Black, White, Yellow, Red: The Unchanging Essence

By this point, Alchemy seemed to have reached perfection.

But for alchemists, this was still not enough, because Alchemy's original goal—creating gold—had still not been achieved at the Yellowing stage.

No one had been able to create a seed of gold that would not be depleted.

Some believed they had not perfected the Yellowing stage, while others believed Yellowing itself was imperfect.

They went on to conceive of a true state of perfection beyond Yellowing—Reddening.

Here it comes!

Manus thought to himself as he listened to Nicolas describe Reddening.

The core of Reddening still lay in the seed, but this seed went a step further beyond the non-depleting seed of the Yellowing stage.

It was an omnipotent seed.

It was the essence of all elements, the Fifth Element beyond the four elements, truth within truth, mystery within mystery.

It could transform Dead Matter into any existing substance, including gold. It could even create life and spirit—thus producing the Elixir of Life, which could grant immortality.

Although no one had managed to reach this stage for many years after the idea was first proposed, over the long passage of time, alchemists had spared no extravagant praise in naming this thing that existed only in theory.

Elixir of Life, Philosopher's Stone, Great Miracle, Great Creation, Raw Material of Gold and Silver, Red Elixir, Stone from Heaven, and Philosopher's Stone.

Yes, because no one had any idea what form this seed would take, there were some minor disagreements when it came to naming it.

Since it could be used as a seed, this omnipotent seed could hardly be gaseous, but whether it was solid or liquid depended on who you asked.

After all, the seeds produced during the Yellowing stage came in large solid chunks, liquids, and powders.

The alchemists capable and qualified