The most shameless alchemist in history

"You liars, don't even think about fooling me! Huh?" The young man was furious. Just then, he noticed the black knife attacking him from behind. He turned around sharply and stretched out his right hand towards Rhodes, who was attacking him. At that moment, a layer of ice formed between his palm and the black knife in Rhodes' hand. The ice layer spread rapidly at a visible speed, which greatly slowed down the momentum of Rhodes' stab. Moreover, Rhodes' right hand, which was holding the knife, was also wrapped in ice energy and gradually froze into ice.

"Young man, calm down. I know it's hard for you to accept this reality right now, but we didn't lie to you or hurt you. Can you calm down?" Dr. Sarah couldn't stay calm when she saw her two students in such a situation. Despite her old age, she immediately stepped forward to persuade the dangerous young man.

"I...I'm so sorry, I didn't mean this." The young man seemed somewhat dazed. The fierce look in his eyes gradually faded. He released his grip on Tanya's throat and at the same time lowered his right hand that was aimed at Rhodes. At this moment, the icy energy that had been spreading along Rhodes' arm stopped and shattered into fragments that fell to the ground.

"Tanya, are you alright?" Rhodes ignored his right hand, which was frozen stiff. The black knife he had been holding had long since fallen to the ground, but he didn't care about that. He immediately went forward to check on Tanya's condition, very worried about her safety.

"I'm fine, but Rhodes, your hand..." Tanya asked with concern, looking at Rhodes's stiff, frozen arm.

"It's just a little chilly, I'll be fine soon." Rhodes waved his hand, indicating that he was alright.

However, while comforting Tanya, he turned to look at the young man beside him who was in a daze. He had seen the scene clearly. He had used all his strength to thrust forward, but was blocked by the ice. As a scientist, he had basic scientific knowledge and knew that even in the Abyss of Winter, ice could not suddenly gather in a short time. The only explanation was that the young man beside him had tampered with it.

"Eight years... What on earth is going on? I only slept for a short time, and eight years have passed. Now I..." The young man looked somewhat frightened and uneasy. It would be very difficult for him to accept this fact in a short period of time.

"Young man, do you remember what happened before?" Dr. Sarah handed the young man a cup of hot water.

"I remember everything that happened before... it's like it all happened yesterday, but why has so much time passed?" This was the only question the young man couldn't understand.

"If I'm not mistaken, young man, you must be a magic user, right?" Dr. Sara asked patiently.

“A magic user? That’s right, I am a magic user, and you are…” The young man nodded, looking at Dr. Sarah and the other two with a puzzled expression.

"My name is Sarah, and these are my students, Tanya and Rhodes. They are both very outstanding young people. We are scientists who came to the Abyss of Winter to conduct scientific research and happened to find you, young man, frozen in ice." Dr. Sarah introduced herself and her two students in detail, and told the young man how they found him.

"Frozen in the ice? I think I understand now. Thank you for saving me. I'm so sorry for what I did to you." The young man apologized to Dr. Sarah and the others again, feeling extremely remorseful for his actions.

“Young man, you’ve been frozen in the ice for so long, losing several years of your life. I think anyone would react this way, perhaps even more intensely. By the way, young man, what’s your name?” Dr. Sarah understood the young man’s actions very well. While comforting him, she asked him about his situation.

“My name is… Dure.” The young man thought for a moment and told Dr. Sarah his name. In the past, when he told strangers his name, he would conceal it and use an alias, but now, eight years later, he realized that there was no need for that anymore.

“Brother Dure? I’ve seen some examples when I was doing scientific research before, where high-level magic users would trigger a self-protection mechanism in extreme environments, putting themselves into a dormant state. I think you are one of those people, Brother Dure.” Dr. Sarah thought for a moment and gave her speculation.

“Is this even possible? But I remember when I fell off the Bridge of Winter…” The young man named Dure carefully recalled the situation before he fell into the Abyss of Winter.

