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Chapter 343: The Essence of Origin
🕑 Added 2024-10-15 10:24:07 +0000 UTCIn the grand, gilded hall, only Rhett remained, watching as the light filtered through the windows, casting a golden glow on the floor. Controlling the wind element to muffle the sound, he murmured to the presence on his shoulder, “Could it be... that Jeanka is the Blood God?”
Manu's tone was hesitant, "Based on their behavior on the way here, the chances of Jeanka, a Grand Magister, being rendered unconscious by the alchemical potion he described, made from those materials, is extremely low.
"From what I know about alchemy, a potion containing Dark Soul Grass and Blackflame Crow’s blood wouldn’t cause such violent reactions like spasms or tremors. So... he’s likely lying.
"A Grand Magister suddenly showing these strange symptoms and hiding them deliberately makes the answer quite obvious..."
Rhett narrowed his eyes and spoke in a voice so low that only he could hear, "Indeed, we should’ve considered this sooner. As Gunas’ alchemical assistant, Jeanka would have had considerable knowledge of human alchemy experiments, making him a prime candidate for the Blood Demon fragment to target."
"Yes… and he’s also a Dark-element Grand Magister, which makes him even more suspicious," Manu agreed. "But the only strange thing is that his personality seems completely at odds with the Blood God you described—this Jeanka doesn’t seem to have any evil thoughts or a cruel, violent nature."
“A thousand years can change a lot,” Rhett said calmly. “Look at Sheman right now—he doesn’t seem like a threat either. But a thousand years from now, he’ll be swinging his blade against his own people…”
“True. Time... it has an incredible power, eroding everything in its path,” Manu sighed. He paused, then asked, “But didn’t you mention before that Sheman was connected to the Blood God? Now they seem like the closest of friends.”
“That’s something I didn’t anticipate,” Rhett mused. “Either the Blood God is someone else—though that seems highly unlikely—or there’s a deeper secret here, waiting for us to uncover.”
"What are you planning to do?" Manu asked.
"We’ll keep observing for now. Deidara has left, and the Blood Demon fragment may become restless..."
As Rhett spoke, he walked out of the room. Elementalizing his body, he quickly ascended to the clouds.
Amid the swirling cloudscape, Rhett sent out a subtle mental pulse.
Within moments, a shadow emerged from the white clouds, twisting and shifting until it took the form of a mass of writhing tentacles—a Shadow Demon.
Deidara yawned, its once pitch-black form now semi-transparent compared to a few months earlier. It spoke lazily, "So? Have you found any trace of the Blood Demon? Let me tell you, my shadow form’s energy is nearly depleted. I’ll be gone in a few days."
"I’ve found something..." Rhett said hesitantly. "But I can’t confirm it with certainty yet..."
"Hmm? You found it?" Deidara perked up, suddenly more alert. "It doesn’t matter if you can’t confirm it! Better to kill the wrong person than let the Blood Demon slip away! How can a single life compare to the safety of your entire world? As a Saint, surely you have the vision to see that?"
Rhett’s expression remained cold as he shook his head. "I won’t kill him unless I’m absolutely sure. And since you’re about to dissipate, you might as well answer the questions I asked before—about the origins of the other spirits."
Deidara seemed annoyed by Rhett’s insistence and shouted, "Kill him, and I’ll tell you!"
"He’s innocent..." Rhett’s expression didn’t change as he said, "I’ll keep a close eye on him. You’d better tell me now. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee the Blood Demon won’t escape from him while I’m gone."
"You!" Deidara’s face twisted in frustration, and its wings began flapping faster, its emotions clearly agitated. But in the end, it relented, folding its wings and sighing. "Foolish human, you leave me no choice..."
After a pause, Deidara continued:
“As for spirits, the Underworld has been studying them for countless ages. It all starts with the power of origin."
"I told you before that the position of a world is not fixed—it drifts through the endless void. During this journey, any world can encounter strange things.
"The most common of these are various spirits. They could be fragments of a world’s origin, the remains of a supreme being’s corpse, or even artificially created false objects..."
