The Golden Altar of Alchemy, one of the large forces in the Dream World, was a place that specialized exclusively in the manufacture of elixirs.
To them, the Lowest Grade Alchemical Furnace they had given to Lee Tae-sung was nothing.
That was why they could readily offer it as a mission reward.
‘Maybe a Low Grade Alchemical Furnace as well…’
As Tae-sung muttered his thoughts, Abeson, who had overheard him from inside his pocket, popped out. In the Dream World, greed for elixirs was immense.
Regardless of whether they were martial artists, magicians, or Hybriders, the Golden Altar of Alchemy stood as a major power among them.
Naturally, their security was extremely tight, and it was not even easy to buy a single elixir from them.
Obtaining an alchemical furnace capable of manufacturing such elixirs was even more difficult.
“Hmm…”
“What is it?”
“?”
“Is that even allowed?”
“And if I do?”
“……”
From a Player’s perspective, that was a punishment worse than death.
It was practically impossible unless one possessed the skills of the Flame Emperor, who had been the strongest in the West Continent.
Tae-sung smacked his lips in disappointment.
***
By handling missions one after another, he had taken care of the urgent matters in the real world.
From now on, it was free time.
Since Executive Director Jang Xuan was away at an important meeting, Tae-sung was alone.
Now began his long-awaited time to log in to the Dream World.
After lying down in the access device and opening his eyes, he saw the great city of Elleun.
To be precise, he was in the private training ground of the Flying Dragon Clan.
After finding a clue about Leo in the Dark Spirit Realm last time, he no longer had any business there, so he had returned here.
The dark spirits had been so happy when Tae-sung said he was leaving.
“I should go soon.”
Leo, Abeson’s son, was suspected of collecting Spirit Essences.
Abeson claimed he could guess what Leo was trying to do with them and suspected that Leo had gone to another spirit realm for more essences.
The entrance to the spirit realm Abeson knew of was in Arcanos.
Furthermore, it was one of the cities where the Flame Emperor’s old hideout was suspected to be located.
‘This is good. I was curious about other spirits anyway.’
By contracting with a light spirit, Tae-sung could now proudly introduce himself as a Spirit Magician anywhere.
And a talented Spirit Magician would contract with multiple spirits.
Since things had turned out this way, Tae-sung intended to aim for contracts with spirits other than the light spirit.
As Tae-sung walked to leave the Flying Dragon Clan’s premises, he spotted a familiar old man walking in the distance.
He was a white-haired, kind-looking old man wearing a robe.
He recognized Tae-sung and wore a welcoming expression.
“Hmm? Oh! First-class Member Lee Tae-sung. Ah, I believe I heard you were promoted to a Special-class Disciple. Is that correct?”
“That’s how it turned out.”
“Haha. Congratulations. With a martial artist of your skill, the Flying Dragon Clan should naturally give you that much respect.”
Tae-sung had formed a connection with Elder Miginic of the Golden Altar of Alchemy during a previous encounter.
Since Tae-sung had successfully completed his mission at the time, Miginic thought highly of him.
“If they don’t treat you well, feel free to come to our Golden Altar of Alchemy at any time. An Elder’s letter of recommendation is always ready for you.”
“Haha…”
The response came from behind him.
“Stop trying to poach our talent and just get inside.”
“Oops. That fellow is looking at me fiercely again.”
Elder Dam Ho-pung had arrived before they knew it, staring with sharp eyes.
He grabbed Tae-sung’s shoulder.
“Brother. You’re not going, right?”
“Pardon?”
“The Golden Altar of Alchemy isn’t a very good place. If you go there, you’ll just have to pick herbs all day, assist in making elixirs, and stand guard on boring shifts. There aren’t many external missions, so how tedious would that be? You might die of boredom.”
“However, the elixirs produced that way are given to the escort warriors.”
“Shut up!”
Dam Ho-pung growled at Elder Miginic, who had chimed in from the side.
This was Tae-sung’s current standing.
He was a Special-class Disciple of the Flying Dragon Clan and the Outsider who had played the biggest role in the last war.
Naturally, it would be a huge loss for the clan if he transferred elsewhere.
Since the Flying Dragon Clan had the feel of a mercenary sect, transfers were relatively free, which made them worry even more.
“I’m not going. I’ve grown attached to the Flying Dragon Clan.”
“See? I knew it! I recognized early on that my brother is the epitome of loyalty!”
Dam Ho-pung smiled broadly, but in truth, Tae-sung wasn’t staying out of loyalty.
He was being thoroughly realistic.
If he went to the Golden Altar of Alchemy, he would have more opportunities to obtain elixirs or alchemical furnaces.
However, he wouldn’t be able to grow by performing various requests and receiving diverse Quests like he did in the Flying Dragon Clan.
Wasn’t it thanks to the fortuitous encounters he had stumbled upon during numerous Quests that Tae-sung was able to become the Flame Emperor’s successor and grow this far?
There wasn’t enough merit to give that up.
“By the way, Elder Miginic, what brings you here…?”
“I came to have a drink with this friend. He invited me, saying he had prepared some good liquor. Would you like to join us, Martial Artist Tae-sung?”
“Oh, me?”
Tae-sung hesitated for a moment before nodding.
If he got closer to Elder Miginic, he might find a clue about a Low Grade Alchemical Furnace, so joining them for a drink wasn’t a bad idea.
***
Though it was sudden, Tae-sung joined the drinking session.
Back when he worked at the company, he had attended many staff dinners.
