As he spoke, Xiao Xiao extended a finger and traced through the air. Before long, he had sketched an unusual ring set with a ruby in midair. Zheng Qing almost immediately recalled the one Nicholas wore on the index finger of his left hand.
"Apparently, this was Senior Colmar's prototype," Xiao Xiao added.
"I saw it on Nicholas's hand!"
A look of realization crossed the young government-funded student's face. "The gem on that ring was perfectly fine before the trial. Afterward, there were several cracks in it... I thought he had accidentally damaged it during the fight."
"So I guessed that the magical power within the Philosopher's Stone had been exhausted, damaging the gem."
Xiao Xiao nodded slightly in agreement. "From that perspective, Senior Colmar's experiment has not been completely successful... which makes sense. If Philosopher's Stones really could be mass-produced so easily, wizards would not regard them as such precious treasures. Of course, it is an indisputable fact that Duzem's Philosopher's Stone greatly reduced the cost of making Philosopher's Stones... Dr. Duzem truly deserved his reputation as the genius alchemist who once entered the Great Arcana."
After the Black Prison Battle, due to the combined effects of the causal lock and the Ancient One's advancement, among other factors, the many secret spells First University had placed on Dr. Duzem became ineffective. Diviners immediately caught wind of his role in helping the Dark Council formulate 'Giant Zero Three.'
As a result, the once-famous genius alchemist once again became the focus of public attention—the youngest specially appointed researcher at First University, a man who had once possessed a namesake laboratory, holder of the Great Arcana title 'Star,' and the story of his meteoric rise and disappearance.
However, with the start of the new school term, that news, which had caused an