Mechanical Alchemist

"Senior sister, how did you get here?"

Su Lun thought he must be seeing things.

Because the last time they communicated, Mr. Jing was still far from Cursed Valley.

Even without any delays, it was estimated that it would take several hours to arrive.

But now, she suddenly appeared before his eyes?

"Mm."

Mr. Jing lifted her cloak, revealing that cold and beautiful face.

She looked at Su Lun, the corners of her mouth curving slightly as she said indifferently, "You seem to be in good shape. It looks like I haven't come too late."

It was only in front of this junior brother that she ever wore such a relaxed expression on her face.

"You really came..."

Su Lun felt a sense of unreality as he listened.

But he could not hide the joy in his eyes.

No matter how Mr. Jing got here, the fact was she had arrived!

With "Golden Leg" here, this seemingly desperate situation instantly gained the capability for a breakthrough reversal.

Mr. Jing glanced at the dense red threadworms in the corridor, her brow furrowing slightly as she seemed to detect something unusual about these worms.

She didn't delay, saying to Su Lun, "I'll explain later. I'm going out first to deal with that Outer God's follower."

"Mm."

Hearing this, Su Lun naturally didn't have to say much then and there.

He also thought that if his senior sister had come ahead of time, she must have anticipated something.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Mr. Jing's hands were quickly forming the sorcerer's seals, her expression becoming fierce.

Su Lun watched the sequence in which she was constructing the seals and found it strange.

This wasn't the start of any elemental spell, nor was it any sorcerer's seal system Su Lun had ever seen. It felt more like... a unique spell she had created herself?

Before Su Lun could guess, Mr. Jing had already gathered the sorcerer's seals, softly chanting, "Domain: Mirror of All Aspects!"

It turned out to be a seventh-tier domain?

A look of realization crossed Su Lun's face.

This was also the first time he had witnessed an authentic domain of laws.

This was quite different from the Black Umbrella's "Nightfall Domain," and the corrosive domain of the tentacle monster before.

As soon as she cast the spell, a faint luminescence lingered around Mr. Jing's body, which seemed to be surrounded by shards of a shattered mirror. Even though the domain wasn't aimed at Su Lun, standing within the domain's scope, he instantaneously felt as if he couldn't sense anything around him. It was as if this space had come under Mr. Jing's control.

And just like that, Mr. Jing's voice had vanished into the corridor.

Su Lun, gazing at the spot where the mirror light had flashed past, muttered, "Senior sister has become so strong..."

....

"She really did come..."

Su Lun felt an incredulity that lingered for a long time.

But with the arrival of strong reinforcements, the heavy stone in his heart suddenly fell.

Such a high-level battle was surely like a scene from hell, and he had no desire to get physically involved.

Su Lun decided to wait in the corridor and then sent a black crow flying in to watch the battle.

However, the battle was too intense. The fallout from high-tier laws colliding was a catastrophic disaster for lower-tier creatures.

The black crow was shattered by the aftermath of the battle several times.

Each time it reformed, it cawed in grievance, voicing its discontent.

Fortunately, Su Lun had previously collected a rich amount of death energy in the coffin, and after pouring a few mouthfuls into the crow, it felt ready to go again.

Even with the black crow, Su Lun never saw how the battle in the hall of valor unfolded from start to finish.

Yegel, or rather the "heretic," fought desperately.

The destructive force generated by their clash surged wave after wave.

After about a quarter of an hour, the commotion of the collapsing corridors below steadily subsided.

"It's over."

Su Lun's furrowed brows finally relaxed.

Although he guessed that his senior sister's strength must be formidable, she had said herself that she hadn't fully recovered her power.

And, Su Lun also didn't know if this enemy, who appeared to have the will of a deity, had any other tricks up their sleeve.

Now seeing that the battle was over and those red threadworms on the rock walls had shriveled and blackened, seeming to have died, the outcome was quite clear.

"But speaking of which, what tier is senior sister at now?"

Su Lun's curiosity mounted.

Hearing from the communicator that Mr. Jing said the battle was over, he didn't ponder over it further and, with several spatial displacements, quickly traversed the collapsing corridors.

