Mechanical Alchemist

Midnight.

The sea was shrouded in dense fog, and eeriness was present everywhere in the silence.

"Woo... woo... woo..."

The sound of the train's whistle echoed through the fog in all directions.

The sound surrounded the ears, and merely listening was enough to send shivers down the spine. It seemed that this was not a real whistle, but rather the mournful wailing of spirits filled with desolation, resentment, fear, longing, and ferocity.

The train's whistle made everyone on board the Eternal Night feel as though their souls were being pulled out of their bodies by some mysterious force, stirring shock and curiosity in all.

All were witnessing for the first time a train that truly ferried souls from the Netherworld.

"Clang clang," "clang clang," "clang clang"...

As everyone watched, a black, steam-billowing train sped across the sea.

The train was an old-fashioned steam locomotive, very much like those currently in operations in Mountain Hermit Country.

Yet the train itself was like a ghost, appearing in a semi-transparent spiritual state.

This was a famous monster in Mountain Hermit Country known as the "Ghost Train."

Su Lun watched the incoming train with a calm gaze.

He sensed more clearly than anyone the high-order death spells on the train.

Through the All-Knowing Eye, he saw more information and murmured to himself, "This 'Ghost Train' truly is a special existence beyond the plane's rules..."

This was the train that ferried Mountain Hermit Country's followers to the "Netherworld" plane after death.

Ordinarily, crossing between planes required a plane portal.

Even the deities that descended upon Frank were no different.

But this Ghost Train could appear directly on the sea, ignoring the plane portals, which clearly indicated a level of divine cosmic law well beyond the ordinary.

To human eyes, this monster "Ghost Train" appeared as just a train, but in essence, it was a special existence meant to ferry souls.

It was a rule, a regulation, or perhaps some other extraordinary power...

It could take the form of a boat, a horse-drawn carriage, an airship...any form of transportation.

In the belief system of the Netherworld, however, people felt it should take the form of a train.

Su Lun did not know what it was, so high that even his tier-two All-Knowing Eye could not understand it, akin to the rules of time flow and spatial change, close to the cosmic origins.

The scene was exactly as described in Fujiwara Hayato's travel diaries.

...

At that moment, the train stopped beside the Eternal Night.

Because the train was in a semi-transparent ghostly state, everyone could finally see clearly, there were other passengers inside the train carriages.

They were emotionless spiritual bodies, some human and some various bizarre monsters.

Most were dressed in kimonos with wooden clogs, clearly in the style of Mountain Hermit Country.

The sudden appearance of such a ghost train on the midnight sea gave all of the Dawn Group a chilling feeling.

Everyone had the feeling that if the train wanted to take their souls, no one would be able to stop it.

Like the inexorable approach of death when life nears its end, no matter how powerful, it was an unavoidable end.

A terrifying dread enveloped everyone's hearts.

On the vast deck, silence reigned.

As the train came to a complete stop, a train conductor dressed in black opened the door of the carriage, seemingly welcoming passengers waiting at this stop.

At that moment, Qian Tiao also leapt down from the mast.

Originally only a train for the departed, living people could not touch it, yet she confidently walked towards the train, ticket in hand.

The train conductor enveloped in swirling dark airs checked Qian Tiao's ticket, used a ticket puncher to clip a notch on the green ticket, and instantly, the ticket produced a burst of green flame and burned to ashes.

As if an ancient covenant had taken effect, the phosphorescent fire engulfing the ticket surrounded Qian Tiao. Hand on the hilt of her sword, she stepped onto the train without hesitation.

Su Lun knew that after boarding, the next stop was the Netherworld.

He watched Qian Tiao's retreating figure and yelled, "Stay safe, Sister Qian Tiao."

Qian Tiao paused for a moment, as if struck by a thought; everyone missed the slight upward curve of her lips as she responded to Su Lun, "Got it."

Without turning back, she coolly waved her hand, "Off I go, everyone."

The members of the Dawn Group watched Qian Tiao leave with worried looks and waved goodbye in unison.

Board the train, close the door.

Qian Tiao took her seat amongst a group of ghosts.

The whistle of the train sounded again with a "woo" "woo."

The train slowly started moving.

The Ghost Train's engine spurted a great mass of steam and soon, the train disappeared into the fog-shrouded sea.

The surroundings had become silent once again, as if nothing had ever happened.

"I can't sense it anymore..."

Su Lun tried to sense the spatial positioning necklace he had left on Qiantiao, but still could not find that coordinate.

