Mechanical Alchemist

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"..."

Thunder roared in the sky, thunderclouds rolled in and obscured the sun, with a terrifying momentum.

The thunder elements within a radius of tens of miles were gathered above the mine, forming a sacred thunder domain.

The ninth-order Thunder Sage's robe had already shattered in his battle with Su Lun, and now he stood bare-chested, revealing a robust body starkly different from his aged face.

Muscles bulged all over his body, violent thunder elements twined around him, and purple thunder runes spread across his bronze skin, shining brightly.

A ninth-order rune mage, his physical body was also extremely formidable.

The old man chanted arcane spells, raised his hand, and gathered the sky full of purple lightning in his palm, and suddenly struck down with a "crack," a searing ball of lightning coalesced from the atmospheric elements and chopped straight at Su Lun.

Su Lun's pupils narrowed slightly; he had already seen through the magic's foundation and urgently cried out in his mind, "Eh... is that 'Thor's Secret Art·Spherical Lightning'?!"

But how swift is the thunder spell?

It had appeared before him in the blink of an eye.

Instinctively, he flashed away, reappearing hundreds of meters away.

However, surprisingly, although he had teleported away from the path of the thunderball, the moment Su Lun re-emerged from the spatial rift, the thunderball, hundreds of meters away, had already curved in trajectory to appear right in front of his eyes, striking him the instant he reappeared.

"Crack!"

With a blast, the thunderball released searing heat and intense light, exploding with the destructive power of thunder rules and engulfing Su Lun in a sea of lightning.

....

In an instant, a figure charred black, with small lightning serpents flickering over his robe, teleported again to appear hundreds of meters away.

Having endured that strike, Su Lun appeared somewhat disheveled but was not at all surprised in his heart, "Curving thunder spells... tsk, I never thought someone would actually master this Thor's Secret Art. Truly an eye-opener."

As far as he knew, this "Spherical Lightning," despite its common name, was one of the most difficult forbidden spells to learn in the thunder magic category.

It was said to be a god-given spell, and few ninth-order Sages of Law had the opportunity to learn it, let alone master it.

From all the memories he had harvested before, he had only heard of it but never expected to encounter someone capable of it now.

This thunder spell was tricky, not only because of its great might but most importantly because it was a "locking spell"!

Once the target's qi was locked, within the dozens of miles covered by the sacred domain, the thunderball would relentlessly pursue like a tracking missile, not stopping until it exploded on the target.

The only option was to endure it head-on!

Just as Su Lun had done moments before, even if you teleported away, it would catch up in an instant.

Just this one move alone would have obliterated an average eighth-order at first contact.

The blast of magical explosion was like a flashbang, leaving one's vision engulfed in white radiance.

After a brief recovery, as the white light dissipated, Su Lun's focus returned and his vision cleared.

He glanced at the dark golden dragon scale runes blasted open on his body and mused solemnly, "The destructive power has reached the upper limit of thunder rules, no wonder it's so strong."

In the eyes of the All-knowing Eye, there was little mystery left in this spell.

But even with understanding, he didn't have any better method to counter it, only the ability to endure it with his own strength.

Moreover, the old man was very cautious, and the moment he saw the Death God's Fire on Su Lun, he chose not to engage in close combat.

Killing him would not be easy.

However, what made Su Lun even more solemn was that if a mere servant was this formidable, how powerful must Princess Oktaavia J. Fielding be?

Looking again, the old man in the distance had already formed another large thunderball in his hand.

Su Lun narrowed his eyes slightly; this enemy was indeed very strong.

...

But in a blink, Su Lun and the ninth-order Thunder mage had exchanged several rounds of blows in the sky.

Exaggerated energy fluctuations exploded over the mine, the earth cracked open under the tremors of lightning and thunder. The lower-order mages were also hit hard in the battle, suffering heavy casualties.

Although Su Lun's combat power was comparable to a ninth-order, he still wasn't of that rank himself and remained at a disadvantage.

He knew he couldn't kill the Thunder mage quickly, but was in no hurry.

Because the mage couldn't kill him either.

This situation was bound to be a war of attrition.

If it really came to wearing down the opponent, Su Lun would inevitably be the victor in the end.

But obviously, they were not the main characters in this battle.

Mr. Jing and the Golden Masked Mage had been facing off for a while; though it seemed like nothing was happening, Su Lun knew they were already in the midst of confrontation.

For combatants of their caliber, seizing just the slightest opportunity against the adversary ensures a thunderous strike.

Just as Su Lun caught a glimpse in the corner of his eye, the Golden Masked Mage made her move!