This haste was partly out of concern for the safety of Yuta and Mr. Jing.

Another reason was that he needed to clean up the battlefield.

After all, the corpses were still warm.

He might make it there in time if he hurried.

....

Su Lun quickly arrived at the hall of valor.

The previously intact space was now shattered into pieces.

Mr. Jing stood above a sealing artifact-level ancient light mirror at the mouth of a pitch-black hole, performing some sort of spell.

Seeing Su Lun arrive, she nodded in acknowledgement.

Mr. Jing appeared to be engaged in something very important, so Su Lun didn't disturb his senior sister.

In a moment, he also saw Yuta, who was sitting nearby, recuperating. He too breathed a sigh of relief.

A magical pot enveloped her, and streams of rainbow energy were repairing her wounds, which didn't appear too severe.

Though her aura was very weak, fortunately, she was unharmed.

Su Lun's brows completely unfurled as he walked over, tousled Yuta's hair, and asked, "Yuta, are you okay?"

Yuta also revealed a relieved expression, replying with a somewhat pale smile, "Yes. I'm fine."

She paused, glancing at the figure in the gold-patterned cloak at a distance, blinked her eyes asking implicitly.

Su Lun smiled and said, "That's my senior sister, the one I've told you about, also the daughter of Sir Isaac."

"Oh."

Upon hearing this, Yuta's eyes lit up, and she finally relaxed completely.

Even though Su Lun had forewarned her about everything, including Mr. Jing's existence,

the arrival time of the person in the Gold-Patterned Cloak was much earlier than scheduled.

And it was too coincidental, arriving just when the great battle broke the seal.

She couldn't help but be extra cautious.

Although this mysterious person had indeed helped her kill the enemy, her current actions were puzzling.

But now, listening to Su Lun's confirmation, Yuta finally let go of her concerns.

Since it was a descendant of Sir Isaac, then they were friends of the Dalu tribe.

....

Yuta was in worse shape than she appeared. Only after seeing Su Lun did she completely let down her guard.

But it was also because that taut spirit relaxed, she suddenly fainted.

Su Lun hurriedly checked her injuries, which weren't too bad.

The power of nature had a special healing effect, more effective than any potion.

There was no need for Su Lun to worry, as the magical pot was healing Yuta's injuries.

With Mr. Jing fussing over the seal and Yuta healing, Su Lun didn't need to intervene.

He walked to the center of the battlefield and saw the segmented carcass of the tentacled monster.

Upon noticing the "gray mist," a phantom of Death appeared behind Su Lun and devoured it.

'You have stripped the soul of "Yegel Sellet," gaining some Tier 5 "Fire Elemental Law" and a fragment of Tier 6 "Calamity Law";'

'You have gained extensive experience in using "Mystique: Wu Shi," comprehending the [Infinite Samurai: Emperor of Flames], with +555 casting experience.'

'You have stripped a substantial amount of "Espionage Expertise"'

'You have acquired some "Intelligence from the Luye Military Intelligence Service"'

'Spiritual Power +14.7'

Su Lun originally thought that Yegel's Soul Shard would provide many answers to his questions.

Unexpectedly, he didn't strip any information about the "heretic" behind the man.

Even the high-level secrets of the Luye Military Intelligence Service were not there.

Only some not very important intelligence was stripped.

It was after assimilating the information about the military intelligence that Su Lun understood that high officials there had mental restrictions and training.

If they encountered soul searching or dream invasion techniques, the restriction would instinctively erase the sensitive information, preventing probing and information leakage.

As for the "heretic" information...

Su Lun felt it might be some highly sophisticated method that directly erased that part of the memory.

And the Law fragments were stripped rather haphazardly.

The Tier 5 'Fire Elemental Law' seemed to be something Yegel had originally comprehended.

This matched the intelligence Su Lun knew before: the guy was supposed to be a Tier 5.

The fragment of Tier 6 'Calamity Law' resembled something foreign, with very little presence.

But for Su Lun, it was a "treasure."

After assimilating it, he felt a sudden spark of insight in his understanding, as if

in the pitch-dark night, upon looking up, he saw a few stars.

