Chapter 482 - Questions Unanswered (1/2)

”By the way, young man, how did you come up with the recipe? Did you have any information that helped you in finding that pill?” the Royal alchemist asked.

”No, senior. As I had said earlier, I really did stumble upon the pill. I was trying to make pills using the knowledge of ingredients I previously had and how they interacted with each other,” Alex said.

”I had a lot of time in my hands, so I tried every single combination I could find before I made one that didn't threaten to blow up my cauldron. That one ended up being the pill and I made a recipe from there.”

”I tried to improve the recipe a bit, but the most I could do was a few tries to improve the process to no avail. I was throwing rocks in the dark and hoping to hit something.”

”Hmm,” the Royal Alchemist said. ”What's the best harmony you made?” he asked.

”Um, I believe it was around 28%,” Alex said.

”28… that was the same thing I got. Meaning, you were definitely giving your best when improving the pill. Only you didn't have proper knowledge,” the Royal alchemist said.

Alex remembered something and felt like this was the time to ask that. However, he wasn't sure if asking the question was rude or not, but he tried to go a different route.

”I did try my best. I even tried to use different combinations of rotations, speed, and temperature to change the structure and composition of the powder, but I was too naive to think I would learn anything about them by trying a few tests,” Alex said.

Huang Fu's eyes went wide with shock, while the Royal Alchemist's eyes went wide in surprise and a glee appeared on his face.

”You know about Structure and Composition?” he asked. ”Did you master already start teaching you this?”

Ma Rong who was sitting next to the royal alchemist shook her head. ”I taught him nothing about it. I myself don't know anything about it to explain it to you,” Ma Rong said.

”Then how?” the Royal Alchemist asked confusedly.

”Is something wrong, senior Lai?” Fu Wen asked.

”Not wrong, just… odd. He knows something that he shouldn't know at this point in his career,” the Royal Alchemist said.

”I learned it from the book,” Alex said hurriedly. He didn't want the Royal Alchemist to misunderstand him. ”I learned it from a book from the higher floors from the library in the capital,” he said.

”Book?” the Royal Alchemist said in surprise. ”Written by who?”

”Uh…” Alex started thinking of a name he read in those books. 'Who was it written by again? Think! Think! It was written by… Lai Q—”

”It was written by you,” Alex said. His face had shock written all over it as the realization had surprised him.

”I did?” the Royal Alchemist asked in confusion and suddenly his eyes lit up. He couldn't help but bring his palm to his face in annoyance.

”Tsk. It was probably during that one time in my youth when I was very young before I got my title from the emperor. The royal ministers approached me and asked me to write a book for Alchemy given how outstanding they saw my knowledge then to be.”

”In my foolishness, I must have written everything I had learned up to that point. It seems I put in there things that shouldn't be so easily public as it would only add a layer of confusion to the new alchemists,” the Royal Alchemist said.

”Do you remember what is written in those books exactly?” the Royal Alchemist asked.

”Uh…” Alex remembered the book word for word, but he changed it up a little and explained the writings of the book.

”I see,” the Royal Alchemist said. ”That does make me relieved that I did not give out the most important thing.”

”Which is?” Alex asked curiously.

The Royal alchemist smiled, ”I don't fall for those easily now, young man. You can give up,” he said.

”Huh?” Alex thought before realizing what had just happened. ”I'm sorry senior, I did not mean to pry for answers. I was just curious,” he said.

”It's good that you are curious. As for learning about Structure and constitution, you are honestly too new to alchemy as a whole to teach you. Even little Ma who's been making pills forever will have difficulty understanding the exact concept behind the structure and compositions of powders and pills,” the Royal Alchemist said.

”So you can forget about them for now.” The Royal alchemist seemed hell-bent on not answering anything about it. Alex sighed and got a little dejected learning that the answers were in his grasp, but it slipped right under him.

”However,” the Royal alchemist added after seeing Alex's face. ”If you still wish to learn about it, find me once you successfully make a Heaven Grade True Pill. At that point, you should be eligible to learn about it.”