Chapter 15: The Fortunate Spendthrift

“What? Ban’s Alchemical Notes?” Everyone present who knew what this was reacted with astonishment, and now they understood why the Emperor himself seemed so shocked—anyone would have been the same in his position.

Ban was a legendary alchemist from a thousand years ago, whose mastery of alchemy had already surpassed the bounds of human understanding. If one could obtain his techniques, it would make a nation immeasurably stronger.

It was much like modern technology on Earth: any country that possessed the most advanced technology would inevitably rise to power.

Countless people had offered him all manner of tempting conditions in hopes of acquiring his knowledge, yet he never agreed. Others had tried to seize it by force, only to discover such a feat was all but impossible.

Alchemists, after all, had their own unique ways of fighting. They could use alchemical arrays to summon magical elements, and could also alter aspects of their surrounding environment—sometimes changing mere shapes, and sometimes even transforming the very structure of matter.

A powerful alchemist could easily rival a mage or warrior of equal standing, and since they often carried various alchemical devices, they became even more difficult to deal with.

However, alchemists had to calculate countless factors during battle and precisely draw their alchemical arrays, making their craft extremely demanding. The majority of alchemists could manage only to protect themselves; advancing to true mastery was exceedingly rare—one might not see a true expert emerge in a hundred years.

But if an alchemist was given sufficient time to prepare, they could easily blast even a master into dust.

“Yes, that’s what the reports say. The item is right here in the imperial capital,” the Emperor nodded.

“What? Then whose hands is it in now? No matter the cost, we must acquire it!” declared a burly general, his bearing unmistakably that of the Empire’s Grand Marshal.

As the nation’s Grand Marshal, he naturally understood the value of Ban’s Alchemical Notes to the military. With just one or two powerful alchemical artifacts, they could become invincible.

“Well, the information about the current possessor is rather surprising,” the Emperor replied with a peculiar look, glancing at Ye Chengtian.

“??” Ye Chengtian was puzzled by the Emperor’s strange expression. Those who didn’t know might have assumed the object had fallen into the Ye family’s hands.

“Chengtian, if your Ye family has this, hand it over. You can’t keep something like this to yourselves. At most, I’ll go easy on you in future—if you want to be head of the family, I’ll back you to the end,” the Grand Marshal said bluntly.

“Uncle Li, if we had it, my father would have shown it to you already—he’d never keep something like this to himself,” Ye Chengtian replied helplessly.

Marshal Li and Ye Yi’s relationship could be summed up in three words: ironclad brothers. They grew up together, got into trouble together, chased girls together, traveled the world together…

Now, even as both had reached grandfatherly age, they still bickered whenever they met, quarreling over trivial matters—though this was only a sign of their deep friendship.

“That’s true. If you had it, he’d be here now, not off at home canoodling with Sister Lian’er,” Marshal Li said. Even without anyone telling him, he knew Ye Yi must be glued to Ruan Lian’er’s side. He couldn’t fathom how those two could still be so close after so many years of marriage—his own relationship with his wife seemed far more subdued.

Still, Marshal Li would never admit to loving his wife any less than Ye Yi did—his way was simply different.

“Chengtian, the person who acquired the item is indeed from your Ye family—you just don’t know it yet. In fact, he himself may not even realize,” the Emperor now said, leaving everyone perplexed.

“??” Ye Chengtian looked at the Emperor, awaiting his next words.

“Little Ye Lang, come here a moment—I have something to ask you,” the Emperor called to the young spendthrift who was still chatting with Ye Lanyu, but the boy didn’t even seem to hear, leaving the Emperor a little exasperated.

However, the moment the Emperor called out to Little Ye Lang, everyone seemed to realize something—could it be…?

“Your Majesty, what do you need?” The young spendthrift was dragged over by Tigress and asked directly.

“Little Ye Lang, did you buy a strange box at the auction today?” The Emperor smiled slightly as he asked.

“Yes, I bought it for a hundred thousand gold coins,” the boy replied.

“Do you know what’s inside?” the Emperor asked, probing.

“No idea.” The boy shook his head.

“As I thought. If you didn’t know, why did you buy it?” the Emperor asked, a bit baffled.

“I wanted to squander money,” the boy replied with righteous conviction.

“…”

The members of the Ye family—both old and young—covered their foreheads in exasperation. They had all guessed this would be his answer.

“With him wasting money like this, why don’t any of you stop him? Is your family really that wealthy?” Marshal Li grumbled. He had heard of the Ye family’s little wastrel before, but only today did he witness the extent.

“It’s not that we don’t try. He just enjoys it, and there’s nothing we can do. Besides, he often ends up buying rare and wondrous items—their value is truly unimaginable,” Ye Chengtian said, his tone a bit odd.

Indeed, if not for the fact that the little spendthrift occasionally acquired exceedingly rare treasures, the family would never have let him squander money at will. At the very least, they would have limited him—maybe capped his spending at a hundred thousand gold coins.

But could that even be called ‘limiting’?

“That’s right, I know about this too. It’s as if Lady Luck has smiled upon him since birth. Just look at this time—he spent a hundred thousand gold coins on that box, and its value far exceeds everything he’s squandered before. Even ten million would be a bargain,” said the Emperor.

“So Ban’s Alchemical Notes are inside the box? Little Ye Lang, hurry and show your Grandpa Li what you bought!” Marshal Li exclaimed.

“Alright… um, which one is Grandpa Li?” Little Ye Lang nodded, then realized he didn’t actually know who Grandpa Li was.

“…”

“Pfft…”

Everyone around let out a stifled laugh, then quickly put on serious faces, completely denying they’d ever laughed—among them, it seemed, was even the Emperor.

“Son, Grandpa Li is right there—you met him when you were little,” Long Anqi said, stifling her laughter and giving the boy a light tap.

“When?”

“At your first month celebration.”

“Oh…”

“…”