Chapter 69: Your Skills Are All Mediocre
By noon that day, Su Xiao's reputation as an alchemist had spread throughout the Sun Church, and more and more believers came seeking treatment.
Su Xiao rarely required surgery for these patients, as that would consume too much time.
In most cases, the Sun Church believers suffered from internal organ damage, bone misalignment and growth, or foreign energy invasion.
For organ damage, Su Xiao assessed the situation. If it wasn't too severe, he would use Cyan Steel Shadow Energy to form a micron-level energy thread. By creating a 0.5 to 1 cm incision, he would guide the energy thread into the patient's body. This substance existed in a transitional state between energy and crystallization—an energy-based entity—making it suitable for suturing wounds.
Using his perception and energy control, Su Xiao would suture the organ damage with the energy thread, then supplement it with potions and prescribe a course of treatment. He wasn't responsible for the required materials, of course. As for the potion formulas, they weren't complicated—the patients could just spend gold coins to find other alchemists.
With this efficiency, Su Xiao could resolve a believer's organ damage in less than five minutes.
As for bone misalignment and growth, that was simple—break them and reset them.
You heard that right, break them and reset them. As a Melee Grandmaster and Blade Grandmaster, Su Xiao had excellent control over force. Throughout that morning, he had used [Sinfall Celestial Relic] to break over twenty legs and thirteen arms. The treatment process was as follows:
*Crack*—break the bone → open an incision to clean bone fragments → set the bone → suture with energy threads → hand over the recovery potion formula → go find a cool place to stay out of the way, because there were still people waiting in line.
As for foreign energy invasion, that was even simpler. Just look up the devouring annihilation characteristic of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy.
Su Xiao picked up the cup of tea on the table. Sitting across from him wasn't a patient seeking treatment, but Bishop Cooper and his granddaughter, Alchemist Erika.
"I'm very busy lately, so let's make this brief."
Su Xiao set down the hot tea. Across from him, Bishop Cooper remained silent, squinting as if lost in thought. Standing diagonally behind him, Erika observed Su Xiao.
"It's nothing too important, Bai Ye. Did some believer of the Sun Church save your life before?"
Bishop Cooper voiced the doubt in his heart. In truth, it wasn't just him—other high-ranking members of the church were equally puzzled, unable to figure out what Su Xiao was up to.
"No."
"Since no Sun Church believer saved you, your current behavior is really..."
Bishop Cooper's face was practically scrunched up. He was very uncomfortable right now. Normally, when a newcomer joined the Sun Church, they would slack off for a while, then gradually master the Solar Force, then get involved in hunting, and eventually become a qualified believer. This was one of the characteristics of the Solar Force, and also the subtle influence of the "Beast Heart."
After joining the Sun Church, Su Xiao didn't follow the script at all. First, he sold Sun Potions that had never been seen before, arousing suspicion from many. Then he created that kind of commission, making even more people suspicious.
Just when all the high-ranking members of the Sun Church felt Su Xiao had ill intentions, he went to the treatment room on the third floor of the Grand Cathedral the previous night to help other believers with their internal injuries and hidden ailments.
Injuries that normal alchemists couldn't solve, Su Xiao could solve, and with extremely high efficiency. This was the difference between an alchemist and an apothecary. Whatever an apothecary could do, an alchemist could do. Whatever an alchemist could do, an apothecary would look at with a bewildered expression and want to curse.
Bishop Cooper felt that Su Xiao's actions were severely contradictory, lacking clear purpose. It felt like the guy just did whatever he wanted, without any definite code of conduct.
"Alchemist Bai Ye, what are you doing all this for? Anyone who does anything has a purpose, including you and me."
Bishop Cooper decided to ask directly. This matter couldn't be delayed any longer.
"Purpose? Isn't this what the church's alchemists do when they have free time?"
Su Xiao looked at Bishop Cooper with a 'confused' expression.
"Of course not. You can freely arrange your time..."
