William Graham hit a wall, but still refused to give up. He turned and asked, “Excuse me, how much do these materials cost?” As soon as Old Hans heard his question, he immediately understood that this person talked big but was actually an alchemy novice, and couldn’t help but cast a disdainful glance at him. “How much? Hmph, any one of these materials costs over ten thousand magic crystal coins per gram!”

　　“……” William Graham stuck out his tongue. One magic crystal coin could be exchanged for a hundred gold coins, one gold coin for a hundred silver coins, and one silver coin for a hundred copper coins. Ten thousand magic crystal coins equaled one million gold coins, and that was just for one gram. To gather enough for Emma Green’s daily consumption, even selling a small principality wouldn’t be enough.

　　William Graham felt a bit dejected. Not to mention whether these materials could even be bought, even if they could, he couldn’t afford them right now.

　　Make money! The top priority now was to make money! William Graham had never worried about money before, but now, suddenly needing such a huge sum, he really didn’t know what to do. Benjamin Franklin had already left the Liusu Mountains and was wandering who knows where. Besides, even if he could find him, would he really ask him for money? Making money was one thing, but as for how to make it, he had no idea.

　　Just then, someone rushed into the shop and shouted, “Uncle Hans, come help me with this problem!” A well-dressed, brown-haired young lord ran in, holding a piece of paper. Shopkeeper Hans took one look at the paper and gave a wry smile. “Master Barnes, you’re not the first to bring me this question. I can only tell you, I’m powerless. If you could get the level-seven alchemist in the city lord’s mansion to help, there might be hope…”

　　Master Barnes thought to himself, if I could get that person to help, would I even need to come to you?

　　“Uncle Hans, please just take a look.” Master Barnes became more polite. Old Hans took the paper, and sure enough, it was the same question: “How can a knight’s longsword possess dual attributes—this is a very advanced alchemy problem. I’m sorry, Master Barnes, I really can’t help. As I said just now, unless you can get that person from the city lord’s mansion to help, no one in Wangshan City can solve this problem.”

　　Master Barnes’s disappointment was written all over his face, and he forgot to thank Uncle Hans as he left dispiritedly.

　　William Graham watched from the side, and only then spoke up: “If I help you solve this problem, how much will you pay?” Charles Barnes brightened and looked at William Graham, who had been standing quietly to the side; William Graham took the opportunity to wipe his own level-six alchemist badge. Charles Barnes’s eyes lit up—level-six alchemist, only one rank below the master in the city lord’s mansion. Hope rekindled in his heart, and he quickly performed a standard noble salute. “Honored alchemist, if you can help me solve this problem, I am willing to pay you two hundred gold coins as a reward.”

　　William Graham compared “two hundred” to “one million” in his mind and sighed inwardly: it really was little. But even a mosquito’s leg is still meat—better than nothing.

　　“Deal, but you provide the materials,” said William Graham. “No problem!”

　　Charles Barnes’s father was a famous merchant in the city and also held a minor official post under the city lord. His family was wealthy and powerful, far beyond what a small shop owner like Old Hans could compare to.

　　Charles Barnes respectfully invited William Graham to his home. According to William Graham’s instructions, he prepared the materials and laboratory. In less than two hours, William Graham handed over a knight’s one-handed sword with both water and fire attributes to Charles Barnes.

　　William Graham’s alchemy skills, though based on alchemical techniques, were essentially rooted in the ancient Chinese Dao of alchemy. The Daoists had concepts like Taiji, Yin-Yang, and the Five Elements, with thousands of years of Eastern wisdom and extremely profound theories. As for alchemists, they had all kinds of apparatus and precise operations, each with their own merits. For example, just for heating, furnaces were divided into seven types: roasting furnace, sublimation furnace, distillation furnace, fusion furnace, dissolution furnace, solidification furnace, and the crucible.

　　In the Star Alchemy World, everyone—whether mage or warrior—had their own physical attribute, and generally, it was a single attribute. Only when a person’s abilities reached their limit would they begin to fuse external elements and gradually develop a second, or even third and fourth, attribute.

　　Benjamin Franklin had a fire attribute constitution, which was the most suitable for becoming an alchemist. Only after becoming a titled master did he begin to fuse external elements and develop his second attribute: metal.

　　Therefore, in the Star Alchemy World, dual-attribute magic weapons were extremely rare. This alchemy problem actually required at least eighth-rank strength to solve. And most dual-attribute magic weapons in the Star Alchemy World were formed from two complementary attributes, such as metal and fire, or water and wood.

　　To fuse two completely different attributes into a single weapon was truly rare.