Whispering Poems

Chapter 4087 The Alchemist's Speculation

Xia De had once consumed the "Pseudo-Human Mother Fluid," which, while not turning him into a pseudo-human, did grant him the power to influence lower-level pseudo-humans. However, what he was preparing to do now was not simply to influence that mass of flesh and blood with his bloodline power, nor was it to extract its life force.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and thought to himself in admiration:

May the red moon be with me.

It was still daytime, and March had not yet arrived, but Shad possessed a constant state of being illuminated by the moon, so he could use some of the magical arts that only worked under the moonlight.

After praying, he raised his right hand as if fiddling with something, and the scarlet moonlight quickly gathered in his hand:

"Miraculous Technique: Flower of the Corrupted Moon!"

"Wait, Mr. Redstone, what are you doing?"

Sensing an extremely dangerous power, the alchemist immediately stood up, but Shad ignored him. As he twisted his right thumb and forefinger together, a slender flower branch appeared first, followed by the moonlight, which carried a sense of decay, and in his hand, it constructed the scarlet flower that symbolized the decay and mutation of flesh and blood.

Apart from Shad, the other five people cast a spell together to shield the elemental reactions caused by the use of this high-level magic, but all five of them were also attracted by the flower on Shad's fingertip.

The crimson color represents the curse of the Red Moon, yet this curse also instinctively draws the gaze of flesh and blood. This is one of the most essential powers of the Red Moon, and it is this power that Shad hopes Miss Feliananna will teach him.

"And this—Life Rebound."

A few red specks of light appeared around Shad, and he absorbed them with each breath. Then, the life force was infused into the scarlet moonflower.

The colors of the moonflower became even more vibrant, but the buds remained closed, and everyone eagerly awaited their bloom.

"This is a high-level area-of-effect spell; I will control its power slightly."

Shad explained that by grinding the flower stem between two fingers, the scarlet flower bloomed in his hand.

The flowers are not brightly colored, and although they bloom in a way that is as graceful as ordinary flowers, they still have a strange, sticky feel.

Even though it was daytime, the flower's scarlet glow still illuminated a small area centered on Shad. The sweet, metallic scent of the moonflower as it bloomed instilled an instinctive unease, yet also a strange urge to inhale its aroma again.

This was also the first time that Shad had officially unleashed this magical technique, and he found that controlling its power was not very difficult.

However, after being imbued with the spark of life, the magnificent and eerie beauty of this corrupting moon flower far surpassed even Danist's description. Therefore, after the flower bloomed, Shad quickly aimed it at his target and then gently blew on it.

"Shh~"

The blooming flower detached from the stem and floated forward. Because the flower was not actually a physical entity, it easily passed through the body of the flask and merged into the blood-red mass of flesh that was still frantically pounding the flask.

The mass of flesh continued to violently pound against the inside of the container, but the blood on its surface was turning black at a visible speed, and its movement was becoming increasingly slower. The flesh buds in the surface grooves thrashed wildly, but they could not stop the black pus and blood flowing from the flesh.

Just half a minute later, only a thick, putrid pool of blood remained in the bottle.

The whispering element hasn't completely disappeared. Although the fake human's flesh and blood have thoroughly decomposed, the putrid pus still retains the characteristics of fake human blood and requires further harmless treatment to completely eliminate the threat. However, compared to the initial mass of flesh and blood, this puddle of pus is much easier to handle.

Shad was very satisfied with the effect of the spell. He continued to twist the flower branch, causing it to dissipate into specks of red moonlight in the air.
"Is this okay?"

He asked Mr. Mercury, who then sat down again, his tone becoming very respectful:

“That solves the problem, Mr. Redstone. I didn’t expect your research on the topic of flesh decay to be so in-depth. Although I couldn’t recognize what kind of magic you used, it directly points to the essence of ‘flesh decay.’ That decaying red moonlight is truly mesmerizing.”

Xia De smiled modestly:

"My research in this area is limited to this. In fact, I am more skilled at shaping flesh and organs than at the decay of flesh and blood. Of course, my expertise in this area is still not comparable to that of the previous generation of Redstone Lady."

"How modest of you. I also brought that part of the alchemy notes; you can take it with you later. Besides that, I have some clues I'd like to share with you."

After Ms. Redstone disappeared, we investigated the laboratory where she was last seen and found many eye specimens. Some eyes belonged to members of her group who had died, while others were created by her using human transmutation techniques.

Mr. Mercury said:

"Those eyes were still active, so we preserved them, and most of them have remained the same for over twenty years. But after a series of recent events, we discovered that some of those eyes have the ability to store 'distorted life sparks'."

