Mechanical Alchemist

Outside Hepitasong City, an intense battle raged in the sky.

Mr. Jing split into two, and two mirror images were each surrounded by a layer of the Mirror Light Domain. She fought invincibly against two ninth-tier Sages of Law.

Various high-level spells bombarded each other, exploding in the sky like fabulous fireworks of elemental shockwaves. The sound was deafening, and the entire sky seemed like a canvas painted in a myriad of colors.

Meanwhile, Su Lun controlled two ten-thousand-strong stone gargoyle legions, engaging in a corps battle on another battlefield with the divine magicians' ten-thousand-person formations.

The opposing corps clashed and interweaved, with army alchemy and magic colliding fiercely against each other.

Before, he and Mr. Jing had broken through five formations as if they were cutting through butter, leaving seven formations remaining. The beings from the divine realm were aware of their prowess and thought to counter with a super formation.

But Su Lun had a grasp of all the enemy's tactics. How could he give them a chance?

At the very moment the enemy was concentrating on their formation, he teleported and shattered three more.

The remaining four ten-thousand-person formations created a forty-thousand-person super formation, which continued to be whittled down to the present.

Now, whether it was the battle among the ninth-tier or the skirmishes between troops, everything was at a standstill.

It was impossible to determine a victor in the short term.

However, for Su Lun, a war of attrition was precisely the situation he enjoyed watching most.

With the "Heart of Aisak Alchemy" and the "Blood Devour" providing dual recovery of qi and blood, a war of attrition was perfect for him—the longer it lasted, the better.

Moreover, the puppet legion feared no losses. No matter when, they were utterly fearless in their charges and bombardments.

Whereas the magicians from the divine plane were still flesh and blood. With each bombardment, they would lose hundreds of troops. As the battle went on, the fewer they became, and the more their legion's combat power diminished.

As time passed, the enemy's chance of victory grew slimmer and slimmer.

The divine beings fought desperately and attempted to break the stalemate, but after employing various methods, they became increasingly despondent.

Because they were only facing two opponents.

However, from the start, when they couldn't deal with Su Lun and Mr. Jing, it was destined that they could only be defeated and not victorious.

...

Outside the city, the battle was fierce, and shockwaves surged like tidal waves, one after another.

Already a ruin, pieces of Hepitasong architecture collapsed under the impact from time to time. Occasionally, long-range spells like Earthquake Technique, Meteor Magic, and Storm Magic would fall within the city by mistake, toppling large swathes of buildings.

But even at such great risk, the public's enthusiasm to witness this epic battle was unstoppable.

Around Hepitasong City, atop various tall buildings, iron towers, and high bridges, the crowds were packed, each person holding telescopes and watching the battlefield.

"That's Mr. Jing from the Order of Dawn, truly powerful!"

"Hahaha, to suppress two ninth-tier Sages of Law without any chance to retaliate, our alchemy is indeed much stronger than magic!"

"Look at that Puppet Master, incredibly powerful as well! Just by himself, he's blocking four ten-thousand-person formations?! It's unbelievable; he alone is equal to an army of several hundreds of thousands."

"Yeah, it's so strong. Once thought to be invincible, the ten-thousand-person magician formations are now beaten to such a state by a Puppet Master. Oh, I even saw mechanical puppets within the puppet legion!"

"That's no ordinary Puppet Master! I've heard people say, that's a Puppeteer, a faction founded by Lady Sereya, the wife of Sir Isaac from a thousand years ago..."

"One person is an army, that's a Puppet Master... so cool! I've decided, I'm going to become a Puppet Master in the future!"

"The top military might of our alchemy plane is really too powerful!"

"Hahaha, yes, I thought it was incredible when I read it in the newspaper. Now that I've seen it with my own eyes, I know that the Order of Dawn is really too strong!"

"..."

Seeing the divine plane's magic troops being beaten so miserably for the first time, the spectating crowd was overwhelmingly excited.

They looked at the two figures in the gold-patterned cloaks on the battlefield and felt as if their hearts pulsed with surging passion, wishing they could also stand on the battlefield and slay the enemy personally.

The figures in their field of vision seemed magical, capturing the onlookers' attention. That domineering aura gave rise to a belief in everyone's hearts: We will surely win!

...

The outcome of a battle that had already been predetermined was finally decided after several hours of fighting.

Su Lun gradually wore down those ten-thousand-person formations with his puppet legion, and Mr. Jing kept up the pressure without showing any weakness. The divine beings grew more and more anxious. Seeing no hope of turning the tide, the two ninth-tier Sages of Law tried to attack the people at Hepitasong Port to look for a chance to escape.

