The most shameless alchemist in history

"That's right, they're the mercenaries who've been hanging around the village lately. I remember the leader was called Buck, right? He was bragging in the tavern that he could easily split a six-star magical beast in two with one swing of his axe. Now it seems he not only failed to split the beast, but he got split in the head instead."

Dure walked over to the corpses, bent down, and raised the kerosene lamp to examine them. Although the corpses were frozen stiff, he still recognized one of them. He felt no fear of death, only mockery.

"You actually remember his name?" The girl named Nan Yin frowned. She had been in the village for two days, but she didn't know any of the people who had come to the hot spring village with the same purpose as them, let alone know their names.

"Of course I remember. I even gambled with him in the tavern and won four silver coins from him. Although I used a little trick, those mercenaries were really something. After losing, they refused to play with me anymore. Otherwise, I could have won even more." Du Lei shrugged. His memory was always pretty good.

"It looks like they were attacked. They were all killed by sharp weapons. It was done by humans, not monsters." Based on his experience, Old Man Teng gave the most authoritative conclusion. Duanmu, who always opposed him, nodded in agreement. Duanmu knew how to distinguish between work and leisure.

"So, the humans were killed by other mercenaries to eliminate their competitors and prevent more people from reaching the sealed cave, thus avoiding trouble?" Nan Yin thought carefully and quickly grasped the logical connection, which made her expression heavy.

"That's about right. There's only one item, and so many people are trying to take it. Not to mention those fierce mercenaries, even you guys brought weapons. You definitely won't follow the first-come, first-served rule. You'll see others take the item and then leave empty-handed, right?" Du Lei looked at the three people in front of him.

Duanmu always carried a long spear, Nanyin held a long, jet-black sword, and Old Man Teng, though always smiling and only leaning on a cane, was, as Du Lei knew, a cane that was also a deadly weapon that could kill without drawing blood. These three were no ordinary people.

"How could I possibly return empty-handed? Even if someone else gets there first, they'll all have to hand it over obediently when they see me, Uncle Duanmu. Otherwise, I'll beat them to a pulp." Duanmu clenched his fists, looking every bit the part of someone he didn't like.

"So, your journey to seize the Star Stone will be fraught with danger from the moment you step out of the village. This highlights the importance of a good guide. With me here, we can avoid encountering those guys along the way and reduce a lot of trouble. Understand?"

As he spoke, Dure groped the mercenary lying on the ground, it was unclear what he was doing.

“I understand, but I don’t understand what you’re doing. They’re all dead. Shouldn’t they be buried? What are you doing there?” Nan Yin was puzzled. In her opinion, Du Lei’s actions were a desecration of the dead.

"Ha, you're asking me what to do? Isn't it obvious? They would definitely bring dry food and things like kerosene when they went into the mountains. Now that they're dead, they'll soon be buried by the snowstorm, so let's scavenge these useful things before then. We'll need them later."

Dure quickly gathered a small bag and stuffed it all into his backpack.

“But isn’t this disrespectful to the deceased? Such things are absolutely forbidden in my hometown,” Nan Yin insisted.

“You know this is your hometown, Miss Nan Yin. Your family has its own way of life, and I won’t argue with you about that. But in the snow-capped mountains, there’s a different way of life. You can lose your life if you’re not careful. Are you sure you understand?” Du Lei asked rhetorically.

Nan Yin stared at him blankly, without saying a word.

"Let's hurry up, it looks like a blizzard is coming." Du Lei slung his backpack over his shoulder, glanced at the sky, ignored Nan Yin, and continued walking without looking back.

No travelers returned in the wind and snow, only cold skeletons.

010 Lost on a Snowy Road of No Return

Anyone who lives in the mountains knows that going forward in a blizzard is extremely dangerous, especially at night when the temperature drops and most of the visibility is blocked by darkness. Trying to go against the blizzard is practically suicide. The most rational approach is to find a place to shelter from the wind and snow.

Although Du Lei was young, as the best hunter in Wenquan Village, the closest village to Beishan, he was very familiar with the changeable weather in the mountains. He quickly judged that a blizzard was coming and loudly urged Nan Yin, Duanmu and the others to speed up, as they had to leave the open wilderness.

With the help of the dim light, one could see the howling wind on the snow-capped mountain and the obvious drop in temperature. Du Lei, who was walking at the front, was agile and nimble. Having grown up in the snow-capped mountains since childhood, he could overcome even the most complex terrain. However, Nan Yin and the others were not as relaxed and at ease as he was.

