"How about a competition!" Angela asked triumphantly.
Irmeda frowned. The most appropriate method for alchemists to compete was to present an equation and have both parties decipher it. But Irmeda didn't have a suitable equation at hand, which put her in a difficult position.
In addition to Angela, there were other alchemists in the Lord's Mansion. A person stepped forward and said, "I have an alchemical equation that I've been unable to crack. I'd like the two of you to help me with it today."
Every equation was a treasure carried by alchemists at all times. It was obvious that the alchemist was very attached to this equation as he carefully took out a cylinder from his pocket, which shimmered with blue magical light - it even had a magical lock added to it. He carefully opened the magical lock and then poured out a rolled-up paper from the cylinder.
This paper was not ordinary parchment, it was a... magical parchment! Gezheng was somewhat disappointed. This type of paper was mostly used to make intermediate magic scrolls, so how could it be used to create alchemical equations?
But the alchemist treated it as a treasure and carefully held it out to the two of them. Angela, the chubby bun, didn't hold back and was the first to step forward to inspect it. Gezheng couldn't help but show a hint of a sneer at his solemn appearance.
Angela took his time, spending half an hour before giving up his position. His large body was like a wall in front of Gezheng. Even if Gezheng didn't hold back, he wouldn't be able to get close.
It was Gezheng's turn, and he touched the equation with his hand, furrowing his brow as it didn't feel like paper. The alchemist immediately showed an admiring expression and whispered, "You also noticed that this supposed equation looks like magical parchment, but it is not. I still haven't figured out its actual material. That smug fatty acted as if he was too good, but he doesn't know he's being deceived. We must defeat him. Here, no one likes him."
Gezheng felt a cold sweat, but his face remained cold as he nodded slightly and turned back to his position.
Irmeda stepped forward, "Alright, since both of you have examined it, then choose a nearby room as your laboratory and let the competition begin!"
In these extraordinary times, everything was up for grabs. The two of them randomly chose a shabby house as their laboratory, guarded by the city guards. The alchemical equipment was swiftly transported from the Lord's Mansion to the site by the guard team.
Gezheng sat in the temporary laboratory, closed his eyes, and took out the equation. In terms of material, this supposed equation was very much like magical parchment - even his first impression was deceiving. In reality, it was a very rare alchemical material: Ghost Flower Bark. The Ghost Flower Tree was the most powerful monster in the Elf Valley, a very unique plant that, although a plant, fed on animals. Its flowers could grow to the size of a water buffalo, and it was their massive mouths. It was somewhat similar to the man-eating plants on Earth, but much larger and more vicious.
Even the most powerful magical creature in the Elf Valley, the Radiant Unicorn, couldn't escape death once it entered its territory. If not for their inability to move, they could only lie in wait, the entire Elf Valley would become a dead land.
The Ghost Flower Tree had a total of seven layers of bark, all excellent magical props, and the innermost layer of bark was incredibly soft and resilient, not inferior to dragon skin in toughness.
And the bark used for this equation was the seventh innermost layer of bark.
Just from the material of the equation, its preciousness could be seen.
Gezheng's thoughts swirled like a cloud of mist being dispersed, the pattern of the equation appeared in his mind: a winding river flowing, the river gradually widening. Several dogs walked back and forth by the river, in the river, there was a floating tomb, from the top of the tomb gushed out a spring. In the sky, huge boulders danced, and behind them, a phoenix breathed fire. At the source of the river, two bodies shared a single lion head, and they were spitting out a stream of water, which was the source of the river. The symbols and language on the equation were derived from the commonly used ancient Guslan Runes by alchemists.
The equation looked simple with the river representing the sequence of the alchemical process, starting from small to large. In reality, the process was from large to small, from complex to simple, meaning that in the widest part of the river, it was the raw material to be processed first. The dogs represented sulfur, the spring on the tomb represented the sublimation of mercury. The spring represented mercury, and the tomb in some contexts represented sublimation. Adding sulfur to sublimated mercury, and then processing according to the labeling on the equation.
The boulders danced in the air, followed by an immortal bird which represented the process of dyeing. In a general alchemical process, dyeing would be the final step, so the boulders should represent the final form of the alchemical item.
