Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 198 Undercurrents

As Richard began the process, Master Marshall murmured to himself, "From any perspective, the difficulty of creating this master-level recipe is probably the highest among all master-level recipes!"

Master Marshall's words immediately elicited various expressions from the people present.

Desol's thick, dark eyebrows were furrowed into a deep frown, and his constantly rubbing hands revealed that his inner state was not as calm as his outward appearance suggested.

Allehan sighed inwardly. This Lord Li Wei was exceptionally skilled in alchemy, but he was too young. He was easily swayed by the words of some people and tempted by external objects, and readily agreed to their demands.

You have to understand, they've laid a trap for us!

Now that the contract has been signed, the previously favorable situation may very well reverse.

After hearing Grandmaster Marshall's assessment, the Murloc Prophet and Nazarudin couldn't help but exchange a glance.

They all saw the smiles in each other's eyes; if it weren't for the large crowd around them, they probably would have burst into laughter.

but

As time passed by, second by second.

Richard's series of smooth maneuvers on the alchemy platform caused the expressions of the audience below to change once again.

Richard held a devil horned frog egg the size of a red bean in his left hand, and with his right hand he held a thin needle, steadily inserting it into the egg wall and slowly extracting the highly toxic egg fluid.

The whole process was as smooth as flowing water!

But any alchemist who has ever handled a Devil Horned Frog egg knows just how difficult it is.

Because the egg wall of the devil horned frog egg is soft, smooth, and elastic, and the mucus on the surface of the egg wall is not washed off in advance in order to maintain the viability of the egg.

In this situation, the skill of inserting the slender needle steadily in just one attempt is so impressive that it seems effortless yet masterful!

In the previous match, Richard was making the Thick Scale Potion, but because he had the Murloc Prophet as an opponent, he was able to finish making the potion as quickly as possible.

But this time, he had no opponent; he was alone on the alchemy platform, so speed was irrelevant.

He only needed to steadily produce the golden horned frog eggs, so Richard deliberately slowed down the production pace and only used seven-tenths of his strength.

Even so, the alchemists watching below were completely dumbfounded!

"This doesn't seem too difficult, does it?" a mid-level alchemist said suspiciously.

Because he witnessed Richard's entire set of movements appear very smooth and unhurried, giving the impression that they were not difficult at all, and even somewhat simple.

Indeed, Richard's seemingly slow but actually fast maneuver was extremely deceptive!

A senior alchemist with a solemn expression said, "You haven't reached that level yet, so you can't understand. However, I suggest you take a demon horned frog egg and try pinching it with your fingers."

The suspicious intermediate alchemist, half-believing and half-doubting, immediately went to the supplies personnel to get a Demon Horned Frog egg.

But the next second, his expression changed. He had intended to pick up an egg with two fingers, but to his surprise, he couldn't—it was too slippery!

After several attempts, he finally managed to pick up a horned frog egg.

That's right! It's not pinching with two fingers, it's gripping!

Then, when he looked at Richard on the alchemy platform again, his face was filled with horror!

Master Marshall kept his eyes glued to Richard's performance on stage, stroking his white beard with a smile on his face, while inwardly sighing, "What a pity, what a real pity!"

I regret not meeting this young human sooner; otherwise, I would definitely have taken him as my apprentice!

Unfortunately, I met him too late!

Now, the other party's alchemy skills have reached a high level, and in a few years, he may be able to rival him.

Before long, the production of Richard's Golden Horned Frog Eggs was successfully completed!

At this moment, the Murloc Prophet and Nazarudin looked extremely grim!

As Richard stepped down from the alchemy platform with a plate of golden horned frog eggs, intending to hand the finished product to alchemy master Marshall, a dry, hoarse voice rang out.

The fishman prophet Gorkan, looking resentful, said, "Lord Levi, according to the tradition of our Tokar Lake fishman tribe, after the Golden Horned Frog eggs are made, the first one must be taken by the apothecary himself."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately understood the reason.

"Of course!"

Richard strongly agreed with this point. If a pharmacist wouldn't even dare to be the first to take the mental enhancement potion he created, then he would be a complete failure.

Moreover, who would dare to buy your potions in the future!

Richard readily agreed, and like eating fried candy, he grabbed a handful of golden horned frog eggs and stuffed them into his mouth, chewing them heartily.

Such a confident performance immediately drew spontaneous applause from the group of intermediate and advanced alchemists watching the scene!

It's important to understand that this wasn't pre-arranged, and no one was behind it.

