From Prisoner to Si Chen..

Chapter 414 Philosophical Stone
Baron Opal is worthy of being a veteran member of "Midnight Rose" and a mysterious businessman with great power.

Relying on his extensive network of contacts and channels, he is extremely efficient in his work.

That evening, just as night fell, Gillan received another call from him.

The list of materials Jilan handed over included a total of twenty-two items, and all of them were purchased without missing a single one.

"Mr. Xuexiao, the number of materials you asked me to buy for you is quite large, and four or five of them are quite rare and scarce. I spent a lot of effort to get them from some friends..."

Baron Opal said on the phone.

"Fortunately, I lived up to your expectations, haha."

"Thanks, Baron Opal, I owe you a favor."

Gillan held the microphone close to his ear.

"How much do these materials cost?"

"Well... the cost is not small, a total of 8078 caesars. Part of it is taken from my material library. Let's just take your lowest price and remove the decimals, a total of 8000 caesars, how about that?"

Baron Opal said.

Hearing this, Jilan was also stunned.

8000 Caesar...

So expensive? !

In fact, he was mentally prepared to a certain extent, but he did not expect that the cost of materials would be higher than expected.

However, considering the preciousness of the "Philosopher's Stone", this material cost seems less important.

"Okay." Gilan said into the microphone. "After deducting the 3800 caesars of dividends, I will pay you 4200 caesars in cash."

"Let's use the hotline's alchemy array to trade remotely."

"Of course no problem, Mr. Blood Owl."

Baron Opal readily agreed.

Jilan picked up the metal microphone and placed it upside down on the workbench. A golden light shone, and a complex alchemy array emerged.

He counted his belongings and luckily he still had more than 6000 yuan. So he took out most of it, a thick stack of -yuan gold foil banknotes, stacked them neatly, and put them in the center of the alchemy array.

Looking at the remaining 18 gold bills, some small silver bills and Meilang coins, Jilan sighed secretly, and now he was short of money again.

whoosh-

There was a flash of golden light.

The Caesar disappeared.

The next second, some bottles, jars and wooden boxes suddenly appeared on the alchemy array.

Jilan took them one by one and examined them, using the ability of "guidance and prompts" to make a more accurate identification.

"Mr. Blood Owl, did you get the things?"

Picking up the microphone again, Baron Opal asked.

Ji Lan smiled and said:
"I got it. There is no problem with the materials."

"That's good." Baron Opal said with a smile. "Happy transaction, Mr. Blood Owl."

"Happy Trading."

Click.

After the hotline was disconnected, Gillan breathed a sigh of relief.

The main and auxiliary materials needed for the "Philosopher's Stone" are now ready, and all that remains is to start refining.

As for the specific refining method, you need to go to teacher Pala.

So Gillan didn't waste any time, he put the materials directly into his alchemical leather pocket, and then took a car and left Morales Street.

It was already night when we arrived at the Triumph Building.

And this building, which symbolizes the center of power, is still brightly lit. Of the hundred-story building, at least seventy or eighty floors still have lights on.

This also shows that the Empire has been running at full speed recently, just like a tightened spring. Whether it is preparing for war with the Owena Federation or remedying the losses caused by the miasma disaster, all departments are working intensively.

Ji Lan took the elevator to the 70th floor and knocked on the door of the chairman's office.

After hearing the old man's voice of agreement from inside, Jilan pushed the door open and walked in.

"Jilan, you're here."

The white-haired old gentleman looked up and smiled.

The teacher was still sitting behind the curved desk, concentrating on annotating his work. In front of him were piles of documents with red seals.

"How are the materials prepared?"

"Everything is ready, teacher."

Jilan strode over and, at the old man's gesture, sat down on the high-backed chair in front of the table.

"However... in terms of the main materials, I only captured six demon lords, including three viscount-level and three baron-level nobles."

"Too little." Pala shook his head.

Jilan was startled, and then heard the teacher say:
"The soul content required to refine a standard 'Philosopher's Stone' is 673 'Hu' (a unit of soul measurement in mysticism, 1 unit is equivalent to the soul of a normal human), while the soul of a baron-level devil is 1 'Hu', and that of a viscount is 50 'Hu'."

