The most shameless alchemist in history

"What is a crystal bottle? Why are people looking at it like they're crazy? Is it really that exaggerated?" Lance was completely baffled. He couldn't see what was so precious about such a small bottle, so he asked Kelly next to him.

"Idiot, do you even know what's in that crystal bottle?" Kelly glared at Lance. If she hadn't seen the commotion and rushed over to pull Lance back, Lance probably would have started a fight with Leo before he even apologized.

"How would I know what's inside? If I knew, would I be asking you?" Lance was baffled; Kelly never spoke very directly.

“It contains magic energy essence.” Normally, if Kelly heard Lance’s tone like this, she would definitely shut him up. But today, faced with what was in the crystal bottle, even Kelly couldn’t sit still. She looked at Dure nervously; it was like a pie had fallen from the sky and hit her on the head.

"What is 'magic energy essence'?" Lance was completely baffled; it was a completely new term to him.

"Can't you use your brain and think about this properly? Magic Energy Liquid, as the name suggests, is a liquid formed from the purest part of magic energy extracted from a vast amount of magic energy. I told you before, the human body needs to absorb magic power from the air for cultivation."

Kelly originally only wanted to give Lance a general explanation, but seeing his bewildered look, she sighed and could only continue to explain in detail.

“Yes, extract magic from the air and convert it into magical energy, so what?” Lance nodded, but he couldn’t completely follow Kelly’s train of thought.

"Let me give you an analogy. Imagine the human body has a container. Because of different talents, some people are bowls, some are plates, some are buckets, and some are pools. We need to take in magical elements from the outside world, which drips into the pool like water droplets. Do you understand?"

In order to explain clearly, Kelly had to go through the explanation point by point.

“I’m not an idiot, of course I understand, but what does this have to do with the magic energy elixir?” Lance continued to press.

168 Magic Energy Essence

Leo arrived with his men, and Lance initially thought he was there to cause trouble, so he was prepared to fight. But to his surprise, Leo not only didn't cause them any trouble, but also took the initiative to apologize for what Euphemia had done before, and even offered precious magic energy essence as an apology.

This really puzzled Lance. He had no idea what Leo was up to. But for him, it was better for someone to come and apologize than to fight or cause trouble. As the old saying goes, it's better to resolve a feud than to let it fester. Right now, he was very interested in the magic energy liquid in the crystal bottle.

“Because of different environments, the concentration of magical elements varies from region to region. Moreover, because the types of elements cultivated are different, there is a great deal of regionality. For example, cultivating water-attribute magical elements in the desert is just asking for trouble. Do you understand?” Kelly continued to ask.

“I understand, I understand all of that, so Kelly, just get to the point and don’t say anything irrelevant, or I’ll look like an idiot.” Lance was getting impatient. He urged Kelly to give him an answer, as he could see that many students around them were drooling over the crystal bottle.

"Magic Energy Essence is made by using a special method to concentrate the magic energy of a region rich in magical elements, and then refining it to transform the magic energy into magical power, which can be used directly as a weapon. Magical elements are the most precious thing for us magical power users."

"The tiny bit of magic energy liquid that Leo has is probably worth about a hundred gold coins," Kelly added, afraid that her statement wasn't clear enough.

"One hundred gold coins, let me count them, one, two, three, oh, so many, enough to buy so much bread! Wait, they're gold coins, not silver coins!" Lance clicked his tongue. He counted on his fingers for a long time, only to find that he didn't have enough fingers, and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"This is still the most conservative estimate. If it were golden magic energy essence, it would be astronomically expensive. Now that Leo is offering magic energy essence as an apology, it's clear that he's really sincere." Kelly considered herself a worldly person, but this was quite a surprise to see someone offer magic energy essence as a gift.

Such a move still surprised Kelly, and she reassessed Maple Leaf Academy once again, realizing that it was truly a place where hidden talents resided.

"It's such a valuable item, Durei? We..." Lance licked his lips, clearly nervous.

"Please forgive me, but I cannot accept this." Dure looked at the silver box that Leo handed over. Hundreds of people were staring at Leo's hand, wishing they could snatch the box away. However, Dure, who was closest to it, calmly examined it for a moment and then gently shook his head, which was clearly a refusal.

"Unacceptable! Does that kid even know what he's talking about? That's magic energy essence! Just a tiny bit can instantly allow someone at the mid-level to break through to the high-level! Such a precious thing, and he's refusing it? Is he crazy?" Exclamations erupted from the crowd.

