Spreading a rumor was actually a rather simple matter. This was especially true when Anbaixiu had a friend who was exceptionally good at writing stories.
Herki Stone was dragged over by Anbaixiu and told to craft a tale around a central premise: "Light two candles after dark, recite the incantation before a magic mirror, and you can summon an omniscient devil."
It had to be gripping—so compelling that anyone who read it would feel an overwhelming urge to try the incantation for themselves.
Herki Stone’s initial reaction was to protest. How could popularizing an incantation be that simple? Wasn't this just giving him an impossible task?
Then Anbaixiu offered him an idea. He told Herki to make the protagonist a down-on-his-luck alchemist who had failed his exams and remained stuck as an apprentice. One night, after spying on his master reciting an incantation before a magic mirror at midnight, the apprentice discovers that all of his master's knowledge had been obtained through a pact with a devil.
The apprentice steals the magic mirror, only to learn that he can ask it three questions. Dodging his master’s relentless pursuit, he uses these three questions to rise to the pinnacle of life.
Anbaixiu told Herki Stone, "The protagonist's name will be Aladdin, and the devil's name will be the Blue Sprite."
The vampire dwarf remarked that this "Blue Sprite" sounded suspiciously like a djinn from the Elemental Plane of Air rather than any sort of devil.
Anbaixiu countered that as long as the heroine was written alluringly enough, no one would care if the devil looked like a goblin.
Herki Stone nodded in agreement and voiced high praise for the concept of the three questions, which could easily be woven into a dramatic, thrilling tale.
Perhaps struck by sudden inspiration, Herki Stone finished the story that very night, titling it *Aladdin and the Magic Mirror*. Anbaixiu glanced through it and found it even more entertaining than the version he had known in his past life.
"As expected of a bestselling author!"
Filled with admiration, Anbaixiu promptly had Herki Stone submit the manuscript to the supplement of *Legendary Spells*.
Alchemists were generally an educated demographic. They never missed an issue of an authoritative publication like *Legendary Spells*, willing to sell their belongings just to buy each release so they wouldn't fall behind the times. After all, if someone else had already invented what you spent years painstakingly researching, all your money and time would go down the drain.
The supplement was also a favorite pastime among this crowd, serving as light entertainment to break up the monotony of tedious alchemy experiments. If the story could make it into the supplement, it would swiftly find its way into the hands of alchemists everywhere.
Anbaixiu had initially planned to pour gold into publicity. Though the supplement was filled with gossip and light fiction, landing a spot in it was by no means easy. Yet to his surprise, no sooner had the draft been submitted than the editors approved it. Not only did they make it the front-page feature of the upcoming issue's supplement, but they also inquired whether more stories in a similar vein were available, offering to give him a dedicated serialized column.
Anbaixiu had not anticipated that *Aladdin and the Magic Mirror* would be received so enthusiastically. After a moment's thought, he published the story onto the Hell magic mirror system he had established as well. A massive pile of novels was already hosted there anyway, so adding one more made no difference—and it might even earn him some royalties.
Looking back, the epic novels this fellow churned out had already earned Anbaixiu tens of thousands of soul coins.
As for Herki Stone's share... there was no need. Hell paid in soul fragments, which were useless to a vampire. Useless meant no profit, and no profit meant no need for a cut.
A story took time to ferment, and Anbaixiu was patient. He could easily afford to wait.
Having set his scheme for the Alchemy Association in motion, Anbaixiu turned to discuss relocation with Isabel.
As the rift between the two factions widened, the hostility directed at Isabel within the Alchemy Association had grown increasingly overt.
Despite her youthful brilliance and accomplishments, she was indelibly marked as one of Anbaixiu’s people. Having repeatedly rebuffed Gustavo Fring's overtures, she had become a thorn in the side of many high-ranking members of the association.
This castle was simply too close to the Dwarven Royal Capital. If anything went awry, Isabel would bear the brunt of it.
Though a teleportation array was installed within the castle, such devices were not entirely foolproof. There were countless methods to disrupt or sever spatial transport. When the time came, Isabel might not even get the chance to step onto the array.
"You can head overseas to Gold Coin Island or Silver Coin Island, or go straight to the Raging Tide Kingdom. Either way, the alchemy workshops will be left entirely in your hands to manage. I don't have the spare energy to micromanage them right now. Bring your brother, and we'll set off today. We'll leave the castle here; I doubt they would go so far as to seize my castle."
The only thing of real value inside this decrepit castle was the library. Once the books were packed away, the remaining materials weren't worth much. Anbaixiu was no longer an ordinary wealthy man; he looked down on such trivial scraps.
The Alchemy Association wouldn't care much for them either, and as long as Isabel departed, they wouldn't bother tearing the castle down.
