Chapter 324: Mass Production [2]

The absolute silence inside the meditation chamber of the Cloud-Mist Pavilion felt heavy and peaceful. The massive, world-changing notifications of the ultimate main quest slowly faded into the hidden archives of the Fated Villain System. Tony Clark sat cross-legged on his luxurious jade-carved bed, his dark hunting cloak draped loosely over his shoulders.

He didn't rush to open the system shop, nor did he frantically try to force an immediate high-tier pill breakthrough. His previous life as a supreme master had taught him a ruthless, unyielding truth: a house built on a shaky foundation would always collapse under a heavy storm.

The Primordial Alchemy Art he had just inherited from the system spirit was a divine-tier scripture, filled with thousands of complex runic balances and ancient cosmic formulas. If he tried to force his way into the upper territory using unrefined, unstable techniques, the heavenly arrays of the mythical Tian Family would instantly erase his soul from existence. He needed to build his alchemical foundation from the absolute ground up, mastering the raw fundamentals before attempting to manipulate high-tier cosmic laws.

For five continuous hours in the middle of the night, he didn't brew a single herb. Instead, he utilized his Truth Eye to thoroughly memorize the absolute, raw fundamentals of the craft. He studied the structural molecular weight of low-grade spiritual herbs, the exact thermal calculation of fire-attribute cores, and the micro-vibrations needed to stabilize a liquid energy matrix inside a common bronze cauldron.

His 7th Class Elder Disciple magus meridians, now beautifully reinforced by the dense solar laws of his peak foundation, hummed with a smooth, perfectly controlled rhythm as he practiced channeling tiny, microscopic strands of fire energy into the empty air, testing his precision down to the fraction of a millimeter.

***

The next morning, Tony walked back to the white marble plaza of the Abyssal Lotus Pavilion completely solo, his hands casually tucked into the deep pockets of his dark hunting cloak. The previous chaotic crowd of begging young masters had finally cleared, and the grand iron gates were guarded by a select group of elite inner disciples who immediately recognized his face.

Instead of showing off his terrifying Sovereign Sun Flame or demanding imperial privileges, Tony presented his bronze participant token to the chief registrar with absolute, lazy politeness. Having easily achieved the absolute No. 1 perfect score on the written text and the four-minute herb identification, he was officially escorted past the outer courtyards and led straight into the private sanctuary of Lady Vivienne Vane.

The inner alchemy chamber of the pavilion was breathtakingly beautiful, filled with the deep, sweet aroma of boiling herbs and carved entirely from purple-sandalwood timber. Lady Vivienne stood beside a massive, bronze dragon-headed cauldron, her breathtakingly beautiful face a mask of cold, eccentric majesty as her long red silk robes brushed against the floor. Her violet eyes locked onto Tony's unhurried figure, a complex mix of deep admiration and strict intensity flashing within her gaze.

"You have passed my pavilion's three-stage screening with a perfect ledger score, Tony Clark," Vivienne spoke, her silky voice carrying a sharp, elegant clarity that echoed smoothly across the quiet room. She walked closer, her posture radiating an absolute authority as she handed him a simple, gray apprentice robe.

"But do not think your perfect memory allows you to look down on the true path of a magus. From this day forward, you are officially my direct apprentice. You will sit by my side, chop the spiritual herbs, and master the baseline fire control formulas from the absolute ground up before I even allow you to touch a high-tier divine ingredient. Do you understand my rules, junior?"

Tony casually accepted the simple robe, a slow, highly amused grin curling the corners of his lips as he offered her a polite bow of genuine thanks. "Your rules are exceptionally logical and magnificent, Master Vivienne," Tony said smoothly, his deep baritone voice carrying a playful, teasing edge that made her breath faintly catch. "A simple country bumpkin like me is completely ready to learn the fundamentals under such a beautiful, master-grade instructor."

***

Over the next two weeks, Tony took the path slow, completely enjoying the peaceful routine of the pavilion. He spent his days sitting cross-legged on a woven mat beside Vivienne's grand cauldron, carefully sorting spiritual bamboo paper, grinding beast blood ink, and listening to her lectures on elemental balances. Vivienne was an incredibly strict and eccentric teacher, regularly tapping his shoulder with her wooden brush whenever his fire threads wavered by a fraction of a millimeter.