Though not enough to illuminate the path ahead, they marked the position and altitude of certain specific existences.

An incredibly rare discovery.

It was also Su Lun's first contact with such high-level laws.

Elsewhere, he had no ability to kill a Tier 6 professional and strip their fragments.

As for the experience in using "Wu Shi," Su Lun had previously watched the man use it with shock, so he prioritized it over other skills and stripped it effortlessly.

The people from the intelligence service had practiced this secret technique from a young age; in essence, Su Lun had stripped decades of experience in one go.

[Infinite Samurai: Emperor of Flames] was an advanced form of this secret technique.

With this stripping, his proficiency skyrocketed to the point of "integrated mastery."

Su Lun now just needed enough dark energy to immediately cast this secret technique, which would multiply his survival and combat abilities several times over.

....

After digesting those memories, Su Lun's gains were not insignificant.

Immediately after, his gaze fell on the bits of flesh on the ground.

More precisely, the countless rotting, blackened worms.

"Parasites?"

Su Lun frowned tightly.

He had stripped a "Control Insect Magician" before and knew of many bizarre insects.

But he had never seen this kind before.

There was no information about these worms in Yegel's memory, obviously directly related to that "heretic."

Through Soul Perception, he sensed faint traces of souls in the pool of blood and flesh,

but they were rapidly diminishing.

It was a sign of the worms dying off quickly.

However, there was one exception.

"Not completely dead?"

Su Lun muttered to himself.

He maneuvered a thread, and at the place where life force was the most concentrated, he found a heart.

As soon as he picked it up, those blood vessel-like nematodes burst out, like leeches craving blood, they stood erect, probing towards Su Lun, continually extending and inspecting.

Perhaps because the heart was the last bastion for these parasites, they had not died off.

Su Lun watched with a deep frown, initially thinking of burning them with a fire to resolve it completely.

But now the situation wasn't so simple, so he took out a container and placed the heart inside.

It was the same runic glass bottle once used for the heart of a Fallen Angel.

He figured that if it could hold the heart of a real deity, it could naturally contain that of a Tier 5 or 6 professional.

Having looked for a long time without finding anything of interest, Su Lun didn't waste any more time.

He thought he'd ask Mr. Jing about it later.

...

Since it was a battlefield clean-up, one naturally had to be thorough.

Su Lun set the jar aside and then found a storage ring amid the remains of the bodies.

The storage space was quite large, likely belonging to Yegel.

There were many items inside, a mixture of sorts, with not a few fine goods.

Worthy of a royal intelligence operative.

Suddenly, Su Lun saw two large silver bricks in the storage ring and felt a small surprise, "Huh... is this the 'Activated Silver'?"

The amount didn't look much at a glance, but after all, it was already refined.

If one were to really calculate, it was probably a hundred times the quantity that could be refined from the two giants Su Lun had previously hunted.

But before he could be happy for long, Su Lun suddenly remembered something, "My deadly poison incense burner!"

He hadn't forgotten that his deadly poison incense burner was taken away by Luying and the others.

Moreover, the Sacred Judgment Legion had left with nearly a hundred people, meaning they took all the spoils of war with them.

"This is going to be troublesome..."

Su Lun suddenly felt the storage ring in his hand wasn't as appealing anymore.

He didn't know if he could catch up if he went out now, and even if he did catch up, Su Lun was powerless.

Mr. Jing was his senior sister, not his enforcer.

Moreover, the legion commander Barrett had staked his life and fortune to prevent Yegel from breaking the seal...

Even if they were enemies, it was just a matter of stance and faction.

Thinking of this, Su Lun's thoughts began to scatter.

He suddenly felt that the people who left were likely to share Luying's grim fate.

"The Luying royal family is clearly in trouble now, and Barrett even stopped the 'heretic' from breaking the seal. On returning, he'll probably be unable to escape death..."

Su Lun immediately felt very vexed.

The items seemed to be slipping through his fingers.

The other things were still manageable, but the Activated Silver was an irreplaceable main material for alchemy golems.

Just as he was feeling aggrieved, a soft voice came from beside him, "What are you thinking about?"

He glanced over and, of course, it was the amiable Mr. Jing.

