The most shameless alchemist in history

"To become an alchemist? Generally speaking, there are three prerequisites for becoming an alchemist," Winster answered directly without hiding anything.

"Which three?" Durley held his breath, staring into Winster's eyes, waiting for his answer.

“First, you need keen perception. Only with strong perception can you find magical energy elements of different attributes. Second, you need a huge amount of magical energy. Alchemy is an extremely energy-consuming process. Third…” Winster paused for a moment.

"What's the third one?" Du Lei immediately pressed.

“Thirdly, you must have a strong pair of gloves,” Winster replied seriously.

218 Alchemy Demonstration

Seeing how serious Winster was, Dure thought he was about to say something outrageous, but after a long pause, the word "gloves" came out of Winster's mouth. This made Dure wonder if he had misheard. He paused for several seconds, waiting for the next response.

But Winster just smiled at him and didn't seem to want to correct him. He didn't look like he was joking with Dure, which really confused Dure. He spent a few more seconds trying to accept this seemingly absurd statement.

"Wait, you mentioned three basic conditions for learning alchemy. I can understand the first two, but what does 'gloves' mean?" Dure still couldn't understand this point, so he simply asked directly. He just couldn't equate alchemy with the word "gloves."

"What's wrong, Du Lei? You're so smart, is it really that hard for you to understand this?" Winster asked with a smile.

“These are two completely unrelated things. I really can’t find any common ground between them.” Dure shook his head, admitting defeat on this issue, and didn’t have much time to play riddles with Winster.

“Although you did a good job concocting medicine on your own before, it was all rather superficial. I’m being quite blunt, and I hope you don’t mind, Du Lei,” Winster said, looking at Du Lei’s potion bottle instead of answering his question directly.

“I understand. These are very different from real alchemy. I saw some records of alchemy in a book yesterday. It said that special rituals are required to perform alchemy.” Dure nodded. He had always been a very self-aware person.

"A ritual? It's similar in a way, but not quite accurate. To be precise, alchemy requires a refining process, which involves three steps: analyzing, decomposing, and then recasting the substance," Winster continued in detail.

“I’ve read about this in a book. It requires a complex alchemy array and things like an alchemy pot.” Dure nodded in agreement.

"That's true of traditional alchemy. Although alchemy has now been incorporated into the traditional category, there is still a distinction between the present and the traditional aspects of alchemy as a discipline. The traditional aspect I'm referring to is the one that existed hundreds of years ago when alchemy was first born."

Fearing that Dure might not have fully understood, Winster emphasized again that he was a very patient person.

"Professor Winster, do you mean...?" Dure was somewhat doubtful because Winster's explanation wasn't clear enough for him to form a concrete impression.

“I know you’re confused by what I’m saying, right? Actually, I feel the same way myself. Here, step back a little.” Winster gestured for Dure to step back, and then opened the drawer in front of him and took out a pair of gloves. Dure looked at them; they were very ordinary white gloves.

"Is this distance okay?" Du Lei stepped back six or seven steps. The library was quiet; there were only the two of them.

"Alright, there are three steps to complete the alchemy: analysis, decomposition, and reforging, as I just mentioned. Let's use this candlestick as a prop for the demonstration. First, we need to analyze it to figure out what elements it contains and in what proportions."

As Winster spoke, he put on the white gloves he had just taken out, and held a plain candlestick in front of him with both hands. He looked focused and serious, and soon a white light emanated from between his hands, enveloping the candlestick.

"Is this the first step of the analysis? It seems incredible. What's next?" This was the first time Du Lei had ever seen someone demonstrate alchemy to him, which made him immediately pay close attention, afraid of missing even the slightest detail.

"After the analysis is complete, the next step is decomposition. You must remember that decomposing matter into its basic elements is a very dangerous process because different elements have different phase properties. Once the elements released from the decomposition are released, it will be impossible to return the matter to its original state."

As Winster spoke, he demonstrated. Although his hands did not touch the candlesticks, the candlesticks were covered by a white light. Inside the light, the candlesticks changed shape. They began to melt like candles, turning into a silvery-white, viscous paste.

"Once an element interacts with the surrounding elements, for example, if you take a fire-attribute substance to an icy place to decompose it, once the fire element overflows, it will react with the surrounding water element. So remember to keep the elements within a certain range."

Winster told Durley the precautions, his movements slow and meticulous, striving to ensure Durley could see every detail clearly.

"Is this what decomposition is? It's amazing that it can do this much!" Du Lei exclaimed in amazement, holding his breath as he watched.

