The most shameless alchemist in history

She clenched her fists, and through her slender wrists, one could see numerous bruises—bruises she had inflicted herself. Last night, witnessing the massacre, she had tried several times to rush out and stop it, but Du Lei held her back tightly. Powerless, she could only punish herself in this way.

"You think you're great for doing something and saving a lot of people? Come on, that's just pointless sympathy. Do you think those guys who were killed by that Kashu yesterday were good people? If Kashu wasn't so strong, he probably would have been the one who died."

Du Lei scoffed at Nan Yin's opinion. The road ahead was winding and snow-covered all around. However, unlike yesterday's path, they could see towering mountains ahead, with steep slopes and only a narrow, winding path less than a meter wide clinging to the mountainside.

Because of the snowfall, the narrow path was covered with snow and very slippery. One could easily slip and fall. If it were flat ground, it wouldn't be a big deal; you could just get up and keep going. But to their right was an unfathomable abyss, pitch black.

Even though the snow keeps drifting down into the abyss, a process that has lasted for millions of years, the abyss has never been filled with snow. It's like a giant black maw. If the snow mountain were just a wild beast, it would only be tearing at people's flesh and souls.

When it's full, at least it leaves a whole corpse, cold bones. But this dark abyss is different. It's a demon that can never be satiated. No matter how much falls into it, it will accept it all, leaving not even a bone fragment.

"Does having enough power mean that one can wantonly take away other people's lives? No matter the reason, this behavior is unacceptable and unforgivable." Nan Yin emphasized her tone. One thing after another had happened, and this shouldn't be the case.

"Really? Do you remember what happened at the mountaintop bathhouse?" Du Lei suddenly brought up the events of two days ago, which was probably his first meeting with Nan Yin. Although he saw Nan Yin when she first arrived at the hot spring village, the two of them did not speak to each other at that time.

"Why are you suddenly bringing up this about the mountaintop bathing beach?" Nan Yin turned around abruptly, glaring angrily at Du Lei. For her, the experience at the mountaintop bathing beach was not a pleasant memory. She had originally thought that she and Du Lei had reached an understanding that neither of them would mention it again.

"I wasn't referring to the incident where you took a shower," Du Lei realized Nan Yin had misunderstood something and hurriedly explained. Regardless of his position or reason, he was in the wrong about that incident, and there was no way to clear his name. Du Lei wanted to avoid it as much as possible.

"You still dare to say that?" Nan Yin gritted her teeth in hatred. For her, that matter was an absolute taboo that could not be mentioned. She felt like killing someone.

"I saw it, I saw the murderous intent in your eyes. Just because I accidentally bumped into you after your bath, you wanted to kill me. And there were those mutated gorillas that broke in, right? If I hadn't subdued them in time, you would have killed them all before I could, right?"

Du Lei felt he was making things worse by explaining himself, so he just blurted it all out. The two continued along the spiraling, winding path, heading deeper into the underground. Every now and then, pebbles would fall down the steep mountainside with a "crack" sound, quickly swallowed by the abyss.

"A monster is a monster, a ferocious monster. Is it strange to kill them in order to protect yourself?" Nan Yin thought it was all justified and looked at Du Lei with a puzzled look. This guy usually seemed quite clever, so why would he say such strange things?

"So what's so strange about that guy named Kashu killing other mercenaries last night to protect himself? What's really strange is your way of thinking. You're naturally inclined to pity the weaker party, but you don't realize that the pity can shift once the roles are reversed."

Du Lei paused here, "For example, if Kashu had been killed by the mercenaries yesterday, wouldn't you have felt sorry for Kashu again, and regretted not being able to save him? So what's really incomprehensible is your strange, saintly way of thinking, okay?"

Just as Du Lei had told Nan Yin before, he wouldn't indulge her. So, if he had any opinions about her, except for the incident at the mountaintop bathhouse where he was in the wrong and wouldn't bring it up, he would bring it up directly without any unnecessary worries about hurting Nan Yin's feelings.

“I can’t communicate with someone as cold-hearted as you. Are you sure you didn’t lead us the wrong way? How could the sealed cave be underground?” Nan Yin brushed the topic aside. She didn’t want to continue arguing with Du Lei. What she cared about was the star stone inside the sealed cave.

