Mechanical Alchemist-Chapter 633 - 632: Ancient God

Over the past two years, nearly everyone in the Dawn Brigade had experienced explosive increases in combat power, and Su Lun, who had been constantly fighting on the frontlines, certainly hadn’t been treading water.

Not to mention a significant improvement in his own cultivation, the change in his gargoyle legion was also very dramatic.

From barely being able to control two ten-thousand-strong legions two years ago, he could now command over thirty thousand. But managing this number had almost reached the limit of his spiritual power and mental capacity. Without merging with the Isaac Blasphemer, the growth in the number of puppet troops he controlled would increasingly slow, and might even halt at this point.

However, over the past two years, the combat power of the more than thirty thousand gargoyles had already changed beyond recognition.

Puppets could continuously improve in quality through enhancements to runes and materials. And a god-tier main material like "Activated Silver" possessed almost limitless malleability. This was one of the most critical reasons why, a thousand years ago, Su Lun’s teacher Sereya considered the gargoyles her "most perfect design."

In these two years, the puppet production line process in the war workshop had matured daily, with the entire dwarven clan helping to engrave high-level runes. Su Lun, for his part, was not short of various high-quality materials, including the perfect core material—Dragon Crystal—which gave him the conditions to mass-produce high-tier puppets.

Furthermore, two years were enough for Su Lun to personally engrave a batch of top-tier gargoyle runes.

...

The moment Su Lun engaged the puppet army, his expression suddenly tensed, and he whispered silently, "Puppet Mastery · Grand Theater’s Curtain Call!"

The cross in the sky grew larger and larger, soon covering the entire restricted space.

A myriad of transparent strands fell from the cross, interweaving into a network of webs.

Embodying might and laws, "Wailing Witch’s Hair" was already indestructible; the monsters charging towards it were like fish caught in a net, struggling and being sliced by steel-like strands into bloody wounds. The winged creatures still tried to struggle, but the more they did, the more strands bound them, wrapping tighter and tighter.

While the strings controlled a massive number of enemies, Su Lun pinched the Suren Sorcerer’s Seal, and the more than thirty thousand gargoyles instantly sprang into action.

The significance of legion warfare lay in the ability to gather both number and members, complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses to achieve the most perfect fit, bringing the team’s combat power to its peak.

Even the simplest well-coordinated tank, support, and damage-dealer five-person squad had at least three to five times the combat power of five individuals.

Each of Su Lun’s more than thirty thousand gargoyles had their role in the battle formation. There were heavy-armored gargoyles acting as tanks in the front, supportive gargoyles focused on elemental convergence, main output spatial gargoyles, as well as sonic, crowd control, assassin-type gargoyles, and various other functional mechanized armors...

In the past, he reaped enough knowledge of legion battle formations, and over the past two years of continuous experimentation, he devised several sets that almost perfectly matched the puppet legion.

Today, his puppet legion could be said to be an invincible army without any flaws!

Su Lun’s puppet army was entirely under his control. Though consisting of tens of thousands, commanding them was like using his own hands. Orders were instantaneously received—attack and defense were all in a single thought.

In the blink of an eye, three ten-thousand-strong mage legions charged fearlessly towards the densest part of the monster horde.

Although the monsters were still dozens or hundreds of times more numerous than the puppet army, they knew nothing of tactics or warfare, like a scattering of sand trying to hold back a steel torrent, scattering upon contact.

Gargoyles were puppets after all, completely fearless of negative energy corrosion, unafraid of life or death, charging forward, unstoppable.

...

The scene of the puppet army descending out of nowhere had already stunned the distant members of the Dawn Brigade.

Su Lun stood in the sky, his robe fluttering mightily in a surging aura. With a cold expression, he had already entered a state of absolute rationality, focusing on controlling the more than thirty thousand gargoyles as they indiscriminately slaughtered their way through.

With the addition of the puppet army to the battlefield, the earlier torrential surge of monsters was immediately curtailed.

Limbs and severed extremities rained down from the sky.

The commotion even overshadowed the Dragon Language Magicians, who had just shone brightly.

After all, they numbered ten thousand.

And Su Lun had always been just one man.

He single-handedly suppressed hundreds of thousands of high-ranking aberrant monsters, who were unable to rampage as they pleased.

How overwhelmingly dominant was that?

"My God, it’s been two years since we saw Mr. Su Lun, and his puppet army has become this powerful? I fear that even if ten or eight rank nine came, they wouldn’t be able to do anything, right?"

