The most shameless alchemist in history

295 Who leaked it?

After saying goodbye to Sterling, Dure returned to Lance, Kelly, and Messiah. He carefully recalled what Sterling had just said. Although he had spent most of the past month researching alchemy and was completely oblivious to what was happening outside, he was actually quite aware of what was going on at the academy.

He knew that Sterling, the newcomer, was the most popular person in the entire Maple Leaf Academy this month. Moreover, Sterling was not only a capable person, but also a smart one. Smart people don't do anything unnecessary, or even say anything unnecessary, and Sterling was especially so.

"Hey, Dure, what's wrong? You look so worried. What did that guy say to you? Did he challenge you to a fight or something?" Lance immediately came up to Dure after he saw him and Sterling separate, and he was very worried about Dure's condition.

“No, it’s just…” Dure shook his head. He knew that with Sterling’s current strength, he wouldn’t even bother to fight him.

"But what?" Lance immediately pressed, keeping a close watch on Sterling.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about him.” Dure shook his head again. He didn’t even understand Sterling’s situation himself, so he couldn’t explain it to Lance.

"Du Lei is really amazing." Messiah, standing next to Kelly, looked at Du Lei with admiration.

"What's so great about him?" Kelly asked her close friend with great interest.

“That Sterling is a big name in the academy lately. He’s known for looking down on everyone. But for such an arrogant Sterling to actually talk to Dure, and you two seem to get along so well. Isn’t that impressive enough?”

Messiah had been watching their every move from a distance ever since Dure and Sterling began to speak.

"Does their relationship... really seem good?" Kelly knew a certain amount about both Durley and Sterling, and in her knowledge, there was no such thing as Sterling and Durley being on good terms; in fact, they were two people who had absolutely nothing in common.

"Students participating in the level assessment, hurry up and line up over here, it's about to start!" A gentle female voice came from not far away as Kelly and Messiah discussed the relationship between Dure and Sterling. The senior students were in charge of maintaining order and guiding the freshmen.

"Oh, it's Senior Ruth! Is Senior Ruth guiding us this time too?" Du Lei recognized the girl and greeted her.

"Durey, Lance, and Kelly, you're here too! By the way, Durey, I heard you were attacked yesterday. How are you?" Ruth asked with concern. She was a kind-hearted person; she would care about anything, even an injured cat, let alone her juniors.

"It's nothing, it's nothing, it's all a small matter. Why did such a small thing become known to everyone?" Du Lei waved his hand. The incident last night, in which he was attacked and almost caught the assassin, should have been kept secret and known only to a few people.

But today, first it was Messiah, and then it was Ruth. Everyone knows about this, which makes Durrell especially puzzled.

"I heard it from Xiao Ai. It's so good that he's alright! And Du Lei seems a little different than usual today." Ruth told Du Lei where she got the information. After carefully observing Du Lei and confirming that he was alright, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Did Senior Elune say that? Given Senior Elune's relationship with Flying Fish... it's not surprising. So, Messiah, who told you that?" Dure then turned to Messiah for answers. He always managed to notice some seemingly insignificant little things and find clues in them.

"Well..." Messiah was flustered by Dure's question and stammered, unsure how to answer.

“I told Messiah. My brother joined the patrol and participated in the hunt for the assassin last night, so I know about it,” Kelly answered Durei’s question for Messiah.

"Kelly, your brother... is Keita? I see." Dure recalled Keita's appearance in his mind. He was a tall, strong, and very powerful young man with a bear-like body and eagle-like eyes. He was one of the most outstanding students in this year's freshmen.

"You've only been in school for a month and you've already joined the patrol team? That's really impressive!" Ruth exclaimed from the side.

"Huh? They're just a patrol team, are they that powerful?" Lance didn't understand why Ruth would react this way.

"Lance, don't you know?" Ruth found Lance's question quite strange.

"Know what?" Lance was increasingly confused.

"It's the threshold for joining the patrol team. Only those who have reached the level of a high-level magic user can join the academy's patrol team. The fact that Kelly's brother, Keita, was able to join the patrol team means that he has reached the high-level level." Ruth understood the logic very well.