Her incantation was completed in an instant, and suddenly a bright white glow lit up in her hands. With a motion like drawing a sword from her waist, the white light in her hand transformed into a Light Sword.

On the edge of his vision, Su Lun identified it as a Divine Artifact Projection, and exclaimed inwardly, "Puni's Holy Sword of Light!"

With the sword drawn, it was as if she held a sun in her hand, its intense white light radiating heat and causing pain to the eyes of those around.

Even from a great distance, Su Lun felt a prickling burn on his skin.

And upon closer inspection, the Mithril Mine beneath their feet had cracked from the high temperature, the gravel showing signs of melting.

Just the mere leakage of its laws was terrifying, demonstrating the sword's fearsome power.

The Golden Masked Mage wielded her Holy Sword without a word and pointed towards the sky. There appeared, from the tip of the sword, a super-gigantic nine-pointed star magic circle, which covered the entire mine in an instant.

Seeing the enchanted symbols on the formation, Su Lun recognized it instantly and blurted out, "A ninth-order forbidden spell—'Holy Shackles'!"

Back during the battle with Luenclayminton, that spell required the combined efforts of nine eighth-order Grand Magicians to formulate the magic circle, yet this Golden Masked woman was unleashing it by herself?

Upon closer inspection, Su Lun noticed the woman's body was enveloped with radiant Holy Light and it didn't take him long to realize she was harnessing the power of the Rule of Light. He thought to himself, "Tapping into the power of the Rule of Light, no wonder she can instantaneously cast forbidden spells. She's a Holy Light Mage too, which obviously counters my sister's vampiric nature..."

In just an instant, he noticed far too many details.

This woman in the Golden Mask was undoubtedly at the Magic God tier.

The magic she had just conjured did not utilize the conventional ascension of rules, but rather, Su Lun saw threads of rules themselves.

Such an ability was beyond what a ninth-tier Sage of Law could master.

No wonder their enemy had the confidence to lure them out, this woman was among the strongest individuals Su Lun had witnessed, aside from Queen Medusa and that Cyclops King from the sea!

Now they were in a predicament, if they didn't take down this woman, the Holy Shackles binding Mr. Jing wouldn't be undone.

It was as if a massive problem had been delivered right to their doorstep.

However, even with the enemy displaying such strength, Su Lun wasn't too worried.

After all, no one knew better than he did the combat strength of his sister!

...

Her "Mirror Guardian" talent ability was extremely unique.

Despite Mr. Jing's apparent lack of overwhelming advantage against ninth-tier opponents previously, her ability's advantage didn't particularly stand out in battles of the same tier, but became exceptionally prominent in cross-tier combat!

Just as in the Lyndon Catastrophe, when facing the pseudo-god Sea Giant that ninth-tier Master Pierre was willing to fight to the death, Mr. Jing, still at tier eight, managed to hold her own.

She was almost invincible within her own tier, and against higher tiers, she could at least achieve one-for-one!

It was at this moment, the Mage in the Golden Mask had already cast the Holy Shackles.

The moment Mr. Jing moved, chains of Holy Light appeared around her. The Holy Light caused charred traces on her skin and not only restricted her movements but its power was much stronger than the last time she faced it.

Unfortunately for them, Mr. Jing's power had also grown since two years ago!

Her sorcerer's seals shifted rapidly as her body suddenly shone with radiant mirror light, and she exclaimed, "Disarmament Solution·Mirror Kaleidoscope."

Once the spell took effect, it was as if her entire being had multiple afterimages, causing dizziness to anyone who looked on.

"Mirror Mystery·Final Boundary Mirror!"

In the blink of an eye, the mirror clone split into nine, transforming into nine identical figures cloaked in runic capes, "Grand Solution·Ninefold Mirror Body."

Watching the appearance of nine Ms. Jings in his field of view, Su Lun muttered to himself, "Has the enemy really forced my sister to use this move just upon confrontation?"

He knew all too well this was his sister going all out.

The Ninefold Mirror Image was the strongest state that Mr. Jing could currently enter.

Going all out from the start indicated that the enemy's strength far exceeded expectations.

Su Lun narrowed his eyes slightly, and said to himself again, "However, with this move, my sister has no reason to lose..."

...

As expected!

After Mr. Jing released the ninefold split of her image, her nine clones suddenly took their positions, each forming sorcerer's seals. Instantly, a gigantic Nonagram Alchemy Formation appeared in the sky, matching the scale of the enemy's magic circle!

With demi-god level power to mobilize rule threads, the enemy could command army-scale magic on their own.

Mr. Jing, divided into nine, could likewise form a super Alchemy Formation all by herself!

As the spell coalesced instantly, all nine Ms. Jings shouted in unison, "Alchemy: Ultimate Element Stealing!"

