Chapter 82: The Combat Techniques of Alchemy (2)

The Royal Academy’s arena was already packed to the brim long before the scheduled time for the duel. Tickets for today’s event were nearly impossible to come by—yes, tickets were required. After all, maintaining order among this many people demanded considerable manpower and resources, so charging a fee was perfectly reasonable. More importantly, who would pass up such a golden opportunity to make money?

Among the crowd today could be found people from all walks of life, from commoners to nobles, even members of the royal family and the Emperor himself. Farmers, merchants, workers, officials—every profession was represented. Yet all these different people shared a common cause: supporting Ye Lang.

But where was Ye Lang? Was he, like so many others, planning to make a dramatic entrance at the last minute, just as he had during Zhen Xiaoyan’s match, appearing only at the final moment?

No, Ye Lang had arrived early—so early, in fact, that he beat nearly everyone else. As he put it, “I am a responsible person; I certainly can’t keep others waiting for me.”

At that moment, Ye Lang was already inside the arena, pacing back and forth, carefully surveying the surroundings as if inspecting every inch of the ground.

“Thirteenth Young Master, we’re rooting for you!” voices called out from the crowd, voicing their support.

“Thank you for your support! I’ll treat you all to a meal afterward!” Ye Lang replied with a smile, bowing his hands in gratitude.

“Thirteenth Young Master, there are so many of us—are you really treating us all?” someone shouted jokingly, not truly expecting Ye Lang to take it seriously; there were tens of thousands of people present, after all.

But Ye Lang, ever the prodigal, was delighted by any chance to squander his wealth—

“Yes, I’ll treat every one of you. Go wherever you like, just bring me the bill and I’ll reimburse you!”

“Bravo, Thirteenth Young Master! I like your style!”

“Let’s have dinner at the Grand Pavilion later…”

“I’ll have two bowls of soybean milk, two sticks of fried dough—eat one, toss one…”

“Boss, bring a bowl of fish bones to rinse my mouth…”

In an instant, the whole arena was in an uproar. The duel hadn’t even begun, yet the atmosphere was already electric, the cheers for Ye Lang growing ever louder.

With such energy, one might think it alone would be enough to intimidate Li Danteng. Of course, that was only the opinion of some.

“This little scoundrel really doesn’t see money as money. Treating tens of thousands to a meal—how much is that going to cost!” Long Anqi grumbled from the stands, clearly exasperated.

“To treat so many people at once—what a feat! Unprecedented!” the Emperor exclaimed, reflecting that not even he, with all his status, had ever hosted such a banquet.

Such extravagance could only come from someone as prodigal as Ye Lang; even the most notorious spendthrifts lacked the courage and generosity for a gesture like this. It truly became a legendary event, celebrated by generations to come.

When Li Danteng and his family arrived, the duel was about to begin. Upon noticing Ye Lang had already been present for some time, Li Danteng was momentarily stunned.

In their minds, Ye Lang was the type to show up at the very last minute. Naturally, they began to suspect his motives.

“Thirteenth Young Master, you’re here awfully early. Did you tamper with the arena?” Li Danteng asked with a forced smile.

“No, I am a gentleman,” Ye Lang replied, shaking his head.

The implication was clear—was Li Danteng insinuating otherwise? Only the petty suspect others of pettiness.

“Danteng, Master Edward and the others are all here today. If Ye Lang had tampered with anything, they would surely know,” the First Sword Saint said calmly. His tone belied his intent, however; he wanted Edward and his peers to confirm that Ye Lang had done nothing improper.

The reason for deferring to Edward was simple: he and his colleagues were the Empire’s top royal alchemists. If they vouched for the integrity of the arena, no one could doubt it, especially when it concerned Ye Lang.

Let’s not forget, Ye Lang himself was an alchemist. If he were to make any covert preparations, it would naturally be through alchemy—at least, that was the general perception.

In truth, Edward and the others had come precisely to witness Ye Lang. They were curious to see how this alchemist would defeat his opponent, and perhaps witness him employ Ban’s techniques. Everyone knew Ban was a master of combat among alchemists, and that Ye Lang possessed Ban’s notes. It was only natural to expect Ye Lang might have learned some of those skills.

What the public didn’t know was that Ban’s notes were currently serving as a makeshift table leg under Ye Lang’s desk.

“Rest assured, Thirteenth Young Master has only been looking around. He hasn’t done anything at all—there’s no alchemical array on the ground, nor anything else,” Master Edward snorted, not bothering to hide his disdain.

This was because Edward and the other royal alchemists all harbored immense goodwill toward Ye Lang; it was he who had provided them with Ban’s notes, allowing their alchemical skills to advance by leaps and bounds in recent years.

Simply put, the royal alchemists were staunch supporters of Ye Lang.

“It’s true. For an alchemist, it would be ideal to set up an array in advance to maximize one’s chances. But you’d all accuse me of cheating, so I’m letting it go. Besides, with his abilities, he hardly needs any advance preparations,” Ye Lang said, entirely sincere.

Yet, to others’ ears, his offhand manner sounded almost contemptuous.

“Run your mouth all you want. But I suggest you have a physician standing by,” Li Danteng retorted with disdain, his words clearly meant to belittle.

Everyone in the arena recognized the insult, and many were so incensed they nearly rushed forward to teach him a lesson.

But Ye Lang simply replied blankly, “I’ve already arranged for the best physicians to be on hand. As long as you’re not dead, they can bring you back. Though, there might be some lingering side effects.”

Was he feigning ignorance? Otherwise, how could he turn the insult around so deftly, without leaving any loopholes?

“Well then, since you’re here, let’s begin. Be careful—not to take me lightly. I’m quite strong,” Ye Lang said, waving his hand and spreading his fingers toward Li Danteng.

Really now? Who was he trying to scare? No one believed Ye Lang’s boasts; they all thought he was simply bluffing without a shred of substance.

“Let’s see what you’ve got. I’ll let you make the first move,” Li Danteng replied, utterly unimpressed.