Chapter 573: List

Laurel’s lost look already provided an answer, and both Andrew and Caspar shared it.

Actually, that reaction extended to Uriah and Rachel. They didn’t show anything, but Liam felt their near-imperceptible shift. It was a mixture of extremely faint suppressed reactions that told him where their knowledge stood.

The four had no idea what a Heavenly Blossom was.

Yet, Amber and the high-stage branching expert from the Invincible Oasis seemed to be in the know, and the former used the chance to introduce Liam.

"Master Dark Wanderer is a master alchemist," Amber announced, calmly looking at Laurel next. "The Heavenly Blossom is a legendary alchemical product able to regrow limbs and organs."

’Legendary?’ Liam thought. ’It is among the most valuable products alchemy can produce. The ingredients are also rare, and the concoction is quite difficult, but legendary is more than a stretch.’

Liam would have typically gone full alchemist, correcting that evaluation, but he held back since Amber had been the one to voice it. He wouldn’t risk making her look poorly when she was taking his side.

Clarifications even arrived right afterward.

"Do you want us to believe that the outsider is also an alchemist skilled enough to concoct such a treasure?" The high-stage branching expert said. "In the Great Quiet Desert? Has your Tribe depleted lifetimes’ worth of luck to make such a fated encounter happen?"

Andrew’s two-faced statement sounded like child’s play compared to the high-stage expert’s suggestive questions.

’Right, I’m good,’ Liam recalled. ’And the Heavenly Blossom is indeed rare. Even I only had two in total.’

Just as Liam didn’t know the full extent of what formations and inscriptions could entail, masters in different noble arts or experts in general might be unaware of the miraculous wonders that alchemy had to offer.

The southern region even played a part. It didn’t apply to that entire chunk of the Kingdom, but the deserts definitely disregarded alchemy due to their hostile conditions toward magical plants.

It was reasonable for experts living in such environments not to know much about alchemy. Their encounters with that noble art had likely been few and far between, turning products Liam saw as established into obscure, priceless treasures.

Liam’s sky-high standards had done the rest. Anything below his great Master was nothing short of unforgivable in his mind. Chances were that the number of alchemists able to concoct what he merely saw as rare was far fewer than he believed.

Everything else in those suggestive questions had to do with politics, and it was highly effective since Andrew, Caspar, and Laurel turned their attention to the Dark Heaven Tribe’s leaders, not even hiding their stern suspicion.

It was indeed lucky, too lucky for a Tribe who already had masters in inscriptions and formations to suddenly gain an allegedly skilled alchemist. It just sounded too good to be true.

The silent implication obviously was about foul play. The Tribes were powerful, forces above Guild branches even, but the Great Quiet Desert had far stronger organizations, let alone the entire southern region.

More distant, powerful forces could be looking to use the Dark Heaven Tribe as a proxy for their interests, sending the support it needed to mess with the Aetacia region, even aiming to conquer it entirely.

Even worse, the interest could come from forces beyond the southern region, and Liam’s evident foreign origin strengthened that hypothesis.

Since the Tribes were no Guilds, Sects, or Church, they likely had a more conservative stance toward outside influence. The connection between family and leadership they all shared even suggested that.

There probably was a frail balance that allowed the Tribes to exist and grow so strong among the Kingdom’s sanctioned forces, one that they all prioritized over their internal conflicts.

The implied outside interest might easily be more than mere greed. The Kingdom could have decided to squash the Tribes for good, sending Liam as its inside man to avoid larger wars.

The Dark Heaven Tribe could even be a complicit party, doing the Kingdom’s bidding in exchange for a sanctioned position.

The possibilities were endless, getting worse the more the experts thought about them. The high-stage leader had masterfully planted the seed of suspicion that could turn the Dark Heaven Tribe into a public enemy, and only Liam could fix that.

Actually, it would be more of an attempt, but Liam had to try anyway. The issue was that he could only reveal half-truths.

"I was teleported by mistake," Liam revealed. "I’m stranded here for the time being. Since the Dark Heaven Tribe welcomed me and treated me right, I will help pursue its interests."

That was still just Liam’s word, which did nothing to ease the suspicion, so he followed up with something he could definitely fix.

"Rain Basil, Ash Berry, Golden Bane, Iron Bark, Phantom Bone, and Brown Heart," Liam listed. "These are the standard ingredients for a rank 3 Heavenly Blossom."

While not all experts at the table recognized every name, they had still heard about some and their properties.

But Liam wasn’t done. "The adjusted recipe for the southern region replaces Rain Basil and Ash Berry with Yellow Bush’s leaves and Drought Berry."

That was a matter of availability. Even in good environments, the different regions had separate floras.

Still, a mere list had never been Liam’s goal.

"The concoction goes," Liam announced. "Heat Drought Berry until it turns into a paste. Add Yellow Bush right before the temperature burns them. Bring to boiling point and add Golden Bane, cool it to ..."

Liam proceeded to describe the entire process, adding timetables down to the second afterward, even listing in great detail the variables that could appear due to each ingredient’s behavior.

And then, Liam could expand further.

"The Brown Heart and Iron Bark are mandatory," Liam stated, suppressing the urge to start smoking. "Since first Young Master Caspar is a low-stage branching expert, only the Brown Heart must be a rank 3 ingredient, and I know the Iron Bark is available even here."

Liam had read Rachel’s list, and he had already reviewed the ingredients’ scarcity, so he could share a few ideas.

"The Dark Heaven Tribe is in possession of Golden Bane," Liam revealed. "Yellow Bush might grow naturally in the forbidden zone to the north since it’s less sandy. The Drought Berry is likely west since fox-type magical beasts live there, and they are notoriously gluttonous of that ingredient."

There was still the Phantom Bone, but Liam was a bit lost there. He could only come up with alternatives. "With the abundance of unique minerals here, finding a substitute for the Phantom Bone shouldn’t be hard."

Liam had lost himself in his knowledge and conjectures at that point, but he stared straight at Laurel now, showing the confidence his Master had taught him to wear, this time being genuine.

"Alchemy is the only noble art that can defy the Heavens," Liam declared. "My great Master can even force cores to grow additional spiritual roots. I wouldn’t dare to call myself his disciple if I couldn’t regrow a mere arm and some meridians."