"I think he doesn't understand the value of the magic energy liquid at all. This kind of good thing, which happens only once every few centuries, fell into his lap and he didn't want it. Good heavens, why didn't it fall into my lap?" Someone felt extremely unbalanced, and their eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

There is no doubt that Du Lei's actions have provoked public outrage. In the eyes of the students watching, nothing is more hateful than wasting resources.

“Durey, Kelly said this thing is very valuable and very beneficial to cultivation, otherwise you…” Although Lance was also angry about Euphemia’s matter, he was still somewhat swayed by the precious magic energy liquid, after all, the other party had shown great sincerity.

"No need to say anything more. If Miss Euphemia wants to reconcile, please let her come in person. If she apologizes in person, I think I will accept it. As for any apologies, that's unnecessary." Dure shook his head, left these words, and walked away, brushing past Leo.

"Hey, Dure, you're really something. If you say you don't want to, then don't just leave like that. Wait for me!" Lance was extremely reluctant, but he could tell that Dure's attitude was very firm, and once he made up his mind, there was absolutely no possibility of changing it.

Therefore, he had no choice but to chase after Dure. Kelly hesitated for a moment, but could only leave helplessly. After all, the other party was looking for Dure, not her. Besides, even if they were looking for her, although the magic energy liquid was precious, it was not something that someone of her status absolutely needed.

Soon, Du Lei and his two companions disappeared into the crowd, leaving Leo still in the gesture of handing out the box, who then withdrew his hand.

"Damn it, what an ungrateful brat! Is he crazy? We offered him the Magic Energy Essence and he refused it. He probably doesn't even know what it is. I bet once he finds out how precious the Magic Energy Essence is, he'll come crying back to us begging for it." One student said indignantly.

Led by Leo, the group of seven or eight aristocratic students watched Dure's departing figure, filled with resentment and bitterness.

"That's quite unexpected. What a clever guy. It seems our days at Maple Leaf Academy won't be boring from now on." Leo was publicly rejected, and anyone would lose face in that situation. Leo's movements were a little stiff, but he still maintained a smile.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the road, Du Lei continued towards the West Square, where the freshman assembly was about to begin.

"Durey, why are you walking so fast? I'm exhausted. By the way, Durey, why did you reject him?" Lance finally caught up with Durey. He couldn't understand Durey's behavior at all. Now that there was no one else around, he seized the opportunity to ask him.

"Why do you think that guy named Leo would give us something?" Dure asked Lance.

“Didn’t he say he was apologizing to that spoiled and willful young lady?” Lance thought it was perfectly reasonable.

"But look at that young lady's attitude yesterday. Does she seem like someone who would back down or give in?" Du Lei continued to ask.

“But Dure, you have red aptitude, which is very powerful. Maybe she was just scared,” Lance suggested.

"No, she wouldn't give in for that reason. Besides, you saw it yourself, even Charlotte had to curry favor with her. So, for someone like her, red magic energy reaction aptitude is nothing. And Leo's actions don't seem to be at Euphemia's behest."

Du Lei frowned, deep in thought. It wasn't that he didn't know the value of the magic energy essence, nor that he didn't want to accept it, but rashly accepting something before understanding the other party's purpose would be tantamount to carrying a time bomb in his pocket, and he wouldn't do such a stupid thing.

169 Crimson Flame

Because Leo stopped him on the way, which delayed him a bit, when Du Lei arrived at the West Square, the freshman assembly had already begun. On the stage, a woman who looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old was giving a speech. She was wearing a crisp military uniform, white gloves, and black leather boots.

Standing at nearly 1.75 meters tall, she also possesses a slender and enviable figure. Compared to her identity as a college teacher, she looks more like a dashing female military officer. Even though she has a fierce appearance, the students below the stage still point at her and whisper among themselves.

"This is truly an incredible beauty, just my type. Look at her, big breasts and a perky butt, she's decisive and efficient, isn't she the epitome of a mature and sophisticated woman? By the way, does anyone know her name? I must memorize it." A student asked in a low voice.

"Are you crazy? You dare to even mess with Teacher Camille? She's the Dean's granddaughter, the infamous Queen of Sin in the academy. If you dare to provoke her, aren't you afraid of being burned to ashes?" A student who knew the inside story reminded his companion to prevent him from saying something that might cause trouble.

"Queen Scarlet, hey, she can't be that Crimson Flame, can she? I heard of that name before I came to Maple Leaf Academy. She's a very important person." Someone nearby chewed on the name "Queen Scarlet" for a while and immediately associated it with "Crimson Flame".

