"Ge Gate? Is it a noble family? But I have never heard of it before. Is there a family surnamed Ge on the Three Continents?"
One old and one young, each puzzled by their own thoughts. However, after a while, Ge Zheng figured it out. Obviously, this was not the world he had existed in before.
These mystical things were not difficult for Ge Zheng to understand. Alchemists seek immortality and also practice internal and external elixirs. They were very fascinated with another elusive world. With this background, Ge Zheng found it easier to accept and understand this world.
"Take me as your apprentice?" Ge Zheng looked at the old man in a playful manner, "This old man must be a famous alchemist in his own right. I am an outstanding disciple of the prestigious Ge Gate in the world of alchemy. This old man is just a simple alchemist, yet he wants to take me as his student?"
Although Ge Zheng had lived in the gate for twenty years, he was not ignorant of the outside world. He certainly knew what alchemy was. The classics of the Ge Gate had also recorded that Western alchemy was greatly influenced by Eastern alchemists. If it were not for the Arabs introducing Chinese alchemical thought to Europe, perhaps the alchemists in Europe would still be simple in their pursuit of purifying base metals into gold.
"Cough..." Ge Zheng coughed, deciding to follow the old expert's teaching to respect the elderly and love the young. He couldn't embarrass the old man, "Master, I think the distinction between teacher and student shouldn't be solely based on age. The one who has achieved should be the teacher..."
"What do you mean?" Paracelsus furrowed his brow and asked.
"It means whoever is powerful should be the teacher."
Paracelsus raised his eyebrows, almost laughing out loud. This ignorant kid actually dared to challenge his authority in the world of alchemy! He pointed at a bean and said, "I created this. Can you do it?"
"Well..." Ge Zheng felt embarrassed. After all, alchemy was quite different from the Eastern elixir. The direction and focus of development were quite different. The strong point of the Ge Gate was not in the creation of magical living creatures. Ge Zheng really couldn't create a living magical beast with flesh, blood, and a soul.
"Hmph!" Paracelsus snorted and made up his mind. This kid would have to suffer a bit if he wanted to give up and become his student. Paracelsus had a mild temperament, but his authority was unquestionable. Ge Zheng actually dared to challenge his position in the world of alchemy, which made him very angry.
"Well, although I can't create such a being, I think there are things I can create that you probably cannot."
The old man's stubbornness arose, and he grumbled, "If I cannot create it, then I will be your student!"
Ge Zheng chuckled and said, "Please don't, you're so old, I can't handle it!" Paracelsus was half-dead from frustration. The way this kid was speaking, it was as if he had already won. He restrained his anger and said, "Alright, what do you suggest?"
Ge Zheng's eyes twinkled, "If I win, you have to tell me how this little beast was created... Oh..." It turns out that Miss Bean was dissatisfied with his addressing her and gave him a fierce scratch.
"No problem!"
Ge Zheng came with all his might, even going as far as to discard even the clothes on his body. Although Paracelsus' warehouse was rich in materials, and while Ge Zheng didn't recognize most of the stuff there, the metals and stones were quite similar to those on Earth. He selected several pieces of ore, pondered for a moment, and began creating a treasure.
Although the materials were good, he lacked jade, and the power was much less when arranging the formation. However, after three days, he managed to barely create a piece that he was satisfied with.
Alchemy practitioners pursue the "Dao". Usually, they specialize in internal elixirs, whereas external elixirs serve as support and are different from ordinary cultivators. They mostly don't get involved in the battles of the cultivation world, so apart from some defensive treasures, they rarely produce magical treasures.
Ge Zheng took the time to craft a wooden box with exquisite vine patterns carved on its surface. A delicate and shiny dagger was placed in the box, making it look extraordinary. With a light touch of his palm, the small dagger emitted a radiant glow, and as he moved his hand, the dagger made a clear sound and danced up and down around Ge Zheng. With a pointed finger, the radiant light pierced through the window and encircled a large tree behind the house, causing it to collapse and wither rapidly, losing all its vitality.
Ge Zheng was greatly amazed: the spiritual power in this world was much more abundant than on Earth. The "vitality" acquired from such a large tree here was twice as much as on Earth!
