History was a curious thing. Even in a world teeming with long-lived races, much of history remained cloaked in impenetrable shadows.
This probably had little to do with lifespan itself. After all, if you asked people living in the present what major events had occurred just a few months prior, you would often receive dozens of different answers, many of them diametrically opposed—and sometimes they would even come to blows while arguing over them.
At the end of the day, it was because people held different stances, saw the world through different lenses, and possessed different pieces of information.
Thus, studying history was sometimes simply studying the human heart.
Anbaixiu understood little of such matters. He assumed Arthur Ryan's heroic spirit could hardly provide Heji Stone with much useful intelligence, considering the spirit knew nothing of what had transpired after the Demonic Dragon Tyrant's death.
Yet Heji Stone insisted, "To speak in person with this Holy King—even if only the Holy King in his youth—is enough to unravel countless mysteries."
Leaving specialized tasks to specialists, Anbaixiu led the dwarf vampire down into his underground city, brought out the artifact hourglass, and set it before Heji Stone.
At Anbaixiu's summons, Arthur Ryan's heroic spirit appeared, as frail and translucent as ever.
Heroic spirits were exceedingly peculiar beings. Once their power was depleted, replenishing it proved immensely difficult.
Anbaixiu certainly possessed methods that could assist, but those were almost exclusively necromantic spells. He had no wish to taint Arthur Ryan's heroic spirit; if the Ryan people refused to acknowledge the spirit when the time came, what would he do if they withheld his payment?
Consequently, though Arthur Ryan remained a pure heroic spirit of the Holy Light, he still appeared delicate enough to be blown away by a gust of wind.
The moment Heji Stone laid eyes on Arthur Ryan, he nearly dropped to his knees, proclaiming in overwhelming excitement, "You are His Majesty Arthur Ryan! To see you with my own eyes is truly my greatest honor!"
Thoroughly embarrassed by the vampire's display, Arthur Ryan hastily said, "Please, don't say that. Strictly speaking, I am not the same person as the emperor who founded the empire."
After all this time, Arthur Ryan had gradually accepted reality.
Even with a portion of the original memories, a heroic spirit was a heroic spirit—essentially a completely independent soul with no connection left to the original self.
And having inherited the character of the Holy King, this heroic spirit of Arthur Ryan would never claim glory that did not belong to him.
Heji Stone still wanted to press the matter and pay his respects to the heroic spirit, but Anbaixiu chimed in to remind him, "Hey, check your alignment, would you? An undead on his knees before a heroic spirit of the Holy Light—if the other members of the Elegy Poetry Society find out, they'll probably kick you out."
Heji Stone snapped back indignantly, "You have the nerve to call me out?! Who's the one constantly bragging about paladins falling to their knees before him en masse?!"
Anbaixiu chuckled. "That's different. When I talk about it, it's glory. When you talk about this, you get booted out of the Elegy Poetry Society."
Heji Stone ground his teeth in frustration, yet had no retort. Anbaixiu was right; the nature of the two acts was fundamentally different.
Arthur Ryan, however, looked rather surprised upon hearing this and asked, "You're a vampire?"
Heji Stone quickly replied, "Yes, honored Majesty. I am indeed a vampire, but I am also a historian."
Arthur Ryan remarked with deep feeling, "Times truly have changed. In my day, I never heard of a dwarf vampire."
Heji Stone was left speechless.
Anbaixiu nearly burst out laughing and hastily drove the point home: "No, Your Majesty Ryan, even in this era, dwarf vampires are quite rare."
Heji Stone glared at Anbaixiu. "One more word and I'll fall out with you! Out, out! People who don't understand history have no business getting in our way."
The phrasing sounded almost like two lovers on a date, but Anbaixiu had no intention of playing third wheel anyway.
In business, he was a man of integrity. Having promised Heji Stone time to ask questions, Anbaixiu would not deliberately cause trouble here.
Leaving the laboratory to the pair, Anbaixiu made his way to the fountain at the heart of the city.
The flowing winds and spring water conjured by World Weaving maintained their original rhythm. This spell could permanently alter terrain and climate, functioning like a request posed to the world, to which the world returned an eternal response.
Streams of undead scurried busily in every direction, excavating the ground, paving tunnels, channeling waterways to their designated locations, and hauling sand, rock, and gold out of structures that had yet to be fully cleared, carting them to separate storage areas.
These skeletons did not work with complete precision. Occasionally, one would spin aimlessly in place, or two would collide, scattering their cargo across the ground.
Yet it was hardly an issue. The undead knew no exhaustion, and even when they made mistakes, they corrected them on their own.
At first glance, their efficiency seemed inferior to human labor, but over the long run, the undead remained the most time-saving and effortless "workers" available.
Anbaixiu extended his senses across more than half the city and found the project progressing splendidly.
It seemed Harvey had understood the blueprints quite well. The division of the site was remarkably rational; from the raw material processing zone to the manufacturing zone and the bulk-filling zone, everything was meticulously organized, merely awaiting Anbaixiu to oversee the actual construction.
Reaching the center of the alchemy factory, Anbaixiu spotted Harvey holding a torch, directing the skeletons at their tasks.