Two bodies sharing a single lion head: the lion symbolized the giver of life, indicating that double the effort was needed to obtain a single output.
Apparently, this equation was that simple.
The required materials were also very simple, but was such a simple equation worth inscribing on such a precious seventh layer of Ghost Flower Bark? Gezheng could tell that this equation should be from a few hundred years ago, not from the era of stone tablet equations.
He pushed open the door, "May I have some time to study it again?" The alchemist was very generous, "No problem." He handed over the equation, and Angela opened the door and handed in a list of materials. Seeing Gezheng still studying the equation, Angela sneered, "Pfft! Such a simple equation, and you need to study for so long. I bet your level six certification badge is a fraud!"
The alchemist who provided the equation looked strange.
Gezheng ignored Angela, thanked the alchemist, and went back to his laboratory with the equation.
The first thing that raised his suspicion was the annotations on the equation. These characters looked like Guslan Runes, almost every character was from this widely circulated magical language. But in the writing, a few characters had a thin tadpole tail at the end, which could easily be overlooked without careful observation. Without extensive knowledge, one wouldn't know that this feature was actually a characteristic of another magical language.
The history of the Star Forge World was like a vast river of stars, with countless bright stars shining. Some stars rose to great prominence at their peak, while some shone silently but continuously. There were also some stars that flickered out: the Di Lan Ancient Kingdom was such a star. The exact location of this country was untraceable, but according to the records that had been handed down: this country was the first magical country in the Star Forge World, and all its citizens were magicians. Therefore, the official language of the country was magical. The Court Mage, based on the widely circulated Guslan Runes, made a few minor modifications and created the country's own language, this language was called "Di Lan Civilized Language." This language looked very similar to Guslan Runes, but the meanings contained within were vastly different.
The biggest feature of this language was that some characters ended with a small tadpole-like tail.
Obviously, the equation used on this was the Di Lan Civilized Language derived from the Guslan Runes.
Gezheng searched through the library and found the annotations for this language, and the entire equation immediately changed drastically.
Digging deeper, the dogs on the equation, one had nipples on its belly, indicating it was a pregnant female dog. In alchemy, a pregnant female dog had another meaning, no longer representing a substance, but instead represented the alchemical process: volatilization, gasification.
If it was just to express this meaning, it was not necessary to paint a group of dogs, as Gezheng found that the other dogs could not be distinguished by gender. This meant that these dogs represented the substance sulfur. Before the main alchemic treatment, sulfur had to be gasified as a pre-treatment.
The spring on the tomb: if the two were combined, it represented the rebirth of the undead in the tomb, that is, a light power. Just beside it was a Di Lan Civilized Language annotation word: Immortal. Purification magic of the Temple of Light: Fountain of Immortality.
...
Gezheng also listed the materials he needed. In addition to various magical materials, he also needed a priest from the Temple of Light.
This request made everyone feel bewildered, but Irmeda still followed his request.
Half a day later, Gezheng's work was completed. As he opened the laboratory door, there was a loud noise from Angela's laboratory next to him, a deafening explosion, blowing off the roof, and a plume of black smoke rose into the air!
Gezheng first handed the equation back to the alchemist who provided it. The alchemist slyly chuckled, "I knew he was going to be blown up after seeing his list of materials, but I chose not to warn him." It was evident that this guy had also had a bad experience. Gezheng responded with composure, "Seeing him submit his material list so quickly, I knew he was going to be blown up - I also chose not to warn him." The two of them smiled knowingly and glanced at the black smoke together.
With Gezheng's expertise, it was easy for him to discern that, if processed according to the initial speculation, the final result would be a failed explosion, which was why he requested to see it again.
Angela's quick submission of the material list meant that he hadn't discovered this secret. While Gezheng had enjoyed teasing people at the Gemen most back home, after arriving in this world, faced with a big change, his temperament had become much calmer. Nevertheless, that kind of mean-spirited temperament had not faded away, and since Angela had been constantly targeting him, it was perfect for the chubby guy to suffer a little.
