnail-sized blue flame was like a blue flower unfurling its petals in the night, spreading across the corpse.

The skin, the flesh, and even the bones turned to ash under the blue fire. They were horrified to see it happen so quickly that their faces were drained of blood.

It looked like he was destined to never be a long range attacker! Ye Chong sighed to himself. If it was the Sang Tribe members, their unique throwing moves would finish those five ambushers easily. Ye Chong had improvised on the blue flames, adding a few flammable ingredients to make it burn stronger. He was the first to use the Bluefire chemical like this. It required very strong fingers to execute. No other alchemist would have the strength to do it.

Ye Chong’s alchemy performance was not over yet.

As the redsand dehydrator, the infamous of the Smoke school, made its appearance, the five ambushers paled even further.

They dared not to step closer to the tent anymore, but even more than that, they could not leave the alchemist alive.

Unlike other alchemists, Ye Chong could control his strength with high precision. Besides, his familiarity with combat allowed him to have more flexibility in his choice of attack.

He was now trying out some combat moves to use his alchemy substances.

Blue, pink, brown, white …

Ye Chong’s tent was a colorful exhibition of smokes. The smoke grew thicker and surrounded the entire tent. The smoke was so thick that it did not move despite the wind.

The five ambushers dared not step into the smoke. Who knew if it was poisonous! The alchemy substances that they had encountered so far had left a deep impression in them. However, they could not leave. In the end, they could only watch the thick smoke from afar.

What they fail to see was a violent transformation taking place in the centre of the thick smoke.

Chapter 376: Shock

e Chong’s hands moved quickly. He had never moved his hands so quickly for alchemy purposes. The alchemy flask in front of him was already loaded with many raw ingredients. Ye Chong was also adding all sorts of chemicals into the flask at an astonishing speed. The volume of chemicals he added was only a little each time, but he was doing it very quickly.

His hands were a blur in the air.

He had a wonderful idea, and now he wanted to see how it would fare in practice.

The liquid in the alchemy flask roiled violently like boiling water. Ye Chong did not stop, however, as he continued to add small amounts of different chemicals into the alchemy flask.

Ye Chong’s expression was solemn, his mouth firmly closed. He had the smoke pearl in his mouth for precaution. He had buried the two boxes underground, and the hesitation of the five ambushers had allowed him to do this.

When the last chemical was added into the alchemy flask, a surprising change happened!

Boom!

It was a low sound of explosion. His tent was burst open by the strong air pressure inside.

A powerful wave of air rippled outwards from him, quick as lightning, and the smoke surrounding his tent was all blown away. This sudden change caught everyone off guard. The strong wind from the explosion swept past everyone in the entire campsite.

Where the wind had blown past, the intense fighting stopped, and people dropped silently to the ground like flies.

The only one standing in the campsite was Ye Chong. He looked pitiful, covered in all kinds of colors. His clothing was almost completely gone but for his pants, still where they should be.

Ye Chong looked at the people lying on the ground in the campsite, satisfied with the result. He was surprised to find that his short, creative moment earlier had led to this fine result. He had expected to only finish off the five ambushers, but this was far beyond his expectations.

In fact, what Ye Chong had created was essentially an explosion. Of course, it was a mild explosion. Creating a large volume of gas in a very short time was, to an alchemist, a piece of cake. The small explosion had created an airstream that spread outwards, covering the entire campsite.

This airstream was not dangerous, and would only feel like strong gust of wind to most people. However, Ye Chong did some preparation work beforehand, surrounding his tent with more than 30 kinds of knockout agents. The knockout agents were so dense around his tent that it was suffocating.

The airstream had spread this dense mixture of knockout agents all over the campsite.

Since their encounter with the fangwolves, Han Yue’s camp had lost many people, so their campsite was not too large in its entirety. The airstream was thus able to cover the entire campsite.

Ye Chong’s knockout agents were all strong ones. Without necessary precautions, everyone in the camp, enemy or ally, had fallen.

Ye Chong realized then that an alchemist was more suited to ambushing. However, he quickly dismissed this idea. Those knockout agents were made of rare and valuable ingredients. If he had not stocked himself from the Black Forest, he would not have been able to win this battle. Besides, it was difficult to control the power of the explosion earlier. If was only because of his strong body that he could survive it unscathed. If it were any other alchemist, being at the center of an explosion would wound, if not kill him.

This strategy was too expensive and dangerous.

This was more so in the Five Galaxies. In the Five Galaxies, battles mostly happened in outer space. Mechs were the favored means of battle. These knockout agents would be useless.

After all these experiences, Ye Chong appreciated the advantages and power of mechs even more deeply. Be it the Five Galaxies or He Yue Galaxy, mech pilots still reigned supreme. He Yue Galaxy may have a place for combat experts, but combat only served as a base for mech pilots to strengthen their bodies.

“Why am I thinking about all this?” Ye Chong laughed at himself mockingly. No power was absolute. The best strategy was always one based on circumstances.

The violent battle was over, and it was quiet. Ye Chong quickly checked Han Yue, lying on the ground, looking peaceful. It was said that knockout agents were first invented to promote better sleep, but was later developed as a weapon of defense for alchemists.

“Looks like I should prepare a lot of these knockout agents,” Ye Chong thought to himself as he looked at the people on the ground around him, smiling wryly.

The first to be awakened was Han Yue. Ye Chong felt that he was the best person to deal with the aftermath.

Han Yue opened his eyes, dazed for a few seconds, but he quickly gathered himself. Ye Chong was quietly impressed by his mental strength.