"Hahaha, the biggest weakness of a puppet army is the Puppet Master himself. But I feel that no one would be able to do anything to Mr. Su Lun."

"Yeah, truly an invincible army..."

"..."

The team members felt at a loss for words, unable to describe the shock in their hearts.

In their eyes, as strong as rank nine might be, where could one find such a sense of... blood-boiling excitement as with Su Lun, where a single person is an army?

Yes!

It was blood-boiling excitement!

That proud figure standing aloof in the sky, hovering in the void, provided everyone with a sense of security.

The members of the Dawn Brigade had seen such scenes several times before; in their memories, it seemed that every time they encountered danger, Su Lun would appear like a god descending from the heavens, reversing the situation.

Even the high-combat members of the Dawn Brigade were filled with shock and heartfelt relief.

However, now was clearly not the time for hesitation. Watching Su Lun enter the fray and suppress the explosive momentum of the monster tide, they too didn’t idle, charging into the crowd of monsters and causing havoc.

Meanwhile, Su Lun watched the dense, rain-like cascade of monster corpses, and the sorcerer’s seal in his hand changed: "Condense!"

As he controlled the stone gargoyle legion with his Puppet Theater, a Nonagram Alchemy Formation lit up underneath him.

These monsters all possessed a tiny bit of "Thread of Law" that would quickly dissipate after their death.

He couldn’t wait until the battle was over to clean up the battlefield for extraction.

Su Lun had to act quickly, so he prepared to refine those corpses while still engaged in battle.

The sheer number of corpses, reaching tens of thousands, required an extremely large alchemy formation.

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Luckily, with the blessing of the "Heart of Isaac’s Alchemy" and the alchemical holy relic "Philosopher’s Stone," all the spells Su Lun cast were "sublimated versions."

Not only was the cross above his head very large, but the scale of the Nine-Pointed Star Refinement Array beneath his feet grew increasingly exaggerated.

The monsters, lacking any real intelligence, saw Su Lun alone in the air and instinctively rushed to bite and swarm him.

Unfortunately for them, monsters of the fifth or sixth order no longer posed any threat to Su Lun.

Even though these monsters had a bit of Thread of Law and could trouble professionals of the same rank, Su Lun was no ordinary eighth-tier. Whether in terms of rank or understanding of the laws, he absolutely crushed these monsters.

Not to mention whether the monsters could break through the defense of the puppet legion, even if some slipped through, once the Death domain unfolded, any that entered its coverage would be instantly stripped of vitality, raining down and then refined into materials within the alchemy formation.

Even if some lord-level creatures among these monsters managed to enter his domain, with the protection of "Death God’s Fire," he could quickly kill them.

Watching that "0.001%," "0.001%," "0.001%,"... Those thin threads being extracted one by one, the joy in Su Lun’s eyes grew stronger.

He had the premonition that this loot would be extremely satisfying.

...

The moment Su Lun made his move, the tide of monsters was immediately suppressed.

What initially seemed an endless trouble became manageable in an instant.

Most of the monsters were distracted by the puppet legion and the draconic incantation military troop, and the defensive barriers set up on the giant tree no longer faced the threat of being shattered.

No matter how numerous, they probably couldn’t exhaust Su Lun, the "perpetual motion machine."

Obviously, the monsters in the pit wouldn’t truly be infinite.

After the explosive surge of monsters lasted for about half an hour, their density gradually began to decrease.

Finally, after an intense fight that lasted an hour, only a few stray flesh-winged creatures occasionally emerged from the pit, with no large groups flying out anymore.

The monsters trapped in the barrier, without support, were quickly eradicated.

There were probably still a few thousand monsters scattered around, but Su Lun no longer controlled the puppet legion to clean them up, leaving the task to the members of the Dawn Group.

He withdrew most of his puppets and landed on the ground.

The high-ranking fighters also gathered around.

They had just witnessed Su Lun’s exaggeratedly overwhelming tactics and were greatly shocked.

Now that the battle was over, they excitedly crowded around, joking with each other.

"Hahaha, Su Lun, your puppet legion has really become ridiculously exaggerated now."

"Indeed. I thought I’d be unmatched as an advanced eighth-ranker, but looking at your puppet legion, I realize I don’t stand a chance at all."

"Tsk tsk, truly exaggerated. Your thirty-thousand-strong puppet legion could hold off more than ten troops from a godly domain’s ten-thousand-man magical unit by itself! And with your personal combat power, it’s hard to imagine just how strong you’ve become."

"..."

In that recent bout, Su Lun merely showcased the strength of his puppet legion, but everyone knew his own combat power was also incredibly strong.

