This Lich Requests More Remuneration

Chapter 90 - 90 88 Settlement of Harvests

?Chapter 90: Chapter 88 Settlement of Harvests Chapter 90: Chapter 88 Settlement of Harvests Alchemy City rose into the air, powered by a force beyond mortal comprehension. During its ascent, most of its buildings had already turned to flying ash.

Eventually, it vanished entirely, leaving only a gigantic crater behind.

James Watson watched this terrifying scene unfold before his eyes, grateful that he had retreated quickly enough, otherwise, even he would have been taken by this fearsome power.

With the disappearance of Alchemy City, one of the Nine Great Kingdoms had been destroyed, an event that would surely lead to dramatic upheavals across the continent. James Watson could no longer stay here; he had to return to the Laine Empire immediately to prepare for the aftermath.

The Paladins hurried in and then quickly departed.

Amberser, with a sense of unwillingness, returned to his own castle.

Beyond the Life Casket, Amberser’s losses were not substantial, because he had suspected that there was a conspiracy among the alchemists before he left his home; thus, he had already transferred his other valuable possessions. Even most of the Life Caskets had been moved, leaving behind only the near-expiry duds, purely to dupe others.

As for the humans in his domain, it seemed that the majority had already fled, and Amberser didn’t care much about it. With Alchemy City gone, it was time for him to relocate as well.

Without the protection of a kingdom, a Lich could easily be exterminated by adventurers.

Yet there was no rush at the moment, Amberser needed to first assess what he had gained.

With a wave of his hands, he opened a spatial rift and stepped into a special space created by the Wishing Spell—a private space that belonged solely to Amberser, much larger than any Dimensional Pouch, nearly big enough to hold his entire castle.

Once inside, he saw what indeed was a mountain of Gold Coins totaling a million.

If it had been any other time, Amberser would have been thrilled—a profit of a million Gold Coins wasn’t bad, but thinking of what more he could have earned, he was inconsolably pained.

Suppressing his heartache, he began searching through the space.

Soon, a smile spread across Amberser’s face.

“It’s recipes and blueprints!”

Hundreds of bookcases filled nearly half of the private space, all containing the secret documents of Alchemy City. Perhaps during the sacrifice, they had chosen to use larger quantities of substantial materials as offerings, leaving many of these lightweight papers intact.

Amberser flipped through them and easily found several valuable alchemy recipes.

The cost of the bookcases and paper might not amount to much, but their contents were of great significance.

Amberser estimated that, if sold, these recipes could fetch a fortune. In good times, selling them for tens or even hundreds of millions was not out of the realm of possibility.

However, after Alchemy City’s tumult, it was likely that alchemists across the entire continent would be affected. The destruction of the city would inevitably lead to the collapse of its kingdom, and a massive exodus of alchemists would occur, with their recipes becoming widely leaked as well.

The value of the documents in these bookshelves and how fast they would depreciate were uncertain.

Additionally, Amberser was surprised to see Diper, who had been captured.

How did this old fellow end up here?

“Are valuable things…including people?”

Amberser could only say that the criteria were somewhat perplexing, but a Legendary Alchemist should be worth some money; if nothing else, extracting information out of him under harsh interrogation could lead to the discovery of a few little treasuries.

Searching the area, Amberser found not only Diper but also several other people who had been sent into this mysterious space, uncertain whether to consider their situation as unfortunate or lucky.

Then there were various magical materials of some value. All in all, discounting the items with added value, an accurate estimate of six million Gold Coins was indeed correct.

To say that there was a loss, six million wasn’t too bad, given that Amberser hadn’t really lost much. It was just that the money earned was much less than expected.

However, what truly held value wasn’t just these items; beyond the two additional Legendary Graces that Amberser acquired, the most valuable was this space itself.

Since the prophecy couldn’t be changed, Amberser didn’t wish upon the Gold Coin, but instead made some special requests regarding his private space.

Firstly, in order to ensure that the materials inside wouldn’t degrade, Amberser requested that the space have control over the passage of time, just like now, when everything was sealed in a state where time stood still, ensuring that the magical materials wouldn’t deteriorate. Diper, unfortunately, found himself sealed within the time-stopped state as well.

Amberser could also control the pace at which time advanced, for example, a day outside could be a year inside the space, or a year outside could be just a day inside. The limit was a ratio of more than three hundred times, allowing for both rapid progression or slow gestation.

