My health recovery is incredibly fast.

Xia Zuo nodded. "Yes, Your Excellency."

"You also heard about the conditions for using the spirit shrine, right? To be honest, there are a total of 710 people in the Mage Temple who have learned soul vision."

"Most of these people are quite old, and it has become a problem for them to be able to cast spells steadily or enter a meditative state. Many others have also undergone physical modifications or had alchemical prosthetics installed to repair damaged parts."

Christo held up two white fingers and said:

“I retrieved the data and roughly checked it. There are only about two hundred people who fully meet the conditions for using the shrine, including you.”

"The inner sanctum will find qualified mages one by one, according to their credibility, and have them try to match the shrine of Devantana one by one."

Christo brushed a strand of her loose hair aside and continued:

"This work will proceed quickly. If none of the mages ahead of you in line have been able to find a suitable shrine, I estimate that it will be your turn in at most half a month."

“Uh… alright, Your Excellency. I’ll wait.” Xia Zuo asked, “If the connection is successful… will we have to go to the Shamanic Chiefdom to find other shrines?”

“That’s how it seems right now.” Christo tapped her chin slightly. “If you do successfully achieve the synergy, you’ll immediately be under the protection of the Temple, or you could say under surveillance. Of course, with me here, the Temple guards won’t treat you like a prisoner.”

Christo snapped her fingers. "Let's not talk about that now. We'll discuss the follow-up after you've successfully achieved the connection. I'll take you back, and then you can just wait for my instructions. If you don't hear from me in 15 days, then just forget about it."

"Very well, Your Excellency. Then I shall take my leave." Xia Zuo bowed slightly.

...

As it turns out, the world does not revolve around Shazo.

The mage who successfully connected with the spirit shrine was someone else, and Xia Zuo didn't know who it was.

All he knew was that more than half a month had passed since he installed the bionic human body on Neoxat, and no secret messages had come from Crestor's secret communication ring.

This means that a lucky individual beat Shazo to it and connected with the shrine of Devantana, gaining a wondrous spiritual journey. If they are lucky, they may even find other shrine holders and receive rewards from the temple and a hush money payment.

Xia Zuo was not saddened by his defeat; he lived a very fulfilling life.

The research and development competition for amphibious combat golems has officially begun!

Earlier today, all the master alchemists gathered in the outer teaching area.

Inside the incredibly spacious assembly hall, alchemists dressed in various colored alchemist robes gathered together to listen to the outer hall master's declaration and cheer to welcome this unprecedented research and development competition.

This research and development competition is different from previous bionic body research and development projects. Rewards will be distributed based on the final score, from highest to lowest. The top 15 teams in total score will all receive a reward, and the remaining teams will also receive a participation award.

There's another difference!

A large portion of the assessment score was based on practical experience.

There are two types of combat golems.

One type is the autonomous combat puppet, which can carry out predetermined combat actions against enemy targets according to pre-set combat logic and strategies.

Generally speaking, this type of combat puppet mainly consists of self-propelled turrets, patrol puppets, and suspended surveillance puppets.

The Temple does not currently encourage the development of autonomous combat puppets with humanoid appearances, as this could lead to accidental injury or other ethical issues.

Another type of combat golem requires the control of a magical alchemist and is called a non-autonomous combat golem. It can be crafted into a human form or designed to resemble the appearance of natural objects, such as rocks, crabs, or seagulls.

This research and development competition only allows the development of non-autonomous combat puppets.

Furthermore, since the focus of this research and development is on combat golems rather than combat weapons or facilities, heavy weapons such as alchemical cannons and elemental heavy machine guns, which require the entire combat unit (4 people) to operate, are not allowed.

Single-player weapons are not subject to this restriction.

In the actual combat phase, each group needs to control combat puppets to fight against monsters, alien demons, and combat puppets from other groups.

This stage will employ an elimination system, ultimately selecting the top 30 combat puppets with the most comprehensive adaptability and strongest overall combat capabilities, and awarding high scores to their development teams.

After attending the conference convened by the Alchemists, Hillenburg and his team returned to the ocean observation room for a group meeting.

Every member was eager to get started, having spent years and decades working tirelessly beneath the Mediterranean Sea, all for this research and development competition.

"Guys, our moment of glory is about to arrive."

Hillenburg pressed a button on the wall, and the transparent glass wall turned metallic, blocking all prying eyes.

"Everyone saw the scene in the Great Hall. Alchemists from all fields wanted to get involved and try their luck with the rewards."

“We don’t need to pay attention to groups that have never been exposed to marine ecology. Only groups that have the same resource and experience advantages as us are worth considering as competitors.”

Hillenburg looked at the female member with a ponytail to his side, "Daniel has compiled some intelligence for us, so, can you introduce some worthy opponents?"

Danielle was one of the earliest members of the group and one of only two artifact alchemists in the group. She had studied at the temple three times and learned all the branches of artifact alchemy. She was responsible for controlling the observation room and diving room, as well as creating and maintaining underwater golems.

She takes good care of her hair, but whenever she is working, she ties it up with a hair tie and styles it into a neat ponytail.

"Gentlemen, when the team leader and Xia Zuo were invited to participate in the bionic body research and development project, I began to study our opponents."

Danielle used her Wind Hands to distribute the documents to each team member.

"We must closely monitor the research and development status of these 22 research groups, of course, legally, and judge their strategies and progress through publicly available information."

Shazo and Mars sat at the end of the conference table.

He quickly glanced at the list on the document.