He skillfully set the table, refilled glasses whenever they were empty, requested new snacks from the servants just as they were about to run out, and listened intently to their stories with empathy…
Compared to being stuck with a Department Head or an Executive Director until 2:00 AM, this was incredibly easy.
“Brother! Let me tell you! I used to be a person full of prejudice against Outsiders! But thanks to you, much of that has disappeared!”
“……”
“Haha. I feel the same way. I wish other Outsiders were more like you.”
“Those guys have nothing to show for themselves, yet their pride is so strong… Always complaining about NPCs this and that…”
“Haha…”
As they got a bit tipsy, the two men chattered about all sorts of things with Tae-sung between them.
Tae-sung listened as best as he could, then waited for the right timing to speak to Elder Miginic.
“Elder. I am making good use of the alchemical furnace I received last time. The performance is truly excellent.”
“Oh, that? Haha. Lowest Grade Alchemical Furnaces are all pretty much the same.”
“As expected of something from the Golden Altar of Alchemy, even for the same Lowest Grade Elixir, the quality seemed different.”
“That is true. Honestly, most sects can make Lowest Grade Elixirs, but compared to the ones from our Golden Altar of Alchemy, their effects fall a bit short…”
Elder Miginic excitedly listed the strengths of his sect.
“The furnace is so good that I wish I had a chance to use a Low Grade Alchemical Furnace as well… It’s a shame I haven’t been able to.”
“A Low Grade Alchemical Furnace? Well, actually, giving one of those away isn’t that difficult.”
“Really!?”
Tae-sung’s eyes widened. This was different from what Abeson had said.
“Ah, I apologize. To be more precise, in my heart, I would gladly give you as many as you want, but the clan’s policy makes it impossible. The alcohol made my tongue slip.”
Elder Miginic wore a regretful expression.
“A villain named the Flame Emperor once robbed us. Since then, an ironclad order has been passed down to never let a single item from the sect leave its walls. However, Lowest Grade Alchemical Furnaces are one of the few exceptions. They aren’t particularly valuable.”
“……”
Tae-sung clenched his fists.
‘Why did that Flame Emperor person have to rob the Golden Altar of Alchemy of all places…!’
He wasn’t being helpful to his successor who was trying to get stronger.
“Ah… I see. It can’t be helped.”
“You look disappointed, I’m sorry.”
“No, Elder. There’s no reason for you to be sorry.”
“Hmm. Still, just in case, if you ever find the items that the Flame Emperor stole from our sect in the past, we can give you whatever you want. It would be a sort of exchange.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
Tae-sung thought that this alone was a decent condition.
Unlike others, wasn’t he continuously tracking the Flame Emperor’s traces?
There was a bit more hope.
“This might also be difficult, but we also accept items used by the Flame Emperor during his life. Clothes, accessories, things like that.”
“Why do you need those?”
“I want to burn them before the graves of our ancestors to soothe their grudges. I am certain they still haven’t been able to close their eyes in the underworld out of resentment.”
“!”
Tae-sung’s eyes flashed.
‘This is even easier.’
***
After the drinking session ended, Tae-sung immediately rummaged through his belongings.
He hoped there was at least one item used by the Flame Emperor.
If there was, he could immediately receive a Low Grade Alchemical Furnace… no, perhaps even something better!
“Ah… darn it.”
Unfortunately, there was nothing.
He had visited several of the Flame Emperor’s hideouts, but all he had gained there were skills.
He hadn’t found even a single strand of the Flame Emperor’s hair.
His disappointment lasted only a moment, as he had one more place to turn to.
‘Master Baek Woon-ho might have something!’
Tae-sung was the Flame Emperor’s true successor, but Baek Woon-ho was something like a sub-successor.
He had also discovered the Flame Emperor’s legacy separately, so perhaps he had obtained something from there?
It was well worth pinning his hopes on.
“Hyah!”
After that, Tae-sung set off on horseback toward the coastal city of Arcanos.
It was one of the cities he was heading to in order to find traces of the Flame Emperor, and it was also where he had to go to track Leo and meet Baek Woon-ho.
The probability of Baek Woon-ho being in this city was one-third, but since he had to go there anyway, he made it his destination.
Normally, he would have taken a request from the Flying Dragon Clan to secure some skill points on the way, but since he didn’t want to delay, he rode quickly.
He switched horses where he could and used his Lightfoot Technique in other areas.
—
*Ding!*
**[Flying Flower Explosive Shadow’s proficiency has increased]**
**[The skill level of Flying Flower Explosive Shadow has increased]**
**[Shadow of the Secret Fire (Level 4) -> Bihwapok (Level 5)]**
As a result of running so much that his skill proficiency increased, Tae-sung looked like a beggar, but he arrived at Arcanos before the next day’s dawn.
Tae-sung entered the main street through the city gates.
‘I should go to the place Abeson mentioned before looking for Baek Woon-ho.’
He planned to leave a message for Baek Woon-ho that he was here.
Then Woon-ho would either come here on his own or set a separate meeting place.
In the meantime, he could look for traces of Leo.
As he was passing by, he happened to walk by a pharmacy and heard the voice of the pharmacy owner.
“I thought I had seen many herb gatherers in my life, but I have rarely seen such perfect herbs. Truly remarkable!”
“Then make sure you pay me well for them.”
“Of course! Herb gatherers like you deserve to make money!”
Tae-sung snapped his head toward the voice that sounded familiar.
“……?”
He saw the back of a herb gatherer carrying a basket, and it looked very familiar.