However, Mr. Hei's ten-thousand-person magician corps had been waiting for a long time.

In a desperate struggle, the two ninth-tier Sages of Law did cause some casualties to their opponents, but in the end, one was trapped in a magician formation by Mr. Hei and was killed amidst the corps formations, and the other was slain on the spot by Mr. Jing.

Two ninth-tier Sages of Law and twelve ten-thousand-person formations suffered heavy losses this time.

Indeed, the magicians from the divine plane were not entirely underestimating their enemy.

But they had to fight.

After losing eight ten-thousand-person formations in the battle at the Imperial Strait, followed by the loss of three Sages of Law and nine eighth-tier grand magicians in the battle at Klayminton, the divine beings had already been on alert.

They also guessed that the Alchemy plane might possess top-tier powers beyond the intelligence they had.

But now, with thousands of ships arriving from the United Coalition Empire, this was the only opportunity since the invasion to seize a vast number of ships for an offensive.

How could they not seize such a golden opportunity?

Besides, even without considering the matter of the ships, they couldn't just watch as the inhabitants of the occupied zones, who could have been converted into believers, were all relocated away.

For this operation, they had marshaled almost every available force apart from those guarding near the planar passage—should they avoid battle now, they would have no chance later.

Without engaging in battle, their presence as the advance pioneer troops would have no purpose.

After all, their actions were not solely for themselves, but mainly to follow the divine will of the gods.

In the eyes of the gods, human lives were like weeds.

A few hundred thousand human believers dying was probably akin to the loss of a strand of hair.

...

This epic battle concluded with the enemy being completely annihilated, and a festive ocean emerged within Habitson City.

People warmly embraced each other, cheering, dancing, and celebrating this unprecedented grand victory.

After the celebration, the previously chaotic boarding lines at the docks orderly reformed, and no longer did people seem as desperate to board the ships as before.

Because everyone understood that, as promised by the military, the population relocation plan at the port would now continue for a long time.

With the limited number of beings descended from the Divine Plane, the annihilation of these twelve hundred-thousand-strong Mage Regiments meant that the magical forces of Northern Mafa were almost entirely wiped out, leaving them incapable of launching another attack on the port.

This battle was not just a remarkable military success, but more importantly, it served as a deterrence to the enemy.

Today, Su Lun and Mr. Jing together wiped out two ninth-tier Sage of Laws and twelve hundred-thousand-strong Mage Regiments, showcasing the fearsome combat strength of the top-tier powers of the Alchemy plane to everyone.

If the enemy still wanted to make a move, they would now have to weigh whether they were qualified enough.

Besides, dawn would not give the enemy that chance.

Now that Su Lun and Mr. Jing had already arrived, they would be staying in Mafa for a considerable duration in the future.

They intended to create more breathing space for the Alchemy plane.

In the major cities that fell in Mafa, only one or two hundred-thousand-strong Mage Regiments were usually stationed, which posed almost no threat to them.

The days ahead would still be filled with battles.

Only now, it was the enemies from the Divine Plane who would live in fear and trepidation.

...

The news of the great victory at Habitson quickly spread back to Luying via various channels, and soon, it spread throughout the entire Mafa.

Even the resistance armies still fighting persistently in the mountainous frontlines received this exhilarating information.

A scene of joyous celebration prevailed in the city.

Yet Su Lun and Mr. Jing, the ones who contributed the most to this victory, didn't join in the celebrations—they preferred quiet. After the great battle, they merely retreated to a nondescript little valley on the outskirts to recover in silence.

Mr. Jing sat cross-legged in meditation, recuperating from the physical exhaustion and battle insights of the previous fight.

Su Lun, on the other hand, recovered quickly.

He took out the Philosopher's Stone again and began refining the corpses of those two ninth-tier Sages of Law.

The nine-pointed star Formation glowed brightly as the two corpses gradually transformed into strands of law, which then fused together to become "Elemental Law Threads."

Both Sages were elemental Mages, and the laws they comprehended were of the same type.

Seeing that the two Sages had yielded a total of 72% law threads, Su Lun took out the previously stored 29% bundle.

Attempting to merge it with the Philosopher's Stone, it smoothly turned into a dazzling seven-colored gemstone.

"It really worked!"

Looking at the gemstone identified as [Universe Essence Twenty-Fifth, Elemental], Su Lun's face overflowed with joy.

Although he had known theoretically it was possible, this was his first time refining a complete Universe Essence.

It was also the first time in many millennia that someone from the Alchemy plane had refined a Universe Essence!