“That’s not right, Dr. Sarah. Although magic users can trigger defense mechanisms when facing extreme environments and dangerous situations, that only applies to high-level magic users, who must be at least Emperor-level. But how old is he? At most twenty-two or twenty-three. Reaching the Battle rank at that age is already extremely rare, let alone the legendary Emperor-level.” Rhodes frowned and offered a contrary opinion.

“Well, Rhodes, what you said makes some sense, but there are always exceptions.” Dr. Sarah nodded with satisfaction, giving her disciple an approving look. She greatly admired Rhodes’s spirit of inquiry.

"An exception? Doctor, what kind of exception are you referring to?" Tanya asked curiously from the side.

“Rhodes’ statement was only half right,” Dr. Sarah explained.

690 Snow Country Landscape

"Half? Only half right? Doctor, did I say something wrong?" Rod was stunned. He was very confident in his statement just now and thought he couldn't find any fault with it.

“Rhodes, you’re not wrong, you just missed a part.” Dr. Sarah waved her hand and said with a smile, not wanting to damage her student’s confidence.

"Did you omit a part? Then may I ask, Doctor, which part did I mean by 'omitted'?" Rhodes asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Indeed, only magic users at the Emperor rank or above possess the ability to trigger a defensive mechanism on their own when facing life-or-death situations and extreme environments. However, the reason we conclude that only magic users at the Emperor rank or above can trigger this defensive mechanism is usually because of a prerequisite." Dr. Sarah patiently explained. As a scientist, she was already used to using the most cumbersome language to explain a proposition clearly.

"Prerequisites? Doctor, what are these prerequisites you're talking about?" Tanya asked curiously.

"The prerequisite is a vast amount of magical power, a magical power that low-level magic users cannot reach, but magic users of the Emperor rank and above possess this power." Although Dr. Sarah is not a magic user, she is not unfamiliar with this field, because magic power is one of the many fields studied by science.

"Doctor, you're really confusing me. How is this any different from what Rhodes said earlier?" Tanya scratched her head. She wasn't the most talented of Dr. Sarah's many students, but she was definitely the most curious.

"The difference lies in magic power. Low-level magic users don't have the ability to trigger defense mechanisms. For example, in extreme environments, they can fall into a state similar to hibernation and sleep to provide the necessary energy for their survival. However, low-level magic users can release enough magic power to trigger their defense mechanisms through a certain object, such as a crystal bottle. You all know about crystal bottles, right?" Dr. Sarah asked rhetorically, smiling as she looked at her two prized students.

“A crystal bottle? Of course I know that. It’s where magic users extract excess magic power and seal it in a bottle. When they encounter danger, they can then use this magic power. But usually, only alchemists know how to extract it.” Rhodes thought for a moment and said. When he mentioned alchemists, he blushed slightly because he had admired alchemists since he was a child. He longed to become one of them, but after studying alchemy for many years, he had achieved nothing. In the end, he had to settle for second best and entered the Academy of Sciences, becoming a scientist.

"That's right, it's a crystal bottle. However, the magic power in the crystal bottle alone isn't enough to trigger the defense mechanism. So, it was through other means that he reached the magic power level required to trigger the defense mechanism. As long as he possesses this powerful magic power that doesn't belong to him, even if he's not an Emperor-level magic user, he can enter a state of hibernation when facing other extreme environments." Dr. Sarah explained in detail, adding the other part that Rhodes hadn't mentioned.

"So, although he's not an Emperor-level magic user, he carries a very powerful magic amplification item with him. When he encountered mortal danger, this item worked its magic, putting him into a dormant state. That's why he slept in the Abyss of Winter for so long and was able to stay alive. Is that right, Doctor?" Rhodes came to this conclusion after careful consideration.

“That’s right, that’s why Brother Dure went into hibernation. By the way, Brother, you said you’ve been asleep for eight years. Eight years ago… was that when the civil war broke out in the Snow Country?” Dr. Sara thought for a moment and found this time point.