"After breaking down matter into its most basic elemental states, the final step is recasting. Before that, you must determine what you want to recast into. Alchemy is never a process of creating something from nothing; it is a process of recasting based on the elements themselves."

Winster still carefully controlled the white light shield between his hands. The original silver candlesticks had turned into a silver powder-like substance, shimmering and without a fixed shape.

“For example, a silver candlestick. You can recast it into other silver objects, but you can never recast it into gold objects, so let it remain as it is.” After pondering for a moment, Winster controlled the light shield to perform the final step of alchemy, and soon a white fluorescence appeared.

Amidst a bizarre and dazzling display, Dure clearly sensed ripples spreading through the surrounding air. Silver light appeared in Winster's hands, though he couldn't make out what it was; he only saw long, thin objects appear. Once the silver light dissipated...

“This is a silver dagger.” Dure looked at Winster’s hands in surprise. Winster’s hands, which had not touched the silver candlestick itself, finally held the dagger in his hands and handed it to Dure, who quickly took the silver dagger.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve used alchemy. This is really exhausting.” Winster wiped the sweat from his forehead. The whole process wasn’t long, lasting only about a minute, but his forehead was covered in cold sweat. Clearly, even reforging a small silver candlestick was a very demanding process.

219 Ordinary gloves

Dure held the silver dagger in his hand and tried to bend it. The dagger was very hard, the blade was clear, and the surface was still warm. After confirmation, the dagger was indeed reforged from the silver candlestick, and it was not Winston's magic trick. There was no doubt about that.

"To think that a silver artifact could be transformed into a sharp dagger in such a short time—is this the power of alchemy?" Dure continued to examine the dagger carefully. He even drew his own iron dagger to test the silver dagger's hardness.

"Silver is inherently unsuitable for use as weapons. It cannot compare to iron in terms of hardness, unless it is a special material like mithril. But ultimately, mithril is not a type of silver. Du Lei, you don't actually think alchemy can be used like this forever, do you?"

Winster had unique insights into elements and materials. He shook his head, indicating to Dure that there was no need to use the iron dagger to test the silver dagger. Under normal circumstances, there was no comparison between the two. Dure thought about it and agreed that this was indeed the case, so he gave up the idea.

“We certainly can’t keep making them like this all the time, or all the blacksmiths will probably be out of a job.” Dure recalled what Winster had said earlier.

“That’s right. You’ll understand once you get the hang of it, Du Lei. Alchemy is very energy-intensive, and what I just demonstrated were only the three most basic steps. The core of alchemy is alchemy and weapon crafting, which are advanced techniques.” Winster nodded.

“But Professor Winster, you haven’t told me what this has to do with the gloves yet.” Dure seized on the key point of the question. He hadn’t forgotten the question he had asked Winster before, and Winster’s demonstration was actually based on the issue of gloves to some extent.

“Before I answer your question, take a look at this.” Winster took off the white gloves he had been wearing and handed them to Durley.

"This is just an ordinary glove, the one you wore, Professor Winster. How did this happen? The glove is broken!" Dure didn't quite understand Winster's reason for doing this. Before he could even put any force into the glove, it had already shattered into pieces.

Dure was no stranger to this situation. Usually, fabric items would rot and crumble at the slightest touch after being left unused for a long time. However, Winster's gloves were brand new not long ago, and they had turned into pieces in just a few minutes.

"Because the glove is the medium between the human body's magical energy and the substances that alchemy needs to refine, just like a pot. To cook food over a fire, you need a pot in between." Winster seemed to have anticipated Dure's question and patiently explained.

"So, the gloves are playing the role of a pot. Ordinary gloves can't withstand the heat of a big fire and are easily burned through. Is that what you mean?" Following Winster's train of thought, Dure quickly sorted out some clues.

“That’s not all. The better the quality of the pot, the more delicious the dishes you can cook. And a pair of gloves made of special materials, even those engraved with transmutation circles and transmutation formulas, can make things twice as easy.” Winster nodded and continued.

“I see. So, Professor Winster, the gloves you were talking about were these.” Dure said thoughtfully.

“Gloves can be considered standard equipment for alchemists. Just as a good warrior needs a suitable weapon, a good alchemist also needs a high-quality pair of gloves. In a sense, they are the soul of an alchemist,” Winster emphasized the importance of this point.

"Then, Professor Winster, what about your gloves? As an alchemist, you must have your own special gloves, not just ordinary white gloves, right?" Dure suddenly remembered this question and immediately asked.

“My gloves? I lost them a long time ago.” Winster shook his head; he wasn’t keen on talking about things from long ago.

