Chapter 225: Preparation
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
Felipe raised his left hand, which only had four fingers, with a gloomy smile on his face.
"You publish your paper on synthesizing carbamide first, and as the paper won't have enough decisive evidence, it would for sure raise heated discussion about the validity of Life Force Theory. When those old stubborn bastards believe in the theory even more as they need to persuade people during the debate, I'm gonna publish a decisive paper to completely overthrow Life Force Theory. Although we haven't been able to successfully synthesize real life ingredients like cells and thus the papers won't be shocking enough to blow up their heads, I'm sure the fact that Life Force Theory is gonna be completely overturned can prevent them from making any further progresses for a long time, or even forever. Talking about what you can get… Don't tell me that you don't want more credits, more attention from the Will of Elements, and don't tell me you don't want to take revenge as Traquair also tried to kill you."
Lucien sneered, "Come on, Felipe, do you think I'm an idiot? Why would I want to submit a paper that is gonna draw so much hatred to me, specially because I don't even really need to worry about earning more credits right now? With the periodic table, before level five, I think I'm fine with collecting credits."
Felipe's gloomy smile was still on his face. Slowly he took back his hand and said to Lucien, "Sorry, Professor, I don't think you really have a choice here. If you refuse to work with me, I'm gonna mention your name in my paper specially at the very beginning to thank you for your great contribution, as it was you who inspired me to overturn Life Force Theory. You'll still take the credit, Professor."
Lucien did not answer. Instead, Lucien was staring at Felipe, considering if he could kill him right now, as he could feel that he was recovering faster than Felipe because of the ring, Element.
"Professor, can't you tell that my body's gonna collapse at any time right now? Even if you kill me on the spot, my soul and body will reunite somewhere else." Felipe felt that he was having an advantage over Professor right now, thus he said this to Lucien in a pretty good mood.
However, careful as Felipe, he would never carelessly reveal his top secret to his enemy. Without this secret magic buff, he would have been dead already in his fight against Traquair.
Lucien put on a cold smile, "How do you know that I don't have a plan B?"
Although Lucien indeed did not have any other backup plans, he would not show his weaknesses in front of his enemy. He really wished that two more layers of the seal of Sun's Corona had been unlocked, so he could launch another round of attack toward Felipe!
Felipe's heart sank for a second. As Professor was always mysterious and cunning, Felipe was not sure whether what he just said was true. However, he still pretended to be calm, "Don't take me wrong, Professor. I'm just trying to figure out a way that benefits both of us. I think the paper about synthesizing carbamide can be submitted as your research outcome as you work with the druids. When the paper raises heated debate, you don't have to mention anything about Life Force Theory or express any of your personal opinion, and I'm sure people will understand, because, after all, you're not a necromancer. Following you paper, I'm gonna publish my paper with decisive evidence for overthrowing Life Force Theory. At that time, all the attention and hatred will go directly to me, and you'll be out of the whole chaos."
Lucien curled the corner of his mouth in a noncommittal manner.
"In the congress, I'm the only one who actually met Professor before. If you can do me the favor, I promise that I'll keep your secret. I'm sure that you don't want the Church and the congress to know that you're also the great musician from Aalto, as you're still hoping to meet the princess again." Felipe continued to persuade Lucien, "Besides all the benefits I mentioned before, I promise you a rite which can improve one's life-span and soul strength, though only once."
All that Felipe wanted to do now was to take revenge on those old bastards from the Hand of Paleness who planned this assassination against him. As Traquair was already dead, Felipe was sure that most of the recent senior-level members of the Hand of Paleness would not speak for him at the risk of pissing off those old, senior-rank sorcerers.
Lucien carefully thought about it for a few seconds, then he moved his neck with difficulty, "I hope we work well with each other then, Mr. Felipe."
"Great." Felipe smiled, although still gloomy, "Let's find some time to sign a devil pact together."
After saying this, Felipe gave up his control over this body, and the body started collapsing and falling into pieces.
Before Felipe disappeared, his voice lingered in the air, "Mr. Professor, our cooperation this time doesn't mean that we've become friends. You're still one of the people who I dislike the most. When I get a chance, I'll beat you, but before that, I hope you can grow stronger. Killing a second-circle sorcerer cannot make me feel proud."
"The same. Maybe my arcana level will be higher than yours soon." Lucien responded, smiling.
Felipe's body was now covered with white light and then the body disappeared, leaving on the ground the Immortal Throne amulet, which was made of bones, and another ring.
"Life Hiding? The ninth-circle magic?" Lucien murmured, recalling what he had read before on Book of Necromancy, "No… It's different… Life Hiding concentrates most of one's life force in a certain part of the body and hide that part somewhere else. What Felipe just did doesn't look the same… It might be some special rite from the Hand of Paleness, but who's gonna conduct this rite for him? Who's Felipe's teacher…?"
Waiting for his spiritual power and energy to recover, Lucien looked at the amulet on the ground and started planning something.
At this time, the archmages and senior-rank sorcerers who finally noticed what was going on there all arrived, including Raventi and Gaston from the Will of Elements, and Pesor and Tina-Timos from the Hand of Paleness.
Seeing all the remains of the dead creatures on the ground and Lucien, who was standing there with great difficulty, Raventi became furious.
"What the heck did you bastards want to do?!" As Raventi was growling at those sorcerers from the Hand of Paleness. The air suddenly became really hot, as if they were surrounded by burning lava.
This was the signal that Raventi was going to cast his ninth-circle spell, Raventi's Flame Hell.
Wearing a long, black robe which covered all his body and had white skulls on the collar, Pesor's face was not revealed. There were only two small clusters of red flame that were flickering under his hood, "Raventi, our member was also attacked. Before we find any evidence, the Hand of Paleness is also the victim."
Pesor was a level-eight arcanist, ninth-circle necromancer, member of Arcana Review Board. He was not known for having a good temper, however, in front of Raventi, Pesor appeared to be quite mild in contrast.
Then Pesor pointed at the amulet and the ring on the ground, and he used magic to pick them up,
"Hand of Rehabilitation… It's Felipe…"
After checking around and talking with Lucien a bit, Gaston also stopped Raventi, "It was the winner of Holm Crown prize and the winner of Immortal Throne award who were attacked, Lucien Evans and Felipe Carneiro respectively. The attacker was Traquair from the Hand of Paleness."
Then Gaston looked at the other side, "Do you two have any clues?"
Tina-Timos, the female sorcerer who had a hellish succubus look said unpleasantly, "We'll figure this out!"
…
In a secret chamber of a magic tower in Heidler, a fine box decorated with lots of beautiful jewels was placed in the center of a complicated magic circle.
All of a sudden, the box started shining with dazzling white light. A piece of a finger appeared. As it was floating in the air, the finger started twitching and growing. It grew bigger and bigger and eventually the finger turned into a naked man!
It was Felipe.
"Again… I needed Mr. Demigod-lich to conduct this Life Hiding rite for me by utilizing cellular memory…" Felipe looked at his new body and walked toward the bedroom to put on some clothes, "I'm bankrupt again…"
After Felipe took care of everything, Rogerio arrived. He looked very serious, "What happened?"
Felipe answered coldly, "Someone else knows that I'm working on synthesizing life ingredients. We have a traitor among us, Mr. Rogerio."
"As Mr. Demigod-lich and Mr. Thanatos have got the news, and they knew how serious it was, there shouldn't be another assassination attempt. Right now we still have to focus on the experiment. How's it going?"
"It's in the final stage now." Felipe put his hands into his pockets as usual, "I'm relatively confident that it's going to succeed in one week."
He did not mention anything about Professor.
…
While in another magic tower in Heidler, when Traquair's soul started reuniting inside a purple gem, a hand suddenly grabbed the gem and smashed it into ashes with the black power of death.
There were shrill cries coming from the inside of the gem, but they soon disappeared.
"Mr. Adol, thank you for your information. Unfortunately, we failed."
"Sorry to hear it."
After a short conversation, the chamber quieted down. A space gap appeared, and Adol returned to the World of Souls.
…
In a manor in Sariva.
After half day of rest, Lucien was almost fully recovered because of his own good physique and the help of the ring, Element. He destroyed the partly-done paper that he wrote before and developed a new paper:
The Method for Large-scale Production of the Several Useful Alchemical Products Found in Oat Planting Experiment and the Discussion of Their Proper Use.
Chapter 226: The Reaction
Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Vermillion
The highest council took this cooperative research project seriously, and also the project was related to the elements and souls, so most of the arcanists from Allyn that were familiar with these two fields were asked to join the research, including the middle-rank arcanists from the Arcane Review Board like Raventi, Gaston, Locklynn, and Pesor. They were the ones who were qualified and had the ability to verify the submitted articles.
A temporary article verification location was set up in a mansion in Sariva and all the arcanists who joined the project would be able to submit their research results without wasting any time.
Lucien saw Woods from Common Arcana journal coming from the other side of the hallway as he stepped out of the room that was full of magic circles.
"Greetings, Mr. Woods. I didn't expect to see you here. I thought you were an expert in force field and astrology."
"Greetings, Evans. I'm a subeditor of the Common Arcana and I need to find if any result of the arcanists can be published in our magazine. The knowledgeable arcanists of the element and soul department all joined the research project, but our journal is not big as Arcana or Magic, so I need to find the good articles myself."