Upon witnessing this scene, the merman prophet Gorkan turned ashen-faced!

He knew how much confidence he needed to do that.

"Haha, Lord Li Wei, give me one too!" Diesel shouted as he stepped forward.

Upon hearing this, the group of mid-to-high-level alchemists who had been watching and applauding were also impressed by Richard's skills and stepped forward to ask for some Golden Horned Frog eggs to taste.

You should know that this thing is not available for purchase on the market.

Although they knew the original top-secret formula, they had no way of making it with their abilities. Even if they succeeded once after trying hundreds or thousands of times, it was still uncertain whether they would dare to take it!

Seeing Richard's look of satisfaction, Nasaruddin forced a smile on his ashen face, stepped forward, and handed Richard a fist-sized amount of fire essence.

"Master Li Wei's skill is breathtaking. This Essence of Fire is a gift for you. I hope to have the opportunity to collaborate with you in the future."

Richard glanced at the extremely forced smile on Nazarudin's face, reached out and accepted the essence of fire, and said with a smile, "You're too kind, thank you for the gift, Lord Nazarudin!"

At this moment, a grey dwarf maidservant also came forward carrying a plate, and a round badge that shimmered with silver light appeared before everyone's eyes.

The badge is exquisitely crafted from pure mithril and features a goatee-bearded grey dwarf holding a short staff in one hand and a hammer in the other, seemingly representing the founder of the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood.

"Lord Levi, this is the mithril insignia of the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood, representing your status and privileges. It will be presented to you by Grandmaster Alchemist Marshall." Allahn greeted Grandmaster Marshall with a beaming smile as he stepped forward.

Grandmaster alchemist Marshall gently pinned the mithril insignia to Richard's chest, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Outstanding young man, I look forward to even greater achievements from you!"

Richard bowed slightly and said respectfully, "Thank you, Grandmaster Marshall. I will continue to work hard."

"Thank you as well, Your Excellency Allehan!" Richard also turned slightly to greet Allehan.

At this moment, Richard couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

Finally, I achieved my goal of coming to Tug City, and even slightly exceeded it.

Then, I can use this mithril emblem to search for the information I need in the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood's vast database and learn some secrets!

Although Dissol had previously exchanged some knowledge about second- and third-tier source blood with him, he still had no idea how to identify source blood.

Although there are many masters in the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood who are proficient in bloodline modification, his own dragon blood cannot be exposed to the light of day, and what if it is identified as the source blood of some kind of dragon?

Richard believed that with his level one wizard strength, he was no match for others, and even with the added advantage of being an alchemist, it probably wouldn't work.

A first-level wizard possesses the source blood of a third-tier or even higher-tier creature, which is a path to certain death.

According to the saying from the previous life, it means that a child carrying gold through a bustling market is guilty of possessing a treasure!

Therefore, I only have one choice: to determine for myself what kind of dragon's blood this source blood is and what tier it belongs to.

After the crowd dispersed, the merman prophet Gorkan, accompanied by several merman wizard apprentices, approached Richard and bowed deeply, saying, "From this day forward, the merman tribe of Lake Tokar will serve Lord Levi as their master."

Richard nodded and said, "Come with me to Lord Desol's residence first. I have some things I'd like to ask you."

Richard had actually intended to ask Dissol about the Flame Crystal and the Giant Fire Elemental, but then he remembered that he already had the allegiance of the Lake Tokar fishmen.

Obviously, I should first get a preliminary understanding of the situation from the merman prophet before making any further moves.

Moreover, he can now enter the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood's archives at any time to access a large amount of classified information.

If the question remains unresolved, it's not too late to seek help from Desor or Allehan, or even visit the Grandmaster Marshall.

-

Half a day later.

Richard sat in a large mahogany chair, playing with the Flame Essence he had just acquired, while two mermen stood respectfully in front of his desk.

"Owner!"

Looking at the merman prophet Gorkan, who was also respectfully calling Richard "Master," Fingart couldn't help but sigh.

This guy was a murloc master from the same generation as my teacher, but now he's become my master's servant, and even ranked below me.

"Gorkan, tell me about the Flame Essence and the Giant Fire Elemental first."

"Yes, Master."

"Nearly a thousand years ago, the gray dwarf wizards discovered that beneath the city of Tug, there was a sealed super-large secret realm called the Scorched Earth Secret Realm."

"The entire secret realm is filled with powerful elemental creatures, such as fire elementals, earth elementals, and even some kind of elemental fusion monsters—magma monsters, etc. The strength of a single ordinary fire elemental is comparable to that of a mid-level first-tier wizard."