"The main materials you have on hand, combined, should be between 450 and 500 'rest'... If there is a spiritual energy gap, it is likely to cause mottled impurities in the refining of the 'Philosopher's Stone', resulting in failure."

"Sorry, teacher, I missed it."

Jilan said solemnly.

Pala waved his hands and sighed.

"It's not your fault... I've been too busy lately and haven't had time to tell you the details."

"Then I will go to the Land of God again and continue hunting the Devil Lord."

Gillan raised his eyes and said.

Pala shook her head, stretched out her hand and spread out her five fingers.

"Bring me your 'Book of Merits'."

"Huh?" Jilan was a little surprised, but did not ask any questions. Instead, he took out his committee merit book and handed it over.

The old man took it and opened it directly.

The last line of each entry in the notebook contains Jilan's current merit points, which are 260 points.

"The merits are not enough..."

Pala smiled helplessly.

Immediately, Jilan saw the teacher pick up a pen and write the following paragraph on a blank page of the merit book:
"I was sent as Foreign Minister to the Kingdom of Fosaka and successfully reached a cooperation agreement, which promoted trade between the two sides and helped the Empire's diplomacy and defense to advance further..."

"Specially approved reward: 2000 merit points."

Seeing this, Jilan was very surprised and a little confused.

Immediately, what puzzled him even more was that the old man picked up the gear seal of the mechanical structure and directly tapped it twice on the merit booklet.

duh duh!

Jilan's 2260 merits were directly wiped out.

After Pala did this, he snapped his fingers.

Crack!

Scarlet arcs shot out from between his fingers and immediately jumped onto the table in front of Gilan.

A glass jar as big as a fist condensed out of thin air.

Inside, there was a ball of yellow and green flames, floating, swaying and burning.

"What is this...?" Jilan asked.

"Equivalent exchange." The old man said calmly. "This is the soul fire of an earl-level devil, with a content of more than 300 'Xiu'."

"Add this and you can start refining your 'Philosopher's Stone'."

Gillan was stunned.

He immediately understood the teacher's intention.

Seeing that Jilan didn't have enough materials, Pala took out this soul fire. However, due to principle, Pala didn't give it to him directly, but first increased his merits and then deducted them as an exchange. Jilan was quite touched.

From the very beginning of his acquaintance with Para Celsus, he knew that this was an old man who regarded the principle of "equivalent exchange" as the truth.

However, the way the other party found reasons to increase his merits clearly revealed their preference for the student.

It neither violates the principles nor fails to reasonably donate materials.

This may be the real Pala.

"Thank you, teacher." Jilan picked up the glass jar and said in a deep voice.

"Okay, now that the materials are ready, let's start refining."

Parra laughed.

"Okay." Jilan nodded, took out the prepared materials one by one and placed them on the table.

Pala glanced at it and nodded silently.

He also picked up the six colored glass balls, looked at them with interest, and said with a smile:

"You turned those devil lords into these little glass balls?"

"Yes, teacher."

"Very interesting." Pala showed a gratified smile. "You are worthy of being my student, Pala Celsus."

Jilan immediately understood the old man's subtext.

Because he remembered something.

Pala seems to enjoy disassembling his enemies and reconstructing them into tiny models for collection...

The reason why Gilan wanted to turn the devil into a glass ball was just to make it easier to store and carry. But he didn't expect that this casual move would be recognized and loved by Pala.

Pala stood up from his chair, took out the king chess piece and threw it into the air.

The chess piece hangs upside down, emitting golden light.

"Come with me, let's go to Chessboard Manor."

After he said that, he took a step forward and stepped into the translucent golden round door.

Gillan brought the materials and followed closely.

...

...

The process of refining the "Philosopher's Stone" is far more complicated than Gilan had imagined.

There were thirty or forty steps and temporary alchemy arrays to go through. There were also many details to pay attention to. Without Pala's guidance, it would have been almost impossible for Jilan to complete this task.

The master and his disciple stayed in the Chessboard Manor for a whole night without stopping for a moment. It was not until noon the next day that the "Philosopher's Stone" was finally refined.

And this is the result of Pala's countless modifications and optimizations.