Woods smiled and nodded slightly, he had already become the subeditor of Common Arcana due to the matter of the periodic table about two weeks ago. The arcane points he received for finding a new element were high, and it also proved that the periodic table worked. Woods had stayed at level four for too long as an arcanist but it seemed he would finally have the chance to advance to the next level in about one year.
There was a golden mustache on Woods' face. He looked at Lucien and said. "I heard that you were ambushed by someone after I got here and I went to your room, however, the maid told me that you were here… Well, it seems like you're doing fine and it's great."
Lucien's face was still slightly pale and his body was almost recovered, however, his transformation robe needed to be repaired.
"Thank you, Mr. Woods. I was just caught in the fire, the assassins were going after Mr. Felipe, and they didn't do any actual damage to me. I activated the elemental ring that was at a much higher level than myself, and that was why I got hurt," Lucien walked as he explained.
After Raventi and Gaston took Lucien back to the mansion, Larry, Timothy, and Ulysses all visited him, but most of the others were not aware of the situation. Iristine, Arcelion, and other elves had no idea about what happened, so Lazar and some of his other friends had not come to visit him yet.
Woods' brow furrowed. "You can recover from such damage easily but there'll be consequences for your soul and your body. Your life expectancy will be shortened. It may not be a big problem for you as you're very likely to become a senior-rank sorcerer before the age of 50. Anyway, don't do that again if you don't have to."
The two chattered as they walked to Lucien's room. Woods chuckled as they stopped at the door, it seemed the room reminded him of something. "Wait, you were stepping out of the article submitting location when we met, right? Did you just finish an article?"
"Yes, it was the result of this week's research. It's about the three alchemy substances that can help the food grow and how to make them in batches." Lucien smiled and pushed the door open, it sounded like he was just talking about a regular article.
Woods was a bit surprised, he looked at Lucien. "I've seen your reports of the project. It seems like you have reached the bottleneck. However, I can't believe that you solved the problem like it was nothing just several minutes ago."
"I got the idea from the research results on the reports submitted by the arcanists. I also analyzed the combination of wood, grass, fertilizer, and the feces. That was how I found the three water-soluble alchemy substances." Lucien asked the maid to pour a cup of tea for Woods.
Woods sipped some black tea from the cup and smiled. "Interesting. If the three alchemy substances can be mass produced, our food output would be greatly increased, so the sorcerers and knights will become richer. Also, Mr. Evans, your article will be recognized by the council."
Woods grew up in Allyn as a member of a sorcerer's family and he had no idea how hard life could be. The man was a middle-rank arcanist and he was at a much higher position than the farmers or the poor. It was just a temporary emotion that he had the compassion for farmers or the poor and Woods did not think Lucien's article was that important. The project was taken seriously by the Congress simply because the members of the highest council wanted to study the divine spells of nature.
"I hope so," Lucien sipped some tea from the cup and responded calmly.
Woods put down the cup and spoke in a serious tone, "Evans, can you let us, the Common Arcana journal, publish your article? Although it's still the first half of the month, next month's Common Arcana will be cited a lot more than usual if one of the major discoveries of the project can be included in our journal ahead of the time."
Lucien smiled. "I've said that I'll keep contributing to your magazine if I have the chance. Mr. Woods, you're the first editor that talked to me today, so yeah, if my article can be verified by the members of the council, I'm willing to publish it on the Common Arcana."
"I thank you on behalf of the Common Arcana, Evans. Can I have a look at the article, please? I want to see how I should arrange it in the next month's journal," Woods asked politely. Lucien just submitted his article and Woods did not want the man to get suspicious.
There was no point for Lucien to reject the request. He took out a copy of the article from the bag and handed it to Woods. "Sure, it's fine. I also submitted a report to the council members when submitting the article for reference and everyone will be able to read it tomorrow."
Woods grabbed the article and started reading carefully, although Lucien Evans started studying arcana just several months ago, two of his articles were taken very seriously by the council. The second one he published was a revolution to the elemental sorcerers, so Woods had to be extremely careful when dealing with Lucien's article.
"So, the plants can only absorb the elements from the water-soluble substances?" Woods decided to ask since the author of the article was right in front of him.
Lucien did not elaborate on the question but he still answered, "Based on the result of the experiment, yes."
Woods sipped some more tea and turned to the next page. He praised the contrast test designed by Lucien as they discussed the content of the article. Then, Woods moved to the last part of the article as they chatted: the discussion on mass producing the mentioned alchemical substances.
He grabbed the teacup as he finished reading the experiment on handling the phosphate ore with sulfate and he wanted to change the topic to the mass production of magic circles, however, the title of the page, "Experiment and Discussion on the Artificially Synthesized Carbamide", caught his attention.
The tea spouted out of Woods' mouth. Lucien was sitting to the right of Woods, but he was still caught by the water mist.
Lucien wiped his face and questioned, "What happened, Mr. Woods?"
"Evans, do you know what you're implying here?!" Woods stared at Lucien and there was fear in his eyes. He lowered his head and quickly scanned through the design and result of the experiment. "Did you really synthesize carbamide with just the gases?" Woods muttered, unable to believe what he had just read.
He was not a sorcerer that focused on the soul, but it still took him some time to calm down.
"Evans, did you finish the experiment by yourself?" Woods stared at Evans in the eyes.
Lucien faked a confused look on his face and responded, "Yeah, I completed the experiment with magic circles and alchemy circles. What's the problem, Mr. Woods?"
"Evans, don't you understand how important this experiment will be and how big of a problem it will cause?!" Woods shouted as he could no longer control himself.
Lucien shook his head, stilling looking confused. "I don't understand. Please enlighten me."
"What the f*ck. Again?" Woods cursed and put his right hand on his forehead, trying to calm himself down.
…
After the investigation in the morning, Raventi and Gaston returned to their reading rooms as the only thing they found out was that the assassin was Traquair. Some of the council members tried to cast the Horoscope to learn more about the incident but they were interrupted and failed to get the accurate result. The had to ask the legendary sorcerers to cast the Horoscope and spells like Prophet's Sight to find more traces later.
"Mr. Gaston, these are the articles that need to be verified today." The elemental servant brought three articles to Gaston and put them down on the desk. The other articles were sent to the mid-level arcanists like Larry.
Gaston noticed the familiar name on the first article he grabbed: "Lucien Evans X."
Gaston asked his elemental servants to send all the articles done by Lucien Evans X to him after the incident.
"Well, the young ones are doing well with their experiments but we're having trouble progressing with the study on the origin of the divine spells and the mind of nature even with the help of the grand arcanists… Is it impossible for us to study such things?" Gaston sighed as he read through the article. Furthermore, Malfurion would be returning to Stroop Forest the next day.
They all knew that the Church was just trying to scare them, but it was a good excuse for the Royal Elf Palace and the elder council of the druids. The only thing that could change the situation was a revolutionary discovery.
Gaston tapped on Lucien's article slightly with his fingers. "Will Malfurion stay here for several more days if we use the findings of this article as an excuse? However, this was the reason why he joined the project, and so he won't cast any divine spells for us even if he decides to stay…" While thinking about it, he turned to the next page and the title was, "Experiment and Discussion on the Artificially Synthesized Carbamide".
Gaston trembled slightly as it felt like his backbone was shocked by electricity. He suddenly straightened his back and focused on the content on the page. His expression turned serious as he stood up and quickly charged into the magic laboratory.
Chapter 227: The Stir Caused
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
In a magic lab.
Staring at the white particles with a light touch of red color in the reactor, Gaston cast Identification in a serious manner. When he got the result, his weird-looking dark-yellow eyes narrowed and he murmured, "It's really carbamide… Carbamide could be synthesized without using any life ingredients…"
After staring at the particles for a while, a sarcastic smile appeared on Gaston's face, "Those guys who play with bodies all the time in Hand of Paleness are in trouble now…"
Because of their different beliefs and competing interests, there had been a long history of friction between the Will of Elements and the Hand of Paleness. As the director of the former, Gaston had a poor relationship with many senior-rank sorcerers from the latter. Now, seeing the evidence that Life Force Theory might soon be overthrown, he was certainly in a schadenfreude mood. Gaston's own meditation environment only had a very limited connection to Life Force Theory, so he did not need to worry about himself at all.
He wondered why Lucien put such an important experiment in his project paper. He wanted to know whether Lucien had ever heard about Life Force Theory. In Gaston's mind, he tended to believe that it was more likely that Lucien knew nothing about it, or he would definitely be influenced by this classic theory, and he would not be able to conduct his experiment outside the theoretical framework. As for Lucien's gift in arcana, Gaston had no doubt toward it at all. In Gaston's mind, Lucien had a rigorous way of thinking, the courage to make bold hypothesis and the spirit to seek for proving. Furthermore, now Gaston felt that Lucien's ability in doing experiments was also impressive.
"Bang!!"
When Gaston was about to leave the lab, the lab door was broken open, and the magic circles on it were broken as well.
"Who is that?!" asked Gaston in an alert way. Instantly, he was covered by a colourful spherical shield.
Seventh-circle spell, Magic Reverse Enchantment.
"Gaston! Did you see the paper from Evans? The last part! The experiment of synthesizing carbamide!" Raventi was really loud.
After staring at Raventi for a few seconds, Gaston sighed, "Knock before entering, please."
"I'm too excited for that!" Raventi did not really care, "I asked you, did you read the paper… Wait, you've tried it as well?!"
Raventi saw the reactor on the other side of the lab and the white particles in the magic glass tube.