"Due to the restrictions of the secret realm's rules, wizards are automatically dispersed once they enter. Therefore, each entry requires a lot of time to regroup. Even with a few communication artifacts, the gray dwarf wizards have never been able to explore this secret realm on a large scale."

"Based on what we know so far, firstly, this secret realm is extremely vast, and secondly, it is fraught with danger as we go deeper. Some second-level archmages have even seen the figure of a third-tier high-energy elemental creature, the lava giant, inside."

Richard listened and nodded.

"So, the Flame Crystals and Flame Essence all originated from this Scorched Earth Secret Realm?"

"Well, not exactly. Fire elementals that reach the first tier will produce fire crystals within their bodies. There are many places and secret realms in the Dark Region where first-tier elemental creatures exist, and first-tier fire elementals have been occasionally discovered among them."

"Therefore, Flame Crystals are not unique to the Scorched Earth Secret Realm."

"However, the essence of fire is different. As far as I know, apart from the Scorched Earth Secret Realm, no other place produces the essence of fire. I've heard that the essence of fire is only generated within the bodies of second-tier giant fire elementals."

After a pause, Gorkan added:

"A second-tier giant fire elemental usually requires a second-tier archmage to ensure a successful kill."

Richard began to understand why the price of Flame Crystals remained so high, and why the price of second-tier Flame Essence was astronomical.

Flame Crystals are the best item for activating first-tier bloodline essence. They are consumed in large quantities, but their production in other places is extremely limited. This is why there are so many wizard organizations in Tug City, almost as many as in the Gray Dwarf Imperial Capital.

As for the second-tier Flame Essence, needless to say, it is a specialty of the Scorched Earth Secret Realm and is naturally even more precious!

It's no exaggeration to say that if Richard were to sell this Flame Essence, it would be met with a frenzy of buying!

"Well, there's one more thing, Gorkan. Why are you in such a hurry to get Mithril treatment?" Richard asked, tapping his fingers on the armrest as he did so.

"Master, this is a long story," Gorkan bowed slightly, as if pondering where to begin.

After a long time, Richard also learned why Gorkan, the fish-man prophet and a high-level alchemist, was so eager to obtain the mithril-level treatment from the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood.

Logically speaking, a high-level alchemist can do well anywhere, let alone Gorkan, who is the leader of a clan!

Before explaining the reasons, we must first discuss the issue of treatment levels. The Grey Dwarf Brotherhood divides treatment levels into four tiers: Grey Iron, Bronze, Mithril, and Adamantite, with significant differences in authority between each tier.

Take, for example, the Mithril-level treatment that Gorkan was striving for.

Mithril-level benefits are available to second-tier wizards or professionals who have reached master level in a particular field upon joining the Brotherhood. Beyond that, one needs to continuously accumulate contribution points, gradually advancing from Grey Iron or Bronze to Mithril level.

Mithril-level privileges include free access to the database of knowledge related to Level 1 wizards, and the ability to access knowledge related to Level 2 wizards for a fee, among other privileges.

Finally, if the person enjoying Mithril-level treatment is a master craftsman with relatively weak personal strength, the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood can also arrange dedicated combat personnel to be responsible for their security.

This last point about the Mithril-level treatment is actually the one that Gorkan values ​​most.

Any organization or individual that attacks a member of the Brotherhood of the Grey Dwarves who is on Mithril-level pay will be considered to be at war with the Brotherhood of the Grey Dwarves.

Once he received mithril-level treatment, the safety of the entire Lake Tokar murloc tribe was effectively protected by the powerful wizarding organization, the Grey Dwarf Brotherhood.

Because recently, there have been several incidents around Tug City where entire tribes have been sacrificed.

At first, it was just a small tribe, and Gorkan didn't take it seriously. But yesterday, a medium-sized tribe was completely sacrificed.

In particular, this tribe was the Blackwater River Fishman tribe, which had always had a good relationship with Gorkan. Their prophet was also a master with the strength of a formal wizard, and was on par with him. But unexpectedly, he also failed to escape misfortune this time.

This immediately made Gorkan feel the crisis!

Although this matter has attracted the attention of the official forces of Tug City, they have not yet been able to find out who is behind it.

Upon hearing this, Richard frowned, sensing that this matter was not simple.

He had a premonition that this matter was like a whirlpool in the water, which would grow larger and larger over time, and one day it would drag him into it.

(End of this chapter)