Capable in mass battles and one-on-one fights, such a Puppet Master was simply unbeatable.

However, this was good news for Dawn.

Everyone was happy for him.

After the laughter and chatting, the group turned to more serious matters.

Barrett asked eagerly, "Su Lun, how was the loot?"

With that, everyone’s attention turned toward him.

Even Mr. Jing’s gaze flashed with expectation.

The big risks they had taken to unseal this "God Burial Ground" wasn’t for the sake of killing monsters but to find enough Source Essence.

Just now, they had all seen with their own eyes Su Lun refining hundreds of thousands of monsters.

Su Lun didn’t let everyone down. He smiled, spread his hands to reveal dozens of bundles of Cosmic Essence of different colors, and said, "The harvest was quite bountiful."

What?

Quite bountiful!

Hearing this keyword, everyone’s expressions visibly brightened, unable to hide their thick anticipation.

Su Lun didn’t keep everyone in suspense and continued, "The monsters we just faced were mostly Ice rules. I managed to condense a bead of the nineteenth Cosmic Essence, ’Extreme Cold.’ And the other incomplete strands of rules, when added together, are equivalent to about four beads of essence. With more fragments, we might be able to obtain even more complete Cosmic Essence..."

Upon hearing this, everyone from Dawn’s breath became faintly heavier.

Cosmic Essence, for any Alchemist, was a treasure they could only dream of.

Especially for this group of top-tier professionals, it represented the key to breaking free of their chains and seeing a new world.

Looking at the crystal exuding intense coldness in Su Lun’s hand, everyone was overjoyed.

Cosmic Essence...

This was a treasure that the United Empire had been searching for two years with all its might, yet hadn’t found. But now, Dawn had managed to "easily" obtain one, plus fragments of another four.

Oh, it wasn’t easy.

It’s just that Dawn had made sufficient preparations and was strong enough.

If it were the Imperial Legion opening this seal, setting aside whether they could refine Cosmic Essence, just the two waves of monster attacks earlier would have caused at least hundreds of thousands of casualties.

Su Lun took out the Cosmic Essence and exchanged a glance with his senior sister standing nearby.

Even though they didn’t speak, Mr. Jing immediately understood and nodded slightly.

Su Lun didn’t say much, turned, and handed the Cosmic Essence to Old Sword God Bartolo, who was wiping his Famed Sword "Jia Qie Frost Flower Whisper," and said, "Elder Bartolo, this essence is most compatible with you, so I’ll leave it in your care."

The Old Sword God looked surprised and hesitated, "But..."

He had intended to say that he was one of the later members to join Dawn, and by rights, he shouldn’t be the first to receive such a treasure in terms of merits and rewards.

However, there was such a thing as compatibility with Cosmic Essence, and only those of the eighth tier could use it. Old Sword God Bartolo cultivated the Ice rules, and there was no one more suitable for this essence in the whole of Dawn.

Moreover, although Old Sword God hadn’t been with Dawn for long, his contributions were far from small.

This was evident to everyone.

Despite the incalculable value of Cosmic Essence, he was absolutely deserving of it.

Before the Old Sword God could refuse, Su Lun sealed the essence in a rune box and gave it to him, "Elder Bartolo, the Alchemy plane now needs top experts, please do not hesitate to accept."

People around them wore smiles and said, "Indeed. Elder Bartolo advancing to the ninth tier holds significant meaning both for Dawn and for the Alchemy plane."

The current Dawn was united in purpose, dispensing with any insincere beating around the bush, offering only sincere blessings.

Besides, everyone knew this was just the beginning.

Based on the current situation, more essence could be refined later on with high probability.

Listening, a solemn glint appeared in Old Sword God’s cloudy eyes, and he no longer objected, "Alright."

...

With most monsters within the barrier eliminated, the team members began to clean up the battlefield and, by the way, strengthen the barrier.

Su Lun and Mr. Jing, along with several high-level fighters, cautiously approached the pitch-black pit on the ground.

This pit was the sealing entrance to the God Burial Ground; many monsters had run out from it, so there must be a very large space inside.

But strangely, Su Lun sensed that there was no "space" inside that pit.

Instead of calling it a pit, it was more like a spot on the ground where black ooze absorbed light without reflecting any, a special area.

It was like... a two-dimensional plane.

Su Lun glanced at Lord Crow on his shoulder and pondered.

Mr. Jing apparently knew something, and looking at that dark hole, she pondered for a moment before saying, "Legend has it that some higher beings had realms within themselves. When they fell, their realms collapsed, but some broken spaces remained..."

