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Chapter 90 - Browsing Techniques

Alchemy, medicine and cultivation, any of these three topics were profound and would require much practice to become proficient. Talent could only take a person so far and hard work decides one's success. One can argue that medicine was a branch of alchemy, but even then, it would take a considerable amount of time and practice, and for Leon to achieve all three at his age, he had to be some monstrous genius.

It was incredible feat for Leon to achieve proficiency in his professions and not fall behind on his cultivation at such young age without the support of the royal family. Those that have investigated his background and history, all found that he had led a very ordinary life up until recent days.

There was no inclination that pointed towards him having met a master, but Elizabeth was inclined to believe that someone must have taught him everything and that Leon had hidden himself deeply up until this point. From what she understood, her son was adept at stealthy and assassination skills, while being a fire-user to boot. Additionally, a person with great understanding in medicine, would also have great understanding in poison.

There was no reason for someone to teach her son such dubious skills just because they valued his talents alone. It was a terrifying thought if the other party had known her son's identity and taught him these skills with ulterior motives.

Were there remnants of Duke Agni's anti-royal faction? Did they take her son from her 17 years ago to cultivated him in the way of the assassin to kill her? Indeed, they would likely succeed as she would never expect her son to harm her. But she had seen Leon's genuine emotions that there was no sign of brainwashing. Perhaps they failed their brainwashing, or her worries were simply unfounded. However, her suspicions were still raised.

Who did her son acquired his skills from? Who had the most contact with her son in the last 17 years and could easily influence him the most? His foster parents? Elizabeth believed this was a matter worth looking into and planned to carry out a secret investigation.

Moving back to present time, having been told by her son that he was an alchemist, she gave her son the benefit of the doubt and took it at face value. A lightbulb lit up her mind as she did.

"Alchemist you say… Mother understand. You came seeking herbs from the treasury because you found a way to cure your father's vegetative state, right?" Elizabeth said emotionally. Her previous thoughts were pushed back and hidden deeply. Leon was unable to read anything from her expression.

"Yes, mother. Hopefully the herb I am looking for is here, otherwise it might be troublesome to find." Leon heaved a sigh of relief.

He had prepared an excuse, expecting his mother to question the origin of his abilities, but she was more accepting of his words. He was unaware that his reveal had brought untoward attention to his foster parents.

"That's great news! Quickly go see if the herb you need is here." Elizabeth hurried her son. Finally, there was hope of waking up that Old fool!

Leon nodded and quickly started searching through the jade boxes. His earlier sniff had discern all the herbal fragrance in the air, but it didn't mean he had discerned all the herbs stored in the second floor. The spirit herbs he detected, came form rosewood boxes that wasn't sealed flawlessly and allowed its fragrance and spirit energy to seep away through the tiniest of cracks. Given time, the spirit herb would be reduced to normal herbs if nothing was done.

"Mother, can I take these spirit herbs? It would be waste to let it collect dust here." Leon started explaining to his mother about the herb's spirit energy dissipation.

"My son, whatever you like, you can take. Everything here belongs to you."

"Thank you, mother."

Leon began sorting out the herbs. Those he was taking, he placed them all to one side and left the others. He arrived at the flawlessly sealed jade boxes and sank his divine sense inside to discern the herbs. These were the spirit herbs that he could not discern with his smell due to the absence of the herbal fragrance.

Inside the jade boxes were some more exotic spirit herbs that did not belong to the ordinary category as they carried at least one or more type of energy other than spirit energy. There was the Heart Blazed Lotus, Golden Ganoderma, Misty Petal Flower, Spirit Cleansing Grass, Rupturing Drystone Flower and several other spirit herbs of similar traits. In addition to spirit energy, they also possess energy of the 5 elements present in the spirit herbs.

Leon was first pleasantly surprised at the unexpected finding, before disappointment seeped in. These herbs might be able to aid his cultivation, but his original purpose, the 7-Petal Frigid Agapanthus needed to concoct the Tier-1 Soul Mending Pill wasn't among these spirit herbs.

"What's wrong, my son?"

"The main herb needed for father's pill is missing." Leon said with a frown.

If the spirit herbs couldn't be found in the royal treasury, which gathered the best items within the kingdom, it would only harder to find elsewhere.

"Why don't describe the herb and mother will see if there is a place where we could find it."

"Yes, mother." Leon nodded and began describing the special spirit herb to his mother.

The 7-Petal Frigid Agapanthus was a purple-white flower with biting-cold stem and able to freeze anything that touch its frosty petals. It had a special condition for growth and not many places in the kingdom could satisfy it. However, Elizabeth was immediately able to think one such place.

"A cold misty region and covered in dense yin energy?" Elizabeth rubbed her chin in thought and said, "The Extreme Misty Forest seems to meet this requirement. However, it is a bizarre place, filled with unknown dangers. You leave this matter to mother to handle. The Merchant Association would definitely send people to look for it, if mother offer a sky-high reward."

Leon listened quietly to his mother's proper arrangements as everything was slowly taken care of, including but not limited to; ordering palace maids to carry the selected herbs out and send it to his room.

Elizabeth had made sound judgements. Indeed, there was no need for him to set out to look for the herb personally. If the job could be delegated to others, he should allow for it. His only concern, however, was whether the people sent to complete the task would be competent enough not to damage the herb, when it is found and harvested.

"Well that settles the matter. Are you done looking or would you like to check out the third floor, my son?"

Leon was ready to head out when he paused at his mother's question. He was too eager to return to his private living quarters and begin his pill concoction that he forgot about the third floor.

"What is on the third floor, mother?" Leon asked.

"Cultivation techniques and sword arts."

Elizabeth said with a curious smile. Her eyes trained on her son and wondered how he would react to the news. There was a martial art depository outside, but only the high-end techniques and arts were kept inside the treasury. Of course, this did not include the Crawford's Transcendent-grade technique; the [Great Sky Refining Art].

Hearing there were cultivation techniques, Leon was naturally interested in looking. As for sword arts, he paid no heed to it. Since he was planning to train in the spear, the sword arts had no use for him except for reference and inspiration.

"I would like to take a look, mother." Leon said with simple curiosity. There was no greed in his eyes. He did not covet the Transcendent-grade technique. No matter how strong a Transcendent was, could it be stronger than the Divine State? Leon chose to dual cultivate awakening and divine cultivation because awakening cultivation could assist him in comprehending the Laws early to further his practice in the [Hegemony of Primal Chaos]. Thus, divine cultivation was still his core focus and awakening cultivation was only supplementary.

"Alright, let's go." Elizabeth smiled with content. She was pleased that her son wasn't a greedy person. Most nobles would go mad even if it was just a chance to glimpse at a high-grade cultivation technique.

…

Couple of hours later,

Leon was still on the third floor as he was reading the high-grade cultivation techniques. By now, he grasped a clear understanding of awakening cultivation techniques and his mother had long left to tend to some matters. The reason he was interested in looking at the cultivation technique was because he wanted to compare awakening cultivation to divine cultivation.

Much to his surprise, there were many similarities between the starting point of both cultivations system. Both required gathering energy to form an energy center, except one was in the glabella and the other was in the soul. The difference between physical and spiritual was what made the two fundamentally two different cultivation system.

Divine practitioners focus on establishing their own inner universe and draw power from within, while awakeners draw power from the existing outer universe.

Chapter 91 - The Beasts Have Come To Harass!

With the corrupt noble families entering a period of silence, the matters of the capital have calmed somwwhat. However, at the western frontier, the soldiers were facing a big problem with the beasts.

"Arghh... dammit! What do these beasts want from us!? If they want to fight, then let's fight! Why are they only taunting us from afar? What purpose are they trying to accomplish by harassing us like so?" A soldier on duty hollered out his pent-up frustration to the wind.

Over the last several days, the beast's movements had been very unpredictable and attacked the Great Wall at least once a day. There was no consistency and their attacks came at irregular intervals with the shortest being 6 hours apart.

The storm was not kind to them as the rain rendered their firearms useless. Firearms required the use of black powder in order to work, and black powder was made from saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal. Of the three ingredients, saltpeter was water-soluble, thus how the rain rendered them useless.

The only good news was the beasts had was weary of their firearms since the first confrontation. They did not know of their black powder problem and only taunted the soldiers from afar.

"Haih, I would like to know too, Jerry...but whatever the case is, I'm just glad this damn storm is subsiding." Harry sighed as he lit a cigarette and took a big puff.

"Huh...oi, oi, where did you get that ciggy? Pass me one."

"Sorry, it's my last one." Harry said and exhaled a cloud of white smoke along with his pent-up stress and anxiety, allowing him to enter a realm of relaxation.

Although there was a shift rotation for watch duty, no one would be able sleep with a peace of mind when the beasts are harassing them so often and setting of alarms. With how fierce and fast these new generation beasts could scale their walls; everyone developed a natural fear of losing the wall if they were too slow to rush into position once the alarm rang. The soldiers were all red-eyed and always on tenterhooks as a result.

"Tch, you're not a real brother, Harry." Jerry grunted.

"You can have one of mine, Jerry." Another soldier on watch duty offered.

"H-how did you also get your hands on ciggies…? No… never mind. Thank you, Tim." Jerry thanked before turning back to Harry and said, " You see this? This is a real brother."

Although Jerry wondered how they could smuggle the cigarettes pass the checkpoint, he decided not to think into the matter too much. He wasn't much of a thinker and more of a doer, otherwise he would have chosen to join the military. He placed the ciggy in his mouth and glanced over into the distance as he prepared to light his ciggy when his expression froze, and the ciggy dropped out of his mouth.

