He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

evening.

As daylight reaches its end, the lingering glow above the dome completes its cycle, gradually fading like morning mist and transforming into a tranquil and gentle twilight.

Foundation, staff dormitory.

While other departments were still busy, the advantages of the slackers were already beginning to show. As the saying goes, those who dare to skip work get to enjoy life first. Ai finally experienced the joy of "leaving get off work by herself" and was able to return to her little home before dark for the first time in a long time.

He entered the room, turned around, and silently closed the door.

The next second, his body began to shrink rapidly, and his clothes, which had been fitting well, slipped off his petite frame... In the blink of an eye, a gray fox replaced the black-haired boy. Ai, barefoot, darted across the wooden floor with a "thump-thump," then took a running start and jumped, throwing himself onto the bed. He hugged his large tail and started rolling around, "I'm exhausted..."

He grabbed the oversized collar of his work clothes, sniffed it, and gave a blank look: "It smells so strongly of smoke."

After hanging out with older men for a long time, the fox started to smell bad, but its tail, which had been hiding, was spared and still smells of "sunshine" to this day.

As for what kind of taste it is... Ai Yi himself wasn't quite sure; it was a colleague who used to pet foxes who told him.

Wagging its tail and waving its lithe limbs, Ai buried its face in its tail and sighed softly, "It's still more comfortable using the original form."

I don't understand how a person without a tail can live.

But soon, he jumped off the bed again—it wasn't time to sleep yet; he had important things to do and couldn't let the soft bed hold him hostage.

Although it's called staff dormitory, it's a standard single room, similar to those expensive single apartments outside. As an internal benefit, the foundation has never been stingy with its own people.

First, she threw her clothes, which were soaked in the smell of smoke, into the home automation machine. Then, she changed into a set of skin-friendly pajamas and leisurely walked into the kitchen, looking at the smart stove that was always active on the counter.

A whole day should be enough.

The glass cover was covered with a thick layer of silver mirror.

"Gulp..."

He swallowed hard, silently moved closer, and then yanked open the lid—

"Success!...Huh?"

He tilted his head, his ears drooping down on either side.

.

.

"The Fox's Alchemy Diary - Day Fifteen"

"I was forced by Xiaobai to learn alchemy all afternoon today, and I was thinking of putting my 'extraction' experiments on the agenda... but I failed miserably in the first step of the corruption. The mithril melted into a puddle of black water, and I lost a pot along with it."

"Solubility is a heinous crime."

"Just like how owning a shredder means your house will only have the shredder left—when I learned alchemy, all I had left was black liquid!"

He glanced at his burnt rice cooker, lost in thought.

Although this thing isn't a formal alchemy tool, it's far superior to ordinary crucible furnaces and the like, since it can intelligently control temperature and even maintain humidity...

When used in conjunction with various autonomous machines, such as incubators or incinerators (most of which are household models in the Underworld)... the combined effect, while not as good as the "equivalent triangle" in the Gray Court, is still a decent setup for novice alchemists.

Ai Yi initially wanted to blame the equipment, but then she realized that ultimately it was because she was too incompetent.

It is clearly impossible to learn any kind of academic or mysterious skill by relying on a "crash course near the end of the semester".

Gray's notes saved him a lot of time understanding the theory, but practical application was still an insurmountable problem. And alchemy practice... just as he had thought before, was a rather expensive "hobby".

Ai opened the think tank, glanced at her dwindling savings, and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

In just half a month... I've already spent tens of thousands of credits. Apart from daily expenses, all the rest has been used to buy alchemy materials—to refine the "Queen's Silver" needed for the Holy Veil Path Ritual.

Other materials are minor issues; the main problem is "mithril"—this is a relatively high-level mystical item, an essential material for a whole host of fields such as ritual studies, esoteric literature, and the creation of ritual artifacts. Although the Foundation has a considerable stockpile of it, it would be very expensive to obtain it with money rather than performance bonuses.

Extremely expensive!

Ai Yi slumped onto the table, sighed deeply, and began to consider whether she should compromise and go through the back door with Wei Sir to get the finished product.

But after being reminded by the knocking on the door, he understood... this was an unavoidable growing pain in the process of improving alchemy. If he wanted to reach the Crimson Realm, he would have to chew this bitter fruit and swallow it sooner or later.

It's better to choose short-term pain.

Taking the last portion of mithril from the refrigerator, Ai thought for a moment and decided to make it one more time...

