Kaimo Strale returned home after finishing today's experiment. His wife had already prepared baked flatbread and mushroom soup, and poured him a glass of white wine.

Both the latter were goods sold at the convenience market, especially the large, snow-white mushrooms. Just like the introduction on the sign: you will never find a more delicious and fragrant delicacy than this, and after tasting it, he found that it was indeed so. Just one bite and it's hard to forget the full and unique taste.

Of course, its price was also astonishing. A palm-sized mushroom cost one silver wolf. If it weren't for his generous salary, Kaimo wouldn't have been able to afford such expensive food. There were many things like this, such as soap and mirrors. As long as you had money, life in the town was much more comfortable than that of an ordinary nobleman.

Roland was simply unfathomable, and this was his deepest feeling.

After enjoying dinner, his wife handed him a letter.

"What's this?"

"The guards brought it this afternoon. You weren't back yet," his wife said while clearing the table, "They said it seemed to be from Redwater City."

"Is that so?" Kaimo went into the room, cut open the seal with a knife, and unfolded the letter.

The first sentence was actually, "Hello, respected mentor."

It was a letter from Charmes. He couldn't help but smile, sat down at the table, and began to read it carefully.

It turned out that after he left the Redwater City Alchemist's Workshop, another alchemist, Kapola, became the new chief. But this person was narrow-minded. After obtaining the crystal glass formula left by Kaimo, he not only claimed to the lord that it was a joint work of him and Kaimo, but also intentionally or unintentionally ostracized Charmes in alchemical experiments.

He complained in the letter that perhaps it was because he borrowed Kapola's apprentice when he was exploring the double-stone acid production method, but did not inform the other party of the results in advance. Now, several other alchemists seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally avoiding him, which made Charmes feel very troubled.

Kaimo could probably understand what these people were thinking. As the youngest alchemist in the refining room, many people believed that he had only stood out from the many disciples by luck and Kaimo's appreciation. But the chief alchemist scoffed at this view. Saltpeter and green vitriol were common things. Why was it that Charmes discovered the double-stone acid production method and not others? That was enough to illustrate the problem. Observation, memory, bold conjecture, and careful experimentation were all indispensable. The young man's talent was even above his own.

At the end, Charmes also attached two alchemy formulas in the letter, saying they were new discoveries in the recent study of the two acids, to be shared with his mentor. Kaimo could see at a glance that the essence of the two formulas was nothing more than the neutralization reaction of acid and alkali to produce salt. He could write a dozen such formulas in one breath.

With a sigh, Kaimo Strale put down the letter, his gaze shifting to the copy of *Elementary Chemistry* on the table, which had been flipped through several times.

What changed everything was this "ancient book" given to him by His Highness. If it weren't for it, he would probably still be like Charmes, searching for the surface soil in chaos and confusion, and regarding it as a treasure.

He picked up the book and turned directly to the last page.

It was a table neatly divided into about a hundred squares.

Every time he saw this table, he couldn't help but get goosebumps, feeling an unspeakable reverence... and fear.

The upper left corner of each square was marked with a small number, up to one hundred and ten at the end. Except for the first two rows, most of the squares were blank, but some in the middle were filled with symbols. For example, twenty-six: iron, twenty-nine: copper.

The table was called the *Periodic Table of Elements*.

The chief alchemist once held it tremblingly and asked Roland about the contents of the blank spaces, but the answer he got was that it was originally filled, but he couldn't remember it.

If the other party wasn't a prince, what he wanted to do most was to slap the whole book in the other person's face.

According to the records in the book, this table encompassed all the elements in the world—if alchemy had a bible, there was no doubt that it would be the most dazzling chapter in the bible. And what made him feel fearful was, what kind of person could draw such a table? If they had already done this, what was alchemy? Just a group of children building crooked castles in the sand.

Kaimo suddenly remembered His Highness's promise. If he could bring Charmes over, and pull a group of apprentices who didn't have time to take away last time, maybe there would be hope to fill the three new laboratories. In that case, he would be able to get his hands on the coveted *Intermediate Chemistry*.

Thinking of this, he immediately took out a piece of white paper and began to write a reply.

In fact, when His Royal Highness asked him at the meeting whether he had any ideas about large-scale acid production, he didn't tell the truth, because these contents were complicated and lengthy, and it would be a waste of time to explain them. Most importantly, he didn't know whether this plan would work, because the production method he envisioned was entirely based on the elements and reaction principles compiled in the book.

Compared with previous alchemy experiments, this hypothesis was even a bit like a child's dream talk—using substances that had never been seen and reaction methods that had never been heard of to produce something that looked completely unrelated to the raw materials, just because they had the same element.

But Kaimo Strale had a faint feeling that this method might work!

After all, the previous hundreds of substitution experiments had all demonstrated the correctness of the contents of this book.

With a preliminary plan, the next step was to complete a full set of theoretical experiments in the laboratory, because His Highness said that products that could be produced on a large scale by industrial methods could also be reproduced in the laboratory.

The letter was quickly finished. He didn't offer too much consolation to Charles, but directly told this former top disciple about the knowable, measurable, and obtainable aspects of alchemy. Kaimo believed that any wise man who was full of interest in alchemy would not miss such an opportunity to witness the truth.

He folded the letter and put it in an envelope, then sealed it with wax. Next, he just needed to wait until tomorrow to give it to a merchant who was willing to deliver the letter.

After doing all this, his gaze turned to the Periodic Table of Elements again.

If the blanks on the table were never filled, Kaimo would only feel that life in the future would be dull and boring. Fortunately, the latter part of Roland's words made him feel excited. Those words still lingered in his ears—

Don't make that expression. Every element on the periodic table is arranged according to a pattern. You can completely fill it in yourself.

Pattern... arrangement? Do you mean that unknown elements can also be deduced, just like deducing alchemy formulas?

That's right. Even if you've never seen them, you can describe their appearance and characteristics.

Then... what is the pattern?

You want to know? It's all in *Intermediate Chemistry*.