"Quick, sound the alarms! The beasts are back to harass us!" Jerry hollered at his fellow brothers-in-arms. There hadn't been any direct confrontation with the beasts in the last several encounters, but just the sighting of them was enough to alarm anyone. If they let their guard down, who could they blame if their wall was overrun?

From the direction of the Wildlands, the shadow figures of many beasts came into view once more. Their numbers were appeared to be in the ten thousand, about fivefold the previous numbers, but what was concerning, wasn't their numbers.

Behind the shadow figures of ten thousand beasts, a fainter figure was seen and to say the least, was a 20-meter tall colossal figure, towering over the others. The sighting of a such a colossal beast alarmed even the general marquis.

Within 5 minutes, the wall was lined up with troops at the ready. The General Marquis wore a heavy expression. In the end, the beasts still chose to attack the Great Wall and not the southern wall. He had erred in his judgement.

Why in Gaia did he give away an airship? Hendrick Graham was feeling regretful, but unfortunately there was no medicine for regret. He shook his head and refocus on the threat in the distance.

The beasts did not charge towards the wall like a mad disorderly mob, instead they were marching orderly and rhythmically like a well-disciplined army would. Their shadowy figures gradually became clear as they drew closer.

Many gasps of surprise were made on the wall and even the general marquis himself widened his eyes in alarm. The vanguard had mimicked human means and were equipped with heavy armor to counter their firearms!

"Prepare the cannons! We can't let those armored beasts get closer!" Hendrick Graham roared out his command.

"General, none of the cannons may work! Please give us another order!" A high-ranking soldier immediately advised him.

"If it doesn't work then you better make it work! Otherwise you all better prepare yourselves to be part of the next bloody war!"

"Y-Yes, General!"

Indeed! If their firearms and cannons don't work, then they must pit themselves against these physically powerful beasts with their melee weapons and abilities! There was no other way! The soldiers quickly got to work, moving and angling the cannons. Damp wooden crates of cannonballs were unsealed to load the cannons and the cannons were soon ready to fire!

"Fire!"

Hendrick did not wait for the beasts to make the first move. Perhaps the results could be disastrous if they don't take the initiative. The soldiers quickly lit the fuse and fired the cannons at his command.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Not every cannon went off successfully, but the ones that did were deafening, with fumes trailing out of their large muzzles. In the distance, the vanguards of the beasts were hit and exploded. Broken pieces of searing flesh, metal and soil blasted in all directions with clouds of black smoke rising to the skies. Hendrick watch the scene with a frown. The result was far from satisfactory!

"Reload and fire at will!"

Boom! Boom!

The second round of bombardment initiated, but the results were far from the same!

The colossal figure in the back flashed forward and deflected all the cannonballs with its tail... or rather tails! Its actions were completed effortlessly like mere child's play and the cannonballs were flung back into various places.

"Watch out!"

BOOM!!! The cannonballs smashed into the vicinity of the soldiers and exploded. Chaos was ensured as the soldiers were brought into a state of confusion and panic.

"Ugh…Is everyone alright!?

"Ow… my back…I'm getting old…but I should be okay…"

"Some minor burns but everyone seems to be okay…wait…where's Jerry? Where did Jerry go?"

"J-J-Jerry w-went..."

"Jerry went where?"

"Jerry went everywhere!" The soldier with a bloodstained face, screamed with madness.

"…"

"F@$&#%!"

The soldier took a moment before registering what everywhere meant and started cursing. Their comrade was blown apart.

...

The majestic figure of a silver wolf with 6 tails became clear for all to see as it held its head up proudly.

"Humans! Throw away your toys and come down to face my subjects squarely!"

The soldiers gasped in disbelief.

"It talks! The wolf can talk!"

"What the hell!? Unbelievable!"

"How can a wolf be that big?!"

The soldiers threw remarks one after another as the wall became noisy with unruly behaviors, unbefitting of disciplined soldiers. but it was to be expected. A talking beast was unheard of in the history of their race, and in their native language no less!

"Silence!!"

Hendrick commanded silence from the soldiers with his powerful voice that even the majestic silver wolf could hear. The wall instantly became pin-drop silent as no one dared to slight the general marquis.

"What gall! How dare you silence this King! If not for the agreement with the other tribes, this King would have already flatten your wall and wreak havoc on your lands for your insolence!" The 6-tailed silver wolf barked like thunder.

Hendrick Graham felt his head hurt, not by sound waves, but by the misunderstanding. How were they going to tide over this disaster? He had some self-awareness and knew he, who was a 9th step awakener wasn't an opponent for this unknown silver wolf with 6 tails. They had only ever known of the iron-tailed silver wolves, which had 3 tails at most.

'Transcendent! It must have evolved and gain a fleshly body comparable to transcendents in strength!' Hendrick Graham concluded.

"Your Excellency, my words were not meant for you!"

"Hmph! Are you saying this King was mistaken!?"

"I…"

Hendrick Graham's words were caught in his throats. This silver wolf was too difficult to deal with! It was like it is purposely picking a fight with them.

Wait…

The previous remarks of the wolf entered his thoughts; Other tribes…and agreement. If he is not wrong, the beasts were divided into many tribes and they have come to an agreement to leave the human domain alone. If that was the case, then there was nothing to fear if they do not step into the Wildlands.

"There's no need to provoke us, Your Excellency! We are naturally not your match and will not fight your people directly!" Hendrick Graham said firmly. His stance was clear. They would only suffer unnecessary losses in a direct clash.

"Hmph! You're right! You humans are too weak to temper my subjects! Stay out of my territory or we will come again!"

Seeing that the humans were too cowardly to come down and fight them directly, the silver wolf was prepared to leave, but not without issuing a strict warning. Prior to subsequent attack after the first, the other beast's tribe leaders had warned it to not invade the human domain.

Being one of the weaker tribes, it had no choice but to comply. However, it was feeling unreconciled since the humans kept pestering its territory. Thus, it started harassing the humans without entering the human domain. The other tribes would have nothing to say against that.

"Awoooo!"

The silver wolf howled, and the beast army started to leave.

"Haih…"

Watching the retreating beast army, the general marquis heaved a sigh of relief. For reasons unknown, humanity was spared, allowing humanity to finally have some breathing space.. However, any plans to reclaim the Wildlands had to be nipped in the bud. The beasts were too strong for humanity!

Chapter 92 - Old Man's Advent

The bustling streets of the Upper District was filled with crowds of people busying about with their activities. The bustle of the Upper District did not die down when nightfall arrives and only grows even more boisterous as the district lights are lit and the night came to life. It had a quality of liveliness and energy that the Lower District no longer had.

Shadow Guards were always one to observer the Capital from the shadows like an outsider and was never mixed with the hustle bustle of the Capital. This was the first time Kasif had walked down the road of the Upper Districts. The Old man was hit with a strange and out-of-place feeling like he did not belong here.

*BEEP* *BEEP*

"Move it, Old man! Do you want to die!? Get off the road!"

An angry young driver roared at him, while pressing the horns furiously. There's a footpath for people to walk on, who the hell walks down the middle of the road?

The old man gave the driver a brief glance before continuing his way, unaffected by the angry young driver's cursing like as if he had just listened to the barking of an ant. Regular people were below his notice. With his fleshly body strength of 5400-jin, he could swat the driver and his vehicle flying, but the queen had ordered him not to harm people when interacting with them, so he would not do that.

'This also counts as an interaction, right? There is contact and no harm. I guess that makes it my 4th interaction.' The Old man mulled over. He was ordered to interact without harm. The queen did not order him to converse with the people specifically, so he couldn't be bothered to talk. Maybe the person would leave him alone after a while.

"Oi, Oi! Are you deaf, Old man!? What is your problem!? Move it!!"

The angry young driver continued honking furiously with veins popping on his forehead. It was a busy road and he couldn't just drive around the old man. This area was considered wealthy even among the Upper District and everyone who was normally seen along this road weren't your average hillbilly.

The road was called the Aurelia Mountain Road. The name does not imply that it was a road on a mountain in the literal sense, but a mountain of gold exists on this road. Aurelia Mountain Road was lined up with all the kingdom's most extravagant and finest restaurants, stores, entertainments and was the bustiest area in the entire kingdom.

This was a place where the rich and powerful aristocrats and nobles, who had too much money on their hand to spend gathers. One would not come to Aurelia Mountain Road if they were not prepared to spend a fortune. Generally, it was a place for the adults, but it was more popular among the young masters and young nobles as they usually like to swagger off their family's wealth in front of others.

There was one place that recently opened on Aurelia Mountain Road that had become a new attraction for the young masters and young nobles to come and play. The place was called Mystery Stone Fortune, a stone gambling store with a range of small to large stones with fixed prices for customers to buy. Within these stones were a chance of finding rare metal minerals and allow people to earn great fortune in a single step.

With the sky-high value of metal, it easily became a great attraction among the wealthy spenders with one simple thought. If they could earn more money from spending, then why not? However not everyone can be lucky, as most of the stones are a bust with no mineral inside. Otherwise, it would not be considered gambling and the owner of Mystery Stone Fortune would be making a loss.

There was no open market for metal anywhere else in Crawford Kingdom and Mystery Stone Fortune was the only place they could acquire metal apart from the black market, albeit in small amounts or maybe none at all. Mystery Stone Fortune was a legitimate business and the stones they sell did not come from the kingdom but transported from the neighboring kingdoms.

The angry young driver was the eldest son of the Tucker Family and was one of the biggest customers of Mystery Stone Fortune. Extravagant young nobles in the Mystery Stone Fortune were all known as Whales and he was the Whale among Whales. He was just on his way to splurge more his family's wealth, when he had bump into this stupid Old man blocking the road.

