Mechanical Alchemist

Su Lun was wrapped up in a death shroud, not daring to move, when suddenly a dusty grey rat scurried out from some corner in his field of vision.

The rat, with shifty eyes, scuttled around the tomb chamber as if it were scanning for dangers.

Then, from the cracks in the walls, a sudden "squeak squeak squeak" rang out, a chorus of tiny, rapid sounds.

Upon closer inspection, throngs of grey rats gushed forth like a fountain.

Su Lun watched with astonishment.

Although he knew that these rats were under the control of the "demon god," after all, he had already seen one earlier.

But now, he was surprised that these rats hadn't been discovered by the jackal-headed mummy?

Su Lun had already tested with a living corpse earlier; the jackal-headed mummy could sense both living creatures and energy fluctuations. Although these rats were small, they were definitely not something to be overlooked.

"Strange, why haven't they been discovered? Or is there something special about the rats that doesn't trigger the jackal-headed mummy's killing mechanism?"

Su Lun observed carefully as more and more rats appeared in the tomb chamber, his thoughts racing.

Before he could fully understand, he saw the horde of rats bustling toward the mysterious sealed space beneath the altar.

Since the seal on the altar had been open for some time, with the heavy mist dissipating, Su Lun could now see clearly that it was an immense space. Inside, there were colorful statues embodying the visage of the Taris pantheon—jackal heads, eagle heads, crocodile heads, baboon heads... all seated on thrones like emperors, majestically lined along both sides of the pathway to the gods.

"Could it be that the coffins here are all filled with gods from the Taris tribe?"

Su Lun speculated in his heart.

These hundred-meter-tall sculptures were actually special coffins, sealed tightly.

Su Lun could now tell that this was a burial standard not even a pharaoh could dream of deserving.

Apart from these coffins, the most eye-catching thing in the tomb chamber was the obelisk radiating white light and transparency.

This crystal-like obelisk was engraved with a large golden ankh ☥, followed by a dense array of various golden runes.

Su Lun couldn't understand what the divine runes pointed to, but he immediately guessed the function of this crystal obelisk.

The countless efforts of a lifespan were converging on this crystal cup, to be used by those beings inside the coffins.

It looked like some kind of divine equation operating against life.

Each statue also held an antique-looking bronze lamp in hand, within which a greenish flame burned.

The source of light seen when the altar seal was opened was from these bronze lamps.

"Soul-Binding Lamp?"

Su Lun looked on with an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

Although everything inside that burial chamber was "divine," beyond the comprehension of humanity.

But he still recognized the flame burning inside the bronze lamps.

Wasn't that "Godly Fire"?

Pestoya's soul was merged with the Godly Fire, how could Su Lun mistake it?

So it meant that some of the Taris pantheon's beings were actually using the Godly Fire of a deity to light the lamps and maintain the operation of some special formation?

Su Lun was left speechless.

There must be dozens of these lamps.

Such a grand gesture?

And next, a bizarre scene unfolded before his eyes.

Su Lun watched as rats pouring from the crevices headed straight for the third lamp from the entrance on the left, swarming toward it as if drawn to a flame.

With a phosphorescent halo extending a few meters around the bronze lamp, the rats were instantly incinerated to ash as soon as they touched the eerie green light.

Nevertheless, countless rats surged toward the bronze lamp fearlessly, one after another.

With each passing moment, a multitude of rats were burned to ashes.

However, using the All-knowing Eye, Su Lun could clearly see that they were targeting the runes on the lamp to nibble and gnaw!

For every tens of thousands of rats consumed, the runes' luster dimmed a bit.

It seemed they planned to use their numbers to gradually damage the lamp.

....

Seeing this, how could Su Lun not understand that the Godly Fire imprisoned in that bronze lamp was the demon god that summoned him!

"Such a powerful being has actually been used by the Taris tribe to light the sky lamps?"

Su Lun also found it hard to believe.

Simultaneously, he felt a chill down his spine.

He felt that the only reason he had survived this long after intruding into the tomb was sheer luck.

And now, it seemed the demon god had made a meticulous plan for its escape. Over these tens of thousands of years, it had not only summoned some Contractors but had also nurtured a super massive rat army.

In the blink of an eye, rats were emerging from the cracks surrounding the tomb from all directions, the commotion growing louder. The sea of rats built up into a tower, continuously converging toward the bronze lamp.

The demon god wanted to break free!

After watching for a while, Su Lun felt a stinging pain in his eyes and quickly averted his gaze.