Bishop Cooper stopped mid-sentence, feeling the angry stares behind him. The believers behind him had been queuing all morning. Some had been hopeless about their internal injuries before coming, but now that they knew they could be treated, they had rushed over. Yet now, Bishop Cooper was telling the alchemist who could treat them to go do whatever he wanted?
Bishop Cooper could feel the meaning behind those dozens of stares. Simply put: 'Don't think just because you're a bishop, you're all that.'
"Ahem, Alchemist Bai Ye, if you have more free time, you could discuss alchemy insights with other alchemists."
Bishop Cooper changed the subject to ease the awkward atmosphere.
"I've roughly looked into their skill levels. Bishop Cooper, would you discuss life philosophy with a child?"
"Of course not."
"Mm, neither would I."
"This..."
Bishop Cooper turned to look at his granddaughter Erika. Though Bishop Cooper looked young, he was actually over seventy.
Erika smiled slyly and asked, "Alchemist Bai Ye, are you saying that the other alchemists in the church are useless at potion mixing?"
"Not exactly," Su Xiao said, resting his elbows on the table and interlocking his fingers. "I just feel that your skills are all mediocre."
Hearing this, Bishop Cooper's old face tightened. It was hard not to laugh out loud. Even though the one being put down was his granddaughter, he inexplicably wanted to laugh.
The other believers in the room either faced the wall or lowered their heads. Erika was still there—they couldn't laugh.
"Alchemist Bai Ye, even if what you say is true, you can't say it publicly. Just now, you offended all the alchemists in the church..."
"Can you mix the Sun Potion?"
"No... I can't."
Erika gritted her teeth as she said this. She felt that this alchemist was too hateful, but she really had no way to deal with him.
"This isn't a precious formula. I can teach you how to mix it."
"Huh?"
Erika thought she had misheard. For an alchemist, the detailed contents of a formula were more important than life itself.
Su Xiao didn't have that concept. The Alchemy Codex was very thick, with a formula or blueprint on the back of every page. He had only decoded up to the fifth page and was about to start on the sixth.
Last time at the Empty Seat Banquet, he had obtained an alchemy blueprint from the leader, and one potion formula each from the Undying Elder, White Bull, and Holy Maiden Seat. These high-level formulas were useless for now. Besides the materials provided by those three, Su Xiao couldn't yet obtain materials of that level.
In Su Xiao's view, the Sun Potion formula wasn't precious. Back when he obtained the Sun Potion at the Holy Land of Chiriad, he had reverse-engineered the formula. Any formula that could be reverse-engineered wasn't precious in his eyes.
Moreover, he was currently doing whatever he wanted, with no rules whatsoever. This would leave those targeting him completely bewildered, which was exactly what he wanted to see.
"This is the formula for the Sun Potion. As a fellow alchemist, I'm contributing it to you."
Su Xiao took a blank piece of paper from the drawer, wrote and drew on it, then placed it on the table in front of Erika. In reality, this thing was worthless—the main ingredient couldn't be obtained at all.
Erika fell into a confusion similar to Bishop Cooper's. They exchanged glances, their expressions extremely complicated.
"Bishop Cooper, Erika, do you have any ailments?"
"Probably... no."
"I'm still young, so of course not."
"Since you don't, don't waste the time of the patients behind you. Pain is gradually eroding their rationality."
With this big accusation laid down, Bishop Cooper felt like he heard a *crack* above his head.
"Bishop Cooper, I respect you very much, but... I don't think I can hold on much longer. Can you..."
"Ahem!"
A familiar cough came from nearby. Bishop Cooper followed the sound and saw a believer wearing a bucket helmet. No, this was his old friend, Beast Bishop.
No one knew Beast Bishop's real name. When he fought, his appearance would become beast-like, hence the name.
Seeing Beast Bishop in the bucket helmet, Bishop Cooper felt speechless. That morning, this guy had been discussing Kukulin Bai Ye's motives with them. Now, by noon, he was here for treatment. There was a traitor among them.
Realizing this, Bishop Cooper decided to go all in. A smile appeared in his eyes as he said, "Alchemist Bai Ye, could you take a look at this old bones of mine?"
"Oh."