Mr. Jing excelled at various replications, but she was not limited to just copying.

She was, after all, the teacher of Mr. Hei who was proficient in nearly everything.

She was also well-versed in nearly every school of Alchemy!

Facing the constraints of the Holy Shackles, it was out of the question for her to copy this kind of Holy Light magic that bound her; instead, she used Element Stealing from Alchemy.

Using the equivalent exchange of the alchemy formation, she stole the Holy Light elements that filled the sky.

However, the next second, the abundant Holy Light covering the field converged into the Nonagram Alchemy Formation at her feet, and the light instantly turned from incandescent white to ascendent green.

Seeing his sister's sorcerer's seals, Su Lun guessed what she was about to do, with a flash of surprise in his eyes, "Ah... what a clever countermove!"

Holy Light magic was notoriously difficult for many people to handle.

Because it was an element almost without any counter within the sequence of elements.

Earth, wind, water, fire... Elements in the universe almost all counter each other, but Holy Light element almost has no counters!

Therefore, against Holy Light magic, elemental professionals tend to be easily countered, yet they hardly find a means to counter it.

However.

Not being a counter doesn't mean there's no way to deal with it.

In Alchemy, converting light elements into wood elements yields a high efficiency and conversion rate.

Wood might not counter light, but light elements are the perfect nourishment for wood elements.

Sunlight enables plants to grow, one of the basic laws of the universe!

Su Lun had already figured out what Mr. Jing was going to do.

Indeed.

After Mr. Jing gathered "Element Stealing," the alchemy pulled a huge amount of Holy Light elements from the magic circle, and then her sorcerer's seals changed once more, smoothly transitioning into another spell: "Alchemy Mystery·Ode to the Great Forest."

In that instant, a vast amount of light elements were converted into wood elements.

The previously barren and gray mine instantly burgeoned with vegetation; the ground cracked as trees sprouted and, in moments, grew from saplings to towering hundreds of meters tall.

Verdant canopies dominated the view as everything turned lush and vibrant green.

With the formation in the sky continuously supplying a multitude of wood elements, the trees grew even more robust, expanding in size relentlessly.

Astonishingly, the Holy Light so potent it could scorch sand and stone not only failed to burn the trees but seemed to continually nourish the sprawling greenery.

With this single move, Mr. Jing ingeniously resolved the "Holy Shackles" that restricted her.

But that wasn't the end!

Having perfectly resolved her predicament, each of her nine clones then formed sorcerer's seals.

Clone One: "Alchemy of Wood: Sky-reaching Vine!"

Clone Two: "Mysteries of Wood: Wooden Puppet!"

Clone Three: "Anthem of the Wood Element: Life Absorption!"

Clones Four, Five, Six, Seven combined attack: "Divine Spell: Emerald God's Descent!"

Clone Eight: "..."

In that brief moment, the dense forest on the mine seemed to come alive.

Tendrils spread everywhere like the claws of a demon, reaching out to grab their target...

And those giant trees turned into wooden puppets, causing landslides and earthquakes with every move...

Looking again at the forest, layers of green ripples spread out, not only continuously restoring Mr. Jing's life force but also drawing life from other targets in the forest...

After the final Divine Spell of the Emerald God's Descent, the whole space had turned into a world of forest.

The trees were like cages, imprisoning the mine within a radius of dozens of miles.

With the power of one person, she seemed to suppress the entire space.

The might of a top-tier alchemist was as terrifying as this!

...

A series of advanced spells instantly formed, leaving even Su Lun, the bystander, dazzled and inwardly exclaiming, "How strong..."

He knew his senior sister was powerful, but he had never seen such a formidable enemy, nor had he ever seen her unleash her full firepower.

Now, facing this Magic God, Su Lun realized just how strong Mr. Jing's alchemy was, and how deep was her understanding of spells.

Although the nine clones split some fighting power from her original body, their understanding of the rules was exactly the same.

And Mr. Jing's current understanding of ninth-level laws was intermediate, but her cloning ability included many alchemies and higher-level understandings that exceeded her own limits.

In other words, the woman wearing the Golden Mask had to face nine peak ninth-level alchemists at the same time!

This move was enough to make Mr. Jing unbeatable below the divine level.

Even the Thunder God elder, who was still battling Su Lun, was chased by the various plant tendrils in an extremely awkward manner.

The change came so suddenly that the Golden Masked Mage's expression changed when she saw this. Had her Divine Light Magic been stolen and used to attack her?

Watching as the tendrils attacked in droves, she brandished the Holy Sword of Light in her hand. With one strike, sword light cleaved through, breaking all tendrils hundreds of meters around.

