What's wrong with me, a mage, loving to farm?

Chapter 401. The "Value" of Gold

The original gold, the Philosopher's Stone.

In many alchemical legends, this mysterious substance is the "endpoint," capable of violating the principle of equivalent exchange and creating unimaginable miracles.

—And now it lies quietly in Kroya's palm, the size of a pebble, its entire body a vibrant red, like a beating heart.

"Uh... how do I use it?" Kroya stared at her intently for a while, and just when Mia thought he was about to use it, she suddenly heard this question.

"You didn't know?" Miya asked helplessly. "Didn't I extract all the knowledge of alchemy and compile it into a book for you? Haven't you been reading it?"

"Oh, I only watched half of that."

Kroya casually pulled out an incredibly thick book. The pages flipped through them with a rustling sound, yet the number of pages didn't decrease, as if the pages were endless.

"By the way, how many pages are there in this book? I've been reading for so long and I'm only halfway through."

"This is based on your understanding of alchemy. If you only see half of it, it means you only understand half of the principles."

Miya walked up to Kroya, who instinctively lowered his head.

Then the blessing from the Ring of Radiance landed on his forehead, but the texture felt a little off, like some kind of lip balm...

"Why are you wearing lipstick?"

"It seems to have been ground using Starflower."

The knowledge flooding into her mind made Chloe feel a little itchy, and she couldn't help but wipe off the lipstick from her forehead.

When this was mentioned, Miya's expression became somewhat subtle: "It was applied by that human named Tony when he did my makeup. He seemed to like me a lot, and he even touched my face while he was doing my makeup."

I barely managed to resist the urge to send him on a trip to the stars.

"..."

Touching the precious baby's face is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Chloe took another look at her teacher's stage outfit, which was covered in various diamonds. "Looks like you're having a lot of fun."

While he was talking, his hands were also busy.

Various materials emerged from the circle of white-gold particles scattered around him, forming an extremely complex alchemical array under his magical control.

This thing is quite troublesome.

"It's alright." Miya thought about the scene of her singing and dancing on the stage. It was indeed a wonderful feeling that she had never experienced before. What was even more wonderful was that her voice could actually materialize into "spiritual fuel".

Those who attend concerts become more energetic after absorbing this fuel.

He was certain that his power had not dissipated.

The fact that simple "sound" could convey such a wondrous power piqued His interest in researching it, and incidentally, He received seventy, eighty, or ninety tour invitations...

Speaking of the announcement, Miya suddenly remembered something: "I was planning to have some fun for a bit and then go back to help you with the kids, but it looks like you'll have to find someone else to help you now."

"..."

"You've really gotten hooked on this? Don't worry, I'll find someone to help you."

Hmm... Although he said he was looking for help, the tower spirit should have already taken over Luke's job. Luckily, he has a reliable tower spirit who can let him wander around outside.

The two chatted idly, exchanging a few words.

The extremely complex alchemical array finally took shape.

He placed the Philosopher's Stone at the very center of the magic circle. The crimson light flowing from the Philosopher's Stone passed through the patterns of the magic circle and gradually turned into a golden liquid.

It was a mesmerizing golden color.

It shimmered with golden light, even more captivating than the sun.

Miya stepped forward and dipped her finger in the solution.

"This is the original gold."

"Gold is the most stable substance. It is perfectly pure and even immortal. The gold made by the Sage Miya is actually an equivalent exchange of souls—that is, the ability to make all inanimate objects move."

At this point, a look of disdain appeared on His face: "That guy, the Treasure of Time, thought that gold only had the ability to maintain its properties, so he used it to make items for trade."

However, He should have already noticed some clues.

Where is your clockwork golem?

Kroya, who was listening intently, exclaimed, "Ah, isn't it making a space magic device?"

"The key part of that clock golem should contain primordial gold, which is the equivalent exchange for its ability to move and possess a soul."

