My health recovery is incredibly fast.

"Oh, right, Xia Zuo. Don't forget the welcome dinner tonight. I'll come to the library to find you before dinner."

"Will the banquet also be performed by the elemental servants?" Xia Zuo asked with a wry smile.

"Ah, yes, that's right."

Mars stuffed a mouthful of beef into his mouth, frowned, and realized the problem: the other party's mental ocean wasn't fully developed, and they couldn't see the elemental servants.

The dinner party will be quite boring.

"Can I not go? I want to continue reading in the library," Xia Zuo asked.

Mars nodded, swallowed the beef in his mouth, and said:

"Of course. As long as you don't violate Dim's castle rules, he didn't list the dinner as a mandatory event."

A burst of playful noise came from the restaurant entrance, particularly noticeable in the quiet environment, attracting the attention of many new students.

Xia Zuo looked toward the source of the noise, where three obese men with bloated bodies and sagging faces were standing.

They look very alike, both extremely fat, and seem to be brothers.

His brown hair twisted like octopus tentacles, and his eyes and nose looked small compared to his fat face, especially his eyes, which looked like two green beans embedded in the pile of flesh.

The restaurant is a place where you can eat, play chess, or play cards. It doesn't prohibit making noise, but most people will talk in hushed tones, unlike these three who speak loudly and unrestrainedly.

Xia Zuo noticed that the other person was a senior student, and his uniform robe was similar to Mars's, with colorful patterns on the cuffs and collar.

This is a symbol of completing the alchemy branch test.

Poison alchemy is purple, potion alchemy is green, and oil and rare item alchemy are blue and red, respectively.

Their robes had one purple stripe, two green stripes, two blue stripes, and one red stripe.

These correspond to the beginner level poison alchemist, the proficient level potion alchemist, the proficient level oil alchemist, and the beginner level rare item alchemist, respectively.

Except for the Enchanted Alchemist, who is at the beginner level, Mars is at the expert level in all other aspects.

Students who possess two proficient-level alchemy skills are called advanced-level students.

If one possesses only one proficient-level alchemy skill, then one is a middle school student.

Those who only possess rudimentary alchemy skills are called low-level students.

People like Xia Zuo, who lack basic alchemy skills, are classified as new students.

According to the theory of meditation, once all four branches of alchemy have reached the proficiency level, one can attempt to practice the most basic meditation method.

"Who are they?" Xia Zuo asked, turning his gaze away.

Mars's lips twitched slightly, and a flash of disgust crossed his face:

"The Richie Brothers".

里奇

Xia Zuo let those two words circulate in his mind.

The Finance Minister of the Starry Night Kingdom is surnamed Richie. Amazing, he gave birth to triplets, all of whom have innate affinity.

"You don't seem to like them very much?" Xia Zuo glanced at the three brothers, who were behaving somewhat arrogantly.

Mars put a shortbone in his mouth, crunching as he said:

"Yes. It has nothing to do with their background. After all, once they become mages, worldly power is no longer that important. I just simply dislike their style and behavior."

Seeing that Xia Zuo still seemed a little confused, Mars continued:

"Do you have Dim's Castle Rules with you? You can check what Rule 15 says."

Xia Zuo hesitated for a second before speaking fluently:

“There are no elemental servants of mine in your dormitories; this is your private space within the school.”

Mars blinked in surprise, momentarily forgetting to chew, "You've already memorized it?"

Xia Zuo shrugged and nodded.

"puff."

Mars spat the short ribs into his plate. "There are no elemental servants of Dim in the dorm, but there will be others."

Xia Zuo's fingers, gripping the knife and fork, turned slightly white. The high school student who liked to peep was really difficult to deal with, and this unexpected incident was something he hadn't anticipated.

"But... Mars..."

Shazo confirmed once again that there was only one red stripe on the Richie brothers' clothes:

Can a novice artifact alchemist create elemental minions?

"It's a bit difficult. But..."

Mars puts his index and middle fingers together and rubs them together with his thumb to make a gesture that is universally recognized.

So it turns out it's all about money.

"Is there a way to detect elemental minions?" Xia Zuo shifted uncomfortably, shifting to a more comfortable sitting position.

"Don't worry, they won't come to see you. Who wants to see a boy with his butt exposed? The Richie brothers are only interested in girls."

Mars said with displeasure:

“Every time Dim captures one of their elemental minions, he destroys it on the spot. However, they still spend a lot of gold coins to buy new elemental minions from outside the castle.”

