Chapter 734: Lost

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Alchemy had a wide range of uses and could be applied to various fields. To put it simply, the operation of the entire Holy City was almost inseparable from alchemy. From a small bottle of potions to the defense system of the Holy Land, the human-based operating process was still relevant even in the Holy Land.

w.a.n.g Zhong thought that this was quite interesting, and alchemy would definitely be a part of his cultivation journey in the Holy Land. Either he spent a huge sum of money to purchase potions, or he learned how to make them himself. He was still considering, but Simba in his Soul Sea had his own opinion already.

“What kind of dumb alchemy elemental table is this? Barely more than 7,000 basic elements?” Simba was extremely excited and bragged, “A bunch of silly people who don’t know anything! Not that I want to show off, but the almighty Simba is enough to be an Alchemy Sacred Teacher in this Holy Land place! w.a.n.g Zhong, let me out and the almighty Simba will take care of this!”

It was better if Simba didn’t say that; now, w.a.n.g Zhong really didn’t want to let him out. The Holy Land welcomed alien races, and there were many who looked weirder than Simba. The problem was, Simba wouldn’t be himself if he pa.s.sed the Holy Land’s tests. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Simba’s abilities; but even if what Simba said was true, w.a.n.g Zhong was very sure that he and Simba would be slaughtered by the Sacred Teachers the next day. In this world that was ruled by absolute power, peace was just a facade. w.a.n.g Zhong didn’t doubt for a moment that if the need arose, this would turn into a place darker than the Federation.

It was best if they didn’t attract attention. Today, they were here to buy alchemy equipment, but after looking at a few alchemy stores, they discovered that the price of a basic set of alchemy equipment was sky-high, costing up to thousands of Holy Coins. It was way out of their budget and they could only afford to look at it. He heard that there was alchemy equipment for rent at some places in the Holy Land, such as the Alchemy Union. w.a.n.g Zhong decided to search for those places after he joined the Tyrants officially, and to see if Simba was exaggerating about his abilities. What if he wasn’t? Even if he didn’t earn money from this, he would need alchemy skills somewhere along his cultivation journey in the future.

After walking for quite some time, they reached the end of the farthest area on the street when the sky turned dark. The street had ended, and a beautiful garden surrounded them. There was a gravel path leading into the distance, and if you walked further, it would be the Great Teachers’ District which was a restricted area.

w.a.n.g Zhong had seen similar scenes before where a garden separated public and restricted areas. He had seen this scene yesterday too when he was walking along another street. This showed the big difference in status between a Holy Disciple and a Great Teacher.

There were relatively fewer people here. Although this was the path that led to the Great Teachers’ District, the Great Teachers normally traveled using their mounts and would not pa.s.s by this narrow path, and students normally wouldn’t come here.

From afar, he could see the forbidden area on the other side. Blue runic energy barriers separated the Great Teachers’ District and the Holy Disciples’ District. The runic energy barrier sparkled with a blue glow, something you could only see when you looked closely. When the occasional wind blew onto it, the whole energy barrier would react, and some runic symbols could be seen on it.

w.a.n.g Zhong loved anything related to runes, and he was fairly interested in this magical barrier. Other than the fact that it was visible and could verify your Skylink ident.i.ty, you couldn’t sense its presence at all, yet it was a very effective barrier. You couldn’t sense any energy coming from this enormous barrier spread out across the entire Holy Disciples’ District, and it, amazingly, wasn’t being depleted over time. Honestly, this runic technology was a little too shocking to people from Earth. For the previous two nights, w.a.n.g Zhong had even especially gone to the edge of the Holy Disciples’ District to examine the energy barrier. Compared to the energy barrier here at the Great Teachers’ District, it seemed different, and, logically speaking, it should be stronger. w.a.n.g Zhong was very curious about it.

He walked closer to the defense barrier to examine it further, but when he was about a few hundred meters away from it, his body seemed to come into contact with something. That was weird. Nothing was supposed to be there. What he felt was a faint energy-ripple layer, which seemed like another barrier. He walked into it, and a small lake appeared in front of him.

There was an invisible s.p.a.ce here?

w.a.n.g Zhong was surprised. He took a step back, and the scenery in front of him changed back to the garden. When he took another step forward, the scenery changed and the lake appeared again.

He did this a few times. It disappeared when he retreated and appeared when he went forward.

This was obviously a s.p.a.ce that was hidden by a method similar to illusions, but it was different from the normal smokescreen methods. Even if w.a.n.g Zhong used his Mind’s Eye — which was supposedly able to see through everything — he could hardly see the abnormality of this s.p.a.ce from the outside. Even before breaking through the Heroic Soul Stage, as long as he used his Mind’s Eye, he would be able to see through a succubus’s illusions. However, even now that he knew the layout, he still couldn’t see through this s.p.a.ce.

w.a.n.g Zhong was amazed. This was the Holy Land indeed; even a small place in it was puzzling and bewildering.

He stepped into the s.p.a.ce and saw ripples on the surface of the lake, accompanied by wind blowing in all directions around him. There was a hint of warmth here, and the temperature was just right.