"Changing the subject? You're definitely changing the subject. You can't convince me, so you're choosing to dodge the question. That's quite a clever move. As for the issue of sealing the cave, who told you that caves can't be underground?" Du Lei felt like he had defeated Nan Yin and was in a great mood.

He continued to lead the way, and the further down the road wound, the narrower and more winding it became. In some places, one even had to walk close to the wall. However, for a hunter like Du Lei, who had been active in the snowy mountains for a long time, these were not difficult tasks. He turned around with a smile and asked Nan Yin a question.

“But this depth is a bit too astonishing. We’ve already gone down dozens of meters deep, and these paths…” Nan Yin followed behind Du Lei. At first, she thought the cave was just along a rock wall on the north mountain, but after following Du Lei down, she found that it wasn’t like that.

“These roads have obvious signs of being carved out by humans, and they’re very old, right?” Du Lei said what Nan Yin couldn’t say aloud. The latter looked very doubtful because she found that the sealed cave was very different from what she had imagined, which made her feel a heavy pressure.

"I originally thought that this star stone fell into the North Mountain and had been protected by its own barrier for so many years without being discovered by anyone. But now it seems that there are a lot of artificial traces. The star stone may have already..." A bad guess began to emerge in Nan Yin's mind.

“Maybe it’s already been taken. You’re afraid this trip will be in vain, that that arrogant guy and the old man’s death will all be meaningless, right?” Du Lei squinted at Nan Yin. It wasn’t hard to guess what she was thinking; she was never good at hiding herself.

"If I really return empty-handed this time, how am I supposed to get back to the Phoenix Kingdom alone?" Nan Yin clenched her fists. She didn't answer Du Lei's question directly, but her unspoken meaning was clear. It was obvious that she was in great pain and struggling.

"Don't worry, the star stone is definitely hidden in the cave," Du Lei interrupted Nan Yin, giving a positive answer.

"What?" Nan Yin looked at Du Lei in astonishment. This boy from the hot spring village should know nothing about star stones.

“Think about it, if someone had taken it away, why would they have gone to the trouble of building such a huge structure? These traces are clearly from hundreds of years ago. Given the productivity of that time, building a passage to the underground would have been a massive undertaking.” Du Lei pointed to the winding passage.

“It’s also possible that the project was built specifically to retrieve the Star Stone, otherwise how would we get to the underground?” Nan Yin offered a contrasting opinion.

"Then why didn't he just lower a rope down, or carve a groove into the rock face to allow downward movement? Wouldn't that be much easier? Why waste so much effort? And didn't you notice what's on the wall?" Du Lei pointed to the rock face beside him.

"The thing on the wall, this symbol looks a bit like a snake, but how can a snake have wings? What is this thing?" Nan Yin looked at the rock wall in the direction Du Lei pointed, and soon found that there was a strange symbol every certain distance, and she was stunned for a moment.

"Huh? Aren't you from the Eastern Continent? How come you don't know this?" Du Lei was somewhat surprised. In his expectation, Nan Yin shouldn't have reacted this way.

"What does this have to do with me coming from the Eastern Continent? Do you even recognize this symbol?" Nan Yin was completely baffled.

"I got almost all the books I read from an old man in the village. I saw this mark in one of the books. When that drunken old man who loved to drink was still alive, I asked him what it meant. He said it was called Tengshe, an ancient totem of the Eastern Continent."

Du Lei patiently explained that Nan Yin had previously told him a lot of information about the Star Stone, so he naturally had to give back and share information.

"The totem of the Tengshe in the Eastern Continent is strange. I know the Azure Dragon of the Dragon Kingdom, the Qilin of the Qilin Kingdom, the Black Tortoise of the Tortoise Kingdom, the Shadow Tiger of the Tiger Kingdom, and the Vermilion Bird of our Phoenix Kingdom. But this is the first time I've heard of the Tengshe totem. Are you sure it's from the Eastern Continent?"

Nan Yin carefully searched her memory, gently shook her head, and confirmed that she had never heard of the existence of a creature called Teng Snake.

015 Today is not a lucky day

Nan Yin did not doubt the truthfulness of Du Lei's words, because the latter had no reason to lie to her. However, she originally came from the Phoenix Kingdom of the Eastern Continent and had received a strict education since childhood. She was very familiar with the history and anecdotes of the Eastern Continent. She thought about it carefully for a long time.

