When Ian returned from Dimensional Space to his temporary residence in the capital of Xing, before his buttocks were even hot, the messenger from the palace had been waiting at the door for a long time.
Without any extra words, Ian straightened his robes and boarded the luxuriously decorated royal carriage.
This time, the meeting place was no longer the magnificent palace, but an extremely private imperial garden.
The garden is full of exotic flowers and plants, and the layout of rockeries and flowing water is exquisite. There seems to be no one around, except for the emperor in casual clothes who is sipping tea alone.
But in Ian's perception, this garden is simply a military camp.
The air was filled with vague murderous intent, and countless powerful auras lurked in the shadows, treetops and even gaps in the rockery. Those were the top secret guards of Xing. They were like poisonous snakes before hunting, locking on every movement of Ian.
"Mr. Ian, please sit down."
Xing The emperor put down the tea cup with a spring-like smile on his face, like a hospitable elder, "I wonder if you are satisfied with my arrangement, sir?"
Ian sat down calmly, with the same impeccable diplomatic smile on his face:
"Xing has a vast land and rich resources, and the people are simple and honest. Your Majesty's governance is admirable."
The two of them just went back and forth and played Tai Chi for a while, chatting about insignificant customs and customs.
After three rounds of tea, the emperor asked as if casually:
"Mr. Ian is a scholar of heaven and man, and has traveled all over the world. As a Alchemy teacher who is exploring Truth, I wonder if you... have you ever thought about the boundaries between life and death?"
Coming.
Ian gently turned the porcelain cup in his hand, looked at the undulating tea leaves in the cup, and replied lightly:
"Of course I have thought about it. After all, death is the ultimate destination of all carbon-based life. This is the inevitable increase in entropy determined by the second law of thermodynamics."
"Is it inevitable?" A glint flashed in the emperor's eyes, "Are there no exceptions? Have you never studied... immortality?"
"Eternal life..." Ian put down the tea cup and seemed to be lost in memories, "I have indeed dabbled in it. In the history of Western alchemy, there was a man named Nikolai Si·Flamel's Alchemy master, he believed that Philosopher's Stone could give people eternal life. But as far as I know, he has also passed away. In front of Truth, there may not be real eternity."
"Really? That's such a shame."
The emperor sighed, with a look of regret on his face. Then, he did not continue the topic, but chatted a few more words about home affairs, then served tea to see off the guests.
Ian As soon as he left the imperial garden, the gentle smile on the emperor's face disappeared instantly, replaced by a gloomy coldness.
"What do you think?" he asked to the empty crowd behind him.
"Your Majesty, he is lying."
A black figure slowly squirmed out from the shadow of the rockery. It was a man wrapped in black clothes, and his voice was hoarse like metal friction.
"How can I see it?"
"When this man first stepped into Xing, I felt his 'qi'." There was a hint of trembling in the black shadow's tone that could not be concealed. "Although he has deliberately restrained his aura now and used some superb disguise skills. But in my perception, the energy in his body is as dazzling as the blazing sun at noon, and it is like a forcibly compressed humanoid nuclear reactor."
"That kind of suffocating life energy is definitely not something ordinary humans can possess. With that kind of 'qi' reserve, it is theoretically feasible to live for hundreds or even thousands of years, let alone a hundred years."
When the emperor heard this, he frowned and tapped his fingers on the stone table.
"Since he refuses to tell the truth... what about the Library? What did you who went in find out?"
"We did find a...'Pseudo-Immortality' technology in his dimension the Library." Heiyinghui reported.
"Don't be pretentious, just tell me."
"Yes. It is a technology that anchors the soul to inanimate matter."
Heiying explained in detail, "According to ancient records, the human soul can be separated from the body and sealed in a pair of armor or a similar container. In this way, the soul is no longer restricted by the aging of the body, does not need to eat, sleep, or get sick. Even if the armor is destroyed, as long as the soul mark is still there, the body can be replaced Infinity times."
"Armor..." The emperor narrowed his eyes, "I guess besides not being able to enjoy physical pleasure, there should be other costs, right?"
"Your Majesty is wise. According to the notes of the Alchemy division, there is a 'rejection reaction' in this state. There is a wavelength mismatch between the soul and the non-biological container, and the armor will eventually 'reject' the soul. However, the notes mention that after this rejection occurs, it can be transferred to a new armor."
"How long can it last?"
"It is replaced about once every one hundred years. However, the wear and tear of the soul is irreversible, and this transfer can only be carried out a maximum of seven times."
"Seven times... that's seven hundred years."
The emperor quickly calculated in his mind that seven hundred years would be enough time for him to rule this country for a long time. But he was not satisfied with being an empty armor.
"Since it can be transferred to armor, can it be transferred to other people's bodies?" The emperor asked the most taboo question.
"Theoretically, it is possible. However, the rejection reaction of living containers is more severe than that of dead objects. Taking over other people's bodies can only last for three months to five years at most, and it is also limited to the 'seven times of transfer' Soul Limit."
The emperor nodded, his eyes Blink shining with greed and madness.
Even if it is only "Pseudo-Immortality", even if it is only seven hundred years, it is an irresistible temptation for him who is facing the threat of death at this moment.