"In the Underworld, we’ve encountered far more spirits than you can imagine—thousands upon thousands of bizarre types, like mountains made of Demon Suppression Stones, bloody eyeballs, and even beating hearts..."
The more Rhett listened, the more wrong it felt, and he quickly interrupted, “Aren’t there any normal spirits? Everything you’ve mentioned sounds so evil, bloody, and negative.”
“Hahaha, what is ‘normal’? Does it have to fit the elemental or biological spirits you’re familiar with in your world?” Deidara said meaningfully. “Normal is relative. I forgot to mention that different world origins exert different levels of attraction, making them more likely to pull in things that share their essence. Besides dark elements, our Underworld rarely attracts other elemental spirits…”
Rhett suddenly understood. After the simulation of the world’s creation, he had assumed that the attraction of external objects was random. But with Deidara’s explanation, it became clear that similar sources were more likely to be drawn in.
“No wonder this world formed around elemental forces…” Rhett murmured to himself. After a moment’s thought, he asked, “Other than spirits, have you encountered anything else?”
“Of course. But your term ‘spirits’ is too narrow,” Deidara shook its head. “Spirits are actually extremely condensed origin energy that can pass through a world’s barriers without being broken down or absorbed, making them far more advanced than scattered origin forces. In the Underworld, we refer to them as Origin Essences, and through extensive research, our strongest have discovered their true value—merging them into origin artifacts to unleash even greater power!"
Rhett listened intently, storing this new knowledge away. The Underworld’s age and experiences clearly surpassed his own world’s. It seemed that the Underworld’s great powers had long since discovered external objects and even understood the function of world barriers!
It also dawned on Rhett that origin energy was not only divided by type but also by density. For something to manifest as a spirit, it had to possess a sufficient level of purity.
"If an Origin Essence… or a spirit… were allowed to grow unchecked, what would happen?" Rhett recalled that spirits had the ability to evolve and posed the question.
“That wouldn’t necessarily be a good thing,” Deidara replied quickly. “An Origin Essence grows by siphoning the nutrients of the world around it, weakening the native life forms and stunting their evolution. Unless a powerful being merges it into an origin artifact or absorbs it, the essence is more harmful than helpful to the world.”
Rhett was stunned. Was the arrival of spirits actually an internal struggle for resources?
“You said powerful beings can absorb origin artifacts. How strong would one have to be to do that?”
“In the Underworld, only the strongest beings—those at the level of the Shadow Demon or Blood Demon—can do it. There’s no chance anyone in your world could manage it,” Deidara said bluntly. “But don’t worry too much. As long as the spirit isn’t absorbed, it’s like a painful thorn in the side of the world’s origin. The world will naturally suppress it, and it won’t take long for the spirit to wither away.”
“So does that mean no one in the Underworld dares to harness an Origin Essence?”
“Haha, for the average person, it’s a death sentence. But the top powers have set rules—only with their permission can anyone even attempt to harness an Origin Essence,” Deidara laughed. “In fact, some of the top elites specifically collect unique essences and nurture them to create origin artifacts or absorb them themselves. After all, the whole world may suffer, but only a select few get to enjoy the benefits. Why wouldn’t they do it?”
Rhett fell silent. He understood this disparity well. The 80/20 rule didn’t even begin to describe the massive gap between the powerful and the rest.
“Thanks for the explanation.”
Deidara waved dismissively, looking tired. "Enough. Go fulfill your promise now. I hope I get to see the Blood Demon fragment destroyed before I disappear…”
Inside the Golden Blood Palace, on the third floor.
The entire floor was a massive laboratory filled with a wide array of alchemical equipment. There were over twenty alchemical stations, enough for many simultaneous or collaborative experiments.
After parting ways with Deidara, Rhett ascended to the laboratory, where he found Haedis leading the alchemical project.
But everyone else was busy too, each person responsible for different tasks: extracting magical plants, processing materials, and fusing ingredients. The room was filled with a sickening mix of bloody and foul odors.
