The Alchemist's Guide to Flesh and Blood Ascension

"What? You're saying someone has invented an advanced water purification device? Are you kidding me!" Moke, from the remnants of the alchemist's group, stared in disbelief.

"Wait, could it be Yunevo? The young man who wore the black alchemist's robe and appeared at the tripartite meeting?" He looked at the frogman elder Langligelang, who didn't know what to say, and asked tentatively.

"Yonev... the black robe, yes! You're right, it's him!" The latter suddenly realized, noticing the slightly nostalgic look in Mok's eyes. "You two know each other?"

"I don't know him, but I've heard of him," Moke sighed deeply, regretting that the famous figure who was so well-known in the association was born too late.

Otherwise... the Alchemist Association could have undergone a complete overhaul and regained its former glory.

In those old stories, repeatedly told by the "roots" and gradually becoming blurred, Hart City did indeed have a forgotten alias...

City of Miracles.

The alchemical "pearl" of the entire continent of Mankade is also a holy site for pilgrims who yearn to touch the "truth". Its towers reach into the clouds, and even the mage's "spire office building" pales in comparison.

Interspersed among them are transparent pipes flowing with various materialized magical sources, adding color and vitality to the city.

The air in the city carried the fragrance of specially made alchemical potions, and the streets were filled with the hum of instruments and the high-fives of business deals being closed...

At this moment, Hart City has seemingly taken the highest principle of "equivalent exchange" to its extreme—the absolute openness of truth in exchange for a thriving future for the city.

But this good fortune didn't last long, just as Eunevo had once said to the headmaster of the Tus Academy, that little old man...

Some alchemists began to pursue "immortality," seeking the immense power brought by the Philosopher's Stone that disregarded the "principle of exchange."

The balance of power in the trade thus quietly shifted. Initially, it was just a matter of reasonable price competition; whoever offered the highest price, the alchemists would cooperate with.

However, as those "principles" were altered, some high-ranking alchemists began to see "truth" as the only path to wealth and glory, thus blocking this avenue. And even worse...

They place their own rules above the city's laws and above "equivalent exchange."

Only the "official alchemy" they recognize is the only way to see the truth, and the only "alchemy" qualified to exist in Hart City.

As for those dissenters, even those self-taught enthusiasts who opened small workshops in the city, they were all shut down. Those alchemists who refused to go along with the corrupt practices were either labeled and kicked out of Hart City, or buried in Hart City.

Just like the church today, the alchemist guilds of ancient times were extremely arrogant and rigid, using "truth" as a tool to consolidate their divine authority.

They used those "entry application forms" that were thicker than the walls of Hart City to block out newcomers, locking themselves atop the tower, looking down from above.

These idiots... little do they know that while they are imprisoning the city, they are also imprisoning themselves.

The outside world was changing incredibly fast. Several carriages carrying many people in white robes submitted their heavy applications and drove into Hart, which was about to be trapped in its own web, bathed in golden light.

The church saw the decay of the city, and what had ravaged this miraculous city to such an extent...

When they officially entered the city, there was absolutely no sense of shared hatred or hostility from the alchemists towards other factions.

The city had been fragmented at some point, and the high-ranking members of the Alchemist Guild were holed up in the tower, trying to negotiate with the Church using money and contracts.

And what about those alchemists who barely survive at the bottom of society?

They stood by and watched, and some even led the way for the church to settle scores with those who had expelled them.

At least at that time the church could be considered righteous. They listed the crimes and, in the name of "heresy," sent those high-ranking alchemists to the guillotine at noon.

The tower was overthrown, and the church quickly abolished the Alchemists' Guild. To be precise, the Alchemists' Guild became defunct in name only, possessing only a tiny amount of real power.

It must be said that the arrival of the church did bring light back to the city for a period of time.

Only after those alchemists completely lowered their guard... did the Church launch that brutal and thorough "Great Purge".

The Cathedral of Holy Light was recklessly built on the ruins of the tower. Some of the alchemists either died or fled—a few, relying on their familiarity with the underground pipes, escaped into the dark drainage system.

That was the first cleaning...

The second purge was a renewed recruitment of alchemists, which coincided with the early stages of the "materialization of gods" plan and the need for manpower.

Those alchemists who made a living hiding in the shadows were found one by one and recruited one by one...

Acceptance means life, rejection means death—dying in ambush or a violent death.

Yunevo was born between the first and second cleansings. He discovered that alchemy in this world possessed extraordinary power, and he still resolutely became an alchemist.

To be precise, he hadn't even received a formal offer from the church. Instead, a few "colleagues," or rather "buyers," had asked him about it indirectly, which is why he didn't take it seriously.

But the black-robed alchemist's emerging talent was enough for the church to regard him as an uncontrollable "sharp blade".

Perhaps it was because of Yunevo's terrifying alchemical talent, or perhaps because Yunevo had publicly torn off their hypocritical facades.

Having figured out his movements, a member of the church contacted him posing as a long-time buyer, taking advantage of his moment of carelessness...

They were caught in a "honey trap" personally ordered by Uriel.

Fate played a cruel trick. Uriel's confidants relayed the message down the chain of command, and due to the negligence of two apprentice paladins, another group of men staking out his house received news of the successful autopsy and then withdrew...

This is why the alchemist, who could stir up a storm, ran away so carelessly.

Perhaps they were unaware that Yunevo had run back to the underground of Hart City, into the "Root," and encountered the remnants of the alchemists who had miraculously survived the purge.

"What did that kid say again? The price is the source of magic... and our hatred for the church?" Moke looked at Langligelang and muttered to himself, "He's pretty accurate."

There are many other alchemists like him, patching things up, carrying betrayed ideals, extinguished thirst for knowledge, and eyes filled with deep-seated hatred and resentment...

It takes root and then hopes that one day it can sprout again.