"Since that Ian hides this kind of technology but refuses to give it away... then don't blame me for being rude."
At the same time, inside Ian's mansion.
Hughes was feasting on a table of sumptuous Xing food.
"I have to say, although the emperor has weird eyes, the food here is really amazing! This spicy taste is just dancing on the tip of the tongue!" Hughes said vaguely while wiping sweat.
Ian stood in front of the window, without looking back, and just said lightly:
"Eat quickly, we have to leave."
"Ah? In such a hurry? I haven't finished eating yet..."
"If you don't leave, you'll have to die in prison."
Ian's voice was a little colder. In his perception network, the secret sentries that were lurking around suddenly withdrew, and were replaced by a large number of heavily armed regular troops. They were encircling and silently approaching the mansion.
"It seems that the emperor is not satisfied with my 'gift'. He is really incompetent."
Ian sneered in his heart.
He did leave information about "Soul Fixation Technique" (similar to Alphonse) in the Library. This was not only a gift in return for Xing teaching Alkahestry, but also a sociological experiment - he wanted to see the rate of decay of human souls in this world after leaving the body.
But this does not mean that he is willing to become the emperor's eternal cash machine.
Boom--!!!
Without warning, a huge explosion shattered the tranquility of the night.
Dozens of alchemical cannons fired at the same time, covering the entire mansion accurately. Smoke and dust rose into the sky, and the wooden structure houses were reduced to ruins in an instant.
However, when the smoke clears.
In the center of the ruins, a light blue hemispherical energy shield stood intact.
Ian and Hughes, who looked confused and held a chicken leg in his hand, stood inside the shield without even a speck of dust on them.
Outside the shield, there is a black army. Thousands of soldiers wearing heavy armor and holding spears and sharp blades have surrounded the place. Archers and crossbowmen occupy the commanding heights, and alchemists are constructing a blockade formation.
"What's going on?!" Hughes threw away the chicken legs, pulled out his gun, and his expression changed drastically.
"I told you before, that emperor is dying and he wants to live forever." Ian removed the shield, still maintaining that elegant calmness.
"So he thinks you can do something?"
"Apparently so."
"So do you have it?"
"Of course. But why should I give it to a greedy ant?"
Hughes looked at the densely packed swords and guns all around, and said with a wry smile, "Now is not the time to discuss philosophy, right? We seem to be in big trouble. There are so many alchemists and elite soldiers, even if you can fly..."
"Trouble?"
Ian glanced around at the murderous soldiers around him and raised the corners of his mouth slightly, "For observers, there is no trouble, only 'samples'."
"Although I promised Truth not to go on a killing spree, it doesn't mean I can't teach them a lesson."
Ian slowly raised his hands and made a tapping motion in front of his chest.
At this moment, he mobilized the energy and magic power in his body and built a high-frequency oscillating air compression field between his palms.
"Sonic Alchemy·Wide Area Shock."
Snap!
Put your palms together.
What seemed like a simple clapping action caused an acoustic disaster in an instant.
A transparent ripple visible to the naked eye centered on Ian and spread wildly in a ring shape. It was not an ordinary noise, but a precisely calculated mixed impact of infrasound waves and high-frequency sound waves.
It directly penetrated the soldiers' armor, ignored the alchemist's defensive formation, and accurately attacked everyone's inner ear vestibular system and auditory nerve.
"Ahhhhhh--!!"
The screams came one after another and became one in an instant.
The soldiers in the front row fell in pieces like Maze, covering their ears with their hands and rolling on the ground in pain. Blood spurted out from their ears and nostrils. The severe dizziness made them lose all their balance ability, and even standing became a luxury.
Even those officers with strong willpower in the distance were kneeling on the ground and mouthing S.P.E.W., their minds going blank.
Just one blow.
Thousands of people, Royal Guards, instantly lost their combat effectiveness.
"Let's go."
Ian didn't even look at the wailing soldiers on the ground and grabbed Hughes's shoulders.
With a burst of distortion in the space, the two figures disappeared out of thin air, leaving only a mess on the ground and the legend about the "Devil Alchemy Master".
This storm did not end with the departure of Ian.
After learning that the encirclement and suppression had failed, Emperor Xing was so furious that he vomited blood and fell into a coma on the spot. His physical condition deteriorated rapidly, and the shadow of death had already enveloped his bed.
On his deathbed, the desperate emperor ordered the royal alchemist to forcibly perform the "Pseudo-Immortality" ritual.
He wants to transfer his soul to the golden armor that has been prepared.
However, at the most critical step in the ceremony - the moment when the soul is about to leave the body.
A mysterious and magnificent force suddenly came.
That is not the magic of Ian, that is the power of rules from the bottom of this world, or the mockery of "Truth".
The emperor was horrified to find that no matter how the alchemist activated the formation, his soul remained motionless as if it had been welded to death in his rotten body.
He was trapped in his rotting body, watching helplessly as his vitality drained away, feeling the failure of every organ.
He wanted to pursue eternal life, but even the humblest "Pseudo-Immortality" was deprived of the qualification.
A few days later, Emperor Xing died of natural aging in endless despair and fear.