Chapter 1 Teacher

"Teacher."

Suren respectfully gave the great Alchemist of a thousand years ago a teacher's salute.

"Mm."

Cereia nodded, revealing a gentle smile.

She looked at Suren, her eyes full of gratification. "Although the timing was off, we finally met. Unfortunately, I don't have much time to teach you, so... as your teacher, I'll give you a little gift."

Saying that, Cereia took out the glass bottle containing the [Fallen Angel Heart], made a hand seal with one hand, and softly chanted, "Seal・Release!"

Looking again, the runes on the glass bottle lit up.

In that instant, Suren felt that the thing in the ancient bottle was not a beating heart, but a prehistoric beast.

The aura that leaked out gave him a mountain-like pressure.

Overbearing, sacred, and eerily evil, like a raging flood of dark spiritual power...

It gave people a sense of insignificance that made them want to worship unconsciously.

That was the feeling of a low-level creature looking up at a high-level life form, a sense of oppression originating from the level of life.

That kind of aura was like looking up at the starry sky, infinitely deep, yet too high to reach.

"This is the aura of a god..."

Suren's heart was filled with stormy waves of surprise.

In the past, "god" was just a simple word in his mind.

An indescribable, unnameable adjective, but ultimately too weak.

It couldn't compare to this real feeling.

For the first time, Suren felt the existence of a god.

Cereia's eyes were like mist as she looked at the heart in the glass jar and said, "This is part of the law of a divine creature. I don't want you to understand it, but to let you know how big the world is. Only by standing at a high place can you see further. A truly great Alchemist needs to be knowledgeable and have a broader vision."

Suren nodded seriously, his eyes shining with different colors.

In that instant, he deeply understood the meaning of those words.

A frog in a well will never know how big the world is.

But now, he saw a glimpse of the vast world outside the well.

Speaking of which, Cereia continued, "Isaac once said that we are in the worst of times, but also the best of times, because we stand on the shoulders of giants. Although the current alchemy civilization is not as prosperous as it was during the Dawn Era, the knowledge has been preserved. The sages of history have left us too much precious knowledge, that is a true 'treasure'. But those precious knowledge is buried in the dust of history, we must excavate, innovate, and continue to explore..."

This method of teaching was simple and direct, but the shock it gave Suren's heart was unparalleled.

But his eyes were also extremely firm.

The more wonderful this world was, the more he looked forward to it.

Suren calmed the turbulence in his heart and respectfully saluted, "Thank you for your guidance, Teacher."

"You're very good."

Cereia looked at Suren's performance under the pressure of the divine aura and nodded with satisfaction. "If I had time, I would definitely let you build a good foundation and slowly come into contact with the truth of this world. The world in the eyes of an Alchemist is far more wonderful than that of ordinary people..."

She changed the subject and said, "But obviously, I don't. So, the gift for my disciple should naturally be the best."

Hearing this, Suren's heart also filled with anticipation.

At this time, Cereia took out the golden card from before and gently flicked it with her hand.

The card shattered, and an ancient hexagonal copper lamp appeared before his eyes.

Suren naturally recognized it as the [Vulcan's Forge Lamp]!

"Having this alchemy object makes things a lot easier..."

Cereia muttered to herself with a smile.

At this time, she placed the glass bottle on the ground with both hands, and her hands rapidly made a set of exceptionally complex warlock seals.

Not only her hands, but the eight-armed spider spears behind her seemed to be affecting some kind of law. Centered on her, fire elemental starlight, like fireflies, slowly condensed in the air, one by one, gathering more and more, and finally forming a circle of fire storm...

Looking again, a fiery red nine-pointed star alchemy array suddenly appeared on the floor of the room.

Suren looked at the mysterious patterns on the array, his eyes trembling.

The rank of this spell was so high that it was completely beyond his comprehension.

Cereia made the last warlock seal and softly chanted, "Alchemy・Forge World!"

As soon as the words fell, the nine-pointed star array on the floor suddenly seemed to melt through the floor, and a heat wave swept through the entire room.