"Sigh, how could such an important thing be lost?" Du Lei was stunned, not expecting such a reason.

“It’s all in the past now, it’s all in the past. I just happened to run into you today, Du Lei. We not only talked for so long, but I even demonstrated alchemy to you. That really shouldn’t have happened.” Winster shook his head self-deprecatingly, with a hint of emotion in his voice.

“How could it be that I shouldn’t have? Professor Winster, you’ve really helped me a lot. If it weren’t for your help, I don’t know how long I would have gone down this detour in alchemy.” Dure’s words were not flattery, but came from the bottom of his heart. He only found out after arriving at Maple Leaf Academy.

There was no alchemy course offered at Maple Leaf Academy, but fortunately he found many books related to alchemy in the library and met Winster, who was a librarian and a former alchemist, which benefited him greatly.

“Those were all things that you figured out on your own, Du Lei. I didn’t help you much, but there’s one thing…” Winster hesitated before continuing.

“What?” Durley waited for Winster to continue.

“Never mind, it’s nothing. If you decide to continue down this path, you’ll realize this sooner or later.” Winster shook his head, swallowing the words that were already on his throat. He suddenly looked at Dure with pity, which puzzled the latter.

"Du Lei, Du Lei, you bastard, where are you? Get out here right now! Du Lei, are you really here? Come with me now!" Just as Du Lei was about to ask Winster, a voice suddenly came from outside the library door. It was a clear female voice.

"Teacher Nono, what do you want to see me about?" Du Lei recognized the person who had stormed into the library looking for him. It was none other than Nono, his class teacher. They had gone to the Ash Tower together during the day, but after the incident was resolved, she took Muna away to report to the college leaders.

"You ask me what happened? Don't you know what you did? Teacher Winster, you're here too!" Nono grabbed Du Lei's collar, her fierce expression and murderous eyes making Du Lei momentarily intimidated, wondering what he had done to offend her.

"Well, this..." Dure felt guilty because he had sneaked into the palace beneath the Ash Tower at night, which had caused the subsequent collapse. He didn't know how to answer Nono's question for a moment.

"Ouch, my stomach hurts, I need to go to the restroom. Ms. Nono, please excuse me, I can't entertain you any longer. You two can continue your conversation. Goodbye." Seeing that things were not going well, Winster decisively slipped away and ran off in a flash, leaving only Dure and Nono in the library.

220 Thank you letters

Dure was startled by Nono's sudden intrusion into the library. Nono was nothing like the cute girl he had seen during the day. She was puffed up with anger, and her eyes were full of murderous intent. This made Dure, who was already feeling guilty because he had recently sneaked into the Ash Tower alone, feel uneasy.

It's important to know that the complete collapse of the Ash Tower caused quite a stir. The Ash Tower, which was only a dozen meters tall to begin with, has now completely collapsed into the crater and disappeared without a trace. As a result, Maple Leaf Academy also experienced a significant earthquake.

Otherwise, so many students wouldn't have fled in fear. Dure knew very well that if this matter were to leak out, he would inevitably have to take responsibility, and he would definitely be expelled from Maple Leaf Academy. Furthermore, he met Musa and Jeff in the underground of Ash Tower.

Although they were only in a lingering spiritual state and had probably completely dissipated by now, Musa had begged him not to tell Muna about her situation, and Muna was with Nono, which made Dure feel quite guilty towards Nono and the other two, making him even more ashamed.

"Hey, you! How long are you going to keep this from me? Do you think I'm just someone who can fool you like that?" After dragging Du Lei out of the library, Nono glared at him fiercely. Although it was early spring and the evening breeze was quite chilly, Du Lei still couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

"Um, Teacher Nono, what are you saying? I don't quite understand. I think there might be some misunderstanding." Du Lei wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and responded nervously, trying to get away with it. Nono's appearance didn't look too good.

"You still dare to tell me it's a misunderstanding now and refuse to be honest? Such a big thing, and you're still keeping it from me. Fine, then come with me." Nuonuo said as she came over and tugged at Du Lei's clothes, trying to pull him away, which made Du Lei a little anxious.

"Hey, Teacher Nuonuo, what are you doing? Don't touch me! Okay, okay, I'll confess, I'll confess, I'll confess." Du Lei thought Nuonuo was going to drag him to the school's disciplinary office to expose his actions. At this point, he dared not hide anything anymore and had no choice but to tell the whole story.

"That's more like it. Now tell me what happened on the snowfield." Nono's stern expression softened when she saw that Du Lei was willing to be honest. She stopped dragging him along and looked at him with some curiosity.