When Han Yue saw the people lying around him, however, he was flabbergasted. He stammered as he asked, “What … What happened?”

Now that was a loaded question. Ye Chong did not know how to explain it, so he kept quiet.

“You … You did this, sir?” Han Yue opened his eyes wide, looking at Ye Chong with disbelief, speaking respectfully all of a sudden.

“Yes,” Ye Chong nodded in answer, not denying his actions. However, he did not wish to elaborate further. It would be foolish to explain his techniques to someone else. He switched topics, “How should they be dealt with?” Ye Chong pointed towards the enemies lying on the ground.

If it was up to him, he would choose the simplest way, which was to give each of them a stab in the head with his spear. The poison on the spearhead ensured that he would not have to stab twice.

However, he understood his situation, and did not want to stand out. After all, he was still wary of his status as an outsider. It would be better for Han Yue to make the decision.

“Can … Can you wake up my comrades, sir?” Han Yue stumbled over his words. For some reason, although he was always be very careful with this strange man, it was different from what he was feeling now. Every time he saw the cold face of this enigmatic alchemist, he could feel an icy chill inside. He was grateful that he was not enemies with the alchemist, or he would be dead by now.

The thought of having his life at the mercy of that strange man sent another chilling wave over his heart.

Ye Chong did not know what Han Yue was thinking. The way he saw it, he had only executed a slightly creative solution to their predicament. To Han Yue, however, he was already a character with legendary powers. To suppress hundreds of elite fighters quietly was not only unprecedented, but also brilliant. Alchemists were always thought to hold supportive roles. No one would have guessed that an alchemist could be this strong.

Han Yue still did not know what exactly happened. This further increased the mystery around Ye Chong, and made Han Yue even more nervous.

Humans are always afraid of the unknown.

Ye Chong handed over the awakening antidote to Han Yue, and let him be. Best to leave the professional part to the professionals. He should try to be inconspicuous. However, he was not aware that everything he did so far was anything but inconspicuous.

Soon, Han Yue awakened all his comrades. The ambushers were not so lucky. Most of them were killed in their sleep, while the few who looked like leaders were brought for interrogation.

Ye Chong watched as lives were ended before his eyes. His expression did not change. He had seen death too many times, and had fought against it often himself. This was nothing he had not seen before.

Han Yue was watching Ye Chong throughout the affair. He saw the cool expression underneath his colorful appearance, felt his chest tightened, and moved Ye Chong a few more levels up his danger scale.

“Get anything from them?” Han Yue read the reports from his subordinates. They had suffered heavy casualties from the attack, with only 70 of them still alive, about half of them with injuries. Nonetheless, as the leader, Han Yue stayed composed.

“None,” Han Yue’s second replied. He had survived the attack as well.

“They’re child abductors,” the Old Mistress announced softly. She walked towards him slowly, supported by her maidservant.

“Child abductors!” Han Yue was surprised with the information. He knew that someone like the Old Mistress would never speak carelessly. She must have her own reasons to be so certain. The Old Mistress would never lie to him about this matter, but why would the child abductors attack them?

The thought occurred to him for a moment, but he quickly suppressed his curiosity and did not pursue further. It was not for him to pry. “Mistress, I apologize for causing you distress!” He bowed to the Old Mistress, and thanked a man standing beside him, “It was an emergency situation just now, and I did not have the chance to thank you for your help, Brother Luo. Please forgive me!” He smiled widely, apparently on good terms with the other man.

“Ah, don’t even bother,” the man addressed as Brother Luo replied in mock anger. The man was almost as tall as Ye Chong, and not particularly muscular. It was hard to associate him with the man who had moved fast as lightning earlier. He looked like a refined man, not too tall, but with a certain powerful charisma.

Ye Chong’s face betrayed nothing, but he felt that this Brother Luo looked familiar, even though he was certain that they had never met.

If it was any other normal person, they would have dismissed it as a mistake. Ye Chong did not. He studied the man carefully, but could not find any clues. The feeling of familiarity was still there, however, and this made Ye Chong even more wary of him.

Just who was this man?

Chapter 377: Situation

This gentleman is?” The old mistress asked with a smile. That was also something Ye Chong wanted to know,

Han Yue realized that he had not introduced his friend, and quickly explained, “This is a good friend of mine, Luo Shi, a famous expert on Dankwood planet.” He turned to Luo Shi and said, “The Old Mistress is an honored guest of the Han Family.” His introduction for the old mistress was vague, but Luo Shi was also smart enough not to question. He bowed to the old mistress smoothly, giving off a friendly vibe.

“Ah!” Ying’er, who stood beside the old mistress, gasped, and immediately felt embarrassed. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands, but could not help asking, “Are you the Luo Shi who participated in the last Congregation?”

Luo Shi smiled and acknowledged humbly, “I didn’t think my lady would remember a nobody like me.”

Ying’er blushed again and said, “You’re too modest, Mr Luo. If someone like you is not famous, then there won’t be too many famous people out there.” This was no exaggeration. Every participant of the Congregation were true experts. Many young experts were uncovered in each Congregation, and these young experts would usually become famous due to their participation. To many, joining the Congregation was the route to fame.

“Mr Luo must be really impressive, to participate in the Congregation at such a young age,” the old mistress commended.

Luo Shi said humbly, “Old Mistress, you’re too kind.”

Ye Chong studied the man called Luo Shi coldly. The fact that his face looked familiar bothered him.

“And this is?” Luo Shi looked to Ye Chong with seemingly unperturbed eyes, but Ye Chong could sense that he was wary of him.