In fact, this kind of "empowering the tool" method was somewhat extreme. The alchemists not only had to breathe and absorb the essence of the sun, moon, and the world, but they also had to absorb the vital energy of all living things. In the eyes of alchemists, the vital energy of living beings was a good medicine for immortality. However, when alchemists absorbed the vital energy of plants and animals, they only took a small amount each time. Not only was this beneficial for themselves, but it also helped the living beings with metabolism, creating a win-win situation. It was similar to donating blood; regularly donating a small amount of blood was healthy, and it could also help save patients.
In order to show Paracelsus the power of his treasure, Ge Zheng single-handedly absorbed the vital energy of the large tree, leaving it lifeless and withered. This was also a means of attack for alchemists. When subduing some monsters, using the treasure to absorb most of their vital energy, the monsters would have no strength left to resist!
Paracelsus was amazed. The wonders of Eastern treasures had exceeded his understanding. He couldn't imitate Ge Zheng's "works"...
However, the old fool would never give up. The title of the world's top alchemist wasn't just for show. Paracelsus smacked his lips and said, "I can't replicate your things. Let's call this one a draw and continue!" Ge Zheng smiled and said, "No problem."
The old and the young went head-to-head. Paracelsus couldn't give up for the sake of his reputation, and Ge Zheng, being young and unwilling to admit defeat, spent three months experimenting, resulting in Paracelsus' materials warehouse shrinking significantly, and the indoors and outdoors were filled with the results of their alchemy. Paracelsus used a space ring to store all the works, while Ge Zheng, not to be outdone, used a small golden money box to fit all his dozens of works in front of Paracelsus. The two sneered at each other awkwardly and then went to plan what kind of tool to create.
In the blink of an eye, six months had passed. Even for two scholars, doing this for six months and producing a new work every day had nearly emptied their creativity. Ge Zheng was worried; the old man was experienced and seemed to have endless thoughts, while he was already at his wits' end. If one day Paracelsus created something that he couldn't replicate and he couldn't create anything else, wouldn't he have lost the competition?
Paracelsus sighed, "A hero emerges from the young. This kid's creativity is endless, and I'm almost running out of ideas. If one day he creates something I can't replicate, and I can't create anything else, wouldn't I have lost the competition?"
Both of them were unaware that the other was nearly at the end of their rope and spent each day in restless anxiety.
After racking their brains for another half a month, both of them suddenly relaxed, realizing that if they lost, they lost. Over the past six months, they had struggled every day to come up with new ideas to support each other and had made rapid progress in their skills. Even if they lost, they still benefited. Especially Paracelsus, who had been stagnant in his alchemy since becoming the Master Artisan, was not only able to enhance his skills due to his challenge with a young man.
To keep the competition fair, Paracelsus and Ge Zheng intentionally built two identical small wooden houses, one for each of them. One day, almost simultaneously, a loud shout came from both houses: "I surrender. I simply can't think of new ideas anymore!" Both of them heard each other's voices and abruptly burst out laughing together.
Ge Zheng and Paracelsus, from starting out against each other to developing mutual respect during the competition, now felt a sense of kinship.
For Paracelsus, Ge Zheng's performance was truly admirable. The old man had broadened his horizons with many of his creations, and Ge Zheng had never even considered the elixir that allowed people to understand any language. The magical creature, Bean, also opened his eyes. Paracelsus also held Ge Zheng in high regard, believing that this young man, already on par with himself, had boundless potential. In time, he would inherit the title of the world's top alchemist from him.
Unconsciously, six months had passed, and Ge Zheng still had some hope of returning to his old world. Not to mention, the child in his junior sister's belly was his flesh and blood. Even with their master taking care of her, it was not as good as him being there.
However, in these six months, he had kept asking Paracelsus about returning to his world. The answer he received was that the summoning was a coincidence; the chance of it happening again was negligible. Even if the circumstances were completely reproduced, there was no guarantee that he would be successful. Therefore, Ge Zheng was essentially unable to return.
Despite this, Ge Zheng was not discouraged and made a note of the summoning ritual for Bean. As Paracelsus no longer had the magical materials, once he collected them, he was determined to try again.