"Hurry up and grab my hand, stop dawdling! In this weather, the blizzard will come down in the time it takes to eat a meal. If we don't reach the other side of the mountain by then, we'll all turn into ice pops and sleep forever on the snow mountain," Du Lei reached out and pulled Nan Yin.

During her journey, Nan Yin accidentally stepped into a snow pit. She thought she had experienced a lot of dangers on her way from the Eastern Continent to the Western Continent, but she had never seen such a harsh environment and weather as Beishan before. She reluctantly took over and climbed up.

"Miss Nan Yin, are you alright? Hey kid, can't you speak to a lady a little more politely? If you keep talking so rudely, I'll teach you a lesson!" Duanmu, who was also suffering from the weather, scolded Du Lei loudly while panting heavily. This kid was too impolite.

"Even if I'm being polite, Beishan won't be. Let's hurry up. If everything goes smoothly, we'll soon reach the ridge of the mountain, where we can barely withstand the blizzard. Then we can rest for a bit, and once the blizzard ends, we'll reach the entrance to the sealed cave first thing tomorrow morning."

Du Lei scoffed at Duanmu's words. He looked up at the sky, the whistling cold wind cutting his face like knives. Fortunately, he was used to the weather in the mountains. He used the sparse stars in the sky to find his way. It would be difficult not to get lost in the vast expanse of white snow-covered mountains.

"What do you mean we have to wait until tomorrow? Are you kidding me? We've been walking for so long. When we were in the hot spring village, we saw the seven-colored beam of light coming from the sealed cave. It should have been very close, right? You didn't lead us the wrong way, did you?" Duanmu strongly disagreed with Du Lei's words.

In his understanding, it would only take half a day at most to get from the hot spring village to the sealed cave. He could set off in the morning, get the star stone in the afternoon, and then return to the hot spring village in the evening for a relaxing soak and some drinks. He had even planned out the script—it was practically perfect.

It was already late at night, and they still hadn't seen a trace of the sealed cave. This made Duanmu question Du Lei's abilities. Of course, even if Du Lei was perfectly capable, he would still find fault; traveling in such a harsh environment was too boring without finding something to talk about.

"Duanmu, there's an old saying that goes, 'Looking at a mountain makes you feel like you're running yourself to death.' It may seem close, but you only realize how far it is when you actually walk it. It's like on a full moon night; the full moon seems within reach, but can you really touch it? Don't blame the young man; just trust him," Old Man Teng advised Duanmu.

"Alright, alright, I get it. All that 'looking at the mountain makes the horse run itself to death,' and 'the last mile is the hardest,' I've heard it all before. Anyway, you're older, you've seen more than I've eaten rice, right? Okay, okay, I'll shut you up. Let's go. Hey, why did you stop?"

Duanmu has never been a person who can stand being alone. It would be no exaggeration to call him a chatterbox. Fortunately, he was partnered with an old man like Teng, who was very patient. If it were anyone else, they would have fought. Just as Duanmu was complaining, he suddenly saw Du Lei stop.

"What's going on? Weren't you urging us to hurry on our way? Why have you stopped now?" Nan Yin also noticed Du Lei's strange behavior. She looked at his back with some doubt, tightened her grip on the hilt of her knife. The strong wind that swept over her masked too many traces, making her feel vaguely uneasy.

"This sound!" Du Lei, who had been bending over and moving against the strong wind, suddenly lay down on the ground and pricked up his ears to listen carefully to the sound.

"Hey kid, what else could it be but the sound of the wind blowing in? What are you doing lying on the ground? Could it be that your little body finally couldn't withstand the wind? Old man Teng, I told you the people you found weren't reliable. How about that, you've already collapsed? Shall we bury him?"

When Duanmu saw Du Lei lying there, he assumed that he had collapsed due to exhaustion. For someone like him, who came from a family of martial arts heroes and had been on the battlefield since he was a young age, the death of one or two people was nothing out of the ordinary. Even if Du Lei died in front of him, he would not feel the slightest bit of emotion.

"No, this is the guy who can pinpoint sounds. What did you find?" Old Man Teng was knowledgeable and knew that Du Lei must have his reasons for doing this. He immediately closed his eyes and listened carefully, but he was getting old and his hearing was not as good as before.

"Old man Teng, don't try to fool me. I can do that too. Whether it's the buzzing of arrows or the sound of cavalry hooves, nothing can escape my ears. Well, although those wretched guys from the Western Continent brought gunpowder guns, which are incredibly noisy."

