Although the two of them had never had much contact, Salomon’s attention to this young mage had begun months ago. Back then, this young mage had exchanged a bottle of Prism Elixir for a top-level pass from Sage’s Spire, then spent nearly two months holed up in the library.
During those two months, although Salomon never visited the library himself, Soren brought him all sorts of news every day: what kind of book Mage Merlin read today, what kind of notes Mage Merlin made tomorrow, what opinions Mage Merlin expressed the day after...
There were things that even Lin Yun himself probably wouldn’t remember, but Salomon always kept everything perfectly clear.
Because Salomon knew that this young mage was far from ordinary—his extraordinariness went far beyond what most people could imagine...
Even Soren didn’t know that after someone voiced their opinion on Vanrison’s Formulas that day, Salomon returned to his study and wrote a long letter to Star Sage Joey...
The four pieces of data attached to that letter quickly sparked a wave of heated discussion among the kingdom’s mage circles. Not only Star Sage Joey and Cloudspire Tower, but many powerful mages interested in Vanrison’s Formulas began to participate in the debate by letter. More and more mages started to admit that these four data points might well prove Vanrison’s Formulas wrong. Quite a few even sent congratulations to Salomon, believing that the four data points he provided would be a discovery worthy of entering the annals of magical history.
Faced with all these congratulations, Salomon could only force a bitter smile...
Because only Salomon himself knew that those four data points didn’t belong to him—they belonged to a young mage in his twenties...
Still, Salomon could never figure out whether the young mage had calculated those four data points himself, or just happened to overhear them from someone else.
That was why, just now, Salomon had tried so hard to make him stay, and during their small talk, deliberately steered the conversation toward magic—just to test whether this young mage’s magical knowledge was truly strong enough to see through the flaws in Vanrison’s Formulas.
Whether that’s truly the case is still uncertain, but one thing is clear: this young mage’s magical knowledge far exceeds his current rank.
It might even surpass the level of a Grand Mage, because during their conversation, Salomon clearly sensed that the young mage was holding back—he hadn’t revealed the full extent of his magical knowledge.
Still, even so, it was enough to be terrifying.
A mage whose magical knowledge was at least on par with a Grand Mage...
And this mage was only in his twenties. Given time, not just his own disciple Solon—even Ryan from the Monty Family would be left far behind.
Now, this young mage was fiercely competing for alchemical potion ingredients.
What did that mean...
At this point, Salomon was starting to wonder—maybe the mysterious Grandmaster Alchemist he’d speculated about didn’t exist at all. Or rather, maybe it was actually Matthew Merlin himself?
If it had been two months ago, Salomon would never have thought this way. The reason was simple—everyone knew that a good mage wasn’t necessarily a good alchemist, but a good alchemist was always a good mage. It might sound convoluted, but the logic had been proven countless times.
Alchemy was originally separated from magic. The more advanced the alchemy, the deeper the magical knowledge required. Many theories and conventions couldn’t be grasped without enough magical knowledge, and some alchemical operations could only be completed with sufficiently strong mana.
Take Sophron, one of the Triumvirate of Sage’s Spire. Before advancing to Archmage, Sophron had lingered at the top-tier alchemist level for over a decade. Only when he suddenly advanced to Archmage did his alchemy soar—within a month, he’d joined the ranks of Grandmaster Alchemists.
At that time, Matthew Merlin had only just become a mage. How could he possibly have reached Grandmaster Alchemist level?
But now, Salomon was starting to seriously doubt it.
A mage whose magical knowledge was at least at Grand Mage level—in theory, he’d already be capable of concocting the Prism Elixir.
What’s more, he was now sparing no expense to compete for several alchemical potion ingredients...
Salomon sat in the corner of the private box, occasionally erupting into violent coughs. His previously hesitant gaze suddenly grew resolute.
By now, the auction for Crimsonfire Fish Oil was over. Lin Yun had secured the final ingredient for Mana Baptism with 1.2 million gold coins.