....

Since there was no one else, Mr. Jing took off his cloak.

Although she seemed approachable, Su Lun could tell her aura was becoming more elusive.

Looking at that strikingly beautiful and familiar face, Su Lun curiously asked, "Senior sister, have you recovered your cultivation?"

Mr. Jing shook her head and calmly responded, "Not yet."

Su Lun looked at her, and it was clear from her ease in the recent fight that she hadn't exerted much effort. Believing she wasn't a stranger, he curiously asked, "Senior sister, have you reached the seventh rank now?"

Mr. Jing smiled without answering, giving him a glance. She naturally guessed her junior brother was curious about her rank and said, "After hibernating for a thousand years, I should fully recover and smoothly advance to the eighth rank."

She paused, not meaning to hide anything from Su Lun, and added, "With some more great opportunities, it is possible for me to reach the ninth rank in this lifetime."

Upon hearing this, Su Lun's expression immediately became animated, "That's amazing!"

A true Golden Leg!

Whether she can advance to the ninth rank or not, an eighth rank professional is already a top-tier powerhouse.

Mr. Jing simply smiled noncommittally.

Su Lun didn't dwell on the topic. He glanced sideways and noticed that the black hole behind him had disappeared?

Seeing his confusion, Mr. Jing replied, "I laid an Illusion Technique on the seal; it won't be easily noticed now. Even if someone touches it, I can be here in no time."

Upon hearing this, all was good.

Su Lun didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he was more curious about something else and blurted out his question, "Senior sister, didn't you say it would take several more hours for you to get here? Why..."

This had been a question he hadn't had the chance to ask earlier.

Because he knew his senior sister was a very rigorous person.

If she said a time, it would definitely be that time.

Yet, this time she had arrived early.

And, coincidentally, she arrived at the most critical moment of the battle, solving the urgent crisis.

This made him very curious.

Mr. Jing looked at him, her expression serene, and explained, "Divination and prophecy aren't uncheatable. Earlier, when I heard you say those people were eager to develop the Cursed Valley, I guessed that some of them might have foreseen my arrival would bring some changes. So, I used a little trick..."

Su Lun, upon hearing this, seemed to understand something.

But it definitely wasn't as simple as "deceiving" him.

It was about deceiving the enemies as well.

This allowed her to seize the opportunity and arrive in time.

Otherwise, there might have been serious trouble.

Mr. Jing didn't hold anything back and explained patiently, "The essence of most divinations is following natural laws to compute possible outcomes, not definite ones. It means that certain divination rules can sometimes be misled through clever tricks. Of course, the prerequisite is that you have a thorough understanding of those rules. My father happens to master the laws of fate, and I happen to know a bit more because of it..."

"Oh," Su Lun said, feeling like he sort of got it, and yet didn't.

So, did she use some methods to deceive certain divination rules of this world?

Not being quite ready to understand those methods, he didn't ponder deeply.

In the end, one thought remained in his heart: Senior sister, awesome!

Then, Mr. Jing added meaningfully, "It's like the situation you asked me about earlier. When existences are forgotten by all, they are non-existent in the cause and effect of the world. That is also a very clever way to deceive the rules of the world."

"Oh,"

Su Lun, upon hearing this, instinctively felt it was profound.

But after a moment of reflection, his thoughts briefly went blank: Huh... what did I ask?

Mr. Jing caught the fleeting look of bewilderment in his eyes and smiled showing her teeth.

Clearly, she wasn't interested in lingering on the topic, and after sizing up Su Lun and noting his not insignificant progress, she didn't skimp on her praise, saying, "Your third rank realm has stabilized, huh. And you've cultivated your 'qi' well."

"Hehe."

Hearing his senior sister's praise, Su Lun did not play coy and smiled without any false modesty.

But upon mentioning "energy", he instantly thought of the insight he had when he observed Barrett before.

Unable to grasp it firmly, he straightforwardly asked, "Senior sister, what exactly is 'energy'? I heard it's a prerequisite for advancing to the sixth order?"

