Gezheng casually waved his hand, meaning that he had finished eating: "You can help yourselves." Grunya still had some maidenly reserve, but Onu didn't care so much, he pulled the door open and barged in. There were immediately a cacophony of roars in the dining room: "What are you doing! That pancake is mine!" "If you dare to touch my deer milk, I dare to hit you on the head!" "Kang-Mingss is a weak group, you can't bully honest people like us..."
Both Grunya and Gezheng blushed, and Gezheng quietly told Grunya, a thought occurring to him: "Dunk, go make another breakfast, make it exquisite." Dunk was very obedient, "Make another one? Who is going to eat it?" Gezheng glared at him, "You can't let a girl go hungry early in the morning..." He realized that Grunya felt embarrassed to go in and compete for food with them.
Grunya sweetly smiled, "Thank you, Master, I didn't expect you to be so considerate."
After a breakfast battle, Solgewrinn emerged as the victor. Onu had obviously not gained much advantage by joining midway, and his eyes kept wandering into his master's plate. Kang-Mingss and Dinora were basically full, and the group of them sat together to discuss matters.
Grunya swallowed a small piece of smoked venison, and with enjoyment, raised her eyebrows and said, as she ate, "Master, I would like to ask you to craft a magical enhancement tool for me, and of course, I would require it to be of quasi-artifact level. Do you have the confidence?"
Since the chief agreed to spend one million gold coins, she might as well take the opportunity to secure a benefit for herself.
Gezheng thought for a moment and asked, "What kind of attributes?" "Of course, it'd be a dark attribute." Gezheng frowned. He had never crafted an item with a dark attribute before and was not very confident. However, with a million coins on offer, Gezheng, although not Solgewrinn, knew the importance of not letting go of a lucrative opportunity.
"No problem. But I have a lot on my plate recently, so you may have to wait a while." Grunya immediately agreed, "No problem, I will wait in Oba City." She had just finished eating, and with good manners wiped her mouth with a napkin, then wiped her hands clean before taking out the crystal card and holding it out with both hands: "Master, this is the deposit, thirty thousand gold coins."
Gezheng was astonished, "So much..." Grunya smiled, "For the crafting of a quasi-artifact, the required materials must be quite valuable. If the deposit runs out, feel free to ask me for more." In other words, ask if you need more.
Gezheng didn't want to show off, and took it, saying, "Alright, thank you."
...
However, from then on, at meal times, Grunya and Onu would visit right on time. Previously, taking in Dinora and Solgewrinn had been very puzzling, and now they had added two more people, making Gezheng's dining table too small.
It wasn't that there weren't enough seats; this courtyard was a mansion of the Duke, so the specifications were not low, and the dining table in the dining room was large enough for twenty people to dine together. But the table surface was not sufficient, as the food for each meal couldn't fit.
Poor, honest Dunk had become a full-time chef because of the increase in population. He would immediately prepare lunch after breakfast, get ready for dinner immediately after lunch, and prepare the ingredients for the next morning's breakfast before going to sleep at night. If Dunk hadn't been honest and dedicated, he would have collapsed long ago.
Grunya's request was very simple: magical amplification. She was a heroic spirit user, and, aside from her magical power, she didn't have many other requirements for equipment, since she didn't directly participate in combat.
However, the simpler the request, the more difficult it was to fulfill. For such a simple request to reach the level of a quasi-artifact, it needed to be crafted excellently.
After speaking with her three times and gaining a deeper understanding of the battle mode of a heroic spirit user, Gezheng had a rough concept in mind, and then considered how to craft this quasi-artifact for her. Honestly, the Dark Temple was a big customer. If this first deal went well, the money would keep rolling in. Perhaps, in a year or two, he might earn enough gold coins to go home. So, Gezheng was very keen on crafting an exceptional quasi-artifact to exhibit his talents in front of this "big client."
After he had a plan in mind, he visited the Adventurer's Guild and selected some items from the consignment shop, but came across a problem this time. A crucial material was not being sold, not even in the consignment shop.
"What material is it?" Grunya was curious. Gezheng felt that it wasn't a secret, "Soul Fire of a Bone Spirit." This was a dark magic material, and amongst many dark magic materials, the "ferocity" content of this material was considered low-grade.
Because a warrior spirit was not an ordinary undead, even though both were condensed from the power of death, the "ferocity" in the undead's body was absent from the warrior spirit's.
