Chapter 41
Who is the Alchemy Empress?
Rumors about the mysterious alchemy Grandmaster spread across the country like wildfire. Many alchemists were involuntarily drawn into this matter. Every principle and teaching that "Alchemy Empress" had written in the Alchemy Problems Q&A thread was completely new and unknown to them.
It was like opening a whole new world for the science of alchemy. They sat studying Alchemy Empress's comments one by one, carefully and in detail. The more they studied in depth, the more they seemed to fall deeper into fascination with this path.
At the same time, even at the Alchemists' Association, the matter became the hottest topic of discussion. In the rest area, several trainee alchemists were discussing this very subject.
"The basic fire control technique that Alchemy Empress explained is way more effective than what the Alchemists' Association teaches," a young man with a studious demeanor said to his friends in a whisper. He adjusted his glasses lightly while drinking fruit juice from his cup.
"It's not just basic fire control. Did you go read the comments about Qi Flame that people are debating?"
His friend with a chubby build took a big bite of rice ball and brought up the topic.
"The Qi Flame that only Tier 4 alchemists can use?"
"Yeah. Right now the only Tier 4 alchemist is Grandmaster Lu Qing. The people debating in those comments are at least Tier 3 Master alchemists." The man continued excitedly.
"What'd it say?"
His group of friends crowded in to listen more closely.
"They all got totally shut down..."
The chubby man recounted with a horrified expression. He pulled out his phone to go into that thread to confirm what he was saying for his friends to see.
"Alchemy Empress said Qi Flame doesn't require Tier 4. A Tier 3 alchemist with Martial Master power can use it easily."
He continued while scrolling through those comments to show them.
"The Tier 3 Master alchemists had a huge debate! I heard today the Association even called an urgent meeting about this issue, including the new knowledge Alchemy Empress expressed."
"No wonder there are so many people gathering at the Association today." His friends glanced toward the front gate, where cars were driving in and out busier than usual. The alchemists getting out of those cars all had excited expressions.
"But the most pitiful one has to be Master Sun, right?" the chubby man gossiped.
"Yeah, so unlucky. His Q&A thread got completely destroyed by Alchemy Empress."
"Master Sun must be furious. It's like she slapped him in the face directly." They started whispering about Master Sun Mingchuan mockingly. The bespectacled man who'd been drinking fruit juice earlier choked when he happened to see who was walking by.
It was Master Sun, or Sun Mingchuan himself. Right now the old man was in a terrible mood. Yesterday felt like a nightmare to him. Many acquaintances called him asking if he'd offended someone or had a grudge against anyone.
He really wanted to yell back!
With his status as a Master alchemist instructor, how would he have time to start trouble with people!
His assistant was also sweating. After what happened yesterday, Master Sun canceled his afternoon lecture and went straight home. It clearly showed how bad his mood was.
They came back to the Association today, though, since this meeting was quite directly related to Master Sun.
Of course it was—he was the one who got worked over the most by that person named "Alchemy Empress"!
Master Sun opened the door into the Association's meeting room with an irritated manner. There were almost ten people already sitting there. When they saw Sun Mingchuan arrive, they all smiled at him weakly with pity.
An old man who looked about the same age quickly waved and called out. He was one of Sun Mingchuan's comrades too.
"Old Sun, what'd you do to make her so angry at you?"
He asked in a teasing tone. When Sun Mingchuan heard it, he made a harrumphing sound. Either way, he still walked over and sat beside him.
"What could I have done?"
When they saw Sun Mingchuan had arrived, they immediately started today's urgent meeting. The meeting topic was:
"The Identity of Alchemy Empress"
That's right. The reason they were rushing was this. The Alchemists' Association desperately wanted to know who exactly was using the username Alchemy Empress in the cultivators' community!
"Elder Fang, that's not you, is it?" The old man chairing the meeting turned to ask the woman who looked middle-aged. She had a gentle face and small build. The crow's feet and wrinkles on her face indicated her real age wasn't young anymore, though.
Which really wasn't young—she was older than many people in this room.
She always took care of her body and nourished her skin with elixirs, so she'd been able to maintain her beauty this long. She was like an idol to many trainee alchemists at the Association. Female students especially loved her and always came to ask for beauty tips.
Combined with her gentle and kind demeanor, she was very popular with the young people.
Elder Fang turned to look and sighed. Since yesterday, people kept asking her this question non-stop too. Since that mysterious account used the name "Empress" instead of "Emperor," people all thought "Alchemy Empress" might be a woman rather than a man.
The only woman with the social status of Vice President of the Alchemists' Association was her alone. She was also a highest-level Tier 3 Master alchemist.