It wasn't that it was far away, but that it was no longer in this world.

Even the "Dagus Goblin Communicator" of the Mirror Organization, which ignored spatial distances, had lost contact.

She could only rely on herself now.

Su Lun stared into the depths of the misty sea, his gaze profound.

The atmosphere on the deck was slightly melancholic, yet he smiled and greeted everyone, "Alright, folks have gone back."

Upon hearing Su Lun speak, everyone slowly sighed and dispersed.

Su Lun remained alone by the ship's rail, continuing to face the chilly midnight sea breeze.

No one disturbed him.

Qiantiao had gone to pursue her own Sword Dao, and even though it was a departure, he should be happy and bless her.

Thinking this, the corners of Su Lun's mouth also lifted slightly in a smile.

With a flash of spatial fluctuation, he was already back in the cabin.

Within the alchemy array sat the half-finished "Isaac Dragon Patterned Golden Body," Su Lun adjusted his thoughts and continued the crafting process.

Unknowingly, time flew by, and more than ten days had passed.

...

The Dawn Group traveled eastward, slaying sea monsters along the way, and safely passed through what was once a demarcation zone between the Dragon Country Waters and the West Sea of Luying, known as the "Eternal Night Sea."

Su Lun remained in the cabin and did not come out, as the current combat strength of the Dawn Group had vastly improved. Most issues could now be handled without his intervention.

He could peacefully focus on merging the necessary Tier 7 equipment.

One day, the Dawn Group finally navigated out of the endless darkness of the Eternal Night Sea.

The rough waves gradually calmed, and the long-absent sunlight suddenly shone into the captain's cabin.

Like threads of gold, the sunlight streamed through the window and fell upon Su Lun, deep in meditation. Miraculously, his body emitted a layer of black dragon scale-like mystical runes.

This special layer of runes gave off a visual sense of unbreakable strength and solidity.

After several days of seclusion, Su Lun had successfully crafted the epic "Isaac Dragon Patterned Golden Body" from a malformed Tier 8 Hell Black Dragon.

Normally, such Tier 8 Dragon-crafted epic gear would require a Tier 9 professional to merge.

But because Su Lun originally followed a pathway of rune-enhanced physical strengthening, along with Dr. Banks' specially formulated Dark Dragon Potion significantly lowering the threshold of merging, he managed the integration without any risk of deformation.

After a few days of adjustment, the equipment's traits completely integrated with his body.

Bathed in warm sunlight on his face, Su Lun opened his eyes, looked at his attribute panel, and exhaled deeply, "Huh... the fusion is perfect."

Once the equipment was released, black dragon scale runes swirled around his body.

He clenched his fist and immediately felt as if his body were cast from copper and iron.

The toughness value on the panel leapt from the pre-release value of 312 to now 4552, increasing by more than a factor of ten.

And other bodily defense-related attributes, including cellular vitality, bone density, physique, muscle strength, immunity to negative curse status, magic resistance, etc., all skyrocketed.

In battle, this would be a nightmare for any enemy!

"So strong..."

Su Lun himself found this somewhat hard to believe.

His body was already strong before, but now, the situation was outrageously robust.

This level of defense might even be attainable to a Tier 9 professional.

Before, cannon fire required the use of firm resistance, but now, he guessed that just standing in place and taking the hits physically would leave him completely unscathed.

It became hard for him to die, which, for Su Lun as a Puppeteer, undoubtedly represented a direct enhancement of his combat capabilities.

Furthermore, after his bodily strength was enhanced, his ability to endure also increased, allowing him to bear greater power, energy, negative states...

This equipment directly boosted "Isaac's Giant Strength" and significantly increased the capacity for Spiritual Power, as well as growing limits for Blood Devour, all-resistance... and various other bodily states were vastly enhanced.

Thinking of this chain of causality, Su Lun couldn't help but reflect, "Sir Isaac's idea to pair this equipment is simply brilliant! With this, almost without any hurdles, one could overcome the 'Calamity Rebound' and successfully harness Firm Body. It might even lay a solid foundation for condensing divine essence above Tier 9."

With a flash of thought in his mind, Su Lun had already envisioned too much.

After meditating for too long without movement, Su Lun stood up to stretch his limbs, pondered for a moment, and then muttered to himself, "This level of body stats should be sufficient to directly advance to Tier 8."

....

Originally, merging with Tier 7 equipment was the career endpoint for most alchemists.

