Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

Chapter 724: Chapter 413 – I Will Try My Best to Earn Money for You to Spend_1
 

“No, absolutely not! I am a skeleton, and I perceive with my soul. To me, you are nothing but flesh and bones, not at all attractive,” Negris declared with distaste.

Ji Li was livid, unleashing her fury on Ange. She could forgive him for undressing her, but not for saying she was unattractive!

But Ange didn’t grasp her feelings. To him, she was simply acting unreasonable. He threw a punch at her, landing directly on her cheek and knocking her out cold.

He used the Face Purification Technique, healing her facial injuries before physically waking her back up. “Calm down and talk it out, don’t resort to violence. You are no match for me. Now, about the tattoo on your back, what is it? It doesn’t seem like an ordinary tattoo but more like a certain kind of schematic.”

Cupping her cheek, Ji Li disdainfully retorted, “It’s an Alchemy Diagram. It would be meaningless to explain it to you.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t understand? I know… I know far more than you can! Regardless of what you say, I understand,” Negris challenged.

With a smirk, Ji Li replied sarcastically, “Oh really, if you know everything, then why bother asking me?”

Ange felt the Bronze Book in his hand stir, as though it wanted to jump up and smack someone.

…

Retracting his consciousness back into his body, Ange proceeded to convey each item on Negris’s list to everyone present.

“His Majesty is not dead but is confined in the Annihilation Infinite Domain? Quick, Master, summon me there. I want to save His Majesty!” the Witch exclaimed, fired up.

Ange shook his head. He couldn’t summon someone of her size unless she could shrink herself to the size of the Bronze Book.

The Great Sage promptly cautioned her, “You can’t leave. Your duty is to protect His Majesty’s body here.”

Durken was eager, “The sorcerer’s world? So that Starburst Array is the creation of alchemists. And it’s suspended in the void? I’d love to see what it’s like. Master, summon me there.”

Ange rejected him: “You’re too big.”

“Now I might be big, but not anymore.” Durken drove a hand into his chest, drawing out a small box known as a Life Box, “Summon me there, and give me… a Rebirth.”

Before he could finish, Durkin collapsed onto the ground.

The Witch’s eyes sparkled, eager to give it a try. However, a glance at the Black Crystal Body made her suppress the impulse.

Ange stored Durken’s body and Life Box into the Resting Camp. Projecting his consciousness again, he procured a fist-sized Life Box.

“Hisss— Has he lost his mind? He was the one with the Iron Skin, and he’s just getting rid of it like that?” Negris exclaimed in dismay.

An idea transmitted from the Life Box. Durken’s consciousness spoke, “I, however, make use of my mind. An Iron Skin or otherwise, none of that’s important. Master, just stuff my Life Box into any corpse.”

There were corpses at hand. Those of the thieves slain in the morning were produced one by one.

“This one’s too ugly, isn’t it? Nope.”

“This one’s too short, isn’t it? Nope.”

“This one is too stumpy? Is this even a man? Nope.” Durken was picky, rejecting one after another.

Scolding Durken, Negris retorted, “By any chance, is this what you call ‘any corpse’? You wanted something attractive but not short. Perhaps we should find you a female corpse?”

In the end, Durken went for the handsomest, tallest, and strongest among the thieves, coincidentally their gang leader.

Substituting the heart with the Life Box and performing a couple of Rebirth techniques to bind the body with the Life Box, the corpse’s eyes suddenly snapped open as he sat bolt upright.

Durken’s eyes fixed on the Starburst Array hanging in the sky, passionate. “Is it that? Is it that? Oh My God! This is more inconceivable than a World Transfer Station, is this the limit of Alchemy?”

Negris agreed with him thoroughly. The potential of the Starburst Array was far higher than that of a World Transfer Station. An array built in the void that could launch an attack that obliterated the gods on another plane— no matter how far away— was horrifying.

What was even more terrifying was the sorcerers who could stand against the Undead King. Just as Ji Li had said, the Lord of Annihilation had cornered the Undead King and his minions. This Lord of Annihilation was an entity as mighty as the Undead King himself.

With this in mind, Negris somewhat figured out why Durken was willing to risk abandoning his original body to come here. To an immortal alchemist like Durken, what else could be more captivating than an even higher level of alchemy?

“Come, let me have a look at the woman’s back, let me see what Alchemy Diagram is this” mentioned Durken.

“No need, no need, I’ve seen it all, it’s all here.” The Bronze Book flew up, pages fluttering open, revealing the Alchemy Diagram.

“Hah, I thought it was something impressive. It’s just a Gold-touch Stick. According to the parameters, she’s preparing to make a glove— two gloves; one for integration, one for decomposition— to consolidate the two most commonly used techniques in alchemy into one. Clever thought. But, her design is unsustainable and redundant, wasting raw materials…” Durken rejected it, scrutinizing with contempt.