"A civil war in the Land of Snow? What's going on?" Dure was stunned. His memory was still stuck eight years ago, and he knew nothing about what had happened in those eight years. Now, hearing Dr. Sarah say this, he was suddenly shocked.

"Huh? Didn't you know? The Northern and Southern Kingdoms of the Snow Kingdom have split and are at war, and they've been fighting for a very, very long time." Tanya asked, puzzled, because this was common knowledge that everyone knew.

“Tanya, it’s understandable that he didn’t know about this when the conflict had just begun eight years ago,” Rhodes explained.

"It seems that's true, hehe, sorry, sorry, I forgot you slept for so long." Tanya said, scratching her head sheepishly.

"The civil war in the Land of Snow... Please tell me exactly what happened!" Dure's heart tightened, and he immediately inquired about the ins and outs of the matter.

“Young man Dure, don’t be nervous, here’s what happened…” After Dr. Sarah reassured him, she gestured for him to sit down and then told him what had happened.

Through Dr. Sarah's explanation, Durei understood the whole story of the civil war in the Snow Country. It turned out that eight years ago, the bombing of the Winter Bridge became the trigger. The Northern Kingdom accused the Southern Kingdom's forces of doing the job and accused the Southern Kingdom's forces of cruelly killing the Snow Shadow Guard who belonged to Her Majesty the Queen. This was an act of open rebellion. As a result, a large number of important figures from the Southern Kingdom were arrested and even publicly executed.

This caused a huge uproar, and the already conflict-ridden Northern and Southern Kingdoms finally broke off completely.

Initially, the Northern Kingdom held an absolute advantage because it possessed the most powerful army.

Of the four elite legions of the Snow Country, three belong to the Northern Country, which is backed by a royal family that has ruled this land for hundreds of years. In contrast, although the Southern Country is economically developed, it is clearly weak in terms of military strength.

In the first two years, the Northern army marched south, and the Southern army suffered repeated defeats, leaving only Maple City unconquered by the Snow Kingdom's army.

For Dure, Maple City was no stranger, as it was the city where he had studied and lived.

Once Maple City is captured, the Southern Kingdom will be wiped out, and the landscape of the Snow Kingdom will face a complete reshuffle.

But then, an unexpected event occurred.

It may be an unexpected outcome for ordinary people, but for shrewd politicians, it was an inevitable result.

Foreign forces intervened, including the neighboring countries of the Land of Snow, the Land of Mountains, the Land of Iron, the Land of Rain, and the Land of Swamp, all of which sent troops.

These countries chose to support the Southern army for different reasons.

This reversed the disadvantage of the Southern Front, and with the support of the multinational forces, they began to launch a counterattack.

This caused the war to develop in a direction unfavorable to the northern country.

()

691 Lost Time

The Southern Front, which was originally at a disadvantage, gained momentum after receiving help from various countries and won victory after victory in the battle against the Northern Army. They successfully captured many important towns in the North, which led to the North losing a great opportunity.

In the course of three years, the Northern Kingdom was left with only a few cities, including Frost City, that had not been captured by the Southern Kingdom's army. It seemed that the Southern Kingdom's front was about to achieve final victory, but an unexpected event occurred: the Southern Kingdom split up again.

The original Southern Front broke with the newly emerging capitalist forces, giving the Northern Front a chance to regroup. After a period of rest and recuperation, the Frost Queen mobilized various armies to launch a counterattack, finally defeating the Southern Alliance in the Winter War. This brought the Southern and Northern Fronts back to a state of equilibrium, a situation that has lasted for eight years and continues to this day.

"So that's how it is. So many things have happened in these eight years?" After learning about the various major events that had occurred during these eight years from Dr. Sarah, Dure nodded thoughtfully.

