Chapter 461: Jia Bing’s Alchemy Laboratory
Zong Ge and Zi Di stood side by side before Jia Bing’s residence.
Plop—!
The thunderous splash drew their attention.
As they turned their gaze, a colossal fountain shot skyward, crowned by a gigantic lotus blossom at its peak.
The lotus flower spanned an area of four acres. After being lifted into the air by the fountain, it descended again with the water column.
“Fountain King Lotus.” Information about this gold level magic plant flashed simultaneously in Zong Ge and Zi Di's minds.
The Fountain King Lotus could move by spouting water.
It currently wasn’t its seeding season. Each summer, the Fountain King Lotus would shoot up five to six hundred meters high, scattering countless bulbs made up of miniature lotus leaves.
These small leaves would swirl and dance through the air. Thousands of green lotuses radiating outward from the town center formed a unique spectacle of Grafting Town.
The Fountain King Lotus wasn't the only gold level magic plant in the town; four others exist besides it.
From where Zi Di and Zong Ge stood, they could see most of the Green Umbrella Tree's trunk, leaves, and treetop, part of the Golden Star Vine cascading down the northern cliff face, and the roof of the Pepper Tower.
Graft Town originated from the legendary Fan Sheng Za Zhong, who planted numerous magic plants in his heyday. Five of these plants still thrive today.
They were the Fountain King Lotus, the Green Umbrella Tree, the Withered Claw Tree, the Pepper Tower, and the Golden Star Vine.
The Fountain King Lotus's spouting water caught Zong Ge and Zi Di's attention, but soon their gaze shifted back to the door of Jia Bing's shop.
Many passersby glanced at Zi Di yet paid Zong Ge no mind.
To facilitate their mission, Zi Di had cast an additional Deceptive Disguise spell, transforming herself into Jia Bing's appearance. Zong Ge, meanwhile, maintained a state of “complete invisibility.”
The Deceptive Disguise spell proved remarkably effective!
Thus, for this operation, Zi Di and Zong Ge, prioritizing caution, had unanimously chosen this spell after deliberation.
To conceal their identities, they departed from Rabbit Fur Town on foot, bypassing the teleportation formation, and made their way to Grafting Town.
Only the two of them traveled alone; the rest used the teleportation formation to go directly to Snow Rabbit City.
Unburdened by others, Zi Di and Zong Ge pushed forward at full speed, covering the distance in no time.
Zi Di took a few steps forward, positioning herself before the house's main entrance. She retrieved an alchemy ring and aligned it with the keyhole.
This identity-marking alchemy ring, of course, was spoils taken from Jia Bing's corpse.
Click.
A soft sound echoed as the door swung open.
Zong Ge entered first, Zi Di following behind, smoothly slipping inside.
A row of coat hooks lined the wall in the entryway. Most hooks were bare, but three held two trench coats and hats.
Instead of entering immediately, Zi Di retrieved numerous scouting puppets from her storage device.
Then, she released several rat eye ghosts and snake shadow ghosts.
These puppets and ghosts surrounded Zi Di and Zong Ge, holding their positions without rushing into action.
Zi Di retrieved a spell scroll, tore it open, and unleashed the concealment spell within. This spell masked all movement within a certain radius, rendering it undetectable from outside.
Raising her silver level staff, Zi Di cast Illumination.
A brilliant white light radiated from the staff's tip, illuminating the surroundings.
Zi Di and Zong Ge could now see the entire interior.
The living room had been converted into a large alchemy laboratory.
Two long, brown wooden tables leaned against the grayish-white walls. The surfaces were cluttered with numerous beakers, round-bottom flasks, narrow-necked bottles, long-necked bottles, and tiny glass tubes.
In one corner of the living room stood a round, redwood barrel. Six metal pipes protruded from its top and sides, extending up to the ceiling, down through the floor, and connecting to sinks embedded in the tabletops of the long wooden tables.
Within one of these metal sinks lay a pair of green grass leaves and a small pile of silvery-yellow metal.
Gurgle... gurgle...
