Chapter 1 Surrounding the Mountain Dwarves

Suren wanted to recruit this group of mountain dwarves.

High-level golems required increasingly advanced skills. The War Workshop could meet mass production needs, but it was not quite sufficient in the high-level domain.

Moreover, it wasn't just him who needed these artisans, all of whom were "advanced blacksmiths"; Dawn also needed them.

Now that the planar invasion was a foregone conclusion, the Alchemical Plane had reached its most critical moment. It had to accumulate strength to face the increasingly fierce war.

Suren had extracted a lot of information from the memories of those people from the Celestial Plane. He was now very certain that planar invasions almost always had only one outcome: enslavement by gods from another plane.

All the natives would become believers of the gods of the Celestial Plane in order to survive.

If they couldn't be converted into believers, they would face certain death.

In other planes, this might just mean toppling the old statues of gods and replacing them with new ones.

But for the Alchemical Plane, it would be almost devastating.

Because alchemists had no belief in gods.

The source of their power was themselves and alchemical knowledge.

Whether it was the advancement system or the zhi zhuang (colonization) system, both relied on one's own understanding of the laws of the universe and the exploration of knowledge to obtain extraordinary power.

But in planes of faith, the gods spread the idea to their believers that the only source of extraordinary power was the gods.

If one wanted to obtain extraordinary power, one could only devoutly believe in a certain deity.

This was also why magic was so prosperous in the Celestial Plane, but even the most basic machines were absent.

Because the believers firmly believed that everything was bestowed by the gods, even the seasons, harvest, war, healing, companions... everything.

The Outer Gods did not allow "alchemy" to exist.

Because it would shake their supreme authority.

When humans could use alchemy to change their lives, their need for gods would decrease, and their faith would become increasingly weak.

Therefore, in almost any plane of faith, this method of obtaining power by bypassing the gods was regarded as a "taboo".

Similarly, once alchemists believed in a god, the entire alchemy system would collapse.

All alchemical knowledge, zhi zhuang, advancement, bloodline potions... would be abolished.

Suren himself did not want to become a slave or source of faith for any god.

Nor did he ever consider giving up alchemy, a cultivation system with infinite potential.

Therefore, a fight to the death was inevitable.

Thinking about it from this perspective, he understood more and more the sentiment of Sir Isaac when he wrote that famous line in his notes: "Gods, to some extent, are just more advanced alchemical materials."

...

"So, that's the situation. As you can see, the Celestial Plane has already launched a full-scale invasion. There are great secrets hidden beneath Celestial Mountain, and there will definitely be invaders coming in the future..."

Suren told them everything he knew without any reservations.

The dwarves all looked solemn as they listened.

Although the mountain dwarf tribe was isolated from the world and poorly informed, they could distinguish between good and evil in human nature.

After this battle, they also knew that what Suren was saying was true.

Although the mountain dwarves were all immensely strong, they were not good at fighting.

They were just the best mining masters and forging artisans.

Just like before, a legion of ten thousand mages could easily wipe out the entire tribe.

Now that even the curse space was gone, they no longer had the means to perish together with their enemies.

After he finished speaking, the hall was silent for a long time.

The current dwarven king, Barrel Beo, pondered for a moment before saying, "Thank you, Your Excellency, for returning the ancestral artifact of our mountain dwarf tribe. But I'm afraid that what you said is of great importance, and I need to discuss it with the elders of the tribe before making a decision."

Suren was not surprised to hear this and said, "Of course. I will wait here for one day. If your tribe decides to restart the alliance, then we will be allies who advance and retreat together from now on."

Having witnessed the exquisite forging skills of the previous dwarven king's remnant consciousness, he did not want to easily give up this rare opportunity to recruit them.

Hand forging might not seem efficient, but the quality was excellent. Moreover, manual forging was almost irreplaceable in certain aspects, such as advanced enchantment, plating, inscriptions, and so on. Modern mechanical technology was still far from reaching that level.

It was perfect for meeting the needs of high-level golems and the magic armor of the Dawn regiment.

Seeing that the dwarves needed to discuss, Suren did not plan to stay here.

Dwarven King Barrel Beo nodded and replied, "In any case, we will give Your Excellency the result of our discussion in one day."

Suren said nothing more and turned to leave the hall with No. 19 to go to the depths of the mines.

...

Now that the curse space covering the dungeon was gone, there was no danger, and they could go anywhere.

Suren and No. 19 went all the way down.

This was the place where they had encountered the grudge of the dwarven king in the curse space.

Suren was still very curious about what secrets were hidden underground.

After walking for a while, they saw the spiral staircase of endless darkness again.