Noticing Anbaixiu's return, Harvey hurried over to report, "Teacher, according to your instructions, I've laid out the rough division of the site. The clearing work is nearly half-done, and I estimate it'll be finished in another half month."
Anbaixiu nodded. "Well done. See, I told you you'd understand the blueprints. I brought back the mana refining furnace. When it comes time for installation, you'll be in charge of supervising."
Harvey offered an awkward grimace. "Teacher, please don't entrust such an important task to me. I really can't make head or tail of alchemical blueprints."
Anbaixiu looked puzzled. "But your zoning adjustments turned out quite well."
Harvey gave a bitter smile. "I just guessed blindly using the power of divination."
After Anbaixiu left, Harvey had discovered he could not comprehend the blueprints' details at all, let alone make proper adjustments. At most, he could roughly discern the distinct zones the alchemy factory required.
Anbaixiu had instructed him to adjust the zone layout according to the underground city's existing architecture. That was simple enough: Harvey chose to roll dice.
In front of each building, he rolled a die. Whichever zone the roll corresponded to, he assigned that building and its surrounding area to that zone.
After spending several days at it, Harvey had worked himself half to death before finally finishing the division of all the zones.
Dividing areas was one thing, but supervising the furnace installation was another entirely. He did not even know what a mana refining furnace was; he wouldn't even know which options to assign to the dice!
Listening to his explanation, Anbaixiu could not help but remark, "I honestly can't tell whether you're a genius or an idiot. Is that how you use divination? Aren't you afraid the Goddess of Fate will swat you to death with one slap?!"
What truly astonished Anbaixiu was the terrifying pace of the lad's growth. Did he already possess enough Dice of Fate to roll across every single corner of the city?
Harvey said helplessly, "Teacher, please don't force me. I pick up other spells very quickly, but alchemy... I really just don't understand it."
Harvey felt genuinely helpless. He had once considered himself clever; after all, he had smoothly entered a profession with a threshold as high as that of a divination wizard, and he mastered all sorts of spells with great speed.
Alchemy, however, was different. It tested not one's spellcasting prowess, but one's memory.
Harvey had browsed Anbaixiu's book collection. Alchemy required no spellcasting ability whatsoever and could be practiced by any mortal, yet one had to memorize every single material's properties, uses, handling methods, and mountains of data and operational details.
Such rote memorization made Harvey's head spin. After persisting for two days, he had resolved to give up. He simply possessed not a shred of talent for alchemy.
Anbaixiu remarked in disappointment, "And to think you're a wizard who stacks Intelligence."
Harvey could only reply helplessly, "Teacher, there are very few people in this world who are masters of everything like you."
At least half of this flattery was genuine. After seeing Anbaixiu's collection of books, Harvey had realized his teacher belonged to the ultra-polymath archetype. While Anbaixiu might not be the undisputed number one in any single field, the breadth of his knowledge stood far above that of the vast majority of people.
The gap between Harvey and Anbaixiu in this regard was simply too vast; who knew how many years it would take to catch up?
Anbaixiu, however, said coldly, "Flattery won't work on me."
"Teacher, I mean it from the bottom of my heart."
"Flattery from the bottom of your heart won't work either."
...
Having lived for so long and spent the majority of his life adventuring, Anbaixiu had seen every type of person under the sun and was long immune to verbal compliments. Harvey would have had better luck offering a few thousand gold coins to show filial respect to his teacher.
Still, seeing Harvey's distressed expression, Anbaixiu decided not to force him. Some people truly lacked talent for alchemy, and that could not be coerced.
"Then I have another task for you. Head up to the surface and investigate which alchemical potions the desert folk used the most in the past, their approximate sales volume, their prices, and the demographic of the consumers who used them. Bring me back a detailed survey."
Anbaixiu drew a stack of parchment from his robe, densely covered with questions. It was a market survey form he had devised himself. If he wanted to reopen the market for alchemy, he had to tailor his products to the daily habits of different regions.
Anbaixiu had no time to handle such tedious chores himself. Apprentices existed to be exploited.
Harvey hurriedly took the papers. Conducting a survey was hardly difficult, and returning to the surface was a welcome prospect anyway. He was human, after all; lingering underground all day among a crowd of undead would take a severe toll on his health.
"Understood, Teacher! I'll make sure it's done properly."
"All right, off you go." Anbaixiu waved him away, then walked into a colossal structure.
It appeared to have been some sort of religious sanctuary belonging to the lost civilization. Its ceiling rose far higher than those of the ordinary houses, and the main hall was spacious enough to accommodate the entire mana refining furnace. There was no sign of anything resembling an idol, however, and lacking archaeological expertise, Anbaixiu could deduce little else.
Originally, this church-like building had been filled with solid-gold pews and various golden ornaments, but those had all been cleared out by now.
Anbaixiu began sketching a teleportation array across the hall floor. The mana refining furnace was colossal, its components piled like a small mountain, making assembly an enormous hassle; the only practical solution was to use a teleportation array to transport the workers and the parts together.
Before he could finish, Heji Stone suddenly materialized before him, exclaiming with intense excitement, "I've made a major discovery! I think I've deduced why Arthur Ryan disappeared back then!"
Chapter 248