It can be seen that the refining method of the "Philosopher's Stone" is indeed a secret that is not passed on and is extremely precious.

The sun is shining brightly in Chessboard Manor.

There were tables and chairs placed on the wide green lawn, and the master and the disciple sat opposite each other.

There were still densely packed arcs, triangles and symbols on the ground around them, and a strong mysterious magnetic field filled the air. For ordinary people, getting close to it would mean death.

Jilan sat upright, playing with an egg-sized, oval-shaped thirty-six-hectahedron in his hand.

The stone is scarlet all over, crystal clear, and emits a hazy red glow under the light.

An extremely powerful, even violent magnetic field emanated from the stone. However, Jilan could see through his psychic vision that the energy contained within it was hundreds of times stronger than what was emitted.

"Is this the 'Philosopher's Stone'..."

Jilan looked at the stone in his hand, his eyes reflecting the red light, and murmured.

“It really contains huge energy.”

"Have you memorized the method of refining the Philosopher's Stone?"

Pala poured a cup of warm black tea, pushed it in front of the purple-eyed young man, and asked softly.

"I remember everything, teacher."

Gillan raised his eyes and said seriously.

"Very good." Pala nodded. "This not only concerns the future of the empire, but also the ultimate dream of the Knights... Gilan, you must never forget it, and you must never tell anyone else."

"I know." Gillan nodded.

This small stone in the hand is enough to serve as the core of the body of the ascender or even the apostle.

Its importance is self-evident.

"Hmm." Pala picked up the teacup and took a sip. "Put this refined 'Philosopher's Stone' into your body. It will merge with your spirituality and serve as a reserve energy source to provide energy for your 'Sage's Secret Mark'."

"This way, you can use alchemy at will."

"At the same time, it can also provide the most direct and rapid treatment when you are injured, poisoned or sick... In a sense, there is no panacea in the world. If there is, it can only be the 'philosopher's stone'."

"But remember—"

As he spoke, Pala put down his teacup with a serious look on his face.

"Unless you have no other choice, never use the Philosopher's Stone to extend your lifespan... Otherwise, you will be like me, unable to ascend forever and bound to the mortal world."

"This is an 'equivalent exchange' that cannot be violated!"

"Follow the teacher's instructions."

Jilan lowered his head slightly and took a deep breath.

Pala shook his head and smiled, and said with emotion:

"It's too early for you to extend your life...but I don't have much time left, so I'll try to explain everything I can."

"Teacher..." Ji Lan's heart trembled, and he couldn't help asking: "How much time do you have?"

Para fell silent.

He finished his cup of tea and refilled it for himself.

Immediately, he said calmly:
"Back then, Vice Captain Agni offered his own self to serve as the main material for the alchemy array that sealed the volcano, trying to reduce my burden... But even so, I probably only have less than a year left."

"One year..." Jilan took a deep breath and lowered his eyes.

The teacher's time is coming up, how can he not feel sad.

Para Celsus also carries the dream of the Knights Templar and shoulders the heavy responsibility of being the empire's chief of staff.

Once you fall, the consequences are unpredictable.

Gillan actually had an idea.

That is, to save teacher Pala just like he saved the white gull Alevia and the others.

But he still doesn't understand the principle behind this.

Therefore, there is no guarantee that they can repeat the original action and use "Colorful" to capture the teacher's soul for subsequent resurrection.

Moreover, Alevia and the other two were just ordinary people back then, completely different from Para Celsus, who is now the strongest person in the world and a 6th-level immortal.

Thinking of this, Jilan felt heavy-hearted.

"Don't worry about it, Gillan."

Pala looked relieved and smiled slightly.

"Everything has a price. If you get something, you should pay it back... No one can avoid it, not even God, let alone me."

"Thankfully, I still have a year left, which is enough to do a lot more."

"Before I die, I will prepare everything for you. All you have to do is to have enough strength to hold on to the situation..."

"Yes, teacher." Jilan said in a deep voice.

After saying that, he raised his hand.

The "Philosopher's Stone" held in his palm suddenly emitted a dazzling red light, and then flashed and turned into countless bright stars, twisting and spinning, and drilling into the mark on his palm.

A huge force suddenly surged into my heart!
(End of this chapter)