Otherwise, Tier 8 professionals in the alchemy realm wouldn't be so rare.

Even those with supreme talent and opportunity to progress to Tier 8 would be stuck at this threshold for many years.

They would choose to advance only after they were truly confident.

Because while it's not difficult to merge with the career material to advance to Tier 8, what's challenging is facing a calamity—"Calamity Rebound."

This was the only way to comprehend the Dominating Body.

If one couldn't endure, they would die on the spot.

In the eyes of the Alchemist, the energy of the universe was constant.

Thus, as certain individuals in the universe gradually became stronger, they inevitably siphoned energy from other areas.

The career progression of an Alchemist, fundamentally, was a process of gradually plundering energy to become more powerful.

Here's a somewhat inappropriate analogy.

To a plane, professionals are like parasites.

In their juvenile stage, the host remains unaware, but as they grow, their demand for nutrients increases.

And the host instinctively tries to eradicate the parasite.

This is what's called "Calamity Backlash."

It is the plane's rejection of powerful beings.

....

But for Su Lun, this threshold was as if nonexistent.

In terms of physical strength alone, not to mention the seventh order, even those in the eighth order might find it difficult to match him.

The second phase of the All-knowing Eye left him with no doubts about the advancement threshold, such that advancing to the eighth order posed absolutely no difficulty for him.

Everything went smoothly. Su Lun stood up, ready to go on deck to notify everyone.

After all, "Calamity Backlash" was no small disturbance.

However, the moment he stood up, he felt as if something was missing.

His gaze swept the room, and when he saw the square bathtub in the bathroom, he suddenly realized,

Oh, Sister Qian was not here.

In this vast Captain's room, it seemed somewhat empty with him alone.

Su Lun frowned slightly and muttered, "I wonder how Sister Qian is."

Saying this, he stepped through the spatial gate and next, he was already on the deck.

The Dawn Group members on deck were leisurely basking in the sun, fishing, or practicing their Legion Spells through daily sparring...

After leaving the waters of Dragon Country, the level of danger they faced had plummeted from nine stars to just two stars.

Previously, within a few hundred nautical miles, there could be dozens of Gold-class and Lord-class huge deep-sea monsters; however, in the West Sea of Luying, it was rare to even find one over several hundred or even thousands of miles.

For the current Dawn Group, this truly posed no pressure at all.

After growing powerful, the zones once dubbed as "Nightmare Seas" by numerous adventurers, now seemed like backyard gardens they could visit at will.

Without realizing it, the Dawn Group had gone through many battles, big and small, and had become thoroughly tempered.

Both their combat strength and the members' mental states were now more than adequate to deal with anything comfortably.

A spatial fluctuation emerged on the deck, and was immediately spotted by a patrolling sailor.

Seeing Su Lun emerging, someone exclaimed, "Mr. Su Lun is here!"

With that, the crowd gathered warmly to greet him.

"Did Mr. Su Lun successfully integrate the host suit?"

"Oh... I feel Mr. Su Lun has become even stronger."

"Hey, Captain David, stop bragging! With your sixth order level, can you even sense Mr. Su Lun's prowess?"

"Hahaha, exactly! Exactly!"

"Hey hey hey, it's precisely because I can't sense it that it's so amazing, right Mr. Su Lun? Oh, by the way, what order are you at now?"

"..."

The group burst into laughter.

Su Lun also felt this atmosphere was very good.

Only now, having not been on deck for over ten days, did he realize that everyone's strength had visibly surged.

Each one was robust, with a profound aura and a sharp look in their eyes.

Su Lun smiled and responded, "I'm about to advance to the eighth order."

"About to advance to the eighth order?"

Upon hearing this, the crowd was also greatly surprised.

Because they all knew that before Su Lun had sequestered himself, he was merging with a seventh-order host suit.

And the threshold between the seventh and the eighth order was something even none of the former Luying "Top Ten Legendary Bounty Hunters" had been confident about crossing.

Su Lun was advancing after just a few days?

...

The news that Su Lun was advancing to the eighth level quickly spread through everyone's ears within the group.

Before long, the high-level fighters also gathered on the deck.

The group currently had only Old Sword God Bartolo and the "Blood Duke" Wazhuas at the eighth level, along with Qiantiao, who was previously a half step from the eighth level.

It seemed another name was about to be added, which was indeed a cause for celebration.