Gaston made a gesture to ask Raventi to lower his voice, "Yes, Mr. Raventi, I've proved the validity of Evans' experiment, but I think that there's still lack of a piece of decisive evidence, as the Hand of Paleness might not admit carbamide to be a life ingredient. By the way, Mr. Raventi, did you show the paper to anyone else?"
"No one except you." Although Raventi had a pretty bad temper, as a level-nine arcanist, he was not an idiot. He instantly understood why Raventi asked it, "You want to hide the paper from those necromancers first until there are any decisive findings?"
Gaston nodded seriously, "The keywords for the paper are Element and Alchemy, so technically speaking, the paper does not have much to do with the school of Necromancy. In other words, most likely, those necromancers haven't read the paper. My only concern is that, on Evans' side, he might have talked about it with other people already."
Gaston was more than happy to have this chance to attack the Hand of Paleness with some decent research findings.
"I do not agree with you, Gaston." Raventi shook his head seriously, "This is an overturning finding. Unlike some unique spells being created, this kind of finding should be revealed to the public as soon as possible, so more arcanists can join the discussion, and thus the decisive evidence, if there's any, can be found in the shortest period of time. Gaston, you still remember the fundamental spirit that the Congress of Magic builds on? Exploration of truth and candid communication!"
After thinking a bit, Gaston nodded, "All right. I'm just concerned that the upcoming great debate might put Lucien in a dangerous place."
"Let Lucien move into the house between ours," answered Raventi quickly, "But before that, I need to talk to the druid leaders to test validity of the first part of Lucien's paper, so they can see some hope in increasing grain yield."
…
"Evans, now, do you understand how important Life Force Theory is in the school of Necromancy?" Woods just spent about ten minutes on explaining the theory to Lucien.
Lucien put on an "ah ha" look, "Yes, thank you, Mr. Woods. As I specialize in the school of Element and Astrology, I really had no idea about what it was, not to mention understanding its importance in history. But, Mr. Woods, I still don't know why this is related to my carbamide synthesizing experiment?"
"….." Woods was speechless. What Lucien just said proved that he was literally from ancient magic background, as he did not have some common sense in contemporary magic system.
"Well…" Woods tried to make it easy and simple, "Carbamide is a life ingredient… or say, most people regard carbamide as a life ingredient. There's no clear definition of life ingredient."
Lucien said in a half-joking way, "Mr. Woods, does it mean that my paper's accidentally overthrown Life Force Theory? Is my paper gonna get a high rating? Maybe I can win the Immortal Throne award?"
"It's hard to say, as there's no decisive evidence in your paper. Some stubborn necromancers might not admit that Carbamide is a life ingredient." Woods frowned, as he was also influenced by the theory, "If I were you, I would not be looking forward to winning Immortal Throne award, but be rather watchful after the news comes out tomorrow. You know, some stubborn and insane necromancers might…"
"I'll stay in the manor for the following several days, which is very close to Mr. Raventi and Mr. Gaston," answered Lucien. "Mr. Woods, are you still gonna publish the paper?"
"Of course, this is gonna be the first paper on the next issue of Common Arcana, and I think there are gonna be more articles discussing your experiment coming out later, so we can collect those articles and put them there as well." Woods planned in a smart way.
At this time, Raventi's voice came in from behind the door, "Are you in there, Evans?"
"Yes?" Thinking of all those mathematics and arcana exercises that he had not finished yet, Lucien opened the door reluctantly.
Raventi was still wearing his black magic robe, on which the order of the elements had been rearranged, "Gaston and I have reviewed your paper and the final rating from Arcana Review Board has been sent back. By the way, move into the room next to mine as soon as possible."
"I will." Lucien hurriedly nodded, and then he started reading the rating result, "The paper has successfully provided several solutions with regards to whether and how alchemical products can facilitate the growth of plants. Therefore, it is of some importance and can be quite pervasive. Among the several experiments designed and presented in the paper, the experiment focusing on synthesizing carbamide reveals, excitingly, the possibility that a classic theory, Life Force Theory, might not be valid, and this is overturning, which makes the paper rather worth of great discussion. In conclusion, the paper is overturning and of great value, thus a reward of fifty arcana credits and three hundred arcana points is given to the author."
"All of your three papers have received very high comments," Woods said a bit emotionally. As an arcanist who was already close to level five, among so many papers he had submitted, unlike that of Lucien, only a few were spoken highly of. So, Woods was feeling a bit depressed.
After a while, he cheered himself up a little and asked, "Will the project still go on? It sounds like you're still staying for a few more days, Mr. Raventi."
"Yes, Mr. Malfurion has decided to send some druids back, while he and the rest of the druids will stay longer to see if the alchemical product discovered in Evans' paper can really solve their problem," answered Raventi, looking quite serious, as Malfurion had made it clear that they would not cooperate with the arcanists to let them study the Mind of Nature anymore.
"By the way, Mr. Lord of Storm and Ms. Hathaway, after reading Evans' paper, have made the decision that any arcanists who join this discussion can get some credits, and papers cited in the discussion can still get citation credits as well."
The great significance lying in the periodic table of elements still required more time to reveal itself, and the establishment of a new field also needed time. Therefore, the great return of the periodic table of elements was not there yet.
Meanwhile, overthrowing an old, classic theory could be even more influential.
…
The early morning the second day, Menshaque, a necromancer from the Hand of Paleness, was reading the project newspaper with a plate of buttered bread in front of him.
As a senior member of the Hand of Paleness, Menshaque was almost four hundred years old, and he had already turned himself into a lich. He did not need to eat, but he ate for pleasure. Menshaque was a level five arcanist, seventh-circle necromancer, and in this project working with the druids, he was in charge of a research group.
"The Method for Large-scale Production of the Several Useful Alchemical Products Found in Oat Planting Experiment and the Discussion of Their Proper Use?" The paper instantly drew Menshaque's attention, as he wondered if those guys from the Will of Elements had figured out anything. Although the necromancers also had made some progresses, such as using life force to stimulate the growth of plants or using the undead to farm, the popularity of these methods was still a problem.
After reading the paper for a while, Menshaque's bony hands with only a thin layer of skin covering them started trembling.
Chapter 228: The Surge
Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Vermillion
The steady hand that could accurately separate the dead bodies into different parts and complete the complicated casting gestures at any level was trembling like it had lost the control, although it was just trying to turn the paper to the next page.
"That's lame and absurd! How can such a paper be published in a brief report?!" The man's voice was mixed in the chilling wind, it was deep and hoarse. The voice sounded like it was filled up with pain and hatred. "Lucien Evans X, how dare the bastards from the Will of the Elements question the structure of a human's body? They don't even know the secret of life. I'll punish him if I ever meet him!"
Menshaque forgot that the brief report was just a newspaper that was used to share the research progression by the research teams and the papers published on it did not need to be verified.
"No, I need to start the experiment now and expose this despicable lie!" Menshaque suddenly stood up, the facial muscle and the skin that were created with human body parts could barely hide the dark smoke leaking out of his bones.
Similar scenes were happening in most of the research teams. Larry choked on the milk and it sounded he was about to cough to death. Timothy was pushing his glasses up, but he used so much force that the frame of the glasses was pushed to his forehead. The bread that Ulysses was chewing spouted out of his mouth and splashed on the brief report.
The arcanists that focused on elements were surprised at first but they quickly gloated over the discovery and started validating the result using experiments after the breakfast. The reactions from the necromancers varied, some torn the report apart furiously, some were walking around anxiously as they were not sure if they could prove the result wrong with experiments, some forced themselves to calm down and informed the Hand of Paleness about the situation, some were trying to slam their hatred on Lucien's face…
…
Inside the magic laboratory, there was a loud noise that sounded like metal objects dropping to the floor. Menshaque was floating in the air and he was not moving at all, with the red flames in his eyes almost extinguished. He looked at the lab equipment and the white substance on the ground in surprise, and the magic tube in his right hand cracked under his strong grip. The broken glass pieces pirerced into his palm but Menshaque did not seem concerned.
He had no idea how long had passed, but eventually he muttered, "No, no! I must have done something wrong during the experiment, how can the Life Force Theory be wrong? This doesn't make sense, so many body refining spells were created using the theory!"
"There is no life force involved in the creation of the carbamide using the nonliving substances in this experiment!"
Menshaque sounded like a paranoid schizophrenic. He was questioning and arguing with a voice that sounded like he was crying sadly. It took him a while to calm down.
The flame of life in Menshaque's eyes slowly recovered as the time passed, but he was still slightly panicked. "If the consciousness of the world collapsed, the spiritual power would lose control and blow my physical body and soul into pieces… The good thing is that I can adapt to new concepts, also, Rogerio has said that, strictly speaking, carbamide is not a living substance."
"However, is the Life Force Theory completely true?"
Menshaque's arcana level was decent and that was the reason why he was sent to assist the research project. He could not help but get suspicious after he calmed down from the shock. A situation as such had happened more than once in the Congress of Magic.
However, Menshaque could feel that the spiritual flame in his phylactery was going to extinguish as he got suspicious about the Life Force Theory.
"No, no. I can't meditate during this period and I need to stay calm." Menshaque knew that the contradiction in his mind could only be solved by either time or some stronger evidence. However, he had no way to know if the contradiction would end with the victory of the Life Force Theory or the new concept would win and give him a new idea about the world. Also, it was possible that his meditation would be permanently impacted by the truth and one day he would be destroyed.