Secondly, the security was very strong; it was estimated that no one, aside from a Deity, would be able to infiltrate this space, thus ensuring that the materials inside wouldn’t be stolen.

Thirdly, the space retained the potential for further expansion, the reason being that it was likely the materials inside could increase in size, wasn’t it normal for an Alchemy Potion to explode with a bang?

These three utterly nonsensical reasons endowed Amberser’s private space with certain traits of the Divine Realm. It was only because Garey Woz was an insider that Amberser could propose so many unreasonable demands, and it was estimated that this Wishing Spell’s effects were largely assumed by him.

It was also possible that the gods felt Amberser, with only six million in earnings, would throw in the towel and stop working, so they pinched their noses and granted his wish.

In any case, Amberser profited, a private space with strong privacy, an adjustable rate of time flow, and the prospect of future expansion, the only caveat being it couldn’t be transferred; otherwise, it would make all individuals of Legendary Rank green with envy.

Besides, the most valuable were the two Legendary Graces.

Amberser took out the Gold Coin, connecting it to his Soul.

Instantly, numerous lights and shadows emerged from the Gold Coin, displaying over a dozen different Legendary Graces, naturally all related to Alchemy.

“Let’s see. Construct Repair Spell, it can perfectly repair my own creations, rubbish; Double Output, significantly increasing the product yield of alchemy experiments, somewhat interesting; Material Property Modification, a bit outrageous, worth a look; Alchemy experiments success rate guaranteed at one hundred percent, abilities you acquire over time, huh, this one’s powerful, tentatively…”
Amberser scrutinized them for quite some time, eventually selecting three Legendary Graces.

The guarantee of a one hundred percent success rate for alchemy experiments from the president was a very powerful Legendary Grace, so potent that it neared the divine jurisdiction. This ability actually consisted of two effects: one being able to precisely predict the success rate of experiments, and the other being able to forcefully alter this probability.

The greater the disparity, the larger the price that had to be paid.

Amberser didn’t know what sort of price the president had to pay to adjust the becoming a deity to a hundred percent chance. All he knew was that to use this Legendary Grace, he would pay with Gold.

The lower the success rate of an experiment, the more Gold it would consume, and the instructions on this were very general, only emphasizing that a great quantity of Gold Coins was needed. But as long as one had enough money, no matter how outlandish the experiment, success could be bought.

The second outrageously powerful Legendary Grace was the alteration of material properties. This too touched upon a deity’s prerogative, like when Diper’s Magipuppet Automatons were dismantled, Woz rewrote “damaged Magipuppet Automatons” to “a pile of components”. Seemingly trivial, but this change completely invalidated Diper’s Legendary Grace ability.

Since the automaton was no longer his creation, its repair capability naturally failed to function.

The ability to change material properties was even more preposterous; Amberser could take a bunch of steel and endow it with the concept of “skeleton”. Theoretically, after the modification, Amberser’s Pseudo-Soul would then be able to use steel as if it were actual bones.

But it too was indicated that a great quantity of Gold Coins was needed as payment, though, like before, no precise cost was specified.

The third one seemed much more reasonably priced, at regular intervals, you could grasp a random new alchemical formula. What type of formula you grasped depended on the whims of the God of Alchemy. Amberser didn’t have much affection for this particular teacher, feeling he had kept too many secrets from him. But the discount was real, as with only a few hundred Gold Coins, you could draw once from the monthly loot box, and there was the chance of acquiring a very powerful formula.

Compared to these three, the other Legendary Graces either weren’t very useful or their effects were not quite clear. The perks related to Alchemy were somewhat weak, largely auxiliary, which made Amberser somewhat hesitant and indecisive.

“Forget it, there’s no need to make a choice today, I can consider it for a few more days.”

Amberser stowed away the Gold Coin carefully, then took out another item that radiated a golden glow – a scroll.

This was another reward he had received, for his second advancement to Legendary, granting him a second Legendary Grace.

This would be key for Amberser to shake off the label of mediocrity, possibly compensating for the loss incurred by discarding the power of prophecy.

Without any hesitation, Amberser activated the power of the scroll.

A burst of golden radiance enveloped his body, and the wondrous sensation he had felt upon his initial ascension to Legendary returned. Amberser felt as if his Soul was about to completely merge with the world.

In a trance, he seemed to see countless beings prostrate at his feet, as he, like a Giant, was seated upon a throne forged of Gold, overlooking the billions of his followers.