Miss Witch's Forbidden Book Secret

This is due to the membership process. There are three main ways to join the Alchemy Society: submitting academic achievements and passing the review, applying for a high-level membership as a mentor, or achieving a significant social impact by utilizing the Society's patented technology without academic achievements.

After joining the Society, they will embark on the extraordinary path of alchemists under the influence of the Society's traditions.

This resulted in the alchemists of the Alchemy Society often being experts or elites from various fields. Coupled with the special circumstances of the Iris, this led to the fact that although the Iris had opened a Grand Council, it still had a strong elitist political character.

However, this has nothing to do with Tia. It's just that these alchemists do have a wide variety of skills, and they are all very capable!

From "A Study on Improving Milk Production in Dairy Cows Based on Alchemy" to "The Ethical Dilemma of Cross-Species Communication: From Extraordinary Contracts to Dating Skills," and so on.

There were also experimental reports on using mind manipulation to improve employee work efficiency and willingness to pay higher salaries, and models of how prophetic bias affects financial markets... Some were far-fetched or costly, while others sounded surprisingly plausible to Tia, and they immediately struck up a pleasant conversation.

Minister Marn Kulen and Minister Milke were also present.

According to Maen, these technologies could be legally researched and promoted—the only problem was that a patent tax would have to be paid when applying them.

The patent tax is so high that many members of the society study and refine the original rituals in order to avoid the patent tax, and then pirate the originals themselves.

If you don't do "self-developed" things, you can't even escape this tax - after the complete ritual is submitted to the Society, the Society will modify the ritual. Unless you have already figured out the ritual or can crack the secret door left by the Society, the Society will detect the use of the ritual and then automatically check it.

How dare you not pay taxes?

When Tia talked about this with the two alchemists, their faces turned pale and they clearly didn't want to talk about it anymore.

She then asked Milke.

When Milke heard this, he laughed and said, "It's not too serious, it's not serious enough to warrant the use of shotguns."

Tia could only sigh that this was indeed the land of freedom; apart from the lack of freedom, everything else was quite free.

Just as they were getting into a good time, Tia suddenly looked thoughtful and gazed into the distance.

Annie, who was marveling at the advanced alchemy of the iris flower, also keenly noticed Tia's unusual behavior.

She glanced in the direction Tia was looking; only pedestrians were passing by, but she still lowered her voice and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"I saw someone I knew."

"Has Master Ibn arrived?"

Anne gasped softly, rubbed her eyes, and stood on tiptoe to look into the distance, but her height blocked her view; several tall people were blocking the way, and she couldn't see anything.

--hateful!

Anne strained to stand on tiptoe, a little regretful that she hadn't worn platform shoes, "I didn't get to see Master Ibn..."

Tia shook her head, then said after a moment's thought, "It's not Ibn."

Anne took a deep breath and asked with concern, "Is he a prophet?"

Tia quickly shook her head, "It's probably related to the prophet."

But he was also an acquaintance.

—Santis, the "Dragon Hunter" and "Antimony Sorcerer".

Santis had glanced at her indifferently, which Tia had noticed with her spiritual awareness. But his gaze immediately shifted elsewhere, not lingering on Tia.

His target was Ibn Musa, the Sequence Four Great Craftsman, and his marrow and brain.

Taking advantage of the noisy atmosphere and spirituality of the many extraordinary people present, Santis left the banquet hall, wandered around several corners in the corridor, and arrived at the basement under the guest rooms behind the Sparrowtail Grand Theatre.

The twelve prophets are already working here, and if anyone sleeps nearby, they will dream of countless tiny, transparent chains, as if made of broken glass or irregular crystals, sealing off their entire world.

Of these prophets, six were in charge of the entire complex ritual array known as the "Maze Lock".

The remaining six people are each responsible for a Sequence Four node ritual. Each node ritual consists of two Sequence Five secondary rituals, and each secondary ritual consists of two Sequence Six basic rituals.

The rituals currently in effect are the two Sequence 4 rituals, "Unseen" and "Space Lock," and the two Sequence 5 rituals, "Single Time Reversal" and "Hidden Eye."

The only components that exert such power are the six-digit sequence five and the six-digit sequence six.

"Is this the Trinity?"

Santis recognized the core ritual of the Mystic Lock and said with some disappointment, "I thought it was a proper Trinity, but I didn't even get a glimpse of Rexar."

