Download Chereads APP
Chereads App StoreGoogle Play
Chereads

The Throne of Alchemy

ZhengYu
7
chs / week
The average realized release rate over the past 30 days is 7 chs / week.
--
NOT RATINGS
717
Views
VIEW MORE

Chapter 1 - Prologue: The Day of Descend

The Tiangong Empire, a territory known as the "Divine Realm", hides endless cruelty and sin. Above the towering palace, the ivory-white walls are like sharp blades, cutting the blue sky. Under the magnificent appearance, the entire empire is like a bottomless hell, devouring thousands of lives.

In this land, people are divided into different classes. The highest is naturally the royal family, followed by many prominent nobles, who live in magnificent palaces and have countless wealth and power. Further down are the so-called "useful people", including officials, businessmen, and craftsmen. Although these people cannot access the real power center, they can at least live a decent life. As for the mud people at the bottom, even living seems redundant.

Mud people are the lowest existence in the empire and the most despised and oppressed group. They are deprived of all rights and are not even regarded as human beings. Their living place, the underground city, is located deep in the abyss under the surface of the earth and never sees the sun all year round. This is a place of eternal darkness, where the dim light of torches illuminates the damp stone walls, and the air is filled with the smell of corruption and ore dust. From the moment they are born, the Mud People are thrown into endless labor. Their task is to mine the empire's most precious resource: Tianjing Ore, which is the source of the power and wealth of the Tiangong Empire and is regarded as the lifeblood of the empire. The lowest class of people do not even deserve the name of human. They are called "Mud People", as lowly, dirty and insignificant as mud. Mud People work underground all day long, in a dark world without light, and the air is filled with the smell of ore and decay. Their palms are cracked due to years of mining ore, and blood flows down the rough stone walls, mixed with sweat. They cannot rest, and even a moment of respite will lead to whipping. Almost no one is spared from the whipped flesh and cracked wounds.

The food of the mud people is "pig and dog feed" in the eyes of the upper class - moldy dough, bloody bones, and even rotten leftovers. There is no food supply in the underground city, and the mud people can only survive on the leftovers discarded by the nobles. And these so-called "food" are usually moldy leftovers, or even bones left by dogs. Every meal needs to be fought for, and if you are a little slower, you may starve to death. However, even such a lingering breath is not allowed to last too long. The mud people in the underground city often die of overwork or malnutrition within a few years. Those fallen bodies are not picked up, but only piled up in the corner at random, and turned into smelly mud as time goes by.

The extravagant style of the imperial nobles is another glaring contrast: the delicacies on the table are often ignored, and the remaining food would rather be fed to dogs than to the mud people. Day after day, countless mud people fell down due to overwork and hunger, and their bodies were piled up at random, becoming a rotten hill.

And all these sins are dominated by the golden palace. The emperor of the Heavenly Palace, known as "Hao Huang", is the source of all evil. He is famous for his debauchery and immorality. Whenever he conquers an empire, the "celebration" after the war is an extremely bloody feast. He slaughters the captured subjects like livestock and roasts them over charcoal fire, while the nobles around the table drink and enjoy the delicious taste of human flesh.

Hao Huang is particularly fond of women, but he regards women as playthings. Deep in his harem, there is a "puppet palace" where the women he used to play with are displayed - these women have long lost their vitality, but they are made into specimens by Hao Huang in a special way, with charming and twisted postures, and are placed in the palace for his appreciation. He is even famous for this fetish on the battlefield. Every time he conquers a country, he will tie several beautiful women to the chariot for his pleasure anytime and anywhere. What's even more outrageous is that Hao Huang never carries food and grass with the army. Only when he is hungry, he will cut open these beauties and cook them, and share the bloody feast with his noble confidants.

Every inch of the Tiangong Empire is soaked in blood and tears, but under this darkness, there is still a glimmer of light that has not been annihilated, that is the hope and anger that still exists in the hearts of the people. One day, this resentment buried in the abyss will burn all injustice like a raging flame.

____

The long river of history surges like a raging wave, and the destruction of the Tiangong Empire is the most shocking page in many eras. It was a catastrophe beyond human cognition. Countless civilizations united to launch an unprecedented war against this supreme divine domain. The flames of war burned not only the territory, but also the infinite world and endless time and space.

At first, it was a rebellion on the border, as insignificant as dust, but the storm gathered from afar, and indescribable enemies emerged from the cracks in the void. They are outer gods, world beasts, and the supreme beings that were once silent in the perfect world-each of them is an independent world, and each of them carries the destructive instinct of all things. These enemies are silent, but they cover the borders of the Tiangong Empire. Their bodies are so huge that they cannot be counted. Their heads tower into the void of the universe, and their torsos hang into the abyss. Every step they take turns the world into dust; every whisper turns back time and collapses history.

Then there is the coalition. Powerful men, legions, and civilizations from countless dimensions, former enemies, now temporarily join hands for a common goal. Their flags flutter in the boundless void, shining like burning stars, illuminating the darkness. Among these warriors, there are spirits burning with endless will, star giants standing in armor, and races that use the entire world as a ship to cross time and space. They shout different languages, but they all hate the oppression and plunder of the Tiangong Empire.

The moment the war broke out, the heavens were in turmoil, and time and space were distorted. The border of the Tiangong Empire turned into scorched earth, and the walls that were once as tall as a sharp blade collapsed in the roar of flames and thunder. The empire's army moved like a storm, their magic weapons were forged from the flesh and blood of countless creatures; their warships were suspended in the sea of ​​stars, emitting the brilliance of destroying the realm. However, even such a powerful force seemed insignificant in the tide of the enemy.

