--- Chapter 14 ---
Once upon a time, there was a genius named Yao Men.
He's a bright-minded man and enjoys the attention everyone gives to him, having the background that makes people jealous and the talent to back it up.
Yao Men became famous, and he was "suddenly." defeated by another genius named Yao Chen in a tournament.
This new rival is even more genius than him.
And everything changed after that.
In a flash, Yao Chen took everything from Yao Men and overshadowed his accomplishments. Without Yao Men realizing, he had become someone else's stepping stone.
Yao Men was furious and ordered his family to kill him. However, fate works rather bizarrely as his family is "brutally." eliminated by Yao Chen instead.
He was humiliated and swore vengeance against him, clashing with Yao Chen countless times. He almost defeated Yao Chen, but annoying flies always came and helped him.
Yao Men allied with the Hall of Souls, gaining a Dou Technique to attack one's soul. He finally injured Yao Chen to a half-death state and was blown up by his desperate last attack, remaining in a Cold Yin Prison spatial ring for years.
The ring cycled from person to person and finally arrived at a suitable vessel for Yao Men.
Unfortunately, this vessel is Baek Ain, who possessed an innate skill that protected his soul from harm. Yao Men is "ironically." killed by his greed and becomes the young man's stepping stone.
...
...
Baek Ain leaned on the cave wall and wiped the blood from his mouth, glancing at Lan Rou. He doesn't want to make her worried again.
[Ding! Do you want to absorb Yao Men's knowledge?]
[This process will be instantaneous but will shock your head slightly]
'Go ahead.' He responded calmly.
Even though Alicia said slightly, Baek Ain felt his brain getting poked by a thousand needles simultaneously. It was painful and effective as years worth of knowledge flooded his head.
[Ding! You have gained six skills]
[Alchemist's Instinct(S)]
[Herbology(S)]
[Eastern Alchemy's Mastery(A)]
[Fire Generation(B+)]
[Fire Manipulation(B+)
[Life Drain(F)]
[All the six skills the host gained are lower grades than the original. It's because the "Innate Skill: Soul Protection." damaged 45% of Yao Men's Soul]
'Fucking hell, Alicia. Nothing about that is slightly painful.' Baek Ain cursed while rubbing his head.
[It's mild, trust me]
[You'll experience more painful things later on]
Baek Ain rolled his eyes and checked the newly gained skills, which were self-explanatory. Well, it sucked that the skills got nerfed but whatever.
These skills are free of charge anyway.
And Yao Men's existence also confirms the world he is currently in is an alternative universe of Battle Through the Heavens. It doesn't make his knowledge completely useful, but there would be a time when Baek Ain doesn't know shit about something.
[Name: Alchemist's Instinct]
[Type: Passive]
[Grade: S]
[Description: Allows the wielder to make a proper judgment in pill-making, deciding the ingredients and recipe with all five senses. It also helped the wielder to spot the problem in alchemist-related things]
[Name: Herbology]
[Type: Passive]
[Grade: S]
[Description: A vast knowledge about all plants and vegetation in this world, covering medicine to poisonous herbs]
[Name: Eastern Alchemy's Mastery]
[Type: Passive]
[Grade: A]
[Description: A mastery over eastern alchemy. It familiarizes the wielder with pill-making and increases the probability of success by 50% when making 6-Tier Pills]
[Ding! The success rate becomes lower as the pill tier increases grade]
[Name: Fire Generation]
[Type: Active]
[Grade: B+]
[Description: Generate fire with the cost of Dou Qi Energy. The more intense fire generated by the wielder, the more energy it consumes]
[Name: Fire Manipulation]
[Type: Active]
[Grade: B+]
[Description: Manipulate fire with the cost of Spiritual Energy. The more complex control wielder imposes upon the existing fire, the more energy consumes]
[Name: Life Drain]
[Type: Active]
[Grade: F]
[Description: Drain life energy/force from the desired target and recover some stamina and health]
[Ding! Physical Contact is needed to activate Life Drain, and there would be a backlash when absorbing the life force of a powerful target]
Baek Ain couldn't contain his grin because Yao Men was a blessing for his growth. These skills would be insanely useful for later.