The first thing to do after capturing a warrior spirit was to help it fulfill all its wishes from when it was alive, in order to get a pure and clean warrior spirit, and this was the fundamental difference between a warrior spirit and an undead.
So, Gezheng wanted to choose the soul fire of a bone spirit. Although this kind of soul fire was far from being as powerful as other same-grade undead, such as the King of Bones or the Reaper Servant.
Upon hearing this, Grunya speculated, "You don't have to go and look for it. The soul fire of a bone spirit is worth at least ten thousand gold coins or more, and the Adventurer's Guild will definitely retain it for the year-end auction."
Gezheng had been in this world for some time, but his understanding of this world was not as good as that of the natives, and he was still not clear about the market for the soul fire of a bone spirit.
Grunya glanced at him, right to herself: he is still a person from a small place and doesn't understand these matters.
"After the Great Race Integration, death magic has also gradually gained recognition and acceptance on the continent. Although many people still have biases against necromancers, it's not like a few thousand years ago, where everyone would yell and kill the moment they saw a necromancer. The ability of death magic to instantly create large numbers of soldiers is highly valued by nobles."
Gezheng understood, "That's right, in the event of a palace coup, the ability to instantly add several thousand soldiers is indeed a potent force!" "Yes, because of this, the price of high-level magical items associated with death magic is rising. The soul fire of a bone spirit not only contains powerful death power, as you said, it also contains very little ferocity, which makes it possibly have low backlash on magicians, hence, its price is higher!"
Gezheng was helpless, "In that case, let's forget about it. I'll think of other ways." Grunya didn't say anything, but her eyes twinkled, and Gezheng didn't know what she was thinking.
...
Ten days later, the materials that Ge Zheng ordered from the adventurer's guild's consignment shop were delivered one after another, and the preparations for refining the monster equipment were ready.
This refining process was a completely new experience for Ge Zheng. The time and proficiency required for alchemy were also related, and something he had never refined before would definitely take longer. Ge Zheng guessed that this time it would probably take five or six days. During this period, he wouldn't be able to teach Miss Feifei, so he requested a leave from the Duke's manor.
When Duke Maris heard that Ge Zheng was going to practice alchemy, he immediately said, "No problem, Master, bring Feifei along. She's your student, and having her get more practical experience will definitely help her master the skills of alchemy as soon as possible."
Ge Zheng felt troubled: this time he was going to refine an artifact, and if the Duke found out that he could refine an artifact, it would probably bring more trouble in the future. Treating the Duke and treating the Dark Temple were not the same. After all, the temple was still a temple, not a country, but the Duke was the ruler of a nation. If it involved political interests, he would definitely act more decisively than the Dark Temple.
"What's the matter, Master?" the Duke asked. Ge Zheng sighed, "Nothing, it's just that Miss Feifei probably can't handle the loneliness during the alchemy process." The Duke chuckled, "Master, are you worried that the little girl will disturb you? Rest assured, I will instruct her in advance. So, this matter is settled!"
Ge Zheng thought to himself, "It doesn't matter, as long as I don't say anything, how would Feifei know that the refined item is an artifact? Even a quasi-artifact needs to be appraised by the adventurer's guild."
He nodded, "Alright."
In the evening, a luxurious carriage left the Duke's manor and arrived at Ge Zheng's doorstep. It probably shouldn't be called a "horse" carriage because it was not pulled by horses, but rather by four Tier-4 monster "Whistling Winds".
These were a type of monster similar to a horse that lived on the Orc Plains, larger than the best warhorse, naturally capable of using wind magic, and extremely fast. In fact, within the city of Oba, there was no need for such fast monsters, as even the speed of warhorses could not be fully utilized, let alone the Whistling Winds. But Miss Feifei liked the flair, and with her coquettishness and tantrums, she managed to make the Duke spend generously to buy these four Whistling Winds from the Imperial Beast Legion. Everyone in Oba City recognized these four creatures; when they saw the four clusters of green wind, they knew that the little witch of Oba City had arrived.
Ge Zheng certainly wouldn't go to the door to welcome his student, despite her esteemed status.
Miss Feifei was also very familiar with this suburban villa, and if she didn't come in, she knew the way herself. The young princess hopped down from the carriage like a little deer in her deer skin boots. "Mary, help me bring the things inside."
Mary, the maid who had served the young princess since she was a child, followed Miss Feifei into the house with a small box. Miss Feifei looked curiously at the other carriage parked outside and murmured to herself, "Who else is there?"
