The most shameless alchemist in history

()

683 Black Knife Black Water

Sean thought he had found a weakness, but it was just a weakness that Dure had made him think he had found. The instant Sean swung his long sword to slash, Dure immediately controlled the black chains beneath his feet to extend towards Sean. This black chain made of shadows was Dure's real killing move.

This is the product of his fusion of the powers of Little Black and Little Gray. Little Black was a creature from the Void Abyss that he had encountered in the underground of the Ash Tower. At that time, they made a pact, with Dure providing it with a container to live in, and it helping Dure when necessary.

As for Little Gray, it was a parasite that Du Lei encountered in the Zero Room after being caught up in the loophole of the magic energy simulation system. With the help of Little Black and Little White, he subdued it in the "barrel". The so-called barrel is what Winster calls the "source of spirit" in his body. Whether it is Little Gray or Little Black, they both survive by absorbing the magic energy in Du Lei's body, which directly leads to Du Lei's slow cultivation speed.

Despite his exceptional talent and extraordinary effort in cultivation, Du Lei's cultivation speed remained slower than others. This was the root cause of his problem. However, this also brought some advantages, as the magical energy he gained through cultivation did not disappear in vain but was absorbed by Xiao Hei and the others. This gave Du Lei a strong burst of power, allowing him to release the absorbed magical energy from Xiao Hei and the others in an instant. Therefore, when facing multiple Steel-rank magical energy users, he could instantly kill them.

Moreover, when he fought against Tama on the top floor of the council building in Rock City, he successfully absorbed the Void creatures summoned by Tama. This made Dure realize that even among the Void creatures, there were different levels, and Xiao Hei's level was obviously higher than that of the Void creatures summoned by Tama!

After absorbing the magic energy, Du Lei discovered that he had acquired a new ability: he could directly devour other people's magic energy weapons to increase his own magic energy. This would greatly replenish the magic energy needed by Xiao Hei and Xiao Hui, reducing the need for his own magic energy to replenish them and greatly increasing his cultivation speed. This was also an important reason why Du Lei's cultivation speed had increased rapidly after returning from Rock City.

Before returning from Rock City, Dure was not yet proficient in controlling the black shadow, but now the black chains have become his trump card. When Sean attacked him, he kept dodging. Sean was looking for his weakness, and he was also burying his shadow in the darkness. By the time Sean came to his senses, he was already trapped by the barrier formed by the black chains!

"You brat, you're still alive? And what are all these things?" Sean was clearly stunned for a moment, because things were gradually getting out of his control. He originally thought he could easily deal with the boy in front of him, but now it seemed that not only had he failed to kill the boy, he had also fallen into the other party's trap.

"This is just a gift for you." Dure looked at his left arm. There was a tear in his clothes. Although Sean's knife hadn't killed him, it had pierced his arm. Luckily, he dodged quickly and avoided the knife. Otherwise, even if he had managed to escape with his life, his arm would probably have been severed.

"A gift? What gift?" Sean didn't believe the boy in front of him was so kind. His expression was somewhat frightened because he realized that his movements were restricted. He could no longer move his feet, and the dark shadow that emerged from the ground firmly bound him.

"Just a parting gift to send you to hell!" Du Lei's five fingers formed claws, and under his control, dozens of black chains burst forth from the ground. Sean tried to struggle and resist, wielding his long sword to cut off one black chain after another, but there were simply too many black chains.

He severed one chain, and another quickly sprouted. His speed in severing the black chains was far slower than the speed at which they spread. This meant that within just a few breaths, he was no longer able to defend himself. With a sharp scream, a black chain pierced through his chest. Once the first chain appeared, a second followed, and one after another, the chains pierced through him completely.

Soon Sean collapsed in a pool of blood. Before he fell, he looked at Dure in disbelief, unable to believe that he could be defeated by such an unknown person.