"It really exists?"

Suren was also very curious that such a magical "endless staircase" actually existed in real space.

He had refined the Uroboros Time-Space Ring, and his spatial perception was extremely strong. Even so, his perception of the staircase was as if it was endless.

There were obviously more advanced spatial laws here.

After observing for a moment and seeing no danger, Suren pulled No. 19, his lucky charm, and carefully walked down.

They walked for half an hour without seeing the end.

The staircase seemed to lead to the deepest depths of the earth.

His spatial perception had become chaotic, and Suren even felt like they were no longer in the Alchemical Plane.

But there was no danger, so they simply continued walking down.

As they walked, No. 19 suddenly noticed something on a section of the staircase and exclaimed softly, "Suren, look!"

Suren looked over and saw a sentence carved on the stone steps: "You need to chant a spell to glimpse the truth."

"A spell?"

Suren's mind flashed, and he instantly thought of something.

Alchemists did not have any fancy spells. The only one was a common one.

Thinking about it, he chanted, "Follow the law of equivalent exchange, praise the glory of the original creator, and witness the miracle of creation with alchemy."

Then, the moment these words fell, the endless staircase in his spatial perception seemed to have an end.

"Huh..."

Suren instantly noticed the difference. After thinking for a moment, he understood.

This was definitely not a simple voice-activated restriction.

Spells contained a direction of faith. Without sincerity, there would be no response.

The spell was directed at the "original creator" worshiped by alchemists.

In other words, if one was not an alchemist, even if one chanted the spell, the restriction would not be triggered.

Seeing this, Suren knew that the secret below was left by a great alchemist for future generations.

No. 19, who was beside him, looked at Suren's hesitation and asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

Suren explained his guess and smiled slightly, "The predecessor who created this space seems to have left something behind. This restriction will be very unfriendly to believers in gods..."

"Oh."

No. 19 always felt that being with Suren made her look like her brain wasn't very useful.

She was born to fight, so she should leave the thinking to her partners.

She shrugged and felt at ease being her lucky charm.

After the spell was chanted, the two continued down and quickly reached the bottom this time.

In front of them was a hundred-meter-tall black iron door.

The door was carved with some very special symbols.

No. 19 had already closed her eyes, and Suren only had his left eye open.

He had seen similar doors in the Sea Ruins before. The underwater tomb that buried a sea god also had such a large golden door.

Suren couldn't understand it before, but after harvesting the knowledge of the gravedigger profession, he knew that this was a top-level burial ground for gods.

The door represented the rank of the gods and sealed the overflowing chaotic power of the laws.

The carvings on the surrounding giant black iron pillars were very characteristic of the dwarves, probably built by the ancestors of the mountain dwarf tribe.

Seeing this black iron door, Suren guessed, "Could it really be the burial place of a god? Perhaps it's Andreas Libavius, the Time Traveler?"

Who it was didn't matter.

What mattered was that the specifications of this tomb were very high.

However, just as he was staring at the black iron giant door, suddenly, time in his vision seemed to be distorted, forming a figure.

Because he understood the laws of time, he could see it.

"Time is distorted?"

Suren, who now understood certain time laws, immediately knew what the scene was.

There were no soul fluctuations, it was not a normal living being.

It was like a blurry light, and even if he couldn't see it clearly, he could see that it was an old man wearing a white elder's robe.

The old man was by the black iron door, using his fingers to carve a line of words: "The ouroboros pattern points to the ultimate secret of alchemy. With the path of time, one can glimpse the appearance of truth."

Seeing this line of words, Suren's brows furrowed immediately.

He vaguely seemed to understand something, but he also seemed to not understand it at all.

After this line of words, he drew an ouroboros pattern.

Suren took one look and realized that this was the pattern of the Uroboros Time-Space Ring in his hand!

He immediately guessed the identity of the person in the light and shadow.

The old man, whose light and shadow were distorted, muttered to himself as he carved.

"When I was young, I mastered the mysteries of the power of time and space. At that time, I thought about how interesting it would be if I could carve an epitaph on my tombstone."

"Every living being is a prisoner of time. Life is like a timeline divided into small grids, one grid at a time. Because of limited life, no one can glimpse the full picture of time. This is the mystery of time."

"Because of time, in a way, everything has meaning."

"..."

Suren was greatly shocked as he listened.

The simple words gave people a sense of enlightenment, as if they had revealed the truth of time.

He had thought that this light and shadow was just a remnant image.

However, even more miraculously, after the old man muttered to himself, he actually turned around and saw him, saying, "Hello, 'Time Favored One' on the future timeline."

