Mechanical Alchemist

PS. Everyday life.

Su Lun and Yekaterina walked out hand in hand.

At the entrance of Metzsch Manor, hundreds of journalists from dozens of media outlets had been waiting for a long time.

Seeing the couple emerge, a flurry of camera shutters clicked wildly at them.

The wedding of a prince and a princess was bound to attract public attention, and this was sure to be the headline news in all major newspapers tomorrow. Your next chapter awaits on My Virtual Library Empire

Su Lun was dressed in a classical noble military uniform, looking extraordinarily distinguished; Yekaterina wore a black diamond gown, looking stunningly beautiful with a demeanor that was ethereal and sublime.

Not only outsiders, but even most of the members of the Lance family were seeing their young lady dressed up so splendidly for the first time. It was also their first glimpse of Prince Feike.

As soon as the two appeared, they dazzled all the onlookers substantially.

"Wow... Prince His Highness is really very handsome!"

"Princess Yekaterina is even more beautiful than the legends say, oh my, they really are a perfect match."

"Just any random photo is the most beautiful. Oh, how fortunate I am to be invited to such a dream-like wedding..."

"..."

In terms of both looks and temperament, the couple was outstanding, and to any onlooker, they seemed a perfectly matched pair of newlyweds.

It was just like the fairy tales most people in Lingdun had heard since childhood, about a beautiful princess marrying a handsome prince, carrying a hint of romantic flair.

On the street, there was a gold carriage pulled by eight brightly white horses. This was an antique from hundreds of years ago, only usable by important royal members for ceremonies.

Su Lun, being very gentlemanly, assisted Yekaterina into the carriage, then followed her in.

Even though as a qualified partner he was ready for it, being the center of so much attention still made Su Lun feel slightly uncomfortable.

Accustomed to moving in the shadows, encountering the bright sunlight suddenly seemed like a different world.

...

The wedding procedure for top nobility was extremely cumbersome.

The couple had to ride in the gold carriage around the main streets of Lingdun City, then go to the Frederic Royal Palace to receive the Empress's blessing, followed by a ceremony at the "Zosimos Alchemy Cathedral," and finally, the reception and thanksgiving dinner...

In short, the whole day was fully scheduled.

The carriage sped along the central avenue of Lingdun, soon crossing the Lingdun Iron Bridge, with various elegantly dressed people lining the path to welcome them. A red carpet was laid down the entire route, with dazzling flowers on either side of the street.

The task for Su Lun and Yekaterina was to sit in the carriage, show their faces as they paraded through the streets, and then wave and smile at the people.

A rather tedious process that would continue for several hours, capable of making anyone's face stiff from smiling.

"Click," "click," "click"...

Most of what they heard were the rhythmic hoofbeats of the eight majestic horses.

Perhaps because of a rekindling in the room earlier, the atmosphere between the two in the carriage was quite pleasant.

Su Lun also found that, including their previous meetings, he actually enjoyed Yekaterina's company quite a bit.

It wasn't that they developed the sort of deep, trusting friendship where hearts and souls are bared, but rather that Yekaterina's emotional intelligence was so high that even though you knew she might have ulterior motives, you could not help but like her. She always gave more than you received.

Su Lun could see that Yekaterina had higher pursuits in her eyes.

So high, it seemed as if everything at the moment was beneath her notice.

At least to her, and to Su Lun, the wedding was purely a process for achieving some goal.

What was this...

The demeanor of a superior?

Probably that was the feeling.

It was like playing a game of chess where she viewed all the pieces on the board from a high vantage points.

Su Lun felt that Yekaterina would definitely be a very formidable leader in the future.

But it didn't matter anymore.

Nobility, after all, was all about power and schemes.

...

Su Lun had absolutely no interest in politics.

But sitting in the carriage for several hours was indeed boring, so he asked, "Miss Yekaterina, what is your current level of mastery?"

There wasn't much to talk about, and since it was just the two of them, he asked something of interest.

Su Lun was indeed curious about Yekaterina's strength.

The last time in the city-state of Moros, her mysterious technique of summoning a meteor that destroyed the Temple of Aghaparnon was truly inspired.

Such a feat, not even top professionals could manage.

Yekaterina heard this, without any intention of hiding anything.

