Chapter 012: The Alchemist

“How… how can you call me a pervert? I’m just thinking of you! It’s such a sad thing for a person to remain in animal form!” Du Fan lamented with apparent sympathy, his eyes scanning Chenchen several times. Only after confirming she had no intention of returning to human form did he reluctantly start unfastening his loose robe.

Chenchen jumped up abruptly, squeezing herself into a corner of the carriage, covering her eyes with her cute cat paws. What kind of person is this? Completely devoid of shame—dressing himself in front of a beautiful woman? Secretly, she cracked one of her cat paws to peek at his bare body and let out a scream before curling up in pain.

A moment later, she felt lightened as Du Fan lifted her and placed her on his left shoulder. Somehow, he had already changed into a pure white noble’s robe, wearing a decorative sword at his waist. He had even tidied his hair slightly. Though his appearance had changed, perhaps due to habit, his holy expression remained unchanged. Anyone who didn’t know his true nature would feel inspired upon meeting him.

How much devotion was needed to possess such a holy aura? Chenchen suppressed the urge to admit that Du Fan was actually quite handsome and asked, “By the way, pervert, I still don’t know your name.”

Du Fan smiled. “Is a name that important? You can call me Master, Young Master, Brother, Dad… It really doesn’t matter to me. If you really want to know my name, it’s Du Fan Green. But personally, I don’t like people using my surname. Do you understand?”

Of course, their conversation took place in their minds. Old Mark outside wasn’t aware that in just half a day, his Young Master Du Fan had become the master of a thousand-year-old witch… no, a peerlessly beautiful woman.

Chenchen scratched her abdomen with her cat paws and said, “Then I’ll call you Young Master Du Fan from now on…” She rarely spoke in such a submissive tone. “By the way… don’t you have any other questions?”

Du Fan smiled, roughly guessing what Chenchen wanted to say. After thinking for a moment and feeling there was still enough time, he couldn’t help but ask, “Alright… We haven’t had the chance earlier. Now, do you need to explain to me in detail about combat energy magic and alchemy?”
Chenchen nodded. “Yes. Actually, I’ve already examined your body in detail earlier. As I said before, your mental strength is good, but your sense perception is weak. Under normal circumstances, you’d definitely be unable to practice magic or combat energy, let alone become an alchemist. But now isn’t a normal situation. It’s not hard to improve your sense perception—just give me a few days, and it can be solved. However, there’s another major problem.”
Du Fan asked curiously, “What problem?”
Chenchen lowered her cute head, a bit embarrassed. “Because… due to various reasons, I only know one method of cultivation. It wouldn’t be a problem to teach it to you, but… this method has a huge flaw.”
“A flaw?” Du Fan asked. “What flaw?”
Chenchen replied, “This method of cultivation is different from ordinary techniques for practicing magic or combat energy. It involves cultivating both magic and combat energy simultaneously during training… In other words, you only need to practice one technique to gain both combat energy and magic power… But because it requires balancing both, its progress is very slow… You might even end up achieving nothing your whole life… In that case… do you still want to practice?”
Du Fan frowned. “Don’t worry about that. As long as you can improve my physique, I can find some techniques on my own. Whether it’s combat energy or magic, as long as it’s not too obscure, I should be able to find it. Besides, the combat energy cultivation technique passed down in my Green family is also quite famous in the Gavin Empire.”
“That’s impossible…” Chenchen shook her head. “Although I can help improve your physique, the improvement won’t be significant. So even if you practice other techniques, your progress will only be slower. It’s better to practice the technique I teach you. At least, if you master even a little of it, you’ll definitely rank among the top among magicians or warriors of the same level. And most importantly, if you want to become an alchemist, then you must practice this technique.”

“What do you mean?” Du Fan frowned.
Chenchen made an iron-smithing gesture with her cat-like hands and said, “Du Fan, do you know why there are so few alchemists on the Roland Continent?”
“Because of aptitude?” Du Fan asked.
“Aptitude is indeed one reason, but another reason is that an alchemist must not only be a magician but also a warrior,” Chenchen explained. “Because in addition to understanding, analyzing, and reconstituting substances, an alchemist also needs to combine, arrange, and refine them in order to succeed in alchemy. Whether it’s magical potions, magical weapons and equipment, or the legendary ‘divine artifacts,’ all require these steps in their creation. Especially when crafting magical equipment, apart from high-quality materials, the creator must also cast magic on it and temper it with combat energy. Although these tasks can be done separately by two people, the success rate is dozens of times lower compared to having one person do it all. Over time, this method was abandoned, leaving only the approach of magicians who train both magic and combat energy simultaneously. Becoming a magician is just the foundation for becoming an alchemist; only by becoming a warrior can one truly become an alchemist. So, if you want to become an alchemist, there’s no faster way than practicing the techniques I’ve given you. You should know that other alchemists train magic and combat energy at the same time. Although they might progress faster in one area, balancing the other is very troublesome. As for my set of techniques, aside from being a bit slower to master, it has no other drawbacks. Moreover, magic power and combat energy grow at the same rate. Think about how great that is! It’s something others might spend their entire lives searching for without ever finding it. And now…”
By the end, Chenchen’s voice carried a seductive tone.
But Du Fan wasn’t in a hurry to agree. Instead, he waved his hand and frowned.

Who would have thought that the prerequisite to becoming an alchemist is mastering both magic and combat skills? After all, both magic and combat energy are already incredibly complex systems. It’s easier to achieve success within one of them, but balancing both is extremely difficult. Throughout the history of Roland Continent, there have been those who mastered both, but aside from a few geniuses, few have achieved much. Reaching level three or four in both magic and combat energy is already quite remarkable.

But Du Fan didn’t believe that one could become an alchemist with just those levels of skill. If that were the case, wouldn’t Roland Continent be filled with alchemists?

After thinking it over, he realized that although the cultivation method Chenchen mentioned was a bit slow, it seemed to save a lot of time compared to mastering both magic and combat skills, making it much more convenient.

Realizing this, Du Fan nodded, but he wasn’t in a hurry to agree. Instead, he asked, “Girl, is there any shortcut to this cultivation method?”

Chenchen nodded and said, “As for shortcuts, there are indeed some. If you can take the Milak potion before starting cultivation to change your physical constitution, your progress will be much faster. If you have enough money to buy some rare magic potions, you can further speed up your cultivation.”

Milak potion?

Du Fan was stunned for a moment, but quickly regained his composure.

It seemed that even fate was on his side. As long as he could obtain the Milak potion tonight…

By now, Du Fan was almost certain that the Milak potion offered by the royal family would be his. Even if he couldn’t get it tonight, as long as he knew who had it, with his current ability to manipulate words, it wouldn’t be difficult to steal it from someone who, like him, couldn’t cultivate magic or combat energy.

A hint of malice appeared on his face as he stroked Chenchen’s head and said softly, “Girl, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll use your cultivation method. I’m determined to become an alchemist!”

Chenchen shook herself free from Du Fan’s grasp and said, “That’s great if you agree. At least it means you’re much closer to becoming an alchemist. But don’t think that just by using this method, you’ll become an alchemist. It’s still a long way to go. Believe me, just the formulas for various potions and the materials needed for magic equipment will give you a headache.”

“I won’t give up,” Du Fan said, touching Chenchen’s nose. “As long as I have you… won’t that be enough?”