After all, the destruction of the Winter Bridge can be considered the fuse that ignited the Snow Country into an eight-year civil war, and he himself was one of the first to experience and witness it.

“Yes, even today, the North and the South remain deadlocked and locked in a complex standoff, with neither side able to deliver a fatal blow to the other,” Dr. Sarah sighed and nodded.

"But Doctor, why did the South and the North have to go to war? Aren't they from the same country? Before the war started, weren't the citizens living happily and contentedly? But after the war started, they couldn't live a good life anymore. Why did they have to turn such a good situation into this?" Tanya was puzzled by this question. She really couldn't understand why, between good days and bad days, they had to choose the latter.

“Tanya, all wars arise from conflict, and almost all conflicts are caused by unequal distribution of interests. The civil war in the Snow Kingdom is no exception.” Rhodes seemed to have a good understanding of this issue, and he said softly.

“I don’t understand, Rhodes. I don’t understand what you’re saying. If everyone just sits down and negotiates a ceasefire, why do we have to destroy things so recklessly? Building a city takes a very long time, but destruction only takes a few days, just a fire. It’s terrifying.” Tanya’s face showed fear. She shook her head and said with some struggle.

"That's probably just human nature; it's hard to explain," Rhodes said with a sigh as he added firewood to the fire. Although he knew a lot, he didn't know how to explain it to Tanya.

"Shouldn't humanity be all good things? When we were little, everyone was kind and knew how to be considerate. We were happy every day back then, and there weren't any complicated things bothering us." Tanya couldn't understand it at all, so she asked in confusion.

"Human nature is not always good and kind; it can also be evil," Du Lei said slowly after a long silence.

“Why do you think so badly of people? If all people are evil, then we wouldn’t care about you,” Tanya retorted, disagreeing with Durei’s words.

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore, Mr. Dure. What are your plans for the future?" Dr. Sarah noticed the awkward atmosphere and quickly waved her hand to change the subject.

“I originally wanted to go to Winter City… By the way, do you know about Maple Leaf Academy in Maple City?” Du Lei thought for a moment, remembering his destination and starting point.

"Maple Leaf Academy is a well-known magical energy research academy in the Snow Kingdom. Not to mention the Doctor, even I know about it," Tania said enthusiastically, seemingly forgetting the argument she and Dure had just had.

"Then, could you tell me how Maple Leaf Academy is doing now?" Du Lei was very concerned about this question.

"Maple City is the core city of the Southern Kingdom, and new ideas are spreading there. The students of Maple Leaf Academy are particularly enthusiastic about responding. A few years ago, when the Northern Kingdom's army besieged the city and the Southern Kingdom's front was reduced to only Maple City, the students of Maple Leaf Academy eagerly joined the army to fight against the Northern Kingdom's army and won many brilliant battles." Rhodes answered Durei's question from the side.

"Have the students of the academy... joined this war?" Du Lei thought for a moment and then fell silent.

"Young man Du Lei, are you a student at Maple Leaf Academy?" Dr. Sarah asked.

“Eight years have passed. Many of the people I knew are probably no longer around. Even if they were still here, they would have graduated long ago and wouldn’t still be at Maple Leaf Academy. There’s no point in going back.” Du Lei thought for a moment and then shook his head. He couldn’t figure out where he was going.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? The Doctor is asking you a question. Why are you so dazed? At least say something!" Tanya couldn't help but ask Dure when she saw him like this.

"Alright, Tanya, don't bother Dure for now. Let him have some peace and quiet. Dure, you should get some rest. We're leaving tomorrow. You can consider whether you want to leave with us." Dr. Sarah patted Dure's shoulder and quickly stepped aside, allowing Dure time to think things through. For a young man like him, he has a long road ahead, and ultimately, the choice of his path is his own.