Her pretty face still carried a smile in response to the pedestrians by the road, yet she said, "Currently, I am at the sixth tier. But since I entered the Saint Realm through the 'poetry' route, I can step into the seventh tier at any time. It's just that my domain comprehension isn't perfect enough, so I'm not in a hurry to advance."

"Oh."

Su Lun listened with a slightly unusual expression.

He thought he was among those with great opportunities and exceptional talent.

Yet now, at the threshold of the seventh tier, he saw no hope at all and might even be stuck here for a lifetime.

And here was this person saying she could advance "anytime"?

Also, the way Yekaterina lightly mentioned the "Saint Realm" left Su Lun full of envy.

Poetry was also one of the pathways that could consolidate divinity.

Previously, when he asked Mr. Jing if there was any shortcut to advance to the seventh tier, he was told there was.

The most reliable shortcut was to "enter into sainthood."

Like the thousand "Sword Saints," and the "Poetry Saint" he was currently facing.

The world contained countless extraordinary laws; grasping one could allow greater advancement.

After entering the Saint Realm, possessing a commanding ability over all things almost guaranteed a comprehension of one's own "domain," and advancement to the seventh tier.

There were also prophecy, calamity, kingship, wisdom, healing, magic, poetry, war, death... and so on.

This represented a comprehension of the laws of all things beyond the superficial, at a deeper level.

It could be said that before reaching the seventh tier, professionals were like searching for gold in sand, finding bits and pieces here and there;

but after the seventh tier, it was as if they recognized the direction of the vein, truly grasping that extraordinary law.

Su Lun, even with his deep comprehension of the law of death, still hadn't touched what the ethereal "Saint Realm" was.

It can be imagined how difficult this path was.

Su Lun's mind churned with myriad thoughts, which turned into a sigh of admiration: " Miss Yekaterina is really impressive."

Upon hearing this, Yekaterina smiled slightly, as if reminded of something, "It's also thanks to Mr. Su Lun. It was because I met you that I was able to smoothly enter the Saint Realm."

"???"

Su Lun was full of question marks.

Comprehension wasn't something that depended on others, so how could it be related to someone else?

Yekaterina seemed to guess his thoughts and explained, "Do you remember when we were at the Emerald Holy Land of the Dalu tribe? It was when I saw the complete scroll of the 'Poetry of Era' that I gradually comprehended the true essence of poetry. As for your relationship with it... because Katya included you in her poetry."

Su Lun listened and his brow furrowed slightly as he murmured softly, "Katya..."

Yekaterina seemed to recall something as well, but there was no fluctuation in her eyes.

Their tones seemed as if there was a third person involved in this shared memory.

The carriage became quiet for a moment.

Su Lun seemed to understand something.

But he also confirmed that this path of poetry was not something he could fantasize about.

Shrugging his shoulders, he casually asked, "Does Miss Yekaterina know of anything that could assist in the comprehension of a domain?"

Previously, he had asked Mr. Jing, who mentioned that certain cursed items indeed had this effect, but they were extremely rare.

Considering the heritage of the ancient noble Lans family, perhaps they had something, or at least might have heard of it.

Upon hearing this, Yekaterina hesitated, glanced at him, and counter-questioned, "Do you really want me to say it?"

Su Lun looked puzzled.

Did her words mean there actually was something?

He said, "Of course."

Upon hearing this, a strange shade crossed Yekaterina's face as she directly said, "The Lei family used to be the Mafa royal family, and they possess a special ancestral relic—the 'Blasphemy Crown.' It is said that this crown possesses the extraordinary attribute of dominating all things and enhances the effect of royal governance. More importantly, it is an item that can greatly boost a professional's domain comprehension. Also, because of this ancestral relic, almost all heads of the Lei family have smoothly advanced to the seventh tier. Very few people know this secret. I only learned about it recently from my teacher..."

"Oh?"

A wave of delight surged in Su Lun's heart, realizing he had asked the right person.

It turned out to be the Lei family's ancestral relic.

The Lei family, having once ruled over Mafa for hundreds of years, certainly possessed a heritage not inferior to the royal family of Luying. It was only too natural for them to possess some special artifacts.

However, even if they did have it, it seemed unattainable.