"It's not me... Why would I go start trouble with Master Sun?" Her voice wasn't soft or loud. It gave a relaxed and safe feeling.
On this point, Sun Mingchuan nodded in agreement. There was no way Elder Fang would be fierce like that keyboard warrior Alchemy Empress. When she wanted to warn someone, she'd call them for a private talk and warn them with reason and good intentions.
"We can't rule out the possibility that Alchemy Empress is a man," one old man said.
"Right. It's just an internet account. You can name it anything," some of them nodded in agreement.
"Can't we request information from the cultivators' community?"
"No way. Their security standards are trustworthy. They'd never tell outsiders personal information about any user account."
"Sigh... So what do we do?"
"An alchemist with that level of knowledge hiding their identity?"
"Maybe they're not from the Alchemists' Association?"
"It's possible... Besides our Alchemists' Association, there's also the Yi Clan in City C and the Tang Clan in City A who might have that level of ability and knowledge."
"But they're under the Association too. Can we call them in to ask?"
"Probably not them. I know the heads of Tang Clan and Yi Clan well. At most they're highest-level Tier 3 alchemists like us in this room."
The elders in the room all nodded in agreement. After all, this field wasn't that wide. There were many trainee alchemists, but very few who could step into Tier 3.
"...Or maybe it's some ancient being from somewhere?"
"That's most likely. From the sentences and language she uses, there are similarities to old-era language that's not used anymore these days."
The meeting chairman finished speaking and pulled up one of Bai Fanxian's comments as an example. By now the Q&A discussion room had broken through over a thousand comments.
Especially Alchemy Empress's comments got massive likes, with tons of replies praising and glorifying her.
Her popularity skyrocketed among cultivators. With her arrogant name, fierce expression, yet on-point and knowledge-filled responses—many alchemists started viewing her as an idol.
Some people even collected her comments together to make them easier for newcomers to study.
Along with the question everyone was most curious about:
"...Who is the Alchemy Empress?"
This question was what cultivators across the country were paying the most attention to and curious about. After yesterday when Alchemy Empress came in and answered many questions in the thread all at once, today that account went completely silent. Many people came out creating threads about her. Some posted questions they were curious about, hoping they'd be lucky enough to get an answer from this mysterious Empress.
No one knew where she'd gone today.
Meanwhile, Tang Tianjie was almost the only one besides Uncle Huang who immediately knew who Alchemy Empress was. The old man had been with Bai Fanxian for a while now, and had witnessed miracles from her pills with his own eyes. After getting confirmation from the elderly butler, he practically rushed straight to Bai Fanxian's house.
Huang Zihuan went out to receive his master into the house. At first, Tang Tianjie was amazed by this Border too. Once he got used to it and knew who the creator was, though, he stopped paying attention. His interest focused solely on the science of alchemy!
The old man even wrote down all the questions that had been bothering him for a long time on paper and brought them in a thick stack. He hoped Bai Fanxian—or "Alchemy Empress"—would help clear up all his doubts today.
He chose his timing quite well. He knew that in the afternoon until evening, Grandmaster Bai might go help train the children. So he hurried over at ten o'clock.
When he entered the living room, he saw Grandmaster Bai lying lazily with crossed legs on the long sofa. In front of her was a very convenient small laptop computer.
He hurried over happily.
"Grandmaster Bai, hello!" Tang Tianjie greeted cheerfully. Even though he was quite old, when he was happy he still acted childish. Bai Fanxian herself, though her eyes stayed fixed on the screen, still sent out one word in response.
"Mm..."
"What're you doing?"
"Mm..."
Tang Tianjie felt strange. Though Grandmaster Bai was still right in front of him, it seemed like her heart had escaped into that screen already. She wasn't paying attention to the point where she didn't know what his question was but still answered anyway.
The old man quickly whispered to his old friend in surprise.
"Huang Zihuan, is something wrong with Grandmaster Bai?"
Uncle Huang heard the question but could only smile dryly. "Grandmaster Bai's reading a book..."
"Really? An online book, right? What's it about? Alchemy?"
Tang Tianjie's eyes sparkled and he quickly asked. A book that could make Grandmaster Bai lose herself like this must be amazing. When he got back, maybe he should find it to read too.
"...Do you really want to know?"
"Of course! It must be profound. Look how interested Grandmaster Bai is." Tang Tianjie nodded to confirm. Uncle Huang, who felt helpless, sighed once.
"Uh... She's reading Little Bear."
"...Li...Little Bear?"
"...Little Bear. But it's a web novel version. I think it's called Little Bear and the Future World in Another Ten Thousand Years."