"First, you should understand the basic principles of alchemy. The ancients believed that the world is composed of four elements: earth, fire, air, and water—this differs from the elements of the magicians. Four symbols represent these four basic elements…" As he spoke, Parachelsus drew them on the ground using a twig. The symbol for fire was an upward-facing equilateral triangle, the symbol for water was similarly a downward facing equilateral triangle, the symbol for air consisted of an upward facing equilateral triangle with a horizontal line in the middle, and the symbol for earth was a downward facing equilateral triangle with a horizontal line through the center.
Ge Zheng looked at the strange symbols Parachelsus drew and thought to himself: This is somewhat similar to the yin and yang of the Bagua, both consisting of two fundamental symbols, followed by variations.
Parachelsus continued, "The ancients classified formulas into three types: synthesis, decomposition, and substitution. No matter how complex a formula is, it can be categorized into these three types. For example, the DouDou you see here is a magical creature, and it's of the highest level in alchemy, yet it belongs to the synthesis category: combining the imprint of life with the physical body." DouDou, who was listening, playfully tugged at her ears and murmured in discontent. Parachelsus chuckled and corrected himself, "Her."
...
The wisdom goddess' cloak had a very extensive range, even encompassing the forest behind. Every day, Ge Zheng performed breathing exercises, refining his internal energy, often gathering the vital energy of living things from the forest behind the house. In a daze, it felt as if he had returned to the morning exercises at Ge's house. Only the continuous influx of life energy allowed him to maintain clarity in his mind and distinguish that he was already in a different world.
After each meditation session, Ge Zheng's mood would always be low for a period of time, only returning when Parachelsus started explaining alchemy knowledge to him.
Ge's internal energy cultivation technique was primarily divided into five steps: breathing, qi consumption, qi circulation, qi refinement, and embryonic breath. Although there were gradually five steps, there were actually nine stages: entranced, absent-minded, inner vision, dwelling on the orifice, single-mindedness, steady contemplation, collected thought, refining of spirit, and mind fasting.
Each of the five steps was interconnected and none could be neglected. Regardless of the stage reached, the practice needed to adhere to these five steps. Ge Zheng had already reached the stage of being absent-minded, cultivating inner peace every day. His spirit traversed the physical world, sensing the great Tao of heaven and earth, observing the interplay of the five elements and vital energy, and refining his energy until a single punch could bring down a large tree.
In the Star Refining World, the spiritual energy was abundant, with the life energy within the bodies of organisms being much richer than on Earth. For several months, Ge Zheng had been absorbing the life energy of the forest behind the house, and the growth of the forest had also accelerated. When he had arrived, some small saplings had already grown into the thickness of a bowl.
Every morning, he followed Ge's internal energy cultivation technique to refine his inner elixir, and after the morning exercise, he listened to Parachelsus explain alchemy knowledge. Without realizing it, nine months had passed since he arrived in this world. Parachelsus noticed that Ge Zheng's mood was becoming increasingly low, often sitting alone on a large rock in front of the house after class. The residual light of the setting sun cast a golden red coat over the forest. The breeze rustled, and the leaves made a noisy sound. The rock and the person on top seemed to have melded into one, with their elongated shadow giving off a quiet and lonely feeling.
Parachelsus watched and could only shake his head with a sigh.
Twirling the stem of a leaf between his fingers, Ge Zheng calculated that his junior apprentice sister's child should soon be born. He had arrived in this world in the ninth month of the year 2742 in the Star Era. Time flew by, and he had already been living in the Star Refining World for three years. Parachelsus had successfully nurtured him into an outstanding alchemist. Ge had gradually grown accustomed to life in this world, and his thoughts had gradually become in tune with the Star Refining World—when it came to races, his first thought was not of the yellow, white, or black races, but of humans, demons, orcs, and elves.
Speaking about the cornerstone of the world, the first thing that comes to mind is no longer technology, but magic and martial energy.
When it comes to transportation, the first thing that comes to mind is no longer cars and planes, but horse-drawn carriages and long-distance teleportation magic arrays.
...
Ge Zheng did not notice that he had gradually been assimilated by this world, becoming a part of it.
Only when alone, lying on the lawn, chewing on a piece of grass while gazing at the starry sky, would he think about his child who was already over two years old. Before he went down the mountain, his junior sister had said to him, "When you come back, name the child." Ge Zheng smiled bitterly: "How long will it take for me to return?"
"Today..." Parachell Sus opened a yellowed ancient book, put on a pair of crystal glasses, and prepared to start the day's lesson. The pages of the book flipped in his hands, and occasionally, a familiar symbol caught Ge Zheng's eye. The old man kept flipping until the last page, then chuckled and said, "Ge, I have nothing left to teach you. In three years, you've learned all my knowledge like a vampire."
He closed the book, took off his glasses, and after a moment of thought, said, "Today we won't have a lesson, we will have a test."
"A test?" Every year, there was an annual year-end exam at Ge's gate, and although Ge Zheng always ranked third or fourth, everyone knew that this guy never studied the gate's classics diligently. Even so, he still managed to rank third or fourth, causing envy among his fellow gate members.
