The Elixir of Immortality and the Tears of Time

Upon hearing Freya's words, Iver and Sherlock's expressions immediately changed.

They exchanged a glance, and something was clear to each other.

"—It's more than just broken!"

Master Agnes looked as if the sky had fallen, and was the most panicked person in the room. "I have to inform His Pope Your Majesty immediately... This is far too dangerous! You were doing something so dangerous, why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't tell anyone; that's the safest way."

Freya tried to defend herself, saying, "Telling anyone could lead to a leak."

But now, these words seem somewhat pale and powerless.

After all, if she really didn't tell anyone, how did this bottle of "Tears of Time" disappear into thin air?

Stealing precisely a drug that a Fifth Level Transcendent is synthesizing and is deeply concerned about is extremely risky. It's comparable to stealing an incubating egg from a mother dragon watching over her nest.

Unless the other party has a very clear target and knows that it has extremely high value, it is unlikely that one would venture into such a dangerous situation.

"No, I have to go see Cardinal Loki."

Master Agnes still seemed flustered. "You need to explain to him how important your lost item is and ask him to help you find it! He monitors the entire Theocracy every day, and this is the time to use him!"

Upon hearing this, Iver and Sherlock exchanged another glance.

Iver immediately dissuaded her, saying, "No rush, Master Agnes."

That's right.

Sherlock, who was standing nearby, nodded in agreement.

Seeing their reaction, Yanis immediately realized. "Can't we talk about this? Or... is there something wrong with Cardinal Loki?"

"It's hard to say."

Iver shook his head and said cautiously, "It's not absolutely certain yet."

"If you're not 100% certain, you have to leave room for error. Even if you're 95% certain, the remaining 5% could still be reversed."

Sherlock raised his cane and tapped the ground, his expression very serious. "Because it could very well be a trap, designed to fool the impatient."

"—In other words, is Cardinal Loki indeed suspicious?"

Yanis gleaned information from Iver and Sherlock's attitudes. "No wonder... Gloria... the Controlled Fire..."

She immediately thought of Gloria's death, which she had just heard about.

Gloria Blue Rose, whose condition had improved a few months ago, suddenly deteriorated and committed suicide before Ningbo could kill someone.

Is it possible that the "Tears of Time" worked on her?

If Freya truly didn't tell anyone, then perhaps only Cardinal Loki knows about this—just as Yanis just said, Cardinal Loki is constantly monitoring the entire Theocracy.

If he had the ability to find the thief who stole from Freya's laboratory... then he could also commit theft without being detected by anyone. As long as he knew what the medicine was for.

—It was as if a corpse had been silently stuffed into Iver's room.

"How many people can use your 'one-third'?"

Suddenly, Yanis thought of something and turned to ask.

Freya's expression was rather unpleasant.

She realized she had made a huge mistake, and her voice became weak and softer. "If it takes effect slowly, it's enough for about a dozen people. It only takes three drops to make a healthy elf's amber crystallize and take effect in a short time."

"Then if," Iver suddenly asked, "The other person already has Amberization Disease, can the dosage be reduced accordingly?"

"That's right." Freya nodded.

She paused for a moment, then gasped.

Considering the principles of "Controlled Fire," she suddenly realized what Iver was trying to say.

"The number of people who died in this incident may be far more than just these dozen or so."

Iver slowly said, "Let's assume—let's just assume for now. Let's assume for now that Gloria's death is related to it. Then this matter should at least be related to the Controlled Fire, and there's a high probability that it's related to Cardinal Loki."

"So, what would happen if the ' Tears of Time ' fell into the hands of extreme Controlled Fire elements?"

"—A catalyst for the situation."

Sherlock, standing to the side, answered crisply and decisively.

A deep blue flame ignited in his pupils, a testament to his intense contemplation and resonance with the Path of Wisdom: "A more useful purpose than making healthy elves sick is to hasten the death of elves already condensed into amber. In other words, it's a 'execution drug.' Just like Gloria, it rapidly shortens their illness... And in this process, there's a possibility of developing unusual psychological illnesses, or causing mental extremism, or even hallucinations—"

Sherlock said, walking quickly to Freya: "How are you so sure it can make the elf condense amber?"

"The analysis of the principles... Do you want to hear it from the beginning?"

"No need. So, you haven't conducted any human experiments yet?"

"... What kind of experiments can I conduct?"

Freya also somewhat helpless.

"Then why don't you explain the principle behind it?"

Sherlock readily agreed, "I don't know much about alchemy, so it would be best if you could explain it to me."

Although Freya didn't particularly like this somewhat overly familiar man, she was also clearly aware of Sherlock's reliability and knew she was in trouble.

Therefore, she explained to Sherlock very seriously, "This goes back to the elves' longevity. Through analysis of elven blood samples and the Giant Tree Blood, I discovered that the elves' long lifespan is actually unnatural. Once an elf's body tissue leaves its body, the rate of cellular aging increases dramatically, causing the parameters of the physiological samples to be seriously inconsistent with expectations—"

"I think I understand. But is there a more precise way to put it?" Sherlock pondered for a moment before asking to confirm.

Freya answered simply, "To put it simply, the lifespan of elves should be similar to that of humans. It is indeed a bit longer, but definitely not more than twice that of humans."

"--What?"

Upon hearing this, the other three were taken aback.

Yanis's eyes widened. "So that means...?"

In the past few days, Yanis has suffered a series of huge blows, with one incredibly exciting piece of news after another coming in non-stop.

"That's right. As it stands... the immortality, the amber, and the lack of desire of the elves are all inherited gifts formed after birth."

Freya nodded, confirming, "Essentially, it's the same as a griffin being elevated from an ordinary supernatural being by Silver Crowned Dragon; or a Wild Hunt being elevated by Weizhe."

"The physical parameters of elves are absolutely insufficient to support them living for so long and maintaining such a youthful state for so long."

"And you all understand... when it comes to an abnormal extension of lifespan, that's the realm of the Path of Twilight."

"That's right, this blessing comes from the Amber Angel. The 'longevity potions' currently popular on the market are all based on research into this phenomenon—they also share the same origin as the research into the ' Elixir of Immortality!'"

—This is research result that can only be described as heresy.

This means that elves are not actually immortal beings, directly negating their nobility.

According to Freya's research, elves are essentially another form of human who automatically take life-extending potions every year from birth. Therefore, Half-Elf can only inherit a small portion of the long lifespan of elves, and if their bloodline is diluted further, it will have almost no impact on their lifespan.

Even Iver had never heard of such outrageous knowledge.

No, that's not right.

Iver opened his eyes slightly.

He seemed to have heard something similar before.

That was after Yanis used fragments of the Amber Angel to create a magical painting and went mad, after which the Amberization Disease in the Theocracy was cured. Therefore, they believed that the Amberization Disease was a curse from the Amber Angel.

However, a strange "abnormal aging phenomenon" subsequently appeared in the Theocracy, suspected to be a sequela of the forced elimination of the Amberization Disease through this method. However, this part of the story only has a beginning and no further developments.

But what if... it's not an illness? As the power of the Amber Angel dissipates, the long lifespan of the spirits begins to decline.

— Gradually reverting to Short-lived Races.

They will revert to their true forms.

However, the culture of the elves has adapted to longevity and become accustomed to recklessly consuming their lifespan. Their leisure, tranquility, composure, and fairness all stem from a lack of urgency.

If elves were to realize that their lifespans were about to decline, unimaginable chaos would ensue... and it was even possible that the entire race's stance would be reversed.

That will no longer be a simple aftereffect, but the beginning of the decline of the entire race.

This is the real "Disaster of Tree and Amber".