Xia Zuo looked around at the dining tables. Many of the new girls seemed to know nothing about the Richie brothers, these peeping tom stalkers.

Mars knew what the other person was thinking, so he tapped his soup bowl with his fork to draw Xia Zuo's attention:

“I checked in front of their dormitory before I came. Dim had arranged for six or seven elemental servants to patrol there. Now, each of them has an elemental servant following them at all times. The three Richie brothers can’t possibly bypass Dim’s surveillance.”

Xia Zuoshu took a breath and said:

"Would the university expel such a student? I mean, without considering their family background or personal talent."

"They will be expelled, and their memories of the academy will be forcibly erased, with Dean Beatrice personally handling the matter."

Mars' tone became indignant:

"However, the three Richie brothers have a perfect excuse to explain why their elemental servants are in the girls' dormitory."

Xia Zuo unconsciously leaned towards the table, tilting his body forward and asking curiously, "What excuse?"

Mars used his knife to scrape the bits of meat off his fork, and said in a helpless tone:

"Elemental dissipation is a subject of advanced learning. Your mentor, Kulov, will tell you about it when you are about to start practicing meditation, just like me."

Just as Mars was about to cut another piece of steak, he noticed that Xia Zuo still looked like he wanted to ask more questions, so he put down his knife and fork, interlaced his fingers, and said:

"Okay. Let me explain it to you simply."

"After taming the unruly elements through meditation, they will transform into docile elements and live in our spiritual ocean. This is something that can be found in the introduction to meditation."

"Mhm." Xia Zuo nodded, signaling the other person to continue.

Mars spread his hands:

"But you should know that our emotions and mental state are constantly changing. Sometimes we feel tired, sometimes we feel happy or sad."

In short, emotions and mental state affect the ocean of the mind.

"When the obedient element thinks your mental ocean is terrible, it will quietly slip away from your mental ocean when you are not paying attention and turn back into the unruly element."

"This is elemental dissipation."

"The elements are conscious? They have their own preferences too?" Xia Zuo asked in astonishment.

Mars shook his head:

There is no consciousness or preference. There is only what is suitable and what is not. Each person's spiritual ocean has a unique structure, which is only suitable for specific forms of elements.

"That's why you need to learn alchemy. This skill can cultivate elemental affinity much faster than painting or blowing on a furnace."

"Whether it's innate or acquired, as long as it's elemental affinity, it can help you identify the untamed elements that suit you and minimize the possibility of element dissipation."

"So that's how it works," Xia Zuo said, leaning back in his chair as if he had just understood.

Mars pointed towards the kitchen and said:

“Elemental servants are a product of the discipline of elemental representation. They need to be maintained regularly to stabilize their internal patterns. This is an assignment in the class on elemental representation.”

"Otherwise, it will be like the obedient element, straying from its post and wandering around when we are not paying attention, which is also a kind of elemental dissipation."

"The three Richie brothers used this as an excuse."

"They will arrange for someone to keep watch, and as soon as they receive news that the castle manager, Dim, is on his way, they will sever the connection with the elemental servant and completely transform it into a dissipated state."

"These abandoned elemental servants bear the spiritual imprint of the three brothers, but there is no evidence that they were in a state of control rather than dissipation before entering the girls' dormitory."

Mars took a sip of soup. "It's a little cold."

He rang a bell, signaling his elemental servants to bring the two of them their vegetable soup to be heated up.

Although Xia Zuo didn't know the specifics of the operation, just from Mars's description, he knew that it would be difficult to find any evidence against such a thing.

The principle of presumption of innocence applies equally to school rules and castle regulations, not to mention that the three Richie brothers have a powerful father in the secular world.

Hopefully, no girls will be affected.

Chapter 9 Building an Image

After lunch, Mars returned to his dormitory to rest.

Xia Zuo went to the library and found a quiet corner to lie down and sleep.

He spent the entire afternoon and evening reading in the library.

He ate dinner alone, and walked back to his dormitory alone at night. Everyone seemed to have disappeared; in the entire castle hall and dining room, only he and his elemental servants were there, sweeping the floor and cooking food on their own.

He didn't feel particularly lonely, perhaps because he had stayed at home alone for a long time in his previous life.

The next morning.

Returning to the lobby and restaurant revealed a completely different scene.

Freshmen in their school uniforms hurriedly entered the cafeteria, picked up their plates, filled them with bread slices and jam dishes, and sat down anywhere to start eating.