The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　Only the last one, the "Potion Card" made from "Red Potion No. 3", was successful!

　This success was a huge encouragement for Darko, proving that his overall approach was entirely correct.

　The historical reconstruction of "King Valhalla" is becoming more complete.

　His successful historical deduction by replicating "Red Medicine No. 3" proves that his historical deduction was closer to the truth of history.

　By repeating the ritual, more "Red Medicine No. 3" can be replicated.

　By adding key ingredients such as "Greed", it can be transformed into a potion card - "Red Bloodstained Golden Kingdom Elixir of Immortality"!

　Dark felt an irresistible urge to go back to the "secret passage" again.

　However, considering his own condition, he decided to go at a different time and also had to make an appointment with Professor Harvey to use the "Dream Machine".

　In short, since the "Albino Destiny Golden Kingdom Immortal Elixir" cannot be made for the time being, let's first get three copies of the "Red Bloodstained Golden Kingdom Immortal Elixir"!

　[I can't hold on this month, but I'll try harder next month and regain the glory of perfect attendance!]

Chapter 1382 Darkdemon and the Philosopher's Stone (4k)

　"Let's first confirm the specific effects of the 'Eternal Life Elixir of the Golden Kingdom Stained with Crimson Blood'."

　After setting his short-term goals, Dark picked up the "Red Bloodstained Golden Kingdom Elixir of Immortality" from the table and infused it with magic to examine it carefully.

　In the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game, "Crimson Bloodstained Elixir of Immortality" is a Trap Card. Its core effect is to Special Summon "Elder Alchemist" from the Deck or Graveyard. If "Elder Alchemist" is on the field, it can Special Summon other Zombie-type cards. However, Special Summoning of non-Zombie-type cards is restricted.

　In addition, this card has another optional effect. It can be activated by banishing this card from the Graveyard, allowing you to select one "Golden Land" Spell/Trap Card from your Deck and Set it on your field.

　Dark does not have the "Golden Kingdom Alchemist" skill, so even though he has already refined the "Red-Stained Golden Kingdom Elixir of Immortality," he cannot use the first effect for the time being.

　However, the existing rules of magical duels do not include the concept of "exclusion". Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether the second effect will take effect.

　He had high hopes for this card because he felt it would change after it was transformed into a magic card.

　After all, the original "Red Bloodstained Golden Kingdom Elixir of Immortality" was a Trap Card, while the current "Red Bloodstained Golden Kingdom Elixir of Immortality" is a Potion Card.

　Here, Dak observes the details.

　Card Name: Crimson Bloodstained Golden Kingdom Elixir of Immortality [Type: Item Card]

　【Effect ①: Creates miracles, granting life to the dead. When used on an undead magical spirit, it can revive them from (the graveyard).】

　【Effect 2: Using the elixir of immortality from the Golden Kingdom stained with crimson blood as a catalyst, you can Special Summon (The Alchemist of the Golden Kingdom) from your Deck.】

　[Effect 3: Using the elixir of immortality from the blood-stained Golden Kingdom as a catalyst, you can add one "Golden Kingdom" Spell/Item/Ritual card from your Deck to your hand.]

　[Effect ④: After the Elixir of Immortality in the Bloodstained Golden Kingdom is used, Effect ③ can be forcibly triggered at the cost of the Magic Card itself.]

　"The Crimson Bloodstained Golden Kingdom Elixir of Immortality" is a single-use potion. Even if not explicitly stated in the information, it is certain that effects ①②③ cannot be triggered simultaneously.

　However, effect ④ is exactly the opposite; it can only be used after effects ①, ②, and ③ have been triggered.

　This is a special effect that comes at the cost of destroying the Magic Card itself. It's a choice made under duress.

　If effect ③ is triggered first, and then effect ④ is triggered, it's equivalent to triggering effect ③ twice.

　However, the "Red-Clad Golden Kingdom Elixir of Immortality" is not an unreplicable magic card.

　Moreover, it is not a magical spirit.

　Therefore, there is not much psychological burden when it comes to causing destruction.

　However, making the "Eternal Life Elixir of the Golden Kingdom Stained with Red Blood" is indeed difficult, and the required materials are all precious, making it impossible to replicate infinitely.

　Furthermore, Dark strongly suspects that, like other magic cards in the "Golden City" series, it can only be forged into a maximum of three copies.

　Otherwise, if you could store a dozen or twenty cards at once, you could really "tear up" cards without any restraint.

　That kind of luxury is wonderful just to think about.

　Overall, the actual effects of this "Red-Clad Golden Kingdom Immortal Elixir" are quite pleasing.

　Neither of the two restrictions that Dak was most worried about remained, and although effect ④ was slightly off, it was still a pleasant surprise.

　Most importantly, its core effect is that it can specially summon undead magical spirits from the "graveyard", that is, revive them and retain their original forms.

　Unfortunately, apart from "The Alchemist of the Golden Country", none of the magical spirits can be Special Summoned from the deck.

