“The spire on the right, the vines and the moon come together—I also feel that the moon can’t simply represent silver. The vines under the moonlight, back in the era of the Dragon Alchemists, the Moses Church was once at its peak. Although they have now faded into obscurity, I still managed to find some information in your think tank. In the legends of the Moses Church, vines under the moonlight symbolize a holy and unyielding quality. And that’s where the problem arises—there’s more than one material with such qualities. I thought of two.”

Benjamin Franklin finally understood: “So you divided it into two attempts, using different materials to forge two final works.” “That’s right.” William Graham gave a wry smile. Benjamin Franklin was moved and said, “What I guessed was refined silver. Its strength is excellent; blades made from it can easily cut through diamond, and it’s a metal with the attribute of light, fitting the ‘holy and unyielding’ quality. What else?”

William Graham said, “Sir, how could you forget the holy light dragon’s bone?”

Benjamin Franklin trembled all over, suddenly enlightened: “Yes, you’re absolutely right. My thinking was too narrow, searching only among minerals and forgetting about biological materials. The holy light dragon’s bone is just as hard and also has the light attribute.”

The dragon race is also one of the six major races in the Starforged World, and dragons are notoriously vengeful and narrow-minded. They are extremely angered by the use of their kin’s bodies in alchemy, so dragon bones and dragon blood have long ceased to be considered alchemical materials on the continent.

A gleam of excitement flashed in the old man’s eyes. When he saw the work in William Graham’s left sleeve, he already knew that William Graham had passed the test. He had asked so many questions simply to find out at which step William Graham had encountered a “problem” and ended up forging two different works.

Now that he understood the reason, Benjamin Franklin had no patience to listen further and quickly said, “The griffin here should represent wind, and the small hill is actually a triangle, representing fire. The meaning of this half of the spire is smelting in wind and fire. The final result of the two spires is both a kind of alloy. The turtle represents the furnace and also hints at the final product’s shape. The sea means to use a water bath to heat the furnace and control the reaction temperature. Only in this way can the two alloys react, with some substances from the right alloy and some from the left alloy exchanging to obtain the final product. Then, the final product is cast and shaped according to the turtle’s form.”

William Graham nodded: “That’s right. If it’s refined silver, the product is…” He flipped his palm, and a magical glow imprinted itself on the work in his left sleeve. Letters shimmering with a faint golden light floated in the air: Furnace of the Lone Walker, Level 7 alchemical item, exclusive for alchemists, increases alchemy success rate by 20%.

William Graham looked a bit embarrassed: “Sir, to waste such precious materials and only produce a level 7 item—I’m truly ashamed.” Benjamin Franklin laughed heartily: “Don’t forget, this is your first alchemy practice. To be able to forge a level 7 item is already an outstanding achievement. Do you know, when I first practiced, I failed three times before finally making a level 3 item. My mentor already praised me as a once-in-a-generation genius.”

All beginnings are hard. Benjamin Franklin was not merely comforting William Graham; he was speaking the truth. William Graham carries the true legacy of Eastern mystical alchemy. If you only compare their crafting abilities, not limited to the field of alchemy, William Graham is only a hair’s breadth behind him, lacking only in experience and skill.

William Graham’s rapid progress in alchemy also benefited from the similarities between Eastern alchemy and Western alchemy.

“Now, let me see the final work forged from the holy light dragon’s bone!” Benjamin Franklin actually felt a trace of anticipation. After so many years, as the number one alchemist under the stars, there were very few alchemical works that could make Benjamin Franklin look forward to them.

William Graham smiled faintly: “It’s nothing much. Even though I changed the material, the subsequent process was the same. It’s just that this work…” Benjamin Franklin cast a magical light, and an eleventh-level appraisal spell fell on the object that looked like a grayish-white turtle shell, but there was no reaction!

Benjamin Franklin was greatly shocked. He was the only living titled alchemy master, a demigod master! Appraisal spells, like magical battle aura, are divided into twelve levels. But just like twelfth-level forbidden magic, twelfth-level appraisal is only legendary. Even among titled alchemy masters, no one is known to have reached twelfth-level appraisal. In other words, eleventh-level appraisal is basically the highest.

Appraisal can identify items one level higher than itself: a first-level appraisal can identify items below level two; an eleventh-level appraisal can identify items below level twelve. Level twelve items are quasi-divine artifacts.

Benjamin Franklin actually couldn’t appraise William Graham’s work, and he stared in shock: “Could this be a divine artifact?” William Graham shook his head; he wasn’t sure either.