For Lin Yun, once he’d obtained the Crimsonfire Fish Oil, this auction was already over. But for many others, the auction was just beginning.
Because next up was the highlight of the event—the grand finale of the Blackhorn Auction.
It was tradition at the Blackhorn Auction: the most precious, most astonishing items were always saved for the very end. It was a way to build suspense, but also a mark of respect—just like in novels, the most important characters always make their entrance last.
“Up next is the highlight of this auction...” Kadgar announced, lifting the silk on the auction table to reveal two alchemical potions—one red, one black: “Before you now are a bottle of Volcano Elixir and a bottle of Phantom Elixir.”
“My god...”
“Are those really Volcano Elixir and Phantom Elixir?”
How could something like this turn up in Seaview City!
Kadgar hadn’t even finished speaking before the hall erupted into chaos. If the Oblivion Inferno spell and Crimsonfire Fish Oil had caused a sensation earlier, then these two alchemical potions brought outright shockwaves.
Anyone attending the Blackhorn Auction was a person of broad experience, and the fame of Volcano Elixir and Phantom Elixir—who hadn’t heard of them?
In fact, it went far beyond mere hearsay...
These two alchemical potions, closest to the Artisan rank, had become legendary in the minds of many. The Volcano Elixir could make mana erupt like a volcano, instantly pushing a Grand Mage to Archmage status; the Phantom Elixir could render the body incorporeal, immune to harm. These were the pinnacle of Grandmaster Alchemist achievement—any alchemist who mastered them might step into the ranks of Artisan overnight.
Even for Grandmaster Alchemists at this level, these potions were rarely made. First, the ingredients were prohibitively expensive—most Grandmaster Alchemists couldn’t afford them. Second, brewing these potions was exhausting, often taking ten days or even a month to complete.
Whenever even a single bottle of either potion appeared, countless factions would scramble for it, willing to risk ruin for the chance to claim it.
And now, unbelievably, two bottles had appeared at once.
Could it be that Seaview City suddenly had two Grandmaster Alchemists on the verge of becoming Artisans?
“I’m sure everyone is wondering—if there are two alchemical potions, why auction them together?” Kadgar paused shamelessly, waiting until everyone’s curiosity peaked. Only then did the chief appraiser speak slowly: “The answer is simple. Both potions were made by the same person.”
The same person!
That answer sent shockwaves through the hall, rivaling the impact of the potions themselves. Creating one potion of this caliber was already incredible, but someone had made two at once—were they trying to frighten people, or what?
“And I can tell you this—the future Artisan is very, very young. Younger than anyone here could possibly imagine...”
Kadgar stopped there, no matter how much the crowd pressed him for more. As if he’d joke about it—someone as shrewd as Kadgar knew exactly what to say and what to keep to himself.
Whether revealing the author was the same person or that he was extremely young, it was all just to add a touch of legend to the potions. Any more, and he’d risk exposing too much. Kadgar had only just gotten closer to Mage Merlin before Sage’s Spire—until their relationship was solid, why would he put a future Artisan in the spotlight? That’d be asking for trouble...
“Alright, the starting bid for these two alchemical potions is three hundred thousand gold coins, with each raise no less than twenty thousand.”
Kadgar’s devilishly clever introduction instantly hooked everyone’s curiosity...
It was one thing for both near-Artisan level potions to be made by the same person, but now Kadgar had dropped another bombshell!
Keep in mind, Kadgar himself was a prodigiously talented Grandmaster Alchemist—he’d reached that level at only forty. And now even Kadgar described this new Grandmaster Alchemist as 'unimaginably young.' Just how young could he be?
Thirty-five? Maybe even thirty?
Just imagining the possibility made everyone’s scalp tingle...
Everyone in the hall was far from ordinary—many were leaders of top factions, all of whom had trained plenty of alchemists themselves. They knew all too well how difficult it was to cultivate a true alchemist.