The mountain-like bodies of the world beasts crushed the empire's defenses, their claws tore the sky, and their blood dripped into scarlet rain, corroding the earth into black scorched earth. One by one, the world beasts roared in the void, their roars were the trembling of the universe, and the sound waves shattered the formation of the empire's army. At the same time, the outer gods descended in an indescribable form. They had no specific bodies, but every look was like billions of sharp blades, piercing into the depths of the souls of living beings and turning them into ashes.

And the deeper fear came from the perfect world of the coalition forces. It was an incomprehensible existence-pieces of complete world, like huge and complex gears, interlaced to crush the territory of the Tiangong Empire. Each perfect world has its own rules and order. During the collision, the empire's territory was torn to pieces. The once towering palace turned into smoke and dust; the once glorious power center collapsed in an instant under the pressure of these worlds.

At that moment, the fate of the empire was doomed.

The war spread to every inch of the empire. The high-ranking royal family and nobles fled in the flames. The magnificent palace was torn apart by the tentacles of the outer gods. The wailing and wailing of the mud people became the last echo. The sky crystal vein collapsed. The resources that once made the whole world crazy are now nothing more than useless debris in the ruins.

At the end of this war beyond time and space, the Tiangong Empire was completely destroyed.

____

The night shrouded the ruins of the Tiangong Empire, and the broken walls looked even more hideous under the firelight. The air was filled with the smell of blood and ashes, and the once glorious palace had turned into a wasteland. Suddenly, a crack in the darkness appeared in the sky, like a crack cut by a sharp blade, dark and lightless, as if it was going to swallow everything. A low sound of wind came from the crack, accompanied by an indescribable force, which almost solidified the surrounding air. Caesar stood quietly in the ruins, his robe fluttering slightly in the residual wind, and his eyes swept coldly across the land that once belonged to him. Then, he stepped into the endless darkness without hesitation.

There was no sound inside the wormhole, and the darkness around was so deep that it was difficult to tell the direction. Caesar's steps were steady as usual, and his body seemed to be integrated with the chaos. The concept of time completely disappeared here, as if it was a moment, and as if it was ten thousand years. Suddenly, a square black box in the air emerged from the crack, and the surface of the box was covered with intricate runes. These symbols were deep and ancient, flashing with faint light, and every line seemed to contain endless secrets, as if it could see through everything. The luster of the rune made it impossible to look directly at it, but it was impossible to look away. It seemed to be summoning some kind of sacred existence, making people want to bow down and worship it involuntarily. Caesar reached out and gently touched the box. The rune lit up instantly, tearing the barrier of space. As the box emitted a low humming sound, his figure was pushed out by a powerful force, and the darkness quickly collapsed into countless fragments. With it, there was an indescribable huge pressure, as if the whole world was shaking. Accompanied by a low humming sound, Caesar's figure was swallowed into the dark space crack.

When Caesar appeared in reality again, his figure had appeared in a hidden mine. The air in the mine was damp and dull, with the smell of ore dust. The ground was full of mud and gravel, and occasionally abandoned tools and broken wooden barrels could be seen. Several oil lamps lit with animal fat emitted a faint light on the cave wall. The light swayed, stretching the shadows deep in the cave into hideous and long ones. Caesar's arrival was without any signs, without a sound. His footsteps landed lightly on the ground without making any sound, but the sense of presence that could not be ignored made the entire mine seem a little colder.

A miner boy about fourteen or fifteen years old leaned against a corner of the mine, the hammer in his hand was worn and rusty. He heard a subtle sound coming from not far away, and turned his head to see a strange man standing in the shadow that was not fully illuminated by the lights. The boy blinked, raised his dirty hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead, and spoke with caution and a bit of timidity: "Are you... a new slave?" As he spoke, his calves couldn't help but shrink back slightly, obviously not daring to approach this person who seemed to appear suddenly.

Caesar smiled slightly, nodded, and didn't say much. His movements were gentle, but with an indescribable calmness. He walked slowly into the depths of the mine, his eyes swept over the miners who were working. Everyone's face was full of fatigue, and their bodies were covered with sweat and dust. Some people were panting, wiping the dirt on their cheeks with their sleeves, revealing their hands that were slightly trembling due to fatigue. Caesar looked very carefully, his eyes calm as water.

A man standing a little further away frowned and looked over. He was the supervisor of the mine, with a tattered cloth on his shoulder and a stained whip in his hand. He stared at Caesar up and down, and said impatiently: "Where did you come from? I didn't hear that there were new goods delivered today!" As he said that, he slowly approached, and his footsteps made a "click-click" sound in the mud.

Caesar lowered his eyebrows and put his hands on his sides, bent down slightly, and his tone was so humble that it was impeccable: "Sorry, I am a laborer who has just been assigned here, and I didn't know I had to report first." His voice was steady with a bit of humility, and his expression showed a little panic just right.

After hearing this, the supervisor relaxed a little, but still warned: "Don't be lazy when working. If I see you slacking off, I'll whip you!" He said, raising the whip in his hand with a casual gesture of showing off. The end of the whip hit the wall, making a crisp "snap" sound, which made several nearby children shrink their necks subconsciously.

Caesar nodded, apologized in a low voice, and then said no more. He walked to a corner, picked up a seemingly discarded pickaxe, and began to dig smoothly. The sound of iron hitting rocks mixed into the already noisy environment in the mine, and almost no one noticed his existence.

Time passed little by little, and Caesar's movements were always orderly. His figure blended into this dark and damp mine, no different from those dirty slaves. Only those who occasionally passed by him could feel the indescribable calm atmosphere-an existence that was completely inconsistent with this dirty hell.