This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 654 - 574 All Responsibility Lies in Hell

Chapter 654: Chapter 574 All Responsibility Lies in Hell

In Jiana’s young heart, her teacher was like an angel—pure, kind, and magnificent. Not only was she beautiful and intelligent, but she was also full of power.

It wasn’t easy for Jiana to escape; she had fled to the front of this castle, wounds all over her body, only to pass out. By the time Jiana woke up, she had already been saved by Isabel.

Although grateful for Isabel’s help, Jiana knew she had to be honest with her—she wasn’t just any runaway slave; she had injured a buyer right before being sold and then made her escape.

For a slave trader, such a deed was an absolute death sentence, and they would need to capture her and torture her brutally to appease the buyer.

In Jiana’s eyes, she could not let someone as angelic as Isabel get dragged into this.

However, Isabel simply said with indifference, "Those slave traders have already come by, and your issue has been settled. Don’t worry, they won’t dare to bother you again."

Jiana never expected to hear these words; how could those terrifying slave traders just let her go? What price did this kind sister have to pay?

Only later did Jiana find out that Isabel hadn’t paid any significant price; she had just bought her at the lowest price, and the slave traders did not dare utter another word.

Because Isabel was a famous alchemist, and the former owner of this castle was an even greater existence—an entity Jiana couldn’t hope to reach in her lifetime.

Jiana never thought that after only a few days of studying with Isabel, she would meet that legendary figure.

Was this the legendary Master Ultraman?

In Jiana’s eyes, Amberser was the most formidable among slave masters; others only sold mortals, but he could sell deities.

Even the Duke Washington, who boasted of selling hundreds of thousands of slaves, could not compare to him.

The more she thought about it, the more afraid Jiana became; she could only hide shivering behind Isabel, making Isabel feel embarrassed.

Isabel had intended to introduce her apprentice to Amberser, thinking it would be the best opportunity for Jiana if she could get some guidance from this master. But for some reason, the girl was just afraid.

Isabel couldn’t understand it; her teacher was so approachable and unpretentious, he should be popular with children. She had thought him easy to talk to the first time she met him.

This child really didn’t know how to seize an opportunity.

Isabel was helpless, focusing instead on her conversation with Amberser.

And now, Isabel was no longer the naive apprentice she had once been. After talking with Amberser for a while, she almost guessed what was on his mind and suggested, "Teacher, if you’re looking to recruit members from the middle and lower tiers of the Alchemist Association, the gathering approach seems somewhat outdated."

Amberser asked, "Why do you say that?"

Isabel explained, "There are too many members in the Alchemist Association, and they are spread out everywhere. Although I know some of them, reaching out through gatherings to pass on messages will be very inefficient, and most of them are very loyal to the Alchemist Association. Many will guess your intentions, and surely some will warn the upper echelons, which will hinder the spread of the message even more."

The higher-ups of the Alchemist Association weren’t numerous, mostly located in the Royal Capital, and inviting them wasn’t difficult, but the middle and lower tiers were troubling. They were the key figures in various Alchemy Factories, typically unable to leave their duties.

"But they all possess Magic Mirrors. Before you left, the Alchemist Association increased their investment in Magic Mirrors, and now almost every alchemist has one; they usually communicate through these. If you want to send out any messages, using Magic Mirrors would be much quicker."

Amberser shook his head, "I know about this, but I don’t want Gustavo Flint to know I can freely manipulate Magic Mirrors."

The Magic Mirrors currently used by the Alchemist Association were their own products, theoretically on a different system from the ones Amberser had made, and were not supposed to be able to communicate with each other.

Of course, that was just in theory.

The core of the Magic Mirror was in the Divine Realm of the God of Alchemy, and Amberser had long merged with the true essence of the Magic Mirror. This state of the Mirror Spirit granted him the ability to control any Magic Mirror at will, whether they were from the Alchemist Association, developed by Laine himself, or even those made by Hell Demons, there was no difference.

But it was better not to immediately reveal this secret; Amberser was thinking of keeping it as an ace up his sleeve.

If he used the Magic Mirror forcefully, then Gustavo Flint might just make a drastic decision and discard them entirely.

Isabel didn’t expect Amberser to say such a thing, so she pondered for a moment and then asked, "Teacher, the Alchemist Association has added quite a few features to their own Magic Mirrors, like recording experiments, automatically organizing data, and more. You should be able to easily modify the functions of the Magic Mirror too, right? If modifications are made in my name, it shouldn’t attract their attention, right?"

"That’s a good suggestion, let me think about it. Isabel, how exactly do members within the Alchemist Association get promoted?"

Amberser started to think about how to achieve his goals. He wanted these alchemists to become dissatisfied with their current situation and then to destroy the current career advancement channels and hierarchical structure of the Alchemist Association. For that, he first needed to understand those advancement channels.

Isabel was all too familiar with these things, and under her detailed introduction, Amberser’s thoughts had almost taken shape.

The Alchemist Association had changed its rules now because it was affiliated with the Dwarf Kingdom.