"Since you want to play deaf then don't blame me for being heartless, Old man!" Royce Tucker stepped on the pedal and the car accelerated towards the Old man.

By now, their scene had attracted quite a big crowd. Some where curious, while others were simply annoyed by all the honking. These people all saw the car racing towards the Old man, and all had mix feelings. There was concern, goading and pity.

"Watch out, Old man!"

BAM!

The car smashed into the Old man, but he was unharmed as a layer of earth appeared before him and halted the vehicle. The car on the other hand had a big dent and the driver suffered a head injury after the car came to an abrupt stop like he had just smashed into a mountain.

"Hey, isn't that the Mystery Stone Fortune's Whale among Whales, Royce Tucker?"

"is he alright?"

Kasif had always live in the shadows and never in the spotlight. The unexpected attention drawn to him was a fresh experience, but not a bad feeling. He enjoyed the concern some of the crowd was showering him until it was shifted towards the driver suffering a concussion.

"You guys all saw it. I didn't hit him, he hit me." Kasif said.

'He hit you, but the one injured was him.' They thought.

A figured suddenly dashed over to the car and pulled the driver out.

"Young master, are you alright?" The figure asked.

"I'm okay, Seymour. Go get that Old bastard for me." Royce gnashed his teeth as he tried to shake away the concussion.

Seymour was a servant of the Tucker family, but unlike any other servants of any other noble families, he was already at the 7th step, a strength on par with the marquises.

"Who might you be, your Excellency? Why do you block the road and hurt my young master?" Seymour asked humbly.

"It doesn't matter who I am. You only need to know that your young master brought it upon himself. I was just minding my own business when he started harassing me."

A corner of Seymour's face twitched, but he remained humble and continued, "There's a footpath on the side, why must you insist on walking on the road?"

"Hah…? Is that the problem? The footpath is so crowded, yet this path is so spacious. Why shouldn't I use it since it's so open? You ask some strange questions." Kasif scoffed with a disdainful look like he was looking at an idiot.

'The strange one is you! The Old man is a troublemaker!' everyone thought in their minds. Whatever concern they had, disappeared with the wind.

Seymour's expression darkened. He thought the other person was clearly looking for trouble.

"What are you wasting your saliva for, Seymour? He is clearly a troublemaker! Beat him up for me!" Royce screeched, but remembering his servant's humble manner, he suddenly asks the Old man, "What's your cultivation, Old bastard?"

"This Old man is a 5-star awakener." Kasif said with a deep voice.

"5-star? You mean 5th step, right? You don't even know such a simple term? Pft, just a nonentity. Already so old, but only so-so in cultivation. Fuck him up, Seymour!" Royce commanded. He derided the Old man, but the Old man was still stronger than him, who was at the 3rd step. He could only rely on his servant to get justice for him.

Seymour put down his reservation and charged at the Old man, whom had clearly been itching for a beating!

Kasif have been very passive. He wasn't trying to cause trouble, but trouble came looking for him. Why were these people so angry? While he was in a confused state, his body reflectively swatted the Seymour's charging figure with a loud slapping sound and the figure disappeared

CRASH** Seymour smashed into building and was knocked out cold.

The loud slapping sound brought the Old man out of his deep thoughts as he looked at his hand then felt his own cheeks with a sense of déjà vu.

"Don't come closer!"

Royce retreated in fear and tripped when the Old man glanced at him. How was this a 5th step? This was an Old monster. His 7th step servant was KOed in one blow.

"Ah… now I've done it. I've hit someone." Kasif thought. The Queen is not going to be happy with him, but was everything really his fault? He didn't understand.

…

A group of newcomers arrived at the scene and started shouting angrily.

"That the Old man! Get him! He hasn't paid after eating!"

Kasif was suddenly startled. Weren't these people the ones from that restaurant he dined in not long ago? Why are they coming after him!?

"What bullshit are you spouting? I already paid for the food!"

"Your bill comes to a total of 321,000 craws. You only paid us 10,000 craws! You still owe use 311,000 craws!"

"PII! No food costs that much! I was generous enough to pay 10,000 craws! Don't push this Old man too far!" Kasif spat. These damn people are trying to rip him off!

The restaurant staffs almost fainted from anger. This Old man is so shameless to eat all their best dishes and refuse to pay the stipulated amount! Did he treat them like idiots? The menu has the pricing. There's no way he didn't know!

"Here at Aurelia Mountain, they do!" They said, while gnashing their teeth, with tumultuous waves going off in their heart.

Kasif widened his eyes with anger, shock and surprise all in one expression. 50 years ago, before he joined the shadow guards and cut off from the ordinary life, the most expensive meal he ever had only cost him 5,000 craws! The world has surely gone mad!

Kasif did a powerful leap and disappeared into the skies.

"He ran again! Find him!!"

…

At the top of a high building, Kasif scratched his head as he glanced down at the hustle bustle of the streets with mixed feelings. He had powerful eyesight and could see far and wide, but his hearing wasn't that great and wouldn't know how people normally talk all these years and his shadow guards never once disobey his order, so doesn't know how to deal with other's refusal and opinions.

It seems he had been detached from the world for too long and was far behind the times.. He was good at his job, but he had forgotten how to be a normal person and lacked common sense.

Chapter 93 - Pill Forging

Over the last couple of days, Leon had never left the inner palace. He had been stuffing himself with beast meat provided by the royal palace, while cultivating and managed to advance to peak 6th layer. With each advancement in his cultivation, the energy required to break through to the next level would only increase exponentially.

He was cultivating a technique that required five types of energy to begin with. Each strand of pseudo-Grandmist energy produced, required five strands of energy of the five elements, meaning he needed fivefold the amount of energy normally required to advance his cultivation.

With the 7th layer being a bottleneck, he needed an even large amount of energy to break through the bottleneck. The energy from the beast meat wasn't enough to give him the strong push he needed, and it was even more so for the energy from heaven and earth. The rate of gathering energy from the world was too slow without a special body constitution designed for it or an energy gathering array.

Unfortunately, he had neither a special energy gathering body constitution nor was he an array master, who could set up an energy gathering array. He also did not want to go through the slow process of whittling down the wall to the 7th layer. He wasn't afraid of hard work, but time and energy weren't something he had plenty to spare. He can only look for an alternative solution to speed up his cultivation.

"It seems that I still have to rely on pills in the end. However, the Book of Life did not record any knowledge of 5-element pills." Leon mused with a frown.

"Haih… the [Hegemony of Primal Chaos] was described to be an unparalleled technique aimed to recreate the most primordial energy that formed the universe. I am the first to walk this path as none had been successful before me."

"There is no doubt that the Being who created the [Hegemony of Primal Chaos] was a peerless figure of his time with great ambition and aspiration. It is too bad that I only have the incomplete version… or perhaps the technique was never completed to begin with…"

"Whatever the case is, the incomplete technique is enough to reach the Divine King realm. It's not something I need to worry about at present, but one thing is clear. If I want to walk far on the road of cultivation, I cannot conform to the normal standards and must forge my own path ahead."

"Techniques weren't born from nothing. They were created by the people. If others could do it, why can't I? The framework has already been laid for me. I just need to fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle."

"Since there is no 5-element pill, I will create one. Let that be the first step to forging a path that I can truly call my own and not one that has been treaded by others."

Leon had briefly searched the Book of Life and no 5-element pills were recorded. There were only single-element pills like fire enhancing pill, water enhancing pill, earth enhancing pill, etc.

"I only have one set of 5-element spirit herbs. I can't expect to succeed on the first try. I should divide the herbs into 10 portions and give myself more chances to work with."

The herbs were already inside his room. They were brought there by the palace maids since he didn't have any chances to bring them into his world space since his mother around at the time. The Book of Life was his most guarded secret and he would not let anyone know about. Not even his closest kin.

He might have been a self-indulgent and profligate young master living under the halo of his father in his past life and was ignorant of many things. But he was at least aware that even one's closest kin could betray each other, should the incentive be great enough to invoke their vices and blind their morals. He had seen it happen too many times among the mortals.

Leon unsealed the jade boxes and took out the spirit herbs. They were exactly the Heart Blazed Lotus, Golden Ganoderma, Misty Petal Flower, Spirit Cleansing Grass and Rupturing Drystone Flower. As for the rosewood boxes with the other spirit herbs, he stowed them in the world space for later use. The life energy of the world space should halt its leakage.

Leon cleared the table and laid out the 5 special spirit herbs on it, before dividing each one into 10 equal pieces. He stowed away 9 portions, leaving behind one portion before whipping out his pill cauldron.

He quickly got to work and preheated the pill cauldron with one hand, while burning the spirit herb portion with the other, leaving only the purest form of liquid medicinal essences behind. Normally, Leon would focus on one task at a time, but ever since he awakened his memories, he had the feeling he was able to multitask two things at once.

The five liquid medicinal essences swam in his flames separately as he could not allow any of them to touch each other before the fusion. There was bound to be clashes and he would immediately fail his attempt if that happens.

"This is it. Here goes nothing." Leon thought.

The five liquid medicinal essence was tossed into the pill cauldron simultaneous as he controlled his flames and forced the 5 to merge. A violent reaction was immediately detected the moment the 5 contacted each other as they refused to bond.

Leon increased his strength and forcefully brought the 5 medicinal essence closer together, but the more he tried to force it, the more violently they reacted. Leon felt himself expending a lot of his mental strength to not loosen the control.