He put aside his internal grudge and sincerely sought Paracelsus's advice. On one side, he was genuinely curious about Paracelsus's alchemy, and on the other, though not expressly stated, he knew that in order to return to Earth, he had to start with the magic that had summoned him. However, he had already taken Paracelsus as his master and could not disrespect him. He was simply learning from Paracelsus, without acknowledging him as his teacher.
"Ge, I see that you are very interested in alchemy. How about I teach you alchemy? You can trust me; we are just discussing. As an exchange, you have to teach me your alchemy as well," proposed Paracelsus. After considering for a moment, Ge Zheng realized that the Golden Elixir of the Ge Gate should not be lightly passed on. However, the Gate had an extensive collection of books from other sects, which he could exchange with Paracelsus.
After a day of rest, Paracelsus formally began teaching Ge Zheng alchemy.
"To learn alchemy, the first question is: what is alchemy?" On the grass outside, Paracelsus, with his hair all white, wore a loose and snowy artisan robe. Seated in front of him, Ge Zheng, humbly seeking guidance, the old and the young indeed looked like a revered teacher guiding his student.
"What is alchemy?" Ge Zheng had no idea and shook his head in confusion. Paracelsus elaborated, "Some people think that alchemy is just the technique to transform lead into gold. This is the most superficial and foolish understanding. There are also those who believe that alchemy is the pursuit of the Philosopher's Stone; this view is too narrow. In my opinion, alchemy is the art of elevating certain substances to a higher level, and at the same time, it is also the art of using the control of substances to elevate people who strive to unravel the secrets of matter to a higher state of existence."
"Today, let's talk about some basic things. As a qualified alchemist, there are three compulsory subjects: alchemy, magic, and identification arts," Paracelsus and Ge Zheng sat together on two rocks in the morning sun, not so much teaching but chatting.
"Naturally, we don't have to discuss alchemy, which is the most fundamental. Alchemy is closely related to magic, so you must also have some understanding of magic. Even if you are not proficient, you cannot be ignorant. As for the art of identification, whether your manufactured works are successful or failures must be appraised by identification arts, otherwise you can't tell the difference between a successful work and a failed one. In addition, once identification arts are cultivated to a high level, it can help you see the finer aspects of the world, which is of great help to alchemy."
"Besides these three compulsory subjects, alchemists have a wide range of elective courses, mainly including: astrology, mysticism, martial arts, Qigong, linguistics, cryptography, medicine, divination, witchcraft, theology, and so on..."
Ge Zheng interrupted him, "Sir, I can understand subjects like astrology and mysticism, but why do I need to learn cryptography? And what about martial arts and Qigong? Didn't you tell me earlier that it's impossible for common people to cultivate both magic and martial arts? If alchemists must take these compulsory subjects, then how can they cultivate martial arts and Qigong?"
Paracelsus smiled kindly, "Ge, you've misunderstood me. When I said elective, I meant studying and understanding, not necessarily practicing. As an alchemist, it's inevitable that you have to create some weapons. If you're not familiar with the martial arts and Qigong of the users, how can you create works that meet the requirements of warriors? So knowledge in this area is essential. Additionally, I suggest you practice your martial skills a little more. Even if you can't develop Qigong, at least you can keep yourself healthy; alchemists often neglect their bodies, and as a result, many perish early."
There were many such examples, and Paracelsus, as the academic leader of alchemy, lamented this deeply. Alchemists worked in laboratories all year round and were exposed to many poisonous substances, resulting in many early deaths.
"Then there's cryptography. The reason this subject is included is that the formulae of the alchemists are not directly expressed, and each person has their own unique code. So if you get an alchemical formula, the first thing you have to do is to decode it."
Alchemists are the practitioners of a magical discipline, so their formulas cannot be easily passed on to others, let alone fall into the hands of malicious individuals, as it could cause a disaster. Therefore, encrypting the formulas is a task that every alchemist must undertake.
As he spoke, Parachelsus took out an ancient parchment and said, "Come and take a look. This is a simple alchemical formula."
Ge Zheng stepped closer and was immediately dumbfounded. On the parchment, there was a peculiar drawing: inside a dark red circle was a pentagram, with each angle of the star adorned with a symbol, and in the center of the pentagram was a small circle with a peculiar black symbol inside.
On the outer circle, corresponding to each angle of the pentagram, there was a strange inscription written in a peculiar script.