"What? High-level? That gorilla?" Lance was stunned at first, then exclaimed in surprise.

"What? He was already at the mid-level of the nine-star realm before he came to the academy, just one step away from the high-level realm. He broke through that level in just one month. Is it really that big of a fuss?" Kelly rolled her eyes at Lance. As Keita's sister, she knew Keita's affairs best.

"She's almost at the advanced level, and she still comes to the academy to study. Isn't that too unfair? Hey, Kelly, tell me honestly what level you are?" Lance was really upset when he heard this, and he also became suspicious, doubting Kelly's level.

"Don't worry, I don't have his talent, nor do I work as hard as him, so I can only barely pass the level assessment. I can't reach your level of six stars? Seven stars? You've actually reached the mid-level of eight stars?" Kelly looked at Lance's eyes and asked suspiciously.

"What? How did you know?" Lance was somewhat smug when Kelly asked him about "six stars," but he couldn't sit still when she asked about "seven stars." When Kelly asked about "eight stars," Lance completely lost it.

"Your thoughts are written all over your face, and you're asking me how I know?" Kelly crossed her arms and turned her head to the side, refusing to look at Lance.

This might seem somewhat dismissive at first glance, but Messiah, who was standing next to Kelly, knew it; Kelly was just trying to hide her surprise.

There was still a tiny bit of resentment.

"You've actually reached eight stars? Lance, you were only seven stars before. It seems you've improved your level in the last couple of days. Congratulations!" Du Lei was also somewhat surprised and genuinely happy.

.

296 New Rules

Although Kelly told Lance that the so-called ranking assessment was just about fighting, it wasn't until it started that Lance figured out who his opponent was, or more precisely, what it was. In the West Square, all the students participating in the ranking assessment lined up.

In the center of the square was a glowing barrier. As Charlotte, who was in charge of this level assessment, appeared, she delivered a long, high-sounding speech. The students then moved toward the center of the barrier one by one, and soon they all disappeared into thin air.

"Dure, what's going on with them? How did they just disappear like that? Could it be that bald guy is up to something?" Lance watched as the people in front of him disappeared one by one, which made him a little uneasy, because it would soon be his turn.

“Where they went… you’ll see over there.” Dure originally wanted to explain it to Lance properly, but firstly, there wasn’t enough time, and secondly, Lance’s thought process was too peculiar to explain in a conventional way, so he could only point to the right side of the square.

“That’s…wait, how can I see people? How did they get into the desert?” Following Dure’s pointing finger, Lance noticed a water curtain floating in the upper right corner of the square. The water curtain shimmered and reflected a rainbow of colors under the sunlight.

But what attracted Lance wasn't how beautiful the water curtain was, but rather the scene it presented of the students who had just disappeared. These students arrived one after another in different terrains, including deserts and swamps, with the water curtain constantly being divided into countless segments.

"This is a real-time transmission of the scene they are testing via magic energy. It might be a bit overwhelming and dazzling to look at, but if you do it this way..." Kelly, who was used to this, raised her hand and gently tapped the area in front of her, where there was originally nothing.

But as she touched it, it was like her fingertip touching shimmering water, creating ripples. At the same time, a picture formed, just like the water curtain in the upper right corner of the square. However, the difference was that the water curtain in front of Kelly was very small, only the size of a palm.

"Is that even possible? This is truly amazing, like a wizard's crystal ball!" Lance exclaimed in surprise. Although he had been enrolled for some time, he knew almost nothing about anything except training.

"You can think of it that way too. Look, their test has started, and the opponents have appeared." Du Lei also touched his finger lightly, and the same picture appeared in front of him. Through the picture, it was clear that some students were already confronting the puppet creatures.

"Are these the puppet creatures? They look pretty powerful." Lance followed the same pattern as Dure and Kelly, and the same scene appeared in front of him, which startled him. However, he quickly adapted and looked eager to try out the puppet creatures.

"Don't be careless, it'll be our turn soon," Du Lei solemnly reminded him.