However, with the Alchemy Formation continuously transforming wood elements from afar, those severed tendrils quickly regrouped and attacked her once more.

The Golden Masked Woman fought amidst the tendrils, and although these wood-based spells were far from lethal for her, she was being constrained and couldn't do anything about Mr. Jing.

"To think there would be such strong natives in the Alchemy Plane, hmph, I underestimated it..."

The Golden Masked Woman scoffed in her mind.

She was much stronger than the one mentioned in the reports.

Initially, she thought dealing with a native from a shattered plane would require little effort to resolve.

But she hadn't expected that the battle had just started and she felt like she couldn't possibly give it her all without fighting full force.

But in the blink of an eye, Mr. Jing had unleashed her full firepower and she didn't plan to give her enemies any chance!

The moment the wooden cage trapped the enemy, her nine clones converged to form another army spell. With a fierce chant, she shouted, "Alchemy Mystery·Dark Furnace!"

At that instant, the skies suddenly darkened as if a black curtain had enveloped the world.

With the arrival of the black curtain, a strange and eerie corrosive force quietly took shape.

Seeing this, Su Lun marveled as well: "She intends to refine the enemy... Hehe, senior sister's research on spells is indeed profound!"

Although he understood the principle of the spell, Su Lun had to admit, it was a technique he had never even heard of.

He couldn't help but be moved, realizing that despite Mr. Jing's usually quiet demeanor, her actions never disappointed when she truly made a move.

One sequence of spells after another made it seem like he was watching a top-tier alchemist's demonstration.

His senior sister's pool of techniques was unfathomably deep!

Exquisite and elegant, every move was a textbook demonstration.

Compared to this, Su Lun immediately felt his own techniques crude.

His own methods were almost always to instantly kill his enemies.

Whether it was Death God's Fire, the Domain of Death, or the scythe hacking away, or puppet legions bombarding the enemy.

If he couldn't instantly kill, the flashy spells he knew would also hardly kill the enemy.

He followed a brute path, one that overpowered with raw force.

Whereas Mr. Jing and Mr. Hei were those who used technique to overcome strength, pushing their skills to the utmost perfection.

In front of him, Mr. Jing was truly showcasing the abilities of a traditional alchemist to the fullest.

...

The sky suddenly grew dark, pitch black.

Mr. Jing didn't hold back against the enemy; each of these moves was meant to kill.

The Golden Masked Woman realized she had underestimated her opponent. Even though she wielded the Rule of Light, in this endless darkness, she seemed like a flickering candle in the wind, about to be snuffed out.

Instead of dispersing the darkness, the light seemed to be swallowed by some strange eroding power in the darkness.

And those tendril monsters continued to attack in the dark, as if they wanted to drag their victims into an endless abyss, invoking an ever-growing sense of terror.

"Hmph!"

The Golden Masked Woman uttered a cold snort as the sword light in her hand intensified.

With a sudden slice, she cut through countless tendrils and then slowly removed the Golden Mask she wore on her face.

Upon closer inspection, beneath was an exquisitely beautiful face.

Her expression was indifferent, exuding a lofty aloofness, as if she were a deity.

Not only was this Princess Oktaavia J. Fielding not lacking in appearance, but there was also an extraordinary feature on her face. At a closer glance, there was a slit between her eyebrows.

In that very instant, she suddenly opened her eyes, and the vertical pupil on her forehead promptly unfolded, releasing a blinding golden light from her being.

The moment her third eye emerged, her entire aura soared exponentially, swathed in a sense of the divine as if a god had descended among them.

Compared to before, she seemed like a completely different person!

Having known her identity in advance, Su Lun was not at all surprised by this. But with his second elucidation of the All-knowing Eye, he perceived something else and murmured to himself, "Mage God… So the so-called 'indescribable', 'unutterable', 'unfathomable' really refers to the outward manifestation of the threads of rules."

In a flash, he felt as if he had grasped some higher understanding.

Indeed, one could only see where the gap lay after clashing with the strong.

One could also catch glimpses of the lofty vistas they inhabit.

To Su Lun at this point, this Demigod opponent was an extraordinary opportunity that was hard to come by!

But that was just wishful thinking.

Once the enemy had revealed her third divine eye, she clearly intended to get serious.

Then, a beam of golden light burst forth from Octavia's upright pupil, slicing through the dark veil like a sharp sword. In that split second, the "Absolute Reality" disrupted Mr. Jing's "Dark Furnace".

Suddenly, daylight returned, and the surrounding forest regained its green vibrancy.

Octavia, observing Mr. Jing's nine duplicates from a distance, flashed a sharp gleam in her eyes and vanished from the spot.

