Shichen raised his right hand to his chest, and at once, golden radiance emerged. A shard of divinity floated out of his body and fell into his hand.
Holding that fragment of divinity in his right palm, he slowly extended it toward the relief on the wall. The golden light enveloped the relief, and an unbelievable scene took place.
The relief began to undergo a violent transformation!
The sculpture's surface rippled like waves, forming twisting tendrils reaching as if to take the fragment of divinity from Shichen's hand.
It came alive. Its true nature revealed itself: a dark red, blood-like, metallic lifeform.
Startled, Shichen drew the fragment of divinity back, and the relief wriggled desperately, as though unwilling. Yet in the end, it didn't go berserk but reverted to its original, ordinary appearance.
Anyone who had seen that sight could never again treat it as a normal relief.
From what Shichen remembered, this relief had been tampered with by Kanase Kensei—Kanase Kanon's current father.
Its real nature: a conscious dark red liquid-metal lifeform, not found in nature.
Amorphous and eternal, only top-tier alchemical technology that controls material structures at will could have given rise to such a lifeform defying the world's principles.
If one's soul could be transferred into this immortal metallic lifeform, one would truly become an undying being.
And the means to accomplish that is a red gemstone control unit known as a "Hard Core."
However, Shichen had no need of that device; his fragment of divinity could do the same.
Once again, Shichen extended the fragment of divinity toward the relief.
The relief came alive again, writhing eagerly to make contact with it.
But this time, Shichen did not pull the fragment away. He directly tossed it to the relief.
The relief's surface, once it touched the shard of divinity, quivered violently. It seemed excited, happy—like tasting a delicacy.
The shard of divinity slowly sank into the relief.
Then something astonishing happened.
A moment ago, the relief had the dull color of bronze, but now it instantly changed to a dark red liquid, dripping down.
In that narrow chapel, a sea of blood-like liquid metal spread in an instant.
The liquid metal expanded, almost filling up the entire chapel, continuously undulating like a gigantic, crimson slime.
Seeing this made Shichen slightly uncomfortable.
A smaller slime might be fine—slimes are harmless and cute—but this huge one was somewhat creepy.
Sensing his thoughts, the liquid metal lunged at him.
In a flash, Shichen was wrapped up.
The dark red liquid started at his feet, climbing little by little, trying to encase his body.
It felt like being stuck in a pit of mud, yet this crimson metal had consciousness, intending to swallow him up.
However, Shichen did not fear it because, at this moment, he finally sensed the power of his divine body.
His body began to radiate pure white light—holy and inviolable, sacred and radiant.
The dark red substance was like filth in the darkness colliding with a restraining sunlight.
Alarmed, it began trembling, struggling, wanting to flee.
But Shichen did not allow it to escape.
Within him, another power yearned for it—like encountering a feast—wanting to devour, to absorb, to assimilate the liquid metal enveloping him.
It was the power of his True Ancestor's body!
The red fluid fully recognized the danger and tried to separate from Shichen, but it couldn't move. It was as if his body had latched onto it, leaving it no option except to quiver helplessly.
Following his body's impulses, Shichen began absorbing that dark red liquid covering him.
Constrained by the divine body and sucked in by the True Ancestor's body, the liquid metal could do nothing but continuously quiver—bit by bit, sinking into Shichen's being.
In that moment, Shichen sensed an influx of magic coursing through his body!
That magic rapidly grew in volume, surging through his veins, his blood, reaching every part of him.
He now had magic power!
The dark red metal joined his body and became magic.
Mighty, inexhaustible magic.
"Wait! Wait—! Don't absorb me, please spare me! I'm not a bad person!"
Before Shichen could fully take it in, a female voice suddenly pleaded for mercy.
Tracking the source of the voice, he looked down at his legs, where a small cluster of dark red liquid had formed itself into a miniature humanoid figure, clutching his leg and begging him.
He paused the absorption. As such a small piece remained, he wasn't too worried about missing out on any additional magic.
The vast sea of dark red liquid that just filled the chapel was now gone, leaving only a fist-sized humanoid red cluster.
"Huff—" Realizing its own safety, the little figure breathed in relief, slumping to the ground.
Shichen eyed it with a peculiar expression.
While indeed in human shape, the entire figure was red. No clothing at all, basically a mini nude figure—like a figurine, albeit more lifelike.
"Who are you?" Shichen asked, feigning ignorance despite having a guess.
She had no choice but to respond, "Me? You'd better listen well." The miniature red figure put both hands on her hips, proclaiming proudly, "I am the great alchemist—Nina Adelard!"
Though small in stature, her proportions were notably impressive.
Shichen's expression remained neutral. "Oh. Never heard of you."
"What? You've never heard of me?" Nina Adelard seemed annoyed.
"You got a problem with that?" Shichen threatened, feigning another attempt to absorb her.
"No, don't! I was wrong! It's normal if you haven't heard of me." Nina immediately caved.
"Heh, that's more like it. And speak normally."
"Why? I—"
"Huh?"
"I... understood." Nina Adelard lowered her head dejectedly.
"You say your name's Nina Adelard?"
"Y-you... do you recall me?" Nina looked up hopefully.
"No. I just find your name tedious, so I'll call you Nina."
"What? You brat... can't you be a little more respectful? I'm older, you know. Show some respect, will you?"
"You must be itching to die, huh?"
"Sorry! My mistake! You can call me whatever you like—just don't absorb me," Nina apologized instantly.
"Heh. At least you know how to behave. By the way, you called yourself an alchemist. From now on, you'll be following me."
"Huh?" Nina froze.
"Huh what? If not for me letting you go, you'd be done for."
"...Fine, I get it."
"From now on, call me Master."
"What—?"
"Hmm?"
"M-master..."
"There, that's good." Shichen nodded in satisfaction.
"..."
Nina seemed to lose all her strength in that moment. She'd literally just awakened, almost died, and now had a "master."
Still, there was no other option. Person for the blade, she for the fish—she valued her life.
So she had no choice but to yield.
"Oh, right. Are you going to stay like that?" Shichen asked.
"What?"
"I meant your appearance. What did you look like before?"
"Oh, that. I haven't switched bodies yet."
As she spoke, her body solidified. Her color shifted from deep crimson to a tanned brown, a distinctly exotic beauty but still wearing absolutely nothing—though pint-sized.
"And clothes?"
"Oh."
Nina raised her hand toward the grass, which abruptly flew toward her, converging around her body to become a set of white underwear.
Material transmutation!
That was the marvel of alchemy.
Not that Shichen cared. He merely nodded, then extended a hand. "That'll do. Come."
"Yes, Master."
Nina accepted her new station swiftly. She leapt onto his hand, and he placed her on his shoulder.
"Let's go back."
"Understood."
Shichen didn't leave right away, instead waving farewell to the cats. Only then did he start walking off.
"Oh, Master, why can you absorb the Wiseman's Blood?" Nina asked curiously while perched on his shoulder.
"I just can," Shichen smirked. "Now I've got magic power."
The magical energy inside him churned vast and unfathomable, making a fierce wind roar across the area. Grass bent underfoot, trees trembled, and the cats cowered in fear.
All that power—he laughed arrogantly, "I am now... the Fifth Primogenitor!"
His laughter rang bold and brash, but a sudden voice made it die in his throat:
"Oh? So you're saying you're a Fifth Primogenitor?"
~~~
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