"I already prepared it," Slovin said, taking the tray from Li Litot's hand. He pushed the door open with a beaming smile and squeezed into the room. "This is food I've mixed with some elixirs; it should help with your recovery."

"Guild Master Slovin?" Qian Jin was surprised. Hadn't he sent this Guild Master away just yesterday? By the look of him, it seemed he had been standing guard outside the door the whole time.

"All of us are leaders of the guilds in Yongliu City; we should foster closer relations," Slovin said, walking toward Qian Jin with a smile that gave Qian Jin the distinct feeling of being eyed by a wild wolf. "Guild Master Qian, this Fire-Scorched Grass Tonic is quite the restorative..."

"I'll manage myself..."

Qian Jin raised his right hand, which, as everyone knew, wasn't as badly injured as it looked. "Being fed by a man always feels a bit awkward."

"Oh, I see..." Slovin managed an awkward laugh. "Very well then."

Qian Jin had been busy for sixteen hours and was indeed hungry, quickly clearing out the various foods on the tray.

Slovin watched Qian Jin with a steady gaze. In just those sixteen hours, the Alchemists' Guild had gathered quite a bit of intelligence on Qian Jin: Thirtieth on the Hundred Battles List of the Conquest Academy, the future successor of the Torrent Fortress, and now the new leader of the Blacksmiths' Guild. Furthermore, he seemed to have somewhat unfriendly ties with the Qian family, the bloodline warriors of the Elven King in Qianzhou. The specifics would only be clear once the envoys sent to Qianzhou returned.

Moreover, since Qian Jin joined the Torrent Fortress, Mu Guwuxin's attitude toward both the Alchemists' Guild and the Blacksmiths' Guild had subtly shifted—a very clear signal.

Shortly after Mu Guwuxin's attitude toward the Blacksmiths' Guild changed, Qian Jin became its Guild Master thanks to his outstanding forging skills. Thus, it was highly probable that the brutal Fortress Master Mu Guwuxin's change in attitude toward the Alchemists' Guild was also because of Qian Jin.

Based on the intelligence gathered and his personal experience, Slovin was now almost certain that Qian Jin was an alchemist completely unregistered with the Alchemists' Guild—and a remarkably powerful one at that; perhaps... he was already a top-tier Alchemy Master!

It had to be true! Slovin grew increasingly convinced his conjecture was correct, because according to Qian Jin's file, he was also a blacksmith unregistered with the Blacksmiths' Guild, yet he had taken over the guild overnight, gifted by Yun Xinghuan.

Qian Jin finished the last bite of food, wiped his mouth with a damp towel, and coughed at the daydreaming Slovin. "Guild Master, do you have any other questions for me?"

Questions? Slovin nodded decisively. As an Alchemy Master dedicated to exploring the true essence of potions, he wouldn't care about the other person's age or any awkwardness, provided he could learn more profound alchemy.

"Then please, ask away," Qian Jin said, reluctantly adjusting his posture. "I will answer your queries to the best of my ability."

Slovin was stunned by how amenable Qian Jin was. He had been contemplating various methods to satisfy any potential demands Qian Jin might make just to earn the chance to ask his questions.

Alchemy knowledge might be worthless in the eyes of ordinary people, but to an alchemist, it was more valuable than the Emperor's throne! Unless relationships were very close, alchemists rarely shared such secrets with one another.

"This..." Slovin readjusted his focus and began posing the questions he had compiled throughout the sleepless night, in order.

Throughout the night, Slovin had managed to recall nearly every difficult question and quandary he had encountered in the Alchemists' Tower.

Hong Seyork stood outside the door, consumed by curiosity. What exactly was the Guild Master of the Alchemists' Tower doing? How could he have been inside for several hours with no sign of leaving? Even if he was trying to win over Qian Jin, surely it shouldn't take this long?

A member of the Torrent Fortress paced anxiously by the door. If the Alchemists' Guild Master hadn't been inside, he would have rushed in long ago; this was a matter entrusted to him by Gu Yuejiaying.

"You outside! Get some water in here for us!"

Slovin roared gruffly, then immediately turned back to face Qian Jin with the demeanor of a student, clutching his pen and notebook tightly, rapidly recording Qian Jin's answers and explanations.

In that moment, Slovin was utterly immersed in the ocean of absorbing alchemical knowledge. He felt that his entire past life had been wasted, his decades of research rendered useless compared to this short period of instruction.

"I'll get it!" The Torrent Fortress member snatched the water flask from Li Litot and hastily pushed the door open.

Li Litot shrugged. Well, what could he do?

Hong Seyork glared with envy at the Torrent Fortress member. He had been too engrossed in pondering Qian Jin's origins and had forgotten to grab the water flask himself.

Slovin saw the flask, raised his arm, and waved. "That's enough, you can go out now."

The Torrent Fortress member froze, looking at Qian Jin with a troubled expression. He had already waited for hours, and it was unsuitable to keep waiting, or he would have a difficult time explaining the delay to Gu Yuejiaying.

"Didn't you hear me!" Slovin suddenly erupted, grabbing the clothing of the Torrent Fortress member with both hands and roaring, "Get out of here, now..."