Menshaque did not need to breathe but it had already become his habit, so he inhaled deeply. "If I can't win the war against myself, I'll have to win the fight against Lucien Evans. He shall not live if I can't proceed further!"
Rogerio had already informed the necromancers about the possible situations and the theory about carbamide was not that shocking to them, so even the old school necromancers in the research teams were able to keep their meditation somewhat stable. Also, their heads did not explode as they did not lose control of their spiritual force. However, most of the necromancers claimed if anything serious happened, they would all go after the bastard named Lucien Evans.
Lucien was discussing the possible effects of combining the three alchemical substances with the two elves that postponed their return date back in a room beside Raventi's room, he suddenly noticed the warning from his Host Star of Destiny after the necromancers showed their hatred toward him.
He went to the washroom and cast the Horoscope spell using the Morning Light crystal ball. Lucien's conclusion was that the path ahead was full of danger but there was still a way to avoid all the possible risks.
"How many days does Felipe need before he can submit the paper…"
Lucien returned to the living room as he thought about it, and was surprised to see that Arcelion and Iristine were reading the brief report in front of them carefully. They looked confused and it seemed like their emotions were unstable.
"What happened? It only took me about ten minutes to cast the Horoscope spell," Lucien tried to get their attention, "Prince and Princess?"
Arcelion raised his head, the man's face was pretty and delicate like a woman's but it seemed he was disgusted by something and his face was full of hatred. "Mr. Evans, you can artificially synthesize carbamide? Did you just overthrow the Life Force Theory?"
"You can understand arcane spells?" Lucien was surprised, as he did not expect that the two elves would understand the arcana paper.
"Our guards learned about the information from the senior elder," Arcelion responded unconsciously in a polite manner.
Iristine interrupted, "Human beings, cows, sheep, magic creatures, and plants, their life force all comes from the gift of nature, so how can you synthesize the living substance with gas and ores?" She sounded a bit angry.
"That depends on how you define what is a living substance…" Lucien realized that all the living beings were formed by the living substances in the druids' eyes, and the creation of the living beings was not related to the nonliving substances. However, it seemed the concept would not affect how they interacted and used the mind of nature.
"No matter how it is defined, Mr. Evans, you're just an evil and fearless devil!" Iristine's last good impression of Lucien turned to the worst.
"Well, there's one more devil, actually, two more devils waiting for you," Lucien thought, but he had no time to argue with the two elves about an arcana problem.
…
*Pa*
Pesor slammed the brief report on the desk, the soul flames were dancing inside the deep eye sockets of his white skull. "Lucien Evans has submitted the paper about the artificially synthesized carbamide experiment!"
Pesor, Tina-Timos, and two other committee members of the Arcana Review Board were relatively open to new theories, so a grand arcanist, the lord of the undead, did not try to hide the matter about Professor from them, and they were well prepared for it.
The one who passed them the information was the lord of the undead and he was the most authoritative one among the necromancers. Also, the four committee members had good arcana thoughts and perceptions, so they accepted the result of the experiment quickly, and they modified some magic effects slightly to verify the result again using the reverse method.
Rogerio was standing opposite to Pesor and there was a grim expression on his face. "The Professor was alerted after Lucien Evans and Felipe were ambushed. He got suspicious and he probably already knew that we were about to succeed, that was why he decided to test us with his student's experiment. Lucien Evans will become the target even if we don't get any decisive result and if we do get any, Professor will be able to share the arcana points with Lucien by adding his name to paper. Pesor and Tina, didn't you notice that Lucien Evans hid the experiment in a paper that was part of the research project result?"
Rogerio took Felipe to Sariva town right after he heard the information.
"Menezes' situation is getting worse and we need to solve the problem as soon as possible." Tina-Timos glanced at the other important members of the Hand of Paleness, as they all knew about the situation.
Menezes was another committee member of the Arcana Review Board and he was a master of the body refining technique.
Rogerio had a bitter smile on his face. "In Heidler, Aurelio is so anxious that he's not acting like a necromancer, and it seems like he plans to kill Lucien Evans."
Aurelio was an important member of the Hand of Paleness, a member of the Affairs Committee, a level six arcanist, and a seventh-circle necromancer. The man had huge potential and he had studied in the Demiplanes Magic Tower of the Demigod Lich.
"Felipe, how's your research progressing? Just share the data with us if things are not going well so we can join the research and help you get the decisive result as soon as possible. It's not the time to hide things from each other!" Pesor stared at Felipe with a serious expression on his face.
Felipe was wearing his signature long black coat with the amulet he won from the Immortal Throne Award hanging over it, and the man's morbid face was still pale but handsome. Felipe responded with a grim look on his face, "Mr. Pesor, everything is going well, and I'll be able to artificially synthesize a fatty acid within three days."
"I hope you're not lying, otherwise, I'll punish you no matter what kind of secret background you have." Pesor was the vice-president of the Hand of Paleness and he had the right to warn Felipe like that.
Felipe bowed politely to everyone in the room. "Gentlemen, if you excuse me, I need to focus on the experiment."
Felipe walked out of the room after the permission was granted, then pursed his lips into a smile as he walked down the stairs.
"How's the investigation on the ambush?" Pesor looked at Rogerio.
Rogerio shook his head. "There's nothing we could find even with the help from the astrologer of the Tower. It seems the astrology was interrupted by a strong but unfamiliar force, otherwise, the result would be clearer."
"There are more secrets in this world than we think." Pesor sighed slightly. "Just like the rules of the world. One year ago, no one would have expected someone would overthrow a mature theory like the Life Force Theory."
…
The second day, the two senior-rank sorcerers' papers were published on the first page of the brief report in the morning.
The Demonstration of Carbamide's Nature — by Menezes.
The Meaning and Flaw of the Artificially Synthesized Carbamide — by Aurelio.
Lucien's paper did not mention anything about the Life Force Theory and they could not find any weak point to attack, so they decided to go straight to the point without talking about the result of the research project.
The grand arcanists acquiesced in such behavior, and as the arguments between the arcanists that focused on elemental sorcery and the ones that focused on soul sorcery were getting more and more serious, they almost forgot why they were invited into the research. Also, druids like Malfurion did not put their attention on the growth of the crops, instead, they focused on this "discussion".
It was like a surge in Sariva and the brief reports were like their battleground.
However, Lucien claimed that he was not familiar with the Life Force Theory , so he would not join the discussion. The necromancers were happy after reading his claim, as they thought that Lucien was scared and they decided to put more effort into the discussion.
…
"Lucien Evans, a heretic that defiles God! A liar that will never tell the truth! I shall bring him to trial!" In Philibell's room, Holm's cardinal, Vaharall the Adjudicator shouted furiously after reading the brief papers from the last several days.
The spy of the church in the Congress of Magic could easily send the complete brief report as the Congress encouraged the discussion, but it would take the spy one day to send the report out.
The Life Force Theory was one of the fundamentals of the Creationism, and that was the reason why Vaharall was enraged after reading Lucien's paper.
Chapter 229: A Great Stir
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
Sitting beside Vaharall, Varantine looked very serious. There was still a layer of light covering his clenched fist. Clearly, he was very mad at Lucien Evans, the vicious sorcerer who showed no respect to the deity.
Seing that, Philibell, the cardinal who had a thick white mustache, presented them with another two pieces of newspaper, "What you two just read was the first-day newspaper, and these are from the second day and the third day. Lucien Evans' not worth much attention, I'd say, as it's just synthesizing carbamide, and no one would believe that any life ingredients could ever exist in those dirty excreta."
The members from Episcopal Conference all understood arcana papers to some degree thanks to the several popes contribution to the improvement of divine spells.
Taking the newspaper from Philibell, Vaharall, the tough-looking, red-haired guy started reading it carefully. The newspaper was filled with discussions about how to define carbamide, about the validity of Life Force Theory, and it was obvious that those necromancers were in a more favorable position, as those arcanists from the school of Element still lacked further decisive evidence.
"This is not as bad as we thought. It is the blessing of the Lord." Philibell drew a cross on his chest.
When he finished reading the newspaper, Vaharall also nodded, "How come that Carbamide, something contained in filthy excreta, can be a life ingredient, a blessing from God? We should define life ingredient better in Cannon, with regards to the chapter the Origin of Life."
"This is something that we definitely need to improve," agreed Varantine. "But right now, we don't have to take the risk by sending those devout Night Watchers to kill Lucien Evans. My suggestion's that we have the the Inquisitions in Holm and Colette keeping a close watch on him, and when there's a chance in the future, we take action. After all, there's no need to rush."
Although Varantine was sent here by the pope to eliminate vicious sorcerers, he understood well that the Church was overpowered by the Congress of Magic in Holm and several other countries around it. Although they might have a chance to win if the Church sent most of their cardinals here, their biggest concern was that this might give the North Church and other dark creatures as well as sorcerers from the north a great chance to avail themselves of the opportunity to get in their territory. Therefore, both Vaharall and Varantine agreed with Philibell that they should take on a more conservative manner with this issue right now.
Although they all wanted to defend the dignity of their God so bad that, facing Lucien's disrespectful findings, their blood was boiling with anger, they still knew that they needed to be careful with every step they took.
"Like what Vaharall just said, those arcana geniuses hardly leave Allyn and Rentato before they reach middle-rank, so we have to wait." Philibell nodded, as he was the one among all the cardinals who understood the congress the best.
At this time, they heard abrupt knocking at the door.