Duanmu, who considered himself to have exceptional hearing, couldn't detect any unusual sounds and couldn't help but suspect that Du Lei was just making a fuss.

"No, the sensitivity and adaptability of human senses vary depending on the environment. Hunters who live in the deep mountains have more sensitive hearing than hunters on the grasslands, but their eyesight is definitely not as good as that of hunters on the grasslands. Duanmu, your senses are adapted to the battlefield, not to this vast snow-covered mountain range."

Nan Yin shook her head solemnly. Although she and Du Lei had a deep grudge due to the incident at the mountaintop bathhouse, she instinctively sensed danger in the current unclear situation and would never let her personal emotions affect the survival of the entire team.

“Miss, what you said makes some sense. But kid, what did you hear? Tell me quickly! Didn’t you just say that a blizzard is coming? If you keep lying there without saying anything, I might kick your butt.” Duanmu scratched his head, agreeing with Nanyin’s words.

Du Lei had been lying there motionless for several breaths. If Duanmu's earlier statement about burying Du Lei was just a joke, he was now really tempted to kick Du Lei a couple of times. Who was Duanmu? Apart from Miss Nan Yin and his wife, he was fearless.

"They're here, they're here!" Dure said solemnly. He immediately jumped up and drew a short hunting knife from his waist.

"What's here, young man? What have you discovered?" Old Man Teng had a high opinion of Du Lei, who was known for his sharp insight.

"No, run! If they get entangled, it'll be troublesome!" Du Lei didn't have time to answer Old Man Teng's words and turned around to shout.

The thunderous shout that came from his thin body startled even Duanmu. Although the latter was still clueless, he could only hurry after Du Lei when he saw him take off running. The wind grew stronger and stronger, and snowflakes could be faintly seen falling by the light of the kerosene lamp.

"Who are they? Are they other mercenaries? I say, young man, you're too timid. If those mercenaries dare to lay a finger on us, hehe, my Thunder Beast will teach them a lesson in no time. By the way, old man Teng, do you still have the pocket watch I gave you?"

Duanmu assumed that Du Lei had run away because he had noticed the mercenaries approaching. In Duanmu's opinion, this was understandable, since Du Lei was just an ordinary teenager with no magical fluctuations in his body. It was not surprising that he was afraid of the fierce mercenaries.

But for someone like him, who was only in his early twenties but had already fought on the battlefield for several years, he didn't take mercenaries seriously at all. Moreover, he had been keeping a low profile for too long and was eager to find some fun and have a good fight to loosen up his muscles, otherwise it was too cold.

"I have absolutely no interest in these Western oddities and curiosities. As for the time, I can calculate it myself. It should be midnight now. Hmm, those figures in front are..." To put it nicely, Old Man Teng is a traditional person; to put it bluntly, he's an absolute old stubborn.

While he was calculating the time, he noticed several figures appearing ahead. Du Lei, who was walking at the front, slowed down and looked nervous.

"Oh dear, old man Teng, times have changed. You need to keep up with the times! If you're so resistant to new things, then don't take the train back. Just ride a donkey! Hehe, these guys have appeared! Goodness, quite a few of them. Are they planning to ambush us?"

Duanmu chuckled and held his spear horizontally. The spear was immediately crackling with lightning, and snowflakes fell in the strong wind, a sign of an approaching blizzard. Through the snowflakes, he could see a dozen blurry figures blocking his way, which made Duanmu eager to try.

"Is it because a blizzard is coming soon and the temperature is dropping? Why do these people feel so cold?" Nan Yin couldn't see the faces of the people blocking her way, but she couldn't sense their temperature in the snowstorm. This made her particularly concerned, and she tightened her grip on the knife.

"Not only in front, but also here and there. Damn it, are we already surrounded? I was so careless. I should have avoided this area. I was only thinking about getting out of the blizzard and ended up here." Despite the freezing weather, large beads of cold sweat still appeared on Du Lei's forehead.

Even his back was soaked. Nan Yin, Duanmu, and the others behind him assumed it was an ambush by mercenaries. They were skilled and daring, and didn't take it too seriously. But Du Lei knew the gravity of the situation. Encountering them at this critical juncture was practically fatal.

"Hey, how come there are so many people? There are at least twenty or thirty of them. What, are they planning to join forces and wipe us out? Perfect timing! I, Duanmu, haven't fought in days and I'm itching for a fight. All of you, come at me together! Hmm, what's wrong with their movements?" Duanmu was originally eager to try.