Murad was sitting cross-legged on the ground wiping the long blade of his knife when he looked up and chuckled.

Beside him were several Sequence 7 Assassin Court apprentices, all of whom looked like Arabians. They looked over with displeasure when they heard Santis's voice.

Murad chuckled, “Chairman Rexar’s Trinity is exquisitely detailed, but not everyone can master it. Precision isn’t necessarily good; suitability is the most important.”

"Dragon Hunter—what brings you here?"

"Thank you for inviting me to your Wisdom Palace. I'm here to help you with a tricky problem."

Santis, having been given the cold shoulder, couldn't help but snort.

Murad, leaning on his battle blade, pierced the concrete floor with a single thrust and murmured, "Guzar... you're dealing with troublesome issues, not me, are you?"

Chapter 362 Our rituals are absolutely flawless!

"If that's your opinion, then I have nothing more to say, Your Excellency Murad!"

A nameless rage suddenly rose in Santis's chest.

What do you mean by "come and deal with him"? This unsheathed blade of emotion is so blind that even he can't see it clearly? Doesn't he know what kind of person he is?

Or was it that his mind was dominated by the bloodlust of the unsheathed blade, and he regarded everyone as an enemy and wanted to slaughter them in a bloody manner?

Just as Santis was about to leave, Murad's voice rang out behind him.

“I know what you’re planning; Guzal has already told me. But I will absolutely not leave Ibn Musa’s remains to you. I will bury his bones underground, letting maggots devour them, so that his soul may never return to the Great Source!”

Santis paused, turned around, and sized up Murad a few times, saying with interest, "You're a traditionalist? That's rare..."

"This is a matter for us Tianfang people. Dragon Hunter, as an outsider, you should refrain from interfering."

Murad's response was not very effective.

Santissi laughed immediately—a traditionalist, this was a rare find, a complete antique.

Tianfang is also a country that believes in the Father of All Things, but unlike the countries on the continent, they traditionally do not believe that the Father of All Things is the only creator. Instead, they recognize that the Father of All Things and the Ouroboros are opposing forces that created the world.

The Father of all things created the sacred material world, while the ouroboros created the corrupt deep sea. It was only because the deep sea polluted the material world that the sacred essence retreated.

Based on this belief, the ancient Tethys people believed that after death, the body should be displayed on a high altar to be exposed to the sun and wind and rain, which meant returning to the sacred origin.

If it is buried in the soil, it will come into contact with the darkness and sinking earth, and will eventually sink into the deep sea, sinking into the uncertain and chaotic history.

However, this kind of belief is rarely seen in modern times. Mysticism also evolves, and old beliefs become folk customs. The degree of public belief is about the same as when Tia went to the Holy Church to collect milk.

Their attitude was roughly: since it's free, they might as well give it a try.

Those who still cling to tradition in this era are either stubborn old fogies, retro enthusiasts seeking novelty, or fools. In any case, they are not mentally sound.

Santis, leaning on his cane, left the basement, stepped over the threshold, and laughed mockingly:

"If that's the case, then go ahead and make a scene. I won't help you, and don't even think about asking me for help."

--boom!

The door was closed.

Murad remained calm, neither furious nor extremely angry. He was indeed a traditionalist, but not that stubborn.

His reluctance to hand over Ibn Musa's remains to Santis stemmed purely from his anger towards Ibn Musa.

However, a blade without a sheath is never reasonable when it gets carried away by emotions.

A former desert merchant, he and "Golem" Amir were close friends, like brothers, and Amir had even saved him several times.

Ibn Musa, a nobleman born into nobility, was unaware of the origins of his noble lineage. He was unwilling to abide by tradition and indulge himself, which was fine as long as he imparted his precious knowledge to students of various social statuses.

Now, the students he taught have betrayed the Palace of Wisdom and caused Amir's death.

This heinous crime has reached the point of being unforgivable!

He must completely eradicate this heretic, and publicly try his soul in the imperial capital, the divinely blessed city of Bersa, as a warning to others.

Murad wiped the water droplets off the blade with a white cloth, looked at the prophets who were working, and said calmly, "How is the ritual setup going?"

The lead prophet explained, “All six nodes are functioning normally, and we have isolated the entire theater with a spatial lock. Master Murad, you may proceed now if you wish.”

“But we can’t hold out for long. Once you start, no matter how well the ritual is concealed, Jeremiah and the Society will notice it. We expect to be able to hide for a maximum of two hours.”

Two hours? That's enough.