Silence was obviously not a good response, so Suren directly asked, "Senior, can you see me?"

The old man smiled and said, "Didn't you think that I would only see you if you asked this question? I'm just responding to someone who will appear on this timeline, someone who can see me."

"..."

Suren listened thoughtfully.

He asked again, "Senior, are you Master Andreas?"

The figure smiled, seeming to acquiesce, but answered with another question, "Are you wondering why I'm not dead?"

Suren was even more confused.

This was not a curse space, there were no regrets, so what form did "He" exist in?

The old man explained, "My story line ended long ago when your story line began... But am I really dead? It's like when you read a novel, a character dies in his story line, then when you reopen the book, the character is still alive. He is destined to die, but on his timeline, he is still alive, it has never changed. Don't you think this is the same as a human's life? From birth, one is destined to die."

"The mystery of time lies in whether you are the one who has the ability to reopen the novel and read it from the beginning. If you can't, you are just one of the many living beings in the storybook."

"You can see the shadow of time I left behind, so congratulations... You have the qualification to glimpse the appearance of truth."

"I travel through time, appearing on this timeline, just as a thought that I want to babble about."

"..."

The moment he heard these words, Suren stood there dumbfounded as if struck by lightning.

Only those who really understood some of the laws of time could truly understand the essence of these words, which pointed directly to the laws of time!

It was like a guiding light, allowing people to see the direction from the eternal night.

After saying these words, the old man's light and shadow suddenly disappeared.

All that was left in front of him was the black iron giant door, and the sentence carved on it.

"Time is an ouroboros... Time travelers, they can travel in the river of time..."

Suren muttered to himself, as if he had realized something.

Then the question came.

Was the one he just saw dead or not?

With the factor of time, he suddenly felt that death was not so simple to define.

...

Perhaps because Suren was "muttering" to himself, No. 19, who was beside him, said very vigilantly, "Suren, are you okay?"

Suren asked in confusion, "Didn't you hear someone talking just now?"

No. 19's face became even more vigilant as she repeated, "No. Just now you said 'Senior, can you see me?' and 'Senior, are you Master Andreas?'."

Suren smiled and immediately realized, "Let's go, let's go back. I'll explain it to you slowly."

No. 19 frowned and continued, "Are you really okay?"

Suren knew that the time illusion was only seen and heard by him, and said, "I'm really okay."

Saying that, he put his arm around No. 19's mechanical waist and teleported to the surface in an instant.

The surrounding strange and indescribable feelings disappeared, and No. 19 dared to open her eyes. She looked at the surrounding forest and confirmed that she had really come out.

The two strolled through the jungle, and Suren smiled as he explained what he had encountered to her.

No. 19 was also surprised.

But she did not understand the mystery of time and did not know what Suren had realized.

She thought for a while and asked, "So... there really is a god's tomb underground? You came out without looking at it more?"

"Yes."

Suren smiled and said, "I have already obtained what I should have obtained, so there is no need to stay any longer. As for the other treasures, I can't take them away even if I go now."

No. 19 raised her eyebrows as she listened and said nothing more.

The weather was very good today, and the rays of sunlight shone into the forest like a golden ribbon.

Suren had to wait for the results of the dwarf tribe's discussion, so he had to wait another day.

Suddenly, there was no sense of urgency, and the two walked somewhat bored.

As they walked, Suren suddenly thought of something and said, "By the way, let's try out my new ability!"

No. 19 glanced at him and gave him an inquiring look, "?"

"I plan to find Sister Qian Tiao to try out the new art."

Suren smiled slightly, picked up the communication ring, and directly asked, "Sister Qian Tiao, where are you now?"

The next second, the communicator responded, "Yo, you're done? In the Zambra Iron Falls Province in southern Mafa. Didn't you say before that you saw a plane passage? The Mafa military has found the exact coordinates. It's been a lively battle these days."

Suren heard this and felt like something big had happened. "Oh, are you free now? I'll come find you."

As soon as he said this, Qian Tiao responded lazily, "What's inconvenient? Come if you want."

"Okay."

Suren listened, confirmed the location of Qian Tiao's space coordinates, and quickly condensed warlock seals with both hands.

In an instant, a super-large seven-pointed star array lit up under his feet.

His rank was not high enough, so he could only use energy to make up for it.

In addition to the extremely high spatial affinity brought by the ring, the Isaac Giant's Heart also provided the massive amount of energy needed for ultra-long-distance teleportation.

...

On the other hand, in the Zambra Iron Falls Province in southern Mafa, deep in the mountains.

The uninhabited mountains and forests were extremely beautiful, and a clear spring flowed here.

