The Alchemist's Guide to Flesh and Blood Ascension

"Of course, please, Professor. My laboratory is on the second floor... In the pursuit of truth, we are kindred spirits."

"You may call me a fellow traveler, a like-minded person..." Yunevo said softly, as he got up from the counter and looked at the girl who was dozing on the recliner.

"Iseria... get ready to close the shop for lunch break. I'll be upstairs. If you encounter anything you can't handle... be sure to come find me."

"No problem~ but the creamy jelly needs to be doubled!" The girl shook her head, patted her chest, and her face was full of pride as if she were saying "I've got this covered."

He then went up the stairs, followed closely by Professor Marcus, whose thirst for knowledge had already reached its peak.

The renovated second floor is more like a workspace exclusively for the "mad" scientist.

The walls were covered with various diagrams of the decomposition structure of medicinal herbs drawn by Eunice Vu, and even some alchemical symbol charts that were just for show—after all, he had long since memorized them.

On the long table was a complete "assembly line" made up of neatly arranged experimental equipment, and the air was filled with the smell of herbs and indescribable compound medicines.

"Please feel free, but don't touch that little white stool," Yunevo casually pointed to the high stool in the corner and slowly walked towards the lab table.

Marcus quickly waved his hand, and the elderly professor, who was over seventy years old, seemed like a novice magician, his finger hovering in front of the instrument, wanting to touch it but not daring to.

"Did you design all of these yourself?"

"I made it myself," Eunice nodded, deliberately blurring the distinction between "design" and "production."

He first took out a portion of the salt water mixture and placed it in a simple condensation reflux device, then activated the magic firestone under the iron stand.

"As you can see, this 'water' is not pure, because it is mixed with salt."

"In the usual practice... alchemists would use a disintegration array to separate the salt from the water, which is obviously time-consuming and laborious."

Marcus instinctively held his breath.

The steam rising along the glass tube condenses into liquid at the other end of the condenser and slowly drips into the collection bottle...

"But this is just physical separation... Anyone who has studied basic pharmacy can do it," the old professor murmured, repeatedly observing the entire instrument.

"Yes, it's just distillation, so we should move on to the next step," Yonivo said with a composed smile.

He then took out a colorless liquid and a small handful of dried ice-breath grass from the cabinet, and crushed the latter in a mortar.

"Made from ether, distilled spirits, and sulfuric acid," Yonivo explained simply before mixing it with crushed icewort.

"What we need is the 'coldness' in the Ice Breath Grass, let's call it 'Ice Breath Essence'... It just so happens to dissolve in ether."

"'Ice Breath Essence'... but wouldn't other components also dissolve into this solution?" the old professor asked.

Yonivore didn't speak, but simply filtered the pale blue liquid he obtained... Little did he know that the next step would leave Marcus speechless!

The former poured the liquid down a glass rod into a peculiar separatory funnel, then added another liquid and let it stand evenly—the liquid actually separated into layers!

"Like dissolves like and extraction... can yield the purest components to the greatest extent possible; the rest... is not convenient to disclose."

After all, Juniper's decomposition array involves the fundamental structure of the microscopic world...

Marcus, who witnessed the whole thing, opened his mouth, but was speechless.

Except when the magic source firestone was ignited, the entire process did not involve the use of any magic power at all!

The only sounds were the crisp, subtle clinking of the vessels, the flowing of liquid, and the crackling of the flames.

"This... can this even be considered alchemy...?"

Twenty years of pharmacological knowledge, records from hundreds of ancient books... countless experiments collided in Marcus's mind, with a part of him whispering, "This is the truth."

"It originates from alchemy, and is derived from alchemy... It can be learned and understood by everyone."

……

A slight magical fluctuation downstairs interrupted Marcus's meditation. As a sixth-order mage, he slowly raised his head—the magical fluctuation was pure and peculiar, unlike anything he had ever seen before.

Yonivore seemed to have noticed it too. He walked out of the laboratory and looked down at the counter... He understood.

Iseria was sitting on a white bar stool at the counter, swinging her legs, with a thick, open book, "The Theory of Basic Elements," in front of her.

Her attention had long since shifted from the book to a cluster of sparks dancing in her palm, her eyes filled with joy.

Hehe... Maybe we can let Eunice buy her the biggest cream puff as a reward!

Marcus tiptoed downstairs, and his pupils constricted again upon seeing this scene!

The sparks flowed further in Iselia's hands... transforming into, in her mind's eye, the magnificent fireworks display of the old dormitory in Tyrcol!

This is definitely not any spell known at this stage!

There was no flow of magic... it was more like an almost instinctive and precise control over the fire element itself!

As one of the compilers of the standard spellbook for Starmok, Marcus is now secretly grateful for having a strong heart.

He knew better than anyone what this meant...

The textbook's introduction already points out that elements are attached to the source of magic, and it is almost impossible to manipulate elements without the source of magic!

Yunevo coughed lightly, startling Iseria, and even the flame in her hand went out.

"Ah, Yonivore!" She flashed a bright smile, ran towards the young man in black robes, grabbed his sleeve, and led him back to the counter.

"You...can see the elements?" Marcus's voice trembled slightly.

Iseria looked at Yunevo, who nodded slightly—seeing this, Iseria smiled and gestured to her name.

"They're like tiny specks of light... multicolored! And each one has its own unique personality!"

"Then, how did you manage to make the Fire Demon Source... set off a firework just now?"

"What a strange question... I just want them to do that," Iseria said, looking somewhat confused, and instinctively grabbed Yunevo's wrist.

"Ionevoy said that one must understand the rules before applying them... What does it mean that everything must have a method before it can be accomplished?"

Her description was somewhat understated, as if she were casually helping Eunicev tidy up the room.

Marcus's expression was complicated, and then he looked at Yonivore.

"Mr. Eunice, may I ask her a few questions?"

"Go ahead, but don't frighten her too much," Yonivo nodded calmly.

The old professor took a deep breath, turned to Iseria, and softened his tone—the tone he used when speaking to his most gifted students.

"The first question is, in the traditional fireball spell... what is the purpose of 'Gathering'?"