**Chapter 13: Alchemy**
*Click.*
Clark removed his monocle, revealing eagle-sharp eyes.
Without extra tools, he lifted the fist-sized irregular gold lump for all to see.
“Watch closely for my demonstration!”
With that, he deliberately externalized his ntal strength, making the gold float from his hand.
Jie Ming clearly sensed Clark’s ntal strength—steady as a stream, yet brimming with resilience.
Under Clark’s guidance, the irregular gold seed to co alive.
It didn’t lt or change too quickly but shifted slowly and firmly in an invisible force field.
Its uneven surfaces smoothed, edges sharpened, the process fluid and stable.
In seconds, the irregular lump beca a perfectly smooth, sharp-edged cube, its surface so polished it reflected like a mirror.
Clark withdrew his ntal strength, and the golden cube settled back on the table, faintly gleaming.
“This is Alchemy’s basic shaping. Through repeated practice, you’ll master precise ntal control over a material’s form.” He put his monocle back on. “Now, collect your materials and tools and begin.”
With a wave, supplies flew from the lab’s cabinets. Each apprentice received an irregular gold lump similar to Clark’s and a basic toolbox.
Besides standard crucibles, tweezers, gloves, and goggles, the toolbox contained a tal disc etched with complex runes.
Jie Ming collected his materials and returned to his worktable.
Upon touching the disc, he felt his ntal sea’s truth rune surge, its central alchemy rune resonating with the disc’s runes.
“Since you haven’t completed the first three truth runes, you’ll need the alchemy disc as an aid for now. Once you’ve inscribed all three alchemy runes in your ntal sea, you can perform Alchemy bare-handed,” Clark reminded flatly. “The disc is expensive. The first is free as a textbook, but damage ans buying replacents with credits…”
Jie Ming donned his gloves and goggles, placing the gold in the disc’s central groove as instructed.
“Using ntal strength to control a material’s form… incredible. Is this unique to the wizard system?” he mused.
Cultivators’ divine sense was for perception, scanning, attachnt, or direct ntal attacks, and could manipulate true essence to move objects remotely.
Altering a material’s physical form was possible but relied on brute external force, unlike Alchemy’s approach of coaxing the material to change itself.
Jie Ming took a deep breath, sank into his ntal sea, and extended his ntal strength through the truth rune, connecting with the disc to gently envelop the gold.
*Buzz!*
A faint but clear resistance pushed back from the gold, rejecting his ntal strength.
He tried guiding his ntal strength like elental energy in ditation, condensing it into a beam to “press” a protrusion on the gold’s surface, aiming to dent it.
Instead…
*Crack!*
His montary overforce didn’t dent the gold but chipped off a small fragnt.
Startled, he adjusted quickly.
Trying again, he carefully focused energy on a corner, aiming to round it.
Instead…
*Sizzle…*
The localized temperature spiked, and the gold’s surface began to lt into a flowing liquid.
“Damn! It’s completely different…” Jie Ming cursed inwardly.
Using his cultivator-style ntal control for wizard techniques felt awkward.
It was like a sculptor skilled with a chisel being asked to embroider—different in both force and technique.
Looking around, most apprentices were struggling similarly.
So gold lumps were pocked with dents, others lted into puddles, and so even crumbled into dust during decomposition attempts.
There were exceptions.
Amy, nearby, worked slowly but steadily, her energy fluctuations stable. Her gold lump was gradually changing shape, rough but showing signs of shaping.
Jie Ming took a deep breath, forcing himself to abandon his habitual ntal control and mimic Clark’s demonstrated fluctuations.
He rewrapped his ntal strength around the gold, not rushing to shape it but, like a cultivator “nurturing a treasure,” gently and persistently interacting with it, sensing its “nature” and “resistance.”
Failure… try again… failure…
The gold grew increasingly misshapen, but he gradually grasped Alchemy’s essence.
“Understanding, decomposition, reconstruction… I see.”
“Understanding” was key—knowing a material’s structure, properties, and energy fluctuations enabled guided changes, not brute force.
After several tries, he barely shaped the gold into a “cube.”
It was lopsided, its surface marred by lted and resolidified patches, edges blurry—a far cry from Clark’s pristine cube.
“This is my first alchemical creation?” Jie Ming looked at the ugly lump, torn between laughter and tears.
Just then, Clark descended from the podium, inspecting the apprentices’ worktables.
His sharp gaze lingered on each success or failure, offering brief critiques.
At Jie Ming’s table, he eyed the distorted cube, and Jie Ming felt a rare twinge of nerves.
Clark’s eagle-like eyes studied the gold, then glanced at Jie Ming.
“ntal control… decently stable,” Clark said, his tone as flat as ever. “But energy output is unstable, and temperature and force field control are poor.”
He pointed to the lted marks and twisted edges. “Practice basic ditation more to stabilize your ntal strength and get used to handling elental forces. Pay attention to material structure details in Alchemy.” He offered advice and moved to the next table.
Jie Ming nodded inwardly, impressed. Clark had pinpointed the issue.
The unstable output stemd from maintaining Internal Circulation, sealing his state while outputting energy—a tricky balance.
Suddenly, a pained scream and a loud tal shatter echoed from the lab’s other side.
*Boom!*
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