"Actually, tonight I... Teacher Nuonuo, what did you say about the snowfield?" Du Lei knew that what was meant to be was not a blessing, but a curse that could not be avoided. He only hoped that Nuonuo could spare his life for the sake of their past acquaintance and not let him be expelled from Maple Leaf Academy.

After all, he had just learned the basics of alchemy from Winster today, which was a good start. He was very confident about the future and couldn't afford to be kicked out after taking just the first step. Once he left Maple Leaf Academy, he wouldn't find another good place to learn.

“Yeah, Xueyuan, what’s wrong? Didn’t you just say you were going to be honest? Now you’ve changed your mind?” Nuonuo raised her voice.

"No, no, I'm a little confused about the snowfield. Could you remind me, Teacher Nono?" Du Lei was still feeling uneasy, but now, judging from Nono's tone, they seemed to be talking about different things, which made Du Lei even more confused.

"Of course it's about you fighting the snow wolves on the snowfield and saving the train! You actually kept such an important thing from me, you're so cunning! You're just an ordinary person with no magical abilities, yet you managed to fight hundreds of snow wolves and then retreated successfully, protecting everyone on the train."

Nono's eyes sparkled with a bright light, clearly indicating that a picture of the vast snowfield was appearing in her mind.

"Wait, Teacher Nono, who told you about the battle against the snow wolves in the snowfield?" Du Lei sorted out his thoughts and figured out that Nono was referring to the incident where the train he was on on his way from Snow Eagle Town to Maple City was attacked midway through the journey.

During the incident, the entire train faced a near collapse. Fortunately, with everyone's concerted efforts, they overcame the crisis. The process was extremely dangerous, and if the Silverfrost Legion had not arrived in time, everyone on the train would have perished as well. The experience was far from as easy and pleasant as Nono described.

"What, you still won't admit it? The train company even wrote a thank-you letter to our Maple Leaf Academy, specifically thanking you by name." Nono finally revealed the reason she came to find Du Lei. At the same time, she took out a letter from her pocket and waved it in front of Du Lei.

"Ha, thank you letter looking for me." Dure was extremely nervous just now, fearing that his infiltration of the Ash Tower's underground would be exposed. Now he was told that it was just a false alarm. This sudden change in tension made his heart a little uneasy.

“Yes, let me read it to you. Dear Mr. Du Lei, after making inquiries from various sources, I have finally learned that you are studying at Maple Leaf Academy. First of all, congratulations on becoming a member of Maple Leaf Academy, a prestigious institution of higher learning in the Snow Kingdom.” Nono opened the letter, cleared her throat, and began to read it aloud.

"Wait, stop, stop! Is this why you came to me? And isn't it very impolite to open someone else's mail?" Du Lei interrupted Nono's reading and tried to snatch the letter back, which made him somewhat embarrassed.

"I won't give it to you, I just won't give it to you. I'll keep reading. In the vast snowfield, at a critical moment of life and death, Mr. Du Lei, you stepped forward, just like a candle in the darkness." Nono held the letter tightly in her hand and read it aloud even louder.

"Hey, do you know that you're violating someone's privacy? That's a crime, an unforgivable crime!" Du Lei continued to grab it. He couldn't let Nono be so arrogant. But Nono just took off running, which made Du Lei so angry that his teeth itched.

"So what if I violated your privacy? So what if I committed a crime? I just won't give it back to you. Cough cough, what a great feat! Your bravery saved everyone on the bus!" Nono continued reading the letter as she ran, her voice full of emotion.

"Nono, you're not allowed to read anymore, you're not allowed to read anymore!" Du Lei chased after Nono frantically, but he couldn't catch up no matter what he did.

Just as the two were chasing each other, someone happened to pass by on a nearby path. It was a little girl wearing a black retro court-style long dress. She stared at the backs of Du Lei and Nuonuo in the distance, her face very ugly.

"Is that Teacher Nuonuo over there? It's so late, and they're still chasing and playing around in the academy. This is really something." Next to the little girl was a girl who looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old. She had only been to Maple Leaf Academy for a short time and was not very familiar with the academy, but she had heard of Nuonuo's name before.

"How utterly disgraceful! How can someone like that be a teacher?" The little girl with the owl-like appearance and Nono had always disliked each other. She stared at Nono's departing figure and was far from giving her a high evaluation.

"Teacher, you're right. This is so unlike what a teacher should do. But who is that person behind her?" The girl looked at the chasing figure and felt that he looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen him before.

"Never mind them, let's go back." The owl shook her head, turned around, and left in the opposite direction.

221 Just happened to be passing by