There were some boulders by the lake, and a disheveled old man with messy hair was fis.h.i.+ng leisurely while sitting on one. He already noticed w.a.n.g Zhong the moment he walked in. Looking at his clothes, w.a.n.g Zhong was merely a student, yet he could set foot in this s.p.a.ce.

There was a hint of surprise in the old man’s eyes, but he regained his composure the next instant. There were too many weird things in this world, and he was used to it. Anyway, this was not a private s.p.a.ce, and he didn’t care who came in.

“Hey!” He waved at w.a.n.g Zhong. “You lost, little fella?”

“Greetings, senior, sorry if I disturbed you.” w.a.n.g Zhong smiled and walked over after seeing that the old man didn’t seem to mind. “I think I’m lost.”

The old man grabbed the fis.h.i.+ng rod next to him and handed it to w.a.n.g Zhong. “Have you gone fis.h.i.+ng before? I have several types of fis.h.i.+ng rods here. Do you want to try?”

“Well, I don’t know how.”

“d.a.m.n.” The old man frowned. “Young people are not romantic at all.”

w.a.n.g Zhong was amused that there was such an interesting old man. He seemed angry. “I don’t know how to fish, but I know how to grill a fish.”

“Tsk, who doesn’t know how to grill a fis.h.!.+” The old man narrowed his eyes and seemed uninterested.

“My cooking skills are not bad, and I have good wine with me!” w.a.n.g Zhong wouldn’t dare to boast since there was a dimensional gourmet profession in the Holy Land, but Mu Zi’s wine was definitely good stuff.

“Sounds good, but don’t just pay lip service.” The old man didn’t really trust him and tossed a fis.h.i.+ng basket to him. “Show me what you got. If you perform well, I’ll treat you. But if you don’t, you’ll have to compensate me with fis.h.!.+”

“Are you going to be the judge?”

“Are you doubting my honesty? So petty at a young age. If you cook it well, I won’t go back on my words.”

“Haha,” w.a.n.g Zhong laughed, “then I’ll begin.”

He could see that the old man was pretty lonely and happy to have someone to talk to.

There were three rather weird-looking fish in the fis.h.i.+ng basket. They had teeth, and there were two s.h.i.+ny claws on their fins. Although they were small in size, they had ma.s.sive strength and were very slippery. When w.a.n.g Zhong reached inside to grab one, it almost leaped back into the lake.

“You’ve never seen this before, right? This is a Hinami, and it’s a 3rd rank beast, so be careful.” The old man smiled. “Don’t treat this as a small lake. It’s gigantic since it’s connected to the underground river of the Holy Land. It took me a great deal of effort to just catch this little thing. I took one whole day to catch these three fishes! If I sold these in the market, one fish could sell for at least a few thousand Holy Coins!”

w.a.n.g Zhong pulled a long face. “You have to be kidding me. The grilled food stalls sell one Hinami for a thousand Federation Credits, yet you’re telling me it’s a few thousand Holy Coins for one?”

“Haha, not bad, you know the price,” the old man laughed heartily. “That sort of grilled food those stalls sell are fake goods. How can those compare to the real deal that I caught?”

“You won’t deliberately say that it doesn’t taste nice and ask me to compensate you?”

“Look at what you’re saying! Do I look like a conman?” The old man looked righteous. “Slandering old people is not good. One should be kind and sincere!”

“It’s okay. My wine will definitely taste better than the fish.” w.a.n.g Zhong smiled.

His overconfident words made the old man look forward to it. The old man was obviously more interested in the so-called original grilled fish rather than chatting and kept urging w.a.n.g Zhong.

However, when w.a.n.g Zhong got to grilling, the old man was pretty speechless after smelling the aroma of grilled fish.

How should he put this? The aroma of the grilled fish was acceptable, but w.a.n.g Zhong was not meticulous throughout the whole preparation process; he was even a little sloppy. Even though the old man didn’t really know how to cook, his nose and taste buds were experts in tasting and evaluating food. When the fish was ready, the old man became speechless after taking just a small bite.

The three Hinamis were very fresh; the skin was fried, and the meat was tender. The grilling process was satisfactory, but the taste… it was so bland! He had worked so hard for nothing. He was a fool to have trusted this puny little fella!

He was actually joking about the compensation part. Based on how poor w.a.n.g Zhong looked, he couldn’t pay even if he was asked to.

The old man looked distressed and depressed for a moment. w.a.n.g Zhong smiled and took a small wine bottle out from his small backpack and pa.s.sed it to the old man. “Senior, you must eat the grilled fish with this wine for it to taste good.”

The old man seemed suspicious of his words and took a sniff from the wine bottle. His eyes lit up, and he drank a large gulp of wine.

Initially, there was a faint and unremarkable fishy taste remaining in his mouth. The next moment, a spicy liquid washed down his throat. This spicy taste complemented the fish really well. The spicy taste of the wine, combined with the freshness of the fish, created an unbelievable combination. The wine tasted less spicy, yet the pleasure and joy of drinking wine remained. Combined with the slight fish aroma, two tastes were mixed together, and it was a perfect match. This was so satisfying!