The Apostle's Eye behind Su Xiao floated up as he released his perception. After a moment, a contemplative expression appeared on his face. Seeing this, the smile on Bishop Cooper's face gradually faded, replaced by a grave expression.
"My condition... is it serious?"
"Mm."
"How much... longer do I have to live?"
Bishop Cooper's expression turned somewhat desolate. He hadn't expected his end to come so suddenly.
"At least... until you die."
"Pfft—hahaha, sorry."
Erika quickly turned her head. Though she knew she shouldn't laugh, she really couldn't help it.
"Alchemist Bai Ye, this diagnosis of yours..."
Before Bishop Cooper could finish, Baha interrupted.
"Just tell me, is it accurate or not?"
"It's accurate."
Bishop Cooper had nothing to say. He made as if to get up and leave, but Su Xiao spoke up, "Bishop Cooper, cherish this last month. These are the final days of your life."
Su Xiao's words made Bishop Cooper's expression turn serious again.
"You mean... I only have one month to live?"
"Or maybe half a month, or even shorter. The feeling of bone deformity isn't pleasant, is it? In half a month or a month, you'll turn into a bald bird and slowly die."
Su Xiao took out a Soul Crystal (Small) and crunched it in his mouth.
"Is it a problem with me? I don't feel anything during the day."
Bishop Cooper's expression grew stern. Over the past few nights, his bones had indeed been slowly deforming.
"Did you pick up that thing? A piece? Half? Most of it? Or all of it?"
Su Xiao's expression became increasingly serious. When he had seen Bishop Cooper earlier, he had sensed something was wrong with him.
Bishop Cooper's face changed several times before he finally said in a deep voice, "I picked up a fragment. What exactly is it? Pottery?"
"This question requires payment, Bishop Cooper. The key you're wearing would be nice."
Su Xiao looked at the key hanging around Bishop Cooper's neck. Bishop Cooper gripped the key on his chest, pondered for a long while, left with a "I'll think about it," and took Erika away.
From the change in Bishop Cooper's aura, Su Xiao confirmed one thing: the Abyssal Jar had been shattered, and one of its fragments had been picked up by Bishop Cooper. There was no mistake—the aura was too strong and distinctive.
After Bishop Cooper and Alchemist Erika left, Su Xiao continued his treatments. Unbeknownst to him, the sunset was rising on the horizon.
Su Xiao stretched his shoulders. He had broken over forty legs that day—it was physical labor. Slightly tired, he said, "We'll continue tomorrow morning. You'll be the first patient."
"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Bai Ye."
The man in the bucket helmet slightly bowed his head in greeting. After a moment of deliberation, he slowly got up from his seat and walked out of the room. The other believers waiting in line, though somewhat unwilling, said nothing. Some greeted him, others left in silence.
After having dinner at the restaurant diagonally behind the Grand Cathedral, Su Xiao returned to his apartment on the third floor. Bubu Wang was already waiting inside. After taking a shower, Su Xiao began mixing potions until he rested at ten o'clock at night.
The next day, at seven in the morning, a new day of treatments began in the treatment room on the third floor of the Grand Cathedral.
The reason Su Xiao was doing this was that completing a day's worth of treatments yielded considerable reputation. Over the previous day, he had gained 175,880 reputation points. Treating one or two patients didn't yield much reputation, but when the numbers added up, it became very substantial.
Including the income from yesterday's treatments and the reputation he had scammed this morning, Su Xiao's reputation had now reached 2,575,880 points.
There was also good news. Last night, Kaisa had sent word that the Blazing Sun Lord had accepted the [Sun Holy Elixir]. As for cooperation, he had neither refused nor agreed. From the looks of it, he was clearly planning to freeload a bottle of potion.
Su Xiao wasn't bothered by this. If the Blazing Sun Lord's magnanimity was only this much, then he wasn't even worth using. He would just develop his power within the Sun Church and then kill that guy.
A Blazing Sun Lord who would embezzle a bottle of [Sun Holy Elixir] wasn't worth scheming against and had no value. Sometimes, the actions of a fool would make those trying to use him feel like their lives were a joke, giving them a feeling of "what the hell did I just scheme against?"