“Er …” Han Yue was troubled, not knowing how to introduce the mysterious alchemist. The alchemist had quite literally fell out of the sky, and until now, he still could not figure out what that bird-like mechanical device was.

Han Yue realized suddenly that he knew nothing about the alchemist, not his name and age, nor where he came from and where he was going to. He knew nothing at all about this man.

“This is …” Han Yue was about to make something up when suddenly, he heard a shout, “Careful!” In front of him, Luo Shi vanished in a blur.

A terrifying cry came from behind him!

Han Yue quickly turned around, and saw an ambusher with a lance pierced through his body. The lance was thrown with enough force to go straight through the ambusher’s body, pinning him to the ground.

Luo Shi stood before Han Yue with a calm expression. Han Yue finally realized what had happened, and looked to Luo Shi with gratitude.

Ye Chong saw exactly what had happened. The ambusher had thrown a lance towards them, probably aiming for the old mistress. However, the knockout agent must still be in effect, and the lance strayed from its target towards Han Yue.

Luo Shi moved quickly, appearing behind Han Yua and caught the lance easily. His powerful and explosive motion surprised Ye Chong. Luo Shi then threw the lance, which struck the heart of the ambusher.

This series of events unfolded in a flash.

When Luo Shi moved, Ye Chong’s eyes widened! However, he quickly resumed his calm composure, and his abrupt change in expression was not noticed by anyone around him.

However, what he saw was like dropping a bombshell for Ye Chong!

Luo Shi was strong, as he could tell that from the man’s reaction just now. His movements were powerful, and he could control his strength with precision. The bodyguards of the old mistress all felt wary against Luo Shi.

However, Ye Chong was not thinking about that. Luo Shi was strong, but that was not enough to surprise Ye Chong that much. He had noticed something else.

Luo Shi was from the Ye Family!

It was not hard to imagine what a shock this would be for Ye Chong. Ye Chong saw every detail of Luo Shi’s movement just now, and they were typical of the Ye Family’s techniques. Of the Three Aristocratic Families, Xue Lai Clan specialized in machinery, while Xi Feng Tribe in the secret arts. For the Ye Family, their forte was combat, and Ye Chong was most familiar with their ways.

Ye Chong may have learned only the basics from Black Cove, but Black Cove’s style, which was also the Ye Family’s style, had deeply influenced him. As he learned more about combat, he developed a better understanding of the Ye Family’s combat style. He could recognize it anywhere. Tried as Luo Shi had to disguise himself, he could not escape Ye Chong’s eyes!

The man’s name must be Ye Luo, or Ye something, and not Luo Shi.

No wonder he looked familiar. The Ye Family might be related to him in some way, but that was not at the top of his mind at the moment. As he studied Luo Shi closer, Ye Chong found that the man was similar to him in many respects.

Luo Shi’s physique was similar to him in many ways. His body was lean and slender, and people find it hard to imagine the sheer amount of power residing in that body. Ye Chong recalled his time on the trash planet, where his muscles would not grow larger like normal people no matter how rigorous his training was. He remembered that Mu was puzzled by this as well, and had in the end attributed it to his unique physical condition.

The fact was, his body was also different in many other ways.

For example, the silver liquid’s negative side effects on his body faded over time. The silver liquid, Black Cove, and the Ye Family … Ye Chong thought about all of them and their relation to each other. Many of his earlier confusions arose in his mind.

Could this really be due to the unique physical conditions of members of the Ye Family? He remembered that all the strong characters from the Ye Family had never looked particularly muscular, while other combat experts would usually look huge and imposing.

The Ye Family was in the free space zone!

He quickly realized the implications behind this fact. His heart beat furiously despite his forced calmness. If the Ye Family was here, they must also know how to return to the He Yue Galaxy!

Xi Feng Tribe and Ye Family, two of the Three Aristocratic Families were here now in the free space zone. What about the Xue Lai Clan?

In the Clan Leader’s office of the Xue Lai Clan, a beautiful middle aged woman was absorbed in the display on her holographic screen. She wore no makeup, but her skin was fair. Her long, narrow eyes were filled with inexpressible emotions. She bit her lips together, deep in thought. This beautiful woman was the current Clan Leader of the Xue Lai Clan.

It was interesting to note that, of the Three Aristocratic Families, two were led by women, and only the Ye Family had a man as their leader.

However, people would not underestimate them just because they were of the fairer sex. The Xue Lai Clan and the Xi Feng Tribe had more female members than male, and the Ye Family was in the exact opposite situation. The Ye Family had more male than female newborns in their family, and this had always been a vexing matter for the reigning Patriarch.

The Clan Leader was also troubled by something now. Too many problems had arisen lately. Suddenly, the peace in the He Yue Galaxy and the Five Galaxies was challenged.

The Shi Family had been active, spreading their power quickly. Intel from various sources suggested that they had a very powerful ally, However, no matter how deep they dug, they could not uncover any information on this mysterious ally. This raised the alarm for the traditional powers that were the Three Aristocratic Families.

Another issue was that in many of the latest models of mechs and weapons, traces of Xue Lai Clan’s technology could be found. This caused a disturbance within the clan, with suggestions of possible traitors. However, the origin of these mechs and weapons could not be uncovered, and this troubled her greatly. Matter like these that could disrupt the harmony of the clan worried her the most.

The Five Galaxies was also problematic. Fortunately, the Xue Lai Clan was not the only one having issues. This was a problem that the Three Aristocratic Families would have to face together, and with the Freedom Alliance.