"Bang." No matter how much Sean disbelieved it, he finally collapsed to the ground. His body temperature dropped rapidly, and even the long sword in his hand fell to the ground.

"So what if he's a Dou-rank magic user? He's nothing special... Although that's what I wanted to say, it really took a lot of effort to take him down. I almost lost my arm. I guess he really lives up to his reputation as a Dou-rank magic user?" Du Lei said softly, looking at Sean, who had fallen to the ground and turned into a cold corpse.

“Then let’s replenish his magic energy a little from his magic-powered armor. This wolf fang should be able to restore a lot of my magic energy. As for these two swords…” Dure remembered that he had asked Sean about the long sword he was using before, and Sean had told him that the one he was using was called wolf fang. As for the other two, he had not told Dure about them.

“Keep this black dagger, and devour the other one.” Dure thought about it carefully, and he still felt that he should keep one of the daggers, because he felt that he needed a handy weapon.

Before this, he had always used an ordinary hunting knife, but hunting knives had strong limitations and had been lost long ago. As for his magical weapon, the large crossbow made for him by the blacksmith Ironheart, although it was very powerful, it was not very convenient to use. He kept it in a box, and the crossbow was for long-range shooting. He needed a weapon for close combat. The longsword left by Sean was also a good choice. The wolf fang was good, but firstly, it was too long, and Dure was not good at using this type of knife. Secondly, Dure judged that the remaining two knives, especially the black one, were sharper. This was his instinctive judgment, so he chose to devour the other two knives and keep only this one.

“Your name will be Blackwater.” Dure didn’t know the name of the black knife; Sean hadn’t told him. But now that Sean was a thing of the past, whatever the knife was called before, it now had a new name.

()

684 Frost Dragon

"Hey, is that Du Lei over there?" Just then, lights appeared ahead, and someone waved and shouted.

"Who's over there?" Dure asked, looking to the other side.

"Is that really Dure? It's me, Bard. I saw that there were no more gunshots, so I brought some people over to see what was going on. These people... how come they're all dead?" Sheriff Bard walked over with the train police officers. After confirming that the person in front was indeed Dure, he sped up and rushed over.

"Perhaps they were too ashamed and committed suicide. In any case, the train should be considered safe for now," Du Lei said with a smile.

"What? Suicide? Du Lei, you must be joking. How could these vicious people commit suicide? Did you take care of all of them, Du Lei?" Sheriff Bard noticed the nearby corpses and asked in shock.

"I don't know what they were thinking, but for now, the crisis is finally over," Du Lei said with a relaxed expression.

"But now the Winter Bridge has been destroyed, and crossing it will be a big problem," Train Conductor Hank said worriedly, looking at the destroyed bridge ahead.

"There's nothing we can do about it. We'll probably have to go back the way we came and take a detour. Repairing the Winter Bridge will likely be a long process." Du Lei looked at the broken bridge, with cold winds howling from underneath.

Although it is the height of summer, the northern lands north of the Frostwinter Mountains remain cold, with the Frostwinter Mountains serving as a watershed. Looking down from the edge of the Frostwinter Bridge, one can see a vast expanse of white ice crystals covering the ground.

"Go back the way we came? It seems like that's the only option now." Train conductor Hank frowned, but given the current situation, it was the only feasible solution.

“In that case, let’s go back first… Hmm? What’s going on? This feeling…” Du Lei was about to return to the train with Train Conductor Hank and his group to comfort the passengers, but at that moment, he clearly felt something flying out of the ground at high speed!

"Brother Dure, what's wrong?" Hank and Bud noticed the unusual expression on Dure's face and asked with concern.

"Get out of here right now!" Dure shouted, turning around to stare intently at the broken end of the Bridge of Winter. Large amounts of ice crystals and ice shards were flying up from the ground, clearly an ice storm!

"That is..." Hank was still stunned and hadn't come to his senses when he saw something white flying out of the broken end. Huge wings blotted out the sky, and the gale made it hard to stand!