Sponsored by the Wild Hammer Kingdom and the Ore Alchemist Association, the Wild Hammer Alchemist Association dispatched a group of more than 30 members. The group leader was Lister, whom they had met once before, and who possessed a unique metal repair technique—the Silver-Eating Insect Repair Method.

The Crystal Remnant-funded Arcane Alchemist Association, led by Klar Arcane, has been authorized by the Crystal Remnant Autonomous Committee to use the Crystal Remnant's exclusive alchemy techniques and raw materials. Their current known research achievement is the [Crystal Array Control Technology].

The Herbal Alchemists' Guild's stronghold, Golden Bauhinia Ideal Country, sponsored a team of 50 people, led by Danting Hua'e. This group is highly skilled in developing grass-based elemental puppets, mainly made of magical herbs, by imitating terrestrial and underwater plants. Their most outstanding research achievement is the [Nectar Reconnaissance Technology].

The ancient sea fortress, the homeland of the Witchers, also dispatched a team.

The alchemy they used was different from the elemental alchemy of the alchemical school, but they were still invited to participate in this competition as a symbol of friendly exchange between the two schools.

The alchemy of the Witcher school is based on monster materials and mutations.

Mutation is a very random thing.

But witchers are very good at managing this uncertainty.

It is said that they have mastered the method of targeted mutation, and the strength of the participating teams should not be underestimated.

The Tower Scholars also formed a team to compete. As long as the proportion of enchanting materials in their entries is less than 50%, they will be eligible to compete with the products from other groups.

Don't underestimate the 50% figure; it's calculated based on both volume and weight.

The conditions are stringent.

However, if the scholars of the Tower are willing to spend a lot of money to refine the enchanting materials, there is a possibility that the absurd situation of installing a meta-powered gun on a wooden toilet and still being allowed to participate in the competition may occur.

Perhaps influenced by the Ner'xath incident, the Shamanic Society was eager to curry favor with the alchemy school and arranged a team to take this opportunity to demonstrate new uses for totems.

Like the Tower Scholars, the Shamanic Society's teams are allowed to participate as long as the proportion of spiritual materials does not exceed 50%.

In addition to these, the Colossus Alchemists Guild, as well as many family-funded alchemist guilds, also participated, which Danielle listed in detail.

If this document were to leak onto the black market, it would definitely cause a frenzy of buying.

Danielle put a lot of effort into it.

As everyone read the documents and listened to her presentation, they gradually felt the pressure increasing.

It turns out that there are so many rivals within and outside the alchemy school who can rival the ocean research group…

Hillenburg said after Danielle finished speaking:

"Everyone, we have a natural advantage over other groups."

"In experimental fields A through H, most of the common marine plants found in the Mediterranean are cultivated."

"Especially experimental field H, which has all kinds of plants that are extremely difficult for other groups to find, has them all."

"I will request the castle administrator to temporarily close the sea area surrounding the experimental field. We need to hurry up and build the underwater experimental site."

Hillenburg looked at the stern-faced Huberon and said, "This task is assigned to you, Huberon. You will take Mars and Laurie's elemental golems and build a new metal platform in the lightless zone. I will give you the blueprints later."

Huberon nodded.

"Allen, you and the other members will work together to craft the tools and small buildings needed for the experimental site. Remember to craft a few extra consumables as backups."

Mars' father, sitting to Hillenburg's right, nodded and said:

"No problem, leave it to us."

“Shazo.” Hillenburg looked at the other end of the conference table. “You and I will continue to improve the raw materials for the combat puppets. Let’s try to make a full squad of combat puppets.”

The default combat unit within the Alchemy School is a squad of 4 people, with a full squad of 16 people.

The roles of the squad members are: Guardian, Scout, Assault Rider, and Blesser.

A full team of 16 people has exactly 4 people for each role.

Hillenburg's team has 17 people, one more than a full squad.

Although Mars is as young as Shazo, he is a student of artifact alchemy and has more experience than Shazo in manipulating elemental puppets.

So... when it comes to the actual competition, Xia Zuo will sit by the control panel and use the observation and monitoring orbs to help his teammates.

This is not a bad thing.

Not being able to control elemental golems means there are no fixed preferences, and when designing and developing combat golems, one will not be driven by personal subjective desires.

This makes Shazo the only alchemist who can view each role fairly.

Xia Zuo nodded to the team leader across the table, which was several meters long. "Okay, team leader, I will do my best."

Hillenburg smiled with satisfaction and glanced at his team members. "Gentlemen, remember to give me the design details of the combat puppets you like. Xia Zuo and I will try our best to customize a set for you."

---Aside---

Thank you for the monthly tickets and recommendation tickets.

Chapter 70 Battle Puppet

Elemental golems and bionic bodies are very similar in many ways.

Inside the bionic body of the Nyxat is an alchemical digestive system that can break down "food" and convert it into the energy needed for the functioning of various organs.

The "food" here is not soft drinks, wine, fruit, white bread, or other similar foods, nor is it kerosene, combustible animal fat, or other secondary energy sources that can be burned to heat boilers and boil water.

Instead, it is the first type of energy alchemy product produced by the Energy Research Institute—a highly concentrated energy liquid. It contains pure elemental energy, which cannot be absorbed by the normal human body and can only be used in alchemy energy devices such as the alchemy digestive system.

Unable to use elemental energy, Nyxath ​​can only sustain life and keep his alchemical organs functioning normally by using concentrated energy fluids.