Chapter 12: Chapter12-Eternal Alchemy Bible

Early in the morning, Fara had neatly arranged all the materials at the doorstep before knocking gently and saying:

"Mr. John, all the materials you requested are here. Please, have a look. Also, I have prepared the ingredients for the poison antidote potion and the HP potion."

"Thank you. By the way, Fara, have you heard about an adventurer squad called 'Pioneer' that recently arrived in the city?"

"Of course, I've heard of them. The Pioneer Squad— their leader, Miss Helena, once visited my shop. Her fiery red hair left quite an impression on me."

Hearing Fara accurately name Helena, John smiled, "It seems she is quite famous?"

"Absolutely! Since arriving in Calia city, Helena's Pioneer Squad has cleared the surrounding area of monsters. Not only that, but Miss Helena has also taken on the task of exploring the underground city. Even Lord Calia holds her in high esteem!

John, why do you suddenly ask about this? Are you friends with Helena?"

"No, just making conversation."

"Oh, that's a pity. I was hoping I might get to meet Miss Helena through you. Her stature, truly something to aspire to...

Of course, I don't mean it in that way; I'm just a bit envious. I wish I could be an adventurer like Miss Helena, but unfortunately, it seems I don't have the talent..."

At this, Fara's eyes couldn't help but dim a little.

As a member of the Jones family, Fara seemed not to have inherited her great-grandfather's talent for becoming a Mage, nor did she excel in any particular area.

This was precisely why she had been assigned to such a remote location, running an alchemy materials shop in Calia.

The Jones family was a well-known noble household in Everglow city, which made it easy to imagine how poorly Fara was treated within her family.

"There's a bird born without feet, so to avoid predators, it must learn to fly swiftly; once it leaves the ground, it can never land again.

What I mean is, adventuring isn't as glamorous as you think."

"Mr. John, your way of comforting people is really... clumsy."

"I'm sorry, I don't have much experience with this. Anyway, everyone has a unique talent; maybe you just haven't fully discovered what you're good at."

"You mean... I might have a talent for learning alchemy!"

John: "Whether you have a talent or not... I can't say for sure, but if you're really interested, I can teach you some basic alchemy."

"Really, Mr. John?"

Facing Fara's hopeful gaze, John sighed softly and reluctantly nodded.

"Yes, really."

"That's wonderful! Mr. John, you're like my [Tyche] goddess."

"Maybe so, but it's getting late, and I need to prepare potions."

"I'll leave you to it then. Mr. John, should I prepare dinner for you?"

"No need, just don't disturb me without my permission."

"Understood!"

Fara nodded, her gaze filled with increased respect as she bowed and quietly left the room.

…

Collecting his thoughts, John calmed himself and neatly arranged the materials on the alchemy workbench before opening the Basic Alchemy Manuscript.

Since making the enhanced poison antidote potion for Fara, he hadn't had the chance to properly study this book.

Just as his hand touched the cover, suddenly:

[Ding, Kiss of LUCK activated, Basic Alchemy Manuscript fully unlocked]

[Ding, Alchemy data recording]

[Ding, Alchemy principles logged]

…

[Ding, Basic Alchemy Manuscript upgraded to Eternal Alchemy Bible]

The worn parchment before him suddenly transformed into a dark golden tome, hovering in front of John.

"What's this?" John started to reach out but stopped midway. "It seems Kiss of LUCK still has trigger conditions. Maybe it didn't activate the first time I opened the manuscript because I was in front of Fara."

With that thought, he reached out and opened the Eternal Alchemy Bible.

The title page read: [This book is the legacy of the Goddess of Fate, only those favored by Fate are worthy to read.]

"Ha, the Goddess of Fate, now that's someone I've not heard much about."

John then turned the page. However, the first page, the second page, the third page, all were blank!

John frantically flipped through, "What's going on? Could it be that the content has been erased? That's impossible."

Suddenly, the system's voice rang out again:

[Ding, Host initial LUCK detected over 100.]

[Ding, authentication successful, initiating connection.]

As soon as the system's voice ceased, the spine of the Eternal Alchemy Bible suddenly emitted a dazzling white light, shooting a beam directly into John's forehead. In an instant, a tidal wave of information flooded into his brain, the searing pain causing him to curl up on the ground in agony, nearly passing out.