"That's right, that's right, it's Teacher Camille. She's skilled in using fire-attribute magic. Her magic weapon, the Crimson Lotus Battle Blade, is enough to incinerate everything. She's one of the top three strongest fighters in the academy. We must keep our distance from her." The insider nodded quickly.

"Red Lotus, huh? Hehehehe, that's really fiery passion. If I could be enveloped by that blazing passion, I'd be willing to turn to ashes." The obsessive male student was completely absorbed in the image of the sexy female teacher, oblivious to everything else, which made his companions sigh.

Meanwhile, Dure and Lance slowly joined the freshman assembly. The two stood at the back of the line. Although less than one hundred people had passed the five rounds of tests and finally crossed the threshold to become students of Maple Leaf Academy, they were all people who had made it through with real skills.

The number of students who entered Maple Leaf Academy through various recommendation letters and connections was even greater, at least over a hundred. In addition, students from other grades also participated, bringing the total number of people in the venue to three or four hundred. Most of these students were around fifteen or sixteen years old.

"The Crimson Lotus Blade sounds pretty powerful. Oh, right, Kelly, I heard you mention before that magical weapons are divided into many qualities, such as ordinary, good, excellent, elite, and what else... I forgot." Lance happened to overhear the students' conversation.

He became interested in Camille's Crimson Lotus Blade and quietly asked Kelly next to him. He gestured with his fingers, trying to list out all the magical weapon levels Kelly had told him, but he soon realized that he had forgotten most of them and couldn't count them at all.

“I just told you yesterday, how could you forget? You’re hopelessly stupid. After that, there are rare, excellent, epic, and legendary grades, and…” Kelly glared at Lance. She realized that this guy never used his brain when he went out, and his memory was terrible.

"What else?" Lance immediately pressed. Kelly counted as she spoke, and so far, eight levels had been counted.

“Why should I tell you? Besides, I already said it yesterday.” Kelly turned her head away, ignoring Lance.

"Kelly, you can't just say half of what you mean! You're driving me crazy with anticipation! Tell me what it is already!" Lance was getting impatient.

“There’s another one, the Mythical level. Kelly, do you know what level Camille’s Crimson Lotus Blade is?” Dure said, revealing the last level. He had listened carefully when Kelly introduced it yesterday. He looked at Camille on the platform, who was still giving a stern lecture.

“I haven’t seen her use the Crimson Lotus Blade, so I’m not too sure about it. But since she’s a teacher at Maple Leaf Academy and has the nickname ‘Crimson Flame,’ I think she must be at least an elite-level magic weapon.” Kelly thought for a moment and gave a rough guess.

"Elite level, so it's the fourth level? What? Looking at her, I thought she was the ninth level, Mythic level." Lance waved his hand, somewhat disappointed with the result.

“I meant the lowest. What do you mean by the lowest? Can you use your barren brain to think this through? And don’t underestimate the fourth level. Let alone the elite level, even the excellent level magic weapon can easily shatter steel.” Kelly glared at Lance.

"You're kidding me, right? Steel is so hard. Forget about cutting it, it's difficult to even scratch the surface. I always thought steel was the hardest thing in the world." Lance was dumbfounded, somewhat disbelieving Kelly's words.

"So how come you don't even know the most basic magic power knowledge, yet you came to Maple Leaf Academy? What are you doing here? Are you here for sightseeing? Besides, there are many things in this world that are harder than steel. Forget it, I can't communicate with you at all."

Kelly was completely outmatched by Lance, believing that talking to him was an act that lowered her IQ.

"The quality of magical weapons is certainly important, but the user is even more important. So never judge someone by the level of their weapon. Without a doubt, that teacher Camille is an experienced magical user, or so it seems," Dure scrutinized Camille as she spoke.

He didn't know much more about magic than Lance, but he was good at listening and learning, and his progress was much faster than Lance's.

“That’s right. If that idiot had even a tenth of your comprehension, I wouldn’t have had to waste so much breath. Hmm, look over there, that guy Sterling, what is he going to do?” Kelly was certain of this. At this moment, she saw someone in the crowd ahead walking towards the platform.

If Camille had specifically asked him to come, that would have been normal. However, at this moment, Camille was talking about the history of Maple Leaf Academy and the order that needed to be followed in the academy. Sterling's appearance on stage interrupted her speech, and everyone's attention turned to the little guy.

170 What is he going to do?

Sterling is less than 1.65 meters tall and very thin. He would normally be an inconspicuous figure in a crowd. However, there was no one among the hundreds of people present who didn't know him. The reason was simple: in the previous five rounds of entrance tests, Sterling ranked first in all of them, and his popularity was unparalleled.