But as the twenty or thirty figures drew closer, he began to notice something amiss. Based on his experience, if the other side were to ambush them, they would definitely rush over suddenly at the first moment, catching them off guard, and would also use the snowstorm as cover to launch hidden arrows and sniper shots.

But these shadows approached unsteadily, moving slowly, yet exuding an overwhelming sense of oppression, causing even Duanmu to shiver involuntarily.

"Idiot, these guys aren't alive at all, they're corpses from North Mountain, they've all crawled up from the ground!" Du Lei roared. In front of him, the shadows gradually approached, and with the help of the dim light of the kerosene lamp, he could finally make out their appearance.

Their faces were severely decomposed, some were just piles of bones, their bodies were covered in ancient armor, some still had some rotting flesh on their faces, and they were dressed in tattered clothes. Others were relatively well preserved, and this type was dressed in the standard coats of modern adventurers.

Without exception, they all held weapons in their hands: spears, daggers, rusty longswords, all sorts of weapons. Beneath their pale bones emanated a deathly aura that penetrated deep into their pores. Dure gripped his hunting knife tightly, bent over, ready for battle, his lips frozen blue and purple.

Before the blizzard arrives, they will face a life-or-death test.

011 I've been waiting for you to say that.

If you stand on a high point of the snow-capped mountain, you will definitely see dark clouds appearing in the western sky. The vast moonlight that originally reflected the snow is now obscured by the clouds. The howling wind whips up a large amount of snowflakes, which are scattered in the air and merge with the falling snowflakes.

The howling wind that cut through the mountain pass in the darkness sounded like the howling of wolves. In the boundless white world, the white storm swirled into a dragon, raging towards the mountains to the east. Wherever it passed, the thick layer of snow piled up was torn apart and eventually collapsed.

It possessed an unparalleled destructive power, making even the moonlight pale in comparison. The faint lights on the snow-capped mountains, like fireflies, seemed as insignificant as insects lurking in the snow, waiting for spring to arrive, and could be torn to shreds at any moment.

"Damn it, the blizzard is coming soon. If it catches up with us, we're all doomed. But we're stuck with these troublesome things right now. I should have known better than to take this job. It's not worth risking my life." Du Lei turned around and looked at the raging blizzard, his face pale.

Having grown up in the snow-capped mountains, he knew the terror of blizzards all too well. Usually, he would find shelter before a blizzard arrived. However, now, a large number of undead blocked his path. In the brief moment he spoke, some undead swung their swords at him.

"Careful, how dare you say such irresponsible things? Who brought us here? And what are these things? We can't kill them no matter what we do, and their numbers are increasing. They're too difficult to deal with." Nan Yin quickly slashed down the undead that was attacking Du Lei.

Her attacks were swift, decisive, and ruthless. An ordinary person would likely have perished beneath her blade, but the undead struck only stumbled and collapsed onto the snow. It quickly rose again, swaying, and plunged back into the fray, wielding its sword once more. There were dozens of undead nearby.

"Oh dear, I already said this was an accident. Blizzards in the mountains can come anytime. Would you rather deal with a blizzard or these guys? There's an old saying in your Eastern Continent, what's it again? Right, between two evils, choose the lesser. That's the principle, understand?"

Du Lei felt completely innocent. He had chosen this route to avoid the snowstorm. If he had chosen another place, he would have been completely doomed by the snowstorm. This was an uncontrollable factor, and he couldn't be blamed. He was quicker than anyone else to shift the blame.

"What kind of twisted logic is that? I'm from the Eastern Continent. I've never heard of these monsters. Even the power of the Thunder Beast can't destroy them. Even if you cut them in half, they can get back up. How are you supposed to fight them?" Duanmu retorted irritably.

As these undead were just getting up from the ground, he brandished his spear, thinking that he had finally gotten his chance to show off his skills. But after close combat, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness. At first, there were only twenty or so undead, but now there were at least seventy or eighty.

"If you haven't heard of them, it just means you're not well-read. What era are we living in? This is the age of scientific explosion! And these things aren't fought like that. You have to cut off their heads first. Otherwise, even if you turn them into mincemeat, it won't do any good. Don't say you can't kill them; they're already dead."

Du Lei brandished his hunting knife, dodging the spear thrusting at him. He closed in and swiftly severed the undead's head, which rolled to the ground. The headless undead instantly collapsed, hissing white smoke rising from the ground, no longer posing a threat to them.