Although the original owners were named "Lei," Su Lun's relationship with those guys couldn't exactly be considered good.

But, apparently, there was more to this matter.

Speaking of this, Yekaterina shifted the topic and said directly, "However, only the Family Head of Lei's territory, or the primary heir, is qualified to touch this crown."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Su Lun immediately understood why she had hesitated earlier.

Because, the moment these words were spoken, someone was going to die.

Previously during the Mist Moon political upheaval, the Lei kingdom was involved, and several branches of the family had fought amongst themselves, leaving only two sons alive from the Family Head Kelson's lineage.

One was the eldest son, William.

The other was "Prince Feike."

Moreover, what was more delicate was that Su Lun now knew clearly that Yekaterina was not just a simple fourth daughter of the Lance family; she was the most outstanding young noble he had ever met.

With what her family, the Lance family, was aiming for, how could they possibly be satisfied with marrying a second son?

Clearly, from the perspective of interests, the primary heir was always more suitable.

But the fact was, she chose "Prince Feike."

Although there was certainly a lot of complexity involved, Su Lun also figured out a bit.

That is, if one were to deduce from the perspective of ultimate benefits, only with the demise of William the elder, would the marriage alliance with the Lance family maximize its benefits!

But the problem was, whoever killed William was going to incur great trouble.

The Lei family was not an easy one to provoke, being one of the strongest old noble families aside from the imperial families of the two great empires.

Whoever dares to kill the primary heir would inevitably bring about a destructive retaliation.

Yet only "Prince Feike" would not.

Brothers turning foes and vying for positions is a plotline all too common in the nobility and would not experience any backlash.

Simply perfect.

....

Yekaterina's earlier statement was essentially implying: Go kill William, only by killing him can you obtain the treasure.

That's why she had hesitated just now.

Talking up to this point, Su Lun and Yekaterina exchanged a look and saw a tranquil smile in her eyes, which he reciprocated with a knowing smile.

He understood clearly, but if the Lance family really intended to manipulate him, they would definitely have more covert methods leading to the same goal.

But now, Yekaterina had spoken directly, which dissolved any distrust into nothing.

Especially since Su Lun's enmity with William existed before he met Yekaterina.

Regardless of whether this would benefit a third party, he was definitely going to eliminate William, who had tried to murder him twice.

Especially now that he had heard about that treasure.

Su Lun had absolutely no interest in the kingdom's succession rights; instead, he was wondering when he would have a chance to identify what kind of attributes that "Blasphemous Crown" really had.

But as he contemplated, a bizarre thought occurred to him: he had only agreed to the marriage alliance, not intending to partake in any power struggle games; after killing William, how would the Lance family seize power?

Yekaterina seemed to guess what he was thinking, and at that moment, she said another meaningful phrase, "In my life, I will only marry once and there will be only one man. So, if you hear something later on, don't be too surprised."

"???"

Su Lun was utterly confused, not understanding why she would suddenly say such words.

Glancing over, he caught her exquisitely beautiful face returning a light and breezy smile, "You'll understand later."

The composure and depth in her eyes reminded Su Lun of the time they had played chess earlier. From her very first move, it seemed she had foreseen many steps ahead in the game.

Su Lun still didn't understand her recent words.

Just then the carriage stopped, and Yekaterina, like a dutiful newlywed wife, affectionately linked her arm with Su Lun's, saying, "Let's go, climb down. We are to receive the Empress's blessing at the palace."

Upon hearing this, a glimpse of resignation flashed across Su Lun's face but disappeared with a gentlemanly smile, "Hmm."

...

The golden carriage stopped at the entrance to Frederick Palace.

Su Lun got out first, then tenderly assisted Yekaterina to alight as well.

The couple, surrounded by a multitude, slowly walked into the palace.

White boundaries, sapphire blue spires—it was a majestic and spectacular architectural complex.

As Su Lun walked, he extended his senses around, his left eye sparkling luminously.

Walking into the palace, he saw too many magic prohibitions. Those dangerous yet exquisite prohibitions could keep most illegal intruders outside the boundaries. Even spatial teleportation was fraught with traps of void.

The palace was protected like a hedgehog by various defensive prohibitions, almost without any flaw.

Moreover, his senses detected too many experts within the palace.