Yet, as she monitored his progress day by day, her internal alchemical sea was secretly trembling in absolute, jaw-dropping shock. Tony didn't display any arrogant cosmic flames, but his manual fire precision was so profoundly perfect, so naturally stable, that he could maintain a baseline flame under her cauldron for twelve continuous hours without a single drop of sweat on his face. He was the perfect, most compliant apprentice she had ever seen, completely hiding his terrifying 9th-Class solar foundation behind a mask of lazy obedience.

"The time has finally arrived, Tony," Lady Vivienne announced one quiet evening, her violet eyes serious as she unrolled a grand silk map of the continent. "The Grand Capital Alchemy Competition opens in three days. It is the absolute premier selection arena where the four great powerhouses and the royal academies display their elite prodigies. As my direct apprentice, you will accompany me to the central arena to represent the Abyssal Lotus Pavilion. If you can secure a top rank under my name, it will give us the absolute leverage needed to enter the higher summit."

Tony's dark eyes flashed with a sharp, predatory intensity under his cloak, his standard lazy smirk fully returning to his face. "Just make sure you bring your best wooden sketchboard to the front row, Master. The noble clans have been waiting to expose my 'fluke' scores, and I am completely ready to give them a performance they will never forget."

***

Three days later, the central district's grand colosseum was packed to absolute capacity with tens of thousands of spectators and popular elder-rank masters. The young noble masters of the four powerhouses—including Lady Scarlet with her Vermilion Beast Fire Body—stood confidently behind their high-tier silver cauldrons, their expressions full of supreme condescension as they saw Tony walk into the arena holding a simple, low-grade bronze furnace.

The moment the grand tournament bells boomed, the competition officially began. While the other geniuses frantically chanted complex spells and unleashed their fiery beast flames to slowly melt their ingredients, Tony stood perfectly still before his bronze furnace, his posture lazy and entirely unbothered.

He didn't use a standard fire spell. He manually activated the foundational pathways of the system's Primordial Alchemy Art, combining his internal solar energy with a hidden elemental balance he had quietly refined during his weeks of basic practice. He thrust his palm forward, and an absolute, reality-shattering phenomenon violently erupted over the central stage.

BOOM!

Instead of a standard fire pillar, Tony's alchemical precision was so immensely advanced that his refining process violently bypassed the natural laws of the lower world entirely. The clear morning sky over the colosseum was suddenly torn apart as an absolute ocean of thick, roaring Purple Thunder Clouds rolled across the horizon within a fraction of a single millisecond. Violent, jagged streaks of dark-purple lightning cracked across the heavens with a deafening roar, descending directly into the core of his bronze cauldron to forge his medicine through absolute cosmic law compression!

The entire stadium fell into a state of shocked, paralyzed stillness so profound that the ticking of the referee's clock became completely audible. Thousands of spectators and grand elders dropped onto their knees in sheer, unadulterated biological terror, their minds completely collapsing as they witnessed a mere apprentice manually summoning a Heavenly Thunder Pill Tribulation—a phenomenon that hadn't been seen on this continent for over three centuries. Lady Scarlet's jaw dropped to her absolute chest, her proud beast fire instantly vaporized into nothingness by the purple lightning shockwave.

High up in the floating VIP galleries, the spatial air currents violently fractured, and a group of near-mythical, terrifyingly powerful experts dressed in grand, star-embroidered celestial robes slowly materialized from the upper heavens. The sudden appearance of these god-like entities caused the Academy Grand Elder and the local family heads to instantly tremble with fear, realizing that the absolute rulers of the higher cosmic realm had arrived.

It was the elite vanguard of the mythical Tian Family. They had been silently tracking the sudden, unnatural birth of ancient alchemical laws in this lower world, their sharp eyes locking onto Tony's white-gold solar aura with a predatory, lethal intensity. Deep inside Tony's sea of consciousness, the system spirit violently woke up, its mechanical voice shaking with an intense surge of ancient cosmic hatred.

[Ding! High-Tier Detection Array active! Target identified: The High Enforcers of the Tian Family—the absolute jailers who have kept the system spirit's original master imprisoned inside the eternal soul prison! The grand retribution has officially arrived at your doorstep!]

Tony Clark casually raised his head under his dark cloak, a wide, deeply villainous grin curling the corners of his lips as he looked up at the floating gods of the universe. The lower-world games were officially over; his bait had perfectly caught the ultimate final prey, and his grand chessboard was finally moving toward the absolute throat of his true enemies.-