Today, Miss Feifei was dressed in a lovely noble girl's outfit, bouncing along as she quickly found Ge Zheng. The private tutor glanced at Mary behind Miss Feifei and asked, "What's that?"
Miss Feifei replied, "That's my snacks. I'm not sure how long I'll be staying here, so I prepared enough for three days. After I finish the snacks, I hope you'll let me go out and get some more." Because she was asking for a favor, Miss Feifei's tone was surprisingly gentle.
But she saw a trace of anger on Ge Zheng's face.
Despite her less than harmonious relationship with this private tutor, she had never seen him genuinely angry. Every time Ge Zheng was always smiling and joking with her, even when she was mischievous or foolish, he would still play the role of the smiling tiger. This was the first time Miss Feifei had seen Ge Zheng so angry.
"What do you think you're here for?" Ge Zheng angrily kicked the small box, causing it to shatter, and Mary, a plump middle-aged servant, was completely caught off guard, seeing a mess of wood chips, jerky, and dried fruits everywhere, she was stunned.
"Alchemy is a very serious and sacred process. When something new is born in your hands, it's like a mother giving birth! But you're treating it like a child's play, you're not worthy of being an alchemist!" he pointed to the door, "Go back to your princess manor!"
Ge Zheng walked away. Poor Miss Feifei didn't understand what she had done wrong. In her entire life until now, even though the Duke was a formidable father, he had never scolded her like this before. The poor girl was left dumbfounded, her eyes filled with tears, swirling in her eyes from top to bottom, from bottom to top, turning three times back and forth, until she couldn't hold back and burst into tears.
Everyone in the room was dumbfounded. Gronia looked around: Daryl? This big, carefree female warrior, she shouldn’t be relied upon. Solgwilin? The heartless guy was still nibbling on a snack while lying on the table. Kormin? The desert fairy was definitely a harsh person and was fiercely loyal to Ge Zheng, and at the moment was glaring angrily at the only person in the room who was close to his height, the little princess. Honest Dunk? The honest man from Roland Village sighed, tidied up the dishes on the table, and returned to the kitchen.
Gronia sighed, "It seems that making a living is quite a skill. Without any other choice, she walked over, gently wiping Feifei's tears away, and reassured her, "Princess, don't cry; he's just a teacher. A teacher should always have the demeanor of a teacher, he's just pretending to scare you, don't be afraid..."
"Ah!" Mary let out a scream at this moment, finally snapping out of it. She had served Miss Feifei since she was a child, and in her eyes, the little princess of Feifei was even more noble than the Duke himself. The despicable alchemist dared to reprimand her little princess, and he had been lingering for too long! Mary let out a scream and yelled in hysteria, "I want to ask the Earl to kill him, kill him! He dared to scold the little princess, my little princess, are you okay? Please don't listen to the crazy alchemist's nonsense. Let's go back and report to the Duke; he will definitely be punished. Little princess..."
Mary almost "snatched" Feifei from Gronia's hands. Despite understanding that the Duke would not actually kill Ge Zheng over this matter, she was definitely angry. Although she felt sorry for Ge Zheng, she was powerless and could only watch as Mary, pulling Feifei, left the house in distress. Gronia shook her head as she turned away.
"Come on, Miss Feifei, lift your foot and get on the carriage..." Mary waited on Feifei meticulously, just like her nanny. Miss Feifei gently lifted her foot and then put it back down.
"Miss?" Mary was puzzled. Feifei wiped away her tears with her small, fair hand and her emotions had calmed down, "Mary, you go back. Don't tell father about what happened today. I lost face and I need to find it back myself!" With that, Miss Feifei abruptly turned around, feeling somewhat like a dueling swordsman, and strode confidently towards the door.
"Ouch!"
"Smack!" Without Mary’s support, Miss Feifei didn't notice the door's threshold and ended up sticking to the ground like a piece of leather. Mary was stunned for a moment before quickly going over to help her up. "It's okay, I'm really fine." Miss Feifei ended up with black marks on her cheeks and nose, and three small pieces of fur on each side, resembling a little black cat.
In the room, Daryl came in, stuttering towards Ge Zheng, "Even though what she did was wrong, after all, she's just a child. Were you a bit too much?" Ge Zheng stared out the window, shaking his head gently. "This is the most basic principle for an alchemist. It's a matter of principle. That girl has been pampered too much."