…

Ange held the Gold-touch Stick in one hand and the Bronze Book in the other, standing before Ji Li. His mouth moving in sync with Negris’s tirade:

“Redundant design, wasting raw materials. Integration in one hand, decomposition in the other… it’s a good idea. But, there’s a sixty percent overlap between them; when separated, you’re wasting sixty percent more materials. Also, where’s the buffer structure? Do you want to create a tool or a weapon?”

Ji Li was bathed in shame, feeling utterly humiliated at the thought of the words she had spoken, especially since the other party both understood them and pointed out the flaws in her alchemy diagram.

Oh god, this was beyond understanding, he was even more skilled than her teacher.

Seeing Ji Li like this, Negris felt a sense of gratification and triumph, and proudly said, “Let me show you what it truly means to turn stones into gold.”

Ange took out a glove and some materials, all pilfered from the Resting Camp. Durken, a master of his craft, quickly turned them into semi-finished goods.

Ange, holding the Gold-touch Stick, lightly tapped the glove and materials. They acted as if lifted by an invisible hand, floating into the air and merging together. Soon enough, a black glove was formed.

Ji Li was dumbfounded. She looked at the glove, then at the Gold-touch Stick. What she had considered an outstanding design had been accomplished by someone else long ago. Kvada, it was a design collusion.

Not only a collusion, but the other party had also improved her design, turning it into a physical object. And they even took it a step further, this was undoubtedly a Master Alchemist.

Oh god, so embarrassing, she had actually said to the master, “Even if I explained, you wouldn’t understand.” What to do now?

Forget it, no more living for her. Ji Li dropped to her knees and yelled, “Master, please take me as your student, let me become your apprentice!”

As she spoke, she pulled out pen and paper from her bosom, scribbling down complex and mysterious alchemy runes, signed it, then bit her finger, murmuring a spell, and firmly pressed her finger onto the signature.

As her bloody fingerprint was pressed on the paper, the whole paper was filled with a faint energy fluctuation.

Ji Li held the paper above her head, presenting it to Ange, yelling, “Master, please take me as your student, this is my contract of servitude, please accept it.”

Negris was stunned. What the hell was this situation? He had just given her a scolding, and now she’s selling herself?

Leaning closer for a look and reading it out loud, “Follow so-and-so as a student in alchemy study, comply with all guidance before graduation, respect the rules. After graduation, all alchemy earnings, 40% goes to the mentor. This contract is accepted in the name of Alchemy… So it’s this kind of servitude contract? I thought it was a Soul Oath.”

Ji Li lifted her head, saying, “Accept my apprentice oath, I will obey and strive to earn more money for you, Master.”

After finishing speaking, she swished her pen and changed the ‘four’ in ‘40%’ to a ‘five’.

Negris said, “Wait for me.”

After finishing speaking, he ran out to find Durken, and explained the situation to him.

Durken responded, “Accept her, I can understand the alchemical system and the system of magicians in this world through her.”

“But I don’t know alchemy, how can I teach her?” Negris responded.

“Just say I’m a graduated student. I’ll teach the basics.” Durken said.

Durken was brought back and introduced to Ji Li, “This is a senior fellow who has graduated. He will teach you the basics. I don’t have time to build your foundation.”

Negris took the apprentice contract in disgust, wrote Ange’s name on it, and then went towards Albert.

Bringing in a student out of nowhere, others might not find it strange, but Albert would definitely have doubts. Additionally, this person seemed familiar – wasn’t she the leader of the thieves who was killed during the day?

Upon approaching, Negris whispered, “This is the spirit I summoned, using a body to disguise, otherwise we can’t get near the town.”

Albert’s spirit stirred, “My Lord, are you planning to save Desert Town?”

“Not necessarily, but we should at least gather information and see how many people they have.” Negris said.

These people came to hunt down Ji Li, and they definitely wouldn’t leave before they capture their target.

From here to Desert Town, it only takes a few minutes on a fast horse. If the other side wanted to search, this distance would definitely be within their search radius. Negris didn’t want the enemy to surround them without them knowing.

Of course, this was just a reasonable excuse for Durken’s arrival. Gathering information would not be done in such an inefficient way- a few Array were enough.

Just after calming Albert down, Durken comes with Ji Li to report, “My Lord, Ji Li told me why she is being chased by the thieves, I think you might be interested?”

Ange tilted his head.

Durken turned back and signaled, “Ji Li, you tell him.”

“I had an admirer. Some time ago, he suddenly came to find me, gave me something, and then told me to run as fast as I could. Then he died.”

“Before he died, he said something about a ‘multi-layered three-dimensional farm alchemy ball’. If you activate it and throw it, it will turn into a multi-layered farm. It can grow tens of times the crops in a small area. It is particularly suitable for the Starburst Array, he told me to send it to the secret base of the Sorcerer Alliance.”

“Then I was chased by thieves, definitely because of this Alchemy Ball.” Ji Li said angrily.

Just when Ange heard the words “multi-layered farm”, he couldn’t hold back from stepping forward. And after listening to the whole thing, he asked, “Where’s the Alchemy Ball?”