In that space, he had seen too much "forbidden" information, causing a great burden on his eyes and brain.

This was after all the ancestral tomb of the Taris pantheon, inevitably involving the secrets of high-ranking deities.

Otherwise, it would not be a mere Tomb Keeper; it would be a genuine mummified god.

Su Lun had no inclination to guess at the secrets within or care about how that demon god was to extricate itself from its predicament.

He himself was now in a deadlock.

Any movement would result in immediate death at the hands of the jackal-headed mummy.

And to continue in this standoff was equally a path to death.

If that demon god managed to escape, and the Tares clan came to open the tomb, his own death was inevitable.

Su Lun did not believe for a second that a high-ranking demon god had any interest in helping a trapped ant like himself.

His only option was to figure out a way to save himself.

The jackal-headed mummy might have been strong, but it was after all a dead thing, lacking its own consciousness.

Therefore, its targets for attack must have some triggering condition.

Just like these rats, which did not trigger it.

Speedily, Su Lun's mind raced through various possibilities, finally arriving at the most plausible explanation, "Could it be that these rats carry the murky aura of divine power from the tomb, which is why the jackal-headed mummy ignored them?"

In simpler terms, these were native-born rats, with the distinct scent of the local vermin.

Considering Su Lun was an outsider, he couldn't possibly acquire that "local scent" in a short amount of time.

Moreover, the white fog within the crypt was a terrifying curse energy, which to humans was almost certainly fatal on contact.

He couldn't understand why these rats were unaffected, but he figured it must be some bug-exploiting method prepared by the demon god over thousands of years, something he most likely couldn't replicate.

....

"This is quite the predicament..."

All thoughts in Su Lun's mind were flying, but his calculations only led to one outcome: a dead end.

Could he only hope against hope that the demon god would be so kind as to save him on a whim?

He didn't think waiting was a good choice.

And it was at that moment, the "white fog" around him also grew increasingly dense.

Just then, a miracle occurred very abruptly.

Su Lun, focusing intently on the fog, keenly observed something familiar, and a thought suddenly struck him, "Eh... The 'Isaac God Slayer' symbiotic armor integration, doesn't it require a massive amount of superior divine power to neutralize dark regulations?"

Although he couldn't completely understand what the fog was, he understood that the integration of the symbiotic armor required that superior divine power, which was a component of the fog!

With this realization, a wild plan popped into Su Lun's head: Could he use this divine power fog to integrate the symbiotic armor?

If the integration was successful, he would instantly acquire the "scent of a local," his strength would surge dramatically, and he might even stand a chance to confront the jackal-headed mummy!

Sir Isaac had designed this symbiotic armor specifically to confront divine beings.

Once this idea manifested, Su Lun's brain worked like a supercomputer running at high speed.

He quickly calculated all sorts of parameters and came to a conclusion: theoretically, it was absolutely feasible!

...

Having thought of this plan, Su Lun's thoughts became crystal clear.

The 'God Slayer' symbiotic armor, because it involved 'dark regulations,' an unobservable cosmic dark energy, was nearly impossible for the human body to integrate successfully.

Even Sir Isaac, the creator of the symbiotic armor, believed it to be so.

Su Lun had thoroughly studied the properties of the 'God Slayer' armor. The rigorous process of integration demanded more than just high physical qualifications in an individual; the bigger obstacle was that neither 'dark regulations' nor the superior divine power required for neutralization could be endured by humans.

Integrating this symbiotic armor was essentially like infusing two highly curse-attributed objects with opposing properties into a regular human body and letting their overflow of cursed properties neutralize each other. Only if the energies perfectly balanced could the integration succeed.

Even a slight excess would cause the integrator to explode and die.

The likelihood of a successful integration was almost zero.

But Su Lun's current conditions were not the same as they were a thousand years ago.

In his possession was a treasure, the 'Philosopher's Stone'!

The most important function of this alchemic holy object was absolute equivalent energy exchange.

Su Lun had already tested it, whether it be divine power or any other form of energy; every type of energy he'd encountered in the universe could be exchanged equivalently!

Previously, he had no way to find the necessary superior divine power to neutralize the dark regulations, but now, wasn't the crypt filled with the white fog everywhere?

The Tares divine family had created numerous 'divine slaves' to refine divine power to operate some unspeakable formation, leaving the crypt saturated with murky various divine energies.

You wouldn't find such an environment anywhere else.

Theoretically, if the Philosopher's Stone could precisely extract the necessary portion of energy and neutralize the dark divine power on the armor, the integration could be successful.

