Legend of the Supreme Soldier
chapter-160

Chapter 160: List

Skeleton Artisan, a specialized branch of craftsman well known by the people, who uses bones of a variety to build all sorts of parts for mechs.

Yes mech parts… That did not include engine parts!

Building a skeleton engine was never something that came across in Ye Chong mind. This was simply because it required to alter the attributes of bones entirely, which could be said in simpler terms - it had gone beyond the artisan fields. To Ye Chong, a skeleton artisan would be one who maximize the strength of bones alone. And the current solution to his problem was already against his belief since it involved permanently altering the bones’ characteristics. They were of two ends of the tangents, not even close in theories. He succumbed to the alteration however since he did not see the flow without modifying the bones.

He ordered a bunch of bones from Wei Xi. He did have his own set of quality bones in possession, like mountains of them, but Ye Chong was not foolish enough to use them over a silly assessment. Those were his blood and sweat! In addition, Ye Chong also specially requested an advanced alchemy analyzing machine from Wei Xi. The machine was much more avant-garde than Lunatic Guan’s mechanism and it also had a more intellectualized control.

As there was a variety of bones in the field while also being very different in nature, Ye Chong was forced to test them out one by one.

Ye Chong picked a few bone-types with excellent physical attributes and placed them into the analyzing machine. He would then launch the mechanism through the processor.

The very first step was intensely time-consuming, since there were simply too many types of bones in the field. The number remained vast even after the first round of selection, which caused Wei Xi’s massive delivery to his room. It was fully occupied with bones. There were some rare bones but Ye Chong did not care any longer. Who the heck cares about "using a rarer ingredient would affect your appraisal blah blah blah"? It would already be a miracle if I could build a full skeleton engine!

He finally finished the first stage after spending the whole month. Not only he had acquired the possible formula for all kinds of bones, he also had obtained something else. But he got to admit that the credits went to Shang, who got out of the passive role and was able to speak after zipping his mouth for so long. He suggested Ye Chong to take this chance to collect the data of bones in various aspects. Ye Chong approved the idea… well it made sense. We were going to analyze them anyway, we might as well do a full detailed analysis. These information could come in handy some point in the future. Of course, the information collecting was naturally Shang’s duty since the enormous databank of Mu Shang had too many spaces to fill.

Ye Chong could not help but to mutter, this Shang actually could give constructive suggestion sometimes.

Certainly, the mutter was clearly heard by the person mentioned and a barrel of counterarguments and rage were fired.

So, not only Ye Chong got the possible formula for the bones, he also got the full detailed information regarding the bones’ attributes from all aspects through the analyzing machine.

The power of Guan’s automatic analyzing mechanism was once again demonstrated. Ye Chong had actually obtained about 300 sets of formula. When Shang passed him the list along with the figure he almost fell from his chair!

300 sets? There’s more? Th-This is horrifying! Ye Chong only expected pessimistically about 30 sets as the outcome but the machine managed to formulate an digit extra to the the figure. The number was a little scary!

Wei Xi was absolutely troubled at the moment, since she had to invest a portion of time daily to run errands for Ye Chong, while Ye Chong’s room had already transformed into some kind of graveyard. Wei Xi might have undergone stern trainings to get her position but standing among skeletons of different shapes and colors was pressuring her. She could not inhibit her fear sometimes. Regrettably due to her duty, she could not leave on her will. By then she only begged the assessment to end quicker and she could return to the Sanctuary, carry on with her studies and be away from these nonsense.

This young Mr. Ye was not an easy master to serve. That list he nonchalantly passed to her before was a nightmare fuel, a fainting spell to her mind. The length of the list almost could knock her out on spot. She ran to the storage and mentioned the bones listed. The storage keeper stated that most of the bones listed were missing in the storage and claimed that the Sanctuary had redirected batches of them on an emergency back then, which caused the list impossible to be fulfilled.

Wei Xi’s eyes went wide like saucers. Of course she was well-aware of what the whole emergency redirection was about, "We sent everything to that Mr. Ye to get the parts!" She got to compromise… and she gave in to pleading Master Fan, the host for the Level 4 Trial this time. "Hmm…" Pondered Master Fan. He then performed a direct order to the 7 combat squads to head to the nearest base to transport the missing bones on the list as soon as possible, which gave the second shock to Wei Xi. "Did master just sent 7 combat squads just to transport bones for a mere man?"