Although they could only store the fire for a short time, this suggests that Lady Redstone's research back then likely touched upon some secrets related to the current events.

He revealed his true thoughts:
"The Alchemy Guild is considering whether Lady Redstone, if she hadn't died, might have been the chosen one this time."

Shad laughed:

"When you went to Tobesk to participate in the story of the chosen ones of 'Knowledge and Wisdom,' you suffered a great loss at the hands of the [Truth Society] in order to seize the Sage's Radiant Stone, yet you still haven't given up? I've heard that the [Truth Society] has already appeared locally."

Mr. Mercury's expression remained unchanged:

“Even the Church of the True Gods wouldn’t easily relinquish the status of a chosen one, let alone us. Mr. Redstone, if Ms. Redstone could become a chosen one, I think it would be beneficial for both us and for you.”

“But we don’t even know if she’s really dead. I always thought she was dead, but when we dug up her grave recently, we found out that the body in the coffin was fake.”

Shade shook his head:

"Let's wait until we find her before considering anything else."

"Was there anything else in that coffin?"

Mr. Mercury asked again, but Shad smiled and didn't answer. So the alchemist took out another black notebook from his pocket:
"This is a relic of Lady Redstone that we recently discovered. The notebook is full of blank pages, but we are quite certain that there is something on the pages, and probably only Lady Redstone's rightful heir can see those contents."

"Mr. Redstone, how about I trade this for the secret you possess?"

Vige's assessment of this group was indeed accurate; Xia De felt that it was entirely justified for them to be ambushed by the [Truth Society] two years ago.
"Of course, but what I found in the coffin might not be what you need."

"It's alright, alchemists always maintain their curiosity."

Mr. Mercury placed the black notebook on the coffee table between the two of them, and then Shad said:

"At that time, I found a stone tablet with two sentences on it: "The Philosopher's Stone is the end of the road, which cannot be synthesized in the Sixth Era. This road is blocked." "The Philosopher's Stone is earth, and the Fire Seed is fire. This is the path to opening up the original creation."

Of the five sentences, Xia De only spoke the first two; he didn't intend to reveal the sentences involving Sister Wei Ge.

Mr. Mercury seemed to be deep in thought:
"To construct the body with the Philosopher's Stone and to shape the spirit with the spark of life, thereby giving birth to spirituality and creating new life? She did indeed choose this approach."

He then asked Xia De:

"I'd like to ask a rather personal question, Mr. Redstone: are you certain who your parents are?"

"You suspect I am a product of human transmutation?"

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant. But considering Ms. Redstone's research, do you possess the following characteristics: the ability to turn a counterfeit Philosopher's Stone into water through direct contact, the ability to manipulate the life force, and the ability to absorb?"

She smiled gently, but Xia De interrupted her:
"If Ms. Redstone could really create such life, then I can't think of any reason why she would fake her death or actually die. This joke isn't funny, Mr. Mercury, I'm a normal human being."

Vige watched Shade's retreating figure with a strange expression, wondering if Shade was really her brother. Shade reached for the black notebook on the coffee table, while Mr. Mercury said:

"Wait, I want to know more."

He tried to stop Shad from taking the notebook, but as soon as he reached out, he saw Shad frowning at him. Shad didn't know what the other had seen, but in any case, Mr. Mercury froze on the spot.

Shad picked up the notebook and flipped through it. After confirming that it was indeed blank, he stood up.

"Give me those alchemy notes too. This meeting was very fruitful. If we have any leads about Lady Redstone later, we can exchange information. I just hope there won't be any more inexplicable tests next time."

After obtaining the extra alchemy notes, Shad listened to Viggo complaining that "these alchemists are so rude," and left the room with the two girls.

The man with the twelve rings of mercury didn't lower his head and cover his eyes until Shad's footsteps had completely disappeared. When he looked up again, his left eye was shattered into a pile of glass shards, which he held in his palm.

"Mr. Mercury, what did you just see?"

The woman, also a member of the twelfth ring, asked. The man, holding the shattered eye, shook his head in lingering fear, blood still flowing from his left eye socket.

"Your Excellency, it's hard for me to describe what I saw. This eye contains a strand of hair that Ms. Redstone left in the association back then. I originally planned to use that strand of hair and the secret technique to determine whether Mr. Redstone and Ms. Redstone were related by blood, or at least to determine whether Mr. Redstone's essence contained the components of the [Jade Record]."

But just now when I looked up at him, I swear I saw him.”

He swallowed hard.
"A bright red moon."