"By the way, the level assessment is not a one-shot test, but a long process," Kelly added.

"A long process?" Even Du Lei was somewhat surprised this time, because it seemed to be different from what he had expected.

“Yes, the whole process lasts three days, and the final grade is determined based on the performance over these three days.” Kelly nodded in affirmation.

"What? Three days?" Lance was shocked by this timeframe.

“How come I didn’t know about this?” Dure frowned; Kelly’s words had disrupted his plans.

"This is a new rule that was added just yesterday. I only found out about it recently. Neither of you went to class yesterday, and you had so many things going on in the evening, so it's not surprising that you didn't know." Kelly seemed quite calm, but it was hard to tell whether she was indifferent or confident.

“Three days…that’s a bit tricky. The longer it goes on, the more uncertain the factors become.” Du Lei felt somewhat troubled.

“Although I also resent these new rules, and I don’t know which idiot decided them with their ass, we have no choice but to comply this time.” Kelly shrugged, her words carrying a hint of helplessness.

"Then, Dure, what should we do..." Faced with this situation, Lance could only ask Dure for a solution.

"What else can we do but deal with it as it comes?" Du Lei was also participating in this kind of evaluation for the first time and had no experience to draw upon.

"Hey, what are you guys whispering about? Stop dawdling there, it's your turn, hurry up and come over." A senior student wearing a duty armband urged Du Lei and the others to come over from not far away, and gestured for them to cancel their viewing of the water screen.

Because they were participants, not bystanders. As for the students who were actually watching as bystanders, almost everyone had a water screen and watched the different images with great interest, switching back and forth between them.

"Dure, Kelly, Lance, and this... Messiah, good luck to you all! You should help each other out in this ranking assessment." Ruth, who was also wearing a duty armband, walked over, winked at Dure and his group, and encouraged them.

"Helping each other is a given, senior, don't worry, we'll definitely be fine. No matter what the rules are or what difficulties we face, as long as we put in the effort, we can defeat them all, hehe!" Lance wasn't affected by the rules and remained enthusiastic.

“Help each other… help each other… could it be…” Dure was not as impulsive as Lance. He carefully pondered Ruth’s words and gleaned some unusual meaning from them. By the time he suddenly realized something, it was already their turn to enter the barrier.

“Lance, you…” Dure shouted at Lance, who had already stepped into the barrier with one foot.

"Huh? Dure, what are you saying? I can't hear you. Anyway, I'm going now." Lance strained his ears but couldn't make out what he was saying, because the surrounding sounds were all drowned out by the sound of bubbling water. He could only see Dure's mouth moving, but he couldn't read lips and didn't know what Dure was saying.

As a soft light appeared nearby, he gradually felt his body become light and airy. Soon he was enveloped in a bright light, and apart from the light and the sound of bubbles, he could see and hear nothing. He could no longer see Du Lei's shadow.

"Hehehehe, is it finally starting?" As Lance disappeared from the barrier, a man shrouded in a black robe chuckled in a corner of the West Square.

Even with the soft light remaining in the sky, his shadow could not be seen; he seemed to come from darkness and was about to disappear into darkness.

.

297 Welcome!

Just as Lance was about to disappear into the barrier, Dure shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to tell Lance a message. However, he was too late. Lance disappeared without hearing him, and Dure was next. Dure sighed and could only follow.

After experiencing the same thing as Lance, Dure found the surrounding scene to be bizarre and indistinct, and he couldn't see anything clearly. However, compared to Lance's panic, he remained calm. He simply closed his eyes to keep his mind at peace so that he could make accurate judgments.

A few minutes later, his previously light body finally felt grounded, and he slowly opened his eyes. He looked around and realized that he was no longer in the west square of Maple Leaf Academy. The nearby magical buildings were gone, replaced by a desolate and dilapidated ruin.

"This is... Ash Tower? No, that's not right. It only looks a little bit like it. This should be the site of some ancient ruins buried by yellow sand. Is this a random scene generated by magic energy?" Dure examined his surroundings, trying to find clues.

