"Master Merlin, what does this mean?" The question hung in the air—not just from the young mage apprentice, but even Basoro, who had been scribbling away, suddenly looked up with a deep frown.
As a Grand Alchemist, Basoro knew all too well what Dissipation Potion was—a poison crafted solely for mages. Even a trace could drain your mana in an instant. Thieves often coated their daggers with it, hoping a small cut would lead to a mage’s downfall.
Yet, he’d never heard of any mage daring to drink Dissipation Potion...
"Probably sour..." Leon seemed oblivious to Basoro’s question. His eyes, narrowed in quiet calculation, stayed locked on the young apprentice—a gaze that felt almost predatory.
"Y-you’re lying!" The apprentice faltered under Leon’s relentless stare, panic rising in his voice. "What Dissipation Potion? I’ve never heard of it—what proof do you have?"
"Proof, is it..."
Leon sat perfectly still, his voice dripping with lazy indifference—as if none of this truly mattered.
But the moment his words faded, the air split with a sharp hiss.
A spray of blood burst forth—bright and sudden, painting the moment in crimson shock.
Before anyone could even blink, a glass vial materialized in Leon’s hand, almost like a conjurer’s trick. With a flick of his wrist, every drop of blood—none missed—was swept into the vial, the motion fluid and eerily precise.
The entire process happened in the blink of an eye...
It wasn’t until Crew clutched his right hand and let out a pained scream that everyone finally saw the blood streaming down the young mage apprentice’s wrist. That faint 'whoosh' in the air had been a wind blade, so fast it was almost imperceptible.
In that split second, a wind blade had sliced open the apprentice’s wrist, and a glass vial had neatly caught the spurting blood.
How all this happened—how it began and ended—not a single person in the room had managed to see it clearly.
What did this even mean...
The three seated across the long table weren’t mere bystanders. Granger was a fifth-tier archmage, Basoro a sixth-tier, and the last had only recently advanced to archmage. Yet, not one of them had caught how Matthew Merlin unleashed the wind blade, sliced Crew’s finger, and bottled the blood.
This realization sent a chill down everyone’s spine...
Such spellcasting speed was terrifying—three archmages together, and none could react in time.
If that wind blade had been aimed at their throats instead of Crew’s finger, what would have happened?
At this thought, Granger suddenly found his chair growing uncomfortable beneath him...
Ever since the young mage had stepped into the meeting room, Granger had been making things difficult for him. Some of it was just the nature of these hearings, but a part of it was Granger’s own selfishness.
Others might not know the reason, but Granger certainly did. Ryan, the eldest son of the Monty family, had personally visited, offering a trove of rare magical materials—just for Granger to trouble Matthew Merlin during the hearing.
At the time, Granger hadn’t hesitated to agree.
After all, in Granger’s mind, this twenty-something mage had lost his greatest patron, and now ran an alchemy shop with a half-dead old steward—no power, no backing. What harm was there in giving him a hard time at the hearing? Did he really dare retaliate?
Retaliate against a grand alchemist? He wouldn’t dare, even if he had ten times the courage!
Well, even if by some miracle he did dare—what could he possibly do...?
A twenty-something mage, seeking revenge against a fifth-tier archmage? What a joke...
So from the very start, Granger had been looking for ways to trip up this young mage, every question laced with bias and malice.
But now, Granger was starting to lose his composure...
He suddenly realized that the young mage he’d been tormenting—though lacking power or backing—was far more dangerous than he’d ever imagined...
He’d managed, right under the noses of three archmages, to slice open Crew’s wrist with a wind blade and bottle the spurting blood—none of them had time to react.
Such spellcasting speed was simply terrifying...
The thought of sharing a room with such a dangerous individual—especially after having so brazenly antagonized him—made Granger’s face pale.
"Merlin... Mage Merlin, what are you... what are you doing?"
"Nothing much. Apprentice Crew just claimed I had no evidence, didn’t he?" Lin Yun replied, gently swirling the glass vial in his hand, his tone unhurried. "I found that rather provocative, so I decided to show him some evidence."