Some unknown force was trying to devour the Five Galaxies, and the beginnings of this force could be traced back to that primary planet back then. From her intel, the starships from all the Four Families had never returned. They had deployed many more starships there, but all of them were never heard from again. That place was like a black hole, swallowing anything that came its way.

The most terrifying thing, however, was that the force was spreading. This created a pressure on the Three Aristocratic Families and the Freedom Alliance. However, no one could do anything about it. Xi Feng Tribe’s forces in the Five Galaxies were now in an unprecedented state of alarm.

Perhaps she should send out some experts to investigate the matter. The Five Galaxies were indispensible for the Three Aristocratic Families. The He Yue Galaxy was rich in resources, but they were still limited in supply. The Five Galaxies was larger than the He Yue Galaxy, and had more unexplored territory. In some way, the Five Galaxies was the future of the Three Aristocratic Families, where each Family would fight to expand their grounds of influence, and the strategic focus of the Families’ futures.

Now, however, she had another problem at hand.

The foolish boy had found his way to the free space zone!

She could not understand how that could have happened. There were only three extremely hidden routes from the He Yue Galaxy to the free space zone, and each of them was under the control of one of the Three Aristocratic Families.

Unlike the Xi Feng Tribe and the Ye Family, the Xue Lai Clan had always preferred machinery. The free space zone was not that important to the Clan. Hence, while the Xue Lai Clan also had forces in the free space zone, they had the weakest influence in the free space zone among the Three Aristocratic Families. Now that the foolish boy had found his way to the free space zone, she was very worried for his safety.

He was her son. She knew his significance to the Xue Lai Clan! She could not afford to see him harmed, no matter what.

After some pondering, she made her decision. The woman activated her comms and summoned, “Siva!”

Chapter 378: Gemini

rom the very beginning to the very end, Ye Chong had not spoken a word. People of course were helpless at this, while presuming him to be a natural lone wolf. As much as people had learned about kinds like Ye Chong, the more of a expert the person was, the weirder the person would get somehow. Luo Shi was that rare jewel who had a compassionate and modest personality.

Ye Chong had grown more mysterious in the eyes of the people. The group had become supremely respectful towards this peculiar man, that even Ying’er, the white clothed servant girl was getting avoidant upon any form of contact with Ye Chong. Well, she was more interested in Luo Shi who appeared to be friendlier than most of the adepts she had seen before. They grew on each other as they exchanged more talks over the time.

Nevertheless, Ye Chong’s distant nature was part of his strategy, including the use of pseudonym which he got so familiar with. He knew the more he revealed, the less valued he would be, so he zipped his mouth to trap that mystery. The encounter with the Ye family was literally unexpected though, and he could become extremely cautious on the family. In conclusion, being distant, aloof and silent would be the best policy.

And he succeeded, very much succeeded, that he simply did not see it working this well.

He had demonstrated his strength twice ever since the encounter with Han Yue, which the two instances were more than enough to establish his status of a supreme alchemist among the people. His landing was as if a godsend, bizarrely potent, as he created a miracle upon arrival with the magical rain showering the place, which reminded people of that one frightening alchemist in the darker page of the history. Ye Chong was then quickly assumed as the successor of that destructive master of alchemy, which inevitably the fact conquered every witness there, including Luo Shi. Ye Chong’s status had already become unshakable and Luo Shi could not deny that even with his capabilities competent enough to join the Congregation. In the proximity of Ye Chong he was just helpless.

Somehow people would just shun themselves away from Ye Chong as he exerted that frigidity. And only Luo Shi had mustered sufficient courage to speak to Ye Chong twice, although nothing much had changed while giving Ye Chong enough reason to be more cautious of this person, especially when he captured that flickering strangeness in Luo Shi’s eyes.

Did he see something in me? Thought Ye Chong, that was his main concern. Luo Shi was clearly a great person and Ye Chong believed that he purposively kept the majority of his strength in dark, since… the Aristocrats fancied such debut.

However, Ye Chong had a natural talent of being cold. He was just cold, colder than the iceberg without even trying. And this time he gave a lot of efforts in being colder, that Luo Shi would be quickly pushed away by the awkward atmosphere after trying too hard to please Ye Chong.

Throughout the whole time Ye Chong had spent days in his own tent alone, while only on occasions of a hasty travel he would get out of his tent, during which there would be nobody within 5 meters of his proximity.

After a few trips they got very much close to the next raiding point, the Emerald City. Unlike the barrenness of the other places, Emerald City was lively, happening, as one would see a person in their harsh trainings from time to time. Emerald City was the only oasis in the area. If they wanted any supplies of consumables, it would be here or nothing.

The guardsmen of the Han family became more relaxed the moment they had entered the city, since Emerald City was their domain and their work was pretty much done once they had escorted everyone in.

The owner of the city was not as relieved as the guardsmen however, as he was on the final term of service, the final year to be exact, after which he could return to his own tribe and enjoy the days after his 60s. It had been a heart-pounding life ever since he was assigned here at the age of 30. Certainly he would not want anything to go wrong at the eleventh hour.

He was well-informed of Han Yue’s order since quite some time ago, and so well-prepared he was. The Emerald City was located at the boundary of the grass field, and precisely the only resting spot within the vicinity of 500 kilometers, thus the dense and busy population, in which the harsh-training practitioners being the majority. Well, as much as Rui Bing was able to handle the punishing training, one’s strength would be justifiable the moment one was able to participate in such training. To ensure the security within the area, the defense of the city had always been exceptional. For their visit this time, the owner of the city actually relocated a portion of security from the other domain of Han family nearby.