After a short while, John slowly stood up.

[Ding, congratulations Host, alchemy proficiency has increased by 20,000+, alchemy level upgraded from Lv1 to Lv99]

Lv99! Alchemy training requires a substantial amount of materials, making leveling up notoriously slow. In his past life, many alchemists spent two years just to reach Lv50.

But John had done it in mere minutes!

"Very well," John said. "Now I can collect more materials and try more alchemy methods."

He then took out the materials from the alchemy workbench and began crafting.

In just three minutes, five bottles of poison antidote potion and five bottles of basic HP potion were neatly arranged in front of him.

Whether in terms of color or scent, they were much improved from his first attempt.

"Indeed, the higher the level, the better the effects of the potions produced."

This time, John didn't ask Lily for help.

Prominence invites trouble, and potions with special enhancements would undoubtedly attract unwelcome visitors; the fewer people knew about them, the better—or rather, the fewer people knew they were made by him, the better.

After organizing everything, John quickly placed the potions in a box by the door for Fara to collect later. Then, he tidied up the room, securely hid the Eternal Alchemy Bible, and decided to go find Lily.

As he stepped outside, John happened to catch Lily squatting in the yard, giggling at ants moving their colony.

John approached and said unexpectedly, "Is watching ants move that amusing?"

"Ah! Johnny! Are you done with your work?"

"Yeah, want to go out for a walk?"

"Sure, sure! I want to visit the Armor Shop to look around. Although the Beginner's robe is comfortable, I still want to buy some other clothes."

"No problem, I was planning to head to the commercial district anyway. Let's go together."

…

The layout and distribution of a city are the best reflections of a lord's capability.

Take, for example, Calia city where John currently resided.

The residential areas and commercial districts were distinctly separated, and each area was patrolled by a guard team maintaining order.

Most importantly, the city was relatively clean—streets free of waste and rubbish, with designated incineration points for trash disposal.

These aspects made it clear that Lord Calia possessed considerable competence.

A chaotic city usually indicates a lord lacking in ability.

Of course, this did not apply to Spartonia.

Primitive and savage are probably the most fitting words to describe the city of Spartonia—without exception.

"Johnny, should we also visit the underground city?" Lily asked, looking around at the players on the street calling out to recruit companions, a hint of eagerness in her voice.

"What's the underground city like, Johnny?"

"It's quite similar to Monster Cave, filled with monsters, of course. There's treasure too, but whether you find unimaginable wealth or get besieged by monsters depends on luck and strength."

John explained this while examining the earring he had found in Monster Cave.

Based solely on this description, John couldn't glean much useful information.

Left with no choice, he decided to take the earring to a pawnshop to ask the locals for more details.

Since the elite Calia guard's armor was found near this earring, there must be some connection between the two items.

"Hello, can you appraise special items here?"

At the corner of the street, there was a pawnshop. John, accompanied by Lily, entered the shop and placed the earring on the counter.

"Please wait a moment, our appraiser is on his way back. Could you wait five minutes?"

"No problem."

After a moment, the voice of the shop owner came through:

"Master, there's a customer who'd like you to appraise some equipment."

"What is it? Bring it here for me to see."

As the words echoed, an elderly man with white hair and beard pushed open the wooden door, his crow's feet adding a touch of wisdom to his appearance.

"What item do you need appraised, sir?"

"This earring. Please take a look at it, and if you know its origin, that would be even better."

John handed the earring to the old man, who furrowed his brow as he examined the finely crafted piece.

"This... isn't this the Source Crystal Earring that Lord recently acquired at an auction? It was bought to celebrate Miss Phoebe Calia's birthday. How did it end up in your possession?"

"I found this earring on a goblin in a Monster Cave. If it belongs to Miss Phoebe, then..."

John paused, the rest of his words left unsaid.

But it was clear to all; if the ring was found on a goblin, its owner had most likely met with misfortune.

"How can this be? Miss Phoebe always has elite guards with her; how could such a misfortune occur?

I'm sorry, sir, but given that this concerns Miss Phoebe, I may not be able to keep your customer information confidential. I must report this matter to Lord."