The most shameless alchemist in history

"What's wrong? Is there a problem? Is it a throbbing or stinging sensation?" Dure assumed Wenli was in pain and tried to treat her.

"Ahem, um, your name is Du Lei, right? Do you know how rude it is to treat a girl like this?" Bee Sting couldn't stand it anymore and reminded Du Lei. There were three women in the whole team: Wen Li, Bee Sting, and Bai Ling, who was also from Maple Leaf Academy like Du Lei.

However, Bai Ling had gone ahead to investigate the situation with a man named Yuan Bi and was not in the vicinity at that moment.

"Rude? I'm sorry, Miss Winry, for offending you in this matter." Dure belatedly realized his mistake.

"I think you did this on purpose, kid. How dare you offend Miss Winry! This is unforgivable!" Leopard Tail was furious. He waved his fist, ready to beat up Dure. He couldn't stand Dure no matter what.

“It’s alright, Mr. Dure didn’t do it on purpose. And judging from Mr. Dure’s appearance, does he know anything about medicine?” Wen Li shook her head. She wasn’t angry about Dure’s actions; he was just momentarily flustered.

“Miss Winry, you’re just too kind, that’s why you’ve spoiled this kid. You must teach him a lesson, otherwise who knows what other misdeeds he might do next.” Leopard Tail continued to press on, determined to teach Dure a lesson.

"Now is not the time to argue about these things. It's getting dark, Miss Winry. Can we hold on a little longer? We must get out of Nightmare Mountain before dark, or it will be very troublesome." Kotetsu scolded Hyo-Tail. Only he could keep Hyo-Tail completely under his control.

“Miss Wenli is not in a good condition to travel right now, she needs to…” Dure hesitated for a moment. If it were him who twisted his ankle, he would certainly be able to bear it, but if it were a delicate noble lady like Wenli, then she would probably find it difficult to bear.

"I didn't ask you, shut your mouth!" Hu Che suddenly shouted at Du Lei, which startled the latter.

"So some people try to flatter the wrong person and end up getting themselves into trouble." Leopard Tail looked at Du Lei with schadenfreude.

"You shut up too!" Kotetsu glared at Leopard Tail again, and the latter could only obediently shrink back.

"It's alright, I can handle this little problem. Let's go quickly." Wen Li chuckled softly, trying to ease the awkward situation.

She tried to confirm that she could indeed persevere, and she demonstrated it with her actions, so Kotetsu, Durei, and the others couldn't say anything more.

“Understood. Let’s continue on our way. This mountain… always makes me feel uneasy.” Du Lei nodded. He looked around at the surrounding environment. The further they went, the dimmer the light became. This was partly due to the time of day; it was already close to dusk.

The second reason was that the nearby woods were too deep and dense, with ghostly shadows and an eerie silence. Every bird that flew by could be heard clearly, and their voices were the most obvious sound in the vicinity.

"As long as we leave before dark, there won't be any problems. Let's hurry up." Kotetsu's expression was as serious as ever. He led the way, and according to his estimation, as long as no unexpected situation occurred, they would be able to leave before sunset.

"I hope so," Dure said softly, glancing behind him as a mist began to rise from the depths of the jungle.

It was a familiar feeling, a long-lost sense of impending danger that he absolutely did not want to encounter.

Meanwhile, on another main road leading to the border, the air was filled with the stench of blood. A dozen or so corpses of men in black lay scattered on the ground. These men, all armed with daggers, were highly trained assassins, but most of them had suffered fatal wounds to their chests.

"Who sent you here? Who exactly is it?" The valiant young female general, sword in hand, questioned the assassins beneath her feet with a condescending tone. Nearby guards were cleaning up the scene, and under the general's leadership, they easily eliminated the attackers.

"Hehehehehehe, isn't that woman in this carriage? Looks like we guessed right." The one being pointed at by Serena's sword was the leader of this group of assassins, even though he himself had suffered serious injuries and his life was not in his own hands at this moment.

But he didn't care about any of this; on the contrary, he felt a secret sense of smugness, which made Serena frown and feel uneasy.