"Come in." Using God's Eyes, Philibell already saw through the door. On the other side of the door stood a pastor who looked very anxious and scared, and his holy light power was in a very unstable status, as if the power was going to devour him at any time.
The pastor hurriedly pushed open the door, and he was too scared to salute the three cardinals, instead, he said urgently, "Lord Philibell, this is the newspaper that arrived from the Congress this morning. They risked a lot to be able to send this newspaper."
"Calm down first." Philibell's voice was soft and it comforted this pastor in panic, "Do not doubt the Lord. Do not doubt the mighty power of the Lord."
The pastor kept crossing in front of his chest to control and calm down his holy power.
Philibell had some bad feeling about the newspaper, but still, he started reading the first page in a calm manner:
"An Experiment Synthesizing Fatty Acid with Several Non-life Ingredients Including Charcoal through A Series of Alchemical Reactions, from Felipe Carneiro."
In the abstract of the paper, Felipe put it proudly and straightforwardly, "Through this experiment, I can announce to all of you that Life Force Theory has been completely overthrown, and it will no longer play any role in the development of arcana!"
After quickly going through the experiment design, Philibell, although he was always quite calm, shouted angrily, "Blasphemy! This is blasphemy! This is a direct and shameful provocation of the Lord's majesty and dignity! Felipe must be eliminated immediately!"
His chin covered with white beard was trembling fiercely while he was shouting, as if he wanted to set off right now to kill Felipe. In his eyes, compared to Felipe's experiment, now Lucien's paper did not matter at all.
Vaharall, who was a harsh and bold guy, directly gave Philibell's desk a fierce punch. Instantly, the desk was totally destroyed and there were not even ashes left after his power burst forth. At the same time, Vaharall also felt lucky that he was a legendary knight and his power came from his Blessing, or his soul would have been damaged by his belief being shaken, "How dare those mortals even try to pry into the realm of God. A blasphemer must be cleared at all costs! "
"Before that, we need to make sure whether the experiment is real." Varantine did not read the newspaper, and right now he was crossing in front of his chest.
There was no way that the Congress of Magic could just destroy the cardinals' belief by a paper, and, if the cardinals had the right experiment equipment and divine power circles, they could verify the validity of the paper by conducting the experiment themselves.
"Lock away this paper. Make sure that other pastors do not learn about the existence of this paper. The last thing we want to see right now is this turning into the same situation when those sorcerers claimed that holy light was electromagnetic wave." Philibell closed his eyes, feeling a bit tired, "This is the test of the Lord to us, and our loyalty to our faith shall be manifested and examined again. We shall find the flaws of the experiment as soon as possible."
Philibell, the cardinal of the parish of Holm for almost a hundred years, had been through a lot, thus he still managed to control his power and prevent the idea of the paper from hurting his soul after reading Felipe's research design.
"All glories go to the Lord. Only truth lives forever." Vaharall, Varantine and the other pastor prayed together, telling themselves that even if Felipe's finding was true, this was still from the Lord's mighty power, which was still beyond their understanding.
After praying, Vaharall said to Philibell in a low voice, "I request to send several devout night watchers to assassinate Felipe. If there is a chance, we shall kill Lucian Evans as well."
The reason he mentioned "devout night watchers" specifically was that they all knew that those night watchers of the task were basically doomed to die. If they could kill Felipe, they were already very lucky. If they did not select carefully who they would send for this task, some night watchers who did not want to sacrifice their lives might fall onto the Congress' hands.
"Vaharall and Vanrantine, you two will take care of this." Philibell nodded, "I'm gonna talk to the nobles and other cardinals to make them stay alert."
…
Holding the newspaper in his hand, Menshaque's body, which was assembled by different dead body parts, was falling apart and all these parts were turning into rotten flesh. However, the two clusters of soul fire in his eyes were still flickering strongly.
"Life Force Theory… not right? It is… wrong? Even Felipe has abandoned it…"
Although Menshaque felt that there were some problems with Felipe's research design, he had lost his control over this body. He could not believe that his hundreds of years of study were built on a mistake.
But if all his life was built on a mistake, why did he still manage to "live" this long? Why did he still manage to turn himself into a lich? Why he could still learn so many different spells?
In the end, only a white skull remained floating in the air. Before Menshaque lost all the flesh and bones, he finally managed to stop this process. He did this by continuously telling himself that Felipe's study might not be valid, and even if what he said was true, if Felipe, a person who used to follow Life Force Theory in a very loyal way, could shift his understanding successfully, why he, Menshaque, could not do this?
Menshaque believed that there was still great hope in the school of Necromancy, as its foundation theories had been overturned for three times in history, but Necromancy still thrived after that, and it had even evolving all the time. Thus, Menshaque would rather have the theory to be overthrown by necromancers themselves. He believed that Life Force Theory was not a completely wrong one, and at least it had some connections to the ultimate truth.
After releasing a sigh, Menshaque turned the newspaper to its second page, and he saw the comments from Pesor, Tina-Timos, Rogerio and other influential arcanists from the Hand of Paleness on Felipe's paper:
"Pesor: This is a great and outstanding experiment. Felipe, a genius, has led us to step into a new, correct path from the wrong one with Life Force Theory. "
"Tina-Timos: Without doubt, Felipe is a real arcana genius, as he managed to drive away the black clouds shading our path over our heads for so many years. Think about it, necromancers, why arent't we making any progresses right now? Felipe has revealed the reason—it is because our foundation is problematic. If we can correct it in time, our future is going to be promising and bright!"
"Rogerio: This is an experience of great significance and meaning. It is groundbreaking, creative and definitely shocking. Felipe has shown us the great spirit shared by necromancers, proving that we never give up exploring the world further to find the truth. We are okay with accepting the fall of the Life Force Theory, with admitting that we were wrong before, and thus we can have a better future!"
With all those important people's positive comments on Felipe's finding, many necromancers started to accept the fact.
This was the power of authority.
However, despite the fact that many necromancers' meditation got a bit more stable again as they had gradually accepted the fact, not everyone could discard the past so quickly. Many stubborn necromancers knew that they might not be able to move forward anymore in their whole lives because their meditation environment had been destroyed completely, so they hated Felipe very, very much.
…
In a magic tower in Heidler, an old man wearing an ancient-style robe was shouting angrily, holding a newspaper in his hand, "This is impossible!"
Then, with a big bang, the man's head just exploded, and the remains of his body fell down onto the floor. At the same time, inside of the tower's secret chamber, a life box made of countless precious gems cracked, and then the same man's voice came out from the box viciously, "Luckily I got to know from Traquair that Felipe's experiment was already very close to the last step, or I would not even have the chance to resurrect through the life box… Felipe, Rogerio, Professor, Lucien Evans… Let's wait and see…"
At the same time, in a manor in Sariva, Felipe and Rogerio were sitting opposite to each other and sipping their wine. Looking at the direction of Heidler, they sneered at those old, stubborn guys in the city. Rogerio and Felipe were certain that those people had learned their lesson.
…
"I wish we could have put forward some decisive evidence, so the loss of the Hand of Paleness could be even greater." Morris sighed a bit disappointedly.
"It's not bad. We still all belong to the congress, and we don't want to see the congress suffer too much of a loss overnight." Raventi did not really care, but rather felt happy because a wrong theory had been overthrown. Then, he turned to Lucien, "Evans, seriously, did you really know nothing about Life Force Theory?"
"Yes, nothing," answered Lucien honestly, then he took out the Holm ring from Natasha, "I had finished the experiment before I arrived here."
After being recognized by Felipe, Lucien had decided to tell the senior-level people from the Will of Elements the truth, in case Felipe would threaten him with it, and also, he was too tired of hiding around as well.
Now that he was already a member of the Will of Elements, he wanted to be more straightforward.
"Professor?" Gaston was a bit surprised. As he once tried to kill Felipe because of this, he immediately connected Lucien to Professor.
Morris, looking at the ring, sighed a bit emotionally, "It reminds me of Meredith… Evans, did you start learning arcana when you were in Aalto?"
"Yes, I learned about it from a witch, and I got some materials and knowledge from her." Lucien nodded, and through his observation, he noticed that Raventi, Morris and Gaston still all looked quite calm and pleased, which showed that they would not give Lucien a hard time for hiding his identity from them for so long. After all, in order to protect himself, what Lucien did was totally understandable.
Then Lucien continued seriously, "And I've actually completed another experiment."
Chapter 230: Secret Conversation
Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Vermillion
"Evans, what's the experiment about? The artificially synthesized living substance?" Raventi's white hair was neat. He looked like a gentleman with a pair of sharp eyes, and Lucien could feel the pressure as he was being stared at.
Morris and Gaston were looking at Lucien with relaxed smiles on their faces. They were trying to guess what the man was thinking and they wanted to know if he had come up with some unusual experiments again. Lucien had brought the storm to the areas that were strongly influenced by the church and Allyn, but it was still hard to believe that he just wanted to discuss arcana problems with the senior-rank arcanists.
Lucien knew that these senior-rank arcanists had different thoughts about him, so he tried to stay calm and started explaining deliberately, "Actually, the experiment is not complete, but I have a general idea about the basics and the first experiment was done with several simple magic circles. The result met my expectation, however, the experiment environment that was built with the magic circles had too many flaws, and I don't think the result is accurate."
After submitting the paper about carbamide, Lucien borrowed the magic laboratory and completed the experiment once while waiting for Felipe to reveal the decisive evidence.
Raventi interrupted when Lucien was trying to finish the introduction, "Evans, go straight to the point."