Looking again, Suren saw a world of lava and fire, as if connecting to a forge world through this small array opening.

And the hexagonal copper lamp fell into it, the lid opened, like releasing a fire demon imprisoned in the lamp, a violent fire elemental force slammed up.

The terrifying elemental pressure, even through the array, gave Suren a scalp-numbing feeling, as if being burned to ashes by even the slightest touch.

However, before he had time to experience the feeling in detail, the nine-pointed star suddenly disappeared.

The hexagonal copper lamp and the heart were locked in that forge world.

........

After putting the [Fallen Angel Heart] and the copper lamp into the alchemy array, Cereia also breathed a sigh of relief.

Like a housewife putting a turkey in the oven, she suddenly became idle and had nothing to do.

She looked at Suren and asked, "By the way, did you bring the notes?"

Suren knew what notes she was talking about, so he took out the [Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript 3] from his space.

Cereia took the notes, like a housewife holding a recipe, flipped through them casually, and muttered to herself, "Hmm... as expected, there is still a little deviation. Isaac made the final version of the design manuscript more complete..."

Saying that, she controlled the spider spear, took out some more materials from the cabinet, like adding seasoning to the dishes in the pot, and casually opened a gap in the ground again, throwing the materials into it.

At this time, she clapped her hands, looking as if she had accomplished a great task.

"That's good now. It will take some time to refine the [Isaac's Alchemy Heart], we have to wait..."

She looked at Suren, and suddenly thought of something again, and said, "Do you want to know how this heart came to be?"

Suren naturally guessed something, "Teacher, did you hunt down a god from the Abyss?"

Cereia was very kind, without the too rigid and serious image of a teacher, and was very easy to communicate with.

"Not me. I'm not strong enough to fight a god. Isaac did it."

Her tone was relaxed as she continued, "Once, a god of the Abyss discovered the crack in this space channel, forcibly broke the seal, and brought the abyssal creatures into our plane. Seeing that this was a low-level plane of law, but the resources were very rich, He wanted to enslave this world. Later, before he could do anything, Isaac defeated Him."

The tone was understated, giving a dramatic feeling.

A god, in a plane without gods, was defeated just like that?

But Suren was also very curious, Isaac was known as a "demigod", he should not have reached the divine rank, but he actually killed a god.

How did he do it?

Before he could be curious, Cereia seemed to have guessed his doubts, and directly said, "Moreover, although Alchemists are physically weak, they also have some other strengths, that is, we can use external objects and use alchemy to exert abilities far beyond our own rank. Moreover, the [Fate Controller] is a very strong talent, Isaac has developed it to a very powerful level... his combat power is not inferior to ordinary gods."

Suren knew that he could not understand the power at that level even if he said it himself, so he asked what he was more curious about, "Teacher, was that god killed? Then why is this heart still beating, is it also some special ability of the divine rank?"

"No, He is not dead."

Cereia shook her head and said, "As long as the divine fire of a divine-rank powerhouse is not extinguished, they cannot be killed. Isaac originally wanted to kill Him, but because of some special reasons... of course, the most important thing is that he wanted to use this rare divine-rank material to do some experiments. For example, this [Isaac's Alchemy Heart]."

Suren guessed something and said directly, "Teacher... are you going to give me this thing as a gift? But, this is Mr. Jing's material. And..."

His face became a little embarrassed.

After all, the heart was stolen from the laboratory by No. 19, the hexagonal copper lamp was found by Mr. Jing and the others with great effort, and there were these other things...

Although Suren was also very envious of the things refined from this divine-rank material, he also felt that it was inappropriate.

"Mr. Jing?"

When Cereia heard this name, she obviously guessed something, and a gentle smile appeared on her face as she murmured to herself, "She actually gave herself such a name."

After a pause, she said firmly, "No. If I give you the things, she won't mind."

"..."

Hearing this, Suren immediately confirmed his previous guess.

Mr. Jing was the "old monster" of Dawn City who had lived for more than a thousand years.

Moreover, judging from Cereia's tone, they must have known each other.

