Chapter 483: Lost Alchemy Civilization

(PS: I haven't had any bonus chapters in the last few days, not because I forgot about the patrons, but because I had an agreement with one patron to wait a few days for a Silver Alliance donation, and then I would release ten chapters in one go. I am currently stockpiling drafts. Since it's the beginning of the month and this was arranged last month, I plan to finish the ten-chapter release for this Silver Alliance patron first. As for the other three patrons, I will fulfill the bonus chapters for them one by one afterward. Don't worry, I won't go back on my word. I'm writing this book with such joy and ease, so rest assured.)

Through Victor's explanation, Wu Pifu understood what was meant by Forbidden Alchemy.

All normal alchemy is based on matter and utilized through spiritual consciousness; there is a saying in the alchemical supernatural world: everything in the world is an equivalent exchange. This is the foundation of alchemy.

Therefore, alchemy is a supernatural path that mixes the physical body and spiritual consciousness.

Whether it is material alchemy, elemental alchemy, energy alchemy, or even the bizarre alchemy born later after falling into deeper Dream Worlds, including physical or spiritual alchemy—none of these count as Forbidden Alchemy. True Forbidden Alchemy is... the soul!

Anything involving the soul and life and death belongs to Forbidden Alchemy!

"In the alchemical supernatural path, there is the most core element, which serves as the foundation for all alchemy: quantification. Whether it is matter, energy, spirit, or flesh, everything must be precisely quantified... My lord, let me put it this way: the so-called alchemical supernatural path is actually using the spirit to guide the changes in matter and energy. In this process, the alchemist is equivalent to solving a math problem! The more precise the calculation, the more decimal places there are, and the greater the power of the alchemical formula used."

Victor explained: "Because alchemical formulas are actually changes in microscopic matter at the quantum level. Even for the same leaf or stone, the difference after quantification might be a hundredfold or more. This requires the alchemist to use their spiritual consciousness to quantify them, and then perform alchemy based on the quantified numbers. The difference between a powerful alchemist, or an alchemist, Grand Alchemist, or Saint Alchemist, is not in the formulas, but in the degree to which they can quantify all things."

"Legend has it that the first alchemist, Azariel, after becoming a Great Saint Alchemist, could quantify all matter and non-matter to a state approaching perfection, and the alchemy he used could be called a miracle. But it was only approaching perfection. Theoretically, it is impossible for an absolutely perfect alchemy to appear, and even that which approached perfection was a miracle that almost no one could replicate except for the first alchemist, Azariel."

Wu Pifu nodded and said: "The Roots I understand are the same; the so-called infinite self-circulation and perfect self-closure are all tending toward perfection, but cannot thoroughly achieve absolute perfection."

"That is exactly the principle." Victor continued: "When the alchemy civilization was falling into the void, elite exploration teams, with the help of many Saint Alchemists, began to explore the Dream Worlds falling below to determine the enemies we would face and the possible future environments. In this process, the elite exploration team encountered Roots, and the information they sent back carried the pollution of these Roots."

"This kind of pollution is born based on the domain of the Roots, not the pollution from the Source of Pollution. This is also the way Roots obtain Reality from the new era. Our world is being sucked dry by these Roots, resulting in a large number of distortions, corrosion, and fall phenomena. In order to resist the pollution and the Roots, the alchemy civilization tried every possible method, but the gap between us was too great; it could be said that there was no way to think of a solution..."

Wu Pifu suddenly asked again: "What about that first alchemist, Azariel? He was called a Great Saint Alchemist; if he were in a high-level Dream World, he should have been able to resist the power projections of the Roots, right?"

Victor smiled bitterly: "According to records, before the Dream World exploration began, Saint Azariel had already disappeared. Some say he died of old age, some say he fell deep into Forbidden Alchemy and suffered a backlash, some say he was besieged and killed by many Saint Arcanists, and some say he went to explore the Dream Worlds himself. In short, he was missing at the time... And with the alchemy civilization unable to resist the Root pollution, many alchemists decided to activate Forbidden Alchemy, which is the so-called Soul Alchemy..."

After saying this, Victor asked: "Does my lord know why Soul Alchemy is Forbidden Alchemy?"

Wu Pifu was not familiar with the alchemical supernatural path, and now he only knew the general outline of this supernatural system, so naturally, he shook his head.

Victor did not hesitate and continued: "Because the soul cannot be quantified... The spirit can quantify matter, quantify energy, and even quantify the spirit itself, but the spirit cannot quantify the soul. Among the three layers of life—flesh, spirit, and soul—the spirit, located in the middle, cannot quantify the soul at the deepest level..."

"In the history of the alchemy civilization, there have been many cases where alchemy was performed on the soul, and the results were destructive, violating logic, physical laws, conservation of energy, and the most basic equivalent exchange of alchemy. No one knows what the number of a soul is, or even if it is a negative number, or if the number itself is a large number, an imaginary number—none of it is known. Therefore, Soul Alchemy is the only taboo!"