"What did you say? What do you mean by this?" Serena looked at the carriage behind her, the same one Winry had ridden in earlier. She and Kotetsu had planned to split up; she would escort the carriage to draw the conspirators' attention, while Kotetsu would lead Winry across the border via a side road.

"Hehehehe, you couldn't possibly cross the border. That woman is... dead now, isn't she?" The assassin laughed eerily, even though he was bleeding profusely from his chest and on the verge of death.

"The woman you're talking about... is it Miss Winry? What's going on? Explain yourself... is she dead?" Serena's experience told her that things weren't that simple. She grabbed the assassin's collar and pressed him for more information.

But the assassin remained motionless, turning into a cold corpse.

"This is bad. Take some people to provide support immediately. We must catch up with Miss Winry and the others!" Serena gave the order without hesitation.

Hopefully, it's not too late!

.

385 Nightmare Pass

At a normal pace, it would take Dure and his group more than an hour to cross Nightmare Mountain. If no unexpected event occurred, they could have left this dangerous place before dark. But an accident still happened.

This unexpected incident did not happen to Dure and his group, but to Ape Arm, a member of Winry's guard. He was responsible for scouting the situation from a distance and reporting any unusual events to Kotetsu in a timely manner so that they could avoid dangerous areas.

The previous reports went smoothly, with Ape Arm and Bai Ling from Maple Leaf Academy acting as scouts. They were making good progress, but trouble soon followed. When Ape Arm returned, he delivered very bad news, and in the most direct way possible.

Ape Arm was injured. When he returned, he was covered in blood and in a dazed state. But he still managed to find Kotetsu and made some gestures at Kotetsu before completely fainting. Durei watched from the side, but he did not understand what Ape Arm was trying to convey.

"How is Mr. Ape Arm? How did he get injured like this out of nowhere?" Wen Li was very worried about Ape Arm's condition. After all, Ape Arm had escorted her all the way from the capital to the border. At this moment, Ape Arm had completely passed out.

“Although he was seriously injured, he avoided fatal wounds and should be fine for a short time. But if he doesn’t receive timely treatment…” Bee Sting hesitated, as she and Ape Arm were comrades-in-arms, and now that her comrade was lying on the ground, it was hard for her not to feel distressed.

"Let me take a look." Du Lei stepped forward to check the condition of the ape's arm and gave a simple examination of his injury.

"If you don't understand, don't meddle here!" Leopard Tail shoved Du Lei away. He felt very guilty about Ape Arm's injury because he was supposed to be the one to go ahead and scout, but Ape Arm stopped him, which led to Ape Arm's injury.

"Standing here doing nothing but roaring a few times, letting your companions' lives slowly fade away, is this how you demonstrate your friendship?" Dure asked coldly, not angry at being pushed away by Leopard Tail, just looking at him coldly.

"Give it a try, but don't take too long. We must get out of Nightmare Mountain before dark." Kotetsu looked up at the sky, which was gradually darkening. The forest was becoming increasingly deserted, and the cold wind made one's skin crawl.

"Isn't it a reckless act to put yourself in danger before figuring out why he was injured?" Du Lei disagreed with Kotetsu's words and questioned him directly. He did not back down in the face of Kotetsu's gaze, and the two faced off.

"Are you questioning my leadership abilities?" Hu Che roared angrily as he walked over and grabbed Du Lei by the collar.

"Stop arguing, Dure. Why don't you check on Mr. Ape Arm's injury first?" Winry tried to calm them down, not wanting to see them fight.

"I understand, I'll try to be as fast as I can." Dure nodded, and at that moment, Kotetsu released his grip on Dure's collar.

"What exactly happened? Ape Arm has the strength of a six-star steel rank, how could he be so badly injured? And what kind of thing injured him?" Leopard Tail was usually very close to Ape Arm, and he was really worried about what had happened to him.

"Judging from the wound, he was probably torn open by a monster's claw, which was about... this big." Du Lei, who was treating the ape arm, gestured with his hands. He could roughly estimate the size of the monster's claw that attacked the ape arm from the shape of the wound.