Having not experienced the year-end exam for three years, Parachell Sus suddenly announced the test, and Ge Zheng, in a daze, flew back to the Ge Gate examination hall, where white paper was pasted on the window lattice. The window paper on the bottom square had been tampered with by himself, and it was filled with classics transcribed in ink that he specially brewed. With the tea-colored crystal glasses, he could read it clearly, so he always sat in that spot...
"Ge, Ge?" Parachell Sus saw that he was distracted and had to wake him up. When Ge Zheng regained his senses, there was already a scroll placed in front of him.
A normal scroll was rolled up with sheepskin and tied with a rope. A higher-quality scroll used a magic-sensitive monster skin for its material. However, the scroll in front of him was obviously not of such low-grade: a gilded metal cylinder with flame-shaped lids on both ends. When he unscrewed the lid, a scroll was poured out from inside, made of fine leather and a grass rope woven from magic-sensitive magic lamp grass. Ge Zheng held it in his hand and looked at Parachell Sus inquiringly.
The latter smiled faintly, "This is an alchemy equation. As you can see from how I've kept it, you can tell how precious it is. However, this alchemical equation is not as simple as the one you saw three years ago. I'll give you three days. You can refer to any materials. If you can produce the item specified in the equation, you will have passed." After finishing, Parachell Sus took off a ring from his hand, placed it in front of Ge Zheng, and left with an encouraging smile.
Parachell Sus had a large collection of books, comparable to a small library on Earth. This many books required Parachell Sus to use a storage space that was as large as forty rooms, reaching the level of a quasi-artifact. This quasi-artifact ring called "Library" was now placed in front of Ge Zheng. Parachell Sus had allowed him to reference all the materials, so naturally, he had left this ring behind.
Ge Zheng turned over the scroll, and underneath the grass rope's knot, he found a special mark: a circle of flames surrounded by a roaring dragon.
Ge Zheng was no longer the person he was three years ago, ignorant of this world, and he knew very well what this mark represented.
The person represented by this symbol was renowned in the history of the Star Refining World: Albert, the alchemist of the dragons. As the founder of the Alchemist Guild, he had made the guild rise to prominence in the Star Refining World and become one of the three major guilds, alongside the Magic Guild and Warrior Guild.
The difficulty of an equation from such a master could be imagined.
Yet instead of feeling overwhelmed, Ge Zheng felt a surge of determination: "Alright, let's see what I've learned in the past three years in the Star Refining World!"
Untying the grass rope, the alchemical equation was displayed before Ge Zheng. It was another strange diagram, just as Parachell Sus had said, no alchemist would directly write out their equations simplistically.
The background of the design featured a massive temple, which differed from the usual single-domed temples as it had two spires of equal height. One spire had a sun streaming out from within a fountain, while the other had vines entwined around the moon.
Below the temple, on the left, was a huge python whose body formed a hanging ladder that also had steps carved out. On the right, there was a small hill, upon which a gryphon-like beast was perched.
The entire temple was not built on the ground but was rather carried by a giant tortoise, floating on the surface of the water. Surrounding the design, there were some notes marked with ancient Glarnd's literacy.
These notes were the simplest part of the entire equation. Ge Zheng temporarily ignored them and focused his main efforts on deciphering the equation.
...
In the meantime, Parachell Sus came to see Ge Zheng several times. Each time, Ge Zheng was engrossed in deciphering the equation, and satisfied, Parachell Sus would nod from outside the window and leave.
Three days passed quickly, and Parachell Sus sat in his log cabin. Before long, Ge Zheng knocked on the door and walked in. "Sir," after sitting down, he first placed the valuable equation and the ring of wisdom on the table. "Please take these two things back." Parachell Sus did not reach for the items on the table but asked with a smile, "How did it go?"
Ge Zheng scratched his head, somewhat puzzled, "The result has left me a bit confused." "Oh," Parachell Sus couldn't help but look a bit disappointed, "Did you fail? Well, it's not a big deal. The alchemical equation of the dragon alchemist is not something that can be easily solved." Ge Zheng shook his head, "I don't know if I succeeded or failed."
He took something out from the left sleeve and placed it on the table, and then quickly took out something from the right sleeve, placing it together on the table. "This..." Parachell Sus was also a little surprised, "Did you create two items at once?"
Ge Zheng shook his head, "It was done in two stages, producing two different items." He then spread out the alchemical equation, "Sir, based on this equation, the two spires are side by side, of equal height, and they don't ultimately disappear, which suggests that this is a substitution equation." Parachell Sus nodded, "That's right, and then?"
"The sun and the moon symbolize gold and silver; that's the most basic knowledge. But I don't think the dragon alchemist's equation would be this straightforward. The sun bathing in the spring water should symbolize a very valuable metal mineral found in sulfur." (Spring water can represent sulfur, mercury, and more)
Parachell Sus smiled, "You've guessed correctly. It's mithril. What next?"