And the greatest risk that Su Lun calculated was that he had to personally grasp that balance point of energy.

With the 'God Profaner' enhancement, his mental capacity was, barring external interference, nearly impossible to fail.

...

"Take a gamble?"

Su Lun made a split-second decision in his heart.

On a normal day, he might have hesitated, given the immense risk of integration and the fact that the slightest mistake could result in a violent death.

But in this situation, with not much room for consideration, he decided to try immediately.

Because there was no other choice.

If nothing was done, the end would still be a dead end.

Moreover, if he could successfully fuse with the God Slayer artifact, everything in the future would be different.

This was a risk, but also a huge opportunity.

Let's do it!

Although Su Lun didn't know when the Taris divinities would enter, from the current pace, it would take those rats several more days to destroy that bronze lamp.

If that demigod dared to act, there was nothing he dared not to do.

This period of time was completely enough to fuse with the artifact.

However, before that, he still needed to test some necessary data.

Su Lun didn't delay. With a thought, the sky lit up with the Spirit Communion Array, and a black crow flew out from the array.

The previously killed Crow Lord was once again condensed and resurrected.

However, as soon as it came back to life, the dog-headed mummy in the distance immediately noticed it and darted over with a lightning-quick punch, exploding the Crow Lord into a cloud of death energy instantaneously.

But as long as the death energy was not exhausted, the telltale crow could resurrect infinitely.

If there was one thing this tomb did not lack, it was an incessant supply of various types of death energy.

No sooner had it been blown apart than the Crow Lord resurrected once again, and even took advantage of the moment to voraciously consume several mouthfuls of death energy from the tomb.

Then it was blown up again, consumed a few more mouthfuls of death energy, and resurrected again... repeating this cycle over and over.

After being killed over a hundred times, the Crow Lord's aura of being a 'native bird' grew increasingly intense.

Su Lun also noticed that the perception of the dog-headed being towards the black crow was becoming increasingly dull.

In the underground palace, the Crow Lord began to gleefully devour death energy to its heart's content, eventually completely ignored by the dog-headed mummy.

"It really works!"

Seeing this, Su Lun was delighted in his heart.

His conjecture was correct!

And those more than a hundred deaths of the Crow Lord earlier provided him with enough data through observation.

Seeing this, Su Lun hesitated no further.

The fog around was now quite thick, so he tried to infiltrate a bit of the Guo Wrapping Cloth of Oz Ice Man.

Before the white mist even touched his skin, Su Lun felt an indescribable chill sweep over his entire body as if his soul was shivering with it.

This force almost made him explode on the spot.

Fortunately, the Philosopher's Stone filtered out the unnecessary energy, allowing that super-order divine power to smoothly merge into the Isaac Blasphemer artifact, worn like a vest over his body.

Su Lun held his breath, pondering over all the data he had just calculated, guiding that divine power.

And then, a miraculous scene occurred.

The terrifying super-order divine power simply vanished into thin air!

"This... this is the power of the unspoken rules!"

Su Lun was unable to detect the presence of that dark energy, but through the vanishing imagery of divine power, he knew there must be some mysterious force that had neutralized these divine powers.

Having witnessed this miraculous scene, he could not contain his surging emotions.

It could be said that the "unspoken rules" were definitely one of the greatest discoveries of the alchemical civilization over the countless years.

Meanwhile, the All-knowing Eye identified that the success rate of fusing with the God Eater had gone from 0% to 0.001%.

Although it was only a slight change,

it was exactly what Su Lun wanted.

He had bet correctly!

It really worked!

He could hardly contain his joy, and continued with excitement and caution to try to bring in those divine powers little by little.

The Guo Wrapping Cloth of Oz Ice Man isolated energy leakage and created an internal space.

Su Lun had consumed a large amount of Dragon Blood, temporarily bringing his body to the threshold of fusion, and then he began to slowly fuse with the sub-divine artifact.

Two amazing forces were intermingling and vanishing within his body.

It was as chaotic as setting off a bomb inside his body, one after another, creating quite the spectacle.

It also came with immense risks.

Su Lun felt like his body was a balance scale, with the Philosopher's Stone in the middle, continuously adding weights to both sides, reaching a delicate equilibrium. Gradually, the weights on both sides had been added beyond the limit a human could bear and were still rising.

Any slight imbalance would lead to his body exploding instantaneously.

...

On the other hand, the dog-headed mummy, lacking intelligence, had not discovered Su Lun, who had not budged from the spot.

But while the corpse might not have noticed him, that demonic god knew very well.