This is too much! Wei Xi who witnessed Master Fan giving his orders via the communicator was in her aftershock.

And then Ye Chong asked an analyzer from her. The third shock came like a blow to her head. She was also an alchemist, of course learning the basic theories of reagent production was the bread and butter for her title. Nothing was foreign, except for the fact that Ye Chong demanded an analyzing machine specialized for alchemist. Was he actually an alchemist too?

Wei Xi was very bewildered. She grew skeptical and spent the remaining time watching Ye Chong. But during the entire month, all Ye Chong did was dumping the bones into the machine to generate data. What in the Nine Gates he’s doing? Wei Xi, unaware of Ye Chong’s assessment, was very confused by his action. The only thing she could do was to report all these to the elder and the elder ordered her to keep her eyes on him.

Ye Chong and Shang had already noticed the strange behavior by Wei Xi. So the automatic mechanism was used only when Wei Xi was not by his side. The program was also set to be permanently destroyed at anytime. They could not let the Sanctuary have it, if they ever have it, then it would be terrible!

300 sets of formula… with easily more than 10 raw materials and reagents required each… There were some that required more than 100 materials with most of the names being alien to Ye Chong.

And then Shang gave him a new item list, "Ye, this is the compiled list of everything you’ll need to produce these formula."

It was a much shorter list compared to the list of bones but it was as dazzling, especially with the additional list of necessary apparatuses and flasks.

"There." Indifferently Ye Chong passed the list to Wei Xi and headed back to work, "Are these…" Wei Xi was petrified by the length the fourth time during her service, it took her half a minute to finish her line in agony, "Are these what you need? Mr. Ye."

Ye Chong gave a few nods. "Poor lassie… Ye, you gave her a heart attack," sympathized Shang in his mind.

Although getting this list done would be the worst task for a guide in the history of humanity, Wei Xi at least could confirm something - this young Mr. Ye was not only a skillful skeleton artisan, but also an expert in alchemy. She could not tell if Ye Chong's expertise in crafting skeletons being masterly, but regarding alchemy, judging by the list, she was 200% sure that he had to be an excellent alchemist.

Maybe, "excellent" was no longer befitting to his knowledge. The list had exposed too much of him… the number of raw materials for reagents involved was nearly uncountable while some of them being really uncommon in the field. There were also a few apparatuses only handled by the experts.

Wei Xi did not hand the list to Master Fan straight away, instead she passed it to the elder and shared her insights regarding the issue. The face of the elder grew grimmer as he checked the list out while listening to Wei Xi’s observation. He turned on the communicator on the table and instructed something softly.

A middle-aged man walked into the room very quickly later. "Mr. Had!" Wei Xi was astonished as she boomed.

This man named Had was Wei Xi’s teacher in alchemy. He was handsome and always well mannered. He was the foundation to the fandom of girls going crazed in the Sanctuary.

Heard the shriek, the man turned and smiled at her. He then turned back to the elder and bowed, "Yes, my elder, how may I assist you today?"

"Had, I want you to look at this list." The elder’s hoarse voice rang in the room. He tapped the processor on the table afterwards.

Ye Chong’s list was projected on the hologram floating before Had.

Had knotted his brows upon seeing the first few apparatuses listed. He seemed intrigued at first, till he saw the following items he lost his interest and in exchange, worries shrouded his expression.

"Did you see something? This is one list of request from a candidate of the Level 4 Trial this year. And we did not have any information of his background in alchemy. I think you should be able to discern something from the list. Most importantly, are you able to estimate his standards in the field? This is very essential for us. A skeleton artisan who knew alchemy like the back of his hands, how could we let go of a talent like this?" The elder’s voice trailed off…

Had pondered for a while and he stated, "Judging by the list alone, the candidate could wield quite a high level of skills in alchemy. For example, there’s this Ever-brightening Powder in the list, it is an extremely familiar material that even most of our alchemists in the Sanctuary would be foreign of. Ever-brightening Powder needs to be combined with Falts reagent. That was a hidden law that it would not be surprising for an experienced alchemist to never hear of it. I was also one of them till one day I spotted it on one note by a master alchemist by chance. And the note was right. I discovered Falts reagent very soon after. Other than this, the list also has included a certain number of materials from plants, ores and non-extracting reagents, which was undeniably heading backwards from the current trend in alchemy. Yes, I suspect, he could be a kind of chemist from the ancient faction."