Everyone frowned deeply upon hearing this.

The pit in front of them blocked nearly all perception; it was impossible to tell what was inside.

Even if a communicator was thrown in, it would lose signal instantly.

The fear was that this black hole led to some bizarre space beyond cognition, where entry might lead to an unknown destination. Considering the current situation, there was definitely no simple creature inside the pit.

Luckily, they had Lord Crow.

The undying raven was most suitable for exploring such dangerous places.

Su Lun looked at the black crow on his shoulder, took out a piece of rotten meat, and said, "Mr. Crow, please do me a favor."

After eating the meat, the black crow flapped its wings with a haughty air, seemingly enjoying the attention it was receiving from everyone.

Despite the constant banter between Su Lun and the seemingly foolish bird, their relationship had grown incredibly close over time.

Mr. Crow did not delay and plunged into the black hole.

....

The black crow entered the mysterious space.

Everyone completely lost their sense of it and turned to look at Su Lun.

Su Lun shared his vision with Mr. Crow, and the moment Mr. Crow entered the space, he saw a crimson expanse: "It seems... like it’s another plane?"

He wasn’t sure because the space Mr. Crow perceived was so vast that he couldn’t see the boundaries.

After a pause, he cautiously added, "It seems to be a sea."

Everyone, finding this very curious, responded, "A sea?"

A sea emerging from the depths of the earth?

"Yes. The perception is interfered with; it might not be a sea, maybe something else."

Su Lun also wanted to investigate, but just then, his vision went dark. The black crow had been suddenly destroyed by an attack from some creature.

Without waiting two seconds, a wisp of death’s breath rose from his shoulder, and Mr. Crow’s body reformed once again.

Seeing this, everyone couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of their eyes.

Frowning, Su Lun said, "Didn’t see what kind of monster it was. But one thing is certain... it’s very strong."

Hearing this, no one dared to take it lightly and continued to reinforce the restrictions around the black hole, fearing that something terrifying might suddenly burst out.

They were fortunate to have Mr. Crow.

Su Lun took out another piece of rotten meat and requested, "Mr. Crow, I need to ask you again."

The black crow didn’t dawdle and, after eating the meat, flew headfirst back into the black hole.

After more than a dozen annihilations of Mr. Crow, Su Lun finally managed to glimpse the creature that was attacking him.

It seemed to be a segment of a fleshy tentacle.

Emerging from the "sea."

But since Mr. Crow was almost always destroyed as soon as it flew in, he never managed to get very far, so Su Lun wasn’t sure what else might be inside.

However, their mission to open the sealed land was undertaken with great expectations, and what they had found so far was far from sufficient; clearly, they would not back down so easily.

Everyone knew that someone needed to go down and explore in person.

Su Lun didn’t wait for others to speak up and said directly, "I’ll go down and take a look."

Barrett and the others wanted to say something, but the words died on their lips.

Everyone knew the great risk of exploring this unknown space, but except for Su Lun, no one else could be sure of surviving.

Su Lun’s Spatial Displacement ability was unmatched within the Dawn group, and with the "Urobolos Space-Time Ring," he was almost certain not to be trapped in any space.

Moreover, his own strength was formidable, he possessed the All-knowing Eye, and without a weak point, he was definitely the most suitable in the group.

Yuta appeared worried and proposed, "Should I accompany you?"

"I’m actually safer on my own. Don’t worry, if I encounter something I can’t handle, I’ll come back immediately."

Su Lun shook his head, refusing Yuta’s offer and discouraging any thoughts from other members of the Dawn group who wished to help.

He had his own confidence; today’s Alchemical planes that could give him trouble were possible, but definitely not widespread.

Even though Yuta wanted to say more, he realized that whatever he could say seemed pale and powerless and simply said, "Be careful."

Su Lun nodded, "Yeah."

As he spoke, he didn’t take any chances, wrapped himself in the long-unused "Oz’s Mummy Wrappings," and instantly disappeared; he leaped down through the black hole.

Upon another glance, the surroundings changed, and his vision was filled with red.

It turned out that the "sea" Mr. Crow had seen before was actually a bloody sea with an intense odor of blood.

This was a world where the senses were distorted.

As soon as Su Lun entered, he immediately felt an indescribable presence hitting him, ancient and mysterious, with a sense of power beyond description.

Upon examining it with the second level of the All-knowing Eye, a vast amount of information beyond current knowledge filled his mind, and Su Lun exclaimed to himself, "This is... inside the body of an Ancient God?"