Not to mention Baek Ain still obtained several Dou Techniques from Yao Men's knowledge/memories. Some Dou Techniques are rarer and extinct in this age.
He doesn't have to worry about lacking Dou Techniques from now on.
'Alicia, Synthesize Fire Generation and Fire Manipulation.'
[Ding! Synthesizing Fire Generation(B+) and Fire Manipulation(B+)]
[You have fused two skills into Pyrokinesis(A)]
[Ding! Pyrokinesis(A) has reacted with "Pure Yang Physique." and "Golden Crow's Blessing."]
[The energy cost of Pyrokinesis will get cut in half]
[The firepower of Pyrokinesis increased by 100%]
[Pyrokinesis(A) >> Pyrokinesis(A+)]
Baek Ain felt a hot sensation all over his body, flowing to the index finger of his right hand. A dim and small orange flame appeared, illuminating the wave wall near him with its heat.
He focused all his attention on the orange flame and tried to increase its temperature with his imagination. As the fire became hotter, he could feel the searing sensation on his skin, which turned normal after a few seconds.
[Pure Yang Physique] and [Golden Crow's Blessing] protected him from any heat, even converting it to strength for him.
After a few minutes, the orange flame became yellowish and melted the cave wall. It burst and burned the air around Baek Ain's face.
"Shit." He deactivated Pyrokinesis immediately.
Baek Ain wiped his face with a wet towel and sighed because he needed time to familiarize himself with Pyrokinesis. He went to Lan Rou and watched her brewing tea.
Lan Rou handed a bamboo cup to Baek Ain and commented, "I felt a slight heat from your direction. Did you do something funny there?"
"Uh... Something like that." Baek Ain answered with a small laugh.
They rested in the cave for an hour and reviewed everything related to the mission. Lan Rou said the mission's difficulty increased because Xiao Che hired a mercenary group, but it could become even higher if Xiao Che's motive is 'eventually." revealed.
His mission's reward will correspondingly become better.
After resting in the cave, they returned to Wu Tan City and arrived in the evening. Lan Rou ordered Baek Ain to throw Xiao Che into the dungeon prison under the Miteer Family Branch's compound while she was reporting this mission to Yafei.
[Ding! You have finished the "Rogue Alchemist." quest]
Baek Ain yawned and walked out of the dungeon, seeing Yafei and Lan Rou at the entrance. "Oh, nice to meet you here." He greeted Yafei with a smile.
Yafei smiled back and replied, "Good work, Ain."
"Take a rest and leave everything to me."
Baek Ain nodded and hugged Yafei before walking to his room, making Lan Rou frown. Yafei blushed a little and coughed to cover her surprise.
"Let's interrogate Xiao Che first. I want to know what kind of information he had."
"Yes, my lady."
Baek Ain arrived at his room and crashed onto the bed with an exhausted face. He wasn't lying when saying his stamina is low to Lan Rou.
Using Hyper Jump and Hover continuously drained Baek Ain's energy to maintain a speed similar to Lan Rou. She is such a monster in this aspect because she didn't break a sweat all this time.
'Could I last longer than her in bed?' Baek Ain shook his head at such a thought. Their relationship didn't even reach that level yet.
'Stop being horny, Ain!!'
"Aih, a Cold bath will help."
Baek Ain walked to his bathroom and dipped his body in a bathtub filled with cold mountain water. "Alicia, can you tell me all the necessary information about this world?" He asked the system.
[Sure, host]
[Do you want all of them at once or one by one?]
Baek Ain briefly recalled the memory transfer of Yao Men and chuckled nervously, "Haha... One by one, please. I don't want my bath time to become a stressful moment."