"So, where’s the evidence?"
"Evidence..." Lin Yun smiled and stood up, still swirling the vial as he walked toward the long table.
"What... what are you doing!" Granger jumped in alarm, but after his outburst, he realized his own loss of composure and quickly tried to cover it up: "Just put the evidence on the table, there’s no need to come so close!"
"Archmage Granger, I’m only bringing you the evidence. There’s no need to be so nervous..."
"I’m not nervous!" Of course Granger wouldn’t admit it.
Thankfully, Lin Yun had no intention of debating his nerves. He simply placed the blood-filled vial on the long table. "This is the evidence."
"What kind of evidence is this?" Granger was utterly baffled.
Not just Granger...
The other two grand alchemists, though silent, looked at Lin Yun with furrowed brows. What kind of evidence was a vial holding a few drops of blood?
Fortunately, Lin Yun didn’t keep them guessing for long.
"Archmage Granger, you really lack some basic knowledge..." Lin Yun pointed at the 'History of Alchemy' lying on the floor, smiling. "If you’d bother to look at page twenty-seven, line three, you’d find a description of the symptoms suffered by the Long-Legged Emperor of the Third Dynasty after being wounded by a weapon coated with Dissipation Potion. If I’m not mistaken, it mentions the Emperor’s wound took three months to heal and kept bleeding the entire time..."
Granger’s face turned a shade worse than pig liver. His earlier mockery had been thrown back at him, and there was nothing he could say—the passage was too crucial. He stared at the 'History of Alchemy' on the floor, torn between picking it up and leaving it be...
If he picked it up, it would be a slap in the face. But if he didn’t, how could he refute Lin Yun? He’d have to let him say whatever he wanted.
"See, Archmage Granger, the soap—oh, I mean, knowledge—is right at your feet, and you won’t even bend down for it..." The worst part was, Lin Yun just kept twisting the knife with his sarcasm.
For a moment, Granger truly wished he could disappear.
"Why don’t you pick it up and take a look, Granger?" Basoro couldn’t help but suggest.
Granger shot Basoro a look. He didn’t say anything, but in his heart, he’d just cursed Basoro’s ancestors for eighteen generations. Damn it, are you human or beast? I’m already in this state, and you’re still kicking me while I’m down. Why don’t you pick it up yourself?
"The hearing has to go on." Basoro probably knew Granger wasn’t thinking anything nice about him, so after speaking, he buried his head and offered a vague excuse.
Still, for Granger, it was at least a way out. After hesitating for ages, he finally gritted his teeth and picked up the 'History of Alchemy' from the floor.
Then Granger just wanted to die.
Because on page twenty-seven, line three, it really did say that the Long-Legged Emperor of the Third Dynasty, after being wounded by a weapon coated with Dissipation Potion, took three months for the wound to heal—and it kept bleeding the entire time.
Everything was exactly as Matthew Merlin had described—word for word!
Suddenly, Granger realized this hearing might be going very badly for him...
Sure enough, as Granger flipped open the 'History of Alchemy,' Lin Yun picked up the glass vial again, gently swirling it in his hand. "Why does the wound keep bleeding? Just look at this blood. It’s been nearly twenty minutes since I cut Crew’s wrist, and the blood still hasn’t coagulated. Archmage Granger, you’re not going to tell me this is just a ridiculous coincidence, are you?"
"That... that’s just your speculation. It can’t be considered evidence!" Granger felt there was still a chance to salvage things.
"This isn’t speculation." Lin Yun had no intention of giving him another chance. He picked up a quill and a sheet of paper from the table and quickly wrote out four alchemical formulas. "Here—use these to mix a potion. In less than three minutes, you’ll be able to extract at least one drop of Dissipation Potion from Crew’s blood. If you still don’t believe me, Archmage Granger, you can try it yourself!"
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Everyone, cast your votes and try it yourselves!!!!