"That's not absolute. Some professionals who have consumed a large amount of resources can also advance to the sixth order. However, 'energy' is the inevitable path to becoming a strong person, and it's essential for condensing a domain at the seventh order. Otherwise, you'll find that, apart from understanding the laws, the domains you condense will vary greatly in power..."

It seemed that this question was not easy to answer, so Mr. Jing paused for a moment, pondering.

She then said, "If one must provide a specific description of 'energy'... you could say, to become a powerful being, one must possess an imposing presence."

"Imposing presence?"

Su Lun contemplated for a moment and felt it was very similar to what he had seen in Barrett before.

Since he was praised for cultivating his energy well, he shamelessly asked, "Senior sister, do I have that 'imposing presence'?"

"You're still far from it," Mr. Jing replied after giving her junior brother a look, then teased him, adding, "Sometimes you're too cautious, overly careful in considering things, which makes your energy cultivation slower. Although there's nothing wrong with that, you lack the determination to follow through without hesitation and some level of dominance."

Su Lun was not bothered by this "lesson" and instead let out a chuckle.

Since he had already asked, he took the opportunity to ask further, "Senior sister, then how can one quickly condense their energy?"

Mr. Jing said, "Each person's condensed energy is different, and the path they eventually take is also unique, so no one can say for sure. However..."

She raised her eyebrows lightly, and her tone shifted abruptly, "For instance, last time at Black Reef, when you came back to save me, that was very good. Some decisions you make without caring for gains or losses, those that come from the depths of your heart, will allow you to rapidly condense your own 'energy'."

"Oh..."

Listening, Su Lun finally felt like he understood a bit.

In layman's terms, this explanation meant: Be indifferent to life and death, and don't hesitate to take action when challenged?

....

The senior sister and junior brother, who hadn't seen each other for a long time, caught up with old times.

Soon, Su Lun steered the conversation toward the current situation.

He hadn't had time to go into detail over the communicator before, but now that they were face to face, he laid out everything he knew.

In the end, he also asked, "So... senior sister, what exactly is that 'heretic' entity?"

Mentioning this, Mr. Jing's expression turned slightly solemn. After pondering for a moment, she said, "It should be a 'foreign god'."

"Foreign god?"

Su Lun showed confusion, as this was a very unfamiliar term.

Mr. Jing explained, "Any deity that is not from the alchemy system, we generally refer to them as 'foreign gods'."

She paused, glanced at the heart in the jar while musing for a moment, then added, "Currently, there are flaws in the laws of our plane, and under normal conditions, it's impossible for deities to be born. Therefore, it must be a remnant from the ancient era. If nothing unexpected has happened, this 'foreign god' is probably one of the 'demon gods of the heavens' that destroyed the Dawn civilization. And although we're unclear about what exactly transpired in the great war that caused the civilization's discontinuity, we can be certain that all invading 'foreign gods' perished."

Upon hearing this, Su Lun questioned, "Then why is this one still alive?"

Mr. Jing didn't seem surprised and explained, "This kind of existence has appeared in history before. It's very difficult for a god to completely perish. Moreover, even after a god falls, the remnant wills, laws, or shattered divine fragments of these ancient foreign gods can contaminate other beings. Therefore, they usually create some 'false gods' who think they are deities. During the Atlia Empire era, the authorities eliminated many similar heretics."

Now understanding, Su Lun felt less pressure, "So, this tentacled monster isn't necessarily a true deity?"

Mr. Jing dismissively said, "Even if it is, the threat isn't significant at the moment. Once a god is wounded and lacks faith, recovery is not easy, and it's not very powerful right now. At least the fact that the main body hasn't personally come indicates many problems."

After a brief pause, she continued, "During the war that destroyed the Dalu clan five hundred years ago, that 'foreign god' must have also suffered heavy damage. Otherwise, it wouldn't have lain low for hundreds of years. Moreover... there might be other reasons it dares not show itself. Just contaminating a few believers isn't a big problem."

"Other reasons?"

Su Lun faintly felt that this statement seemed to resonate with some of his own familiar thoughts.

But he tried to remember, and couldn't recall anything at all.

Mr. Jing didn't say much more, instead, something occurred to him, his gaze becoming slightly solemn, "From the intelligence we have so far, I think I have an idea of what It intends to do."