Confirming she had never heard of any totem associated with such a strange creature as the "Teng Snake," this was the first time she had ever seen such a symbol. If it had only appeared sporadically, it wouldn't have been so bad, but as she and Dure went down, similar symbols became more and more numerous, and the light also became dimmer and dimmer.

“I always thought this thing called Teng Snake was a common creature in your Eastern Continent, but it turns out you've never seen it either. I get it, you must be ignorant. I asked the wrong person.” Du Lei shrugged. He stopped observing the symbols and continued walking ahead.

"What do you mean I'm ignorant? A snake with wings that can fly can't possibly be a living creature. Besides, a totem is a totem because it only exists in legends. How could it be common?" Nan Yin reacted strongly to Du Lei's words and immediately retorted.

"So, the Vermilion Bird of the Phoenix Kingdom that you mentioned is just a legendary, ethereal creature that has never existed, right?" Du Lei found a counterexample to counter Nan Yin, because he remembered that Nan Yin said she came from the Phoenix Kingdom, and her totem was a bird called Vermilion Bird.

“No, that’s not true.” Nan Yin suddenly stopped, gently shaking her head, denying Du Lei’s casual remark.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Du Lei was taken aback. He had just said it casually and couldn't understand why Nan Yin had suddenly become so serious.

"The Vermilion Bird truly exists." Nan Yin's attitude was resolute, and her expression was anything but a joke.

"But didn't you just say it only exists in legends? How come now?" Du Lei asked in confusion.

"I've never heard of the Teng Snake, but the Vermilion Bird really exists." Nan Yin affirmed the existence of the Vermilion Bird once again.

"Tch, as if you've seen it with your own eyes." Du Lei didn't take it too seriously; Nan Yin's behavior was indeed a bit strange.

"Have you seen it? Maybe you really have. But it's not necessarily true that, according to your speculation, there is a totem of the Teng Snake here. In other words, someone built such a huge building for reasons such as faith and sacrifice, and the Star Stone is still intact underground?" Nan Yin changed the subject.

She didn't continue talking about Suzaku, and even when faced with Du Lei's questions, she felt no obligation to explain in detail.

"Before science was advanced, people witnessed the magical power of star stones and worshipped them out of faith. That makes sense, doesn't it? Besides, didn't that old man say that there were very powerful magical fluctuations in the sealed cave? Wasn't that a star stone?"

Du Lei presented his logical deductions, one link after another, clear and concise. Although he only got involved in matters related to star stones as a guide, he showed a strong interest in star stones, which made Nan Yin feel somewhat uncomfortable, but she did not point it out.

“That makes sense. If, as you say, the Star Stone was enshrined underground by the ancients, then they would have gone to such lengths to build such a massive complex for it.” Nan Yin continued deeper into the cave with Du Lei. By this time, the light was barely visible, and they could only be illuminated by the light of kerosene lamps.

"So that means the power of the Star Stone is amazing, exactly what you've been pursuing, right?" Du Lei finished Nan Yin's sentence. They were both intelligent people, and intelligent people often discover new clues from details that others can hardly notice. As the saying goes, it's better to be prepared than not.

"Looks like I didn't come to the wrong place after all. Hmm, why did you stop?" Nan Yin clenched her fists, her emotions running high. She wasn't usually one to lose her temper, but with Duanmu and Old Man Teng gone, she had more to bear. If they returned empty-handed, their sacrifice would have been meaningless.

Just then, she noticed that Du Lei, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped. Because of the dim light, she couldn't see what was going on ahead. She frowned and asked a question. Because the road was narrow, she and Du Lei always kept a distance of two or three body lengths.

“The road ahead has been blocked. Tch, looks like someone got here before us. To stop their competitor from advancing, they actually resorted to such clumsy methods. Did they think they could stop me like this?” Du Lei raised the windproof kerosene lamp forward to illuminate the scene ahead.

Nan Yin, who was following behind, also saw that the narrow path, which was only about 20 centimeters wide, had been forcibly cut off for about 10 meters ahead, leaving it suspended in mid-air. A cold wind was blowing in, and the broken section made it impossible to continue. This made Nan Yin stunned.

"How could someone do this when we've already arrived here? It's outrageous! Is this the end?" Nan Yin was extremely unwilling. She wanted to jump across the gap, but she didn't have wings and couldn't leap more than ten meters in the narrow space.