Seeing this, even Mr. Jing, who was beside him, opened his eyes, his bright eyes brimming with joy and he couldn't help but ask, "Did it succeed?"

Su Lun nodded, happily saying, "Yes! It's an Elemental Essence."

[Universe Essence Twenty-Fifth, Elemental] is considered a versatile essence that can be used by almost all elemental system professions for amalgamation and advancement.

Not only do many in the Magic system as elemental Mages benefit from it, but many Alchemists following the elemental path also benefit greatly.

For someone like Mr. Hei, a Scholar well-versed in various laws, this type of essence would be exceptionally suitable.

Hearing this, Mr. Jing's eyes flickered with excitement, barely concealing his delight.

This is of great significance to the alchemy civilization!

The newly refined cosmic essence has solved the biggest constraint that alchemy magicians used to face when advancing to the ninth rank. From now on, practitioners of the eighth rank in the alchemy plane can advance to the ninth rank by refining it themselves, rather than relying solely on luck to find cosmic essence in ancient ruins!

But clearly, problems remain.

After finishing his words, Su Lun, in his excitement, muttered, "It took three ninth-rank Sages of Law to refine a single cosmic essence—there's still a huge shortage. Not to mention that hunting ninth-rank mages will become even more difficult."

The enemy is not a fool, having been killed twice in a row, they will assuredly take precautions.

Not to say they will hide and not give Dawn the opportunity to hunt, but the next time we really encounter them, there might not be just two or three.

It will become increasingly difficult to find such opportunities to extract threads of law from their corpses.

"Mm."

Mr. Jing nodded, also realizing the problem.

Although ninth-rank practitioners are scarce in the alchemy plane, there are still quite a few at the eighth rank.

From what we can see now, at least ten to twenty cosmic essences are needed to fully meet the demand and to advance a batch of new ninth-rank practitioners.

Moreover, as the plane's upper limit increases in the future, more practitioners will advance to the eighth rank, and the gap will become even larger then.

From a longer-term perspective, she wanted the alchemy plane to still have access to cosmic essence hundreds of years from now.

Not that it would end with their generation's usage.

At this point, Su Lun looked at Mr. Jing and said, "Senior Sister, I have an idea..."

Before he could finish, Mr. Jing clearly understood and said, "Are you thinking of the 'God Burial Ground'?"

Su Lun nodded, "Mm!"

Whether it's hunting ninth-rank mages or some ninth-rank magical beasts, it's down to luck, and there is also the factor of chance.

This still leaves a big shortfall in terms of the current demand for cosmic essence.

Even Su Lun himself had no clue about the cosmic essences he needed.

Therefore, he had already considered whether there was another solution to the problem.

If cosmic essence can be refined from the corpses of ninth-rank beings, then what about the corpses of gods?

The alchemy plane is very special; it was once the battlefield of the gods' war. Even though the plane was shattered during the war, it was not entirely without benefits.

Countless treasures were left behind on this broken plane, as well as divine relics!

Because the law's upper limit is low in the alchemy plane, those divine relics remain untouched, buried in the dust of history for countless years.

Just within Su Lun's knowledge, there are several godly tombs, such as the Sea God tomb in the deep sea ruins, the divine tomb of Giant God Mountain in the mountain dwarf tribe, and the "God Burial Ground" in the Silent Forest!

Mr. Jing could guess what Su Lun was thinking; her expression serious, she said, "The God Burial Ground is very dangerous... Even my father was not sure if he could investigate it thoroughly."

"Mm."

Su Lun nodded as well.

He was of course aware of the dangers.

If there was enough time, Su Lun might have looked for other opportunities to produce the cosmic essence he needed.

But now, they didn't have much time left.

Once the plane's passageway is fully stabilized, a large number of ninth-ranks could descend en masse. At that point, the enemy might not give the alchemy plane any chance to resist, simply rolling over it with concentrated fire.

Relying solely on the two ninth-ranks currently in the alchemy plane is simply not enough to hold back.

Therefore, it is necessary to take risks to accelerate the process and quickly enhance the overall combat power of the alchemy plane.

Moreover, the God Burial Ground, for others, is a forbidden land that is completely untouchable, but for the Dalu people living in the Silent Forest in this era, they have much more information.

According to the intelligence Su Lun received from Yuta, the primary reason the Dalu ancestors sealed the God Burial Ground was for fear of the demonic kings with sentient minds, strange and terrifying beings born from the godly corpses.

Furthermore, the tomb itself gives off an emanation of "great panic."

Previously, Su Lun did not know what those things were that the Dalu tribe's legends called the "great terror," but from his understanding, he guessed that it's highly likely to be the chaotic force of law emanating from the decomposition of the gods' corpses.