Suddenly, a screen of light appeared before his eyes:

"Extraction is not a ritual; it lacks the 'cryptic symbols' and 'vague meanings' characteristic of ritual studies. So don't overcomplicate it. Alchemy at this stage only involves the process of 'transformation,' from solid to liquid, from liquid to gas... temperature and moisture, cold and heat—this is the change of 'nature and form.'"

-Changes in sexuality...

Ai repeated the keyword, her hands moving non-stop as she stuffed the mithril into the incinerator.

"—Solubility has already taught you to view everything as a solute in the process of a reaction, rather than a void endpoint."

-Solute.

The incinerator burst into flames before him, and in the intense heat that swept over him, the solid mithril gradually turned into black charcoal in a molten state, its color shimmering in his eyes as marked:

"Nature: Dry"

Dry...we need to add solute quickly.

"White Su"

The colorless liquid rose from his eyes, passed through the white beak in his pupils and transformed into pure white essence, dripping onto the blackened mithril.

Adding more water to the flour, and more flour to the water, really works.

Almost instantly, a pool of shimmering silver liquid enveloped the surface of the charcoal, gradually engulfing it and expanding its area until there was no more solid in the furnace.

- I feel so much more relaxed now.

Once the door is back open, the previously stalled progress seems to be able to be restarted.

"Do you know what a sculptor is? Similar to that, 'extraction' is a technique shared with stone carving and woodworking. It involves removing impurities and outer shells from the rough form of a material, extracting what already exists. It's a technique of shaping rather than creating... It's that simple."

Is it simple?

"I'll give it a try..."

Ai used the sluice below to filter the products of dissolution into the constant temperature chamber—before they solidified again, the art of extraction was applied to the liquid mithril, while simultaneously opening the Eye of Insight to guide the separation of the "mysterious substance" from the "mortal substance".

Extraction Science

This process is like carving from plaster with a sculptor's knife. As the black impurities peel away like flying plaster dust and settle into a thin layer of black water, the material Ai Yi needs finally reveals its outline in the center of the silver.

"See it? The shape of mithril. Follow its outline and remove it from the rough blank. Don't rush—I can't help you much with the technique. Now trust yourself. You've read Gray's notes; your theoretical knowledge is superb. Now just keep your mind steady and your hands steady..."

"very good……"

Encouraged almost relentlessly by the door, Ai finally used an invisible chisel to carve the last mark—

The moment the mortal substance and the secret essence were completely separated, the almost exhausted fox opened the separator below. As a pool of filthy sewage flowed out from the other end, the remaining silver was almost dazzling.

"Success...?"

He was so exhausted that he collapsed to the ground, his pupils shrinking to tiny dots—the process he had just gone through reminded him of a coronary artery bypass surgery in his past life, where he was practically manipulating a microscopic "blade" to remove "filth and impurities" from the material, and his eyes were so blurry that he couldn't see anything for a moment.

After a long while, he finally got up from the ground and shakily approached the lab table—where he saw a pool of semi-solidified silver that simultaneously exhibited a crystalline texture and a metallic luster.

A bright blue character was imprinted in my eyes:

"Silver of the Queen (Mysterious Item/Blue): Pure silver, free of impurities and brimming with mystical essence. This is the color of 'the Dome,' a noble and elegant color. It can be used as a consumable for advancement rituals/a medium for transmitting mystical essence/forging ceremonial artifacts..."

"Note: Well done! You've taken a step closer to the finish line of Rose Red. Remember the technique and understanding you just demonstrated!"

"Ding—Your Alchemy skill has improved. Although you are still in the beginner stage, you can already independently refine some basic products... If we evaluate you based on the total learning time of half a month, you are simply the future god of alchemy, the appointed philosopher king!"

"So straightforward?"

Ai was already a little proud of herself, but she didn't expect Xiaobai to praise her like that, and for a moment she felt a little unreal.

The door seemed a little hesitant: "This time, your own efforts were the main reason for the success, and you deserve to enjoy the fruits of your victory..."

I see……

Ai nodded—indeed, whether it was learning theory or conducting experiments, he had taken the initiative in studying alchemy himself and had not relied too much on Ash's power, which was why he received special encouragement.

The door always seemed like a worried parent, rushing to give positive feedback as soon as it discovered its child had done something good—this made Ai Yi want to laugh a little, but she was also secretly worried about the image she had in the door's mind.