Murad asked with concern, "But your opponent is a stonemason who is also skilled in forging space. Is your illusionary lock reliable?"

The prophets raised their eyebrows and proudly patted their chests, saying, "Master! You may not believe in anything, but you absolutely cannot distrust the composite puzzle lock produced by the Palace of Wisdom!"

"We are all professionally trained. We do not deny that Ibn Musa is a very skilled craftsman; he even participated in the forging of the Star Chart. We all acknowledge that."

"But the entire labyrinth was designed by the great prophet himself. Even Jeremiah would have a headache for half an hour, let alone a stonemason. Otherwise, why would it be called the labyrinth!"

"What you said is indeed possible. For example, a superhuman with an unsheathed blade could break the spatial lock directly, lock our location through a ritual, and wipe us all out. But you are an expert in this area."

Murad breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Are you sure? What about the supernatural item?"

One of the prophets joked, "Those alchemical toys can't even break a spatial lock. Or maybe the stonemason stole back the Victory Sword he gave to the Alchemy Society as a favor!"

The prophets immediately burst into laughter.

This is why they are so certain: Ibn Musa, in order to repay a favor to the Alchemy Society, personally gave the "Ancient Artifact" Victory Sword, which had been given to him by the previous president, to Ulrich Bonhoeffer's fourth student and successor.

That is, the up-and-coming "Furynne Bonaparte".

Their Secret Eye ritual enveloped the entire theater, yet they couldn't find Bonaparte at all. They also carefully examined the weapons carried by the guests present, and casually checked all the antique knight's longswords that matched the characteristics of the Victory Sword.

Only then did they dare to say there was absolutely no problem.

Murad gripped the hilt with his backhand, and the long, curved sword sheathed itself with a sickening hiss.

“Very good. Locate Ibn Musa’s position.”

"clear."

The prophets reached out and took out a silver mirror, then cut their fingertips with a ritual knife and drew a line on the wall.

Blood was smeared on the wall, spreading out in a scarlet hue, staining the wall like a lake, with a blood moon hanging in the sky above the lake.

The moonlight shines down and falls on the mirror, reflecting a person's image.

An old man and a young girl were leaving the Hall of Mirrors. As they passed the theater, the dark brown-haired girl paused and glanced into the theater before following closely behind Ibn Musa.

Then another prophet raised up another mirror, and the moonlight cast a rosy glow upon it.

A human figure reappeared on the mirror.

Inside the banquet hall, a black-haired girl was chatting and laughing with a group of alchemists.

Wearing a wide-brimmed hat, a fitted tuxedo, and a trench coat, he had two rows of medals hanging on his chest: Silver Castle, Grand Police Department, Royal Society, Anti-Suppression Bureau, Saint Laurent, and Holy Church.

"The banquet hall, and the corridor outside the theater... we need to find a suitable time."

Murad considered carefully and said, "Let's take care of Ibn first... This Sequence Six is ​​not a threat. It's Milk and a bunch of sorcerers there who are more troublesome."

Before he finished speaking, he was like a large lump of melting black mud, his facial features, skin, bones and internal organs all turned into a black mud that flowed down his body.

Behind him, the five apprentices also melted into black mud, which flowed into the corner and merged into the darkness.

Chapter 363 Holly: I'm Free!

Holly looked at the magnificent Hall of Mirrors and the theater, pursed her lips, and stared longingly, feeling resentful.

How can there be a place like this?!

How much money would it cost to scrape off all that gold from the wall?

One thousand gold shields, or two thousand gold shields?

Holly dared not think about it; she didn't even dare to speculate further.

If there weren't so many people around, Holly would have really wanted to use her little dagger to scrape all the gold off the place—even disregarding the gold-cast decorations, the gold dust on the walls alone would have been enough for her to earn for a lifetime!

Ibn was stunned for a moment when he saw Holly clench her fists in resentment.

Is this the Red Knight?

He clearly remembered that the Red Knights were a path of tyranny, provocation, slaughter, and bloodshed, possibly also associated with plagues, wars, and natural disasters.

Unlike the berserkers who revere "battle", the black princes who favor "scheming", the assassins who are based on "assassination", and the demons who are driven by "sadism", the Red Knights are good at finding power in killing and dueling.

The earliest Red Knights were born on the battlefield, which is one of the reasons why they can be called knights: military units are more likely to become Red Knights, especially the knights who fought in pairs in ancient times.