Wu Pifu was even more curious and asked again: "Since there are so many taboos, what do you use Soul Alchemy for? Or is it that Soul Alchemy can be used to create alchemical techniques with super-high power?"

Victor said: "This involves another thing... the Philosopher's Stone!"

"Ancient legends say that alchemy must not violate equivalent exchange, otherwise it will trigger a catastrophe that destroys everything. But there is one item that can be an exception... the Philosopher's Stone. Legend has it that as long as one holds a Philosopher's Stone, even an alchemist, or even an alchemy apprentice, can use the stone to perform alchemy that approaches perfection. When used by a sufficiently powerful alchemist, they can even create true miracles..."

"Perfect alchemy!"

Victor paused and then continued: "The ancient Saint Alchemists actually already understood the existence of Roots; their essence is an internal self-circulation and a self-closure that tends toward perfection. Therefore, if it were alchemy that also tended toward perfection, it could suppress or eliminate Root pollution. So... in the face of life and death, everything else became irrelevant. Soul Alchemy was activated on a large scale, with the goal of obtaining Philosopher's Stones through Soul Alchemy..."

After saying this, Victor fell into a long silence.

Wu Pifu waited for a long time before asking: "And then?"

Victor shook his head slightly: "Large-scale Soul Alchemy succeeded. Although it gave birth to a large number of monsters and distortions, as well as some memes and things that could not be understood, it did indeed obtain a large number of Philosopher's Stones... And relying on these Philosopher's Stones, the alchemists really curbed the sucking of the Roots, but... true pollution appeared. It was not Root pollution, but pollution generated from within the alchemy civilization itself under the gaze of the Source of Pollution. That was the sin of my civilization..."

"Soul Alchemy led to the death of over 95% of the total population. When the alchemists fell into despair, they sacrificed almost everyone who did not have alchemist bloodlines or aptitude. The survivors were almost all alchemists, and the offspring they gave birth to almost all possessed alchemist aptitude. At that time, some alchemists even rejoiced that they had sacrificed ordinary people, and that they should have done so long ago. An entire civilization of alchemists—they could even defeat all Roots in the future. However, true Lost-level pollution appeared. The alchemy civilization was completely lost in just a few decades, and the survivors could only linger on in the Lost Lands. And I am a descendant of these sinners..."

Wu Pifu looked at Victor and said: "What is the specific form of the Lost pollution of the alchemy civilization? What is its form? How is it different from Root pollution and other distortion and corrosion?"

Victor shook his head bitterly: "I'm sorry, my lord. Information about Lost pollution cannot even be passed down by word of mouth; it is a true 'secret'. We descendants can only know that the doomsday scene that led to the loss of the alchemy civilization originated from 'children', but as for what exactly it is, we do not know. If my lord wants to explore all of this and explore the truth behind the loss of the alchemy civilization, I am afraid my lord will need to find the Lost civilization site of the alchemy civilization and enter it to explore everything personally."

Wu Pifu nodded silently, and Victor immediately said: "I am a remnant of the alchemy civilization. As long as I transform from void to reality, I will inevitably generate a resonance in causality with the alchemy civilization that has already been lost. My lord is powerful and a Seed of the Ultimate Path. As the exploration of the Dream Worlds unfolds, you will inevitably be able to find this causal connection and go to the Lost Land of the alchemy civilization. This is also the greatest help I can give my lord in exploring the Lost."

Wu Pifu nodded at Victor and said: "Thank you very much for telling me all this. Rest assured, I will definitely take you out of this realm."

Victor stood up respectfully, nodded, and then left.

After Victor left, Wu Pifu asked Beelzebub: "Can you not remember anything at all about the Lost civilization or Lost Roots?"

Beelzebub said: "That's right, I can't remember anything at all. Even after seeing Lust and Gluttony, I remembered a lot of information about when my original body was still around, but I have no impression of any information about the Lost. But there is no doubt that the Lost civilization and Lost Roots must hide information or power to resist the Source of Pollution. In fact, isn't this Lost Land a simulation of the Lost phenomenon manufactured by the Heavenly Court and many Roots as an observation experiment vessel? There must be a huge connection here!"

Indeed, the more Wu Pifu understood about these Lost Lands, the more certain he became.

The Lost phenomenon, whether it is the Lost civilization or Lost Roots, must involve the Source of Pollution, and it is also the true core of all these changes that led to the appearance of the Dream World!

After a conversation with Victor, Wu Pifu intended to talk to the Potion civilization and the Mist civilization. Even if he couldn't learn the process of their civilization's loss from them now, he could at least learn some less important civilization information.

But just as he walked out of the room, Samara ran toward him excitedly, shouting at Wu Pifu: "Saint, it's all yellow, it's all yellow!"

"What?" Wu Pifu asked, confused.

Samara caught her breath and said urgently: "The God of Natural Purity!"

"It has turned completely golden!!"

(End of chapter)