"Oh, is that so? Why didn't you say so earlier? We wouldn't have wasted so much effort." Nan Yin was stunned. Seeing that Du Lei's actions were very effective, she immediately swung her sword at the heads of the nearby undead, and three undead fell to the ground.

"Didn't I tell you before? Well, it's not too late to tell you now, hahaha." Du Lei scratched his head. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that he had indeed forgotten to tell Nan Yin and her group about this. No wonder the latter were glaring at him angrily, wishing they could cut him into a thousand pieces.

“No, Miss, these undead are constantly rising from the ground. There are too many of them to kill. And the blizzard is coming soon. If we drag this out, we will only die. Duanmu and I will clear the way for you. You rush out immediately, and we will cover your retreat.” Old Man Teng looked behind him.

He quickly assessed the situation and made the top priority. He knew perfectly well that human strength was utterly powerless against the overwhelming force of nature. Once the blizzard struck, all four of them would perish in the snow-covered mountains, becoming part of the undead.

"What Grandpa Teng? How could I possibly abandon you two? No way!" Nan Yin shook her head emphatically. She looked in the direction Grandpa Teng was pointing, and the dragon in the snow was getting closer and closer. She could clearly feel the strong wind rushing towards her like a knife cutting into her face.

"Miss, do not forget the mission you bear, do not forget the purpose of our coming here. Now the Star Stone is within reach, are you going to give up? Moreover, if we do not do this, none of us will survive. Duanmu, go ahead and clear the way. I will protect you, Miss!" the old man roared.

He, who was usually kind and gentle, spoke with a booming voice at this moment. A spirit swung an axe at him, but he didn't turn his head. He struck the spirit's head accurately with his staff, instantly turning the head into dust. The sound waves even spread rapidly after the blow.

"Hehe, old man, I've been waiting for you to say that. You haven't done many things that I've found worthy of my attention along the way, but this is one of them. Come on, let's show you guys the power of the Ice Phoenix Divine Guard of my Phoenix Kingdom. Miss Lei Zhan Bafang, now's the time, let's go."

Duanmu gripped his spear, took a step back, and stretched it like a fully drawn bowstring. Lightning crackled from the spear, and the sound of electric current could be clearly heard in the air. After a short period of gathering his strength, he charged forward, and the intense lightning instantly knocked down a large group of undead.

Having landed a successful blow, Duanmu shouted to Nanyin, signaling her to quickly use the opening he had painstakingly created to escape. Although he had repelled the undead for a short time, large groups of undead still surrounded them from both sides, compressing the space around Nanyin and the others. Without someone covering their retreat, they simply couldn't escape.

But Nan Yin still couldn't make up her mind. Duanmu and Old Man Teng had escorted her all the way from the Eastern Continent to here, a journey of far more than ten thousand miles.

"No buts, then I'll leave this place to you two. Good luck, let's go." Du Lei wasn't one to dawdle. Now that Duanmu had offered to cover the rear, he couldn't be happier. He immediately grabbed Nan Yin's hand and ran away through the tear Duanmu had made.

"Kid, I'm entrusting Miss to you. If anything happens to her, I'll go. You've run away faster than a rabbit, and you're nowhere to be seen. You should at least say a few sentimental words before you leave. I'm risking my life to give you a chance to escape!" Duanmu originally wanted to give him a few more words of advice.

But in the rustling snow, Du Lei quickly disappeared with Nan Yin, and the gap he had painstakingly torn open was blocked again by the surrounding undead. If one were to stand on a high place and look down, one would surely see countless undead crawling up from the ground on the vast snow-covered mountains.

The number was well over several hundred, and the evil dragon, the embodiment of a blizzard, was also approaching from afar, only inches away from where Duanmu and his companion were.

“No need to shout anymore. People as cold and ruthless as this young man are more likely to survive. It’s safer for Miss to stay by his side. The only thing I’m worried about is…” Old Man Teng withdrew his gaze and focused his attention on the surrounding undead and the blizzard.

"Ah, what did you say? The wind and snow are too strong, I can't hear you." Duanmu brandished the Thunder Beast in his hand, and in a short time, he once again knocked down a large number of undead. The spear technique he had practiced since childhood was originally designed for large-scale battles, with amazing area-of-effect damage.

"It's nothing, I hope I'm just overthinking it. The blizzard is coming soon, Duanmu, it looks like you're going to die here with me." Old Man Teng shook his head, not voicing his worries. He squinted at the approaching blizzard and suddenly laughed.