Moreover, everyone knew that after Su Lun advanced to the eighth level, he probably wouldn't be a mere ordinary eighth level.

It was said the stronger the strength, the stronger the "Magical Backlash" would be during the advancement to the eighth level, and they were all curious to witness how Su Lun would overcome this threshold disaster of the eighth level.

Before long, the deck was crowded with thousands of people.

Everyone wanted to witness this grand event of the Dawn Group.

Lorotar's eyes sparkled as he said, "Wow... Mr. Su Lun, you are going to advance to the eighth level?"

Tanni said, "Mr. Su Lun is so impressive."

No. 19 smiled gently and said, "Congratulations, Su Lun."

Barrett remarked with emotion, "Oh, Su Lun, your rate of advancement is really surprising. I remember when we first met, I was level six and you level four, and now you've surpassed me."

Kit also exclaimed, "Yeah... dude, your rate of advancement is absurdly exaggerated, is there no threshold even for the eighth level for you?"

The Blood Duke Wazhuas said, "I've lived eight hundred years, and Su Lun, you are the most preposterous nearly-eighth level I've ever seen."

The Old Sword God Bartolo said, "I think, Young friend Su Lun, your advancement might invite a very strong magical backlash, be careful..."

The crowd: "..."

With more people, everyone began discussing animatedly.

Others didn't know Su Lun's situation well, so naturally, there were some who were incredulous.

But only those who had also drunk from Mr. Hei could understand why he could advance so quickly.

Seeing Mr. Hei's congratulatory expression, Su Lun also asked, "And you, Mr. Hei?"

Mr. Hei responded, "I'm almost there too. But because of the eye transplant, it will still take a long time."

Pointing to his right eye covered by an eye patch, he continued, "However, I'm not in a hurry, my body's strength is not as exaggerated as yours. At least now, if I were to advance, I wouldn't be confident about overcoming the magical backlash."

Su Lun knew Mr. Hei had noticed the changes in his body and simply smiled noncommittally, then asked, "How is the eye transplant going?"

He had noticed that there were two forces fiercely battling inside Mr. Hei.

Mr. Hei said, "There is still a strong rejection reaction. But that's not a big problem, Dr. Banks can handle it. The troublesome part is understanding the nature of the 'Complete Understanding,' a divine-level talent. After the transplant, I gradually began to understand some of the origins of this talent, which has many similarities to our Alchemy domain's material decomposition, yet the layers of laws are extremely high, almost as high as the universal origin laws... If it still doesn't work, I plan to transform it into an alchemical implant, but then the eye would become a dead object, a real pity..."

Su Lun listened and nodded repeatedly, which matched his own deductions.

The two of them continued chatting like this.

The transplantation of Frank's divine-level eye was indeed a gamble with not a small chance of failure.

But if it succeeded, the implications for the future were extraordinary.

Su Lun was also very interested in the "Complete Understanding."

It was an important part of his future career plan.

Although there was only one corpse of Frank, the same "divine race," there were still other divine planes!

The Plane Wars had fully erupted, and there might be a chance in the future to hunt a few more.

Besides, Su Lun had an even better option.

That was the sealed black coffin he had obtained in the Luying Royal Mirror Library.

Su Lun had already completely deciphered all the secret scripts left on that black coffin.

Once, a Great Alchemist had killed a high-ranking deity from a divine plane, and the coffin contained the corpse of that deity!

However, now was obviously not the best time to focus on the corpse in the coffin.

Not to mention that Su Lun did not yet have the ability to handle the Corpse of the Gods, at least wait until Mr. Hei's transplantation experiment was completed, and then see the situation.

....

As Su Lun and Mr. Hei were chatting, the Eternal Night soon found a deserted island.

He knew his advancement would definitely cause a huge commotion, so he did not dare to stay on the ship.

Su Lun teleported to the deserted island and set up an alchemy array, then took out the advancement material "Descartes' Crystal Skull" he had prepared earlier and placed it within the alchemy array.

Then, with a serious expression, he began reciting the universal incantation of an alchemist: "Follow the law of equivalent exchange, praise the glory of the original creator, witness the miracle of creation with alchemy..."

In an instant, the heavens and the earth changed color.

The disasters of earth, wind, water, and fire came down as if it were the apocalypse.

Dragon scales shimmered on Su Lun's body, standing unyielding in the storm.

The distant onlookers from the Dawn Group were stunned.

That day, Su Lun successfully advanced to the eighth level.

PS. This is the last chapter of this volume.