"This is bad! I won't be able to keep this up for long! If they don't fuse soon, things are going to get ugly!"

Leon wore a serious face as he focused all his attention on the medicinal essence inside the pill cauldron. He was unable to continue increasing his strength to force the merge, but the violent activity didn't stop increasing. The pill cauldron couldn't remain still and started shaking with a rumbling sound.

"Not good. It's going to explode!"

Leon sealed the lid on top of the pill cauldron hurriedly to contain the explosion, but it was a futile effort! The pill cauldron couldn't contain the force within and exploded.

BOOOM!

Leon wasn't stupid enough to stay in the exact spot. He had abandoned the pill cauldron and rushed for the doors, but the force of the pill explosion still hit him and flung him outside.

"Your Highness!"

The guards outside was immediately alarmed!

"Enemy attack! Protect his highness!"

The palace guards surrounded him and guarded against whatever was inside the prince's room. The doors were flung wide open, but they couldn't see anything as fumes of black smoke oozed outside the room.

"Cough* There is no enemy…" Leon coughed awkwardly in a sorry state. His back was on fire, but he quickly brought it under control, before snuffing it out.

"Haih… that was dangerous… luckily I was quick on my feet, otherwise I would have been injured if I was any closer…" Leon inwardly sigh at his failure.

The palace guard's vigilance dropped as it made sense since no one should have been able to bypass their watch to harm the prince. However, they were confused as to what had happened inside.

"My pill concoction failed."

Leon quickly owned up to his own failure despite the embarrassment it brings. It wasn't like he never blew up a pill cauldron before. Back in the Divine Realm, it was a common occurrence among the people walking the path of alchemy.

"May this one suggests your highness to carry out his pill concoction outside in the likelihood of another explosion?"

The palace guard suggested humbly with a fist-palm salute.

They were proud, but Leon was the crown prince. Anyone who serves the queen would know of her fearsomeness and wouldn't dare to slight her in any way. Besides, Leon was an alchemist and was worthy of their respect. They wouldn't look down on him because he was weaker.

Seeing Leon's thoughtful frown, the guard immediately thought he said something wrong and dropped to his knees.

"Forgive this one's impudence for speaking freely, your highness! This one is not trying to spy on your pill concoction techniques and simply wanted to protect your highness better!"

With the way the queen is, even if they weren't to blame, their heads might roll in the case that the prince suffer a mishap. They didn't want to take chances.

"Stand up, there is nothing to forgive. Your suggestion is very reasonable"

Leon nodded and gestured the guard. There was nothing wrong with what the guard said. He was just thinking of the cause for his pill concoction failure.

There's bound to be more failure and it was only right to move outside to experiment.

"Please get someone to fetch me another pill cauldron… the sturdier, the better… and have someone to come clean up the room. Thank you."

Leon said as he looked back at the blackened mess he caused.

"Yes, your highness!"

The palace guard answered happily.

The prince was not haughty and was very easy to get along with.

Chapter 94 - Even As Scraps, The Cauldron Was Not Spared

Inside the king's bedchamber. The queen continues to accompany the unconscious king like she would do every day without fail. However, she was no longer surrounded by an aura of negativity as her eyes had regained their luster and her greyed hair had partially reverted back to their originally colors.

"There is finally hope of you awakening, my dear. The day our family of three is truly reunited is not far and it will all be thanks to our son, to whom we owe so much to."

Elizabeth spoke to her husband, while holding onto his hand, with both hope and dejection. It didn't matter whether the king could hear her or not, she just wanted to speak her mind.

"If only you could wake up now and see how much our son has grown. We couldn't provide him the kind of life we had hoped, but all is well now that he had return to us. We can only do what we can to make it up to him."

"I can't imagine what kind of life our son had led outside to possess his present abilities. The information gathered on hand could not explain his abilities. Too much crucial information is missing, and it concerns me. But you don't have to worry. He is no doubt our son."

"However, he is too outstanding. Far more than we had ever hoped. Is this the will of the heavens or the curse of the royal blood?"

Elizabeth mused quietly.

The bedchamber was very quiet. Only her own voice could be heard inside. That was until a sudden loud explosion entered her ears.

BOOOM!

The sudden loud noise wasn't enough to shake the palace, but it was enough to startle her and make her tensed. Who dares to attack her palace?!

Her grip naturally tightened until the sound of creaking bones could be heard. She had accidentally squeeze the king's hand so tightly, his bones were on the verge of cracking.

"Ah… forgive me, my dear. I did not mean it."

Elizabeth apologized to her motionless husband.

She must have inflicted a lot of pain on her husband for his face to twitch…wait! Her husband was in a vegetative state! Even if the body was still receptive to pain, without the emotional network, it wouldn't be interpreted as unpleasant and was no different to feeling no pain.

Elizabeth was excited at the prospect that her husband was closer to awakening than she had thought and that he just needed a little push.

"Maybe he would wake up if… I give him a few slaps on the face…"

She pondered on the possibility, before shaking her head. No, no… I shouldn't do that… I should just wait for the good news from the merchant association.

She will have to worry about her husband later. She needed to go out and find who had the gall to attack her palace just now! It must be those corrupted nobles.

She originally planned to eradicate all the corrupted nobles in case they harmed her son, whom was somewhere out there. It was as easy as lifting a hand for her.

However, her sworn sister didn't know how strong she was and disputed against her rash actions out of worry. She could feel her sister's kind intention and decided to postpone her plan by a few days.

Expectedly her son was found very quickly, and he was very capable. Thus, she decided to let these corrupted nobles live a bit longer. If she killed them all, wouldn't she be removing the perfect environment for her son to temper himself? Her son would leave the capital in search of better places to temper himself if that happened.

She wanted her son to become powerful, but she also didn't want her son to leave her so soon. She had only reunited with her son for a short few days and couldn't bear to part with him. But she also knew she wouldn't be able to keep him by her side forever.

She had seen her son's strong conviction to become powerful. He was a dragon among men and would one day soar into skies. He wasn't a little chick that needed protection under her wing.

Elizabeth quickly left the king's bedchamber and tracked down the source of the explosion. The closer she got to the source, the uglier her expression and the quicker she was on her feet.

Wasn't that in the direction of her son's courtyard!?

…

Shortly after the palace guard left to fetch a brand-new pill cauldron for Leon, his mother arrived at the scene.

Elizabeth saw the state of son upon arrival and was immediately furious. her son wore a tired expression from draining his mental strength and his back was slightly burnt.

"Quickly tell your mother who attacked you. Who is the one tired of living? Mother will get justice for you, son." Elizabeth asked, while looking around with a cold gaze.

She saw black smokes from the room, but no one inside. Only her son and the palace guards were present.

"Was it them?" Elizabeth locked her gaze onto the guards. Her eyes narrowed into slits.

The palace guards trembled under the Queen's cold gaze.

"What?? No! Mother, no one attacked me! It was a failed pill concoction! The pill cauldron exploded!"

Leon was shocked and quickly explained. He had no doubt that his mother would really kill all his palace guards if he remained silent.

"Oh? The pill cauldron exploded?"

Elizabeth retracted her gaze from the palace guards and looked back at her son in confirmation.

The palace guards' legs felt weak and they fell on their bottoms with cold sweat. The queen was too scary.

"Yes. The pill cauldron exploded." Leon confirmed, whiled nodding vehemently.

"Hmph! So, the pill cauldron was the culprit huh!? Even if it is just a pill cauldron, it will not be spared!"

Elizabeth declared. She glared daggers at the room like as if she could peer through the veil of black smoke and straight at the pill cauldron fragments.

Being a metal-user, she had high intimacy with all metal and could feel their presence like a 6th sense. Her hand outstretched towards the direction of the room's entrance and made a grabbing motion. All the fragments of the shattered pill cauldron in the room was immediately attracted to her hand like a powerful magnet.

Elizabeth clenched her fist and the all the fragments were compressed together with incredible force. With numerous crunching sounds, the pill cauldron that was the size of a teapot was reduced to a fist-size clump of iron.

Only when Elizabeth couldn't reduce the size of the clump of iron anymore, did she gave up and her anger was abated.

Several gulps were heard. The palace guards were wearing full body armor. What would happen if the queen did that to them?

Leon stared at the clump with wide eyes. His mother was too fearsome. Best not to get on her bad side; men, and objects alike.

But Leon felt a great pity for the pill cauldron. It had only accompanied him for a few days, but it had to suffer such a tragic fate. Luckily, it wasn't a spirit treasure that had gained sentience, otherwise Leon's mind wouldn't be at peace. He could imagine how the treasure spirit would weep as it was getting crushed. The thought was mind boggling.

"My son, what kind of pill did you try to concoct? If you did say, mother would have thought someone bombed the palace. The explosion was ten times more potent than Crazy Don."

Elizabeth asked incredulously after checking that Leon was perfectly fine.

"I was testing a new pill recipe and kind of forced the essence merging too hard. Who is senior Crazy Don, mother?" Leon asked curiously.

"Senior Crazy Don is the esteemed alchemist, who is also an elder in our royal family. Senior Crazy Don was the good brother of your grandfather."

"Oh?" Leon's curiosity was piqued, "But why is senior called Crazy Don, mother?"

"Haih… senior Crazy Don is called Crazy Don because he is eccentric and always coming up with weird pill recipes that don't work and causing pill cauldron explosions every day. If you want to learn alchemy from him, mother can put in a good word for you. However, mother doesn't recommend it."

Elizabeth withheld from telling her son why. After all, one Crazy Don was enough to give her headache every day. Her son's one single pill cauldron explosion was ten times more potent than Crazy Don's usual pill cauldron explosion and was enough to alarm her. It would be more than just double the headache.