Almost everyone's impression of Sterling is that he is tough, gloomy, and taciturn. In fact, over the years, few people have seen Sterling speak to others. It's not that no one has taken the initiative to strike up a conversation with him or tried to get in touch with this influential figure.

However, without exception, those who harbored such thoughts were met with a rebuff. Sterling never gave anyone a friendly look, and now, in full view of everyone, he openly walked onto the stage and interrupted Camille's speech, instantly making him the focus of everyone's attention.

"Isn't that Sterling? What does he want to do? Even if he's the best among this year's freshmen, this is Professor Camille's speech. Interrupting her has serious consequences. Even if someone is arrogant, there's a limit." A student looked at Sterling with doubt.

"Who knows what he's up to? Geniuses often think differently than normal people. Just watch and see. Maybe he just wants to go up and shake hands with Professor Camille or something." Some students speculated, offering a possibility.

Most people in the arena hadn't spoken to Sterling, but Dure had. He had a brief chat with Sterling outside the academy before the test even started. In Dure's memory, Sterling was an arrogant person, but also a very rational one.

"Durey, what do you think that guy is up to? He's always so gloomy, like the whole world owes him a hundred silver coins. I really can't stand him." Lance didn't have a good impression of Sterling, who was striding towards Camille at that moment.

Camille also stopped her speech. She frowned and looked at the uninvited guest walking towards her. There were no more than three people in the huge Maple Leaf Academy who dared to interrupt her, and one of them was absent from the academy for many years and had no news of her.

“You’ll find out as you watch,” Dure said, not answering Lance’s question. He was observing Sterling’s every move with great interest.

“That may be true, but don’t you have any speculations or anything? Someone as smart as you must be able to guess some clues, right? Besides, you are all very talented people, and you are more or less half the same kind of people. You should have some common ground, right?” Lance continued to press.

When Du Lei heard the word "talent," he paused for a moment, a self-deprecating smile appearing on his lips.

"Durey, what's wrong?" Lance noticed that something was wrong with Durey and immediately asked.

"It's nothing. Given Sterling's personality, I guess he..." Dure said in a low voice, glossing over his earlier self-deprecation. Lance, of course, didn't know that Dure had passed yesterday's magic reaction test entirely thanks to that egg; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it cheating.

"What? How is this possible?" Lance was very close to Dure, and he could hear Dure's voice clearly even when the latter spoke very softly. Dure's words surprised Lance. It wasn't that he doubted the accuracy of Dure's words, but rather that it was too unbelievable.

"Whether this is really possible or not, you'll find out as you watch," Du Lei said confidently, observing the unfolding events.

At the same time, Sterling finally stopped in front of Camille. The two were less than two meters apart, but due to her height, Camille was a whole head taller than Sterling. It was the feeling of an older woman and a younger boy, but the atmosphere was very dull.

"Who let you come here?" Camille was furious at being interrupted, and she questioned loudly with a stern face.

“Nobody asked me to come. I came on my own,” Sterling replied expressionlessly, his facial muscles stiff.

"So, what do you want to do here? Do you want to use this place as a stage for your speeches?" Camille tried her best to control her anger, her words already carrying a threatening tone, trying to get Sterling to back down.

"I heard you're one of the strongest people at Maple Leaf Academy," Sterling replied, looking at Camille with a provocative gaze.

"Although it's unpleasant to hear one of the people say something like that, it's pretty much the truth. What exactly are you trying to say?" Camille has recently been working to suppress the others, picking fights with the other teachers every few days, hoping to get rid of those words.

This directly led to several teachers avoiding Camille whenever they saw her.

“I want to challenge you.” Sterling was never one to beat around the bush; he stated his purpose directly.

"Challenging me, little kid, there's a limit to joking around. Hmm, so fast." Camille scoffed at this. She'd been in a state of constantly causing trouble for others lately, but no one had dared to bother her yet. Now, a mere freshman dared to speak to her in such a tone.

This angered her, and she planned to teach him a lesson. However, before she could make a move, Sterling, who was too close to her, took the initiative and charged at her, delivering a heavy chop to her. This action was so sudden that it caused an uproar among the students.

"My God, what's going on? Why are they fighting? Has Sterling gone mad? He actually attacked Teacher Camille. He's just a newcomer. Isn't that incredibly arrogant?" The students all knew that Sterling was an arrogant and unapproachable person.

But who knew he would be so arrogant, launching a series of fierce attacks on Camille in full view of everyone, his movements clean and efficient.