Chapter 60: Hasty for Success?
Arriving at the small wooden door deep within the treehouse, Su Xiao pushed it open. The door was indeed very small, but the space behind it was vast. This was a well-equipped alchemy laboratory, about a hundred square meters in size, filled with various alchemical instruments and a large quantity of materials.
From certain liquid alchemical materials inside the lab, it was evident that this laboratory had not been used for a long time.
Entering the alchemy laboratory, Su Xiao felt a bit regretful. If he could have obtained more alchemical knowledge from the Tree Sage, his alchemy would have undergone a revolutionary change. Unfortunately, his relationship with the Tree Sage was average. The other party teaching him alchemical creature creation was essentially a transaction. Learning more alchemical knowledge was impossible, at least the Tree Sage would not teach him.
As for building a good relationship with the Tree Sage, that would be a waste of time. Su Xiao was very "confident" in his own charm attribute.
Su Xiao's expectations were not high; as long as he could raise his Alchemical Biology to Lv.20, that would suffice. An alchemy skill reaching Lv.20 was the maximum level.
Although time was limited, Su Xiao did not rush to start creating Alchemical Ravens. He began flipping through the ancient book in his hand, scanning through it quickly.
This ancient book was titled [Origin of Alchemical Creatures]. The first third introduced the origins of alchemical creatures. Su Xiao was not curious about how alchemical creatures came to be; he only wanted to know how to create them, so he skipped the first third directly.
Turning to the section on alchemical creature creation, Su Xiao began to study it intently. The alchemy recorded in the book differed somewhat from the alchemy he had mastered, but fortunately, the underlying principles were the same.
The more he flipped through this ancient book, which could easily serve as a weapon to smash enemies, the more Su Xiao marveled at the wonder of alchemy. Combining a pile of "lifeless" materials together was the essence of alchemical creature creation. Most alchemical creatures lacked intelligence; the Wolf Butler was an exception among exceptions.
Unless an alchemist was an idiot, they would not give alchemical creatures independent thought. That was not a breakthrough but asking for trouble.
Granting alchemical creatures their own will was a problem solved many years ago. In the years that followed, countless alchemists proved one point: once alchemical creatures gained self-awareness, they would yearn for freedom. The creator alchemist was the greatest obstacle to that freedom. Consequently, many alchemists died at the hands of the alchemical creatures they had personally created.
It was not impossible to give alchemical creatures intelligence, but there had to be a limit. For example, combat-type alchemical creatures only needed to know how to fight. Extra intelligence would not bring gratitude to the creator, only lessons stained with blood time and again.
If Su Xiao were to create alchemical creatures, he would not give them independent consciousness at all. During battle, the alchemical creatures would be controlled by Bubu Wang, not relying on the creatures' own combat skills. The alchemical creatures only needed strength, speed, and the like.
"I see. It's unwise to engrave a magic array in the core of an alchemical creature. If you do that, the core becomes the creature's weakness."
Su Xiao quickly flipped through the ancient book in his hand. He had never systematically studied alchemy. Now, with this ancient book, he was like a dried-out sponge, rapidly absorbing knowledge about alchemy.
A few hours later, Su Xiao closed the ancient book. The knowledge in this book could not be mastered overnight. Therefore, he spent about half an hour backing up the book. Since the Tree Sage had taken out this ancient tome, he certainly would not mind Su Xiao making a copy.
Su Xiao stood up and walked toward the workbench. He was ready to start creating Alchemical Ravens. For an ordinary alchemist, rapidly improving alchemy would be impossible. But he was not an ordinary alchemist. His alchemy was a knowledge-type skill, which could be quickly leveled up by creating alchemical products.
Moreover, upon entering this room, Su Xiao understood one thing: he could freely create alchemical items here.
At the center of the room was an oval-shaped rock. The top of this rock was blue, emitting a hazy blue light. This blue light was similar to an aura ability.
When he first entered the room, Su Xiao received a notification.
[Notification: The Hunter is within the radiation range of the Mana Spring. Recovers 5 Mana Points per second. This effect disappears upon entering combat or moving more than 20 meters away from the Mana Spring.]
Inside this room, there was no need to worry about mana consumption. As a renowned alchemist, how could the Tree Sage fail to solve the problem of insufficient mana? After all, mana was a very stable energy source and the preferred catalyst for materials.
Creating one Alchemical Raven required the following materials: Pseudo-Bone (3 portions), Monster Crystal Core (1 portion), Biological Magic Conductive Tissue (2 portions), Soul Fragments (4 portions).
In addition to these materials, Su Xiao needed to consume 150 Mana Points to catalyze them.
Pseudo-Bone, Monster Crystal Core, and Biological Magic Conductive Tissue were easy to solve. Substitutes for these three materials were everywhere in the room, and they were even of higher quality. As for the Soul Fragments (4 portions), that was a bit tricky. Soul Fragments were the shards obtained by breaking down Soul Crystals (Small).
Su Xiao began searching the room. The Tree Sage was unlikely to make such a low-level mistake. Soon, he found a fire-red wooden block on a material shelf. After preliminary research, this item could substitute for Soul Fragments. This fire-red wooden block gave Su Xiao a familiar feeling, and he quickly realized it might be produced from the tree people he had seen earlier.
Piling a large amount of required materials on the workbench, Su Xiao began to focus on creating Alchemical Ravens, working nonstop.
In the living room of the treehouse, a translucent stone tablet floated before the Tree Sage. On the tablet was an image showing Su Xiao creating Alchemical Ravens.
The Tree Sage's earlier attitude might have seemed casual, but he would not leave a Law Destroyer unattended in his treehouse.
"A strange method of mastery."
The Tree Sage had originally thought Su Xiao would study the ancient book for a few days. Instead, Su Xiao had only studied for about an hour, openly made a copy, and then started creating Alchemical Ravens.
"How is his progress?"
Lilim curiously leaned in.
"Not bad."
The Tree Sage said this, but in reality, he had already categorized Su Xiao as someone hasty for success.
"Lilim, would you like to learn some alchemy?"
"No, alchemy is too troublesome. Seeing that huge pile of materials gives me a headache. Catalysis, fission—just spare me."
Lilim's attitude was very casual, not as restrained as before. It wasn't that she disrespected the Tree Sage, but that she was very familiar with him. When she was very young, she had lived in this treehouse for a long time. In her heart, the Tree Sage was a kind and friendly elder.
In fact, from the alchemical items all over Lilim's body, one could tell that the Tree Sage doted on her. These high-level alchemical items were not something even some Demon God-level demons possessed.
"Mastering more knowledge is a good thing."
A hint of helplessness appeared in the Tree Sage's murky old eyes. Lilim was his most favored disciple, but unfortunately, she had no interest in alchemy. As a child, being forced to learn alchemy had made her cry countless times. Having no descendants and no successor, the Tree Sage thought of this past scene and smiled gently.
"I know, I know."
Lilim began to wander around the treehouse, occasionally picking up an alchemical item to fiddle with.
At this moment, Su Xiao, whom the Tree Sage considered hasty for success, was improving his Alchemical Creature Creation at a speed the Tree Sage could never have imagined.
Su Xiao had two goals this time: first, to raise his Alchemical Creature Creation to Lv.20, and second, to attempt a breakthrough.