"So what I'm going to tell you is to use this gold to create life with a complete soul."

He casually pulled out a piece of... tiramisu.

Then He used the gold on His fingers to draw on the "body" of the tiramisu, representing an infinite ring on the outside and a pattern that looked like a flame on the inside.

The instant the pattern is completed.

【Delicious Tiramisu - A Golden Gift】

This monster, having received a description from the "Supreme Treasure of the Sky, the Ring of Radiance," used gold as fuel for its soul's movement, transforming from an inanimate object into a living monster.

Its every action depends on the "Golden Blood Fire Ring." When this magic fails or the original gold is exhausted, it will die again.

After being enchanted, Tiramisu bounced off Mia's palm and then fell to the ground with a "thud," not only dropping the cocoa powder on its surface but also revealing the base and finger biscuits.

The two tiny chocolate pieces that served as eyes showed expressions of terror, but since they had no fingers or even feet, they could only wriggle on the ground, looking adorably silly.

Kroa could even sense its thoughts—the joy of new life and the wonder of everything.

"How silly," Kroya muttered, then pondered, "It feels so similar to the things in Gluttony's Paradise?"

"That's just a inferior creation of a demon."

Miya casually picked up the tiramisu, restored it to its original state, and then explained, "The soul controls the body. In Sage Miya's special alchemy, once you possess a soul, your body can be driven by the soul, and miracles can occur."

"Take it for example, it can even split its own soul to create more mini tiramisu, and it can also absorb the materials used to make tiramisu to grow and get bigger."

He took out a bunch of ladyfingers, cocoa powder, and a mixture of eggs and cream and placed it aside. The tiramisu chocolate chips' eyes lit up instantly, and they went over and started to devour them.

The joy and happiness were almost overflowing, as if it were a great blessing—food eating food, the scene was truly somewhat surreal.

Immediately afterwards, its body split into several smaller tiramisu. These smaller tiramisu inherited the golden blood and fire rings on its body surface and even used finger biscuits as feet to start hopping around.

It itself quickly lost its life force, and the ring of life that Miya had drawn on its body rapidly dimmed, eventually turning back into tiramisu.

As it was dying, its tiny chocolate bean eyes gazed at the bouncing little tiramisu with a "maternal" look.

Although the time from birth to death is only a few minutes, it truly feels like a life, with its own joys and sorrows, and expectations for future generations.

"How amazing."

Kroa looked at the little tiramisu pieces bouncing around and exclaimed in surprise, "Magical beasts that can reproduce and pass on their lineage? These are desserts, and they can actually turn into magical beasts!"

He had also studied the things in those Gluttonous Paradises. In essence, they were just magical beasts similar to food, and this thing was food that directly turned into magical beasts.

"That's the value of gold."

"It can buy the original gold of life."

After Miya finished speaking, her tone became serious: "I know you like to study all kinds of magical beasts and magical plants, but please don't use these things to create anything related to humans."

The human form is very unique.

The Philosopher's Stone can pay this price, but the ripples it creates that affect destiny are unavoidable, and you will bear the consequences.

"You mean a humanoid creature?"

"That's right, don't create humanoid creatures. I know you've made human golems, but their soul structure is ultimately different from that of those created from gold."

"They're just golems after all, not people." Mia pointed to herself: "Me too."

Kroya narrowed his eyes, suddenly recalling some horror movies he had watched in his previous life, including the legend of "pseudo-humans." Even though he could now kick those things like a ball, he still felt a chill run down his spine.

His sixth sense was warning him not to do that.

"Okay, I understand." Chloe nodded. "Can I try it out?"

"Of course," Miya stepped aside. "However, the production of gold is also cyclical. The more primordial gold there is, the more price can be paid for a soul."

"Uh-huh."

At this moment, Kroya had taken out a piece of jelly and began to concentrate on drawing the ring of fire around the soul with the liquid gold.

Creating life was not unfamiliar to him.

