Chapter 69: Alchemy
Arriving at the Trade Market, it was as lively as ever, with a sea of people, the sounds of hawking and haggling filling the air.
There was no doubt that the Trade Market was the place within Reincarnation Paradise where the largest number of contractors gathered, with over seventy percent of all workers congregating here.
Workers plus contractors formed the ecological balance of Reincarnation Paradise; neither could be dispensed with. Under the deliberate facilitation of Reincarnation Paradise, major conflicts between workers and contractors were rare.
In fact, Hunters were somewhat similar to workers. Workers were contractors who had failed their main mission in their first derivative world but managed to survive, so Reincarnation Paradise extended the interval for workers to enter derivative worlds.
Workers only entered a derivative world once every two months. This was actually an opportunity. If a worker performed exceptionally well in that derivative world and achieved a B-rank or higher evaluation, they could regain their status as a contractor.
If workers were the service personnel of Reincarnation Paradise, then Su Xiao was the "cleaning personnel" within Reincarnation Paradise, responsible for dealing with unruly contractors.
Su Xiao arrived at the stall he frequently used, only to find it already occupied. He simply used the stall next to it.
After paying 10 Paradise Coins for three hours of stall usage, Su Xiao took out the two pieces of equipment he intended to sell.
[Wraith Howl (Green)]
Type: Ring
Equipment Effect: Howl (Active). After activating this effect, pain will be ignored for 20 seconds. During the period of pain immunity, each attack received will increase attack speed by 5%. (Maximum attack speed increase is 50%. This bonus becomes invalid after the Howl effect ends.)
Rating: 21
…
The Howl skill was quite good. If he didn't already have the [Mithril Holy Ring], he wouldn't be selling this Green-quality ring.
After pondering for a moment, Su Xiao priced [Wraith Howl (Green)] at 10,000 Paradise Coins.
It wasn't that he was greedy; jewelry-type equipment was rare, and the Howl skill was indeed worth this price.
The second piece of equipment for sale was the [Ice Domain Prince Token].
[Ice Domain Prince Token (Blue)]
Type: Accessory
Equipment Requirement: 15 or more points in Charm Attribute.
Equipment Effect: Prince's Decree (Active). Summons three to five Extreme North Army Soldiers. Extreme North Army Soldiers have no individual consciousness and can execute complex commands.
Rating: 46
…
Seeing this token, Su Xiao felt a bit frustrated. This piece of equipment was quite good; summoning a few cannon fodder for scouting was a decent choice. If it weren't unusable, he wouldn't be selling it.
In Su Xiao's view, reaching 15 points in the Charm Attribute was more difficult than reaching 50 points in the Strength Attribute. He had no intention of using attribute points to increase Charm.
Considering that there were relatively few Summoners within Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao priced the 'Ice Domain Prince Token' at 30,000 Paradise Coins. The 'Ice Domain Prince Token' was also an accessory.
After labeling the stall with the name [Premium Stall], Su Xiao sat bored behind the stall, with Bubuteni lying at his feet.
Earlier, when taking equipment out of his storage space, Su Xiao noticed that the items inside were quite messy. Living supplies were mixed in with small tools, making it troublesome to find anything. He began to organize the items in his storage space, categorizing them.
First, he categorized equipment like the Shattered Elf. Living supplies were grouped together, and tools and mechanisms were grouped together.
After more than ten minutes of organizing, Su Xiao nodded in satisfaction. The items in his storage space were now neatly arranged.
Just then, he suddenly noticed a gray cloth bag in a corner of the storage space. The more he looked at this gray cloth bag, the more familiar it seemed.
"This is… Sherlock's bag?"
Su Xiao took out the gray cloth bag. Earlier, in the derivative world, he had been in a hurry to complete his return mission and hadn't bothered with what was inside the gray cloth bag.
After returning to Reincarnation Paradise, he thought this item had already been taken away by Reincarnation Paradise.
The gray cloth bag lay in a soft heap in his hand. The precious alchemical materials inside had already been confiscated by Reincarnation Paradise; those things couldn't be brought out of the derivative world.
[Cloth Bag (Miscellaneous, No Grade)]
Su Xiao was stunned. This gray cloth bag had actually passed Reincarnation Paradise's authentication, but that didn't mean much.
Opening the gray cloth bag, Su Xiao's heart trembled. He vaguely saw a purple glow inside. Groping around inside the bag for a moment, a soft-textured item appeared in his hand.
Pulling out the unknown item from the cloth bag and looking closely, it was a scroll. The scroll had a smooth texture and seemed to be made of leather.
Su Xiao checked the scroll's attributes.
[Alchemy (Complete)]
Origin: Akame ga Kill!
Quality: Fifth-Rank Scroll (Knowledge-type skill scrolls are ranked from one to nine)
Category: Skill Scroll
Effect: Upon use, grants mastery of Alchemy (Complete).
Usage Requirements: Strength 10 points, Stamina 10 points, Intelligence 25 points.
Description: Knowledge is power.
Price: 39,000 Paradise Coins.
…
Su Xiao examined the scroll with surprise. He had never seen a skill like this before. After inquiring with Reincarnation Paradise, he learned that using this scroll would not classify Alchemy under the combat skill list but rather under the sub-profession list, calculated separately.
With nothing else to do, Su Xiao began studying the scroll in his hand.
[Yes/No to use 'Alchemy (Complete)'. Using this skill will not affect the Shadow of Law Destruction profession in any way.]
This was undoubtedly good news. Su Xiao chose to use it.
The scroll in his hand shattered. Su Xiao's ears rang, and his vision went black. When his consciousness returned, he found himself in a starry sky, able to see planets moving in the distance.
[The origin of Alchemy was humanity's desire for gold, intending to transmute other items into gold. However, during their research, alchemists discovered that desiring only gold was too narrow-minded.]
[Over thousands of years of development, Alchemy became humanity's exploration of nature and the modification or enhancement of existing items or living beings.]
[Warning: Learning Alchemy will involve you in biological modification, which may cause some plot characters to become hostile towards you.]
[Hint: After mastering Alchemy, some research-oriented factions in derivative worlds will prioritize recruiting you. If Alchemy reaches a high level, there is a high possibility that large forces within derivative worlds will attempt to kidnap you.]
Su Xiao ignored Reincarnation Paradise's prompts. He was receiving the foundational knowledge of Alchemy—vast foundational knowledge.
Biology, forging, mechanism construction—Alchemy touched upon all these fields.
Su Xiao wasn't particularly interested in biology, but he was quite happy to learn about mechanism construction and other areas.
After a long while, Su Xiao's consciousness returned. He was still sitting behind the stall in the Trade Market. The starry sky and other scenes were just illusions, but he had genuinely learned Alchemy.
It wasn't complete mastery. Su Xiao had only learned a very small part of Alchemy, all very basic knowledge, similar to middle school biology or high school physics. It was just that this knowledge was very rare and not taught in the Real World.
The Real World wouldn't allow dissecting and studying a dangerous species.
Su Xiao wasn't very interested in modifying living beings, but he was very interested in other aspects of Alchemy. He had mastered a rather interesting ability.