Wizard: I Can Refine Everything

"I think you overestimate yourself a bit." Richard's voice carried a hint of disdain.

"At most, you can stir up a few small soldiers; that Immortal who killed the White Wolf King, even if you cause a ruckus, he would at most just glance your way."

People always fall into the mindset of an emperor with a golden hoe, thinking that what they see as a big deal is also a big deal in others' eyes. But in reality, what many see as important is nothing to those at a higher position.

Let alone that White is just a Second Level creature, a guard cultivated by a family. Even if White has transcended to become a Saint, reaching the state before Richard became a Great Wizard, in that Immortal's eyes, he's just a bigger bug.

At most, he could wipe out a few noble families.

And for a World Master, families are just tools—a dime a dozen.

Richard's mockery plunged White into silence; he could feel that Richard truly wasn't afraid of the Immortal who overthrew the White Wolf King.

Could there have been beings in ancient times who stood shoulder to shoulder with the White Wolf King?

Shaking off the chaotic thoughts from his mind, White continued with his interrogation.

After obtaining that Dao Technique of shape gathering and dispersion, Richard no longer paid attention to White's movements.

Dao Techniques are much more important than interrogation.

This Dao Technique named Shape Gathering and Dispersion, according to the Daoist, ranks as high as the Fifth Grade, and even among Immortal Village Envoys, it is a superior Magic Skill. Once mastered, it allows one's body to briefly transform into an energy cloud, with extraordinary effects in defending against physical attacks.

However, to Richard, this introduction was pure nonsense.

Using this technique to defend against physical attacks is like using a nuclear fusion reactor to barbeque meat. Yes, you can use it that way, but it undoubtedly is a huge waste.

Energy converted into a complex flesh form can naturally be transformed into other substances as well.

Because if this thing is thoroughly understood, it means that most materials in this world will no longer be rare.

After transcribing the Dao Technique of Shape Gathering and Dispersion into the Magic Book, Richard immediately began researching this miraculous technology.

Practicing Shape Gathering and Dispersion is quite simple; as long as the practitioner possesses a sufficiently resilient soul, that is, enough spiritual power, one can practice it.

There are apparently no requirements regarding bloodline or energy. From werewolves to barbaric beasts, all have the qualification to practice.

During practice, a Daoist needs to construct a talismanic rune within the soul, and this rune is the essence of the technique.

Richard spent some time putting together a rune by imitation, then stepped out of the Floating City into the Star Realm to begin experimenting—after all, the Floating City's lab couldn't withstand Richard's antics, experimenting with such unknown spells is better done safely.

The Floating City transformed under Richard's feet into a beam of light, flying into the distance. Once he ensured it had moved far enough, Richard initiated his first Dao Technique experiment.

Boom!

After activating the Dao Technique, one of Richard's fingers suddenly exploded, turning into a cloud-like substance. The blast's shockwave even caused a small ether vortex in the Star Realm.

"Whew, good thing I didn't experiment in the lab,"

Richard chuckled with relief as he watched this scene.

If he had experimented in the lab, even the power of just one finger's dispersion would be enough to overload the lab's Energy Barrier.

After dispersing the finger, as Richard focused his thoughts, the dispersed cloud gathered once more, reforming into a finger.

"...How is this possible?" Richard said with some terror.

With a focus of his mind, a complex rune composed of energy appeared before him.

This rune was the talisman needed to use Shape Gathering and Dispersion, and aside from serving as a Magic Model, it also had a recording function.

In other words, this talisman acted like a machine. Before using Shape Gathering and Dispersion, it would record your body's information, and after the explosion, it would use the information you initially input to reassemble the body.

To be honest, even just describing this method, Richard found it somewhat incredible.

If he followed the process he perceived, does that mean if he input the information of pure gold into the talisman, it could transform energy into a piece of pure gold for him? If he could really do it, the civilization mastering this technology would be invincible.

Richard couldn't imagine how powerful Wizards' Magic Equipment would be if all were made from high-grade materials like pure gold and mithril.

No, if it ever reached that point, the battlefield should belong to Alchemy Puppets.

A Puppet Army with a shell of pure gold, mithril circuitry, an Ao Steel skeleton, plus various superior materials, would dominate the battlefield of low-level forces. No matter how many Galaxy Mayflies there are, they would only be conquered by Wizards.

But how could a civilization mastering such technology fall to the point of the great world being shattered?

No, it might not necessarily be remnants of the great world. For a civilization wielding this technology, turning a Secret Realm into a Floating City as transport shouldn't be difficult.

Of course, all this is based on him being correct in his conjectures.

To Richard, the technology behind this Dao Technique is still a black box. Drawing premature conclusions is not the action of a mature wizard.