Morris and Gaston smiled at each other as they knew that Raventi was short-tempered, his papers usually put a strong emphasis on the key points, and he hated to listen to the matters that were irrelevant to the main point.
However, they did not expect that Lucien could still talk like he did not feel the pressure from Raventi, "Alright, Mr. Raventi, I'll go to the key points now. After learning about the knowledge of arcana in Aalto, the magic experiments caught my attention, and that was the reason why I designed so many experiments, however, I'm not strong enough to prepare the high-rank magic circles, there are many experiments that I can't complete and verify. Things changed after I wandered into an abandoned magic laboratory left by an ancient sorcerer during an exploration, with the help of the magic circles and alchemy circles I found in the laboratory, I finally completed some of the experiments, including the experiment about the artificially synthesized carbamide."
"That's not the key point, Evans." Raventi was almost shouting. He was not concerned about the ruin of the ancient sorcerer unless it was a demiplane or a lost magic lock from the legendary sorcerers.
Lucien cleared his throat and continued, "Personally, I think that a human body can be created with nonliving substances after completing the experiment. A small part of the life force will be able to support their activities and the rest of the life force will be used on the soul. I don't know the details as I didn't do a lot of research in this field."
"Evans, tell me, what exactly is your experiment about?!" Raventi roared, and Morris and Gaston unconsciously backed off slightly.
Lucien did not expect Raventi's bluster to be so terrifying. The man was imposing. However, Lucien's goal had been accomplished. He did not want the three to pay too much attention to his past so he mixed the experience with the background of the experiment, only leaving a blurry impression in their mind.
"It's about an experiment that can overthrow the Life Force Theory even further. No matter if the necromancers accepted it or not, deep in their minds they already know by now that the theory was wrong. However, our biggest enemy is the Church and we can't let the necromancers recover using the chance. We need to strike them again before they can find a new theory to support them. They'll take a huge hit if we can make them lose their faith."
As a sorcerer, Lucien would not miss any chance to weaken the Church. He used some of the popular phrases from the Earth, however, they sounded a bit strange grammatically when they were translated into the universal language.
The war between the Congress of Magic and the Church would be long and complicated. Lucien had already chosen to walk the path of sorcery, so he would side with the Congress of Magic and try his best to fight against the church while increasing his power and exploring the secrets of the world.
Lucien understood that there was no way for him to win the war alone when the enemy was so strong.
Gaston stared at Lucien with his strange yellow eyes. "Again, what's the experiment? Did you and Felipe come to the agreement after being ambushed?"
One should never sneeze at an arcanist's wisdom, Gaston recalled the event and reasoned out how it happened after he confirmed that Lucien was the "Professor".
"Felipe and I are enemies and competitors, but we're not friends. Felipe wants to strike the extremists in the Hand of Paleness. For me, it's a revenge and it's also a chance to weaken the Church. However, if I successfully complete the experiment in a strictly controlled environment, the Church will do whatever they can to retaliate. I can submit my experiment to the Will of Elements but I want you to keep it a secret, also, it'll be great if you can complete the experiment and publish the result for me."
Lucien made the request with a serious expression on his face. Felipe had just attracted the haters' attention and there was no point for Lucien to share it with him.
Raventi's brow furrowed and he spoke in a loud voice, "I'd never take someone else's achievement as my own. If your experiment is guaranteed to overthrow the Life Force Theory further, I'll ask Hathaway to use the Grand Arcanist's privilege and make the author's information strictly confidential. We will inform the public that the paper is completed by the important members of the Will of Elements. You can claim the honor when you're strong enough and when you're prepared for the possible consequences but I think you'll already be an important member of the Will of Elements by then."
"I'll follow the plan just for Natasha," Morris smiled. He was happy that he did not need to craft a new Holm Crown Ring.
If Lucien's experiment could overthrow the Life Force Theory further, it would be very likely that he would share the Holm Crown Prize and the Immortal Throne Award with Felipe. Although the prize and reward were used to honor the sorcerers who made great contributions, the true purpose was to award their research results.
Morris felt much better since it seemed like Lucien would temporarily give up the glory.
"Wise decision, Evans. I suggest that you should spend some time improving your sorcery skills after completing the project and reflect the result of the research on your spells. You won't be able to complete a lot of exploration experiments without enough power in the world of sorcery."
Gaston slightly raised his head, staring at Raventi and Morris. "We and Hathaway should be the only four people that know about this. You shall not tell your students, wives, companion pets, or summoned creatures. If someone else finds out about this, it means one of us is a spy of the Church…"
Hathaway was studying the divine spells of nature in a secret location in Sariva town and nodded at Lucien. "Alright, Evans, tell me about your experiment."
Lucien stopped saying random things and started explaining the experiment design in a serious tone, "There are many tales describing the start of the world in the ancient magic empire. There were descriptions of the bizarre environment, such as the horrifying flood, the nonstop lightning, and the extremely high temperature. Also, the holy code of the church has similar epic records, however, the God of Truth resolved the environmental problem and created the human beings. My experiment aims to simulate such environment while adding different types of gases into it and I want to know what will happen. I saw that a source of life was created after introducing one group of gas into the environment…"
In the Congress of Magic, the necromancers had a deep understanding of the human body. In the living substances that they defined, the protein was considered as the footstone of living beings and the amino acids that constituted the proteins were considered as the sources of life. Lucien avoided the environmental design flaw of the Miller experiment by comparing the different gas groups since no one did any research about the initial environment of the world. He did not design the experiment to study the origin of life, he just wanted to overthrow the Life Force Theory and he did not care how the church would percept it.
The room remained silent for a while and Raventi finally spoke in a low voice, it almost sounded like he was roaring again, "What group of gas are you talking about?!"
No matter how much a society could develop, no matter if there was magic or not, no matter if there was God or not, the same questions would be bothering the intelligent beings for a long time before they had a clear idea of the world's origin: "Who am I? Where did we come from? If God created everything, where did God come from?"
…
Felipe published his decisive experiment and the brief reports were filled up with the slightly adjusted necromantic sorcery in the next several days. He was trying to prove that the Life Force Theory was wrong using the reverse method on his paper.
The necromancers that were willing to change started rebuilding their perceptual world and the extremists remained silent. They were not saying anything regarding the new discovery anymore.
Felipe had received the second article invitation letter from Arcana journal and he was praised by the important members of the Hand of Paleness, such as Pesor. Also, most of the necromancers thought that it was highly likely that Felipe would become the next legendary archmage.
Felipe was being protected by many archmages and senior-rank sorcerers in Sariva. He received the notification from the Affairs Committee on Friday morning:
"Due to the significant contribution of Lucien Evans to the research project, we have confirmed that there are several alchemical substances that can help plants grow. We will be trying the alchemy substances with the plants in the next step and the divine spells of the druids will no longer be involved. The mission has been completed! Arcanists, please go to the Sariva mansion to claim the proof of completing the mission at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Also, we will be holding a conclusive discussion about the mission there."
After receiving the notification, the arcanists finally realized that their purpose was to develop a universal food growth increase plan here. They should not be discussing the Life Force Theory and they completely forgot about it in the last five or six days.
The arcanists started cleaning the magic laboratory and they wanted to have some rest in the morning before heading to the Sariva mansion.
…
In the Radiance Church of Holm.
"Nicolay, Walter, are you ready to sacrifice yourselves for God?" Varantine was questioning the two selected night watchers in a serious tone.
Chapter 231: Opening
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
Both Nicolay and Walter were both originally devout dervishes, and later they joined the Night Watch for some reasons. Right now, both of them were level five pastors. One was the leader of a night watcher team from Holm, and the other was from another night watcher team called Hammer, belonging to the Lance Inquisition. Both Nicolay and Walter were particularly fanatical and steadfast in their faith, and this was why Varantine called them in, as whoever took the mission was basically doomed to die.
"Lord Varantine, I'm all the time prepared to sacrifice my life to defend the glory of God. Death is not the end, and there's an eternal wonderland behind the gate of Mountain Paradise." Nicolay knelt down on one knee and crossed himself.
He was a tough, middle-aged man, dressed in a simple white robe. He had no wife, no children and zero possessions, as he had devoted everything to the God of Truth.
Although Walter, a man with brown hair, looked younger than Nicolay, his blue eyes showed that he had experienced a lot, "Lord Varantine, there's nothing to be afraid of when facing death. What is truly dreadful is to lose faith in God, as it's like being trapped in hell forever. If we die, Lord Varantine, we're just going back into the arms of our all-mighty God."
"Great. Your devotion to the Lord is noble, and I can feel the joy of the Lord. The gate of Mountain Paradise will always be open to you, and if you can come back alive from this mission, I will take you two to see the Pope in the Holy City to have his blessing, and you two will become senior-rank cardinals."
Feeling touched by the two night watchers' devotion, Varantine spoke highly of the two and promised them a lot, "You major target in this mission is Felipe Carneiro, who now ranks ninety-first on the Cleansing List. Besides him, your second target is Lucien Evans X, but always focus on killing Felipe as he is your top priority. As Lucien Evans X is right now under the protection of a few archmages and senior-rank sorcerers, don't sacrifice your life for him if you two get a chance to escape."
"All blasphemers must be cleared!" Nicolay and Walter replied loudly.
