Fulilian: Becomes a disciple of Celia at the beginning

Except for the first few steps which were difficult to walk on due to the bombardment by Celiai, the stone steps below were normal, no different from the stone steps used to reach the top of some churches in the outside world.

Looking at the fireworks that burned more vigorously under Celia's control and illuminated everyone's vision, Gut couldn't help but ask.

"Teacher, you just relied on this firework to judge whether it was safe below, right?"

"That's right." Celie nodded.

"If there's no air circulation, the fireworks will go out."

"If there's toxins spreading, the fireworks will change color."

Gut's eyes flashed with interest, and he asked further, "Can these fireworks detect any toxins?"

"That's not it."

"I haven't updated this magic in hundreds of years, but the [Secret Spring] you're looking for was probably built in the [Early Period of the Unified Empire]."

"If it's only used to detect toxins developed in this era, it would be sufficient."

Looking at the fireworks that could be controlled at will according to the teacher's wishes, Gut was tempted for a moment, so he took the initiative to tell Celie that he wanted to learn this magic.

"You mean this?"

Celie looked at the fireworks floating in the air, frowned, and did not agree.

"Give up this idea. Celie will not teach you this magic."

Frillian, who was walking behind Gut, spoke. As she spoke, a firework identical to Celia's appeared at Frillian's fingertips.

"It's not some easy-to-learn [Folk Magic], but rather [Chimeric Magic] that has long been eliminated by the times."

"This magic was born long ago in a human monastery."

"The principle isn't complex, but the magic formula is a mixture of many things, and with so many layers of integration, it's extremely difficult to separate or improve it."

"Even those who are devoted to the cultivation of the Dao, who are indifferent to worldly affairs, often have to wait until the end of their lives before they can learn."

"Moreover, it is different from the human magic passed down from ancient times."

"Although the magic of the ancient human race was equally complex, it was the collective wisdom of the entire human race at a critical moment of life and death. Although complex, it also has extremely high learning value."

"But this [Chimeric Magic - Fireworks] is ultimately only the combined wisdom of a few monks in a monastery."

"Although the effect is quite good, its magic structure is mixed with too much meaningless content. From the perspective of a modern magician, these contents are completely low-quality redundancy."

"Furthermore, the development of [Chimera Magic] has been proven by history to be a completely unworkable path."

"Iselie's personality won't let you waste your time on this kind of magic."

Celia glanced back at Fulilian, then nodded to her disciple. "What Fulilian said is basically what I meant."

"Gut, your time is limited. You should use your talent more efficiently."

But at this moment, whether out of anger with Celia or simply because her mind was not in sync, Fulilian, who was walking behind, suddenly said, "If this were my disciple, as a teacher, I would probably not reject this idea."

"Gut, if you want to learn this magic, would you like to come with me and become my disciple?"

Celia: ???

Gut: ???

Simmel:

"Okay, I just said it on impulse, just pretend I didn't say anything."

Seeing everyone's eyes on her, Fulilian raised her hands in surrender and withdrew the idea.

After listening to the explanation of "Magic Little Deng" Fulilian, Gut also understood why the teacher was unwilling to teach him this magic.

But after all, this is just a small and everyday magic. How could it make Gut switch to Fulilian's sect and lower his seniority for no reason?

Besides, when I became Celia's apprentice, it wasn't just for her magic.

Gut, who had a clear ultimate goal, saw that the atmosphere on the field was awkward because of Frillian's "flash of inspiration", so he did not dwell on this matter and changed the subject.

"Teacher, you just said that this [Secret Spring] we are looking for was built around the [Early Period of the Unified Empire]."

"Did you already know about this [secret realm] you were looking for before this?"

"more or less."

Sensing that her disciple wanted to change the subject, Celie took over the conversation and began to tell the story.

"When I first looked at the map, I was just guessing; but now, I'm almost certain."

Looking at the stone staircase carved entirely by humans, Celie controlled the fireworks and flashed them in front of Milo's eyes.

After scaring Milo, Celie used Milo as an excuse to start her story from her memories.

"Milo, do you remember my warning to you after we met in the [Alter Forest]?"

"Remember."

Milo spoke faster than his brain. He agreed immediately after Celia asked, but he took a while to think about it before he remembered it.

"I remember you meant that when I explore the [Secret Realm], if I discover a natural landscape within it, I can proceed with caution."

"But if there are any signs of human activity in the [Secret Realm], we must return immediately and seal the entrance. Then we will contact you in the [Holy City]."

"Ah."

Milo's pause made Celie a little unhappy, but after all, he was able to recall it, which was not bad.

"Yes, this is exactly what I warned you about."

"The reason you are asked to evacuate immediately upon seeing any signs of human activity is because this place was once suspected of being a brutal and inhumane place."

"[Human Potion Laboratory] ruins."

Chapter 76: An Ignominious History

"[Human Potion Laboratory]. Ruins?!"

Milo exclaimed, pausing momentarily as he looked at the stone steps leading down and swallowed hard.

