Alchemist

Demon spirit coins were the currency used in Glory City. Usually, two to three thousand demon spirit coins would be sufficient for a commoner family's annual expenses. In Glory City, the value of items was measured in demon spirit coins. For example: battle armours, demon crystals, demon beast furs, elixirs and various other items.

The Holy Orchid Institute's annual school fee would be around three thousand demon spirit coins. For a commoner's family, this was a huge expense! But a lot of commoner families would rather live frugally and send their children to the Holy Orchid Institute. That was because, once they became Fighters or Demon Spiritualists, even if it was only at the Bronze rank, they could change their families' fates.

A Bronze rank Fighter who joined the army would have an annual salary of about five to six thousand demon spirit coins. At the same time, they could also venture into the St. Ancestral Mountain Range and gain more benefits from there.

Nie Li belonged to the Heavenly Marks Family. It was a relatively declining Aristocratic family. The Patriarch was a 1-star Gold rank Demon Spiritualist. The family's annual income was around six hundred thousand demon spirit coins. However, the family's expenses were very large. Just the expenses on the children's school fees would amount to around three hundred thousand demon spirit coins per year. This, along with various other expenses, often made it difficult for the family to make ends meet. With no choice but to sell some of the family business to support themselves, the Heavenly Marks Family was able to get all of their younger generation into the Holy Orchid Institute.

The Patriarch had once said that only an outstanding member of the younger generation could get the family to rise once again. Even if they had to live with a high toll, they would let every single member of the younger generation enjoy the largest amount of nurturing the family could provide.

In his previous life, Nie Li hadn't quite understood this line of thinking. He had felt strange about Patriarch Nie Hai's actions. The Patriarch had always been very strict with the younger generation. After his rebirth, Nie Li could finally understand the care and thought of the Patriarch.

As a member of the Heavenly Marks Family, he also wanted the family to grow stronger and reach Glory City's top level.

After his rebirth, Nie Li had a lot of powerful cultivation techniques in my memory. But before using them, he would have to make some money to buy a few primary soul crystals. In order to test his soul realm's attribute, he needed a soul crystal. Only then could he decide which cultivation technique he would practice with. If the cultivation technique matched one's soul realm attributes, their training would be more effective.

DONG! DONG! DONG!

The bell went off throughout Glory City. Class had ended.

The students of Holy Orchid Institute rushed out of the huge gates, and passed through the bustling street straight ahead. The merchants sounded off one after another.

"Latest Bronze rank battle armours! With Snow Wind Patterns inscribed on them! Noble ladies and gentlemen, are you interested?" A vendor with a grey tunic greeted the crowd with much enthusiasm. This soon attracted the attention of many students. A Bronze rank battle armour wasn't something an ordinary student could afford. However, within Holy Orchid Institute, there were actually a lot of children of nobility. Some of them were extremely loaded, and the merchants could sell to those students if they were lucky enough.

"Look, Bronze rank armour with Snow Wind Patterns inscribed on it!"

The students were excited and talked to one another. A pair of gauntlets were exuding a deep blue light. Their surface was covered with mysterious carvings and revealed a faint chilling frost.

"How much is this?" One student asked in a low voice.

"Sixty thousand demon spirit coins!" The vendor said while smiling.

"Good heavens, so expensive!"

A family of commoners couldn't even accumulate sixty thousand demon spirit coins in ten years.

"This is a Bronze rank armour with Snow Wind Patterns inscribed on it. This Snow Wind Pattern was drawn using the blood of a Snow Wind Banshee. The banshee was at it's prime before being killed. The Snow Wind Banshee isn't easy to hunt. Their characteristics also made the gauntlets gain a strong attacking ability. This is definitely a suitable armour for Snow Wind type Fighters or Demon Spiritualists!" The vendor bragged as he introduced the armour.

Many students looked at the pair of gauntlets with yearning, but they still left. Such an expensive item wasn't something they could afford.

"If a Bronze rank armour alone costs sixty thousand demon spirit coins, then wouldn't Silver rank armour and Gold rank armour be even more expensive?" Lu Piao muttered. His monthly allowance was only about five hundred demon spirit coins. Lu Piao's family had a lot of business, so Lu Piao could be considered well off. In his previous life, Lu Piao would often help Nie Li and Du Ze. But even if Lu Piao had some money, a Bronze rank armour wasn't something he could afford.

As Nie Li, Lu Piao, and Du Ze walked, they looked around. This street was filled with all kinds of items. No matter what item, be it expensive or cheap, it could be found here.

"Nie Li, what are you planning?" asked Lu Piao, confused while Nie Li looked around.

As they were talking, a figure arrived in front of the vendor.

"Look, it's Shen Yue!" Lu Piao stated, directing towards Shen Yue's location with his mouth, "And also Ye Ziyun!"

Nie Li looked towards that direction. He only saw Ye Ziyun and a few girls happily chatting. That pretty face and sweet smile of hers were full of sunshine. Among the group of girls, Ye Ziyun's smile was definitely the most dazzling, which made everyone look at her. Everything around here became more vibrant because of Ye Ziyun's existence.

Shen Yue also looked at her from time to time.

"Very good, I'm lacking Bronze rank gauntlets. Wrap up these Bronze rank gauntlets for me," Shen Yue lightly said to the vendor.

"YES, YOUNG MASTER!"

The vendor immediately grinned upon hearing Shen Yue's words and quickly wrapped up the gauntlets.

"Here's sixty thousand demon spirit coins."

Shen Yue took out six demon crystal cards. A single demon crystal card represented ten thousand demon spirit coins.

He made sixty thousand demon spirit coins look light. With a devil-may-care kind of expression he placed the Bronze rank gauntlets into his interspatial ring.

