Those people were all dressed in the same way. Blue robes with a yellow silk sash around their waist and clogs. The person leading them had a cauldron emblem sewn on the collar of his robe.
As soon as those people came in, the bustling restaurant became quiet.
“It’s the people from the Alchemist Association.” Ye Lingyue’s ears were sharp, so she heard the whispers among the diners.
As soon as they entered the door, the group of people went straight to where the Ye family was sitting.
“This table is Master Huang’s seat. Give it up.” Their arrogant attitude made the Ye family stunned.
Ye Sheng was about to get angry, but Ye Huangxuan shook his head and stood up with a smile on his face.
“So, it’s Master Huang’s seat. I’m sorry. We will move away now.” With that, Ye Huangxuan bowed to the leader of the group.
“Well, who is this? It’s Ye Huangxuan. Why did the Ye family send dark ironstones to the city this time? Don’t send the Ye family’s garbage to the Alchemist Association again. The association doesn’t take scraps that are 50% and lower.” Master Huang was an alchemist of the Alchemist Association, and he had had dealings with Ye Huangxuan several times before.
“Why do you talk like that?” Ye Sheng was young and vigorous. He was about to reason with Master Huang, but Ye Fengyun pressed him down.
The Ye family had no firm foothold in Glass City yet, so it was not a wise move to offend the Alchemist Association.
Ye Lingyue stood up slowly. When she was next to Master Huang’s side, she shook her hands and something fell onto his clothes… After the members of the Alchemist Association had taken their seats, they ordered a table of dishes and ate and drank.
“Fifth Uncle, why did you treat them so nicely?” After they had found a table to sit down again, Ye Sheng looked indignant.
“Ye Sheng, listen to Fifth Uncle. The people of the association are not who we can offend.” Ye Huangxuan asked the others to sit down. Knowing that it was Ye Lingyue and Ye Sheng’s first time in the county and were not clear about the situation and forces of the county, he patiently explained it to them.
In Glass City, unlike Autumn Maple town which was close to Seven Star Mountain, the commerce was prosperous and the forces in the city were as complex as the roots of an old tree.
The four most powerful forces in Glass City, besides Chief Manor, were the three non-governmental forces; the Alchemist Association, Extraordinary House, and Shanhai Gang. Among them, the Chief manor and Alchemist Association were not to be trifled with.
The Chief Manor was under the support of military forces while the Alchemist Association was in control of most of the weapons and pills trade in Glass City.
In the past years, because the Ye family could only produce iron ores of 40% purity, the association had always rejected them.
As for the origin of the Alchemist Association, it was rather a long story.
The so-called alchemists were a special group of people proficient in magic, medicine, fate, fortune, and so on. They differed from martial arts practitioners since they cultivate the psyche while the martial arts practitioners cultivate elementary force.
Generally, they divided alchemists into quasi alchemists, alchemists, and senior alchemists. Among the alchemists, they were divided into nine levels.
In the country, only a few people could cultivate psyche, which made alchemists a scarce resource. In Great Xia, people highly respected them and their status was comparable to that of some ordinary officials.
For example, the president of Glass City’s Alchemist Association was already at the eighth level of alchemy. Even the chief of Glass City had to be polite to him.
With that said, Ye Lingyue and Ye Sheng understood why their Fifth Uncle did not dare to provoke the association.
“Master Huang, whom you saw just now, is an alchemist of Glass City affiliated to Glass City’s Alchemist Association. He was the person in charge when our family sold dark ironstones to the Alchemist Association. Because we refused to give him any benefits, he’s been putting our family in so much trouble.” Ye Huangxuan shook his head as he said this.
He did not want to talk about the negative side of the trade in front of the younger generation.
After hearing this, Ye Sheng could only hold it in his heart even if he was angry.
As for Ye Lingyue, she was deep in thought after learning about the association’s origin.
It turned out that as long as one cultivated their psyche, they could become an alchemist.
She just did not know what level she had achieved with her psyche, whether she was a quasi alchemist, or a level one or two alchemist. Perhaps she would only know after she had paid a visit to the Alchemist Association.
But before that, she had to give Master Huang a proper greeting.
Ye Lingyue’s eyes turned and the corners of her mouth lifted. One, two, three… she counted silently in her heart.
On the table, Master Huang and the others were talking about off-color jokes and drinking wine. Suddenly, he felt an itch on his buttocks, so he scratched at it.
However, the itch became massive that Master Huang had to put down his chopsticks and scratch at it as if there were no one else present. But as he scratched on, it became painful. Soon, he had scratched off a bloody piece of flesh from his buttocks.
The more he scratched, the itchier it was. It was terrible!
Master Huang panicked, and the people who came with him were in a fit of panic.
“Quick, take Master Huang back to the Alchemist Association.” All of them were panic-stricken. They helped Master Huang, who was then shouting, and rushed him to the Alchemist Association.
Witnessing this scene, it also stunned the people from the Ye family. Why did it seem like something had possessed him when he was fine a moment ago?
Ye Lingyue sneered in her heart. No one should offend the Ye family. She would let this pretentious Master Huang have a taste of how powerful the ice poison was.
When Master Huang had his nose in the air and insulted the Ye family, Ye Lingyue sprinkled a little ice poison on his clothes as she stood up.
The ice poison would rust ores or soil surfaces, but if a high concentration of ice poison touched the human skin, it would itch and fester. When scratched, it would be worse than death.
They took Master Huang to the Alchemist Association. After hearing cries resonating in the air, a middle-aged man stepped out of the association.
The man was also dressed in blue robes and clogs, with a yellow sash around his waist. However, unlike Master Huang, there were three cauldron emblems sewn on his collar, which showed that he was a third level alchemist.
“Master Song, come and have a look. We were having a meal with Huang Zhi in the Drunken Immortal House. He had only taken only a few bites when this happened.” The people who brought Master Huang over did not have good expressions on their faces, and they did not dare touch Master Huang.
By the time they arrived, the left half of Master Huang’s lower body was already a bloody mess; the flesh was falling and blood was flowing like a stream. The bones inside became a grayish-blue color.
“What a potent poison! Use the crane to inform the president.” Master Song had been in Glass City for so long, but it was his first time seeing such a powerful poison.
Master Song, who was a third level alchemist, was not sure how to treat this kind of poison.
Master Song ordered people to carry Master Huang in and took out a small crane folded with yellow paper. After writing a few words on it, the small crane shook its wings, flew out of the association and towards a certain direction in Glass City.