"Oh?" The elder’s eyes lustered, intrigued, "Chemist from an ancient faction? Very interesting. Anything unique about them?"

Wei Xi raised her ears, she would not want to miss any parts of this juicy and precious information of ancient lost myths.

Had hesitated for a moment… "Um… the ancient faction held a total different ideology than the modern chemist. They worshipped the nature and they were exceptionally low-profiled. They were in the dark, not known to people. Only an official family member could be the successor of such artistry. Since they had existed beyond the records, the depth of their research in the alchemy was much greater than the current chemists in the field. They had their own specialization and somehow they have a kind of rapport between the branches. Mhm, I’m sorry I do not know anything else about this faction. I only knew this much after reading between the lines in the master alchemist’s note."

"If he is in fact an alchemist from the ancient faction, and we were able to bring him into our Sanctuary, how would you judge his value?" The elder stated briefly.

"Ah!" exclaimed Had. "That would be invaluable! Absolutely invaluable! We knew nothing about the ancient faction techniques! And they possessed a totally different theoretical framework than modern alchemy! They also only passed their expertise to their children. There were too many mysteries in their clan! If we could know all these! I believe the standards of our alchemists in the Sanctuary would be brought into an age of rapid development! And we could easily overtake those Black Covers and MPAs, we could even toss them at far end! This is absolutely, significantly bringing us benefits! My elder, you can’t let this man go!" Had’s face reddened out of agitation.

Wei Xi was stupefied upon seeing a docile person like Mr. Had was going wild over a mere man.

"Mhm, very well! He actually exposed his identity to us, that he could be an alchemist of the ancient faction! Then we should not have a reason to let him go. Those fools from our Sanctuary could barely make the simplest skeleton parts, even after analyzing the parts. Yes, yes, yes, if we kept him, this could be solved, since you know, skeleton parts are great parts." The aged eyes of the elder were glossing in eagerness.

"Yes, sir," excused Wei Xi herself, back to the outside of the room. She could not stay calm. She never foresaw all these. That young Mr. Ye being so highly regarded by the elder and Mr. Had. Wei Xi’s heart ran cold however… upon recalling the fate of this genius in that dark room just now. And obviously he was not the one in command of his own fate.

Sigh, a mere pawn like her could barely do a thing. Plus, the elder made his decision for the Sanctuary’s own good. Maybe his stay at the Sanctuary would be far more beneficial to him.

She comforted herself and tried mustering her last few bits of happy-go-lucky nature, even though that hint of grief kept haunting back.

The order she received from the elder was to fully assist Mr. Ye while reporting her observation from time to time.

She went to Master Fan and passed him the list.

The face when Master Fan got the list from Wei Xi was certainly priceless. That popping eyes of his and that never-before-seen epic wriggling of his face was amusing to Wei Xi.

Ye Chong soon received all the listed reagents and apparatuses.

If it was not the supreme advancement of these apparatuses, running through about 300 formula could kill Ye Chong simply at mixing stage alone. In spite of that, mixing all 300 formula still took 3 days. That was not annoying. Wei Xi, was however. Ye Chong was puzzled as Wei Xi no longer spent a portion of her time with him. She literally stayed with him 24/7 ever since.

The only saving grace though, was that Shang no longer expressed his flaring passion of terror towards Wei Xi. So his ears were spared. His inner peace was bestowed.

Wei Xi was watching every move of his and no doubt the cautious chemist had noticed everything. He sneered as he found her action rather ridiculous. Considering the complexity of the formula, even one with amazing memory like Ye Chong could not digest and remember everything at once facing the table minutes to minutes. That aside, he was performing metal transmutation to the bones - a very new concept in the field. There were tons of gimmicks inside the technique, without any proper instruction, people would not have the slightest idea on what he was doing, not even for one with alchemy background like Wei Xi.

So the possibility of learning by peeking was heading towards zero to infinity.

As he predicted, Wei Xi gave up her meaningless action not too long later, as these formula were utterly god-written. She tried her very best to memorize one simplest formulae once and passed it to Mr. Had, hoping to hear some insights from her favorite teacher. "What is this?" Mr. Had seemed to be at the bewilder camp as well. He did not understand the working on the list.

And there she was impressed again, by the fact that Mr. Ye, one with similar age as hers, was already running through formulation that her teacher did not understand.

Sadly, eventually, such a brilliance, his fate shall…