The plot twist was… there just so happened to be a surge of the population of alchemists to the city starting few days ago, which had alarmed the owner. It was a rather sensitive period for their surprise visit, but what would their participation signify to the party?

His call was heard as the scout returned hurriedly with information. Apparently the alchemists arrived at the city for a mysterious alchemist, one who recreated that very great Green Tempest after the fall of the predecessor. They were informed that such great man, the descendant of the historical figure, would be coming to Emerald City.

“WHAT!”

The owner almost dropped his teacup upon hearing the report.

You ask what a Green Tempest is? It is so notorious that it should be an unwritten common sense known by everybody who had spent enough years living on Dankwood! And obviously the owner knew the history.

But why would such a jinx be coming to my city? Of all time?

Cursed the owner. The horrendous name of Green Tempest spelled apocalypse to him, that he would be on high alert and contacted the other towns nearby to send more forces to his city. Unfortunately, he had to wait, as the long distance forbade, they would only be arriving few days later.

Please… please make it before things go wrong.

Preached the owner of the city.

“What!”

The teacup nearly escaped his grip. Another plot twist to his thumping heart – the apocalyptic alchemist was one of the members in Han Yue’s group! To top that, one other member was known as Luo Shi, also a known figure, being one of the 10 participants in the last Congregation on Dankwood, the idol of every youngsters.

Such handful case. Ugh…

The lord was puzzled, the situation was far more complicated than he thought.

He could not be at ease to any of them, be it the alchemist, or Luo Shi the Great. He hoped that both of them would remain low-profiled at least, or it would be more puzzling.

Sadly, everything happened to be quite the contrary. The moment Luo Shi sat on the mattress in his accommodation, news flew throughout the city like the morning breeze. The mysterious alchemist’s cover was blown as well.

Something began brewing in Emerald City…

The city could hardly be at calm when two figures had arrived, one was the resourceful alchemist who inherited the legendary Green Tempest, while the other was the idol, the top 10 of Dankwood.

The alchemist arrived with the news of conquering few hundreds of fighters effortlessly using his craft, which fell like a bomb in the city. People were ridiculed by it at first, since it really sounded fictional, till it was proven by the one great Luo Shi, then all the other alchemists around lost their heads.

The accommodation of Ye Chong and Luo Shi had been surrounded by people who begged for a moment of spotting the legends.

Ye Chong did not expect the fandom to be this maniac, well at least the outside of his residence was not as jammed as Luo Shi’s. There was better peace at his place. Those people who swarmed upon Luo Shi’s residence were mostly the passionate youngsters, which the guys were kicking alive and the girls were jumping in screams.

The “fandom” at Ye Chong’s place consisted of the alchemists, who came in peace as they left the place after giving a glance.

Ye Chong was of course uninterested in the people as he locked himself in his room, doing research day by day. The maidservant would provide meals, mostly in fear however, that Ye Chong would see her trying to control her breath while her hands shook the tray would nearly fall on occasions when he lifted his head.

Okay, into what had the rumors made out there? Ye Chong laughed bitterly.

Well, Luo Shi seemed more experienced at handling his spreading tales, as he would head out and exchange fists with the passionate youngsters out there, during which piercing hurrahs would be slamming Ye Chong’s thinking mind at his place.

And thanks to these, the owner of the city had been sleeping “well”.

He was displeased by the fiasco certainly, but there was nothing he could do. The only relief was how the days passed peacefully. He had already received the order from the head of Han family. The escort task had been reassigned to others, and the head had sent a team of 800 experts coming to the city. So the one task he had to do would be guarding the old lady before the team arrived.

And that was when he lost faith again.

The most feared plot twist had happened again.

It was during the day, contrary to what he had predicted, that someone outside the alchemist’s residence suddenly collapsed as he began spilling blood from his purplish expression.

About 50 witnesses were there.

The alchemists were enraged as they knew what the scene would signify. Dankwood was a small planet, any established branch of alchemy would have fair connection with its counterparts and it would be a betrayal taken in the form of framing when an innocent was drugged.

The victim had lost his consciousness. The alchemists had tried everything they knew. Nothing had worked however.

They were feeling uneasy of the incident. Their eyes were filled with a frightened confusion as they looked at each other.

How… how did it even happen?

Chapter 379: Battle in Alchemy I

ertainly the mysterious alchemist did not come in peace, as he had stirred a storm in Emerald City, people were discussing him in the most frightful expression tinted with the strangest curiosity. And the sudden fall of the random alchemist in front of his house had become part of the heat that day, people were passing messages about how he just dropped, seemingly dead and nothing appeared to be able to resuscitate the fallen.

And Ye Chong was not aware of this, obviously. He had been spending every second of his soul on researches and he would only take the incident as merely a side story at most.

Regarding the incident, people had different versions of the story, mostly were sugarcoated with drama and iced with more things that went against the reality.

The reality was, the young alchemist challenged Ye Chong that day. Nobody knew it, the young alchemist took action in the dark, he picked one hallucinogen that was both colorless and odorless, as just a tiny attempt to test the mysterious alchemist.

And that was when he realized, the rumor was indeed true, while also knowing that he had underestimated Ye Chong’s capability.

Ye Chong was not harmed by the attack, not even the slightest bit, although he detected the raid immediately, as he identified the culprit among the crowd. Without hesitation, Ye Chong returned a heavier blow, not sparing the young man a second to react.

