Agalon doesn’t seem to be doing this to insult me on purpose. He looks as surprised as I. Damn it, he’s eclipsed me his entire life, and his disciple is eclipsing mine too. Is Sven so stupid that he doesn’t realize that Agalon is trying to save my face?
Does he have to throw his own face to the ground and step on it?
Alonzo didn’t want to explain how Lin Yun won, but Sven and the other alchemists all asked. They wanted to know the truth.
Those alchemists wouldn’t mind if they were criticized about alchemy, but they represented the top forces of Noscent, and they wouldn’t admit an unreasonable failure.
The atmosphere became tenser and tenser. Many people looked at Lin Yun with nothing but fury, and yet Lin Yun was still squatting on the ground, as if something on the ground had attracted all of his attention.
The Lionheart Prince frowned, and finally asked, “Alonzo, what’s going on?”
The forest elves’ king was suddenly surprised, as if he had realized something. He glanced at Lin Yun with a smile of astonishment.
“We’re holding this contest because we’re short of a Saint Alchemist, but the contest is unnecessary now. What a remarkable young man.”
Lin Yun heaved a sigh and stood up in disappointment. He shook his head and stood behind Agalon.
Seeing Lin Yun back, Sven couldn’t hold any longer, and pointed at him excitedly.
“Mafa Merlin, do you really feel comfortable winning in such a way? Are you not ashamed as an alchemist? Sordid methods are not allowed on the path of pursuing the truth.
“Where’s your product? You don’t even have your product. Do you really think you deserve to win?”
After Sven stepped up, everybody else asked questions too.
“Four sirs, we cannot accept this. Why is he the winner even though he hasn’t made anything?”
“Exactly. Why does the last spot belong to him? He hasn’t done anything. It’s so unfair. It’s an insult to alchemy…”
Seeing that those people were not giving up, Agalon was still wearing a casual smile, but didn’t say anything. Alonzo, however, became ominous and furious.
“Idiots! You idiots! Are your brains as flawed as the products that you made?
“Damn it, when I say Mafa Merlin is the winner, he is the winner. Are you questioning my judgment? You idiots who know nothing but returns, you’re blessed by fate to have grown up to where you are, and you want to make further progress?
“Never mind. Even if you idiots don’t understand me, did you not hear what the elf king said? Jerks, if you would rather know the hard truth, I’ll let you know!”
Alonzo burst into a rage, and everybody fell silent.
The forest elves’ king shook his head, and extended his fingers. He snapped them. Instantly, all the grass within a radius of hundreds of meters withered and sprayed on the ground as ashes. The remaining materials where Lin Yun was standing were all incinerated.
The area within hundreds of meters turned into a desolate desert, and in the center of the desert, there was a shimmer of light.
In the center of all the ashes, a grass that was only three centimeters tall was still standing. The grass was not green, but had four colors. Its four hues were constantly replacing each other. Thanks to the feeble around it, the grass seemed to be wearing a tiny rainbow.
Upon seeing the grass, Sven became pale and shocked. He looked at the vulnerable colorful grass, astounded.
“That’s impossible… It’s impossible. How could he have done that in only a couple of hours?”
A few knowledgeable Artisans also looked at the vulnerable grass in shock. One of them was so shocked that he dropped his own magic tool, and exclaimed, “Making out of nothing! Oh my God, he… he is a Saint Alchemist!”
Immediately, everybody realized why Alonzo changed the winner in the end, even though he was angry, and why the forest elves’ king said that the contest was held because they were short of a Saint Alchemist…
Now that there was already a Saint Alchemist, the contest was meaningless. No competition was needed. Even if Lin Yun didn’t make anything, he would still have the last spot.
Then, all the Artisans became completely pale. It was not until this moment that they realized what they had done.
Agalon hadn’t said anything, because he had been saving Alonzo’s face in front of so many people. However, they had forced him to confess the truth.
Alonzo and Agalon had been competing for years. Their main field of competition was alchemy. Unfortunately, neither of them could prove themselves better.
Naturally, the competition was extended to their disciples. If Lin Yun had won by a slight edge, then it would’ve been nothing. After all, a disciple couldn’t fully represent his master.
However, one of the disciples turned out to be a Saint Alchemist, and the other wasn’t. Everybody was fully aware of the difference.
They were in completely two different levels, even though they seemed close. They were as different from each other as a Heaven Rank mage was from a Magic Apprentice.
How many Artisans were out there in Noscent? Nobody had ever counted, because their population was not small. There were more than 20 Artisan researchers in the Starry Sky College at this moment, and there were even more who weren’t researchers.
