“So, who are you, really... and why do you have to pass all your inheritance on to me here?”
Li had just happened to fall in here. There just happened to be a cave, and Li just happened to go inside. Then Li just happened to meet this person, and this just happened... until things somehow ended up like this...
A seventeen-year-old’s appearance...
Had Li come out ahead or lost out? For a moment, even Li couldn’t quite tell whether this was a gain or a loss...
And most importantly, who exactly was this big white tadpole...?
A power that could reshape the body and restore it completely to how it had been at seventeen... Li had never heard of anything like it...
“My name is Hortons. I’m just a poor fool who spent his whole life researching the Elixir of Panacea and never succeeded—not even by the day he died. Hahahaha! Everyone who pursues the Elixir of Panacea eventually ends up in this abyss. Even I was no exception.”
Hortons...
Li had never heard that name before. Then again, Li didn’t know all that much about the Yalatika Continent. Could he... be from ancient times?
“Just out of curiosity... what era are you from?”
“I can only tell you that in my era, the Rank War had just ended in this world.”
“That’s ancient...”
The Rank War! That had happened thousands of years ago!
It was only after the Rank War ended that the current system of authority on the Yalatika Continent was established.
That was from an era so ancient it was hard to imagine... It was incredible that this person had lived back then. But now, was he nothing more than a wisp of a remnant soul? So this was what it meant to be a witness to history...
“So, kid, are you interested in my inheritance? If you accept it, I’ll tell you how to restore your body. What do you say? You’ve got everything to gain, kid. When does the world ever hand you a deal this good, right?”
“Exactly. When does the world ever hand you a deal that good? That’s why I’m extremely suspicious of you. But you did reshape my body, so I’ll hear you out. What exactly is this inheritance of yours?”
Everything to gain?
Li still had no idea what the other party’s real intentions were, so there was no such thing as a sure-fire deal. That was why Li was so curious about this so-called inheritance.
“Come with me. I’ll take you somewhere.”
With that, it floated deeper into the cave, and Li followed.
To Li’s surprise, there were other caves hidden deep inside. After heading that way, they soon arrived at a secret room filled with all sorts of equipment and box after box of bottles.
It looked a lot like Li’s own underground laboratory—a room set aside exclusively for an alchemist.
There were books and things like that on the table, too. But they were so thoroughly worn and decayed that even a touch might turn them to dust and scatter them away.
Li took a quick look around. The whole place was an alchemist’s private workspace, arranged with everything in its proper place.
“This is your private laboratory, right?”
“Yes, this is my private laboratory. But it hasn’t been used in thousands of years. I spent my entire life striving to create the Elixir of Panacea. Sadly, I never found it—not even by the day I died. It was like a legend. I even began to wonder whether the Elixir of Panacea truly existed in this world.”
For an instant, a sharp pain pierced Li’s heart!
“As far as I know, the Elixir of Panacea did exist... in ancient times, it existed...”
“It existed? I heard the same thing in my era—that the Elixir of Panacea existed in ancient times. But perhaps there is no such thing as the Elixir of Panacea in this world. There is, however, another possibility. It’s not that we have no chance at all! Kid, what’s your name?”
“Rufas Cromwell. But if you don’t mind... I’d like you to call me Li.”
“Li?”
“Yes... Li.”
It was an obsession Li held close to the heart: to live on under that name. Sadly, after Li was adopted, the nuns gave Li the name Rufas Cromwell.
Li didn’t like it, but out of gratitude, never changed the name. To everyone else, Li introduced himself as Rufas Cromwell.
Li... was nothing more than an obsession in Li’s heart.
“Then, Li! Starting now, I’ll show you the culmination of thousands of years of my wisdom! Let’s begin!”
“Huh!?”
Li felt a sudden tremor beneath his feet and looked down. The ground was shaking. Then a silver magic circle suddenly opened across the floor, and a wave of cold, biting Pal rushed toward him. The impact made Li shut his eyes. When he opened them again... an unbelievable sight greeted him: dozens of books were rising up from beneath the floor...