Su Lun looked at the fragments of flesh on the ground and had a guess as well, saying, "Does it want to use imperial power to restore its strength?"

Yegel's identity was quite particular; this wasn't hard to guess.

"Hmm."

Mr. Jing nodded and continued, "That 'Outer God' seeks to find a method to reconstitute its divinity in this God Burial Ground, but it has failed. It won't succeed in the future either. Therefore, It is left with only one choice, and that is to spread faith. An ancient saying goes: Reestablish the faith, and a god remains a god. Although I do not know how It managed to extend Its reach into the Luying royal family, it seems the issue won't be small."

Su Lun listened with only half an understanding; concepts like faith felt very abstract to him.

Mr. Jing continued to explain, "Actually, 'faith' is not necessarily frightening. Ancient texts record that our plane once had many followers of different deities. Just like the Dalu tribe worships the nature god, who embodies peace, poetry, and nature in its divine essence and does not do anything like annihilating lower beings. But we must fear the Evil Gods. Such beings can bring ruin to life, invade planes to transform them into divine kingdoms, and enslave living beings. If that's the case, for us alchemists without a god to believe in, this could be a civilization-destroying calamity..."

At this point, Mr. Jing's gaze fell once again on the heart stored in the glass jar, and suddenly a chill arose in his tone, "Now it seems, this 'Outer God' is very likely an Evil God. If that's true, then under no circumstances can we allow It to succeed..."

"Hmm."

Su Lun was influenced by these words and felt an inexplicable sense of excitement in his heart.

He knew that his senior sister had ambitious aspirations, always contemplating many problems from the perspective of the survival of human civilization.

On her, there was an undeniable radiance of character.

Mr. Jing thought of something and sighed lightly, "Now, with the two great empires in chaos for hundreds of years, human alchemical civilization has almost stagnated for centuries. This can't go on... Thus, I want to rebuild 'Dawn City' as a free exchange place for alchemists, to enhance and propagate alchemical civilization. But there are also many problems now. The noble autocracy means those in power hoard over ninety percent of society's resources. Social stratification is rigid, and many actions are restricted. To establish such a free and neutral place, we can't avoid dealing with those nobles' power plays. Even if 'New Dawn City' can be established, it is bound to face resistance from both great empires and the noble classes. This is inevitable. Those who cling to power will never allow a 'free territory' to thrive... Besides, from what we see now, Luying's situation is very complicated, and significant changes may occur. Therefore, I need stronger military power, not just me alone, I may have to establish an organization strong enough to help me achieve this goal..."

Su Lun listened and also felt that Mr. Jing would face significant resistance in the days to come.

The greater your ability, the higher the stakes you consider.

But hearing his senior sister's words, although it was just a budding idea, was she getting ready to start a "revolutionary army"? Going against the two great empires would essentially mean revolution.

But, talking is just talking.

Su Lun felt that Mr. Jing's plan currently had nothing to do with him.

He didn't feel any sense of urgency either.

But as if by telepathy, as soon as this thought crossed his mind, Mr. Jing turned to look at him and said seriously, "You too should work hard to become stronger."

Su Lun pointed at his own nose, "Me?"

He had an inkling, and his eyelids twitched violently.

"Yes."

Mr. Jing smiled gently, "You are the disciple of my mother, and you have obtained my father's notes. The goal of rebuilding Dawn City, naturally, requires your help as well." Find your next adventure on My Virtual Library Empire

"..."

Su Lun rolled his eyes and said despondently, "Senior sister, you think too highly of me..."

It wasn't that he was selling himself short; it was just the reality.

With the talent of the "Death Reaper," as long as he didn't die, he was confident he could advance to the fifth rank.

But beyond that, it was hard to say.

Rebuilding Dawn City, such a grand ideal, would likely end up in a head-to-head confrontation with the two great empires. Without being at the eighth or ninth rank, one wouldn't even be qualified to dream about it.

Mr. Jing, however, did not say much more and smiled meaningfully.

PS. Wishing everyone a happy new year~ And, by the way, a small request for monthly votes and subscriptions.