It was pointless to count the Artisans. However, everybody knew how many Saint Alchemists there were in Noscent. All of the Artisans here could even recite all of the Saint Alchemists’ names.
That was the gap!
Artisans could only create items that were tolerated by the laws of the world. The best an Artisan could create would be a Magic Tool Incarnation. All the things they created were dead.
Also, to create anything, an Artisan had to prepare the materials in advance. Getting to the bottom of it, they were just strong alchemists.
Artisans were as different from Saint Alchemists as mortals were from the extraordinary people, however. The gap could hardly cross.
Saint Alchemists were best known for their ability to create things that had never existed in this world as they were getting in touch with the truth of the world. Normally speaking, the things that they created could be new lives.
Only the alchemists who boasted such power could be called Saint Alchemists.
The grass, which carried the power of earth, fire, water, and water, and which was as vulnerable as any other grasses, might have been neglected elsewhere, but in this place, they all knew that it was a new life that Lin Yun had created, even though the grass was so weak and useless.
The grass, which only carried symbolic significance at best, was a sign that Lin Yun had become a Saint Alchemist.
Immediately, all the questions were gone. A Saint Alchemist didn’t need to show their product at all. His identity could already make all the Artisans admit that they weren’t as good as him. In the field of alchemy, luck didn’t play any role.
All the alchemists wore complicated expressions. They were angry to lose to Sven, but none found it unacceptable to lose to Lin Yun who was a Saint Alchemist, because they couldn’t win.
Alonzo gazed at Lin Yun for a couple of seconds. Then, he heaved a sigh.
“Mafa Merlin, you’re very good. I don’t think Agalon has taught you a lot. It’s just your own talent.
“Also, I noticed that you hesitated, and didn’t know what to do at the beginning. So, I believe that Agalon must’ve been too proud to tell you anything about the contest in advance.
“If my feeling is correct, you were not a Saint Alchemist yet before the contest. You didn’t carry any power of creation.
“You became a Saint Alchemist just now, didn’t you?”
What Alonzo said shocked everybody again.
He just became a Saint Alchemist? Why could someone pick the day of becoming a Saint Alchemist? Was it a joke?
All the Saint Alchemists had advanced by chance. They might have inspirations or epiphanies when they were creating something. However, none of them could decide when they could become Saint Alchemists.
That was not something that could be controlled, because alchemists were seeking the truth. They wouldn’t be able to make a breakthrough until they touched the truth. They weren’t like mages who knew that they would advance after they accumulated enough mana and learned enough laws.
The breakthrough of a mage was predictable. However, alchemists were different.
Everybody stared at Lin Yun, waiting for his answer. Sven gazed at him with bloodshot eyes, as if he were grasping at a straw.
As the other disciple, Lin Yun was already a Saint Alchemist, which was shocking enough. Even more shockingly, he had become a Saint Alchemist right here…
So, the strange waves and behavior a moment earlier were because the man was trying to become a Saint Alchemist?
Faced with Alonzo’s question, Lin Yun hesitated for a moment, and nodded and confessed the truth.
“I did hesitate for a moment because I didn’t know what I was best at. Potions, magic tools, alchemy puppets, alchemy arrays. They’re all the same to me. I’m not really the best at one of them.
“Since it was a contest, I had to try becoming a Saint Alchemist, but it was harder than I thought. The fusion of four elements was difficult. This is the largest plant that I can create.”
Lin Yun heaved a sigh regretfully. After all, it was rather infuriating that the plant he created was only symbolic. Saint Alchemists were best known for their ability of creation, although the ability wouldn’t be useful until they reached high levels. At this moment, he could only create useless stuff like grass.
But it couldn’t be helped. To become a Saint Alchemist in the Heaven Rank was very difficult. What he had done was quite remarkable.
The three deans of the Starry Sky College might have more knowledge and experience, but they weren’t much better at creation than Lin Yun. The ability of creation was quite useless in this phase.
There weren’t real Saint Alchemists in this age, only experts who had barely become Saint Alchemists. Gandaph and Agalon were similar in a way.
The journey of a Saint Alchemist included 10,000 steps. Lin Yun had just finished the first step. Gandaph, a couple of steps. Agalon, 100 steps at most. There was still a long way ahead.
Lin Yun was fully aware of that. Naturally, he wasn’t really proud of becoming a Saint Alchemist. Of the 108,000 truth runes in his Demiplane, he had only grasped 10,000. The more he grasped, the more difficult it would be to grasp new ones. He probably would have to ignite the God Fire before he fully grasped the 108,000 truth runes.
