Chapter 20 Bloodline Alchemy (Seeking Followers)

"Haha, this kind of thing that doesn't involve synthesis and only requires impurity removal can indeed be done using the Miracle Furnace."

Richard slapped his thigh, the whole person becoming excited.

For a long time, Richard had been using the Miracle Furnace to refine various pieces of information, and he hadn't used its function to refine materials. Now, having accepted the task of extracting red mercury, he was keen to see the capability of the Miracle Furnace in extracting materials.

"No."

But Richard didn't rush to refine; he remembered the explosive nature of red mercury.

"Red mercury is prone to explosion; it must be kept away from light after refining, and be safe from bumps and shakes. I need to buy a colored glass bottle."

No sooner said than done, Richard immediately went to the business district and bought a brown glass bottle.

Once back in his room, Richard took a fist-sized sunstone into his hands and chose to refine.

The next moment, Richard felt his magic power flowing towards a place he could not detect.

Refining consumed two-thirds of Richard's magic power, which meant that one unit of spiritual power was equivalent to ten units of magic power.

As the magic power dwindled, the sunstone in Richard's hand instantly appeared in the Melter, shrinking rapidly before his eyes, turning into a lump of golden, red liquid that appeared in Richard's hand.

Wrapped in magic power, the red mercury floated motionless in the air. Richard opened the newly purchased brown glass bottle and carefully guided the red mercury into the bottle with his magic power.

After all of it had entered the glass bottle, Richard brought over a large balance to weigh it.

A kilogram of sunstone had actually yielded fifty grams of red mercury.

"Have I been duped?" Richard was somewhat angry, but then he thought that thanks to the Miracle Furnace extraction, there was almost no loss. Ordinary apprentices could not use the materials as completely as he did.

So, it was understandable that one kilogram of sunstone could be refined into fifty grams of red mercury.

"Regardless, the task is completed. Even if I don't join Jolod, a hundred Magic Stones is a significant sum."

After refining the red mercury, Richard's life returned to normal.

Central Black Tower, library, dormitory - these three points made a straight line. Occasionally, he would join Ali for a meal and stroll through the commercial district; that was the entirety of Richard's life.

As for the task, Richard didn't go to submit it.

According to his experiments with the remaining sunstone, it would take at least a month for an ordinary apprentice to refine red mercury, and that was if everything went well and without mistakes. If there was a failure, the time could double or even more.

The tree that stands out in the forest is the one that gets cut down.

Moreover, Richard was not just excellent; he had an "external help."

Under these circumstances, Richard had to conceal his true power and set the time for submitting the task to three months after accepting it.

Apart from the task, during this time, Richard had been seeking materials for Bloodline Alchemy rather than exchanging for Magic Models to inscribe Magic Marks.

There are three essentials for a Wizard Apprentice: connecting to the Sea of Souls, establishing magic rebound, and inscribing Magic Marks. Inscribing Magic Marks allows a wizard to cast spells quickly, but as a low-level apprentice, Richard had very few spells he could exchange for now.

Bloodline Alchemy was different.

The formula Richard had extracted from those notes was called Black Knight, the first three stages of which could be undertaken during the apprenticeship phase, and the required bloodlines were not rare. The simplest first stage only needed a bloodline from a low-level Magic Beast called Black Iron Beast.

The fight with Saban had shown him how powerful a knight could become with the help of spells. And the purpose of Bloodline Alchemy was to enhance his physique.

Richard was clear that their current peaceful life was merely because they had just entered the Academy and were unfamiliar with many things.

As time passed, conflicts were sure to erupt among this group who had blood on their hands.

...

Three months later, in the Apprentice Self-Assessment Room.

[Spiritual Power 16.2, Physique 10, Magic Power 162, Rating: Entry-Level Apprentice.]

Looking at the data displayed in the crystal ball, Richard nodded in satisfaction.

After three months of grueling meditation, his spiritual power had finally broken through sixteen points.

"Three months to increase by one point, with this speed, I'll reach the standard of a low-level apprentice in a year. And this is the speed without changing the Meditation Method; if I can replace it with an Intermediate Meditation Method, this pace will be even faster!"

He also noticed his physique, according to the Academy's records, a knight attendant's physique ranges between ten to fifteen points, with fifteen being a formal knight, and surpassing twenty being a senior knight.

Richard had managed to elevate his physique to the level of a knight attendant, without any physical training whatsoever.

This was simply inconceivable.

If Ali from next door hadn't experienced the same thing, he would have doubted whether he had some Legendary Bloodline.

After leaving the testing room, Richard headed to the street of market stalls in the commercial district.

On this street, there were market stalls set up by apprentices who couldn't afford a shop.

Richard had no particular reason for his visit, purely because the prices here were cheap, suitable for finding bargains.

Looking left and right, Richard strolled around and actually spotted something he needed.

"Friend, how much for this claw?" Richard squatted in front of a market stall, looking at a claw on the stall that had a few Black Scales attached.

After many days of searching, Richard had finally found someone selling a Black Iron Beast.

The stall owner glanced at Richard, his brand-new wizard robe, his youthful face—it seemed he was a new apprentice, perfect for a good rip-off.

"Five hundred Academy Coins," the stall owner quoted the price.

"Hmm? With such poor quality, how dare you ask for the price of five Magic Stones?" Richard pointed at the claw and raised his voice in surprise.

"This is at most two hundred Academy Coins, no more."

"Two hundred?" The stall owner nearly jumped up from the ground upon hearing Richard's offer. He was here to rip off some clueless person, not to be the clueless one. "Why don't you go rob someone? Do you know how hard it is to kill a Black Iron Beast? At least four Magic Stones!"

"Four Magic Stones? Why don't you go rob someone?" Richard argued stubbornly, pointing out the defects on the claw and raising his voice, "The claws of this Black Iron Beast are all broken, and half of the metal scales on the skin have fallen off. Two hundred fifty at most, no more."

"Three hundred and fifty! That's the lowest I'll go."

"Three hundred! Any higher and I'll look somewhere else!"

Richard, feigning to leave, saw the stall owner's resolute attitude and bit the bullet, agreeing to Richard's price.

The claw had been laid out for three days now, and if it was not sold soon, it would rot, and the stall owner would be the one left holding the bag.

Seeing the stall owner gritting his teeth, Richard chuckled merrily, tossed down three Magic Stones, picked up the item, and left with a flourish.

Humming a tune, Richard carried the claw of the Black Iron Beast back to his dorm.

Although the claw of the Black Iron Beast was poor in appearance, it was intended to be used as alchemy materials.

Richard didn't buy it to make props.

"With this claw of the Black Iron Beast, the first part of the Bloodline Alchemy in my notes can be completed."