Mr. Jing watched unfazed, readying his spellcasting once more!

...

Mr. Jing and Octavia both went all out in the battle, each move more powerful than the last.

Having previously clashed with Saint Frank, Su Lun had a sufficient understanding of the three-eyed heavenly deities. Although the "Absolute Reality" was formidable, its threat to Mr. Jing was not particularly great once accounted for. The only real issue was that her three eyes could practically unravel all spells, making her difficult to trap, let alone kill with sorcery.

Mr. Jing's own nine duplicates were just as bug-like, with ninefold attacks and ninefold replications, rendering the opponent's magic almost useless.

The battle raged on, evolving from long-range to melee, plunging the surroundings into chaos.

Seeing Mr. Jing deploy his nine clones, Su Lun knew she wouldn't be defeated and did not bother to pay further attention to the battle there.

Instead, he continued his pursuit of that ninth-tier Lightning Mage elder.

If he could eliminate the old man, then he'd be free to join forces with his senior sister and possibly decide the victory.

Not long after, only four beings remained in this Mithril mine.

Four parties with top-ranking powers of their planes unleashed their firepower, and Maneuver City felt the repercussions. Fortunately, there weren't many people in the city to begin with; they had evacuated before the fight started, so there weren't many casualties.

However, this once second greatest city of magic was ultimately ravaged by the four, reduced to ruins.

Yet the battle, which from the onset showed no sign of a decisive outcome, was destined to be a grueling conflict. After two to three hours of combat, Su Lun and Mr. Jing still chose to strategically retreat.

The Mage God and Sage of Law of the divine planes couldn't keep them there, so they gave up.

Both parties scattered.

...

Not long after, two silhouettes appeared on the wilderness outskirts of Maneuver City.

This was an orchard, brimming with autumnal charm, laden with heavy fruits that hung from the trees, dispersing a rich fragrance having gone unpicked.

Their steps on the fallen leaves rustled with each move.

Mr. Jing expressed some regret, saying, "If it weren't for the descent of divine will, we might have had the chance to kill her. Too bad… that female Mage God can summon an Artifact Projection, which means a deity must be watching over her."

Su Lun also nodded, "Indeed."

If the gap were wide, a swift kill would solve everything.

But after the fight, they realized that even with minimal differences and the outcome tough to discern,

Continuing the battle indeed harbored a chance to land a killing blow, but as Octavia started to slightly fall behind, Su Lun and his company felt the gaze of a divine will probing them.

Should they continue and divine will descend, without a fierce struggle, they would likely still be unable to prevail.

So they chose to withdraw voluntarily.

Fortunately, they had managed to probe the depths of their enemy, gaining valuable intelligence. Should they encounter them again, a bit of preparation could perhaps offer a chance for a decisive kill.

Mr. Jing then asked, "Su Lun, did you discern anything?"

Su Lun replied, "Mhm. That Octavia is indeed a Mage God. Her realm is not merely about understanding parts of the rules; she can also manipulate and apply them within her magic..."

This battle wasn't without gains; on the contrary, the rewards were immense.

At the very least, they had now experienced firsthand what true Demigod experts were like.

Su Lun's double elucidation of the All-knowing Eye penetrated the application of those rules, which was insight almost unattainable through any other means and of great significance to his own professional path.

Walking through the orchard, he shared the observations made earlier with his senior sister.

"Wisdom" allowed Su Lun to understand and convey it to others as well.

This was also of great significance to Mr. Jing.

Having discussed the recent battle,

Mr. Jing mused, "With the arrival of a Demigod-level expert from the divine planes, the next major battle is looming terribly."

If they could deal with one Demigod but without changing the tide, two or three more could be...

She sighed slightly, "If only I could glimpse the mysteries of the rules, that would be wonderful..."

Su Lun, listening, fell silent for a moment, feeling the weight of that great pressure.

Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he said, "Right, senior sister, I have an idea that might address some of our problems. But it could also be risky."

Mr. Jing looked at him with an inquisitive gaze, "Oh?"

Su Lun, with a steely glance, asserted, "Yes. Since the divine planes managed to send down a Demigod through the plane's passage, then the spatial stability around the passage must already be robust enough to withstand the descent of a lower deity."

Mr. Jing apparently guessed what was coming, "You mean to say..."

Su Lun's gaze hardened as he confirmed, "Yes. I'm planning to open the Voidwalker's Portal and release the Matriarch Worm, a deity-level entity exiled to the endless void!"

PS. Finishing writing early today, so posting early. Wishing everyone a happy New Year, good health—and while I'm at it, asking for a round of monthly tickets in the new year.