"This guy... is he coming for me? No way?" A sense of incoherent fear rose in Du Lei's heart. He subconsciously wanted to escape, but he found that the ground beneath his feet was covered with cracks. In just an instant, all the cracks connected into a line, and a feeling of weightlessness quickly came over him.

"Dure!" Sheriff Bard exclaimed in alarm. He had witnessed the ground crack and fall, and Dure plummeted down with the cracked ice, into a bottomless abyss!

"Hey bro, have those imposters outside quieted down yet? That's great! Hey bro, where are they?" Liata, who had split up with Dure, adjusted his hat and went out to look for Dure.

But what appeared before him was nothing more than an ice storm rising from the broken bridge of winter.

Where is Dure now?

Du Lei, the person involved, was falling rapidly.

He tried to find a foothold to salvage his downward momentum.

The depths of the Abyss of Winter are unknown; for him to fall like this is undoubtedly a dead end!

But he had no chance to find a foothold because something was flying towards him and attacking.

The thing that flew over was also something that had sprung out of the Abyss of Winter.

Hank and Bud may have seen it blurry at first; they only saw huge wings and ferocious claws.

In the midst of the ice storm, they couldn't immediately figure out what that thing was.

But Dure saw it clearly; it was a dragon, an ice dragon with enormous wings!

"Damn it, we're going to be doomed if this keeps up, Little Black, isn't there any way? Hey, Little Black?"

Dure tried to summon Blackie and have it do something to stop the decline.

But no matter how he called out, Xiao Hei was nowhere to be found, and behind him, the Frost Dragon swooped down in an overwhelming manner!

"Damn it, where did they go at the crucial moment? Now this is troublesome... Wait, what's going on?"

Just as Dure was plummeting rapidly and thought he was going to die.

A soft light appeared on his chest.

This is an egg, an egg he found four months ago underground in the Misty Forest.

Throughout his journey so far, he has encountered many troubles, and it was Xiao Hei who has helped him resolve them.

The egg, which he named Little White, did not provide him with much help.

But at this moment, the egg glowed, and not only that, Durei could clearly see cracks appearing on the surface of the eggshell.

Dure wanted to see more clearly; he tried to figure out exactly what had happened.

But a strong energy fluctuation spread out, and under the dazzling light, his mind went blank.

Losing consciousness, he plummeted like a kite with a broken string, his body floating lightly in the howling wind.

He didn't know when it started, but the frost dragon that had been relentlessly pursuing him disappeared.

As he plummeted rapidly, he slowed down and landed lightly on the ground.

There was light around him, a very soft light.

It is precisely because of the existence of this light that the surrounding world can be faintly illuminated.

This is a canyon, a canyon that is shrouded in ice and snow all year round, and is dark and sunless.

The sun doesn't reach here; all around is cold and despairing, with a howling wind sweeping through the canyon.

The boy's body lay on the ground, with a ball of light beside him, a hazy ball of light.

A human figure could be vaguely seen in the light, and soon a dark shadow jumped out.

"Sigh, this kid is doomed, doomed, doomed. What did he do? How could he possibly provoke an ice dragon? That's a dragon, a real dragon." The shadowy figure sighed as he looked at the boy lying on the ground.

"Don't look at me like that. I definitely have to run away. I can't beat the Frost Dragon. What if it comes back? I'd better escape far away and find another host." The shadowy figure seemed to be talking to someone.

"What? You want me to stay and guard him? Are you kidding me? This place is so dangerous, and we don't even know if he's alive or dead. What would I do if I stayed?" The shadowy figure was somewhat displeased.

"Fine, fine, don't threaten me. I'll stay and protect him, okay? But he's so badly injured. Once he dies, I'll leave. We made a deal, okay?" The shadowy figure finally relented and said softly.