"Who told you that's the end? It's just a small setback, not enough to stop us from moving forward." Du Lei chuckled, put the kerosene lamp he was carrying on the ground, and squatted down, seemingly searching for something.

"That's what they say, but how exactly can we get across this place?" This precipice was giving Nan Yin a huge headache; to her, it seemed like an insurmountable chasm.

"So this is where my value as a guide comes into play. Watch closely, this is nothing." After rummaging around for a while, Dure pulled out two cone-shaped objects from somewhere, connected by a rope. He tried to stick the cones into the wall.

"You're not thinking of climbing over by chiseling through the rock wall, are you? I'm warning you, the wind is too strong here, and the rock is too hard. Even if you manage to squeeze in, you won't be able to get it in place. If you rush forward, you'll just fall into the abyss." Nan Yin could roughly guess what Du Lei was planning to do.

"Really? How will you know if you don't try?" Du Lei didn't take Nan Yin's reminder seriously. It was unclear whether he was stubborn or just bold and daring. Nan Yin originally wanted to stop him, but at this moment, Du Lei had already driven the awl into the rock wall and made a "crack" sound.

"You idiot, you're asking for it. Don't blame me if you die. Hey, what's going on? How come you're secured? You didn't fall!" Nan Yin shouted. She had used grappling hooks to climb before, but the current environment didn't allow it.

Just when she thought Dure was sure to fall into the abyss and was ready to pounce on him and grab him, Dure was firmly nailed to the rock wall. With the help of the strong wind, his body was swaying like a kite, with only one hand holding the sharp spike handguard.

“I told you not to underestimate the value of a guide. Just hold onto that rope. Okay, next step.” Du Lei grinned. It was difficult to speak in the strong wind. He ignored Nan Yin behind him and gripped the handguard tightly with his left hand to make sure he wouldn’t be blown into the abyss by the wind.

With his right hand, he took out another sharp awl and stabbed it into the rock wall next to him. If you looked closely, you could see that after the tip of the awl pierced the rock wall, four claws immediately gripped the rock layer at the base, causing the pebbles to fall continuously and be blown away by the wind.

Dure's forehead was covered in cold sweat. He struggled to maintain his balance, let go with his left hand, and his body swung in the air, taking a step forward. In the fierce wind, he was like a flag. Fortunately, he was flexible enough not to be thrown all over the place.

As for the rope he mentioned, it was a rope about the thickness of a thumb that was tied around his body, with the other end held in Nan Yin's hand.

"You idiot, this is too dangerous! Do you want to die?" Nan Yin struggled to stay close to the wall. Even she could clearly feel the strong wind, let alone Du Lei, who was having a hard time maintaining his balance. Nan Yin knew she couldn't be as composed as Du Lei.

"We're almost there! The wind is strong enough, so now's the time to jump!" Although it was only a dozen meters away, it took Du Lei a long time to reach the other end of the path. He was less than two meters away from the other end of the road.

He could clearly feel that his physical strength was about to reach its limit, and he had tried several times but could not get his foot into the rock wall on the right. This put him in a very bad situation, caught between a rock and a hard place. After weighing his options, he decided to jump over directly, which was truly a frightening decision.

"He actually moved over little by little? What is this guy doing? What's wrong with him? Is he crazy? It's so far, does he want to jump over it? The moment you let go, the strong wind will blow you away. That's common sense. Don't do such a risky thing!" Nan Yin's face turned pale.

She was horrified just looking at it from afar, let alone Du Lei, who was directly involved. The slightest mistake would have resulted in his death. But before she could finish speaking, Du Lei, who was lunging forward, lunged to the other side with a scream, getting closer and closer.

Just as he was about to land steadily on the ground, a sudden gust of wind blew by, forcibly pushing him back half a step. If it were on flat ground, this wouldn't be a big deal; he could just stumble and regain his footing. But Du Lei was in the air at that moment.

"Oh no, looks like today isn't my lucky day. I'm doomed." Du Lei realized the problem too. He couldn't reach the other side at all; his body was starting to lose its balance, and he was about to fall into the abyss.

016 The young lady is such a hassle

At this moment, Nan Yin was definitely feeling terrible. Last night, in order to cover her escape, Duanmu and Old Man Teng, who had traveled thousands of miles from the Phoenix Kingdom of the Eastern Continent to Hot Spring Village, a small mountain village on the border of the Western Continent, were swallowed up by the raging blizzard and lost their lives. She felt extremely guilty.