He too used a colorless and odorless reagent but one with a way stronger spreadability, that it would travel far enough to sneak into the young man’s respiratory system and take over his soul before he knew it. The reagent would destroy his blood circulatory system, while being not directly fatal, since… well Ye Chong was well-aware of his outsider identity, imagine the chaos he would cause if the mysterious alchemist, the possible descendant of the great in the history turned out to be an outsider.

The unexpected however was the fact that he had underestimated this very reagent, namely the “Bloody Agony”, not really the effect of it but how dramatic it would “kill” the victim, the symptoms were overwhelming to the witnesses that it brought fear as much as towards death. According to Luantic Guan’s record, Bloody Agony was apparently a reagent used by the ancient tribe to perform punishment on the infidel, and Lunatic Guan just somehow managed to get its formulae, to be improvised into the current horror with greater spreadability in air and strength.

It was a taboo to “test” the others in the world of alchemist, since the competition had always been more dangerous than any other field of expertise. Things could simply happen without any forewarning, like how the young reckless man had fallen. Testing the other alchemists would be a thing to do cautiously, likelier silently, unlike the street fights between the practitioners which were common.

That was the rule of thumb written in the microchip of Lunatic Guan. Well, Lunatic Guan had been fairly convincingly on her contents. Logically speaking, nobody of the more experienced would initiate an attack without being attacked at first. The experienced would only take action when they felt their entities threatened, that would be when the foe was utterly finished.

That included Ye Chong, who grew up fighting, competing and warring. If it was not the fact that he wanted to stay low being an outsider, the counterattack would not as such.

The young alchemist remained unconscious, unable to clarify motive of his behavior. Because of that, things started to worsen, a battle in alchemy was brewing. He probably never thought of how his little gesture would have caused such havoc.

…

“What should we do?” asked Qi Wen grimly as he looked at the surrounding.

The room was filled with all the top alchemists on Dankwood. Every representative figures of alchemy of all kinds you could imagine, of all branches the studies had led, had hurried their way to Emerald City the very second they got informed about the arrival of the descendant of one who wielded the Green tempest.

Qi Wei was the leader of the Qian System, which was the strongest, also the most established archaic system in histories of alchemy on Dankwood. One could still see them on top of ranking even when put under comparison with the other planets in the space zone, and because of that, Qian System had been the chief representative of all alchemy branches on Dankwood.

Qi Wei glanced upon the experts of all different alchemy branches, as sentiments filled his mind, wondering when they had their last reunion. Was it 10 years ago? Or 20 years? He could not remember. Probably the assembly would never happen if it was not mysterious alchemist.

It was a silent assembly however, as nobody was willing to get the ball rolling. To be honest, the creator of Green Tempest had such renowned status that he looked like a total psychopath who had – for the next few decades – tainted the good name of all alchemists, but also he became the greatest contributor to the alchemy studies as he was the pioneer who had performed thorough researches on reagent of massive destruction and provided an utter new aspect of academy. He not only represented the inspiration of all alchemists, but also was the prime of alchemy on Dankwood.

Such character would be a handful one to be judged, even by Ye Chong.

The assembly room was dead silent, the atmosphere was almost suffocating, as nobody was able to do anything about the fall of the young alchemist, including Qi Wei. Well, it did not mean these alchemists were utterly incapable, the Qian System was known for their hallucinogenic productions but they knew nothing about the other branches. Disregarding that, there was one thing every one of them was sure – the action taken by the mysterious alchemist this time was hardly tip of the iceberg.

“Uh…” The first who attempted to break the dead silent was a middle-aged man in black clothing, with an emaciated face and sinking eyes, although brilliance glowed in his stare sometimes. He appeared to be one with a forgiving heart and a certain standing among the alchemists on Dankwood. He was the leader of the Incense branch, namely Fei Lidu.

Contrary to its aromatic name, the researches of Incense branch focused on the offensive aspects while the apprentices favored provocation as they wielded their ever-changing attack styles and there were a few amazing products from their forebears. So the other alchemists would treat their provocation with caution, and … well… the fallen young alchemist, as restless as he was, turned out to be part of the apprenticeship too.

“The owner of Green Tempest did possess a deadly weapon in hand. And if the descendant of his did wield such weapon once again, I truly wonder what could possibly happen… Would it be another record to the incident last time?” asked Fei Lidu slowly.

That was a frightening reminder to the people. The incident last time remained rooted in the mind of all alchemists, even though had faded away from the memories of folks.

Alchemists today struck a positive image on people. They were highly regarded and supported, certainly they would not want to lose the privilege by the same incident again.

That was also why they hurried their way there.

The sudden fall of the Incense branch apprentice was somehow a sign of the upcoming tempest.

The room might be silent, the people might have no word, but their expression was tensed, as angered by the sudden change. Meanwhile Guang Wei gave a cold stare upon them, criticizing that low apprentice of the Incense branch. Nothing good ever came out of the Incense branch, no doubt. Thought he as he reminisced the times he was insulted by the apprentices. Nevertheless, the Incense branch was not a group which the fallen Smoke branch could simply mess with. So he could only stay quiet. The Smoke branch had sunken way back, with most skills buried by time and he, being the part of the branch, knew nothing much than a few smoky tricks and no way he could triumph over the Incense branch at the moment.

And he was well-informed of how the Smoke branch would never have the rights of expression in an important meeting like this. It would be a cold stare-to-stare if he ever voiced a different opinion. Nothing would happen other than enraging the Incense branch. Knowing the nature of Fei Lidu being the vengeful kind, he would rather stay quiet and watch the show.