But he quickly forgot about that and began to think about his next move: after obtaining the Silver of the Queen, the next materials for the Sacred Veil... seemed to require "going all out" to obtain.

It's time for my first deep-sea dive.

"Little White, is there any way I can enter the White Tower without using the dream-entering device?"

Ai still harbored ulterior motives—diving deep into the Foundation's dream chamber would most likely keep him under official surveillance, and he needed a way to both "log in offline" and "join an online server."

"Just go ahead and dive in—the White Tower is an area within the Grand Prize Pool. As long as you have foundation certification from the 'Think Tank,' you can enter through the internal channels. It's easy; I'll just change your whitelist and that's it."

This family will fall apart without you.

Ai Yi twitched her ears, dragged her tired body back to bed, and just as she closed her eyes, she was awakened by the dim yellow light shining in from the window, followed by the radiance that gradually faded from her perception.

Dusk was almost over.

Sitting up, Ai pulled back the curtain beside her and cast her gaze down from the high place—

This is the Lower City Foundation, "Hanging City Mana," which is also the closest point in the entire Lower City to the dome. The view from above is perhaps more cramped than from below.

The unchanging steel forest still stands, while darkness begins to rise from the bottom of the nest, or perhaps sinks downward from the dome where the glow has faded...

The flowing darkness gradually enveloped the world, and the raging waves could no longer touch the high place where Ai was. He suddenly felt a strong sense of unreality.

Just half a month ago, I was struggling to make ends meet, saving up a meager salary, clinging to a silly bird I had only known for three months, trying to fight against the nihilistic and humble fox with "hope".

It suddenly turned into what it is now...

Now, my execution ground is the entire outskirts, my post is at the top of the lower city, and my name is a taboo in the hive.

Looking down is like looking down, looking up is like climbing.

The starting point is being a corporate slave, the end point is becoming a celestial being.

It's incredible.

Ai looked down at the world plunging into absolute darkness, while he himself was still able to shine with the last remaining glimmer of light. He savored his feelings at that moment, and then couldn't help but want to laugh.

He flashed a fox-like smile—

This feeling isn't bad at all.

Ai rested his chin on his hand, his unfocused gaze piercing through the gaps between the skyscrapers, landing on the tiny streets and the even smaller things that he could ignore in his current state. In this huge sense of disparity, he suddenly remembered someone.

-Dudu, that girl would never guess what kind of important person the fox she used to wipe her nose with in her arms is now.

The more he thought about it, the more arrogant his expression became—until he couldn't control himself anymore, and the fox started laughing, laughing wildly, rolling around on the bed laughing:

"Door, I suddenly understand something."

Facing the large "?" on the light screen, Ai gradually calmed her out-of-control expression, then took a deep breath, her azure eyes flashing with an incomprehensible light.

"It's not what I used to think... The old Ai thought he was an easily satisfied guy. As long as there was a little spark to guide him, as long as there was a little fun to keep him from giving up his life out of boredom, he would be content and live a peaceful life like a silkworm... Then he would spin a cocoon, wrap himself up completely, until he died."

"But now I realize that this was wrong."

Ai pulled the blanket over herself, buried her head in the pillow, and a soft, murmured voice drifted out, faint yet clear: "I suddenly understand... Ai, this bastard isn't someone who's willing to just get by. He's slowly revealing his true nature."

- General, indiscriminate empathy is not due to pity with nowhere to go, but rather an arrogant understanding of everything as equals and an overbearing attempt to accommodate all possibilities.

"I'm starting to have higher hopes..."

"So... now?"

"I can't wait any longer." Ai assumed a standard sleeping posture, her hands folded over her chest. "Starting from my path of ascension—"

"Deep-sea diving technique"

As dusk faded, a dragging sensation came from the darkness, like slowly sinking in the deep sea. The feeling of suffocation and even drowning lingered by my side. The surging red liquid tore at my body and squeezed my soul, yet it was firmly blocked by the crimson vessel.

He sank into the pool and then opened his eyes in the darkness.

Perhaps because of the illegal border crossing, no think tank notices appeared before her eyes. Ai looked around, seemingly to the spot where she had logged off earlier—

Even at night, the White Pagoda is magnificent and beautiful. In the distance, the dark green lake reflects the ubiquitous fireflies, which may be the source of light for the White Pagoda at night.

His insightful perspective allowed him to see everything clearly in the darkness, and Ai walked towards the main body of the white tower in the distance.

I should find someone to mooch off.