The Alchemist's Guide to Flesh and Blood Ascension

"It's been half a month, and we still haven't found a way back... It seems we really have to let Shajia witness the so-called last batch of merchants safely passing through the trade route," Yunefu sighed.

The air around Morse grew increasingly scorching, and he and Iseria were walking along this incredibly long and still largely undeveloped golden trade route, escorting yet another struggling caravan.

At the very front, the broad, dark golden figure was reassuring, its unstoppable momentum shattering the layers of sand dunes ahead time and time again.

"Its cycle has reached its lowest point," said Yunefu, who was at the very back of the group, his black robe covering him completely, making it difficult to even see his face.

"A low point? That makes sense... I haven't seen it sleeping or resting for the past two weeks," Iseria agreed.

It was dusk, and the setting sun was like blood.

The Sand Armor finally came to a halt. As a "chemical creation" that had existed for a hundred years, its internal magical energy circulation system had reached a critical point, just as Yunevo had said.

From the gaps in its breastplate, where there should have been a faint golden sheen, came the heavy, intermittent breathing of the "exhausted one," dry and feeble like that of a wind-up bird that hadn't been oiled.

The Sand Armor knew that its core had extremely strong self-adaptability, but... on this land that had been drained of its vitality, after a hundred years of wear and tear, its recovery speed could no longer keep up with the damage it caused by pushing away the quicksand.

With Yunevo pulling Iselia along, they quickly passed through the bewildered crowd who stood frozen in place, and went straight to Sand Armor.

"It seems... you need a little help," he said softly, looking at the armored figure that had sunk into the soft sand, unable to support itself.

"I must say, you have quite a few flaws," Yunefu said, taking out several tubes of specially made "magic lubricant" from his storage bag. He then activated his [Spiritual Vision] and examined the alchemical creation from "ancient times" in front of him.

Time has proven that alchemists who strive for perfection in everything do not live long.

Ionevoy's assessment of this matter was akin to the pursuit of a sample with 100% purity...

Just think about it.

The alchemist behind the Sand Armor once wanted to create an extremely perfect self-circulating system within the Sand Armor, but the result was a mountain of code that kept getting worse and worse, leaving a bunch of "gaps" of overflowing energy in this "project".

"And your relentless self-suppression... it's practically a form of slow suicide," Yonivo retorted mercilessly, while simultaneously finding suitable "interfaces" in the gaps of the armor.

The few bottles of potion emitting a bright blue light spread throughout the sand armor's body via its circulatory system, helping it press the "restart" button.

After the sound of the alchemical core's "fan" rang for a while, Sand Armor finally managed to pull his leg, which was halfway stuck in the sand, out of the sand and feel the circulation in his body after some "tampering".

"What...did you add to it?" Sand Armor's voice was somewhat surprised. It wasn't that it hadn't tried to find a way to repair itself, but in the end, it always ended up with "the root of the problem becoming more serious," and the matter was left unresolved.

"If I had to put it that way... just think of it as me adding a little bit of magical 'platelets' to this blood circulation system," Yunevo shrugged.

"Platelets...?" For the first time, the armored creature showed an expression of bewilderment.

"Yes, it's like adding another path to your repair system," Yunefu patted Sand Armor on the shoulder, guiding him "earnestly," "Just like a merchant, it's always good to have an extra option."

"Just like this golden trade route, there's only one road... isn't that perfect for encirclement and interception?" He pressed his advantage.

Sha Jia nodded, considering the feasibility of this argument.

If this long sandy road exists alone with only one main road, it is indeed easy for those unscrupulous royal families to cut it off, or even use it to demand high taxes from merchants.

This is something it doesn't want to see...

But at that moment, several impatient merchants behind it shouted, "What are you doing? Are we even going to walk on this road?!"

One of them, with a full beard, stepped forward. As if recognizing something, his index finger trembled as he said, "That black-robed fellow seems to have added some kind of magical potion to this armor!"

"Damn it, have you heard that rumor... At the end of the trade route, a soul-devouring monster, it all makes sense! It all makes sense!" He suddenly shouted, but his words seemed somewhat absurd.

The men behind him shouted in agreement, causing considerable panic among the group of merchants who had formed a circle around him...

Even though along the way, the Sand Armor has rescued people from fire and water many times...

But that can also be misinterpreted as—soul-capturing requires a vibrant soul.

Just as the merchant who had first launched the attack, clutching the Thorn Sun Badge, said: "Listen to me, everyone! The reason we've survived until now... is because the adults far away in Speranza are praying for us and using holy light to interfere with this monster's consciousness!"

"But... Boss Fein, it really did block the sandstorm for us just now," a young merchant interrupted.

"That was precisely to fatten us up! Didn't you see it was already failing...? It couldn't even maintain its iron armor anymore, so it brought those two black-robed accomplices to devour our souls at the finish line!"

Finn wasn't some brainwashed fool; he knew exactly how real the protection of the Sand Armor truly was.

But his youngest daughter, who was dying from illness, really needed a bottle of "holy water" that the church had promised to save her life...

The crowd was restless, each person expressing different emotions.

Some defended it, some questioned it, and the argument continued.

Yoniv did not speak.

The sand armor remained silent. Of course, it could retaliate; in an instant, these mortal bodies would be smashed into pieces by the rolling sand waves.

But it certainly won't take action.

"At this point...wouldn't it be best if we just found out that director and beat him to death?" Iseria asked timidly.

The sand armor turned around, and the sandstorm it stirred up blocked several sand clumps that "accidentally" hit the three of them. It stretched out its hands with dark gold patterns and pushed hard against the solid sand wall in front of it!

boom--!

Amidst the flying sand and rolling stones, this immense power instantly carved out a golden, smooth road!

The crowd fell silent.

Finn's hands trembled uncontrollably. He couldn't understand why the armor would still choose to advance and clear a path after being so humiliated.

But he knew that a dead end was about to be set in motion, with the church preparing a grand funeral for this "guardian" armor.

Finn's hands trembled even more violently.