But this time it was exceptionally difficult.

The gold on his fingers seemed to be held down by something, and the process of drawing was as if some inexplicable force was suppressing him, preventing him from drawing and refusing to let the jelly come to life.

If I had to put it in words, it was as if an invisible hand was holding him down, preventing him from drawing. That hand was also very cold; someone who didn't know better would think it was some kind of horror movie with a vengeful spirit appearing.

He sensed something was wrong and looked at Miya beside him.

The latter found a chair nearby, sat down, and slowly explained:

"It is not a life that the rules allow."

"So this process will be very difficult and arduous."

The look in his eyes was complex.

Kroya nodded: "I know, but I'm more curious about what the Philosopher's Stone is made of, that it can create life?"

Just now, he felt the golden liquid on his fingers seemed to have a living rhythm, and these rhythms came from the Philosopher's Stone that was quietly sitting at the very center of the magic circle.

"This part of the data has been lost," Miya replied. "But you can rest assured, it was definitely not made from any kind of life form. Stop reading those books."

"Uh..." Kroya was a little embarrassed. In fact, he really doubted whether this thing was created with some kind of life and soul. He remembered watching an anime before he transmigrated, and there were such settings in it.

Teacher Miya would never deceive him.

He shook his head and focused on his drawing.

This time, however, things went surprisingly smoothly.

As his nimble fingers imprinted circles and fire patterns onto the jelly, the flowing gold instantly sprouted rudimentary hands and feet, which then began to twitch merrily.

The Celestial Spirit Imprint Technique scanned it over and found it to be no different from the tiramisu from before.

"Why did it go so smoothly this time? Was it because I hesitated just now?"

"Yes, its life flows through your fingertips. If you yourself doubt the reason for its birth, you are its father, the only person it can rely on."

"This is a taboo set by the Sage Miya."

"She once lamented to me that being a parent is the easiest thing, requiring no assessment, but after giving birth, one is unable to take good care of the child, and may even see the child as the beginning of one's suffering."

"This is a gift from fate, a gift that cannot be refused."

"That's why Sage Miya left such a taboo within the Philosopher's Stone, Kroya... If even you think its birth is impure, what will happen to it after it's born?"

Faced with Mia's gentle questioning as always, Kroya sighed deeply: "Just as you said, teacher, if I felt that its birth came from the death of countless lives, I would despise it."

"It comes from my descriptions, it is born from my expectations of myself. If I hate it, it will become extremely depressed, doubt its own existence, and thus collapse."

"And then? Have you thought about what will happen after the collapse?"

"Huh?" Chloe was taken aback, and then it disappeared...

A terrifying thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Even if it is a complete life at birth, it will still experience life and death, and become a vengeful spirit?"

How terrifying it would be if the life created by the primordial gold were turned into vengeful spirits.

At this moment, Miya's expression suddenly turned playful. She stood up, reached out and picked up the Philosopher's Stone, then slashed it sharply at the void in front of her—

"Whoosh!"

"Sizzle!"

The platinum light, like a knife slicing through cloth, opened a huge gash in the void, revealing a golden radiance that shone brightly while also carrying a deep sense of resentment.

"This is the price you paid for the Philosopher's Stone."

"In the distant past, all beings that were rejected and destroyed by their creators and eventually turned into vengeful spirits are here, blocking the source of the Philosopher's Stone's power."

Kroya was a little annoyed: "You can't do this to your apprentice, can you?"

He had already seen what was inside—a bunch of bizarre things, more demonic than demons themselves. If an ordinary person saw it, they probably wouldn't dare go to the toilet at night.

What's even more terrifying is that there are legendary-level beings among them, some of whom even he felt a vague sense of pressure from. He had no idea what the former owner of the Philosopher's Stone had done.

Miya smiled and said, "It's not like I'm asking you to go."

He pointed to the adorable tiramisu and jelly bouncing around.

"Let them go!"

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(End of this chapter)