Dissolving the talisman, Richard transformed into a stream of light, swiftly flying towards the distant Floating City.

...

After extracting the maggot from the Daoist's body, a jet of white-hot flames spewed from White's prosthetic, incinerating the Daoist's corpse within the energy web to ashes.

After a round of questioning, Bai confirmed that this Daoist indeed knew nothing, just a wandering Daoist paid to do a job.

However, even if nothing came of the questioning, it wasn't a problem.

Anyway, the Young Master he needed to protect had already been rescued by the Lu Family of Xianshui. If those who attacked the Quan family were indeed the Lu Family, then his next task was to rescue the Young Master from them. If not, he would still go to the Lu Family and continue to serve as the Young Master's guard.

As a Shadow Guard, protecting the Young Master was Bai's life's creed. Without this creed, his life would be meaningless.

Excavating the metallic skeletons in the courtyard one by one, Bai dug a large pit on the spot, laying these skeletons to rest in peace. Among these skeletons were his comrades, his teacher, and some of the Quan family's masters he respected.

Except for the Young Master, this pit nearly buried his past.

Filling the pit with earth as the sun set, Bai bowed to the nameless grave, then turned and left.

"Have you already killed?"

Richard's voice suddenly rang in Bai's ear.

"Already killed."

"Then let it be. Where are you heading next? If you're not in a rush, could you help me catch a couple of Daoists? I need some research material."

"...Evil Ghost, what do you take life for?"

"I must say, before saying that, you've just killed someone."

"I had an irreconcilable enmity with him."

"If having a grudge justifies killing, then consider that I have a grudge against every Daoist in this world. These fools are sitting on treasures without realizing it, they deserve to be killed."

Bai said no more, sensing a familiar taste in Richard's tone. And that taste he had only ever caught in the voice of the Quan family head.

The same disregard for life, the same indifference.

This Evil Ghost named Richard, like the Quan family head, was part of the so-called "big figures" group.

...

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

A magnificent jet-black stallion galloped along the road, each step of its bowl-sized hooves leaving deep prints in the solid dirt road.

On the stallion's back was a Samurai wearing a bamboo hat and a raincoat. But unlike the usual black-furred werewolves, this Samurai's fur was gray, looking prematurely aged.

This person was Bai heading to the Lu Family of Xianshui.

Suddenly, Bai abruptly reined in the horse, stopping in the middle of the road.

Not far ahead, a squad of masked, black-armored Samurai was blocking the road. Behind the black-armored Samurai, a raging fire burned fiercely, and the horrifying screams and wails could be heard clearly even hundreds of meters away by Bai.

"Why did I run into a village massacre again?" A voice filled with helplessness sounded in Bai's ear, and Richard, looking through the prosthetic eye at the black-armored Samurai and the burning village behind them, couldn't help but gripe, "The path you chose is quite difficult."

The village massacre was a must-experience element in this world that Richard temporarily named the Immortal Country.

In this aristocratic family-ruled world, aristocratic family descendants and ordinary civilians were practically two different races.

An aristocratic family son could gouge out a civilian's eyes just because the civilian looked at him. He could also abduct a civilian's wife or daughter if he fancied, and then kill them afterward as souvenirs.

Meat screens and beauty paper were everyday occurrences in this world; even figures like Stone Tiger Gaoyang were ordinary here.

In Richard's impression, only the Esoteric Sect and their debauchery could compare to those spoiled aristocratic family descendants.

To the aristocratic families, civilians were like weeds on the ground; as long as they weren't all killed, new ones would always grow back.

And among the elixir material catalog demanded by the Immortal Country, a material known as Blood Essence was in high demand. Blood Essence was not naturally occurring but had to be extracted from the blood of living beings.

And this blood could be extracted from Barbaric Beasts or from humans.

Thus, village massacres became an unavoidable part when Blood Essence was insufficient—the aristocratic families weren't mad; one Barbaric Beast was worth a hundred people, and it was also much easier to refine. Unless necessary, no one would engage in these loss-making village massacres.

"Evil Ghost, I'm going to take action now." Bai said calmly.

"Hmm." Richard replied absentmindedly.

Although killing all these Samurai wouldn't solve the problem of aristocratic families massacring villages, addressing the symptoms was still a kind of solution. Richard felt no dissatisfaction with his subordinate's simple sense of justice; no one would want to lead a group of perverts.

Besides, killing Samurai wasn't entirely useless.

The tools used by aristocratic families to refine Blood Essence were products of Dao Techniques, and there were differences between different family tools. Collecting more would give Richard more research material.

Dismounting, drawing his blade.

The black-armored Samurai, seeing this scene, also drew their swords and blades one by one.

Not everyone was a monster like the aristocratic family sons; there would always be those who disapproved of village massacres.