You can never be spectator of such finale as you wish! Thought he.

Qi Wei would not want to disrupt the current status of alchemy on Dankwood, while being undesirable of messing with Incense branch, so he tacitly consented to the raised issue.

Other branches soon showed the same agreement, as Qi Wei’s silent treatment had affected all neutral alchemists.

Annihilating an alchemist who would likelier cause more harm than good – whether if it was right or wrong based on all sorts of consideration, would never get an absolute judgement by the people. So they showed zero attitude towards the situation, they would let the ball just roll as it wished.

As long as they would fight in crowd, even the most potent alchemist like this uninvited visitor would fall. The greatest threat he could impose would be none other than the Green Tempest.

Green Tempest might be notorious of the destructive it caused, but it was already a technique of the very past, that they strongly believed the evolution of their branches had already surpassed this piece of undying antique, especially when they had discovered the counter for it.

Ye Chong was researching. He had hidden the crates underground, so those precious materials remained intact.

The recent encounters had given him a better understanding of alchemy, while also initiating intense interests in him. He requested a massive amount of alchemy apparatuses from the Emerald City owner who certainly would nod his head hard upon meeting. The owner had sent him the best apparatus in the city, hoping that those toys would keep the boy quiet at least, since that was the owner’s sole wish – having peace and quiet.

Thanks to the apparatus, Ye Chong’s research progressed smoothly. He had been producing all kinds of reagents unlisted in his recipe, that his table was tinted by bottles and bottles of them, like glowing stars of different colors.

The encyclopedia Lunatic Guan provided was very rich in data and Ye Chong had just hit a small portion of it. While exclaiming the greatness of alchemy, Ye Chong had fully indulged himself in the fun of research.

He had planned an escape plan before, but he was at one critical point of his research, that he must delay his escape plan. He was almost there, almost… almost…

Regarding his reward, well Han Yue had sent him on the first day they arrived at the city.

Ironically, probably Ye Chong would never expect how the little delay he made was able to drag him into the most intense battle of flasks and beakers ever.

Chapter 380: Battle in Alchemy II

How’s the preparation?” A voice rang within the voidness of the sealed room.

“Everything had been prepared, only at your order now, master.” Sincerely the other voice replied.

Sharp whispers were heard then diminished.

The voices faded as the room regained its dead silence.

…

“I fear…” The voice echoed once again 10 minutes later, “that all our forces would be retreating after the raid this time…” Lethargic and unwilling the voice sounded, “and all our efforts for the past decades would go to waste…” It then took another few minutes of silence for the person to make up his mind.

…

“Go… just go.”

“Yes sir!” The sincere person bowed and hurried out of the sealed room.

…

Emerald City remained much livelier as ever, since things had been happening for the past few days and they were pretty intriguing, be it the martial arts superstar Luo Shi or that mysterious alchemist, those were the topics after dinner.

But little the folks knew that, a battle in alchemy was brewing soon.

Very soon.

“Qi Wei, the master of Qian System, represents the folks of Dankwood, invites you for a meeting.*” Qi Wei’s voice was not restlessly loud, rather it sounded pumped, as he stood next to Fei Lidu, whose expression remained stiff with hands in his sleeves.

Ye Chong walked towards the window upon hearing the call.

It was bright summer day as Ye Chong stood by the window back then, behind the frames of fences made out of polished, sculptured wood. One should be aware that the appearance of alchemists would always be deceiving as they were the group of people who adored disguises using their tricks. Nobody knew the actual look of the mysterious alchemist as the potion had probably given him an unrecognizable mask, and no one of the city looked down upon this alchemist because of his youth.

“The heck…” Ye Chong had no idea what was going on at the porch, but he immediately withdrew his alarmed eyes after that, as he convinced himself to better spend the time on some researches rather than having a staring contest with strangers by the window.

“H-” Two red lines zapped towards Ye Chong the moment he lifted his lips. The one man in black launched an attack near Qi Wei.

Ye Chong reacted promptly as his waists pulled him all the way down to the ground, forming an arc to dodge the attack.

Crack. Crack!

The two beams struck the fence and vanished in the darkness of the room. Dust began dancing in the air as the frames were crushed.

Ye Chong witnessed the broadness of the fired beams and almost tasted them. His action grew rapid as he tumbled to the carpet and picked up his wooden lance.

Qi Wei’s eyes were large, he only planned to have a talk with the mysterious alchemist, he just wanted to know the truth but Fei Lidu eventually initiated an attack. He looked at Fei Lidu, who looked rather relaxed, “Qi my brother, don’t look surprise. We should strive for the end, rather than the mean. We had made our move, so it would be better to look for victory and not mercy.” He probably meant if they planned to do something on the alchemist, it would be better to achieve an ultimate outcome, and it would be very unwise to hesitate.

Qi Wei was unpleased by Fei Lidu’s inappropriate behavior, but he had to admit that Fei Lidu was right. It would be a dead-or-alive battle once they clicked the START button.

“You’re wise indeed, brother,” replied Qi Wei briefly, as he took out bottles from his rucksack.

The other alchemists stood quietly, with bottles in their grip. Guang Wei was at the back, for some reason his body was shaking.

What did I just see? Guan Wei could not believe his eyes, as they somehow perceived an accessory on the neck of the mysterious alchemist. The sight only lasted for 3 seconds but he was pretty sure he did see a Silver Strand Pendant, the accessory he dreamed day and night, resting round the neck of the alchemist.

Ye Chong watched the moving red beams, as his forehead was wetted by cold sweats.