　"The Elixir of Immortality from the Golden Kingdom, Crimson and Bloodstained" ultimately became a magic card specifically designed to recruit "Alchemists from the Golden Kingdom".

　Therefore, if you want to maximize the potential of this "Golden Kingdom" deck, you still need to quickly craft the "Golden Kingdom Alchemist".

　In fact, Dark had already developed a relatively complete plan on how to become an "alchemist of the Golden Kingdom".

　The key to creating the "Golden Kingdom Alchemist" lies in the "Golden Alchemy Array" and the gold bricks gifted by the "Golden King".

　The gold brick gifted by the "Golden King" contains the "Golden King's" unique divinity, making it perfect for crafting the (Golden Core) of the "Golden Kingdom Alchemist".

　However, there is only one gold brick. If you want to make three "Golden Kingdom Alchemists", you must cut it into pieces.

　Given the limited core resources available, which cannot be sustained by excessive consumption, Dark is now preparing to seek Professor Kazel's assistance.

　However, since the professor does not possess the "Golden Power," he cannot entrust the entire "Golden Core" to Professor Kazel for creation.

　Basically, he still has to perform the operations that require the "Power of Gold" himself. But with Professor Kazel's help, the most complex structural aspects, as well as the parts with particularly high craftsmanship requirements, are guaranteed to be completed on the first try. Moreover, he still has many unresolved issues regarding the details of creating the "Golden Alchemist" golem, many of which are not issues he can solve independently at this stage.

　Therefore, if you really want to create the "Golden Alchemist" golem as soon as possible, you have no choice but to seek help from Professor Kazel.

　Otherwise, it wouldn't be something that could be accomplished in a year or two. He also has expertise in golem forging.

　There is a lot to learn.

　Having made his decision, Dark immediately got to work. After dinner, he went back to his dormitory to organize all the data he had accumulated since the creation of the "Golden Grave Digger" golem before knocking on Professor Kazel's door.

　Professor Cazell is not in the Hidden Place laboratory tonight. Dark had arranged to meet him before dinner.

　So he had only knocked once when Professor Cazell opened the door from the inside and kindly ushered him into the room.

　Although he saw Professor Cazell almost every day and often visited the faculty residence, Dark rarely visited Professor Cazell's private room.

　He could tell that Professor Cazell wasn't in a hurry to get to the point, so he simply put aside the file bag full of thick documents and sat down on the sofa with Professor Cazell, starting with tea.

　After boasting a bit about the black tea he had chosen, Professor Cazell changed the subject, saying, "Do you know about the Philosopher's Stone?"

　“I know,” Darke nodded.

　He certainly knew about the Philosopher's Stone, after all, the "Elixir of Immortality" he had just been researching was a product similar to the Philosopher's Stone.

　Of course, it is also possible that it was simply a product born during the process of creating the "Philosopher's Stone".

　The Philosopher's Stone, in general, is a substance that possesses two special abilities.

　The first special ability is "turning lead into gold," or turning base metals into precious metals.

　The second special ability is the ability to create elixirs that grant immortality.

　In this world, alchemists have two eternal and unchanging ultimate goals, one of which is to create the "Philosopher's Stone".

　Both the "Golden King" and the "Heroic King" were alchemists who pursued this goal.

　The other goal, as for the goal, is to create life from nothing. Professor Cazell is a master of this.

　But this doesn't mean Professor Cazell is uninterested in the other goal.

　In fact, he is the kind of person who is very well-rounded and interested in research in almost every direction.

　However, he never learned how to make the Philosopher's Stone, so he didn't go into that.

　The tradition of alchemy is extremely ancient. With the passage of time and even the change of eras, many very ancient alchemical techniques have become legends.

　This includes the method for creating the "Philosopher's Stone".

　This situation continued until the reappearance of the Golden Kingdom and the resurgence of the original alchemist—the "Golden King"—finally brought about some change.

　Professor Kazel discovered the method of "turning lead into gold" from the "spoils" that Dark and Emma brought together, and naturally began to continue his research in the direction of the "Philosopher's Stone".

　The Philosopher's Stone symbolizes "eternity".

　In this world, only beings called "God" are worthy of being called "eternal".

　In other words.

　The true meaning of the Philosopher's Stone is to make people into gods!

　Darke only came to understand this information during subsequent conversations.

　Professor Cazell spoke eloquently about this, gradually clarifying his thoughts.

　"My initial goal was to find a path to the Philosopher's Stone by studying the 'Golden Power.'"

　Professor Kazel said.

　"Among them, the alchemy and the golden magic stone were all research undertaken solely to reach the 'Philosopher's Stone.'"

　"But later..."

　Dark asked, "What happened next?"

　Professor Cazell looked up and sighed, "Later, I realized that all that research was insufficient, far from sufficient."

　He kept saying "not enough," but his expression wasn't anxious. Dark asked with slight curiosity, "And then?"