Although it is not clear what exactly happened here, when the two terms "notorious" and "human experiment" are linked together, it will not lead to good guesses.

Xin Meir, the brave man who had walked to the head of the team and was facing the unknown danger ahead, was stunned for a moment, then his expression became extremely solemn and he asked.

"Lady Celia, the [Human Potion Laboratory] you mentioned is the one that was secretly built by the [Royal Capital] of the central kingdoms in the [Early Period of the Unified Empire] to counter the [Empire's] southward expansion?"

Sinmeier's question actually surprised Celie. "How could there still be records of a dark history in the human capital?"

"I thought that the people in power in the Royal Capital would be so afraid of such shameful events being discovered that they would do everything in their power to erase them from history."

Xin Meier gave a bitter laugh, "In fact, what you said is not wrong, Lady Celia."

"In the Royal Capital, in the publicly accessible history, this incident does not exist."

"I was able to understand this because I successfully defeated the Demon King. Afterwards, the King of the Royal Capital granted me access to the library that belonged exclusively to the Royal Family to search for information."

"My knowledge of this shameful history came by chance when I was searching for information about a promise."

"But even so, I only know that such a thing existed in history. I still have no idea where this [Human Potions Laboratory] is located."

"I see. That's not surprising."

Celie nodded, confirming the hero's story.

"For those in power, the only history they won't embellish is the one they're showing their own people."

"Teacher, I'm really not familiar with that buried history. Could you two please explain it in detail?"

Listening to the teacher and the brave uncle playing guessing games, Gut, who was a little itchy, couldn't help but ask.

"It's not a pretty history, but since you want to know, I'll tell you."

Celie sighed softly and slowly told a not-so-glorious story.

"In human history, the most glorious era, apart from the present, when we have defeated the Demon King and ushered in a new era, is the Unified Empire Period."

"At that time, the [Empire] in the [Northern Kingdoms] approved my disciple Volame's plan to conduct nationwide research on magic. Not only did they no longer consider it taboo for humans to study [Demon] magic, but they supported it with all their might."

"As a result, the Empire's strength increased dramatically in a short period of time. During that era, human magicians emerged like mushrooms after rain, countless times faster than in previous eras."

"The Empire, which had greatly increased its strength, not only gained the upper hand in the battle against the Demons, but also gained an advantage in conflicts with fellow humans."

"Ultimately, most of the surrounding countries and cities were swallowed up by it. The [Empire] quickly completed the unification of the [Northern Countries] and established the [Unified Empire]."

"Having reaped the enormous benefits of magic, the [Unified Empire] naturally didn't limit its vision to its existing territory. Thus, it broke through the boundaries between continents and began expanding southward from the [Northern Kingdoms] to the [Central Kingdoms]."

"But the Empire's rapid expansion within the Northern Kingdoms is certainly no small feat. Every nation on the continent has realized the importance of magic in warfare and has mobilized its entire nation to conduct research."

"Thus, even though the Empire, with its first-mover advantage, is always one step ahead of other nations in its magical research, it can no longer achieve the overwhelming advantage it once had."

Having said that, Celie's eyes were vaguely lost, and she suddenly asked the disciple behind her.

"Gut, do you still remember the last candidate who was eliminated on the first day of the Oissast assessment?"

"this."

Gut thought for a moment and replied, "It's the magician who took the secret medicine unearthed from the ruins of the [Unified Empire Period] and came to take the test, right?"

Because the reason for this person's elimination was rather strange, and because he was the one who helped him out, and saw that he was not in good condition, he paid for someone to send him back to the hotel, so Gut's memory of him was still quite clear.

"[Unified Empire Period] Secret Medicine [Human Potion Laboratory]."

Knowing that the teacher would not suddenly mention an eliminated candidate for no reason, Gut immediately realized that there must be a connection between the two.

Looking at the disciple's expression, Celie knew that the disciple understood her meaning, so she continued to preach.

"In order to maximize our advantage as a magician occupying the entire [Northern Kingdoms], we will quickly annex the entire continent."

"The King of the Unified Empire, in conjunction with some of his trusted nobles, secretly established a secret medicine research laboratory within the Etovis Mountains. Their intention was to develop a magical potion of extraordinary effectiveness that would enable apprentice magicians and even ordinary soldiers of the Empire to quickly acquire powerful magical powers, becoming the backbone of the Empire's expansion."

"Their idea is good, but the development of the [secret medicine] is progressing extremely slowly."

"After wasting countless manpower and material resources, although we finally achieved some results, the effectiveness is difficult to evaluate."

"After taking this [secret potion], magicians will greatly intensify their potential, increasing their magic power by five to ten times within just one month."

"But the price is that once you use more than 30% of your magic power, the remaining magic power will become extremely unstable. If you're lucky, your magic power will just dissipate, but if you're unlucky, you'll explode and die."

"Not only that, after taking this [secret potion], magicians rarely survive beyond three years. Most die in the year they take it or the year after."

"Then isn't this quite useless? For a magician, the actual amount of mana they can control doesn't increase much, and instead, it significantly shortens their lifespan."