Introduction to Crow’s Alchemy

“Greetings, everyone. I am but a humble little crow.

Lately, I’ve sensed… something wrong with my contractor.”

“From time to time, I feel a cold chill down my back.

You know… like the gaze of some cold-blooded predator fixed upon me…”

“But it’s only been, what, two days without food?

Is that really necessary?

Back in the day, when I fought in the Vietnam counteroffensive, I—”

“Crow… today I’ll stew you alive!”

“Wait, no! Crow meat tastes terrible! Super gamey!”

“Just add some ginger, scallions, and garlic—it’ll be fine!”

“Do we even *have* those?!”

“Just add it anyway!”

Clatter—

Sui Ming slumped to his knees like a man struck by lightning.

“I… we…

We’re broke!!!”

He stared blankly at the Gude Bank account—completely emptied out.

A wail burst from his throat.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Money can always be earned again. Everything can be regained!”

Crow flapped its wings, as if to comfort him.

“And whose fault do you think this all is?!”

Sui Ming’s hands snapped around the crow’s neck as he roared.

“Feather-care balm… face masks… what’s next, crow-themed contact lenses?!”

“Ah… well… actually… already bought those…”

“Aaaaghhh!! I can’t live like this anymore! I should just go throw myself at Bai Luoxia’s lap and let her keep me!!!”

Seeing her contractor teetering on the very edge of collapse—delirious enough to dream of latching onto a sugar mommy—Crow sighed helplessly.

“Alright, alright. Big Sis has a way out of this.”

“What way?”

“A way to make money.”

****

After borrowing another **100,000 Fal** from Bai Luoxia, Sui Ming hefted back a whole pile of strange items.

Cauldrons.

Potion flasks.

Funnels.

And most of all, heaps upon heaps of alchemical ingredients.

Oh, and a curious Larl, who wound up tagging along.

“Sui-ge, what are you doing?”

Larl, who had gone to the market himself to purchase alchemy materials, couldn’t help following when he saw Sui Ming lugging back an entire mountain of supplies.

“Sui-ge, are you trying to learn alchemy? But this isn’t something you can just pick up so easily.”

Without a tutor, even someone as talented as Larl had needed a full month just to properly get started.

And with the holiday nearing its end, the time had nearly run out.

“Got the stuff? Good.”

A crow wearing square-framed glasses stood upon the blackboard, chalk in her wing.

She looked every bit like a seasoned professor.

“A… a talking magical beast?” Larl froze on the spot.

In Tanggrelia, for a magical beast to develop true intelligence, it first had to reach [True Manifestation] through the double ascension of body and soul.

Meaning… this crow, at minimum, was a True Manifestation-level powerhouse.

“Relax. She’s just an ordinary crow. Nothing dangerous.”

Though Sui Ming reassured him, Larl still sat stiff, practically vibrating with nerves—as though she might devour him the next second.

“Do you know the essence of alchemy?”

“I-I do! It’s equivalent exchange, right? One thing for another, balance of value.”

“No. Its *true* origin.”

“From myths condensed?” Larl suddenly asked.

“Correct, but only partially.

Alchemy, in truth, is the distortion of divine authorities—reshaping matter into the forms you desire.”

“And Soul Invocation… runs on a similar concept, but much darker.

Anyway, let’s set that aside. Let’s talk alchemy.”

“Alchemy ranks are: Apprentice, Master, Grandmaster, Sage, and finally—Archsage.

At least, that’s what we call it within our current world.”

“The basic structure of alchemy arrays comes from spirit runes.

But you needn’t bother learning them. For you, they serve no purpose.”

“That’s wrong, Miss Crow! For an alchemist, runes are everything. How could you say they’re useless?”

“Fine, then. Let him broaden his horizons.

Sui Ming—give him a little show.”

“Which hand should I show? I’ve got too many.”

“You know the one. The one you just mastered.”

Crow sighed.

With a flash of blinding light, a solid iron rod appeared in Sui Ming’s hand out of thin air.

“This… this is—”

“Eh?!”

The impossible stood before Larl’s eyes.

What about equivalent exchange?

What about conservation of matter?

What the hell was this supposed to mean?!

“And that’s why spirit runes exist—they ease matter’s transformation from one form to another.

But clearly, *you* don’t need that process.

For you, it’s nothing but deadweight.”

“So this ability is… that strong?”

“What you need now is simply to broaden the scope of what you can create, and fine-tune its accuracy just a tiny bit more.”

“Your definition of ‘tiny bit’ is…?”

“Mmm… alright, I’ll lower the bar.

Just get it so you can make whatever you think of. Simple enough, right?”

“Simple my ass! That’s literally playing God! You think this is a joke?!”

“Alright, alright, I won’t tease you.

For now, just focus on making bullets.

With a Grandmaster-level alchemist right beside you, it shouldn’t be too hard.”

Crow chuckled.

And so, burdened with the mountain of alchemy instruments purchased earlier, Sui Ming and Larl descended into the underground basement.

“So after all that, how exactly are we supposed to start?”

“Heh, Sui-ge, honestly… alchemy isn’t as hard as you think.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re a natural. I’m zero foundation, zero talent.”

“Forget talent. Just try it first—it’s better than not trying.”

With that, Larl spread several standard instruments across the table.

Nothing exotic—just familiar things Sui Ming had seen before.

“So… you want to make *this*?” He studied the lone remaining bullet in his hand.

“That’s right. I tried before, but every single time the gun tanked. Like the heavens themselves were cursing me.”

“Got any of your past products? Let me see.”

Sui Ming pulled out some rough prototypes from his Ring of the Dead.

“Yikes… this workmanship is atrocious. No wonder the chamber exploded.”

“Stop scolding me… I know I messed up…”

“I checked into the firearm’s mechanisms already, and while the basics seem fine… these bullets—without rifling—have zero stability.

On top of that, your firing stone is unstable, which makes chamber explosions inevitable.”

“Frankly… this doesn’t look like the work of a decent alchemist at all.

More like a child squishing something together in their spare time.”