Whipper Snake? Dang, they actually sent two Whipper snakes? The beams were about thickness of his thumbs and had a dark brownish horn at the head. and dark red stripes over the bodies. They were called Whipper due to their elasticity and bounciness, they would roam the place at an unpredictable direction and an unforeseeable pace.

The two snakes were slithering on the ground, making aggressive hisses as their crimson eyes focused upon Ye Chong.

Ye Chong dared not to lift his eyes, never once he would imagine any human would raise such horrible beast. For real, like how? Even Lunatic Guan’s encyclopedia did not have a record on ways to tame these madness.

His body was tense, the camouflage on his lance had been torn, he swung the lance and faced the dark head at his foes.

Snap! Klink! The Whipper Snakes suddenly zapped to both sides.

Darn it. Cursed Ye Chong, he did predict the moves and he launched himself on one of the snakes.

He had observed how the snake moved just now, and those movements convincingly defined danger at a whole new level. They were Whippers for their springy nature, they would bounce with their abdomen as they squeezed themselves like springs at the tightest. The momentum was so insane that even Ye Chong the speed master almost tripped himself in surprise.

The snakes were very intelligent too. They did not attack Ye Chong with pure brute aggression, rather they utilized their bouncy body as they threw themselves to walls at both side, landed with their abdomen and launched themselves again – a reflective shot!

Snap! The momentum intensified!

Both snakes headed towards Ye Chong.

Never would Ye Chong expected the snakes wing cable of such drastic direction change, it was a horror to see these Whipper Snakes accelerating themselves using the conservation of momentum and fired themselves like an arrow as they straightened their body and faced their horns at Ye Chong after redirection.

Ye Chong had no time to take any action than guarding himself with his lance.

Snap! The red beam struck body of Ye Chong’s lance. His hands were making a shudder that he almost dropped his lance, as the red beam went itself to the back.

The snake actually made a reflection even on my spear? Ye Chong was shocked but there was no more time for shocker. He intended to destroy one of them before they reunited at one point and launched a combined attack. But the snakes turned out to be more unpredictable than he thought… He looked almost doomed in this battle.

He remembered seeing information on Whipper Snake back in the 5 major galaxies. It was a visit to one information center somewhere in the Virtual World. He read the entries out of mere curiosity and was certainly terrified by it but he never foresaw the day that he would meet such monstrosity alone…

A tip to the ground as Ye Chong made an arch with his shaking eyes seeing a red beam traveling by his waist.

The scene grew beyond comprehension as two beams of light zapping around the house, accelerating at a horrendous rate, to a point that a network of red web seemed to have formed in the room. The ends of the web were fading but soon they were covered by newer lines. There was a silhouette jumping around at too an insane rate… what in the Dankwood happened?

The Whippers kept throwing themselves at the walls so they would conserve momentums again and again. They were dexterous as they aimed the back of our protagonist. The velocity was increasing and it was harder for Ye Chong to even identify where the snakes actually were.

The afterimages became longer and longer, as their body turned blurrier each time.

In a never-before-experienced dangerous situation, the strength of Ye Chong’s focus was also never-before-experienced.

It almost felt like he had been sent back to the past, back to the time when he still spent his days piloting Tissot, blocking those strange white glowing orbs as he did his NR training in the Virtual World. Well, he did not have a mech now unlike before, as he wielded only a piece of wood, and the foes he had to face were not the harmless virtual orbs but two wickedly vicious snakes that wanted his life.

There was still… a vast difference between a dummy training and an actual fight.

The afterimages lost the stack as the contour grew clearer.

Ye Chong had been cornered, he could no longer make further movement within the diminishing seconds. Whipper Snakes had accelerated to a point that his eyes could distinguish no more.

He would love to make another pointless attempt of repositioning himself within the dancing beams, but his mind reminded him to maximize his vitality to demonstrate movements the most concise possible. His respiration, his blood circulation, pace of his entire body had reached an astonishing rate.

He was wetted by his sweats, while being unaware of it. Within that brief second as that one drop of sweat fell, he got to perform over 70 times of self-guard technique. He was unaware if that was the maximum for humanity to reach, but he was well-aware that it was already his very best.

Yet…

Pant… pant…

Every guard was a gamble. The momentum created by the snakes was impulsive. Ye Chong could feel his arms aching as every crash on the lance felt like as heavy as a hammer slam.

Ye Chong was relying his intuition in this fight, like always.

“Need not to worry, my brother,” said Fei Lidu, with an unexpected smile, though sadistic. “The Whipper Snake would be one horrendous foe even a martial arts practitioner would be doomed to defeat, and the snakes are fighting an alchemist this time.” Pointed he, at Ye Chong’s accommodation.

One keyword of Lidu’s line caused Qi Wei to stagger. Whipper Snake. “Did he actually send two Whipper Snakes?” Cries of shocker were heard among the underlings, “Oh my Dankwood, those beams were Whipper?” No one had expected the two red lights were the repulsive reptile.

Fei Lidu was silent, with his hands crossed behind, looking proud in his eyes.

Qi Wei gave a stare at his ally, his expression was indescribable as he quietly kept the reagents back into his rucksack.

The alchemist was practically a done-for once the Whipper Snakes were sent. And thanks to this kill, words would be spread, about how the Incense branch had eradicated the evil and saved the day. Thought Qi Wei, as his underlings also put their bottles back into their inventories, though they seemed confused.

If Fei Lidu could handle the alchemist himself, what was the hassle of sending everybody to the scene?

And that was when Guang Wei looked at the happening, with a drained face of his.