As the time drew nearer, William Graham's mood grew increasingly downcast. Perhaps because of the bond of blood, even though William Graham was in another world, he seemed to be able to clearly feel a growing sense of urgency—the day was approaching, and William Graham felt more and more sorrowful in his heart.

Another month passed. On this day, William Graham skipped his morning lessons and came to Benjamin Franklin's door early in the morning. With an apologetic smile, he said, "Sir, I have some matters to attend to today, let's pause for a day." Without waiting for Benjamin Franklin's response, he turned and went back to his own cabin, closed the door, and did not come out for the entire day.

However, from that day on, William Graham seemed to have suddenly figured things out. His whole demeanor was renewed, and he studied alchemy even more diligently than before. Benjamin Franklin watched with satisfaction, and naturally became even more attentive in his teaching.

William Graham knew that his child had been born, and all of a sudden, he had an epiphany: being so dispirited would not help him return to his former world any sooner. The one who tied the bell must untie it; since he was brought to this world because of alchemy, if he wanted to return, he would have to start with alchemy. There was an alchemy master right by his side—he had to cherish this opportunity.

Benjamin Franklin first taught him the universal symbols of alchemy, then the basic theories, and then some classic alchemical formulas, covering all three major categories. Only after these lessons were completed did the real training of an alchemist begin.

Required courses: alchemy, magic, appraisal—these three could not be neglected. Among the electives, William Graham only wanted to go home, so he never considered things like why warriors forged weapons; martial skills and battle aura were naturally set aside. Mysticism, astrology, divination, theology, witchcraft—these mysterious subjects were never his forte, so he simply didn't study them. The remaining courses—medicine, philology, and cryptography—he delved into thoroughly.

Benjamin Franklin was practically an encyclopedic scholar. No matter what William Graham wanted to learn, he was thoroughly proficient. It seemed the title of the greatest alchemist under the stars was well deserved.

Unknowingly, William Graham had already lived in the Starforged World for three years. In those three years, Benjamin Franklin had trained him into an outstanding alchemist. He had gradually grown accustomed to life in this world, and his thinking had slowly become "Starforged World-ized." When it came to race, the first things that came to mind were not yellow, white, or black people, but humans, demons, beastmen, elves...

When it came to the foundation of the world, what first came to mind was no longer technology, but magic and battle aura.

When it came to means of transportation, what first came to mind was no longer cars or airplanes, but carriages and long-distance teleportation magic circles.

...

William Graham did not realize that he had gradually been assimilated by this world, becoming a part of it.

Only when he was alone, lying on the lawn chewing on a blade of grass, gazing up at the starry sky, would he remember that his child was already over two years old. Before he left the mountain to face the trials, his junior sister had said to him, "Wait until you come back to name the child." William Graham gave a bitter smile: this wait—who knew how many years it would be.

"Today..." Benjamin Franklin opened a yellowed ancient book, put on a pair of crystal glasses, and prepared to begin the day's lesson. The pages rustled as he flipped through them, and from time to time, familiar symbols would catch William Graham's eye. The old gentleman flipped all the way to the last page, then chuckled wryly and said, "Ge, I have nothing left to teach you. You're like a vampire—over these three years, you've absorbed all my knowledge."

He closed the book, took off his glasses, thought for a moment, and said, "Today, we won't have a lesson. We'll have an exam."

"An exam?" There was an annual year-end exam at the Ge School. William Graham always ranked third or fourth, but everyone knew he never studied the school's classics diligently. Even so, he could still place third or fourth, which made his peers go from envy to outright jealousy.

He hadn't experienced a year-end exam in three years. When Benjamin Franklin suddenly mentioned an exam, William Graham felt as if he had flown back to the "Palace Exam Pavilion" of the Ge School. White paper was pasted on the square lattice windows, and the paper on the lowest lattice had been tampered with by himself, covered in copied classics. The ink was specially prepared by him, and with tea-colored crystal glasses, he could see it clearly—so he always sat in that seat...

"Ge, Ge?" Benjamin Franklin saw that he was distracted and had to call him back. William Graham snapped out of it, and there was already a scroll placed in front of him.

An ordinary scroll was just a piece of parchment rolled up and tied with a string. A higher-grade one would be made from the hide of a magical beast, which was more sensitive to magical energy. But the scroll before him was clearly not such a low-grade item: a metal cylinder with gilded, embossed patterns, flame-shaped caps at both ends. Unscrewing the cap, a scroll was poured out from inside, with delicate leather grain and a grass rope woven from magic lamp grass, highly sensitive to magical energy. William Graham held it in his hand and looked inquiringly at Benjamin Franklin.