Leon had a strange feeling at his mother's words. It would be questionable who would be learning from who when that time comes.

"Anyway, it's time mother teach you how to cultivate the [Great Sky Refining Art] so you can awaken your metal-manipulation abilities as soon as possible." Elizabeth said before waving for the palace guards to leave.

The full [Great Sky Refining Art] is only exclusive for members of the royal family. She could cultivate it when she was married into the royal family, but these palace guards are not of royal blood and were only allowed to cultivate the incomplete version. She would not permit them to listen in on the full technique. They would have to display unswerving loyalty and greater contribution to the royal family if they wish to progress further in the technique.

She could see that her son was mentally exhausted.. Cultivating was a great way to recovering oneself to their peak conditions.

Chapter 95 - You Have To Read This Book

Hearing his mother mentioning about his metal-manipulation for the second time, Leon knew it was not his imagination. His mother really did have her own way for him to awaken his metal-manipulation abilities.

"Mother, I haven't heard of anyone being able to become dual-attribute awakeners. How can you be so sure I will be able to awaken the metal attribute after training the technique?" Leon couldn't help but ask.

"How can I be so sure you say? Hmm..."

Elizabeth repeated the words and hummed mysteriously with a smile. Her answer was purposely drawn out in a way that made one curious like an itch needing to be scratched.

"My son, you must always remember that just because you have never heard or seen it, you must never rule out the possibility that it does exist. The world is so vast and boundless, to say that we have seen and heard everything life has to offer would be too conceited and arrogant. You must never become conceited or arrogant. Only with an open mind, would you be able to walk far on the path of cultivation."

"Awakening cultivation is the way of comprehending the world laws and transforming their power into our own. A narrow-minded person would not easily accept new ideas, perspectives and thoughts. How can one learn new things if they believe they know everything? This is no different to shutting off the endless possibilities opened to an awakener. The reason mother is so sure is because mother is a dual-attribute awakener."

Having said that, Elizabeth demonstrated her fire abilities. The flames dance freely on the tips of her fingers like it was alive. However, the flame was small and flickered with a weak light, contrary to the image of a powerful awakener Elizabeth was viewed by the people. Evidently, her fire abilities were not up to par with her metal abilities. In fact, there was no need for comparison between the two. One was the heavens and the other was down to earth.

"Mother seldom uses fire abilities, so not many know about it." Elizabeth explained.

'More like no one knows about it at all right?' Leon doubted. If anyone knew about his mother's dual attribute with fire, the breaking news would no doubt spread like wildfire. That is of course, unless the person was personally ordered to keep their mouth shut by his mother.

"So, it's true that awakeners can have multiple attributes, but why does no one else have it?"

Hearing her son's question, some pride swelled up inside Elizabeth. "This is the difference between natural awakening and forceful awakening. As mother has said, awakening cultivation is the way of comprehending the world laws. The greater your understanding, the more power you can draw from the world. If you can achieve a preliminary understanding of the element, you will be able to form the elemental seed. Therefore, mother stressed the importance learning the characteristics of each metal. How can you expect to control it if you don't understand it, right?"

"But this is exactly the case for forceful awakening. Forceful awakening through the awakening pills will trigger the elemental baptism and the elemental seed formed is decided by their body's affinity to the element. Their abilities will naturally come to them like muscle memory, but they will not understand the intricacy of their ability. This would result in basic control and 9th step is the absolute limit of their cultivation."

Listening to his mother's words with apt focus. He finally understood why his opponents only used basic techniques now that his doubts were cleared. Leon put on a strange look and asked, "Do you think triple attribute is possible, mother?"

"Theoretically yes." Elizabeth answered. She was confounded by his question and continued with a question of her own, "But why do you ask, son?"

"Because…"

Leon didn't finish his words. He judged that demonstrating was quicker than explaining. A ball of flame appeared in his right hand and a weak frosty mist rose from his left.

"This is… ice attribute!? Wait… why did you make mother explain everything, if you already know everything, you little rascal?" Elizabeth was briefly shocked by Leon's second attribute, before realizing that her son may have already known the intricacy of the awakener cultivation system.

"Uh… I didn't know anything, mother. Your son gained his second element through… a different method." Leon answered awkward.

"Oh? There are other methods? Hmm… Is it possible for a natural awakener to reawaken through the forceful method? No… that doesn't seem possible. A normal person can only have affinity to one element. Quick, tell mother what method you used to gain your second element."

Elizabeth mused to herself. She wrapped her head around the possibility of gaining dual attribute outside of hard work in studying the elements. She didn't notice her son's awkwardness and soon asked with keen interest.

"Err… well… alright."

Leon found it embarrassing to openly talk about his love affair, but he ultimately steeled himself and explained his matter with Lynne to his mother and how his ice ability naturally came as a result of their copulation. When he finished explaining to his mother, his face was covered with shame even though he had only briefly talked about the deed.

Cough*

Elizabeth also found it awkward. She hadn't expect such and answer from her son, she took a moment to recover herself.

"Although you already have a fiancée, mother won't care too much about this matter. Powerful men are destined to have more than one wife. Just find some time to bring that Lynne girl to meet mother in the future, okay? We would need to set a wedding date, so you can quickly deliver a grandchild for mother to hold, but that can wait until after your father is cured."

Elizabeth was happy to see her son have multiple wife. It goes to show how excellent her son is, and she would be even happier if she could have a grandchild to hold. She didn't have much chance to hold her son when he was a baby since he was taken from her, but she at least still had chances to hold her son's child.

Elizabeth's attitude towards her son was clear and did not extend to her husband. If her husband ever dares to look for other women after he wakes up, then she would break his legs, all three of them if she had to.

"Err… yes, mother." Leon answered perfunctory. Inwardly, he thought he wasn't ready for children. It was an unforgiving world. He wanted to at least create a stable environment. As such, it was too early for him to consider it for now.

…

When the serious talk about her son's love life was over, Elizabeth put on a serious face and move back to important business.

"Mother believes you have a special body constitution; however, it isn't exactly good news."

"Why is that, mother?"

Leon hadn't found any problems with his ice ability so far. He still planned to awaken the other 3 attributes to complete his five-element cycle.

Leon began listening to his mother's reason why having many elements was not good. The reason was quite simple. It was better to focus wholeheartedly on a single elemental ability than to be a jack of all trades and master of none. His mother's fire ability wasn't strong because she only focused on cultivating her metal ability. That was why she was so powerful. If she had cultivated her two elemental abilities equally, her cultivation might only be half as strong.

Unfortunately, becoming a jack of all trade was precisely what Leon intended to do! He had no choice but to do it since the 5 elements were required to compliment his [Hegemony of Primal Chaos] technique.

Leon began to lament that he may have made a mistake in choosing to cultivate the [Hegemony of Primal Chaos]. The technique required a bottomless pit of energy.

However, while there was bad news, there was also good news. The world had boundless amount of energy of the 5 elements. If he can comprehend the 5 elemental laws through awakening cultivation to a high level, it would boost his divine cultivation speed drastically and increase his mastery over the [Hegemony of Primal Chaos] technique, which was still at the initial success of the first stage.

"Alright, with all that out of the way, mother can finally teach you the [Great Sky Refining Art]."

In the present age, the [Great Sky Refining Art] might seemed like an incredible breathing technique, but to Leon, who came from a world of cultivation, the technique was actually incredibly low level. It was comparable to Energy Condensation level techniques. It simply used a set of different pathways through the meridians to absorb and refine the energy of the world. When his mother finished imparting the technique to Leon, he was so surprised he was slack-jawed.

"T-That's it?"

"Mm, That's it, but not all."

Not all?---

Before he could continue his line of question, Elizabeth grabbed him. His vision blurred with a strong gust of wind and before he knew it, he was in front of a building with a plaque that says, 'Royal Library'.

Elizabeth quickly entered the building and came back out shortly with a very thick book called [Myriad Metal Compendium Vol.1/10].

"Son, you need to finish reading this book and learn all its content by heart, before attempting to use the [Great Sky Refining Art] to form your metal seed."

The thick book had at least two thousand pages and there were 10 volumes to it. Leon's eyes were like saucers and wanted to faint.

His road to the top of the world was bound to be a long and arduous one.

Chapter 96 - Falling From The Skies

The world did not know that while the metal attribute was hailed as the strongest element, it is not. The five basic elements of nature were equal. They each have their own advantages and disadvantages. It was only due to the royal family's vast possession of cultivation knowledge that they were able to bring out the best of their abilities.

A lot of preparation was required for metals to be in their strongest form. The metal element wasn't readily useable for metal-users as elements does for other awakeners. Without processing the ores, metal would still be buried tens to hundreds of feet beneath the earth, making metal-users be like birds without wings. Thus, depending on the environment, they could become a natural domain for the awakener. Like the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot repress the local snake.

When Leon was handed the [Myriad Metal Compendium Vol.1/10], he had no intention to start reading any time soon. Although it looked like headache to read the entire book, it was not a problem for Leon. He had an advantage that no one else in Gaia had; his divine sense. With a sweep of his divine sense, he could read the book hundreds of times faster than he could with his trained eyes.

But to learn the contents of the book, he would have to sweep the book numerous times and digest the information slowly. This was not a problem for Leon. The problem was that it was very taxing to use his divine sense beyond his body for extended periods. Divine State practitioners could naturally sweep hundreds of meters of their surrounding with their divine sense freely, but Leon was no longer a Divine State practitioner. The usage of his divine sense would naturally be limited as a result his lack of cultivation and spirit body.