"A claw of this size? Are there any thorn-like marks near the claw?" Kotetsu frowned and continued to ask.

"A thorn-like wound? Yes, it's about this deep," Dure responded after a careful examination.

"What's wrong, Kotetsu? Have you noticed anything?" Bee Sting immediately asked Kotetsu, who was the most experienced among everyone present.

“I think I roughly know what attacked the ape arm.” Kotetsu nodded.

"What is that?" Leopard Tail immediately asked.

"The ape arm represents a six-star Steel rank strength. To injure it, one's strength must surpass itss, and to inflict such a wound, overwhelming power is required. Therefore, the magical beast attacking it must be an eight-star, or even nine-star, Steel rank strength, and possesses such spiked claws..."

Kotetsu gathered all the clues and analyzed them.

"A ghostly apparition?" Bee Sting exclaimed in surprise after hearing Kotetsu's analysis and getting the answer.

"Ghostly apparition? What's that?" Du Lei asked curiously when he first heard the name.

“Strictly speaking, this doesn’t count as a magical beast,” Bee Sting explained.

"Not a monster?" Dure was taken aback; he had always thought that the one attacking the ape arm was a monster.

“Yes, ghosts and phantoms are, to be precise, a type of spirit, a ghost that the dead cannot shake off and still lingers in the world.” Bee Sting nodded.

"Undead?" Dure nodded thoughtfully; he was no stranger to undead.

Because he had seen quite a few when he was on the snowy mountains.

"That's right. After a person dies, due to their attachment to the world and their resentment, they leave behind a residual energy body. This energy body can be understood as a kind of magical energy. Especially for those who cultivated powerful magical energy in their lifetime, the energy body is even more concentrated," Bee Sting patiently explained.

“I think I understand a little better now that you’ve explained it, but isn’t this energy body controlled by a person’s conscious mind after death?” Dure was puzzled by this, because he had seen a similar ghost not long ago, on the back mountain of Maple Leaf Academy.

"People who can control their energy bodies with their conscious mind even after death are all remarkable in life, at least at the King level or above. Most people's consciousness is dispelled after death, and the remaining energy bodies become complete undead, acting entirely on instinct."

Bee Sting is much more experienced than Dure, and she has a unique understanding and knowledge of the undead.

"So that's how it is. In other words, Ape Arm was attacked by the energy body left behind by such a powerful person after his death?" Du Lei finally understood Bee Sting's words and asked again.

"That certainly seems to be the case from the current situation, but if that's the case, we're in trouble," Bee Sting said worriedly.

"What trouble?" Du Lei realized that what Bee Sting said was no small matter, and immediately asked.

“Because these energy entities act on instinct, the reason Ape Arm was attacked must be because it invaded this mountain. And we, who came to Nightmare Mountain with Ape Arm, will probably become the next target of the attack,” Bee Sting said solemnly.

.

386 Ghostly Spirits

The encounter with the ape arm made Hu Che and his group dare not slack off in the slightest. They immediately sped up, determined to leave the dangerous forest before dark, because Hu Che did not know that there were ghosts and phantoms on Nightmare Mountain, which even he, a man who had seen the world, found troublesome.

"Hurry, hurry up! If we go a little further, we'll be out of Nightmare Mountain's range and we'll be safe." Hu Che kept urging him on. He had traveled all over the country for many years and had seen all kinds of battles and fought all kinds of fierce battles, but this time he was really not sure.

Ghostly spirits are incredibly difficult to deal with; they are even more powerful than high-level magical beasts, and just thinking about them sends chills down your spine.

"Isn't it just a ghost formed from the resentment of a dead magic user? What's so scary about that? We're not even afraid of the living, so why should we be afraid of the vengeful spirits of the dead?" Leopard Tail was rather dismissive of Kotetsu's caution; he had always been a man brimming with confidence.

"Aren't the living scary? Leopard Tail, what level of strength do you have now?" Kotetsu asked him.