　Professor Cazell took a sip of tea to whet his appetite before saying, "Later I discovered that the other half of the research was in Steven's hands."

　This statement is ambiguous.

　But after hearing this, Dark immediately realized, "You mean, the research on 'Heroic Spirit Transformation' is also one of the paths to the 'Philosopher's Stone'?" Professor Kazel affirmed, "That's right. The 'Philosopher's Stone' is recorded to possess two abilities: one is 'turning lead into gold,' and the other is 'immortality,' which are 'golden transformation' and 'Heroic Spirit Transformation.' Combining these two is what creates the 'Philosopher's Stone'!"

　Dark frowned and muttered, "The Albino Destiny Golden Kingdom Elixir of Immortality and the Crimson Bloodstained Golden Kingdom Elixir of Immortality."

　Although he spoke softly, Professor Cazell heard him clearly: "That's right, those two elixirs of immortality you mentioned. 'The Albino Destiny Golden Kingdom Elixir of Immortality' and 'The Crimson Bloodstained Golden Kingdom Elixir of Immortality,' 'Golden Transformation' and 'Heroic Spirit Transformation,' 'Golden King' and 'Heroic Spirit King.'"

　Dark said, "I see. These are all byproducts obtained during the research and creation of the Philosopher's Stone. Both the Golden King and the Heroic King were alchemists whose ultimate goal was to create the Philosopher's Stone."

　Professor Kazel said, "I remember you played the game before, [and you said that] both the 'Genghis Khan' and the 'King of Heroes' are gods, but is that certain?" Dark shook his head slightly and said, "It was just a judgment made based on the divine aura they exuded. But their divine aura is only slightly stronger than Nix's. They should be the lowest level of gods, the third-tier gods."

　Professor Kazel said, "Rank is meaningless. Since they have become gods, does that mean they have successfully created the Philosopher's Stone?"

　Reasonable logic.

　But Dark immediately refuted this, saying, "Even so, in my opinion, their ascension to godhood is probably not so much related to the Philosopher's Stone."

　"Isn't it because of the Philosopher's Stone?" Professor Kazel frowned.

　Dark said, "I should mention this before: the 'Golden King' and the 'King of Heroes' are very likely subordinate gods of Set, the 'God of Deserts and Storms,' and Osiris, the 'God of the Underworld,' or perhaps incarnations of gods. Their becoming gods was probably predestined."

　After saying that, he continued, "From what we can see now, the possibility of them successfully creating the Philosopher's Stone is practically zero. Otherwise, those 'Golden Men' and 'Heroic Spirits' wouldn't be 'Golden Men' and 'Heroic Spirits'; they would all be immortal gods. It's even highly questionable whether the Philosopher's Stone truly exists. Professor, has anyone ever created... or seen a real Philosopher's Stone?"

　“It’s recorded, but it’s just a record.” Professor Kazel’s brow relaxed, and he smiled. “The ‘Golden King’ is said to be the first alchemist, so the ultimate goal of alchemists should originate from him. Now it seems that the ‘Heroic King’ was also one of the first alchemists, and clearly shared the same goal. They may have diverged during their research and embarked on different paths. The so-called ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ might really just be a conceptual substance—until someone actually creates it!”

　Dark's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Have you made a move?"

　Professor Cazell nodded slightly and said, "The sequence of the gods of the underworld has given me inspiration. You see, could becoming a 'Ferryman of the River Styx' be their ultimate goal?"

　Dark paused, then said after a long while, "The 'Ferryman of the Styx' is merely the beginning of the underworld's system of ferrying gods. Even the ultimate goal should be a higher-level being worthy of being called a god."

　“You’re right,” Professor Kazel said decisively. “Then could the so-called ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ be the collective name for all the items needed for each advancement in the Underworld’s system of ferrying gods, from the beginning to the end?”

　“You mean…” Dark’s eyes lit up, and his mind instantly cleared up.

Chapter 1383 Darkdemon's Heavenly Scheme (4k)

　The so-called "Philosopher's Stone" is an advancement potion used in the underworld's god-crossing system.

　—In this way, many contradictions can be explained.

　Since the "Heroic King" and the "Golden King" were able to achieve godhood without relying on the "Philosopher's Stone," they essentially had no need for it.

　It couldn't possibly be that they were pursuing the ultimate goal of alchemists. Since they are called "the first alchemists," it means that they were the ones who were eagerly imitated.

　The so-called ultimate goal of alchemists begins with them.

　In other words, there was no "ultimate goal" before them.

　Therefore, their desire to create the "Philosopher's Stone" must have been driven by reasons beyond the pursuit of immortality.

　Since the "King of Heroes" is related to "Hades" Osiris, it is relatively reasonable that he would know the method of advancement in the Hades' system of ferrying gods.

　And in this way...

　The logic behind some of the actions of "Lord Valhalla" has finally found a reason to explain them.

　Originally, as the ruler of a country, he insisted on turning the entire kingdom into a paradise for the dead.