Haedis stood before a cauldron, inside which floated dismembered human limbs, hearts, magical plant essences, and the blood of magical beasts. His invisible mental energy controlled the fusion of these materials, separating them when necessary and guiding countless combinations at specific times and temperatures.
Occasionally, bubbles would rise to the surface and burst.
Rhett circled the laboratory a few times, not disturbing anyone.Rhett circled the alchemy lab a few times, not disturbing anyone. Eventually, his gaze settled on the alchemy cauldron Haedis was overseeing.
He observed from day to night, and from night to the next day's dusk...
Golden rays of the setting sun illuminated the room. Haedis remained fully focused, his mental energy fluctuating in intensity as the liquid in the cauldron gradually turned from dark red to blood red.
Aside from human blood, it seemed as if all the magical plants, magical beast blood, and other materials had been absorbed.
At that moment, the liquid in the cauldron had become thick, its volume shrinking several times, with the water level dropping by two-thirds, leaving only a layer of jelly-like liquid at the bottom, continuously bubbling.
Rhett’s eyes gleamed with recognition—the aura coming from it felt increasingly familiar, resembling the earliest version of the blood-red Blood Essence Pearl...
Another day passed.
The foul stench that had once filled the room was gone, replaced by a pure, dense aura of blood.
Aside from Haedis, everyone else had finished their tasks. Each person held their breath, their eyes fixed on the cauldron, which now radiated an eerie red glow.
The red light bathed the entire room in an unsettling hue, overpowering the golden light of the sunset.
Haedis no longer wore the calm expression of the past two days. His brows were furrowed, his face tense, and his cheeks twitched occasionally. He, too, was holding his breath. The alchemy experiment had reached its final step, and there was no room for error!
Jeanka stood by the window, holding a stack of documents. As he stared at the strange red light, a confused look appeared in his eyes.
In the tense atmosphere, time passed, and night fell.
A crescent moon hung in the sky, and the starlight spilled over the entire Golden Blood Palace. At that moment, in the laboratory on the third floor, the brilliant red light shone to its peak and then quickly dimmed.
The entire room fell silent, and the space plunged into darkness.
Moments later...
"Turn on the lights! It's dark, and no one has thought to turn on the lights! What are you all waiting for?" Haedis’ hoarse voice broke the silence.
With a click, someone hit the crystal lamp switch, and the room was bathed in bright light once more, casting relief over everyone present.
The red light had been so eerie that focusing on it for too long had left a sense of oppression on everyone’s hearts.
Now that the alchemy experiment was over, the tension eased, and everyone turned hopeful gazes toward Haedis. Though they were still troubled by the mystery surrounding the death of the late dean, most of them had come to believe that it was unlikely Haedis or Rhett would have been so brazen as to kill him openly—the real culprit must be someone else.
And after such a long period of research finally yielded successful results, many had begun to respect this Saint-level alchemist who had led them to victory. Smiles spread across the room, and cheers of celebration filled the air.
“Ahem, everyone... please settle down for a moment,” Haedis took a deep breath, and under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he reached into the cauldron and pulled out a perfectly round, blood-red pearl. His gaze grew distant as he softly said, “Our experiment has finally yielded its first success. This pearl is the product of that experiment…”
“Lord Haedis, what is the purpose of this pearl?” Sheman quickly raised his hand to ask. Gunas had been particularly invested in this experiment, so naturally, Sheman was as well.
Haedis glanced toward the corner of the room and replied, “I’m not entirely sure about its effects yet. In fact, today’s alchemical steps, the processes involved, and the new materials added were all breakthroughs noted in the journals left behind by Dean Gunas over the past year. I merely refined and optimized them a little. This success belongs to the Golden Blood Academy!”
“The glory of Golden Blood Academy…” Sheman stood there stunned, his eyes misting up, though he held back his emotions. He shouted, “Thank you, Lord Haedis!”
Haedis smiled slightly and shook his head.
“This alchemy experiment was hard on everyone. After we verify the effects of this blood-red pearl, you can all rest.”
“According to Gunas’ predictions, this pearl can enhance a knight’s combat energy, potentially even more effectively than potions. Now, who would like to volunteer to test its effects?”
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