Yet upon hearing Anbaixiu mention her brother, Isabel sighed. "Teacher, my brother has severed all ties with me."
Anbaixiu was surprised. "Is Raul out of his mind? Back then, he risked his life for you."
Isabel offered a bitter smile. "I don't understand it either."
The rift between the siblings had been brewing for a long time. The primary catalyst was Anbaixiu’s elusive whereabouts and the volatile, mixed reports concerning his fate, which had placed immense pressure on both of them. Isabel had weathered the strain, standing steadfastly by Anbaixiu’s side, unswayed by whatever rumors reached her ears.
Raul, however, could not. He had always possessed an ambitious nature, enamored with power, and once he tasted the sweetness of authority, he had changed completely. Whenever bad news arrived about Anbaixiu, Raul’s immediate instinct was to scramble to preserve what he had.
The members of the Alchemy Association had attempted to recruit Isabel through Raul, sparking the siblings' first ferocious quarrel.
After Isabel flatly refused, Raul moved out of the castle. Later, he earned some coin in the slave trade and married a spiteful woman. Goaded by her venomous whispers, the relationship between the brother and sister only deteriorated further.
When Anbaixiu had heard about this earlier, he had advised Isabel not to act like a helpless young girl and instead leverage her prestige as an alchemy genius to handle the woman. But Isabel simply lacked that ruthless temperament, and the matter had fizzled out unresolved.
Later, when Anbaixiu was reported dead in the battle against the Demonic Dragon, Raul believed Isabel had permanently lost her backer and would finally give up her stubborn stance. He returned to the castle for a heart-to-heart with Isabel, trying to convince her to defect completely to the Alchemy Association.
Yet Isabel refused once more. She even resolved to assist the Rose of Decay in safeguarding Anbaixiu’s alchemy operations, resisting Gustavo Fring with everything she had.
The siblings had another explosive argument, and Isabel was forced to drive her brother out.
From that day forth, the pretense of familial affection was shattered, and they had not spoken since.
Anbaixiu listened with a furrowed brow. In the end, Raul’s vision was simply too narrow. In his eyes, the leaders of the Alchemy Association stood atop the world, while a dead master was no master at all.
"Isabel, you leave first. I leave the alchemy factories in your care. As for your brother, for your sake, I'll give him one final chance to see if he can seize it."
Isabel nodded. Though she still worried for her brother deep down, she knew well that once Anbaixiu made up his mind, it was not something she could sway.
Her teacher generally seemed easygoing, but when he set his resolve, not even a deity could alter his course.
*Brother, I only hope you come to your senses.*
Gathering Gianna, who still had no idea what was transpiring, Isabel packed their belongings as swiftly as possible and departed the castle through the teleportation array.
No sooner had Isabel vanished from the array than its runes flared to life once more, and a pitch-black figure materialized atop the platform.
The sound of grinding machinery resonated from the ebony giant as he strode heavily toward the magic mirror. A sheet of silvery-white liquid seeped from the dark plate armor, coalescing into a separate silver humanoid.
Both bizarre monsters knelt reverently before the magic mirror and said to Anbaixiu, "Our Lord, Hastings and Hares await your command."
Hastings and Hares, nicknamed Dahei and Erha, were a pair of cutthroat brothers whom Anbaixiu had transformed into undead. Though there had once been bad blood between them, the two brothers had discovered that serving Anbaixiu offered a far more comfortable existence than their former lives. As Anbaixiu's status soared, they saw a brilliant future ahead.
Their master was destined to ascend to godhood; when that day came, would they not share in his glory?
Moreover, having not been undead for very long, with their souls reinforced by Anbaixiu during the transformation, and spending their free time slumbering to condense dark magic while he was away, their minds had remained remarkably intact. They were still capable of weighing gains and losses just like living men.
Anbaixiu regarded the pair with a smile. "Looks like you two have been doing quite well while I was away."
Hastings’ chassis had undergone a thorough overhaul. While the golem puppet's core had been crafted by Anbaixiu, the rest of its components were readily interchangeable. Anbaixiu had built several high-grade golem frames for himself back then, and Hastings was now fitted with a complete upgrade, his combat prowess leagues beyond what it once was.
Hares, the mercury puppet, had also changed. Previously clumsy at shapeshifting, he now sculpted a vivid, lifelike human form, and the dark magic within him was on an entirely different level. It seemed they truly hadn't idled their time away.
Anbaixiu had originally worried the two might prove inadequate, thinking he might need to borrow a few undead from the Rose of Decay. Now it appeared the pair would be more than enough.
"Go," Anbaixiu instructed. "Bring that boy Raul to me."
Hastings asked, "Master, if we encounter resistance, do you require him intact?"
Anbaixiu said placidly, "Dead or alive, it makes no difference."
Chapter 576