"I remember the previous rule was that you just needed to defeat the puppet creatures of a certain level, but this area... doesn't look like there are any puppet creatures around here." Du Lei walked on the ruins, the scorching sun shining in the distance, and a layer of air waves could be clearly seen in the rolling yellow sand.

"Huh, there's someone up ahead?" Just when Du Lei was struggling to find any clues and was at a loss, he suddenly saw a figure appear in the distance.

In the ruins, there was a middle-aged man with a headscarf and a big beard, close to the ground. It was unclear what he was doing. In Du Lei's memory, no student dressed like that, let alone looked like that. This meant that the other person did not come from the West Square.

"Hello, I can ask you about something..." Du Lei stopped in front of the bearded man, who was still squatting on the ground, looking very strange. Du Lei tried his best to ask questions in a gentle tone. The fact that this man was here was a clue in itself.

"Shh." The bearded man made a shushing gesture, signaling Dure to be quiet.

Du Lei didn't quite understand what he meant, and could only assume that he had something special to do. Considering that he needed his help, Du Lei didn't want to bother him any longer, so he could only stand aside and wait patiently until the bearded man was free to inquire about the news.

Dure originally thought that he would only need to wait a few minutes for the bearded man to finish his business, but he paced back and forth hundreds of times, and more than half an hour had passed, and the bearded man was still lying on the ground, which made Dure gradually lose patience.

"Um, may I interrupt for a moment..." Du Lei asked politely, still controlling his emotions.

"Shh." The bearded man kept his ear pressed to the ground, ignoring Durei's words.

“Okay, I’ll keep waiting…” Although Dure was very dissatisfied with the bearded man’s attitude, he decided to wait a little longer.

The scorching sun beat down on the earth, a heat that Dure had never experienced before, making him very uncomfortable. After all, he had grown up in the vast snow-covered mountains and left only in early spring. Although he had read about the summer scenery of the Southern Territory in books.

But he had never truly seen it before, and now that he was used to the cold weather, he was suddenly facing the scorching summer, which made him very uncomfortable.

"At least two hours have passed. Do you have time to talk to me now?" Du Lei kept estimating the time. The scorching sun was already making him very uncomfortable, and having to wait for a strange person under the blazing sun was gradually pushing Du Lei's patience to its limit.

"Shh." The bearded man remained motionless, responding to Durei with only the same gesture.

"There's no other way. If this continues, I don't think we'll see anything by nightfall. Get up!" Du Lei had been waiting under the scorching sun for two or three hours, but the other person completely ignored him. Finding no one else nearby, Du Lei simply grabbed the bearded man and pulled him up.

"Huh? Who are you? Oh, no, I should say, welcome here, adventurer." After being pulled up by Du Lei, the bearded man was taken aback at first, then quickly coughed to clear his throat and spoke calmly, showing no awareness that he had kept others waiting for several hours.

"What adventurer? I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. You've been lying on the ground for hours without moving. I'd like to ask you what you're doing!" Du Lei said irritably. Even the best temper would be worn down by this kind of weirdo.

"I'm doing my duty, waiting for adventurers to arrive. Welcome, adventurer!" The bearded man who had completely ignored Du Lei just moments before suddenly transformed into a warm-hearted uncle, enthusiastically stretching out his arms to Du Lei, almost causing Du Lei to spit out a mouthful of blood.

"What on earth is this? So, where exactly is this place?" Du Lei was completely confused by the bearded man. He had never seen such a strange person before. He was also puzzled by the fact that he still had things to do, namely, to complete the level assessment.

Du Lei had no choice but to swallow his anger and ask the only person he could find for information.

"This is my homeland, once a rich land where a great civilization was born..." The bearded man began to speak eloquently, his voice full of emotion. Anyone with a low threshold for tears would definitely be moved to tears.

The scorching sun gradually sank below the horizon, and a gentle evening breeze blew by, finally bringing a touch of coolness to Du Lei, who had endured a full day of blazing heat. However, this was not enough to extinguish the raging fire in his heart, for no other reason than this.