Before going back to recover his peak state and resume pill concoction, there was a something he needed to clarify with his mother.

"Mother, did we fly over just now?" Leon asked suspiciously.

The feeling had only lasted a brief moment, but the weightlessness and air brushing feeling made him believe his mother was capable of flight.

"Hoho, you are very perceptive, son. Yes, we have flown over just now." Elizabeth answered. She didn't expect her son to be able to perceive anything, given the speed they had travelled at just now.

Hearing his mother's confirmation, Leon suddenly realized something. He understood why his mother's body was adorned with all those accessories and trinkets. By manipulating these items, his mother was capable of flight. But such method wasn't considered true flight.

Divine practitioners were capable of true flight at the Heaven Ascension Realm, but one only need to reach the Energy Condensation Realm and refine a spirit sword to be able to soar through the skies. However, awakeners were still one step ahead of divine practitioners to be able to fly so early at this stage in cultivation. Perhaps he was also capable of flying at his current awakening cultivation.

After Leon bade farewell to his mother, he headed back to his courtyard. The room was being cleaned by palace maids. Their smoky-black faces showed their unhappiness with the job, but they did not dare to direct it at him, the culprit.

"Your Highness." The guards greeted upon entry.

"Mm." Leon acknowledged their greeting with a nod and found himself a spot in the courtyard to sit down and practice his [Hegemony of Primal Chaos]. The world's energy gathered to him in a slow but steady stream.

Half an hour later, his cultivation didn't increase but he had recovered to his peak mental state.

"Your Highness, the pill cauldron you ordered."

The palace guard took the chance to inform him of the pill cauldron delivery. It had arrived much earlier, but seeing the prince cultivating, he chose not to disturb and waited quietly. Every awakener knew better than to disturb another awakener's cultivation.

"What is your name?" Leon asked. He was not ignorant of the guard's small action of consideration. Although it wouldn't cause any detrimental effects if he was disturbed during cultivation, he still had a good impression of the guard.

"I-It is Howard, your highness."

After being taken aback the prince's sudden interest in his name, the guard was flattered by the honor.

"Thank you, Howard. You can just leave the pill cauldron there."

Leon didn't say too much and set aside the pill cauldron for another matter.

"Fire-users should also be capable of flight, right?"

He silently pondered as he entered a strange leaping stance.

Howard joined the other palace guards as they watched the prince. They couldn't understand his highness wanted to do.

"What do you guys think his highness is trying to do?" Howard whispered to the guards.

"I feel like his highness is trying to jump."

"Are you being serious? Would jumping require such an exaggerated leaping stance?"

Their questions were answered in the next startling moment.

A strong burst of fire impacted the ground where the soles of Leon's feet were, and his figure was shot high into the skies swiftly. Leon was no stranger to flight, but it was under the circumstance that he had full control over his ability to fly. Flying through clever usage and control of his fire ability was a new experience to him, and he had no mastery over this new skill.

The moment he started free falling from the skies, not only did he started panicking, even Howard and the palace guards started panicking. If he didn't break his fall, the injuries he would sustain from such high fall would not be light.

"Quick! Get ready to catch his highness!" Howard shouted to the other guards.

The palace guards were all earth-users and had no way of controlling the earth to help with the entire place made of metal. They could only stretch their arms out and shuffling back and forth chaotically, while looking up.

Falling headfirst, Leon tried to break his fall by thrusting the air using his fire ability with great force and was launched even higher into the skies.

…

Elizabeth was on her way to the outer palace when the soft bang forced glance back from her. What she saw made her heart freeze with fright. Just when she was about to fly over and catch her free-falling son, she paused her steps. Her son had shot back up into the skies with a burst of fire.

She watched as her son flipped and spin in the sky chaotically as he tried to regain his bearing. She sighed in relief when Leon seemed to have become familiar with his fire flight ability and was able to hover in the sky stably.

"Haih… this child… doesn't even realized how much he is making his mother worried." Elizabeth shook her head with a distressed yet amusing smile. She was surprised by her son's quick wits and intuitiveness. He was able to derive from her flight ability and gain enough insight to not only create his own flight ability but master it in such a short time.

Indeed, there was no weak element and only weak awakeners. An awakener's abilities are only limited by their own imagination. Her son was a genius with such remarkable and skillful flame control.

Elizabeth mood was jubilant, but she had mix feelings about Leon's attainments in his fire ability. She naturally wished for Leon to be a metal-user, but he had already found his own path in the fire element.

"Haih…"

Elizabeth heaved another sigh and continued her trip to the outer palace. The ruler of Crawford Kingdom was required to be a metal-user as set by their ancestors, but she could only worry it later as she currently had things to settle.

The moment she took her eyes off her son, he suddenly fell out of the sky.

…

Leon had become familiar with his new flight ability and continued testing different maneuvers in the sky with growing interest. This method of flying was much more exciting than how Energy Condensation Realm practitioners fly by surfing on their spirit swords.

He was having a lot of fun in the sky when he suddenly unable to produce anymore fire essence to keep him afloat in the skies and started plummeting. He was immediately shocked! He had depleted his fire essence reserves!

"Ahhhh!"

"Your highness!"

The palace guards shouted. They couldn't rest easy the entire time with Leon flying in the sky, even after he had mastered his flight ability. The queen had put them in charge of his safety and they were always under constant fear that their heads would roll if they didn't do a good job. Thus, they had never relaxed their guard and... finally something happened!

When Leon plummeted, they immediately reacted!

Howard was one step ahead and broke Leon's fall by catching him with a forward leap. The two landed on the ground with a bang, but not much damage was received from the crash.

"Are you alright, your highness?" The guards asked.

"I'm alright. Thanks for catching me." Leon said as he picked himself off the ground and dusted his clothes with some embarrassment. To think that he had overlooked his fire seed's fast depleting essence reserve.

The expenditure of flying was tremendous and at his current level, he was only capable of short flight. However, he had gained much insight from the short flight and feel his fire flight ability could still be improved. With better control, he would be able to reduce his consumption to some degree. Otherwise, he could just improve his cultivation.

Chapter 97 - One Star Advancement

Atop the Great Wall, the watchers on duty stared at the lonely figure of the general marquis gazing into the Wildlands, sometimes lost, sometimes deep in thought. They couldn't figure what was weighing on the general marquis's mind, but it must have something to do with the events of the past days.

As the general marquis, Hendrick Graham stood at the apex of the military hierarchy and oversaw the entire operations of the western frontier. It was a grand and lofty position but came with an equally heavy responsibility that only those who stood in his position would understand the crushing weight bearing down on his shoulders.

Even with the Great Wall and increasingly sophisticated weaponry the soldiers were equipped with, defending the wall was no easy task. Each command given could result in the death of many good soldiers. The general marquis had to ensure every course of action the made were the best there was and the long years of serving the western frontier had drained him.

The news of no war was like heavenly hymns to the troops stationed on the western frontier. The stress, anxiety and fears were like water vapors that disappeared into the air. The mood was naturally a light and relaxed one after the beast army left the words to stay out of each other's way.

However, the general marquis felt the atmosphere of the western frontier was wrong. It would indeed be no problem if what the transcendent beast said was true. But if it was a lie, their complacency would be the downfall of humanity. They shouldn't be lowering their guard.

But on another note, they would not be able to stop the beast army with the Transcendent beast around anyway. The Hero King, whom was the first to ever Transcendent to appear in the history of mankind should have enjoyed a long life that transcended mortality, but the Transcendent disappeared without a trace. Without a Transcendent of their own, any resistance was futile should the beasts choose to invade.

With that thought in mind, although he was conflicted, he had no choice but accept things as the way they are.

The general marquis felt the weight being lifted off his shoulders and entered a special state of deep relaxation. It was like he had just been released from a long-time suppression. All his pores opened in sync with his breathing and the wind in the world was greedily sucked into his body, invoking a whirlwind with himself at the center.

He had long hit the peak 9th step and the quantity of his wind essence would not increase. The wind failed enter his body and started to circulate outside his body instead.

"What's happening to the general marquis?"

"How is the general marquis able to gather so much wind to himself?"

The watchers were surprised. Even the nearby garrison were attracted to the scene.

Hendrick's body was lifted off his feet and rose into the skies. In a state of emptiness, he felt he was one with the wind and able to comprehend its profundities. The wind circulated into a dense sphere of wind and created a vacuum.

The wind essence inside his wind seed also mimicked the outside phenomena and started compressing itself. Compression created room and the wind essence outside was channeled inside.

The garrisons were awed by the scene.

"Is the general marquis transcending?"

Someone suddenly thought. The eyes of the listeners lit up. That could be the case! Even if a transcendent could not turn the western frontier in humanity's favor, at least they would not be as helpless like fish on the chopping board.

"No! not right. A Transcendent was said to have at least tenfold the strength of a peak 9th step awakener!"

"You're right! But you can't deny that force generating by the general marquis has already exceeded the peak 9th step!"

Inside an air vacuum, one could not breathe. As such, the general marquis, whom had been inside for a while had hit his limit. His face was red like a tomato. The lack of oxygen broke his state of emptiness and he willed for the sphere of wind to disperse in all direction.

His body slowly descended back on the wall.

"Congratulations on transcendence, General!"

The soldiers shouted congratulations with fist-palm salutations.

"This wasn't transcendence."

Hendrick Graham shook his head at his men's comment. He did no transcended. At most, he had entered the transitioning step to Transcendence. Transcendence was not achieved in a single step.

"So, in order to advance beyond the 9th step, one had to compress energy and not gather them."