"My current level? Although I'm still a tiny bit behind your nine-star steel rank, Kotetsu, it's not far off. As long as I have time, I'm sure I can cross the threshold of steel rank!" Leopard Tail said with some pride. Although he usually respected Kotetsu.

But that was mainly because Kotetsu was stronger than him. Before crossing that threshold, no matter how he tried, he was no match for Kotetsu. This puzzled him greatly, because he and Kotetsu were both nine-star steel-rank, and according to common sense, the gap between them should not be so large.

The only explanation Leopard Tail could find was that once he crossed the threshold of the Steel Rank and stepped into the Flame Rank, he could overpower Kotetsu and no longer have to act according to his whims. One of the sources of his confidence was that Kotetsu was already thirty-four years old, while he was only twenty-one.

The two of them are thirteen years apart in age!

He refused to believe that he couldn't beat Hu Che even if he was given thirteen years. He had a feeling that he could cross the threshold in three years at most!

"He's just a nine-star steel-rank, what do you think of Lei Ming's strength?" Hu Che chuckled and shook his head, then suddenly threw out a name.

"Thunder? Is it Thunder from the Land of Thunder? He's a Dragon-rank swordsman who bears the title of 'Sword Saint,' and his strength is among the best on the continent." Leopard Tail's face was full of longing and yearning when he mentioned the name "Thunder," because that name meant overwhelming power.

"Lei Ming is called the Sword Saint largely because he was the disciple of the previous Sword Saint, Siegfried. In terms of true strength, he still has a long way to go. At least in the realm of swordsmanship, there are several mountains waiting for him to climb over." Hu Che shook his head, quite emotional.

“Even so, Lei Ming is the youngest Dragon-rank swordsman on the continent. He entered the Dragon rank at the age of twenty-six. Given time, it’s a sure thing that he will become a Sword Saint like his teacher Siegfried.” Leopard Tail said with great confidence.

The reason he admired Lei Ming so much was largely because Lei Ming was a challenger. He challenged established figures on the continent with his youthful spirit and accomplished a series of seemingly impossible things, which gave Leopard Tail a direction to move forward.

This told him that even though he was young and his cultivation was still shallow, as long as he cultivated to the death, he could defeat those who had cultivated for several years or even decades longer than him. They were like lighthouses. Although he had never met them, Lei Ming had become a mentor and guide for countless young people.

“Yes, given time, he can definitely do it. But how much do you know about his teacher, Siegfried, the undisputed master of the previous generation on the continent?” Kotetsu continued to ask. Du Lei, who was standing next to him, realized that Kotetsu’s words were directed at Siegfried, not Lei Ming.

"This... Siegfried is a man of noble character and unparalleled swordsmanship. He once climbed the Black Tower alone to meet the ruthless Duke Blackfire, and challenged Lancelot, the Duke's top general, and escaped unscathed. He is a legendary figure on the continent." Leopard Tail thought for a moment and said what he knew.

"Do you know how Siegfried died, and... what happened to him after he died?" Kotetsu said softly, pausing when he said "and," his words carrying a hint of intrigue. Durei listened patiently beside him.

"I don't know about that. Someone as powerful as him should have died of old age, right?" Leopard Tail was also unsure.

“If Siegfried hadn’t fallen, he would only be fifty-six years old this year.” Kotetsu shook his head, disagreeing with the answer.

"Huh? The previous generation's Sword Saint was only fifty-six years old?" Leopard Tail had never heard of such a thing before.

"Siegfried became a legend twenty years ago. He's only fifty-six now. Twenty years ago, when he was famous throughout the continent, he was only thirty-six years old. No, even earlier." Du Lei finally spoke up. He had also read about Siegfried in books.

"Only the Black Tower and the Blackfire Duke..." Dure was curious about this term because he had never seen it mentioned in any books.

"That's a taboo on the mainland, Kotetsu, you shouldn't mention it," Bee Sting reminded Kotetsu.

"I understand, I misspoke." Kotetsu nodded, realizing that it was inappropriate for him to bring up the matter.

"Taboo? What taboo? What are you two talking about so mysteriously?" Leopard Tail was completely confused.