The Alchemist's Guide to Flesh and Blood Ascension

The gold-plated wind chimes at the entrance of the "Heisenberg" pharmacy rang out their usual clear and crisp sound, a special sign that "all" was well.

The four filed in, and the ratman Nehta locked the door behind him, reset the three inconspicuous rune marks on the inside of the door frame, and hung his long coat on the hanger.

Tedes exhaled a breath of stale air and watched as Yunevo and Iseria went upstairs, seemingly to make some tea.

The blend of mint and dragon's breath incense exuded a reassuring aroma, masking and obscuring the strange magical fluctuations within the shop...

Four full beakers of water with tea leaves floating on them were placed on the table by Eunice. They sat in the first-floor lounge area, enjoying the peace and tranquility after the war.

He also placed the "Breaking the Law Bone" into a specially made semi-transparent container—at least for now, Yunevo cannot put it into his body.

The tattered pages of Dalki's manuscript were also spread out on the table, covered with a waterproof film. Iseria leaned closer and occasionally read out individual paragraphs in a low voice.

"The infusion provided by the church contained a high concentration of remnants of holy light and spiritually guided components," she pouted, "Hmm... it was burned in the end."

"That's enough. The Mage Guild definitely has the ability to recover the manuscript..." Yunevo wrote something quickly in his notebook with a quill.

Mages who can conjure small-scale stasis arrays... have probably already made initial contact with the mysteries of spacetime.

Before Tide Mage Tedes lay a neatly written research notebook, on which he was currently sketching a diagram of an arcane instrument, seemingly drawing inspiration from the previous great battle.

"Tedes, I estimate... your performance in this battle is enough to elevate the academy's value and status once again, and coincidentally, this year's 'Tide School' has one spot to go to the Endless Abyss."

The young Tide Mage paused, his tone somewhat puzzled: "Lecturer Yunefu, you mean...?"

"I'll give you a push when the time is right, as a small token of my gratitude," the black-robed alchemist replied, his gaze fixed on a piece of intelligence handed to him by the ratman Nehta.

"Is there some new activity from the churches outside?"

"They brought in three Purifiers under constant surveillance. One is disguised as a scholar going to study in Tus, and the other two are disguised as guards," Nehta said nonchalantly, admiring the dark gold fragment in his hand.

"These three people have a clear objective: to eliminate that damned alchemist at tomorrow's victory celebration banquet," it said, its gaze turning to Yunevo with amusement.

But instead, Teddes raised an eyebrow: "Where did we get a victory celebration?"

"According to Professor Marcus, the college will be holding a special ceremony tomorrow night to recognize our outstanding contributions to the 'Maintenance of the School History Museum'," Yunevo shrugged.

He pulled out a parchment with gold-embossed edges and waved it around. The distinctive seal of the Dean of Tus Academy was fresh, suggesting it had been delivered to the apothecary immediately after the battle.

"We cordially invite the distinguished Lecturer Eunice and his team... to the school's central banquet hall tomorrow evening at 7 PM, where an award ceremony will be held..."

"Tus, or rather the entire Mage Guild, no longer needs to feign patience... The evidence is conclusive, and just in case, they need a more respectable excuse..."

Nehta impatiently slapped the ground with his rat tail: "So... we've become bait for the bait? I've seen plenty of poisoning and assassination attempts in these noisy banquets."

"Then...should we prepare something?" Iseria asked tentatively.

"Sufficient self-protection medicine, protective gear... attend as usual, and then let those become 'evidence' that makes it necessary to kill the church," Yonivo's tone was chilling.

……

The rest of the time passed by in an orderly manner of preparation.

Tedes returned to his temporary residence at the academy, organizing his practical insights—which, according to him, were enough to save him from writing a graduation thesis.

At the same time, he also submitted an application to the upper echelons of the Tidal School to go to the "Endless Abyss," which not only paved the way for the future but also reduced the possibility of being targeted and schemed against later.

No one would be foolish enough to jeopardize the future of a school of magic.

Right, the church?

Meanwhile, the term of study at Tus Academy was coming to an end, and the magic apprentices were all preparing for their exams. At this time, no classes were being held, so Yunevo and Iselia returned to the "Heisenberg" apothecary.

Therefore, Nehta, the ratman, was "liberated" and, with Dalk's help, became completely absorbed in the planning and development of the entire "rat trail" of Starmoke.

This "Rat Way" system, based on the ubiquitous "vine surveillance" of the Iron Core Ancient Tree mentioned by Yunefu, is a crucial pillar of the future intelligence network.

Of course, all of this was done with the tacit approval of the Mage Guild—after all, they also needed the greedy ratmen to drive the city's economic development.

Did they even have their own people help repair the surveillance cameras?

That would be even better!

The person who triggered and ended it all was Juniper and Iseria on the third floor of the "Heisenberg" apothecary, sitting at a small table eating cream jelly.

The pale-haired girl chattered excitedly about her discovery—the magical energy flowing in the air had taken on a more concrete form.

Fire is vibrant, water is meandering, wind is spiraling, and earth is stable.

In the dim light, she even saw a special "magical source" that matched the color of the sky, which was ether.

Well-ordered, yet intertwined.

"Will tomorrow's award ceremony be dangerous?" Iseria asked.

"Yes, we are both pawns and players in this multi-party game," Yunevo pondered.

"Tus Academy wants to consolidate its authority, and mages always try to put pressure on the church, and the church is the easiest to guess... they want to take this opportunity to kill us."

"And then, we also want to destroy the Church, right?" Iselia mimicked Yunev's words.

The black-robed alchemist nodded, his fingertip tapping the outer shell of the "Spellbreaker Bone" container, and said in a relaxed tone, "We have enough chips to smash through the chessboard and kill the opponent's player in the process."

"Like...like the great chess master of the Han Dynasty you mentioned?" the girl asked curiously.

"...That's completely different," Yunevo ruffled Iselia's hair, then used "potion making" as an excuse to go upstairs.

During the conversation among the four, he revealed his attitude toward the "Destroyer's Bone"—the gargoyle would prefer that it be used in the fight against the church, rather than just displayed as "evidence" in the sorcerer's museum.

Therefore, everyone tacitly refrained from saying it aloud.

Yunevo neatly arranged the prepared improved "Steel and Iron Bones" potion and then prepared the replacement magic circle.

Outside the window, several figures wearing cloaks hurried past, clearly there to scout out the location.

Is tonight Christmas Eve?