This indeed poses a fatal threat to those below the level of gods.

But it is also the most important ingredient for refining cosmic essence.

The two did not discuss further; after exchanging a few key words, they understood what each other meant.

Mr. Jing fell into a long silence pondering.

She was well aware of the great risks of unlocking the God Burial Ground, but if they did not go, it was indeed impossible to resolve the pressing needs of the alchemy plane.

Thinking over, she did not rush to make a decision but looked back at Su Lun and asked, "Are you confident?"

"I don't know."

Su Lun shook his head, naturally uncertain, and said, "I plan to go take a look once the situation in Mafa stabilizes. If I have the chance, I still intend to give it a try."

Mr. Jing heard this and said seriously, "Good. I'll accompany you when the time comes."

Compared to the unknown disasters that releasing the seal could bring to the alchemy plane, the disasters caused by the invasion of the celestial plane were obviously more direct and more urgent.

Between two evils, she was more inclined toward the former.

Besides, their current strength also allowed them to make some attempts.

"Hmm."

Su Lun nodded, having his elder sister apprentice with him naturally increased the success rate.

The God Burial Ground was bound to have a multitude of death rule threads, which was the only way he could think of to obtain the essence of death.

Although that was a place Sir Isaac himself deemed very dangerous, Su Lun's situation was now quite different.

He now had the Philosopher's Stone in his hand.

As of now, this item being called an alchemical relic was not simply because it could perform absolute equivalent exchange.

The mere ability to handle the rule threads that even Mr. Jing couldn't cope with, already gave Su Lun an additional confidence.

As long as there weren't too many, there seemed to be some chance of success.

Moreover, there was the support of the Dalu tribe's Great Druid, Yuta.

The God Burial Ground was very much worth exploring.

...

Before long, Su Lun and Mr. Jing, having rested, quietly returned to the ruins of Hepitasong City.

Celebrations were still underway everywhere in the city ruins, and the people moving around the docks were orderly.

Su Lun sensed the coordinates and, in the blink of an eye, appeared inside a ruined building.

As soon as they arrived, they heard a group of people excitedly discussing something.

"Hey, Brulu, you're not fooling me, are you? Is Jick really the disciple of that Puppet Master of the dawn?"

"How could I fool you!"

"That was told to me by Garen himself! They were there for the explosion because the two lords wanted to save them and they survived. They even saw the lords' faces with their own eyes. Besides, he heard Jick calling the Puppet Master 'teacher'! Oh, and that lord knows Phoebe too. If you don't believe us, ask Polly and Owen, they were there at the time."

"Jick is so low-key, with such a powerful sect and we didn't know! If it were me, with such a powerful teacher and uncle, I would let the whole world know. Oh, if I could become Jick's junior brother..."

"Hahaha... Keep dreaming, those two grandmasters wouldn't take you in. Also, don't go bothering Jick while he's doing experiments, you know, his laboratory is very dangerous."

"..."

The ruined building was full of people; it seemed to be a resistance base.

Beyond the people, there was a hidden mechanical factory.

It housed numerous steam machines and lathes for processing weapons and equipment, and the air was thick with the scent of rust.

In the drafty ruin, groups of people, mostly discussing the epic battle that had just taken place, and also Jick's jaw-dropping "identity."

Those wearing uniforms from the Royal Mechanical Academy seemed to all know Jick, chatting excitedly.

Although the aftermath of the previous battle had collapsed part of the building, everyone was still happily clearing the rubble off the machines.

Su Lun and Mr. Jing walked over, and the others paid them no mind.

At their current level, it was all too easy for them not to be noticed.

Su Lun sensed that Jick was in the basement, but he hesitated to teleport right next to him, fearing it might trigger some unnecessary accidents.

Just like before in the bunker, hadn't he noticed Jick's precise heart rate detonator?

The two walked down, passing through specially reinforced staircases, and reached the underground.

Before seeing anyone, they heard the sound of a conversation.

"Ah... Phoebe, can you help me tidy up? The teacher might come looking for me later."

"Sure. But thinking back, we're really lucky this time, running into Mr. Su Lun, otherwise, we might have died."

"Yeah, I had to personally go to detonate the 'dark matter bomb,' I didn't expect there to be a space mage among the enemies. Luckily the teacher arrived..."

"..."

In the underground laboratory, Jick and Phoebe were tidying the messy lab, and as they talked and looked up, they saw Su Lun and Mr. Jing standing at the door.

Jick's face lit up with joy: "Teacher! Uncle!"