After a rough calculation, he needed to learn at least 50,000 truth runes for the Saint Alchemist’s ability of creation to work. Until then, the ability would be useless against Heaven Rank experts.
What was the use of the grass he created except to be used as an ornament? It would wither in a couple of days. It couldn’t even reproduce.
Lin Yun didn’t consider it a big deal. Sven, however, looked so bitter as if he had just eaten a mouthful of sh*t. He didn’t know what to say. He had completely lost the contest without any chance of a comeback.
The contest was completely over. All the alchemists left quickly. They had already seen and learned many things that they shouldn’t have on this day. If they overstayed, Alonzo might hold a grudge against them.
The other alchemists all left quickly. Alonzo also left with Sven. The Lionheart Prince finally looked at Lin Yun solemnly, and even nodded at him before he left.
He wouldn’t have done that if Lin Yun had been just Agalon’s disciple. However, he had to treat a level-5 Heaven Rank expert who was not even 100 years old yet, and who just became a Saint Alchemist with enough respect.
The forest elves’ king seemed to be even friendlier to Lin Yun. He nodded at Lin Yun with a smile.
“Sir Mafa Merlin, if you have time, I hope you can visit our tribe. I will offer you the vitality sap of the Mother Tree.”
The forest elves’ king disappeared as a breeze, leaving Lin Yun astonished.
Had the forest elves’ king addressed him respectfully as if they were as strong as each other, and invited him as a guest to their tribe? Lin Yun wondered if his ears deceived him.
Agalon seemed rather surprised too.
“That man whose bones are filled with the arrogance of elves just invited you as a guest? I’ve known him for a long time. He’s only invited me once when he needed my help…” Agalon remarked with complicated feelings, but he didn’t ask further.
The forest elves’ king’s invitation couldn’t be a random gesture of friendliness, but Lin Yun didn’t know why he was invited. Since the beginning, the forest elves’ king seemed to have been friendlier than he should have been…
Everybody left. The three deans of the Starry Sky College had returned to make preparations too, leaving Agalon and Lin Yun alone.
Agalon laid his hand on Lin Yun’s shoulder. Immediately, they seemed to be in the middle of the space, where countless stars were flying. In the blink of an eye, Agalon had taken Lin Yun back to his hill.
“I know what you want to ask. Something unexpected happened in the space battlefield. After I slew the gargantuan beast, you were already gone, but I wasn’t worried about your safety.
“Because of that incident, I discovered something unusual. That kind of powerful beast usually wouldn’t appear on the edge of the space battlefield. There were even more than one of them.
“I investigated, and encountered a terrifying void storm. After I finally broke free, I found myself lost in space. Then, I discovered something unusual.”
Lin Yun frowned, and realized what Agalon was getting at.
“The Plane of the Undead and the Leviathan Plane?”
Agalon nodded.
“Exactly. The Plane of the Undead and the Leviathan Plane shouldn’t have collided, but they have. I think it may be related to the changes in the space battlefield. Or rather, the collision caused the changes in the space battlefield.
“When I found the truth, the Plane of the Undead and the Leviathan Plane had already collided. At that time, undead creatures were already arriving in the Leviathan Plane, but the two planes haven’t overlapped much yet, and the overlapping spots weren’t fixed. The number of undead creatures wasn’t great.
“However, contact is already inevitable. We must launch a war.
“Next, I’m going to the Plane of the Undead to investigate the matter. You can prepare a counterattack first.”
Lin Yun knew what the counterattack was about. After all, the two worlds had already overlapped, and an enormous gate had been opened in the Leviathan Plane for the Plane of the Undead. Any undead creature could cross the gate and reach the Leviathan Plane. They had to be driven away first.
But did it have anything to do with the contest?
“Sir, after we drive away the undead creatures, we’re going to establish a Hexagonal Array there, right? That doesn’t seem to be an easy task. Did we really need to compete for the qualification to do that?”
That was what puzzled Lin Yun. To establish an enormous Hexagonal Array was a strenuous and unrewarding job. It would take at least two months to gather necessary materials and construct and test the array…
The Hexagonal Array didn’t just require six Saint Alchemists; it required six alchemist teams to complete the six critical parts. During the construction, the range, which could cover hundreds of square kilometers, of the array had to be protected. If it was ruined or changed, then everything about the array had to be recalculated.
That was the trickiest part…