Ge Zheng suddenly realized that before he came to this world, he was also a spoiled child. It was only after sudden great changes, his whole being shaken, that he grew up instantly.
"Knock, knock, knock..." There was a knocking at the door, and the little genius witch pushed the door open, her eyes fixed on the tip of her own nose, "Teacher, can we start now?" The little genius witch didn't want to look at Ge Zheng's ugly face, but why did her nose look different today compared to her usual classes? The color seemed a bit darker...
Daryl looked at Ge Zheng in surprise, and the latter had the same expression. Ge Zheng suddenly thought, perhaps this little girl also had her own merits, and was not as unchangeable as he had previously thought.
Daryl smiled, and the deepest, deepest motherhood buried eighteen layers under hell was slightly awakened and she gently wiped Feifei's face, "Go wash your face first. Our little princess has turned into a little kitten." Feifei grimaced, "Heavens, is your hand a sickle? You hurt me..."
Daryl looked at her calloused hand, then at Feifei, shook her head, and the motherhood, as fleeting as a shooting star, never truly appeared: "The little kitten is definitely an illusion; the little witch is back." Ge Zheng also shook his head, "The maternal instinct just now is definitely an illusion; Daryl is back."
"Follow me." Ge Zheng walked out. His laboratory was behind the back garden, a large building originally used by gardeners to store tools and cultivate rare plants, but Ge Zheng had refurbished it into his own laboratory.
This was a typical alchemy laboratory: airtight and airtight on all sides. Although there were windows, they were all locked with a strange mechanism. Inside the laboratory, there were several large cabinets filled with various utensils, and in the middle, there were materials and large alchemical apparatus.
Ge Zheng stood next to a table in the laboratory, "Because the process of alchemy is very secretive, confidentiality must be done well. First, the laboratory should not be visible to others. As you can see, it is completely sealed in here. All the windows are locked, but sometimes, the alchemy process will produce a large amount of smoke. At that time, as long as you pull this lever, all the windows will open, enabling you to use wind magic to blow out the smoke." Ge Zheng pointed to a lever beside the table.
"This time, let's consider this our class, and I will talk to you about alchemical instruments," Ge Zheng said.
From the very beginning of her lessons with Ge Zheng, Feifei had never been diligent, but today her attitude was different. The little witch vowed to learn alchemy well and let this detestable teacher understand that he wasn't as great as he thought. So she listened to the class with great attention, but unexpectedly, she found that alchemy was so profound. Just these instruments made her dizzy, and many similar-looking things were easy to confuse and tell apart.
With every question she asked, Ge Zheng had originally intended to finish the two-hour lecture, but the whole morning was wasted before her questions and answers were finished. Ge Zheng wasn't a good teacher. This was his first time teaching, and he couldn't guarantee that he could completely meet the standard of a good teacher. He asked Feifei in confusion, "You used to be quite smart, learning everything quickly. Why has your comprehension suddenly decreased so much today?"
"This...," Miss Feifei couldn't answer.
Dunk had prepared three days' worth of dry rations for the two of them, but the whole morning was wasted in endless questioning. Ge Zheng felt that this alchemical process this time would probably leave him hungry for the last day or two.
At noon, Ge Zheng took out some dry rations. As soon as the bag was opened, Miss Feifei's delicate nose twitched twice, "Smells good..." She had never worked this hard before, and with the mental labor, she naturally got hungry quickly. Moreover, honest Dunk's craftsmanship was not just an empty boast.
Ge Zheng took out a few biscuits from the dry rations bag, "Come and eat, my student. You must understand that the alchemical process is not just about the various wondrous creations that people usually see, but also about the endless loneliness of a person in the laboratory, pondering over the answers to problems..."
"Is it just biscuits?" Miss Feifei found it hard to understand. Even the chefs in the duke's mansion, among the top in the country, couldn't make simple meat pie taste this delicious. Before Ge Zheng could finish speaking, the little princess had wolfed down one.
Ge Zheng was taken aback for a moment, then continued, "... and, you may have to endure hunger for three or four days."
"Mmm... delicious!" Miss Feifei's cheeks swelled all round, and she said unclearly to Ge Zheng. Her nose was originally very pretty, pointed and cute. Her eyes were round, like two sparkling sapphires. But now, they were all squeezed small by two round puffed-up cheeks, and Ge Zheng couldn't help but smile. The two of them, master and student, did not realize that this moment was the most harmonious moment in their relationship since they had met.