On the long wooden table, a glass flask contained a reagent undergoing a reaction, emitting a faint acidic odor.
“Is this... a corrosive agent?” Zi Di recognized this low level potion.
"Jia Bing left in a hurry. This much is evident from the unprocessed alchemy materials in the basin and this flask of corrosive agent is still reacting."
“He likely intended to concoct a high level corrosive acid potion.”
"He was conducting alchemy experiments when he received the Axe Gang leader's invitation. In his estimation, dealing with us wouldn't take long, just enough time for a round trip."
According to his plan, he could resume his potion brewing upon returning here.
Little did he know the final outcome would be his death, never to return to his alchemy laboratory.
Zi Di felt a slight sense of strangeness.
She now possessed considerable intelligence on Jia Bing. In her view, Jia Bing was a magician skilled in crafting alchemy puppets.
Yet here, the room contained almost exclusively tools for potion brewing.
“It seems he didn't have any alchemy assistants either.” Zi Di scanned the area several times but found no self-moving alchemy puppets.
Typically, alchemists would have several alchemy assistants.
For instance, Jian Gui had once assigned Qi Ling to serve as his alchemy assistant for many years.
Alchemy workloads are typically immense, requiring assistants to handle the grunt work and alleviate pressure, allowing the alchemist's true abilities to shine.
Zi Di had assumed Jia Bing would have one or two alchemy puppets serving as his assistants, it was his specialty, after all.
Most alchemists either train apprentices as assistants or purchase specialized alchemy puppets.
In this regard, the highest level assistants were tower spirits.
War Merchant's alchemy assistant was a tower spirit.
Not every magician possesses their own mage tower, as its construction is prohibitively expensive. Even a prosperous city like Snow Bird Harbor boasts only a single mage tower.
Zi Di analyzed: it was highly improbable that Jia Bing's alchemy assistant was a tower spirit. This was merely a rented house, not a mage tower.
Spell - Detect Traps.
Zi Di's spell revealed every trap within the house.
Some were mechanical traps, others magic.
Their number was small, their power limited.
The highest level was a gold level trap. When an enemy infiltrated, it would activate, immediately alerting Jia Bing.
This trap had already been triggered, yet no sound had been heard on the surface.
Neither Zong Ge nor Zi Di had noticed it beforehand.
“Jia Bing is dead. Even if the warning trap were triggered, it wouldn't matter.”
“But this further validates my earlier suspicion - Jia Bing's involvement in this ambush was hasty, almost an impromptu operation.”
The strength of traps lay in their concealment. Once discovered, their threat level plummeted.
Zi Di began casting spells to disarm the traps.
After several rounds of continuous casting, she successfully neutralized most of them.
The remaining traps were either insignificant, easier to destroy outright, or could be bypassed without concern.
However, several traps occupied critical positions, forcing Zi Di to resort to spell scrolls.
She had brought two high level spell scrolls for disarming traps, originally as a precaution. Using them here proved perfectly timely.
“Two scrolls still aren't enough. I'll need to stockpile more in the future,” Zi Di sighed helplessly, gazing at the final trap.
"Fortunately, this magic trap requires energy to function. Only with sufficient power supply can it unleash its immense power. If we can locate the alchemy room's energy source and cut it off at the root, we might be able to neutralize it."
Zi Di wasn't skilled in this type of magic, nor was she an exceptional thief; disarming traps was a stretch for her. This was especially true given that Jia Bing's defensive capabilities were weaker than most alchemists'.
Spell - Detect Magic.
The next moment, Zi Di's vision flooded with a multitude of magic lights.
The vast majority of magic artifacts were light sources.
Zi Di looked down and spotted the largest source of light. The magic glow was so bright that even the wooden floor couldn't block it.
“An acid-powered energy reactor?” Zi Di quickly identified the specific model.
This civilian level alchemy energy reactor supplied the laboratory with stable, continuous power.
“Huh?” Zi Di frowned in confusion.
She realized this reactor wasn't connected to the final stubborn trap.
“This means the lab has another energy source!”
"I knew it. This alchemy chamber is far too modest for a gold level alchemist."