"Cough, cough, cough..." With the soldiers of the Lord's Mansion rushing in to rescue him, the plump Angela was saved from the ruins. He coughed violently, his body covered in scars. As he turned his head, he saw Gezheng placing his creation on Lord Staka's table.
"This is impossible!" Angela let out a piercing scream.
Gezheng ignored him and gestured towards his creation, "This is a noble's toy." The creation looked somewhat like a drill head, coupled with a long handle, equivalent to the length of an adult's forearm. Gezheng inserted a magical crystal into the back and turned the drill-like part in front, shooting out a red beam.
"Ah..." The beam aimed at Lord Staka, passing through his body unimpeded, startling him. However, the beam had no effect on him, passing through not only his body but also the bodies of the guards behind him and then the carriage behind them, barely discernible.
The Light Priest said, "Lord Staka, this is a weapon of light power, it will not harm you." He referred to the item as a "weapon," which made everyone feel it was somewhat exaggerated. While the energy of light within the light was ample, it hadn't reached the level of a weapon. Such a beam had extremely strong penetrative power, but as Gezheng said, it was nothing more than a noble's toy. It was useful for children, but had little practical value.
Lord Staka had a false alarm and glared at Gezheng with some resentment, waving his hand, "Gezheng wins! You can handle that toy. Within three days, lift the curse within the city, otherwise, you can wait to be hanged on the gate." The toy was still in Angela's hands, and though he was very unwilling, his body was covered in injuries and was powerless to protect the toy. Just as Gezheng reached out to take the toy, a figure suddenly sprang from the crowd and broke through the loose defensive circle of the guards, unleashing a burst of fire.
As the flames swirled, faint flames resembling a snake twisted in the air, forming strange letters, connected according to a strange pattern to form the shape of a giant sword.
With a wave, the fiery letter sword made Angela scream, "It's an artifact..." Before he could finish his sentence, his body was entirely dried up in a moment as the blade fell, turning into a dried-up corpse.
"Artifact, what is an artifact?" Ilmeda protected her somewhat bewildered father and asked in surprise. Ge Zheng reached into the air and his true energy surged within him, catching the doll in his hand.
The assailant, hiding his face under the hood, was greatly surprised, but he was very confident. He turned around, aiming the giant sword made of flame letters at Ge Zheng.
Ge Zheng slowly walked in front of Ilmeda and shielded her with his own body, saying, "The weapon used by warriors is called a weapon, the weapon used by mages is called a magic tool, and the weapon used by alchemists is, of course, called an artifact!"
The disputes among alchemists are divided into "verbal combat" and "physical combat." Verbal combat is like the contest Ge Zheng had with Angora just now, where a neutral third party gives an alchemical problem, and whoever can solve it wins.
Physical combat is much more violent, but the alchemists' physical combat is also based on the depth of their knowledge.
The move of the mysterious person is not magic or martial skill, but a special attack formed by combining alchemy and magic, which is ineffective against both physical defense of warriors and magical defense of mages.
This kind of attack is a combination of magic characters using the alchemist's encryption theory and transformed into an attack. By using different magic characters in a special arrangement, they form a variety of simulated attack methods, just like the giant sword of the mysterious person, or it could be a shield, a meteor, or even a giant dragon...
Some complex alchemical "moves" require a long preparation time, so alchemists often prepare in advance, use alchemy to seal them in special objects, and in battle, only need to infuse a small amount of magical elements into the object to unleash this kind of attack.
Such an attack using magical language combined with an encryption mode is called an "alchemical attack," and the object that can perform an alchemical attack is the alchemist's weapon, or "artifact."
The level of an alchemist is also reflected in the size of the artifact; the larger the volume, the lower the user's level, and the more exquisite the manufacturing, the higher the user's level.
The hooded figure rolled up his sleeves, and a pair of armguards covered his entire arm—apparently, the attacker's level is not high at all. If his artifact is only the size of a ring, then Ge Zheng does not need to engage in a fight at all, he can just run away.
Because the sealed power inside the artifacts is often extremely powerful and cannot be decrypted in a short time. To decipher the attack of the artifact, one must be at least two levels higher than the opponent.