"What does this mean?" Ge Zheng did not understand the drawing at all, thinking that if this was simple, then he couldn't imagine how strange the complex ones would be.
However, he did understand the significance of encrypting the formula: just like the ancient masters who compiled their lifelong learnings into a book of martial arts techniques, and yet feared that it might fall into the wrong hands, so they employed simple methods such as water revealing, concealed covers, and the like.
But Ge Zheng disdained this: aren't there clever people among the bad ones?
Parachelsus explained, "This is a formula for a wound-healing potion. The outer red circle represents its battlefield usage—In alchemy, red represents iron, which is extended to mean weapons, that is, war."
"In the outer circle, the pentagram contains five different symbols, each representing five different substances. Look, I said this formula was simple because it easily triggers your thoughts."
"In the first angle of the star is a python, and behind the tail of the python is a black dot." Ge Zheng examined it closely, and the python was already very small, so the black dot behind its tail was indeed difficult to distinguish. "This black dot represents the python's excrement. In the southern Starfield Continent, a plant called Snake's Reverie grows, and it requires python excrement as fertilizer to produce seeds. So, this first symbol represents the substance of Snake's Reverie seeds."
"Next, look at the second symbol. It's a temple, rudimentary but with a god depicted with a white horn on its head, the unique symbol of the Unicorn God Sect. The Unicorn God Sect is not widely spread across the three continents, but they have a renowned ritual called 'The Sorrow of the Unicorn', the details of which I will not discuss. You only need to know that the most famous offering for this ritual is the Light-Beast Grayfur—actually a type of grass that emits fluorescent light at night."
"So, this symbol should represent this kind of grass." Ge Zheng said with a smile. Parachelsus nodded, "Indeed it should."
The remaining three symbols also had their own meanings, and Parachelsus explained them one by one, then said, "On the red outer circle, there is an annotation corresponding to each symbol. You have consumed the Potion of Enlightenment, which contains the wisdom of languages. Recall carefully."
Ge Zheng looked at the annotations, and one by one, the meanings came to mind. He suddenly realized, "They are Guuslan magical incantations." "Correct," nodded Parachelsus with a smile.
Ge Zheng read each of the annotations—one corresponding to the Snake's Reverie seed indicated "dry steaming", one corresponding to the Light-Beast Grayfur indicated "soaking", and the remaining three indicated "distillation", "waxing", and "reflux distillation". Ge Zheng began to grasp some understanding, "These are the methods to process each substance." Parachelsus nodded approvingly, "Correct, you're very sharp."
"But how do you refine these substances into a healing potion needed on the battlefield?" Ge Zheng was still somewhat unclear. Parachelsus pointed to the inner circle, "Do you see this symbol?"
A circle encasing an equilateral triangle.
Ge Zheng asked, "What does this represent?" "This is a universal symbol for alchemists, signifying a crucible. In other words, after processing each substance separately, they are refined in a crucible. This symbol is white, representing the moon—The moon has a meaning in alchemy: the second day. This means that the substances must be refined in a crucible for two days." After this explanation, Ge Zheng finally understood. Despite his previous slight disdain for alchemy, it completely disappeared. It seemed that any profession existing in this world has its unique aspects.
"Even for you, while explaining this formula to me, you used the phrase ‘should be’, did you also have doubts?" Parachelsus laughed, "It seems you still haven't understood. It's probably difficult for anyone besides the author themselves to give a hundred percent certain interpretation of an alchemical formula. After all, we are all speculating, and there might be variations from the original intention of the author."
Ge Zheng was more puzzled, "Wouldn't refining successful work based on one's own speculations also prove the correctness of the speculations?" "Hahaha... Of course not. Even if you guessed wrong, sometimes you can still produce successful work, and that's the charm of alchemy," replied Parachelsus.
Looking at Ge Zheng's somewhat enlightened expression, Parachelsus spoke with satisfaction, "This alchemical formula is just to demonstrate to you the necessity of cryptography. For now, you don't need to decrypt complicated formulas. We are starting from the most basic things now."
"What are the most basic things?" Ge Zheng asked. Parachelsus pointed to the symbols in the inner circle of the formula, "It's these—the universal symbols of alchemy. This is our common language."