Since she was his teacher, Suren didn't need to be so polite and asked directly, "Teacher, do you know Mr. Jing?"

"Didn't she tell you?"

Cereia didn't admit it, nor did she deny it, and a trace of a light smile flashed in her eyes, not knowing what she was thinking of.

After pondering for a moment, she didn't intend to explain to Suren, but just said, "Alchemy is already very boring, let's leave a little fun in life. You should be very surprised when you see her in the future."

"..."

Suren shrugged his shoulders as he listened.

He didn't ask any further.

Just as she said, the secret of Mr. Jing's identity was a little fun in life.

Seeing the notes, he thought of something and said, "By the way, Teacher. I heard from Mr. Jing that there is a big secret about alchemy hidden in the notes?"

Now that the wife of the person who recorded the manuscript was here, instead of guessing randomly, he just asked directly.

"Yes."

Cereia nodded and said a period of secrets about ancient history for Suren.

"Isaac studied a set of 'epic' alchemy plant equipment from the literature and classics left over from the Dawn Era. He wanted to allow Alchemists to have some of the real abilities of the divine rank before reaching the divine rank. Therefore, some divine-rank materials are needed."

After a pause, she added, "However, in my current impression, it seems that he has only written the first draft."

Suren listened quietly, obviously there was still more to come.

"Of course, the alchemy manuscript is just the content in the notes. Its secrets are more than that. I heard Isaac once say that he wanted to record and hide the secret he discovered in the notes."

A sly look flashed across Cereia's face, and she continued, "A secret that we once discovered, pointing to the ultimate alchemy. As long as you find five notebooks, you can see the secret we left behind."

Like a fun treasure hunt game.

They hid the secret in the notes.

Waiting for future generations to gather them together and then find that secret.

Suren was very interested: "Ultimate secret?"

Cereia said, "The reason why the Akavir civilization of the Dawn Era was so brilliant was said to be because of the five divine-rank elders of the 'Rose Cross Society' who created the civilization in the first place, that is, the five statues you saw in the basement of Stormwind Manor... they had seen the origin of the alchemy lineage left over from the mythological period - [Emerald Tablet], and were inspired by it. Therefore, they created such a powerful alchemy civilization."

Suren heard a new term again: "Emerald Tablet?"

"Mm. In ancient books, it is also called the Emerald Tablet, Emerald Green... it is said to be the origin of alchemy, an item that records the ultimate secret of alchemy."

Cereia nodded, saying this, her brows frowned, asking and answering herself, "It's strange, why can't I remember what the specific secret is, I only remember it is related to the [Emerald Tablet]..."

Like a short memory loss from drinking, obviously missing some relevant memories.

After a moment's pause, she figured out something, and a look of relief appeared between her eyebrows: "As you said, I am just a lingering thought. Therefore, my memory must also be missing a part. I can't completely explain some things to you..."

"Oh."

Suren didn't have much emotion in his heart as he listened. It was still too early for him to come into contact with the secrets at that level.

What ultimate secret of alchemy,

And the other four notes that he didn't know where they were,

These things were somewhat unrealistic for him.

He was still in the "mine".

It was estimated that at least after the fifth or sixth rank, when he was truly considered a master on the ground... perhaps he would have the qualifications to come into contact with them.

........

While chatting, Suren suddenly thought of the previous request.

"By the way, Teacher. I have something I think it is necessary to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I saw a little girl of the ghost race in Stormwind Manor before, she said her name was 'Pestoya'."

Judging from the previous situation, Suren was not sure that she was definitely this person's daughter, so he used very cautious wording.

When Cereia heard this, guilt and love immediately appeared in her eyes.

She asked with undisguised anticipation, "You've seen her... is she alright?"

"Mm. I've seen her twice."

Suren nodded: "I don't know whether her current state is good or bad. She has now turned into a strange 'ghost' state."

After a pause, he then said, "Pestoya entrusted me to ask you a question."

Before Suren could say the words, Cereia had already said them, "To ask me why I burned her to death?"

Her expression was calm, but she seemed to have remembered something, and her eyes were already full of tears.