The night that had just passed was incredibly long for Dure, perhaps even longer than the eight years he had been asleep. After all, a large blank space had suddenly appeared in his life, something that would be hard for anyone to accept. Outside the cave, the wind howled and the blizzard showed no signs of stopping, but he didn't feel cold at all. Recalling the scenes he had experienced in the past, he suddenly felt very unfamiliar with them.

He couldn't help but think that since he left Hot Spring Town, only four months had passed, yet so much had happened. From Maple City to Nightmare Mountains, then to Spring Breeze Town and Harrenhal, each event was etched in his memory. Sometimes he wondered, if he had another four months, or even four years, what level would he have reached? But with his fall into the Abyss of Winter, all of that had vanished like bubbles. He had just lost eight years of his life for no reason!

vertex

692 Where to go from here?

"Perhaps the only thing to be thankful for is that I'm still alive, and I haven't lost everything," Du Lei comforted himself. He had never been an optimistic person, but at this moment he could only hold onto a slightly optimistic attitude, as this was the only way he could feel a little better.

Although Dr. Sarah told him to get a good night's sleep, he was destined to have a sleepless night. The next morning, Rod woke up early and packed his things because Dr. Sarah had said that they would be leaving today. He saw Dure sitting with his eyes open and his back against the wall, seemingly lost in thought. He nodded slightly as a greeting.

Although the two had a tense relationship yesterday, and he had once brandished a black dagger at Du Lei, he felt some sympathy when he saw the young man's eyes, because the young man looked to be only about twenty-two years old.

If we go back eight years, he was only fourteen years old when he was frozen in ice. The period from fourteen to twenty-two is the most beautiful and youthful time of adolescence, but it was taken away, disappeared, and vanished without a trace. Rhodes wondered what would have happened if he had such an experience.

He simply couldn't imagine it, because even sleeping a little longer each day felt like a huge loss to him. During that time, others had already been studying for a while, and while he was stagnating, they were making progress. This feeling drove him crazy. He didn't want to waste even a single day, let alone eight years.

"Yawn, I slept so well. It feels so good not to have to do morning exercises or go to class. It's just a little chilly. It would be even better if I had a comfortable big bed." Tanya stretched and yawned again as she spoke slowly.

"I've already packed everything, and you're just waking up. Get ready a bit, we're about to leave," Rhodes complained.

"We originally planned to explore the Abyss of Winter to investigate the Ice Dragon's whereabouts, but we ended up returning empty-handed, which is quite a pity," Dr. Sarah sighed.

"Ice Dragon?" Du Lei frowned upon hearing this term.

“Yes, it’s the Ice Dragon. The Snow Country is the Ice Dragon’s homeland. We’ve researched some information and learned that the Ice Dragon appears in the Abyss of Winter. So, we decided to investigate the Ice Dragon’s whereabouts as Rhodes and Tanya’s graduation project. As their teacher, I naturally brought them here, but we didn’t expect to return empty-handed. It seems we’ll have to find another graduation project.” Dr. Sarah looked somewhat regretful. She looked apologetically at her two students, since she was the one who proposed the project, but it turned out to be a wasted effort.

"Finding a new research topic is fine, it's not a big deal. We still have some time before graduation, so we're not in a hurry. Besides, this trip wasn't entirely fruitless. At least we experienced the scenery of northern China and truly left the lab to explore. It was a wonderful journey, and I think I'll still be excited when I look back on it many years later."

Rod smiled and said that his words were not entirely meant to comfort Dr. Sarah. After all, he was an honest person. Before coming to Lintong, he always thought that he only needed to stay in the laboratory to do scientific research. However, after this trip, he appreciated the infinite beauty of nature, which broadened his mind and made him feel more open-minded. This was a feeling he had never experienced before.

"It's really rare for Rhodes to say something so impressive. Is this really the Rhodes I know?" Tanya gave Rhodes a thumbs up, showing a surprised expression.

"Tanya, what did you say? Do you really think I'm such a terrible person?" Rhodes protested immediately, clearly dissatisfied.