The Strongest Talent Tree

Chapter 100: Chapter 97: Wow, So Amazing

The wind howled in his ears, mingled with Sun Yaowen’s maniacal laughter. It felt like riding a roller coaster with a lunatic in the next seat.

A moment later, Feng Hao finally landed on solid ground. As his vision cleared, a massive Alchemy Room materialized before him—though it was more like a large-scale laboratory.

"Well, boy? What do you think of my Alchemy Room?" Sun Yaowen asked, standing with his hands clasped behind his back, looking utterly self-satisfied. "Become my disciple, and you can use this room whenever you wish."

"You’re a grown man, well into your years. Why are you so set on pestering a junior like me? I already told you, I’m not interested," Feng Hao said, his expression one of annoyance.

Sun Yaowen’s lip twitched. He sounded exasperated. "I knew you wouldn’t agree! Follow me. I’ll show you what true alchemy looks like."

"Suit yourself." Feng Hao followed nonchalantly, his eyes curiously scanning the surrounding Alchemy Equipment.

He had no idea what any of this equipment was for, but it all looked incredibly impressive. Any other Alchemist would have likely bowed down to Sun Yaowen’s intimidating display without a second thought. Unfortunately for the old man, it held no appeal for Feng Hao.

His Ninth-Level Alchemy Techniques, inherited from the game system of *Mage*, were fundamentally different from the Alchemy Techniques of this world. The most obvious difference was that the game’s version of alchemy didn’t rely heavily on Alchemy Equipment—at least, that was Feng Hao’s impression so far.

’Of course, it could also be that my alchemy skill is so high I can create most elixirs without any equipment at all!’

"Watch closely, boy. I’m about to show you how an Eighth-level Alchemist concocts a Tier Nine Elixir." Sun Yaowen stopped before an ancient-looking alchemy table, his voice brimming with confidence.

Feng Hao gave a perfunctory nod. The moment Sun Yaowen focused on the concoction process, he began to wander off, curiously exploring the room.

’To be honest, Sun Yaowen’s paltry alchemy skills are less interesting than all this high-tech equipment. I can tell how this will go with just a glance.’

’Judging by his basic techniques alone, this old man isn’t even as good as my own dear disciple, Miao Feng.’

’Then again, that’s not surprising. I trained Miao Feng by hand, after all. Combined with his own natural talent and aptitude, his fundamentals in Alchemy Techniques are rock-solid.’

In the vast alchemy laboratory, Sun Yaowen was completely absorbed in his work, pushing himself to give 120 percent. His goal was to utterly shock Feng Hao and make him beg to become his disciple.

Unfortunately, reality is often cruel. While Sun Yaowen was working himself to the bone to display his Alchemy Techniques, Feng Hao was casually touring the lab, occasionally making gestures at unfamiliar devices with great interest.

’Huh? What’s this lever for?’

Before he’d taken more than a few steps, Feng Hao spotted a peculiar lever. Normally, a lever like this would be the switch for some large machine, but this one was in a very hidden spot, almost impossible to notice without looking closely.

Moreover, judging by the surrounding pipes and conduits, nothing seemed to be connected to it.

Driven by curiosity, Feng Hao glanced back at Sun Yaowen. After confirming the old man was still engrossed in his alchemy, he carefully pulled the lever. ’Heh, wouldn’t it be something if a beautiful woman popped out of here!’

As it turned out, his wicked fantasy did not come to pass. When he pulled the lever, a section of the adjacent metal wall flipped open, revealing the corpse of a monster fixed to its surface.

The monster was pitch-black, its form so deformed and bizarre that it was impossible to distinguish its head from its limbs. Most unnerving of all, Feng Hao could sense a vibrant life force emanating from its body.

’It’s alive?!’ Feng Hao frowned in disbelief. But after a closer inspection, he found no signs of life whatsoever.

’That’s bizarre. It’s clearly a corpse, with no consciousness or life-force fluctuations, yet every inch of its tissue is brimming with vitality. It’s like a person in a vegetative state... no, more like a beast in a vegetative state.’

After wracking his brain for a while and coming up with nothing, Feng Hao decided to go ask Sun Yaowen.

By now, Sun Yaowen had reached the final stage of the process. After a flashy series of quenching techniques, several golden Tier Nine Elixirs emerged. Judging by their luster, they were of the highest quality.

With the concoction complete, Sun Yaowen eyed his work with satisfaction. He wiped his hands, turned to Feng Hao, and asked, "Well, boy? What do you think of my alchemy prowess?"

"Wow, amazing!" Feng Hao exclaimed, playing along.

"And how does it compare to your master?" Sun Yaowen asked, stroking his beard with a confident, arrogant smirk.

Feng Hao rolled his eyes. "I think you fall just a little short."

"Hmph?" Sun Yaowen’s expression froze. He bristled, "Impossible! In all my years in the Alchemy Realm, I’ve never met an Alchemist stronger than me! Not even those old Ninth-level fossils at the Alchemist Association!"

"Believe what you want," Feng Hao said with a playful smirk.

"Hmph! If you’ve got the nerve, bring him here. I’ll take him on with one hand tied behind my back," Sun Yaowen snorted arrogantly.

Feng Hao couldn’t be bothered to argue. ’I could concoct that Tier Nine Elixir with my eyes closed, and it would turn out better than his.’ "Fine, let’s drop it for now. How about you tell me what’s going on with that monster corpse over there?"

Sun Yaowen snorted to himself, assuming Feng Hao was backing down. He instinctively glanced in the direction Feng Hao was pointing, and his eyes flew wide open.

"You fool, who said you could reveal that?!" Sun Yaowen darted over, carefully inspecting the specimen. After confirming that nothing was amiss, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Feng Hao followed right behind him, his eyes filled with curiosity. "So what exactly is this monster? It’s obviously dead, so why is its body still alive?"

"You’ve got a sharp eye to notice that," Sun Yaowen sneered. "This is likely one of the very few corpses of an extraterrestrial monster in the entire Ancient Cang Realm!"

"An extraterrestrial monster?" Feng Hao asked, startled. "Dean, you’ve been to the outer realms?"

"As if. I can’t even leave the Ancient Cang Realm," Sun Yaowen said with a rare, bitter smile. "I traded for this with a Demon Hunting Squad in the Origin Secret Realm."

"But why would the corpse of an extraterrestrial monster be like this?" Feng Hao couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Sun Yaowen chuckled, then explained calmly, "Because extraterrestrial monsters are already dead to begin with. So, when you ’kill’ them, their corpses become ’alive.’"

"Uh... that doesn’t make any sense!"

"That’s the point. It isn’t supposed to make sense. To this day, no one has been able to solve the puzzle." Sun Yaowen shook his head with another wry smile and silently pushed the lever, closing the panel. "In any case, extraterrestrial monsters are not something you should be messing with. One careless move, and you could be poisoned to death."

"You’re saying that thing is highly toxic?" Feng Hao asked, his scalp prickling.

"Why else would I keep it?" Sun Yaowen smirked. "The toxins from extraterrestrial monsters have a potent damaging effect on the Genetic Tree, which makes them incredibly valuable for research."

"Never mind. This place of yours is too dangerous. I’d better get out of here," Feng Hao said, glancing around in distaste before hurrying toward the exit. Who knew what other poisonous things were lurking around.

Seeing Feng Hao about to leave, Sun Yaowen finally remembered his purpose and shouted, "Wait, boy, don’t go! You haven’t become my disciple yet!"

"Not interested! Find someone else!" Feng Hao tossed the words over his shoulder and walked away without a backward glance.