The spring was filled with white mist, a rare and high-quality hot spring.

Two graceful figures were soaking in the spring.

"What's wrong?"

"Suren said he's coming over."

"Oh? Isn't he in the dwarf tribe deep in the Monster Mountain Range? He's coming to the south?"

"Who knows."

"..."

After fighting fiercely for a few days, Qian Tiao finally found a natural hot spring and was soaking here.

Her clothes were hanging on the branches of a tree beside her, and her knife was placed beside the spring pool.

She was naked, comfortably soaking in the water.

The pool was not big, and there was another graceful figure soaking in it.

Just after the two finished talking, they suddenly opened their eyes at the same time, looking at the space distortion that suddenly formed a few meters away.

But sensing who was coming, the vigilance in their eyes instantly disappeared, turning back to a relaxed expression.

Qian Tiao just glanced at it and continued to close her eyes, lying down and enjoying the hot spring's moisture.

Hearing the sound of footsteps landing, she just muttered in a slightly surprised tone, "Yo... why did you come so fast, kid?"

The person who came was none other than Suren, who had teleported through space.

From the Monster Forest to here was more than two thousand kilometers.

He didn't expect to teleport over so smoothly.

"Ah... didn't I tell you before that I got a space treasure, and then I tried ultra-long-distance spatial displacement, and I didn't expect to arrive in one go."

Suren echoed, his tone also faintly excited.

It was the first time he had used this ultra-long-distance spatial displacement, and it felt very good.

Although the dark spiritual power consumed was a bit terrifying, it recovered extremely quickly with the Alchemy Heart.

With this ability, it would be convenient to go anywhere in the future.

While Suren was speaking, he also took in the surrounding environment in an instant.

Surrounding him were dense pine forests, covered with a layer of white snow.

There was a hot spring with steaming steam in the forest.

Suren was by the spring, looking at Qian Tiao, he was not surprised at all, because he had come here following the coordinates of the crystal pendant on her neck.

But looking at another person in the pool, he shouted in surprise, "Senior Sister?"

Mr. Mirror responded with a slight smile, "Yes."

Suren asked curiously, "Senior Sister, why are you here? Weren't you in Synodia Province before?"

Mr. Mirror responded faintly, "The plane passage has been discovered, and the Mafa military has fought many great battles with those plane mages. The situation here is not optimistic, so I came to take a look."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Suren frowned.

No wonder he smelled a bloody scent in his breath, which wafted from the clothes and knife hanging aside.

It seemed that Qian Tiao had killed quite a few people recently.

However, the clothes were hanging inside and out on the branches...

Looking again, the gambling-addicted shao fu (young woman) in the hot spring pool was indeed naked.

Under the shimmering light, she was graceful and charming, revealing everything.

She seemed to not mind at all, leisurely and content.

Suren's peripheral vision glanced at Mr. Mirror beside him, and he smiled, "Wow, Senior Sister has a really good figure."

Mr. Mirror never lost her classical and elegant temperament. Even if she was wearing a very thin, cicada-like gauze dress, showing off her exquisite figure, she was charming but not vulgar, and also gave people a sense of purity.

She smiled when she heard Suren's compliment.

On the contrary, Qian Tiao said with a look of disgust, "Suren, kid, haven't you taken a bath in a long time? The smell on your body is sour."

Saying that, she invited him without any pretense, "Come down and soak together."

"Okay."

Suren thought about it. It had been more than a month since he had taken a bath, since he set off to adventure in the Monster Mountain Range.

He didn't stand on ceremony, took off his clothes, and was about to get into the water, casually asking, "Sister Qian Tiao, has anything big happened in the two great empires recently?"

Knowing that he was advancing, no one bothered him.

He had been out of touch for a long time, and wanted to hear about some new things, but he didn't expect to eat melon and eat it on himself.

Qian Tiao responded lazily, "The most lively thing is the war in Mafa. There's nothing to say, just all kinds of tragic offensive and defensive battles. The magic legions of the Celestial Plane are very strong..."

Suren was not surprised by this content.

Finding the plane passage inevitably meant fighting.

But he didn't expect Qian Tiao to suddenly change the topic, her tone carrying a hint of teasing, "And... three days ago, your wife, Yekaterina Lance, declared herself emperor in Luying."

"???"

Hearing this, Suren's actions of taking off his clothes froze there.

His reaction arc seemed very long. After being stunned for a moment, he realized what he had just heard.

But his face was full of question marks, completely incredulous.

Yekaterina declared herself emperor?

How did she declare it?

What did I miss in these few months?

Suren felt that this shouldn't be happening!