"The python hanging ladder is somewhat hard to understand, but based on the annotations of the ancient Glarnd's literacy surrounding the diagram, I believe the meaning of this design is to 'stain red' through three steps of separation, calcination, and waxing, layer by layer." Staining red refers to the final phase of the alchemical process. Obviously, this equation is very complex, and it even contains many smaller equations.
The python hanging ladder was conveniently divided into three levels.
"The spire on the right, where the vine and the moon come together, I also believe that the moon cannot merely represent silver simply. Under the moonlight, the vine, in the time of the dragon alchemist, the Mosaic Faith was once flourishing. Although they have since disappeared, I found some information from your library, in the legends of the Mosaic Faith, the vine under the moonlight symbolized a quality of purity and resilience. The problem arises from here, as there are more than one type of material with such qualities. I thought of two."
Parachell Sus finally understood, "So you split the process into two stages and used different materials to produce two different final products." "That's right," Ge Zheng smiled wryly. Parachell Sus was moved, "I guessed it was to refine silver. It has excellent strength, able to easily cut through diamonds when made into tools, and is a bright attribute metal material, embodying the 'pure and resilient' qualities. What else?"
Ge Zheng said, "Sir, how could you forget, there's also the bone of the Light Dragon."
Parachell Sus was struck with realization, "That's correct, you're right. I've been narrow-minded, searching for minerals, but I forgot about biological materials. The bone of the Light Dragon is equally hard, exhibiting the same bright attribute."
The dragon race is one of the six major races in the Star Refining World, and the Dragon race is particularly narrow-minded and vengeful when it comes to using their companions' bodies for alchemical purposes. For a long time, the bones and blood of dragons were no longer regarded as alchemical materials on the continent.
The old man's eyes gleamed with excitement, and when he saw the work from the left sleeve of Ge Zheng, he knew that he had passed the test. He had asked so many questions just to find out where Ge Zheng had made "mistakes," resulting in two different items being produced from the same alchemical equation.
Now that the truth was known, Parachell Sus also didn't have the patience to hear him continue. He quickly said, "The gryphon in this context should represent wind, and the small hill is actually a triangle, representing fire. The meaning of the half spire is to smelt within the wind and fire. The final products of both spires is a kind of alloy, and the turtle represents the furnace, while also hinting at the form of the final product. The meaning of the ocean is to bathe with water, heating the furnace, controlling the reaction temperature. Both these alloys need to react, with a portion of material from one alloy being exchanged with a portion of material from the other alloy to obtain the final product. Then the final product is shaped out of the furnace in the shape of a turtle."
Ge Zheng nodded, "That's right. If it's mithril, the product would be..." He turned his palm over, and a magical light imprinted on the item from the left sleeve, displaying a faint golden light with the words: "Furnace of the Wanderer, a level seven alchemy item, specialized for alchemists, increases the success rate of alchemy by twenty percent."
Ge Zheng felt embarrassed, "Sir, wasting such precious materials, only to produce a level seven item, I'm truly ashamed." Parachell Sus laughed heartily, "Don't forget, this is your first time practicing alchemy. To be able to produce a level seven item is already an excellent achievement. You know, in my first attempt, I failed three times before I managed to produce a level three item, and even my teacher praised me as a rare talent."
The beginning of everything is difficult, and Parachell Sus was not just consoling Ge Zheng; what he said was the truth. Ge Zheng was carrying the true transmission of the mystical alchemy from the East, and in terms of alchemical ability alone, he was just a step away from Parachell Sus, only missing the experience and technique.
Ge Zheng's rapid progress in alchemy was also due to the cross-discipline understanding of the Eastern mystical alchemy with regular alchemy.
"Now, let me see the final product made using the bone of the Light Dragon!" Parachell Sus surprisingly had a hint of expectation, and after so many years as the first alchemist under the starry sky, there were very few alchemical works that could spark such anticipation.
Ge Zheng gave a faint smile, "It's nothing much. Even if the material changed, the process was still the same, but this work..." Parachell Sus cast a magical light. The level eleven identification fell on the seemingly gray-white turtle shell-like item, and there was no reaction!
Parachell Sus was greatly surprised; he was the only living Grand Master of Alchemy, a semi-divine Grand Master! The identification spell, just like the martial energy spells, had twelve levels. Just like the forbidden level twelve magic spells, the twelve levels of identification spells were merely a legend. Even the Grand Master Alchemists had never heard of anyone achieving the twelfth level of identification. In other words, an eleven-level identification spell was essentially the pinnacle.
The identification technique can identify items of a higher level. A level-one identification skill can identify items of level two or lower, while an level-eleven identification technique can identify items up to level twelve. Level twelve items are also known as semi-divine artifacts.
Parachel Succus could not identify Ge Zheng's work, which astonished him. He widened his eyes in surprise and asked, "Could this be a divine artifact?" Ge Zheng shook his head, admitting that he was unsure.
Parachel Succus cautiously handled the "divine artifact," carefully inspecting it. There was no ripple or magical sensation on the item, and it did not seem as earth-shattering as the legendary divine artifacts. He hesitated and used another identification skill, but there was still no response. Parachel Succus shook his head and returned the item to Ge Zheng, feeling uncertain. He advised Ge Zheng, "Handle it with care."