On the other side, Vaharall solemnly brought out a silver sword, which, despite its ordinary look, actually had great power in it, "This is a replica of the divine item, Sword of Truth, from Holm parish, and its power partially comes from the true sword. It can cut off any connections between a sorcerer and the person's magic items, including one's life box or soul container. As Felipe's a necromancer, we have to use it to really kill him."
The reason why the Blessing of the Hoffenberg family was also called Sword of Truth was that the Hoffenbergs enjoyed the same power.
Under no circunstance would the cardinals allow the two night watchers to take the legendary weapon, as losing the sword was the last thing the cardinals wanted to see. Therefore, three legendary saint cardinals spent several days on duplicating the sword with all kinds of magic circles, materials and their own power, and the power of the replica could be used once.
Letting Nicolay take over the sword, Vaharall said to them, "An old sorcerer whose name's Vern will put you two in the manor in Sariva where Felipe is. Be patient, and you two will certainly kill Felipe."
Vern was a level four arcanist, level five sorcerer. When he was younger, he actually accomplished a lot, and he also killed quite a few night watchers. However, as he got older, his progress in arcana slowed down and finally stopped. Vern got lost.
Vern was lost within so many fundamental questions that he asked himself — where did life come from? How magic power was born? How and where soul was originally born? As he could not find any answers in arcana, he gradually turned himself into a devout follower of God.
Therefore, only Vern would accept the task of putting two night watchers in the place where one of the most important geniuses of the Congress of Magic lived. For other traitors, no matter what reasons that made them willing to work with the Church, they didn't dare to do this.
Nicolay and Walter stood up, crossing in front of their chests, "Only truth lives forever!"
"Only truth lives forever!" Varantine and Vaharall repeated and then watched the two night watchers leaving.
Vaharall sighed, "They are the Lord's good servants. They're so devout that they should not be sacrificed. And it took us a lot of work to have a sorcerer who's willing to work for us in Allyn. This task will bring great loss to us."
"Our loss will be compensated." Varantine closed his eyes, looking rather serious, "This is not sacrifice, but dedication."
…
"Good afternoon, Mr. Felipe."
"Mr. Felipe…"
Outside of the manor, when seeing Felipe, who was in his black long jacket as usual, walking towards them, several middle-rank necromancers all greeted him with sincere respect.
Felipe was the only one, except those grand arcanists and legendary sorcerers, who could hopefully win Immortal Throne again, and possibly Holm Crown prize as well. Although his previous research studying the cell memory was also something very insightful and helpful, it was not even close to the study that completely overthrew Life Force Theory, the cornerstone of the school of Necromancy.
However, of course there were also many, many necromancers who hated Felipe so much that they wanted to turn him into their husk. In contrast, most arcanists from the Will of Elements were quite regretful as they wished that it was an elemental sorcerer who discovered the truth.
Facing a lot of attention, Felipe was very calm and confident. After slightly nodding to the necromancers, he headed toward the main hall of the manor, following Rogerio and other senior-rank arcanists.
Before entering the hall, Felipe took a glance at another direction, where Lucien was walking out of his house. The corner of Felipe's mouth curled a bit, and a gloomy smile appeared on his face, as if he was saying, "Good job, Mr. Professor."
Obviously, Felipe was pretty happy with the outcome of his plan. Although so far there was no necromancer who got his or her head exploded because of the new theory, many stubborn old guys in the school of Necromancy were definitely going be trapped within their arcana study for a long time.
Before Lucien reacted, Felipe walked into the hall directly. Surprisingly, a half-raised stage was built in the center of the hall. On the stage, there was an alchemical operation platform and a whole set of lab equipment surrounded by many powerful magic circles.
A few glass tubes and pipes and two glass bottles together built up a closed system with inner circulation function, and the whole thing looked mysterious and beautiful.
"What's going on here?" Felipe was a bit surprised. He thought that they were here to discuss their project with the druids.
"What do they want to do…? Those people from the Will of Elements…" Feeling rather suspicious, Felipe sat down in the middle of the row behind Rogerio and Pesor.
"You've got any ideas what is going on here?" Rogerio asked Pesor, the member of Arcana Review Board.
Pesor nodded, "No idea. The meeting at the end of the project was suggested by Gaston."
He did not really care, as there was no way that the elemental sorcerers could put forward another overturning research finding that could hurt the foundation of the school of Necromancy after what happened to Life Force Theory, and it was almost impossible for one to overthrow the other fundamental theories in the school of Necromancy since they were just too abstract to be comprehended by human beings.
At this time, Lucien, together with Raventi, Gaston, LockLynn and other sorcerers from the Will of Elements, also entered the hall and sat down on the other side.
"Morris? Why is he here?" Tina-Timos lifted her eyebrow.
Morris was not in this research project. She wondered why Morris showed up today.
"He must be interested in the discussion over Life Force Theory as well, just like me." Rogerio did not see anything special with Morris's appearance.
At two in the afternoon, all the arcanists involved in the project were present. Meanwhile, as the representatives of druids, Iristine and Arcelion also arrived. Because Malfurion had given up the effort of working with the grand arcanists to study nature divine power, the druids were now suffering way less pressure from the forests.
Upstairs, Malfurion and several grand arcanists were also staring at the stage from a demiplane space.
"Hathaway, why do you want us to be here?" asked Thanatos, who was sitting in a fancy armchair. Although the school of Necromancy still suffered quite a bit loss, he was relieved that most necromancers had so far withstood the difficulty brought by Life Force Theory being overturned.
"To watch an experiment, simple but powerful enough to shake the foundation of the Church," responded Hathaway without turning her head. Her silvery-gray eyes were staring at the stage, "Sometimes we are trapped because we think in a too sophisticated way, but the truth might not be like this, actually. And maybe this is the same with nature divine power."
Hearing Hathaway's words, the president of the Congress, Douglas, who suspended his experiment to come here, and the vice president, Brook, all looked very serious.
Except for the Witch of Iceland and the Hand of Annihilation, who could not make it, the rest of the grand arcanists were all there.
…
Raventi, in his gray robe, came onto the stage and stood behind the whole set of equipment. Then, he said loudly, "The great discussion over the validity of Life Force Theory has inspired us, senior-rank elemental sorcerers from the Will of Elements. Combing the inspiration with legends, they've designed a wonderful experiment. Ladies and gentlemen, as the experiment is probably going to take a long time, let's discuss the project findings while waiting for the experiment outcome."
Seeing Raventi was being very serious, many arcanists started to feel very curious.
What was this experiment?
Chapter 232: Why
Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Vermillion
Raventi stood behind the lab equipment, being stared at by many arcanists. He wasted no time and went straight to the point, "In the tales told by the intelligent beings like the elves, the dragons, and the human beings, the start of the world is similar: lightnings, thunders, volcano eruptions, and floods. We all hate the Church but there are similar descriptions in their Holy Bible. Some arcanists from the Will of Elements were enlightened by the argument about the possibility of artificially synthesized living substances, and they wondered if we could simulate such environment. Why don't we try and see if anything will happen within that environment?"
Although Raventi was speaking slowly in a deep tone, the people in the room all knew that he was excited.
Felipe nodded slightly and it seemed he was thinking about something. "High-temperature and lightning… Will methane and carbamide appear naturally under such environment? Applying the artificial synthetization method that was validated under strict experimental environment to the natural environment? It'll definitely overthrow the Life Force Theory further and the Church will be hit harder. However, who came up with this? Was it Professor or just the important members of Will of Elements? Also, according to what Mr. Raventi just said, it seems the experiment already succeeded."
While he thought about it, he turned to Lucien. Felipe noticed that Lucien was listening to the speech with a serious expression on his face, so it seemedthe man was not familiar with the content of the experiment. "It's probably someone else. If Lucien had such a decisive result, he'd submit it before I knew it."
Other arcanists all had similar thoughts as it was their main point through the discussion. Also, Raventi actually mentioned where the experiment came from, so they started discussing and whispering.
"Why will there be life ingredients?"
"Well, I think it's the methane. It can be found wherever there is a volcano eruption. However, it's said that the methane is produced by the rotten plants underground and they appeared due to the volcano activity."
"So, it's not about the plants or other living beings anymore, it's now produced by the natural and original environment?"
The arcanists could not stop discussing. Walter and Nicolay were waiting for orders just like other servants outside the door. They tried their best to calm down so the senior-rank arcanists would not notice their anger.
"Those evil sorcerers that defile God want to walk even further in the God's field! It's all Felipe's fault! This blasphemer! We must purify him!"
The two hid their divine aura and power using some special divine items, they looked just like normal human beings. They sneaked into the mansion half a day earlier with the help of the old sorcerer Vern and they were waiting in the chilling wind of the Spring by the door with the other servants.
They could only take the hot water and towels into the room when the apprentices ordered them to.
They heard the experiment introduction from Raventi before they could find the chance. They almost lost control and sacrificed themselves for God.
"Quiet, please, everyone!" Raventi's loud voice stopped the arcanists from whispering.
Raventi glanced around and continued, "Based on the analysis done with the gas around the volcano eruption and the analysis of elements in the life ingredients, we'll send the pure water, hydrogen, methane, and ammonia into the experiment device."
"The methane can be artificially synthesized by burning the carbon and combining the obtained gas with hydrogen, also, a catalyzer will be needed… The ratio of the gases was selected by comparing the results from multiple controlled experiments."
Tina-Timos, Felipe, and the other arcanists watched Raventi starting the alchemy circle, preparing to artificially synthesize the ammonia and methane, but they had no idea what substance Raventi was trying to create.