The divine power in the underground palace had mysteriously diminished; there was clearly something absorbing it.

And the earlier appearance of the black crow had not escaped Its notice, either.

Su Lun had originally thought that the demonic god would not pay attention to his insignificant existence, yet during the fusion, a voice of surprise suddenly rang beside his ear, "Huh... you're still alive?"

This tone of surprise clearly showed that the demonic god also thought that after the altar was opened, there shouldn't be any survivors.

After all, this tomb was in essence, a dead end.

There were restrictions on the descent of divine beings, yet a divine corpse was guarding it.

Under normal circumstances, it was impossible for any living person to be there.

Even a demigod with their might would have to die.

But now, a survivor had appeared, and the demonic god seemed to have taken an interest.

"..."

Su Lun felt a sense of foreboding upon hearing this.

At this critical juncture, he didn't want to attract attention.

But it seemed as though the demonic god had already pierced through everything, as a distant and ethereal voice reached his ear again, "Human, rest assured. Although the contract has ended, my escape from confinement this time was also thanks to your fortune, and naturally, I won't make things difficult for you."

Listening to those words, Su Lun automatically translated them to mean: Insect, relax, you have too little flesh; I'm not interested in eating you.

It was as if a powerful entity, trapped for tens of thousands of years, was simply lonesome and wanted to exchange a few words.

However, this was good news.

A higher demonic god would not have interest in deceiving him, and with these words spoken, his life was likely spared.

Su Lun responded to this thought, feigning ignorance as he asked, "Are you the demonic god who guided our actions earlier?"

Although he did not have a divine faith, it was still best not to provoke trouble with such beings.

As expected, the demonic god seemed not to mind this attitude and said, "Human, you are worthy to know my venerated name. You may address me as 'The God of Darkness and Destruction, the Great Lord of Chaos, the Supreme Destruction Demon Pillar, Lord Apophis'."

"..."

Hearing this series of titles, Su Lun felt not annoyance in his heart but increased humility instead.

He now had some understanding of the gods and knew that the titles of deities were not given at random. Each title pointed to a cosmic rule.

This was faith.

In other words, this deity had merged at least the divine powers of [Darkness] and [Destruction].

This was no longer a matter where a lower deity with a single divine aspect could be compared.

He said in awe, "Great Lord Apophis."

In the presence of a god, it was best not to ask questions, but to wait for the deity to speak first.

Such conversations were not equal, and any accidental word might offend a deity and bring about a fatal disaster.

Then Lord Apophis spoke again, "Oh... So you are an Alchemist. That Formation of yours is quite interesting, actually capable of withstanding the erosion of these murky divine powers. A pity though, if you believed in darkness, you might have had the fortune of becoming my follower..."

Upon hearing this, Su Lun breathed another sigh of relief.

There was no hostility because he was an Alchemist, so his safety was quite secure.

And the arrogance of higher holy beings deemed it beneath them to pry into the secrets of a low-ranking human.

In the eyes of this deity, Su Lun guessed he was no different from the rodents.

But the treasures and secrets on him had been preserved.

He responded with more banal flattery, "Ah... Great Lord Apophis, you are powerful, wise, and sagacious, you see through everything in the world..."

Having harvested the memories of many divine followers, Su Lun knew how to deal with deities, and humility was key.

In front of a god, do not act like you understand everything.

It is best to be ignorant and foolish.

Deities like the sensation of being far superior to lower creatures, reigning supreme from above.

This deity before him certainly had that right.

The demonic god chose to speak, merely because after tens of thousands of years of confinement, there was hope for escape, and in good spirits, he chatted with an insect for a brief moment.

Su Lun did not fancy himself to be the lifesaver of a high-ranking demonic god.

If he entertained such a thought, he would have been courting death.

His response was properly respectful, not causing any trouble.

Indeed, it could lead to fatal implications.

After that, Lord Apophis did not speak again.

Su Lun also let out a sigh of relief and continued to absorb divine power, merging with the godly artifact.

...

In the underground palace, countless rodents continued their futile efforts, relentlessly gnawing at the bronze lamp.

Meanwhile, Su Lun was also hastening to merge with the god-tier artifact, and the percentage of fusion gradually increased.

1%...2%...6%…9%…13%…

He did not ask the demonic god any questions, nor did he contemplate probing the underground palace's secrets, focusing solely on absorbing Divine Power and merging with the god-tier artifact.

Finally, his concentration was rewarded.

After three days, Su Lun forcibly completed the fusion with the [God Slayer] artifact!