"Guild Master Slovin, perhaps that's not appropriate?"

Qian Jin's calm statement instantly made the bulging veins on Slovin's forehead disappear. He turned back to Qian Jin with an awkward smile. He had become too absorbed in the world of alchemy and felt profoundly annoyed by any interruption, forgetting that Qian Jin himself belonged to the Torrent Fortress. How would Qian Jin react to someone treating a member of his faction poorly?

Sigh... Slovin sighed internally. If he were in Qian Jin's shoes, he would have told the intruder to scram long ago.

Be low-key, be low-key! Slovin secretly cautioned himself. He needed to be discreet around Qian Jin and discard his usual demeanor towards warriors! Not only did he need to be humble, but he also had to instruct those useless members back at the Alchemists' Tower to be polite to every warrior from the Torrent Fortress from now on—extremely polite, as if they were their own sons.

"Gu Yuejiaying said... the Luo family's latest shipment was ambushed again beyond the frontier... Not long ago... someone arrived from beyond the frontier asking to see you."

"Ambushed beyond the frontier again?" Qian Jin raised an eyebrow. He had heard the second convoy heading beyond the frontier carried a massive amount of goods; this loss was far greater than the last!

"Someone from beyond the frontier wants to see me?" Qian Jin was puzzled. "Do they want us to ransom the goods back?"

"Not exactly. He said that as long as you knew Hua Yan was missing, you would understand."

Qian Jin's body stiffened slightly. Hua Yan is missing! The female bandit leader! It had been a long time since he had seen her. She had mentioned last time that if she ever needed him, she would send someone to find him. Could she be in trouble? Very likely! He recalled there seemed to be internal issues within that bandit group.

"Let's go! Get a few people and carry me back."

Slovin blinked hard. What was happening? A few words, and they were taking him away? What about his questions concerning alchemy?

"Guild Master Qian, if..."

Qian Jin's expression darkened, and he frowned at Slovin. "Is there a matter?"

Slovin shivered under that gaze. The dissatisfaction bubbling up in his throat vanished without a trace. A flash of insight struck him, and he hurried to say, "Could it be that the Luo family's merchant convoy ran into trouble beyond the frontier? How could this be allowed? They show too little respect for Yongliu City! As your friend, I hope I can be of service! Our Alchemists' Guild still has a few powerful figures..."

"Thank you then," Qian Jin replied without ceremony. "Assign anyone you can spare to the Torrent Fortress. I have a feeling... we might actually have to go beyond the frontier this time, and there might actually be fighting involved."

"Yes! I will return immediately to make arrangements." Slovin readily agreed, secretly delighted. Beyond the frontier! A chaotic region no less volatile than the Human-Demon Battlefield! Although he was allied with Li Deyork and the others in encircling the Lei family, his relationship with Qian Jin was clearly not as solid as with other factions. He absolutely could not pass up an opportunity like this.

"Oh, one more thing..."

Slovin walked to the door, looked back cautiously at Qian Jin, took several deep breaths, and asked, "Guild Master Qian, I wonder if you have any interest in becoming the Guild Master of our Alchemists' Tower?"

Hong Seyork, standing at the door, vigorously cleaned his ear, doubting he had heard correctly. This Alchemists' Tower Guild Master was actually extending an invitation to Qian Jin in a tone of consultation?

The position of Guild Master of the Alchemists' Tower! That wasn't a post one could buy with mere gold coins! So many people had battered their heads and offered huge sums of money only to be denied!

Yet now, this Guild Master was consulting with Qian Jin, or rather, there was a hint of pleading in his tone, hoping Qian Jin would take over the Alchemists' Tower.

Hong Seyork desperately wanted to step forward and ask Slovin if his head had been squeezed by the door, or kicked by a horse? That was the seat of power in the Alchemists' Tower!

Li Litot's mouth gaped wide enough to swallow a goose egg. What was the meaning of this? Openly poaching talent? In just one day, he had learned quite a bit about his Guild Master: the current head of the Blacksmiths' Guild, the future head of the Torrent Fortress, and the successor to Jun Wudao's Wudao Society—and now the Alchemists' Tower was poaching talent too?

Wait! A cold sweat broke out on Hong Seyork's forehead. If Qian Jin truly took over the Alchemists' Tower, he would control four major powers. Even if the City Lord's faction united with the others, they could only barely contend with Qian Jin!

In the future, it was likely that the majority of Yongliu City would belong to the Qian name!

"The Alchemists' Tower..." Qian Jin paused in thought for several seconds, causing Slovin to almost faint from anxiety. Finally, he heard, "...it's not impossible to take over, but I heard the Alchemists' Tower has a very poor attitude towards warriors, even worse than the Blacksmiths' Guild. If I take over, this bad habit must be corrected."

"Absolutely!" Slovin nodded like a chicken pecking grain. Only those who had truly interacted with Qian Jin understood how high his alchemical proficiency was! His life's work was this Alchemists' Tower in Yongliu, but under his and his former master's hands, there was no further room for development.

Slovin's greatest aspiration in life was never the height of his own achievements in alchemy, but rather to see the Alchemists' Tower achieve greater development, realizing the wish his master had failed to fulfill before his death.