The court guards that Su Lun encountered were all at least fourth-level professionals, and several royal guard captains seemed to be professionals of level six or higher. Deep within the royal palace, there appeared to be more than one top-level professional.

This made Su Lun constantly feel as if he was walking on a knife's edge, sending chills down his spine.

After all, he and the Giant Hermit Association were now mortal enemies, and he had killed several archbishops. Without any surprise, there should be a top-tier giant hermit in the Bonner royal family.

Yekaterina sensed his caution and gently embraced Su Lun's arm, giving him an understanding smile.

With the presence of the royal family's foremost disciple of Master Pierr, Su Lun finally felt somewhat secure.

...

Half an hour later, the two walked out of the royal palace.

Before attending the wedding, Su Lun thought that the most dangerous part would be visiting the queen at the palace.

Unexpectedly, there was absolutely no danger.

The two received the empress's blessings and smoothly walked out of the palace.

The empress, Charlotte, was an old woman with graying hair; though she looked somewhat stern, Su Lun had already personally confirmed that she was not a follower of the outer gods.

Although he had known this news beforehand, Su Lun was still somewhat surprised.

The pair returned to the gold carriage, and their next destination was to hold a ceremony at the Zosimos Alchemy Cathedral.

The carriage traveled at a steady pace.

In the carriage, Su Lun was still pondering all that he had seen, but some questions remained unclear.

Sensing his confusion, Yekaterina suddenly asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Su Lun said, "I was wondering, if the empress is not a believer, why does she allow various cults to proliferate in Ruying?"

Yekaterina considered this and explained, "Before the Bonner royal family's restoration, a mysterious force supported them. Now, it seems it was the 'Giant Hermit Association.' The empress likely bypassed parliament to pass the Faith Freedom Act through a secret deal with that outer god sect."

Su Lun said, "But... the Red Death will inevitably kill many people. Can the empress really tolerate this? Those aides in the royal house, shouldn't someone have noticed the problem?"

"It's not that no one noticed..."

Yekaterina's tone was emotionless, yet there was an indifference in her calm, "For many people, power has a fatal attraction. Compared to the lure of the throne, the deaths of millions of civilians are insignificant to the Bonner royal house. My teacher said that she's just an old lady greedy for power."

Su Lun listened, his brow slightly furrowed.

At that moment, he felt no fondness for the royal family at all.

After a moment's reflection, he then asked, "What do you think about the Red Death?"

Upon hearing this question, Yekaterina thought for a while, then seriously said, "A massive tree is rotting from its roots to its branches; if it continues, death is inevitable. But now there's a chance to cut off a branch, to give it a chance to thrive anew. What would you do? Of course, this process will harm some innocent good wood."

Without waiting for Su Lun to respond, she declared, "I would do it without hesitation."

Her words were gentle yet resonant.

"Oh."

Su Lun sensed a domineering arrogance in her words.

The following sentence completely explained all of Su Lun's doubts.

She stated, "This is also a political gamble. Winner takes all."

At that moment, Su Lun finally understood the weird political situation in Ruying.

The Red Death was rampant, and the top elites were not ignorant of the threat of the outer gods; instead, they all had ulterior motives.

Ultimately, it was all about interest.

When the Red Death was first discovered, the Evil God had already infiltrated, and it was irreversible.

In the words of Master Pierre, the only way to eradicate it was to wait for Him to fully expose Himself.

Since a major turmoil was inevitable, the major families naturally had to secure their own interests.

Initially, everyone probably wanted to profit, but gradually, probably no one expected that the 'Giant Hermit Association' had such grand plans, like the Rodriguez family had entirely become followers of the Evil God.

And like several other senior councilors in the parliament — the Rafael family, the Lance family, the Roberts family — they formed a political alliance.

As for the Crimson Potion, they couldn't manage it, nor did they want to.

Anyone who drank the potion became a minion of the Evil God.

They just had to ensure their own people didn't drink it.

Once the Evil God's plot erupted, political opponents would most likely have become followers of the Evil God, and by then, it would inevitably be a battle of life and death.

The final outcome would be that either the opposition exterminates the faith supporters, or the faith faction exterminates the opposition.

Winner takes all.

Regardless, Ruying's political landscape was destined for a major upheaval!