Now, with a heavy heart, she continued her journey. Just as she was about to reach the depths of the underground, she was blocked by a suddenly broken path. The hot spring village boy who was acting as her guide risked his life to clear the way, struggling to cross the gap that was more than ten meters long. Success was just around the corner.

But at the last moment, a sudden gust of wind blew it away, causing her to fail. Nan Yin saw this and could do nothing. She had experienced this feeling just yesterday, but she had to go through it again today. This greatly agitated her, and she was on the verge of collapse.

"Damn, that was close! We almost lost. This deal was definitely not worth it. Hey, when we get back to the village, the money will be doubled at least, understand?" Nan Yin's tears were already welling up in her eyes and about to overflow when she heard Du Lei's voice.

"Hey, wasn't it just now that he managed to use the iron chain to entangle the rock?" Nan Yin originally thought that Du Lei was definitely going to die, but unexpectedly, Du Lei, whose body was already falling rapidly, suddenly stopped. The reason was that he was holding onto an iron chain.

The other end of the chain was fixed to a rock on the other side of the break. Du Lei was struggling to climb up the chain. Although his body was still being blown about by the strong wind, Nan Yin was much more at ease with him because of his previous performance. Before long, he successfully climbed up.

"Hey, stop spacing out! You haven't answered my question yet." Du Lei shouted when he saw Nan Yin standing there in a daze.

"What problem? I can't hear you clearly." Nan Yin came back to her senses. She originally thought that this gap was an insurmountable chasm that could not be crossed no matter what, but she did not expect that Du Lei would cross it in this way. This surprised her and refreshed her understanding and opinion of Du Lei.

"I mean, give me more compensation, compensation, that's it." Du Lei explained with a mix of words and gestures, afraid that the news would be too loud and Nan Yin wouldn't be able to explain clearly.

"You almost lost your life just now, how can you still be worrying about payment? Don't you know life is much more valuable than money?" Nan Yin thought Du Lei would bring up something serious, but this was the last thing she expected, which infuriated her. This guy had no respect for life.

“A young lady like you can disregard payment; money is just a number to you. But for a poor person like me, it’s a different story. Even a single silver coin is something I hold onto tightly. So, how about you double or triple the payment and I’ll bring you over?”

Du Lei smiled as he looked at Nan Yin on the other side of the broken edge. His actions seemed rather like he was trying to raise the price, which at first glance appeared quite shameless. However, everyone in the hot spring village knew that this was the scoundrel's consistent style. Although they were very unhappy with this about him, who could blame them when he was the one who got things done?

"What? You mean you want me to go over there like you just did? I can't do that dangerous thing." Nan Yin was terrified when she saw Du Lei's every move. It wasn't that she was afraid of death, but Du Lei's actions were just too frightening.

"So you precious young ladies are such a hassle. You can't do this or that. Fine, I've already written it down. Watch closely, just walk along this rope. You should be able to do this, right?" Du Lei suddenly pulled a rope up from the ground.

When he came over from Nanyin's side, he carried two ropes. One was tied to Nanyin's body, and the other was fixed to the ground. After he reached the other side, he fixed the other end of the rope that was fixed to the ground against the wall and straightened it, connecting the broken ends.

"What? You want me to walk across a rope? Are you kidding me?" Nan Yin understood what Du Lei meant. She was shocked. This was basically asking her to walk a tightrope high in the air. She wasn't an acrobat. This made her feel very embarrassed. If she was not careful, she would fall into the abyss.

"Do I look like I'm joking? I got through that just now, and now I've paved the way for you, and you're still complaining. This road was deliberately damaged, wasn't it? Do you still want the star stone? If you keep dawdling, someone else will get it," Du Lei urged Nan Yin impatiently.

“I understand Star Stone, I’m coming.” As soon as she heard the words “Star Stone,” Nan Yin made up her mind. She immediately clung to the rock wall and moved slowly along the rope. Although it wasn’t as dangerous as Du Lei’s earlier move, her body was still swaying precariously.

"Just close your eyes and rush forward, that's all. You young ladies are such a hassle. Hmm, wait, what's that sound? Hurry up and rush over, hurry up!" Although Du Lei urged impatiently, he only vented his anger and still gave Nan Yin time.