Chapter 189
She felt that Yu Xunge was not far from successfully concocting the "Melting Time."
Hecqipa flipped a page in her book and suddenly asked, "Do you really think that by getting your face dirty and dressing a bit worse, you can hide your full charm?"
Here we go again with the self-critique? Yu Xunge immediately sat up straight. "Teacher, please say more!"
Hecqipa replied, "Do me a favor, and I’ll teach you."
Yu Xunge asked, "What kind of favor?" Please don’t tell me I have to go to the Moon Fox Library again.
Hecqipa pulled out three white notebooks and pushed them toward Yu Xunge. "These are your recent classes, and there are requirements at the end."
Before Yu Xunge could thank her, Hecqipa took out three deep blue notebooks. "Take these three and go to the City of Eternal Day to find Lucia. She spends most of her time there. If she’s not there, then head to the City of Eternal Night."
Yu Xunge didn’t ask why Hecqipa didn’t go herself; she just accepted the books. "I promise to complete the task. Teacher, could you lend me some 'Melting Time' first? I’ll return it once I learn to brew it myself."
She didn’t have the audacity to ask outright for a master-level potion. Even if the ingredients weren’t expensive, the value of potions at that level was evident, and she couldn’t pretend to be clueless.
Hecqipa handed her five bottles of "Melting Time," then thought for a moment and pulled out another five. "Hmm, this should be enough. Remember to return me twelve bottles."
Yu Xunge: … The longer I know Hecqipa, the more I feel she’s not a good person. Sending students to steal and charging high interest.
Once she had clearly assigned Yu Xunge her tasks, Hecqipa began discussing serious matters. "Charm, like luck, cannot be truly altered and is impossible to hide. However, I haven’t researched this much. You can ask Lucia when you find her; she created a potion called 'Golden Killer' that can temporarily modify charm."
After preparing to head out, Yu Xunge planned to check the auction house for this potion. She asked, "Is Lucia nice?"
Hecqipa smiled slightly. "She has written an autobiography. You can read it; once you do, you’ll understand. She’s quite easy to get along with."
Yu Xunge asked because she had read it.
If Hecqipa’s autobiography was a tale of a female slave rising against the odds, then Lucia’s autobiography was all about teaching children, teaching children, and teaching children.
From the time she was a master-level alchemist, she was teaching kids. By the time she reached legendary status, she was still teaching. And when she became an epic-level alchemist, yes, she was still teaching kids…
Yu Xunge suspected she had a system that made her stronger by teaching students alchemy.
She didn’t even like teaching exceptionally gifted children; she only taught those with average talent. Lucia believed that true geniuses didn’t need teachers; rather, it was the average kids who loved alchemy that needed guidance the most.
Her talent allowed her to travel the world, and she treated all races equally, so she often had several students at once. In the morning, she would teach noble ladies in castles, in the afternoon, she’d be in the grasslands teaching young minotaurs, and at night, she might even go underwater to teach merfolk. Even clever beasts could become her students.
She sounded like a very caring spirit.
But she was also ruthless; she taught each student for a maximum of five years. After five years, regardless of whether the student had made progress, she would leave, as she needed to make time for more children.
Yet Yu Xunge thought of the noble lady mentioned in Hecqipa’s autobiography. According to Hecqipa’s story, Lucia had taught that noble lady for eight years in that castle, which clearly contradicted Lucia’s principles.
Anyone would think that Lucia stayed for eight years because of Hecqipa.
Yu Xunge asked, "Was she your mentor?"
Hecqipa hesitated before answering, "No."
Hecqipa cautioned, "You need to be aware of this. She no longer formally takes students, and she doesn’t like being called a teacher."
Yu Xunge couldn’t help but be curious. "Why not?"
The autobiography only detailed Lucia’s experiences of finding and teaching students across Zelan, writing about their stories, their love for alchemy, and their struggles on the path of alchemy, but it didn’t mention what happened afterward.
For instance, why had Lucia traveled around teaching children in the past, but now Hecqipa said she spent most of her time in the City of Eternal Day?
Hecqipa sighed. "Because of a student she taught thirty-five years ago—a little oak owl. After Lucia left, the little owl didn’t give up on alchemy, but she could never find a teacher as patient and fair as Lucia again, especially one who was an epic-level alchemist…
"After struggling for three years, she made a deal with a demon, sacrificing children to gain alchemical talent. In less than ten years, she became a high-level alchemist.
