Chapter 536: Philosopher's Stone

Duran stood frozen in place.

Those jewel-like deep blue eyes reflected everything in the cathedral, his face filled with disbelief!

The original statue of the God of Truth in the cathedral had been reduced to rubble. This magnificent building, seven or eight stories high, was now piled high with countless rare metal materials, and gold covered the ground, illuminating the entire cathedral.

But none of this shocked Duran as much as the mercury moon hanging in mid-air. As the ripples on the mercury surface spread wildly, the sphere was constantly undergoing material conversion...

Duran could feel that within half a second of a ripple spreading, at least three hundred types of materials appeared out of thin air—including metals, non-metals, organic matter, and even complex composite materials that Duran couldn't even perceive. At the same time, nearly a thousand substances disappeared and transformed. It was like a sphere of creation that had blended everything together!

"Wuji Jun??" Duran said in shock. "Wuji Jun has awakened? Doesn't that mean the Wuji Domain..."

"Don't worry, Wuji Jun’s state is more stable than you think."

Brand walked forward, knelt on one knee before the mercury moon, lowered his head, and said respectfully:

"Lord Wuji Jun, I have brought him... This is Duran, the most talented young man in the 【Alchemy】 path. With him joining us, our efficiency might increase significantly."

As Brand finished speaking, the mercury moon, full of ripples, suddenly began to churn violently. A giant eyeball emerged from within, seemingly made of some glass-like material, looking down indifferently at Duran at the entrance.

The moment he was stared at by this eye, a sense of pressure descended upon Duran’s heart. His brow furrowed involuntarily, and his deep blue eyes were instinctively vigilant.

"Duran, do you know what Wuji Jun’s authority is?" Brand turned back to look at Duran.

"...What?"

Brand smiled slightly. He stood up from the ground and spoke to the mercury sphere as if praying: "Lord Wuji Jun, please show your great power to your ignorant, naive believer."

The next moment, eerie palms extended from the mercury sphere. These palms were slender and delicate, shimmering with a silver metallic luster, like perfect works of art... But as thousands of them extended simultaneously, they looked like dense mercury snakes slithering through the void, making one’s scalp tingle involuntarily.

These palms stretched out dozens of meters, grabbing things randomly within the cathedral—some were rubble from the corner, some were wooden chair legs, some were handfuls of soil, some were water droplets falling from the sky, and a few even began to grasp at the air, as if catching dust in the wind...

These thousands of mercury hands, each holding different substances, clenched simultaneously. When they opened again, the substances within had changed.

Berkelium (Bk), Fermium (Fm), Californium (Cf), Helium-3 (He-3), Uranium-235, Plutonium (Pu)...

Countless rare elements were held lightly in the palms of the mercury hands. Some were ultra-rare elements that humans had discovered but were extremely difficult to obtain; others were elements humans didn't even know existed. And they were all transformed from countless common materials...

Thousands of mercury hands held countless rare elements, like a god holding the authority over all material substances, descending upon the mortal world.

As these palms rubbed together casually, several materials fused and reacted under its control, and a fist-sized scorching sun bloomed in the center of the cathedral. Nuclear fission and fusion, which humans spent vast amounts of manpower and resources to achieve, were done with a simple rub.

An artificial sun hung high in the cathedral. Under Duran’s dumbfounded gaze, Brand laughed loudly:

"How about that?! Isn't it ironic?"

"The peak of alchemy we spent our whole lives pursuing, the 【Alchemy】 path we tread upon, the laws of material conversion we believe in—they are all just toys in the hands of Lord Wuji Jun! What bullshit equivalent exchange! What bullshit complex formulas! It’s all fucking nonsense!!!"

Amidst Brand’s near-manic laughter, Duran gradually realized the reality. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down:

"The authority of the Nine Sovereigns is inherently beyond cognition... but I don't understand, why is Wuji Jun in this form?"

"Because Wuji Jun is undergoing a metamorphosis," Brand said. "He is attempting to create a new body, to break free from the lifespan limitations of carbon-based life, and to pursue immortality."

"Human transmutation?" Duran paused, then shook his head. "No... human transmutation is creating a human body from nothing. He wants to create a body that transcends organic structures... But how is that possible? Creating a composite body that can replace human functions is simple, but what about the spirit? Without a container to carry the spirit, even if he succeeds, it will just be a walking corpse."

"Haha, Duran, you truly are our most talented alchemist; you realized the key to the problem immediately... However, this problem has already been solved."

"How was it solved?"

"The Philosopher's Stone." Brand spread his arms. "The Philosopher's Stone is the only known substance that can carry a soul, and it is the pinnacle of the 【Alchemy】 path... As long as we refine enough Philosopher's Stones to carry Wuji Jun’s spirit and soul, he can achieve immortality!"

Duran was stunned. A moment later, as if realizing something, he grabbed Brand’s collar with force!

"Refining the Philosopher's Stone... So, the large-scale alchemy array that slaughtered two districts was done by you?! You are using the lives of the people in the Wuji Domain to refine the Philosopher's Stone for Wuji Jun??"

"Duran, don't be so agitated," Brand said helplessly. "As long as Wuji Jun can achieve immortality, what does the death of some civilians matter?"

"But can't he create anything at will? Why doesn't he just create the Philosopher's Stone himself?"

"The existence of the Philosopher's Stone is too special; it is not an aggregation of some substance, but a concentration of human souls... So even Wuji Jun cannot convert it now," Brand smiled. "Only the 【Alchemy】 path can do that."

"But Wuji Jun is a Ninth-Rank Demigod! How large a volume of Philosopher's Stone is needed to perfectly carry his spirit and soul? Refining two districts wasn't enough... Do you intend to refine the entire Wuji Domain?"

"The Wuji Domain is our base camp. If it weren't for the urgency of stabilizing Wuji Jun’s state, we wouldn't have attacked those two districts... We already have other targets for the materials to refine the Philosopher's Stone."

Brand’s mouth curled up. He turned back to look at the mercury moon hanging in the cathedral and said slowly:

"The population of that domain is enough to provide sufficient Philosopher's Stones for Wuji Jun to complete his metamorphosis and become the only immortal existence among the Nine Sovereigns...

And the Wuji Domain will also be eternal."