Chapter Fifty-Four: The Veil of Tranquility

As Xiaobai crouched down in pain, the Fire Elemental Giant instantly flew into a rage, throwing a heavy punch and then stomping down hard toward Qi Xiao. Qi Xiao frowned slightly; at this moment, if he struck once more, Xiaobai would immediately fall unconscious. Yet her current state was exceedingly strange—such a simple Illusory Voice spell could nearly make her collapse.

He teleported into the air to dodge the giant’s stomp. Although he could have easily finished her off with another spell, it was obvious something was wrong. This was only a friendly sparring match, and Qi Xiao feared that inflicting serious harm might leave lasting consequences, so he refrained. After all, he wasn't here for victory, but to hone his combat skills and test alchemical devices—a high-level sparring partner was just what he needed.

Smiling slightly, Qi Xiao tore open a scroll before the Fire Elemental Giant could react. Sparkling powder scattered from the air, drifting onto the fire elemental. As he fell from the sky, Qi Xiao calmly cast Feather Fall, pausing five meters above the ground before landing gently. Meanwhile, the Fire Elemental Giant tore a chunk of flame from its shoulder and hurled it at Qi Xiao. Its body shrank as the shoulder piece grew, and by the time it reached Qi Xiao, it had reformed into the elemental’s main body.

The bracers on Qi Xiao’s arms flashed; a shield, luminous as the silver moon and speckled with starlight, unfurled, meeting the Fire Elemental Giant’s full-force blow head-on. A deafening explosion ensued, churning up dust and sand, obscuring the scene at the center and causing the spectators’ hearts to clench in worry.

When the smoke cleared, the giant’s enormous fist was still pressed against the shield, but not a single crack had appeared. A pulse of starlight flashed across the shield’s surface, rebounding some of the absorbed force back into the Fire Elemental Giant, causing it to stagger backward a few steps.

Not to be outdone, the giant roared and hammered down with both fists in rapid succession, afterimages trailing each blow. Qi Xiao, intent on testing the shield’s limits, did not dodge. He stood his ground, silently calculating the shield’s endurance.

By now, Xiaobai had recovered. Surveying the situation, she decisively chose to yield. The Fire Elemental Giant, still unwilling, made a threatening gesture at Qi Xiao before reluctantly dispersing and returning to another plane.

Xiaobai nodded to Qi Xiao and quickly left the arena, teleporting into the main hall. Qi Xiao, somewhat concerned, chose not to seek another opponent and ended the match. The two appeared in the hall almost one after the other. The hall was sparsely populated, and Xiaobai’s distinctive appearance made her easy to spot.

“Are you alright? Does your head still hurt?” Qi Xiao asked.

Xiaobai was leaning against a wall, rubbing her head; the teleportation seemed to have left her even more drained. Upon hearing his familiar voice, she forced a smile in his direction—though Qi Xiao couldn’t really see it, only noticing the bandages on her face shift, which looked rather unsettling.

“It seems you’re quite vulnerable to sound-based spells,” Qi Xiao remarked. “I could craft you an alchemical soundproofing charm. It’s inexpensive and wouldn’t require many mana crystals.” He didn’t question why Xiaobai was so sensitive to voice magic, opting instead to offer a practical solution. Knowing her personality, he didn’t say anything about gifting it to her.

Xiaobai hesitated, then finally made up her mind. She bowed deeply, her voice hoarse as if scorched: “Thank you.”

Qi Xiao smiled and said, “You can pick it up at my alchemy shop next week. It should cost around a hundred mana crystals, no more than two hundred at most. Don’t worry—you know where my shop is; I mentioned it in my previous letter.”

Seeing her nod, Qi Xiao had nothing more to do and left the hall.

Back in his alchemical laboratory, Qi Xiao frowned in thought. Making something soundproof was easy—any pair of earplugs would do. But blocking sound-based magic was another matter, especially while keeping costs low. First, he chose a protective charm over earplugs. After all, wearing earplugs in battle would be odd—not to mention Xiaobai’s whole face was wrapped in bandages, her ears hidden. More importantly, wearing earplugs would immediately reveal her weakness to sound spells, which could backfire.

Next, Qi Xiao selected Lithewood as the charm’s base—lightweight and magically receptive. Over this, he layered a sheet of enchanted cotton for the first line of defense against both sound and magic. At the center, he embedded a small Silence Gem, capable of absorbing certain sound-magic frequencies—the main expense by far.

To reinforce the charm’s structure and soundproofing, he wrapped the cotton and gem in layers of insulating silver foil. On the surface, he carved detailed muting runes and protective sigils to further dampen sound and magical penetration. He then sewed the entire assembly into a covering of shadow velvet, giving the charm both a refined appearance and durability. Since all the materials except the Silence Gem were inexpensive and used sparingly, the overall cost was minimal. Selling it to Xiaobai for 120 mana crystals would still yield a small profit.

Finally, he meticulously adjusted the internal flow of magical energy, ensuring the Silence Gem and runes would perform optimally against sonic spells. After a round of testing and minor tweaks, Qi Xiao was satisfied and set the charm aside, ready to bring it to the shop for delivery.

For now, he dubbed the charm “Silent Barrier,” planning to let Xiaobai rename it if she wished. Qi Xiao was quite pleased with this alchemical endeavor. As an alchemist, being able to craft effective tools to meet specific needs with limited materials was a basic skill—even though he hadn’t trained this aspect much, it seemed he hadn’t lost his touch after all.

After some hesitation, Qi Xiao went to borrow two introductory books on potion-making. Though his knowledge of runes had reached a bottleneck—where further study would only add to his repertoire of patterns, which was important, since rune mastery depended on accumulation—he realized that learning other disciplines would be more worthwhile. As an aspiring creator of all manner of alchemical products, he couldn’t fixate on runes alone or his market would be limited.

Given his current competence in potion-making, these books were easy for him to understand, and they even resolved a long-standing question he’d had.