Chapter 6: Shuyue’s Self-Awareness.

About three breaths later, Shu Yue opened her eyes again.

She exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. After a brief moment of daze, her pupils regained their clarity.

At this moment, a status table appeared in her mind.

Name: Shu Yue
Gender: Female (?)
Age: 13 (?)
Bloodline: Silver Dragon
Rank: Formal Apprentice

Techniques—
Quenching Star Art: An ancient alchemical technique recorded on the Heavenly Book Slate. It commands a very special silver-colored flame whose effect seems to be the extraction and refinement of a certain trait from all things.
Fire Calling Art: The most basic Dust-rank technique, widely studied by alchemist apprentices.
Fertile Earth Upon the Body: A high-end Firefly-rank technique obtained by refining Lia White’s corpse with the Quenching Star Art.
Basic Spells: Holy Radiance · Healing Art, Mind Sketch, Detection, Shadow Concealment…

Mind Sketch could accurately depict the contents carried on the soul. However, these contents were limited by the user’s own knowledge. Since Shu Yue didn’t understand much about the Quenching Star Art, it only displayed its origin and basic function.

The Fire Calling Art was a very basic technique. After mastering it, one only gained three skills: Ignite, Flame Control, and Burning Wind. Their effects were self-explanatory—starting fires, controlling flames, and creating gusts of wind. It was a complete set designed specifically for alchemy.

Fertile Earth Upon the Body was originally Lia White’s technique, now taken by Shu Yue. Among Firefly-rank techniques, it should be quite high-end. After all, even an illegitimate son of a noble would possess such things. This set contained many useful spells: Earth and Stone Manipulation, Flowing Stone Armor, Stone Pierce, Stone Wall, Earth Spike.

Holy Radiance · Healing Art was an exclusive power of the Holy Radiance Church. Shu Yue herself didn’t know why she possessed it.

What remained were only Detection and Shadow Concealment. The former detected auras within a certain range nearby, while the latter weakened one’s presence while hidden in shadows. There used to be many more, but they were all gone…

To make room for “Fertile Earth Upon the Body,” Shu Yue had unloaded quite a few practical basic spells!

There was no helping it. The soul had limited capacity.

But this exchange was absolutely worth it for Shu Yue. Cultivating a Dust-rank technique had a ceiling of second-tier combat power, while a Firefly-rank technique could push one all the way to third-tier. She would never make a loss-making trade.

As for gender… Shu Yue still didn’t know how she should classify herself now. The question mark on her age was the same.

There was no dispute about the Silver Dragon bloodline. After all, when her bloodline manifested, she turned silver. What else could it be?

‘This dragon blood is accumulating so slowly. I don’t know how long it will take before I can truly transform into a giant dragon. But becoming a dragon must feel really cool, hehe~’

Shu Yue’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

Bloodlines were extremely precious in this world. It was said that only the great noble families possessed bloodline inheritance. For ordinary people, awakening even a common bloodline was enough to elevate their entire status. Shu Yue’s cheap master had researched the Quenching Star Art on the Heavenly Book Slate precisely to create bloodlines through alchemy.

In the end, the old man died, and Shu Yue reaped a massive bargain. She could refine dragon blood from sub-dragons and forge a powerful dragon bloodline. However, this was a taboo among alchemists. If other alchemists found out, Shu Yue would definitely have her skull cracked open and her brain and soul dissected for study.

Shu Yue let out a quiet sigh and lay down.

Magical beasts containing even a trace of dragon blood were extremely powerful. It required a team of three first-tier adventurers working together to kill one without injury, and they were not easy to encounter. That was why it had taken nearly half a year to gather the second drop.

Still, Shu Yue knew of a place where she could obtain a large amount of sub-dragon blood in a short time. To go there, she needed a letter of introduction to qualify for purchasing the blood.

‘Tomorrow I’ll go see that cheap father-in-law and try to get a letter of introduction. As long as I can register at the Alchemists Guild, forging the Silver Dragon bloodline will progress much faster. Then I’ll finally have real power.’

The fleeting pressure she felt today had given Shu Yue a heavy sense of crisis. She needed to accelerate her plans.

The aftereffects of absorbing dragon blood?

Compared to turning into a girl, staying alive was obviously far more important!

Suddenly, Shu Yue remembered that she still had to marry that noble young lady.

Just thinking about her gave Shu Yue a headache.

That fiancée seemed to be full of hostility toward her?

She held no good impressions of nobles, nor of those noble daughters. Marrying someone like that…

‘I can’t get married. Absolutely cannot get married!’

Shu Yue wasn’t afraid of losing half her bloodline in a divorce. Once married, it would be too late to run away.

She had to fleece everything she could before the wedding, squeeze every last drop of value from the Lia White identity, and escape before the marriage took place. Although this was essentially marriage fraud… what choice did she have?

Shu Yue lay down to sleep. Her rest was very light. Although the environment here was far more comfortable than the Pioneer Camp by countless times, she still couldn’t feel at ease. She could only pass the night like this.

The next day, early morning.

Shu Yue woke up before any maids arrived. She wrapped her chest tightly with wide bandages, put on a loose black inner shirt, then used Earth and Stone Manipulation to thicken and widen her waist, back, and shoulders before donning her outer coat.

During breakfast, Shu Yue told Steward Barton,

“I wish to visit Baron Lester. There are some matters I need to consult him about.”

“Understood, my lord. I will arrange it right away.”

Barton withdrew.

Shu Yue then looked at Anna and invited her to sit down and eat together.

Anna sat down happily and deliberately chose a seat very close to Shu Yue, as if intentionally showing off their relationship.

Shu Yue felt somewhat helpless about Anna’s little schemes, but she had no intention of blaming her.

The maids all saw this clearly. What they thought in their hearts, however, was unknown.

About an hour after breakfast, Steward Barton returned and reported that everything had been arranged.

Shu Yue gave a faint nod.

Anna looked curious. Unfortunately, with so many people around, she couldn’t hug Shu Yue’s neck and ask like before. Only after they boarded the carriage and were alone inside did she whisper,

“Shu… Lia, what are you going to see Baron Lester for?”

“I need to borrow some connections,” Shu Yue answered openly. “I want to register at the Alchemists Guild. That way I can purchase some things that are normally unavailable. This is very important to me.”

“Oh.” Anna already knew Shu Yue was an alchemist. “By the way, can you arrange a position for me? Let me manage those little maids. I noticed they all act quite arrogant.”

Shu Yue didn’t interact privately with the maids, but Anna had grown closer to them.

“A few of the little girls were saying bad things about you behind your back. I already taught them a lesson.”

“Mm.”

Shu Yue actually didn’t care much, but since Anna brought it up, she still gave a response.

Before long, the carriage arrived at Baron Lester’s estate. Shu Yue stepped down and met the baron’s servant who came to receive them—another male steward. He appeared to have been waiting for some time.

“Lord White, Baron Lester is currently handling some affairs. Please wait in the reception room for a moment.”

“And Miss Emily?” Shu Yue asked about her cheap fiancée, that elegant and noble young lady.