Since alchemical attacks can be sealed in artifacts, the same principle can also be applied to seal alchemical defenses in artifacts. This kind of alchemical defense can be a shield constructed from magical characters encryption, or it can be armor, or even something like a magical barrier, a wide variety of options.
Without defensive artifacts to resist the opponent's attacks, there is only one way left: decryption.
Speaking of decryption can explain why this kind of "physical combat" is also a test of the alchemist's extensive knowledge. The magical civilization of the Star Alchemy World is highly developed, with various magical characters, each branching off into different types. Some ancestral magical characters can spawn dozens of sub-series magical characters. No matter which mage or alchemist, it is impossible to completely understand and master all the magical characters on the continent.
When alchemists launch alchemical attacks, they use obscure magical characters to avoid being detected by opponents. Once the magical characters used in the attack are identified, it is a dangerous situation; if the opponent understands the magical characters in your attack, then your encryption is easily broken, and the alchemical attack will be decrypted.
And if your opponent has extensive knowledge and not only recognizes the magical characters you used but knows the parent or even the ancestral magical characters, there is no need to decipher the password, as they can directly use the parent characters to destroy your alchemical attack.
The flame-letter giant sword of the hooded figure floated in front of Ge Zheng. The form of the giant sword did not change, but the flame letters within it emitted a fierce heat, constantly rotating and fluctuating within the giant sword, at a speed that made it difficult for ordinary people to keep up, and all they could see was a mass of flames maintaining the form of the giant sword while flowing freely.
This is also a tactic—the speed of the flowing characters is so fast that the opponent cannot see clearly, making it impossible to determine which magical character it is. If the opponent does not have a defensive artifact, they can do nothing but wait to be defeated.
A captain of the city lord's mansion guards noticed that Ge Zheng was not making a move and thought he was frightened, seeing this as a good opportunity to show his merit. Quietly circling around the hooded figure from the periphery, he silently thrust a spear towards the hooded figure. He was, after all, a third-rank warrior with considerable strength, and his surprise attack was as fast as lightning. The sharp tip of the spear left a bright silver trail as it shot toward the hooded figure.
An alchemist's reaction speed is much slower than that of a warrior. By the time the hooded figure turned his face, the captain's long spear was about to hit him in the face. The captain saw the slight curve of the hooded figure's mouth under the long hood and thought that the curve looked similar to the ribbon of the medal personally awarded by the city lord...
This was his last thought. Following that, a surge of heat from inside his body roasted him into a dry corpse in an instant. Outwardly, there was no significant difference between him and Angora who had died before, except that he did not have as much fat as Angora.
Everyone around saw the entire process clearly. Just as the hooded figure turned his head, the flaming giant sword blew into a flurry of flames and wind, rushing into the captain's body in an instant. The captain's dwarven armor, worth two hundred gold coins, remained intact, and it did not offer any resistance or protection as the flame tore through it.
The sharp spear stopped in front of the hooded figure, who flicked it lightly with his arm, causing the frail dried corpse to be unable to bear the weight of the iron spear. With a "crack," the spear landed heavily on the ground and leaped a few times, while the heavy armor on the dried corpse also collapsed, smashing the corpse into scattered black pieces on the ground.
The battlefield became so quiet that even the fall of a pin could be heard. The formidable killing power of the artifacts and the mercilessness of the hooded figure sent shivers down everyone's spines! Ilmeda supported her father and felt a clear tremor in his hand.
In that instant, Ge Zheng saw it clearly: the flaming characters were the Snake Island magical language! The Snake Island magical language is part of the Spencer magical language system, which is one of the oldest three magical language systems on the mainland. The Snake Island magical language is a very remote branch.
The fire-letter giant sword killed the captain, quickly detaching from his body. The flame howled as it reformed into a giant sword.
Despite using simulated attacks, an alchemist's attack is still a process of "alchemy," but using only the force of the magical language of spells is seen as extreme. Similar to the hooded figure's attack, it uses the power of fire magic elements, turning the target's bodily water elements into vapor in an instant.
The flame letters on the giant sword continued to flow rapidly, not giving Ge Zheng a chance to decipher the hidden password within. However, Ge Zheng did not care at all because he knew the parent magical script of the Snake Island magical language: Black Mountain magical characters.