The experiment on artificially synthesized methane alone could be used as an evidence to overthrow the Life Force Theory, but Raventi's acted like he was just preparing some normal substance in a magic lab.
The place was silent and the arcanists were confused. Raventi calmly synthesized the gas step by step.
"Methane can now be prepared with nonliving substances, it's no longer the production of rotten bodies and gems…" Many necromancers sighed in their minds after seeing Raventi calmly combine the prepared gas with the hydrogen using a certain ratio and send them into the glass bottle on the top left corner of the experiment device. It had been only one week and their old ideas were simply overthrown.
Raventi used his own magic circle to make sure that there was no other gas in the container before sending the product in, he also asked Pesor and Felipe to double check that the procedure was correct, so the result of the experiment was trustworthy.
Raventi's serious attitude made the arcanists even more curious about the result. He then injected the pure water he obtained from burning the hydrogen with oxygen to the glass bottle on the bottom left corner.
"Alright, the experimental environment and the materials are prepared, you can find everything in the natural environment. Let's start the formal experiment now."
"This is a simulation of lightning." Raventi activated the magic circle and electric pulses appeared in the bottle on the top left corner. "This is a simulation of the high temperature from the volcano eruption and the flood," Raventi explained as he activated the alchemy circle around the glass bottle in the bottom right corner.
He then opened the tap on the pipe and connected the whole experiment device. The pure water in the glass bottle on the bottom right corner evaporated and entered the glass bottle in the top left corner, contacting the mixed gases. Also, after the product was affected by the constant lightning for a while, the naturally condensed water returned to the glass bottle that was full of pure water by going through the pipe and the other experiment equipment on the bottom.
Raventi stepped away from the platform and activated the defensive magic circle around after he saw that the loop was stabilized. "This will take about one week and I'll activate the magic circle now. Also, arcanists, please set up your unique magic imprints around the circle so no one can interrupt the experiment during this period.
"One week? What are you going to do with it?" The arcanists simply did not understand the purpose of the experiment.
"Why does it take so long? Don't tell me a child will be born at the end." Timothy was joking, he looked urbane with the gold-wired glasses.
Necromancers knew that it was a joke and they were not concerned. Refining the human body parts was extremely complicated, the soul was a problem, and it would be hard for the complicated life ingredients to be created. The experiment looked simple and they could not believe that the product would be high quality.
Raventi slightly raised his head, and there was a serious expression on his face. "Yes, it'll take about one week and we can use the time to discuss if the alchemical ingredients can help plants grow. There are enough rooms for you in the four upper levels of this main building. Also, you can use the other buildings behind this one if you need to. Futhermore, please make sure that this experiment is running individually and objectively."
Pesor, Rogerio, and several other confused necromancers messaged the Lord of the Undead, then agreed to Raventi's request. They also wanted to know what the primitive environment simulation experiment could prove.
Arcelion and Iristine were sitting beside Lucien. They were interested in nature and the primitive environment, however, they barely knew anything about the magic experiment, and they had no idea what the primitive environment simulation experiment was about. Their curiosity forced them to put down the hatred and they looked at Lucien. "Mr. Evans, we know that the senior-rank arcanists of Will of Elements designed the experiment, but what are they trying to prove?"
"According to Mr. Raventi's words, the experiment is trying to prove that simple life ingredients will appear in the natural environment and the Life Force Theory will be overthrown further."
Out of habit, Iristine was rubbing her pink lips with the right index finger as she thought. The druid agreed that there was a huge difference between a living organism and a nonliving one, however, the arguments from the sorcerers had slowly changed her opinion in the last several days. "Under the natural environment, huh? It sounds good."
"The primitive nature? Without the help of God?" Arcelion was a bit confused. He was thinking in a druid's way.
Nicolay and Walter were waiting outside the door nervously, and they had two plans in mind. The first plan was to strike Felipe in surprise when they were allowed to enter the room and they were able to walk by him. If the old sorcerer Vern could not help them get the chance, they would have to use the second plan, which was waiting for the sorcerers to finish the discussion and ambush Felipe when he left the room.
They did not expect the conference to last for a whole week. The longer they stayed there, the easier they would be detected by the others.
They still had hope, as if Felipe was provided with a room in another building, he would still have to leave the hall and they would have the chance to attack him after that.
Vern was sitting in the front of the hall. He rubbed his white beard with a serious expression on his face. If the chance did not come by itself, he would have to create one, but it seemed there was nothing he could for the day.
Raventi waited for the arcanists to finish the discussion and said, "Our research cooperation with the druids went well this time. The three alchemical ingredients submitted by Lucien Evans were all validated. Those ingredients can help the plants grow and it's an important discovery for all the countries that are controlled by human beings."
"The experiment has entered an observation period without the effect from the druids' divine spells and it'll take four to five months for it to be completed, so we'll start discussing the other possible alchemical ingredients that might help the plants grow first. Also, we need to find the simplified reactions to those ingredients so we can mass produce them. Now, let's ask Evans to share how he got the results with us."
Everyone was clapping, most of the arcanists knew that if Lucien did not artificially synthesize the carbamide, Felipe would never try to overthrow the Life Force Theory. Although the decisive result was lacking, it was still a respectable move.
Some of the necromances glared at Lucien with hatred in their eyes as the man walked to the platform. They were having trouble meditating due to the interruption of their meditation worlds, but none of them had the intention to kill Lucien. It was Felipe who overthrew the Life Force Theory, so they would go after him first before going after anyone else.
Lucien cleared his throat and started explaining the procedure of the experiment in a gentle tone. Most of the controlled experiments were validated by elves like Iristine and sorcerers like Theodore. There was no problem with the experiment design, and although some of the data was changed by them, Lucien changed it back after reasoning it out.
Everyone clapped again as Lucien finished the speech and they thought he would return to his seat. However, Lucien used a hand gesture to ask the arcanists to quiet down.
Lucien's expression turned serious as the arcanists stared at him, looking confused.
"I think you have already noticed one thing through the experiments you did and the paper I submitted. The elements that can help the plants grow are all inside the alchemical ingredients that are soluble in water, that's how they absorbed by the plants."
"That's obvious, isn't it? Plants need water and sunlight to grow, so only the substances that are soluble in water can be absorbed. I think most of the arcanists will notice this point after failing the experiments several times. Mr. Evans, you've just discovered it slightly ahead of us," an arcanist spoke in a disappointed tone. He was good at both soul and element magic, so he was impacted by the matter of the Life Force Theory.
A mysterious smile appeared on Lucien's handsome face. "I have some questions for you, if it's that obvious. Why can the substances only be absorbed when they're dissolved in the water? What can't the particles that are floating in the water have the same effect? Plants do need water and sunlight, but there is no evidence proving that water is just a transportation tool. Why is an alchemical substance so different before and after being dissolved in water? For the last point, I think the arcanists here all noticed similar situations in some other experiments, but why?"
The questions made the arcanists' heads dizzy, they recalled the experiments they did, and they realized that what Lucien just mentioned was actually there. For example, the conductivity of salt changed dramatically after it was dissolved in the water. However, such situations were so simple that people thought they were just common sense.
Lucien stepped down the platform after asking all those questions. He left the rest of the time for the arcanists to discuss.
"Evans, again? I remember you asked a series of questions after the periodic table was validated, just like president Douglas." A sentimental smile appeared on Larry's round face. "You're good at finding the important problems and it's surprising, there are so many things I can learn from you."
Timothy pushed his gold-wired glasses and started joking before Lucien could say anything, "Evans, I think I have several decent nicknames that fit you well, such as, 'Evans the Whybringer' or just 'Question Asker', what do you think?"
"I'm not impressed. Also, my name is in the first one, so it's not a good nickname." Lucien shook his head and walked past them, heading to the seat in the center.
Timothy chuckled, "Evans, what is a good nickname for you then?"
"One Hundred Thousand Whys…" Lucien sat down with a blank expression on his face.
…
In the space of the demiplane, the Lord of Storm smiled.
"So many questions," he turned around and said, glaring at the president of the Congress of Magic, Douglas.
Douglas noticed that the Lord of Storm was looking at him and thus he shifted his sight away from the experiment device. Douglas was trying to simulate the experiment in his meditation space and find the possible results, but he did not pay too much attention to the things that happened after, and he looked at Lord of Storm in confusion.
"One Hundred Thousand Whys," Lord of Storm spoke in a low voice.
Douglas had no idea what the Lord of Storm was talking about. "What?"
…
The arcanists had another thing to discuss thanks to Lucien's questions. There were people giving speeches at the platform from time to time, and they also completed several experiments using the other alchemy platforms. Some were giving hypothesis but they were proved wrong quickly. Time flew.
Lucien and Felipe were assigned rooms on the upper levels of the main building. Their servants were selected from the apprentices, so Nicolay and Walter had no way to sneak in. Vern almost tried to finish the job by himself but he was assigned to other buildings.
Nicolay and Walter had several chances to enter the hall but Felipe and Lucien were carefully sitting in the center of the hall, among many other arcanists. The water they drank was prepared by themselves so it was impossible to kill them by poison or surprise attack, and thus Nicolay and Walter were very disappointed about the situation. However, they were not detected by any senior-rank arcanists and they thought the divine items were extremely effective.
The week was ending but they had no chance to touch Lucien or Felipe. The old sorcerer Vern was getting nervous. The elemental sorcerer would not be able to assist Nicolay and Walter after Felipe returned to Heidler City.