Several girls around him let out light muffled voices. He had easily taken out sixty thousand demon spirit coins, so rich! Several of the slightly pretty girls had the look in their eyes brighten up. They threw flirtatious gazes at Shen Yue. However, Shen Yue treated them as though they were invisible. He proudly looked towards Nie Li's group of three. Then, he looked towards Ye Ziyun. His eyes clearly said, 'I only have eyes for you.'

"How despicable!" Lu Piao growled, "This is a silver bullet attack!"

"Tyrant! Easily throwing out sixty thousand demon spirit coins, and even having an interspatial ring." Du Ze spread out his hands. Shaking his head, he looked at Nie Li and said, "Nie Li, people like him are handsome and rich. What can you compete against him with?"

"Hehe. Ziyun doesn't care about that amount of money," Nie Li casually spoke. He swept his gaze towards Ye Ziyun. She had completely ignored Shen Yue's action, and was talking to the few girls beside her. Her eyes were occasionally looking at Xiao Ning'er, but Xiao Ning'er stood absent-mindedly to one side.

Xiao Ning'er's expression was cold. She was usually a lone wolf, and didn't have much contact with the other students.

Nie Li knew that what Ye Ziyun wanted the most right now was friendship. In his previous life, Ye Ziyun had always wanted to be friends with Xiao Ning'er, but their identities led them further apart instead.

Looking at Ye Ziyun's expression, Shen Yue was somewhat disappointed.

"Fine, Ye Ziyun indeed doesn't care about money. Nie Li, she wouldn't like females, right? If so, your game's over," Lu Piao blinked, teasing Nie Li.

Nie Li laughed. He naturally hadn't taken Lu Piao's words to heart. In his previous life, he had been Ye Ziyun's only man.

"Let's go, I'm starting my plan!"

Du Ze and Lu Piao's expressions turned solemn, and they nodded their heads.

"Lu Piao, go buy two crossbows and five hundred crossbow bolts. A crossbow costs one hundred and sixty demon spirit coins each and the bolts cost thirty demon spirit coins each, don't get cheated by hawkers!" Nie Li told Lu Piao, "We'll meet up at the school's training ground."

"Okay!" said Lu Piao, nodding his head and feeling a bit curious in his heart. Had Nie Li bought crossbows and crossbow bolts in the past, since he knew their exact prices?

Nie Li's monthly allowance was only fifty demon spirit coins, so he didn't have enough to buy expensive things.

"Du Ze, we'll go buy Black Pool Grass," Nie Li said. Black Pool Grass had a certain paralysis effect.

Du Ze's situation was even worse than Nie Li's. Naturally, Nie Li wouldn't let Du Ze use his money. So when buying those herbs, Nie Li was the one paying.

Black Pool Grass was very cheap. One demon spirit coin could buy a bunch of it. In addition, Nie Li also bought some low level fusing agents and went to a small hill at the side of Glory City to collect some Zoysia Grass.

"What are you planning to do?" Du Ze curiously asked.

Nie Li laughed mysteriously, "Black Pool Grass has a certain paralysis effect, but the efficiency is very low. It is generally used to smear on wounds to relieve some pain. As for Zoysia Grass, it is a very common weed so no one has found a use for them yet. However, if it's used with a fusing agent and Black Pool Grass, it can greatly strengthen the paralysis effect of the Black Pool Grass."

Du Ze was stunned for a moment and then asked, "How strong is the paralysis effect?"

Nie Li laughed and said, "It doesn't have much effect on ordinary demon beasts. The effect is worse than a low-grade paralyzing agent. But did you know that the Horned Sheep never eat Zoysia Grass?"

"Horned Sheep?" repeated Du Ze and went silent for a moment. As if he vaguely guessed something, his eyes lit up, "Nie Li, would you happen to be an alchemist?"

"An alchemist?" Nie Li thought awhile and laughed, "I guess so."

An alchemist was referring to those who used herbs to refine elixirs or people that allocated prescriptions. Nie Li wasn't an alchemist. In his previous life, he had only had slight knowledge of alchemy. However, Glory City's alchemy standards were simply too low. They couldn't even be considered real alchemists. Nie Li could look down on those so called 'alchemists' in Glory City. When Nie Li was having his adventure around the continent, he had entered the Toxic Forest. The people living in Toxic Forest had survived countless attacks from poisonous demon beasts. They could be considered real alchemists!

Nie Li started mixing the grasses and fusing agents, getting a total of six full bottles of the drug.

--- Holy Orchid Institute Training Grounds ---

The training grounds were established by the Legend rank Demon Spiritualist Lord Ye Mo and the principal of the school, who was a Black Gold rank Demon Spiritualist. The training grounds were surrounded by towering walls. Every year, experts in Glory City would capture some low level demon beasts and place them into the training grounds. Any Holy Orchid Institute student who was below Silver rank could enter the grounds. Students could hunt the demon beasts inside and obtain fur, demon crystals, and various other beast materials from them to dispose of them freely. Some of the poorer students could hunt inside the training ground to help with their family's financial situation.

Nie Li's group of three hadn't even reached 1-star Bronze rank, yet. So the place that they were going to in the training grounds was the safest area. There were only Horned Sheep in that area. Although Horned Sheep were very aggressive in nature, they were still herbivores. Therefore, their attacks would only cause serious injuries. So they could be considered relatively safe.

Nie Li's group of three entered the training grounds after they had their identities verified by the guards at the entrance.

--- Training Grounds Apprentice Area ---

Within the sparse trees, there would be patches of grass fields with Horned Sheep slowly pacing on them. Their eyes were red. Occasionally, they would prick up their ears to listen. Once an outsider entered their territory, they would mercilessly attack him.

Suddenly, an abnormal sound was heard. The Horned Sheep closest to Nie Li's group let out a growl and rushed towards the direction of the abnormal sound.