"That day, she stood at the entrance of the Alchemy Guild, shouting Lucia’s name, questioning her. Now that she had become a true genius, did she have the right to ask Lucia to break her principles, just as she had stayed for Hecqipa for eight years?
"…From that year on, Lucia stopped teaching children alchemy."
**Chapter 245: City of Eternal Night - Lucia**
Tulan had somehow emerged from the void, invisibly perched on Yu Xunge’s shoulder, listening to the story of Lucia.
After leaving the alchemy shop, the cow and the dragon continued discussing Lucia.
Tulan told Yu Xunge that when she was just a dragon egg, her mother, the Holy Grail, wanted to invite Lucia to be her tutor—not to teach her potions, but to share stories about the world, even casual chats would do.
The Holy Grail believed that Lucia was a true legend, someone whose vision, heart, and emotions were worth learning from.
But by the time she was born, Lucia had already stopped teaching.
Everyone understood that the master who claimed that true geniuses didn’t need guidance and wanted to save her time for children with more ordinary talents had long since broken her vow.
Even though she never admitted Hecqipa was her student, and Hecqipa never claimed Lucia was her teacher, time doesn’t lie. Lucia had indeed stayed for eight years for Hecqipa—a true alchemical genius.
Yet all the Holy Clan and beasts understood Lucia; they respected her and remained silent. No one would dare to question her about her broken promises.
Moreover, at that time, both Lucia and Hecqipa belonged to the undead race, and she was nurturing talent for her people. From any angle, it was hard to say she was wrong.
But then there was this stubborn student.
And the children sacrificed to the demon were all from her own kind, the oak owls. So in the end, Lucia stayed in the City of Eternal Day, providing free treatment for those little oak owls who couldn’t afford it. However, for the larger oak owls who came to her, she charged market prices.
In Lucia’s words, she was there to make up for the little oak owls, not to compensate for you old birds! If you want to haggle, then get lost!
…
Considering it was just delivering a notebook, the task wasn’t complicated. Yu Xunge decided not to return to Blue Star; she took Tulan directly to the City of Eternal Day.
However, she didn’t expect that it would take over an hour to find Lucia. Hecqipa only knew that Lucia spent most of her time in the City of Eternal Day, but she couldn’t specify where, as Lucia wasn’t as reclusive as Hecqipa.
Lucia had a wild nature; she couldn’t sit still. Even when she was teaching students years ago, she was always on the move. Now, even if she spent most of her time in the City of Eternal Day, she wouldn’t stay in one place for long.
Just as Yu Xunge was about to drink her second bottle of "Melting Time," she relied on the food in her backpack to ask a little oak owl for directions—Lucia had actually been spending most of her time in the City of Eternal Night, only occasionally returning to the City of Eternal Day.
Yu Xunge had no choice but to take Tulan to the City of Eternal Night.
Ever since Yu Xunge received angelic investment from Wu Ren, the atmosphere in the main cities had become increasingly tense, and she often saw patrolling Moon Foxes on the streets.
With Tulan invisibly perched on her shoulder, Yu Xunge walked past a squad of Moon Foxes, her expression honest and simple, like a true old cow.
The City of Eternal Day and the City of Eternal Night were just as their names suggested—one in eternal daylight, the other in eternal night. The third main city of the oak owls, the City of Four Seasons, had both day and night, but it experienced seasonal changes every day.
The architectural styles of these three main cities were similar, with all buildings primarily made of oak, yet the designs were exquisite and not rough. It was a beauty that combined nature and art, brimming with vitality.
The City of Eternal Night was brightly lit, regardless of the time. Following the little oak owl’s directions, Yu Xunge sought out the liveliest places.
However, excluding the surrounding islands, the City of Eternal Night alone was about a third the size of Huaxia, and most of the thirty-five main cities were similar. In the past, Yu Xunge had relied on the teleportation arrays within the city to travel directly to her desired locations, which was convenient and quick. But now, searching for someone meant she couldn’t take that shortcut.
No wonder Hecqipa had given her ten potions for protection…
In the end, Tulan was so tired that she fell asleep against Yu Xunge’s ear.
Here, there was no sunrise or sunset. To know the time, everyone had to look at the tallest tower in the City of Eternal Night. Though it was called a tower, Yu Xunge thought it resembled a giant oak tree, just designed with exquisite craftsmanship.
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