There were simply four ranks of association alchemists: apprentice, beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Apprentices, needless to say, were like half-price servants, subject to arbitrary exploitation and miscellaneous tasks.

However, even becoming an apprentice required connections. Without spending money to find relationships, no alchemist would be willing to take one on.

Apprentices had no rights, and how much they learned depended entirely on their master’s mood and their own intelligence.

But apprentices had one way out, which was to take the Official Alchemist exam. Passing it would make them a Beginner Alchemist. This exam content was very simple for Amberser, but for most apprentices, it was as difficult as reaching the skies.

This was to blame on those alchemists who loved to hoard their knowledge. To ensure the security of their techniques, they seldom taught the real stuff. The two main hurdles were finding authentic textbooks and dealing with the fact that the material written in them might not even be correct.

It was like someone writing a potion-making book that only tells you which ingredients were used, but glosses over the ratios and mixing techniques, making it extremely difficult for the average person to learn on their own.

After luckily becoming a Beginner Alchemist, one could apply to learn more advanced knowledge. This was quite straightforward in the Alchemist Association; the kind of knowledge an alchemist of any rank could exchange with points was listed in great detail.

But many pieces of knowledge were restricted; one could only learn for themselves and not disseminate. Contracts had to be signed before learning, with various limitations, all aimed at minimizing the spread of this knowledge.

Going from beginner to intermediate still required an exam, and the difficulty increased by several tens of times. However, Intermediate Alchemists could become supervisors in Alchemy Factories, and at that point, the income was quite handsome.

As for further promotion, it was not about exams but about providing resources for the Alchemist Association, handing over alchemic products, exchanging work for points, or contributing new formulas and new processes researched on one’s own to the association.

An Advanced Alchemist could receive support from the association, and they could also preside over large-scale alchemy projects and take a cut. At this stage, there was no shortage of money for living expenses, but that might not be enough to support continued research.

As for further advancement, that was the realm of the members of the Alchemist Association’s Council, then the vice presidents and the president.

To become part of the decision-making layer, one needed to be nominated by current council members and then voted in, and the president had the right to veto.

Simply put, Gustavo Flint held all the power of the Alchemist Association, using knowledge as shackles to lock down those in pursuit of it.

Amberser carefully examined the number of members in the Alchemist Association. Apprentices could not be counted since they weren’t even on the list. There were twenty-eight thousand Beginner Alchemists; this was the legacy left by Alchemy City. Most of them did not qualify to live in that ascended city, which inadvertently saved them from a catastrophe.

There were only over seven hundred Intermediate Alchemists, and as for Advanced Alchemists, there were less than fifty. As for the high-ranking members of the Alchemist Association, including Gustavo, there were only nine, with only three at the Legendary Rank.

This was the composition of the Alchemist Association, and Amberser’s gaze rested on those beginner and intermediate alchemists.

"Advancing through exams is really too simple. Isabel, you’ve reminded me that I don’t actually need you to personally attract attention. I just need to do this..."

Amberser waved his hands through the air, and the surface of the Magic Mirror began to display various lights and shadows, finally converging into a special symbol.

Isabel looked at this strange symbol, a mirror engulfed in flames with a hellish style, and below this symbol was a line of text.

Isabel read out the line unconsciously, "Magic Mirror, Magic Mirror, tell me?"

As soon as she uttered these words, the symbol instantly enlarged, covering the entire mirror surface, and a Devil, his body ablaze with flames, appeared before Isabel with a seductive voice saying, "Mortal, what is your question?"

Isabel was taken aback for a moment, then casually asked a question related to alchemy.

The Devil let out a strange cackle and then answered, "Knowledge must be exchanged for knowledge. If you can answer my question, I will tell you the solution. If not, you will have to exchange your soul."

Isabel was startled by this response, and asked in surprise, "Teacher, are you serious?"

The Devil disappeared, and Amberser reappeared on the mirror, now with a smile on his face saying, "Don’t worry, I’m not really going to take their souls away. People only suspect that something’s problematic if it’s given for free.

"And devils adhere strictly to contracts, which everyone knows. They won’t doubt the authenticity of the knowledge acquired, they’ll only worry whether they can afford the price.

"Spread the word; every time night falls and the sun is fully set, recite that phrase in front of the Magic Mirror to summon the most erudite Devil from Hell, and you can obtain all knowledge desired from his mouth, for a small price.

"I will ensure a large number of beginner and intermediate alchemists get promoted, and the Alchemist Association simply doesn’t have enough positions for them. When those alchemists who paid a hefty price realize that their promotion doesn’t bring them corresponding benefits, my goal will be achieved."

With a bang, Amberser transformed back into the Devil’s shape, smiling and saying, "They will only think that a Hell Demon has hacked their Magic Mirror, but by the time they try to stop it, they’ll find that everyone has become dependent on the Magic Mirror, unable to resist the temptation of easily acquired knowledge!

"And besides, all responsibility lies in Hell; it has nothing to do with you or me."