Hendrick mused. He had been enlightened on the way to transcendence. He was not disappointed

Although he had not transcended, his discovery had pried opened the door to transcendence.

The general marquis did not keep his discovery a secret and shared his experience and knowledge with the soldiers.

The road to transcendence had finally been opened!- was what the soldiers all thought.

The events of today will bring forth the booming era of cultivation. No matter how much the royal family had suppressed the secret and kept it to themselves in the past, it would not stop the era from coming. What is bound to come, will eventually but without a doubt, come.

After settling matters at the Great Wall, Hendrick decided to visit his son and check on his recovery.

…

Royal hospital, private ward.

"Young master."

A middle-aged man in butler attire entire the ward and greeted the young man laying on the hospital bed.

"Have you procured the information I inquire, Enzo?" Rowan Graham asked.

Enzo was the servant of the Graham House; Hendrick had sent to tend to his son's daily needs.

"Yes, young master. Here are my findings." Enzo handed over a piece of paper filled with information pertaining to patient at the hospital.

Several days ago, while Rowan was resting in bed, he was able to overhear some interesting gossips among the passing nurses and doctors outside of his flawed sound insulated private ward.

They talked about witnessing a divine miracle, where an ordinary patient had practically full recovered overnight after suffering a serious wound that required 6 months to recover. It had caused quite a sensation in the hospital and the gossip about the patient did not cease for days.

The news had immediately caught Rowan's interest. He figured such fast recovery could only be due to some miracle elixir refined by an esteemed alchemist. He had inquired about this patient's identity but had unfortunately be denied by the hospital nurses and doctors.

The Royal hospital followed a strict confidentiality policy and would not diverge their patient credentials to outsiders. Only immediate family members had the right to have a look. Being refused so flatly, Rowan had no choice but to send Enzo to investigate and acquire the information he desired, either by hook or by crook.

Indeed, there's no walls you can't get around. Everyone had some selfishness in their heart. Enzo just had to find the right person and offer the right price, and he would be able to get the information he wanted. The hospital had strict policy, but it didn't mean everyone would abide by it. There were always bad eggs mixed among good ones.

Rowan read through information on the patient and immediately creased his brows.

The report read as follows;

Name: Brian Bradford

Gender: Male Age: 42

Status: Commoner, normal.

Occupation: N/A

Address: N/A

There wasn't much he could gain out of the piece of paper on hand, but what he did gain, made him suspicious to the authenticity of the information.

"Enzo, is this information accurate? How can a commoner afford the operation fees charged by the Royal hospital? A commoner also has a family name? This person must at least be from an aristocrat family, right? But I haven't heard of any Bradford Aristocrat family living in the Upper District."

"The information is correct, young master. I have scoured the Upper District and there is indeed no such family by that name. However, there is one in the Lower District. Unfortunately, no one was home when I visited. It felt like the home was abandoned. There were also some traces of battles outside their home." Enzo answered patiently, without withholding any information from Rowan.

"So, the person truly was a commoner?" Rowan had disappointment written over his face.

How can a commoner be acquainted with the respectable alchemists in the kingdom? Rowan's hope of finding the esteemed alchemist capable of refining divine healing pills through the patient was dashed. If he could move with his own limbs again, why would he still need to practice his wind control? Where could this missing commoner have gone?

"Sigh…"

"Tell me more about this battle scene. Had there been any big waves in the city recently? "Rowan said with furrowed brows.

"Yes, in fact, it's the main reason I returned earlier than planned. The Grey, Weld, Esmond and Acker family have banded together and tried to ambush the Lancaster family. No big fights broke after, but the four families have been acting very suspicious. For your safety, we should leave the capital immediately, young master."

"The four families banded together attack the Duke's family…? Have they gone mad!?"

Rowan roared in shocked at the news. That's the Duke's family, they are talking about! Someone who dares to fight the Duke's family was either a complete fool or confident in taking on the Duke's wrath!

Whatever it is they want to achieve, he wanted no part in it.

"Quickly get me the hell out of here!"

Chapter 98 - The Cauldron Lid That Ascended The Heavens

Back at the Inner Palace, the palace maids had finished cleaning Leon's room after much difficulty. The metallic texture of the room should have made wiping stains a simple task, but the aftermath of pill cauldron explosion had scorched the room with blackened remains of the pill concoction. The remains had seeped into the surface of the room and made it particularly difficult to scrub off. the bed mattresses, blankets and pillow particularly had to be swapped out for new ones.

By the time the palace maids were done, the bedroom was as good as brand new and sparkling clean. However, they were exhausted at the hard labor and their faces were covered in black smudges. They were vexed at the prince for making their life difficult.

The inner palace had a specially designed pill refinement room for alchemists. Why did the prince had to use his own bedroom and not the specially designed one!?

"Hmph!"

They harrumphed out of the courtyard. Towards this, Leon could only put on a forced smile. He had not known the existence of such a room within the palace. However, after staying many days in the palace, he had pretty much familiarized himself with it. The royal palace was very large, enough to be considered a small city in and of itself. Within its walls in addition to the two palatial buildings, there many other smaller buildings like the royal library and treasury.

One particularly large gateway stood out among the many sights Leon took in within the palace grounds. It was one of the few places he had yet to explore within the palace grounds, but he had an inkling that on the other side lied the entrance to the underground ruins.

Watching the departing backs of the palace maids, it was apparent that the attitude of these maids was quite special. Even the guards, whom were stronger than him still showed him respect, but these maids didn't bother to hide their discontent. It could even be said that they were feisty and weren't afraid of displeasing him.

Leon shook his head and no longer paid attention to them. It was just a small episode he didn't need to pay heed to.

In the private courtyard, He had been sitting outside in cross-legged position to cultivate. He did not move inside his bedroom. The open environment of the outside was more suitable for cultivating.

Although he was unable to perfect his flight ability these past days, he had been able to develop another method of flight with his ability to tackle the high energy expenditure of flying. The second method involved condensing fire wings with his fire essence.

This method had extremely low expenditure as he could recover the fire essence back into his fire seed. However, there were pros and cons to everything.

Condensed fire wings grant him long airtime but sacrifices his speed, while the fire thruster method had short airtime for extreme speed.

In battle, the fire thruster flight method was still more suitable as the fire wings were too big of a target for his opponents. Once they get cut apart, all the invested fire essences in the severed wing would be lost.

But that was only under the circumstance of them being capable of fighting him in the air. If they could not, then the problem did not exist. Either way, the fire flight ability could be considered a lifesaving skill that will allow him to escape from danger.

With that settled, Leon resumed focus on the 5-Element Enhancing Pill. He had not succeeded in creating the pill, but he had already given it a name, albeit a simple one derived from the Spirit Enhancing Pill.

Leon glanced at the new pill cauldron that had been sitting in his courtyard for some time. It was bigger, thicker and hopefully much sturdier, roughly the size of a watermelon. He wasn't sure if the palace guards had picked the sturdiest available pill cauldron in storage, but the new pill cauldron was of a much higher grade than the trashy old one.

While inspecting the pill cauldron, Leon concluded the quality of the pill cauldron was just a step short of being graded as a spirit treasure.

Leon had an inkling of how to proceed after the initial failure. However, in the case that he still fails, then the explosion would be much more potent than the last.

"Everyone stay back. If anything goes wrong, it could become life threateningly dangerous. Do not approach the pill cauldron under any circumstances."

Leon warned the guards.

"Your safety is our greatest concern, your highness! Please allow us to stay within proximity to protect you!"

The palace guards protested. What a joke. If something happened to the prince, they wouldn't be spared from the queen's fury! Even if they care about their own life, they had to protect the prince in order to protect themselves! Such contradictions! But it is what it is.

Leon frowned at their strong protest. It didn't seem like they would accept it any other way.

"Fine, but you must also protect your own life. I will naturally worry about my own life if something goes wrong." Leon conceded.

"Yes, your highness!"

With the second portion of the 5 spirit herbs laid out in front of him, Leon commenced his second attempt at pill concoction.

The first two steps of pill concoction were a repeat of last time; preheating the cauldron and herbal essence extraction step. The steps proceeded quickly, and finally arrived at the merging step once more.

This step was the most important and also the most difficult step in pill concoction. Leon tossed all five herbal essences in the pill cauldron and forced them to merge under his will. The expected resistance began to occur. When this was happening, Leon started channeling his pseudo-Grandmist energy into the chaotic essence in hopes that it would succeed this time.

His pseudo-Grandmist energy was the product of the five basic elements fusing perfectly. It was most suitable catalyst to help the herbal essences merge.

When the energy was mixed with the chaotic herbal essence, the merge did not occur like he had hoped. In fact, the results of the contact were as he had feared! The chaotic herbal essence grew even more chaotic!

Leon had focused his full concentration on the chaotic herbal essence. The moment something went wrong, he knew immediately, but he could not fathom why it was happening.

Why!?

Logically thinking, the pseudo-Grandmist energy should have merged the herbal essences perfectly.

Leon frowned as his mind was racing for an answer. He wanted to ponder the issue further, but the chaotic herbal mix of essence and energy wasn't going to give him that time.

"Maybe I'm not using enough pseudo-Grandmist energy?"

When the additional energy was added into the pill cauldron, the chaotic herbal essence started to calm down, but it still refuses to merge. Leon was disappointed. The fact it was calming down was a positive reaction! He just needs to add more energy.

"It's working!"

Leon was excited and started pouring in more energy, ignoring the fact that it was lowing his own divine cultivation.

However!

Things never go as planned! Man proposes, but God disposes! The chaotic herbal essence started reacting more violent and at an alarming rate!