()

685 The Abyss of Winter

Dure had a dream, a very long dream, in which he became a tree, a tree rooted in the coldest place underground, a tree that never saw the light of day. Around him was ice and snow, and howling winds, which made him feel cold, as if his blood had frozen.

No, he was a tree, so where did the blood come from? He didn't know how long he had stood in the cold wind like that—perhaps a day, perhaps two days, perhaps a year, or perhaps two years.

Time passed silently, and he remained standing there, while his roots were deeply embedded in the ground, drawing nutrients from the earth. Without nutrients in such harsh weather, he would die, but he did not want to die, so his roots grew deeper and deeper, as if reaching the very depths of the earth.

A steady stream of nutrients flowed into his body through the tree roots, which sustained his fragile life. He didn't know how much time had passed, but he felt the tree growing. In a daze, he saw someone approaching him. Although he didn't move—after all, he was a tree, how could he move?—his consciousness was clear. It was a long dream, a dream he thought he would never wake up from. But a dream is still a dream, and a major characteristic of dreams is that they eventually end.

"Doctor, look over here, there's someone over here." Du Lei vaguely heard a voice calling out, but his body was stiff. He tried to move his body, but found that his blood had congealed, making movement slow and difficult.

"Another poor soul frozen to death in the Abyss of Winter? Let's bury him; it's the only thing we can do for him." A weathered voice drifted over, tinged with regret.

"No, the soil here is frozen solid. It would be a lot of trouble to bury him. Let's not do such a pointless thing, shall we?" a male voice complained.

"It's a tradition to bury the dead. If you were to freeze to death outside one day, you would tell passersby that burying me is too much trouble and you don't need to do it, right?" the woman said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Tanya, what nonsense are you talking about? How could I possibly freeze to death outside? Are you cursing me?" The male voice was somewhat displeased, and he immediately retorted.

“Anything can happen, and this is no exception, Doctor. Rhodes has applied to freeze to death and leave his body to rot in the wilderness so we don’t have to bury him. Please approve his application,” the girl named Tanya said earnestly.

“When would I do such a thing? Tanya, don’t talk nonsense,” the young man named Rhodes corrected.

"Alright, stop arguing. Since we've passed by and seen this pitiful, helpless man, let's bury him. It's just a small thing, and we hope he can pass away peacefully." The weathered voice persuaded the two young men and made the final decision.

"Understood, Doctor. I'll go bury him right away. Rhodes, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and come help dig the hole." Tanya scolded her companion and gave loud orders.

"So why do I always have to do this kind of thing?" Rod complained reluctantly. He wouldn't do it if Dr. Sarah hadn't spoken up.

“Rhodes, you’re a boy. Shouldn’t this kind of physical work be done by a boy like you, not by a lovely lady like me?” Tanya said matter-of-factly.

"Lady? Please, Tanya, don't you blush when you say that? I don't see a single ladylike quality in you." Rhodes scoffed at this. He had known Tanya for some time, and apart from her willful and capricious nature, he really couldn't find anything commendable about her.

"That's because you lack the eyes to appreciate beauty. Alright, stop dawdling and get to work." Tanya, who was not far away, didn't take Rhodes' words seriously and continued to urge him on.

"What a difficult person to please. Anyway, the expedition is over, so I don't have to put up with you for much longer. Heh heh, the ice here is really thick. It's not easy to break it." Rhodes complained in a low voice. His dissatisfaction with Tania was not something that had just started recently. They had been exploring the Abyss of Winter for almost a week, and during this time they had not found the ancient ruins that they were looking for, which made them feel somewhat disappointed.

But he knew that no matter how regretful he was, it was time to leave. The food and supplies they carried could not allow them to stay in this frigid land for too long. Otherwise, they would just freeze to death in the snow and ice like that unknown guy in front of them.

"Hey, Doctor and Rhodes, come quick! This person's finger seems to have twitched slightly!" Tanya suddenly exclaimed from not far away, her voice filled with excitement.