Kaisa had obtained quite a bit of intelligence. Among it was that Wude was still holed up. Su Xiao speculated that this was because the Abyssal Jar had shattered, and that side was planning something.
Zuiyasi, on the other hand, had taken over the body of a Mind Beast. That Mind Beast had an ability that allowed it to control a certain number of other beasts. Recently, Zuiyasi had been giving the Blazing Sun Lord a hard time.
Lilim had joined the Trace King Hall. Initially, she thought the Trace King Hall was a hidden mysterious force with vast resources. After joining for a while, she discovered that these people were really just searching for the Trace King and had no other purpose.
Morei and Yueshitu were on the run...
Besides these, Kaisa had also sent word that yesterday evening, the Blazing Sun Lord had been ambushed. It was in a desert. A contractor named Enzuo had ambushed the Blazing Sun Lord. Two of the Blazing Sun Lord's four attendants had been taken out, and the remaining two were barely alive. The Blazing Sun Lord had repelled Enzuo, with both sides suffering losses.
According to Kaisa's intelligence, this contractor named Enzuo had encountered Kaisa in the previous world, where he had been on the Western Continent faction.
Enzuo came from Death Paradise. Others called him Water Brother, Contract Killer Water Brother. He was blind.
After the Feather Race and Arcane Eternal Star withdrew, two new factions joined. One of them was Death Paradise. This time, Death Paradise had sent Water Brother. His strategic abilities were unknown, but in terms of combat power, he was definitely top-tier among Eighth Rank. Of course, this was when facing small to medium-sized enemies. Against large enemies, Water Brother's combat power would decline.
Wude, Zuiyasi, Water Brother, plus the Crow Woman who might or might not have arrived—this was already a battle of gods. As for Lilim, after her awakening, she was also a god. Among the group, only the Apocalypse Sisters had a uniquely different style—useless at everything, first in running away.
This intelligence told Su Xiao that there was still buffer time. At least for a few days, the Blazing Sun Lord wouldn't fall. He had given the other party a deadline: within two days, if the other party wanted to contact him, he would 'cooperate' with them.
This timing couldn't be too early or too late. Too early would mean the Blazing Sun Lord acted without thinking. Too late would mean he was indecisive. If the other party chose to contact him between this morning and noon to discuss cooperation, then Su Xiao would have to reassess the Blazing Sun Lord—he would also be a troublesome and formidable enemy.
On the operating table, while pondering, Su Xiao was straddling a female believer's back. With a *crack*, he used his hand to press her spine into a physiologically correct curve. Dozens of energy threads pierced into her fair skin, penetrated through the flesh, and began fixing her spine in place.
Su Xiao patted the female believer's back, indicating the treatment was complete. He jumped off the operating table and sat back down behind the desk to treat the next patient.
Treating these believers' bizarre injuries was very rewarding for Su Xiao. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, and with practical application, his control over energy threads was getting stronger and stronger.
Just as Su Xiao released an energy thread, he felt something lightly bump his leg. It was Bubu Wang.
Bubu Wang stored a small box made of sand into the team storage space right in front of Su Xiao. Because the mechanism of this sandbox was triggered, it transformed into a line of text upon entering the team storage space.
'Alchemist Sir, if you have time tonight, could we meet? I look forward to meeting you—Os Valentine.'
This was intelligence conveyed by the Blazing Sun Lord. The timing was just right—it maintained dignity without appearing too urgent, and it wasn't so late as to seem like he didn't value the cooperation.
With so many people targeting the Blazing Sun Lord, openly and covertly, plus the Sun Church's previous war with him that ended in mutual destruction, and this precise timing—all these phenomena showed that the Blazing Sun Lord was also very troublesome.
The Blazing Sun Lord, Wude, Zuiyasi, Water Brother, the Crow Woman (likely already in this world), plus the awakened Lilim—this wasn't a battle of gods, but a chaotic melee of a group of gods. As for Su Xiao's side, he continued to 'idle.'