Since there had been no time to ponder the issue previously, Leon was prompted to come up with a solution spontaneously. He thought the solution he came up with was good, but it was in fact the worse one he could have come up with!

The calmness was an illusion. The chaotic herbal essence was just taking its time to break down the energy like dropping salt in water. The dissolution would not be completed immediately, but when it does, the broken-down energy was really reactive to the chaotic herbal essence.

He was already cooking up a shitstorm, the additional energy was like adding oil into the fire. The chaotic herbal mixture reached a boiling point, and nothing can no longer stop what was about to happen.

Leon paled at the imminent explosion. He slammed the cauldron lid on top to seal the cauldron and retreated at his quickest speed.

"Everyone get back now!"

KABOOM!!

The explosion was earthshaking. The queen was alarmed! The guards and maids were alarmed! The whole palace was alarmed! The king was… not.

…

Elizabeth shocked at the earthshaking explosion and raced outside, before taking to the sky to look at the source of the explosion.

She saw a rising pillar of flame coming from her son's courtyard and was relieved. Why relieved? Because she could see at the foot of the pillar of flame, the pill cauldron was surprisingly intact, and no one was harmed by the explosion.

Leon had no idea how the pill cauldron was able to withstand the force of such a huge explosion, but thanks to it, the force was very controlled and escaped towards the skies.

Everyone had came outside to take a look at the spectacle of rising flame pillar. Even the reclusive Crazy Don, who was always holed up in his pill concoction room exited for a curious look.

"T-T-This… this is… art!"

Crazy Don exclaimed in appreciation and awe. He had never seen a more majestic and beautiful explosion.

The flame pillar rose to a certain height before hitting the limit and slowly began to disperse in all directions.

However, at the forefront of the flame pillar, the lid of the pill cauldron continued rising with ever growing momentum like it was trying to ascend the heavens!

Chapter 99 - The Seniority Is Messed Up!

The rising flame pillar of dazzling colors had been short-lived, and its brilliance had faded into the darkness of the night sky. But even after it was gone, it had succeeded in leaving behind its mark on the world as its image had successfully been etched into the minds of all who witness its splendor. The cauldron lid that threatened to break through the vault of heavens disappeared beyond sight. It was unknown whether it would ever come back.

The firework was gone but the onlookers continued to stay rooted in awe. The number of onlookers were not limited to the people within the palace grounds. From the Upper District to the Lower District, its viewers covered the entire capital. Being situated in the center of the capital, it was difficult for anyone out and about on its streets to miss such a stunning phenomenon in the central sky.

…

From a corner of the capital, there were shadowy figures lurking in the dark that did not take a pleasant surprise to the event. Instead, the sight instilled uneasiness and concerns in the figures. They couldn't comprehend what the flame pillar signifies.

"What was that beacon of light? Is that some sort of signal?"

"It came from the royal palace. It doesn't seem like good news for us."

"Focus on the task. We must complete the objective by dawn."

Another figure who seemed to be the leader of the group said sternly with a frown, when he noticed their distraction from the task at hand.

"Understood."

...

Back at the source of the capital's attention, some figures started arriving at the courtyard not long after the flame pillar had died out.

"Are you hurt, son?" Elizabeth checked Leon for injuries, despite knowing there was none.

"I'm alright, mother." Leon said helplessly but felt warm inside. Their talk was cut short by the entrance of another figure.

"Who created the towering flame pillar just now?"

An aged voice rang out through the courtyard as an old man entered. The old man clearly advanced in his years, but he held a noble bearing overflowing with vitality that was quite contrasting to those of his age.

"Crazy Don."

Elizabeth and the guards all greeted the old man with respect. Their respect did not come from his seniority nor his status as an alchemist, but genuine respect for someone stronger than themselves.

"Mmm." Crazy Don nodded. He wasn't offended by what he was called. This was what he told them to call him.

"Son, this is the alchemist I mentioned to you before." Elizabeth quickly did the introduction for the two.

"Senior Crazy Don."

Leon paid his respects to the elderly alchemist. He could feel a lofty pressure bearing down on him under the elder's gaze. This was a natural suppression from their difference in cultivation. He could feel it, but it didn't bother him.

"You were the one that made the flame pillar?"

"Yes."

Having received Leon's answer, the elder lapsed into silence. The elder wore a natural expression, but his thoughts were unreadable, and the situation felt tense due to the silence.

Elizabeth thought her son may have offended the elder somehow and was ready to speak up for her son. The elder's strength was at 9-stars, a step short from reaching transcendence. She wouldn't be able to protect her son if the elder wish to harm him. However, the following event made everyone gape in shock.

"Master, please accept this one as a disciple and teach art of explosion!"

Crazy Don dropped to his knees and kowtowed to Leon fervently. His actions and words bemused everyone, so much so that no one was able to react until he finished his kowtow.

"Senior, what are you doing? How can you ask someone young like my son become your master? Quickly get up!"

Elizabeth was the first to recover from her shock.

"Haih… I won't get up until I am accepted. Age is trivial. He, who is proficient is the master. I am complete convinced of my loss."

Everyone heard Crazy Don and they all thought the same thing; The elder has gone mad! Genuinely mad!

It was common knowledge that Crazy Don would explode his cauldron every day at least once during pill concoction. Never had it occurred to them that it wasn't a failed pill concoction, but an intended result induced by the eccentric elder.

Leon's first pill cauldron explosion was like a declaration of challenge to Crazy Don's secret passion and pursuit in the art of explosion. The elder's fighting spirit was ignited and sought to create a bigger explosion to contest with Leon.

When Leon attempted his second pill concoction, the earthshaking explosion was like a clap of thunder to the elder's heart and dispelled all notion of competing with Leon. Of course, Leon did not know any of this.

"Senior, please get up. We can talk about this after."

Leon assisted his mother in trying to get the elder to stand but he was vehement in kneeling until the elder was accepted as a disciple. Seeing the figure that was stable like a mountain and wouldn't budge, Leon conceded his demands and accepted the elder as a disciple.

"Fine. Senior, I will teach you, alright? Please get up now."

"Absolutely not!" Elizabeth protested strongly.

Crazy Don was like another father-figure to her husband after the old king disappeared. If he becomes a disciple to her son, he would become two generations younger than her husband! Wouldn't that mess up the seniority between them!?

"Hahaha, it's too late! The kid- no, my master has accepted!" Crazy Don jumped up jovially.

"Senior, the seniority will be messed up!"

"If I don't care about it, why should you care about it?"

For the art of explosion, he was willing to do anything~!

Oh, the majesty and beauty of that explosion… He had to learn how to create one as grand as that! Explosion is art, explosion is love. Crazy Don flashed a fevered look at Leon.

Elizabeth felt headache brewing… hmm?

"Wait a moment… senior wanted to learn the art of explosion from my son? Don't tell me all those explosions every day was…"

"Oh… those were intentional for my appreciation of the art. Ah, but compared to master's explosion, they were nothing but trash."

Crazy Don said plainly without any shred of guilt for wasting royal resources all this time. He didn't forget to bootlick Leon to earn himself some good points in hopes that he could start learning sooner.

Elizabeth's whole body shook with agitation. So shameless and thick-skinned! Was this a trait people gain as they grow older!? The royal family was well off but still… such extravagant waste!

She tried repressed her agitation. The royal family relied on Crazy Don and his Essence Strengthening Pills to cultivate. If the Essence Strengthening Pills are delivered regularly, the royal family can still afford this much waste.

However, Leon used spirit herbs for his pill concoction… so if the Crazy Don start asking for spirit herbs every day for his so-called explosion art then he might as well just go rob their treasury. Spirit herbs were rare. Even if the royal family was wealthy, they don't have that many spirit herbs.

"Mother will leave this matter for you to handle. Mother suddenly feel tired and need to go back and rest." Elizabeth said with a hint of fatigue.

Yes, Mother. Rest well." Leon sent his mother off.

She washed her hand of the matter and left the courtyard.

"When can I start learning how to make such a big explosion, master?" Crazy Don rubbed his hands and asked expectantly.

Leon did not answer him and just looked at him with a peculiar smile now that his mother was gone.

"Say… Crazy Don, I can't teach you how to make explosions, but I can still teach you alchemy instead." Leon said with a sly smile.

Without his pseudo-Grandmist energy, no one would be able to recreate his explosion… and the [Hegemony of Primal Chaos] wasn't something he was willing to teach others.

"You can't teach me how to recreate that explosion?" Crazy Don froze. "What do I need you for then? Do you think I need you to teach me alchemy, kiddo?"

"Haih… Crazy Don, don't you think your attitude is changing a tad too quick? It's faster than flipping a book. Is this how you talk to your master?"

"I don't have a master like you. Good day, kiddo." Crazy Don tried to escape. Since the kid can't teach, why should he stay and continue playing this master-disciple game?

"Haha… You can deny it all you want, but you have already kowtowed and accepted me as your master. That makes me your master, whether you like it or not. Like the saying goes, a teacher for a day is like a father for a lifetime."

Crazy Don paused his steps.

"What do you want exactly, kiddo? You can't teach me anything so, what trick are you trying to pull?"

"How do you know I can't teach you anything?"

Leon's lips curved into a grin. He succeeded in keeping the elder from leaving. He didn't doubt that once he starts teaching alchemy, the elder would be genuine convinced.

Wasn't this like gaining a super bodyguard? This unexpected pie had dropped out of the sky.

Leon wanted to laugh out loud.

Never in the history of alchemy, had this ever happened before. The elder didn't want to learn how to succeed in pill refining but how to fail them to create big and beautiful explosions!