Chapter 23: Jolod's Test (Please Follow)

Anna's words left Richard somewhat at a loss.

"I came here to submit a task, why are you trying to rope me in?"

"Join the Alchemy School, you have a strong talent in alchemy. This bottle of red mercury, even my mentor would struggle to achieve your level of purity, you're definitely a talent in alchemy."

Anna spoke with a righteous tone, and Richard almost believed her.

"But senior, I'm still a beginner apprentice and the minimum requirement for Master Jolod's disciples is an intermediate apprentice."

"Beginner apprentice?" Anna looked at Richard and suddenly frowned, a strong surge of spiritual power swept over him momentarily.

"That's impossible, you've already reached the standard of an intermediate apprentice."

"What?"

When Richard heard Anna's words, he was momentarily stunned. He had only recently reached a spiritual power of 16, still four points shy of the requirement for an intermediate apprentice. How could he have possibly become one overnight?

Seeing Richard's perplexed expression, Anna shook her head, "Maybe you did something that stimulated the growth of your spiritual power?"

"Did something?" Richard pondered for a while; the only special thing he had done recently was Bloodline Alchemy.

Could Bloodline Alchemy also enhance spiritual power?

While Richard was pondering, Chax suddenly spoke up from the side.

"It's probably the Rebound Effect. Richard, have you been practicing Bloodline Alchemy recently?"

Hearing Chax's words, Anna also noticed the incongruity in Richard's physiology; although he had adapted to his rapidly advancing physique, there were still some minor discrepancies due to such a short adaptation period.

"That's indeed the case."

"Then it's not surprising," Chax said with a knowing look.

"Senior Chax, what is this Rebound Effect?"

"It seems you haven't attended the Soul School's classes yet." Chax smiled, a flash of wisdom glinting across his shiny forehead.

"According to the research of the Soul School, our soul and body are not completely separated; there exists a covert connection between them.

This connection can balance the disparity between the body and the spirit.

When a creature's physique surges, its spiritual power increases as well, allowing its soul to utilize the body. The same goes the other way around; when spiritual power surges, the creature's physique also increases, enabling the body to accommodate a stronger soul."

Though Chax usually appeared like a greasy middle-aged man, when he discussed theories, his entire demeanor changed, and his previously somewhat comical shiny forehead now became a symbol of maturity and reliability.

"Simply put, if either spiritual power or the body is too strong, it will promote the growth of the other. After you practiced Bloodline Alchemy, your physique reached the level of an intermediate apprentice, but there was a significant disparity with your spiritual power, so your spiritual power also increased."

Having heard this, Richard suddenly understood,

"So that's how it is. Then, wouldn't it be possible for a knight's spiritual power to be enhanced if their physique is powerful enough?"

"In theory, yes," Chax nodded, "but the physiological limit of human beings is too low; even if they reach the so-called peak to become a high-level Knight, it's merely twenty-nine points of physique.

Compared to a wizard's meditation, this method of enhancing strength is far too inefficient.

Apprentice, how long did your session of Bloodline Alchemy take? Just an hour or two, and you achieved what some knights take decades to accomplish.

Moreover, spiritual power must connect to the Sea of Souls to be completely liberated; if a knight does not reach high level, the spiritual power gained through the Rebound Effect would merely be potential."

Richard thought about it, and indeed, what Chax had said was true.

"Apprentice, don't think about relying on physique to boost spiritual power; the Rebound Effect requires a significant difference between spiritual power and physique, such as your current situation where your spiritual power is at an intermediate apprentice, but your physique has reached the standard of an intermediate apprentice. Only in such situations will the Rebound Effect occur. If you become a wizard, this effect would change between a One Ring Wizard and a Second Ring Wizard."

As he spoke, Chax suddenly walked up to Richard and patted his shoulder.

"Our mentor has connections with many Alchemy Wizards, as long as you can become the mentor's formal disciple, later transforming your current bloodline to a more perfect bloodline formula is not impossible."

Obviously, Chax had mistaken Richard for an apprentice who conducted Bloodline Alchemy recklessly.

Richard forced a smile upon hearing this, silently vowing to himself that he would definitely add a twist to the materials refined in the Miracle Furnace in the future.

"Alright, Chax, step aside for now, whether you enter the Alchemy School depends on what Richard wants."

Anna pulled Chax aside, leaving Richard alone to ponder quietly.

Choosing a mentor was a serious matter, with the Academy having strict rules about switching mentors. If an apprentice rashly changed mentors, it could lead to a situation where no mentors in the Academy were willing to accept them.

Minutes later, Richard took a deep breath and looked steadfastly at Anna.

"Whew, I've made up my mind."

"I want to join the Alchemy School and become a disciple under Master Jolod."

"Good, I will take you to meet the mentor right now."

Anna clapped her hands, immediately dragging Richard up to the upper levels of the Black Tower.

On the ninety-ninth floor of the Central Black Tower, the Alchemy Wizard Jolod was busily engaged in his Synthetic Beast experiment.

As the Black Tower Wizard Academy's wizard with the highest Alchemy Skill, he possessed the best-protected laboratory in the entire Central Black Tower.

In this laboratory, unless the Central Black Tower collapsed, his experiments would not be disturbed at all.

"Roar! Roar!"

Watching the Synthetic Beast in front of him gradually disintegrate, Jolod, who had been failing continuously for a month, rubbed his temples and casually summoned a flame to reduce the beast's remains to ashes.

"Where exactly is the problem? What exactly is missing from the notes my mentor gave me?"

Jolod walked to his desk, somewhat headache-stricken as he looked at his own experimental notes.

Knock knock knock.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Anna brought Richard into the laboratory.

Upon entering the laboratory, Richard instantly felt a strong sense of shackles as though something was suppressing his magic power.

He looked around; the entire laboratory was made of black bricks engraved with runes, and though there were several Magic Lights on the ceiling, the laboratory remained very dim.

At the center of the laboratory was a black stone carved table, which divided the laboratory into two parts. On the right side of the laboratory, there were iron racks filled with glass containers of varying shapes, all containing a yellow liquid, within which various types of glands and organs were soaked.

On the other side, the left side of the laboratory, the walls were adorned with various anatomical atlases, and between these atlases stood a huge bookshelf filled with books, notes, and even manuscripts, which looked very cluttered.

Before the bookshelf stood a table where an old man with white hair was now deep in thought.

"Mentor, I've discovered an alchemy prodigy."

Anna, leading Richard over to the old man, placed a vial of red mercury onto the experiment table.

Wizard Jolod, the Alchemy Wizard widely recognized for accepting numerous apprentices, looked just like any ordinary old man with his graying hair, large beard, and full face of wrinkles.

But this was just the surface.

Richard noticed something unusual about Jolod's eyes; deep within his eyeballs was something strange—a myriad of tiny compound eyes!

Jolod opened the bottle and drew out a droplet of red mercury with a strand of magic power.

"Hmm? This purity... quite impressive."

After activating the red mercury to verify its potency, he fixed his gaze upon Richard.

In a moment, it felt like Richard was completely seen through as the eyes seemed to penetrate his clothes, skin, muscle, bones, all the way to his soul.

"Bloodline Alchemy, just became a low-level apprentice. To refine this purity of red mercury, he truly can be called a genius."

Jolod withdrew his gaze, commenting in a flat tone.

"Anna, you brought him here presumably for him to become your disciple, I trust your judgment, but we still have to go through the necessary procedures."

Having said that, Jolod pulled open a drawer of the table and, without looking, took out a crystal ball.

"Make this, and you're qualified."