The Silly Alchemist

"You don't need to know much to teach! I give recommendations to Xiaoyan all the time, doesn't mean I can cook better!" Ye Lang blurted in response.

What Ye Lang meant was something all of them already knew. Ye Lang had always been the most avid at giving Zhen Xiaoyan suggestions on new dishes, and that arguably counted as coaching her on cooking, but if he were to do it himself they all knew he most likely would fail terribly.

Even though Ye Lang's cooking was okay, that was all there was!

Naturally, implied into context, just because Ye Lang was coaching her on her culinary skills, Zhen Xiaoyan was still far superior.

A person who teaches doesn't have to know much, a person who knows much doesn't mean they're good at teaching. It was a simple logic, but was it really what Ye Lang was?

The answer to that, only Ye Lang knew.

"With Xiaoyan it's undeniable. But these are two different things. In terms of cultivation, is that really so?" Ye Zhiqing calmly rebuked his logic. Cooking and martial arts or magic were clearly a couple of different fields.

Under such circumstances, most people would be baffled by his answer but would restrain themselves from further questioning, naturally assuming that he was just a good teacher. But that would not apply to Ye Zhiqing, as she would characteristically cut to the chase.

"It's true! I have not achieved Tian level! don't forget, I'm just a zero-attribute good-for-nothing," Ye Lang chuckled.

"……"

Zero-attribute was a fact about him that everyone seemed to have forgotten by now, owing to the fact that it hardly dented his capabilities, not to mention his superior alchemy skills.

Good-for-nothing? If he was then there was hardly anyone out there that wasn't.

Giving it some thought, Ye Zhiqing seemed satisfied with his answer. She felt that Ye Lang understandably would have a hard time achieving Tian level anyway, not to mention he had already admitted that he had not.

She also chose to believe that Ye Lang would not lie about it, especially in front of Ye Lanyu and the rest.

What everyone seemed to neglect however, was that Ye Lang might not have achieved Tian level cultivation, but that didn't mean he was incapable of going head to head with a Tian level cultivator!

That was one of the biggest traits that distinguished him from everyone else, and one of his lesser known sides.

As someone who had yet achieved Tian level, he thought it was nothing but a label set by the mainland. That naturally did not apply to Ye Lang and was borderline cynical in attempting to measure his capabilities with such.

Nevertheless, the topic ended right then as they all began feasting on their meals, enjoyed a little chat after, and headed back to their individual rooms for a good nights' rest.

Time once again fell into a loop as each day mirrored the last. But the past few days, Ye Lanyu and the seventh princess seemed to have felt the signs of breakthrough lingering upon them. It was finally happening!

As for Ye Zhiqing, she presumably had already achieved breakthrough a few days ago, and exactly because of that, they were certain that their time was just around the corner.

The same day, Ye Lang stared blankly at the unrefined wooden structure that had begun to resemble a boat. He figured that if he implanted an alchemy tool that he had recently created, it would work like icing on a cake.

This was a groundbreaking creation of a boat, one that would change the tides of history. One that was a miracle in itself!

Naturally, to create a miracle would require an immense amount of time, which was what Ye Lang was willing to give. After all, it had been seven to eight months since the project began, and yet until now the boat was still only halfway from completion.

Unsurprising to many, his boat might already be the most phenomenal creation that people could feast their eyes upon, at least that was the case for Zhen Xiaoyan and Little Zero. Months ago when they first saw the boat, they were awestruck by its creation.

Only after more months of further development and restructuring did they come to an eventual realisation that perfection in their eyes was not what Ye Lang had perceived. He brought the design to new heights, each time exceeding the expectations of the last, yet still with much more to go!

What sort of boat could this be? What would it be used for?

That is a question whose answer Ye Lang had thus far been rather tight lipped about. Regardless, he was certain that the revelation would shake the others to their core!

Then again, it was a question that the other girls who were not involved in the project were curious about, notably excluding Zhen Xiaoyan and Little Zero.

As part of his grand project, they more or less were already familiar with its purpose. All they needed was just for him to fill them in on the bits and pieces to connect the whole narration.

One good example would be the setup that Ye Lang was working on at the moment, which they had absolutely no clue of.

Just as Ye Lang was setting it up, he abruptly halted.

"Teacher are you okay? Did I do something wrong?" Little Zero quickly took to ask. She was familiar that Ye Lang would occasionally stop mid-work, usually from an error somewhere along the line, but there were however a few instances where he had a fresh click in his head.

"It's not you, you did great," Ye Lang chuckled.

"So did you just have an epiphany? Or is this not suitable?" Little Zero followed with another question. Her tone was in vain, slightly anxious that her hard work might be discarded by Ye Lang on a whim, which was somehow a rather common occurrence around here.

It was not a single occurrence where Ye Lang would abruptly stop their work, but her action today was not out of habit. Instead, she knew there was much to learn along the way, not to mention as an alchemist herself she was aware that occasional mishaps were inevitable anyway.

Alchemist developed a myriad of new creations all the time, but only a few would eventually be put to good use.

Nevertheless, just like her positive mindset, what mattered was the process and the experience they gained along the way after all.

Ye Lang shook his head as he smirked. "Nah, your creation works just fine!"

Whilst speaking, Ye Lang placed the setup onto the deck of the boat. The light of an alchemy formation flashed through before the item mysteriously fused onto the boat like it was part of it all along!

At that moment, Little Zero that was by his side was dumbfounded. She wouldn't think of Ye Lang as daydreaming, he just phased out rather frequently throughout the day anyway. But when he started this project, not once did he zoned off or procrastinate, every moment was him at full throttle.

Which was clear to her that there was indeed something that happened a while ago.

"What happened exactly?" Little Zero clarified.

"I felt the fire and water elements rustling in the air!" Ye Lang replied while meddling his setup, albeit with a bright smile on his face.

"Fire, water elements?" Little Zero was confused. She went to test her equipment, still rather convinced that she might have made a mistake there.

"The issue isn't with us here, it's from there, they must have achieved a breakthrough!" Ye Lang halted her from searching as he briefly explained his abrupt absent-mindedness.

"A breakthrough? You are saying Ms Ye Lanyu and Her highness the seventh princess?" Little Zero was baffled, but was quickly reminded of the two of them that were on the verge of breakthrough. Ye Zhiqing had made it through, so the two of them were the only ones left.

And they were exactly both ice and fire attributed, thus from the refinery came fire and water elements respectively!