Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
"You're awake?"
Su'en opened his eyes to a soft female voice.
He was in an alchemy workshop with high ceilings, probably seven or eight meters tall.
The room was decorated in a rich classical style, with a golden noble elegance and the mysterious aura unique to an alchemist's workspace.
Various classical magic lamps hung in the air—round, square, diamond-shaped… lighting up the room brightly.
One wall of the room was lined with bookshelves, densely packed with alchemical tomes.
Inside those glass jars filled with pale yellow liquid were various biological materials—eyeballs, brains, organs… Strange biological materials that mostly didn't seem to be human tissue.
The alchemy workbench was cluttered with all sorts of bottles, jars, and materials.
Neatly arranged on the shelves were test tubes containing potions of various colors. In a beaker heated by purple flames, a thick green liquid bubbled and boiled, while a faint medicinal fragrance wafted through the air.
A woman in a white palace dress was busily concocting a potion.
Most striking of all were the eight crystal-clear spider lances on her back.
Unlike the dark gold spider lances on Su'en's body, her spider lances exuded a sense of returning to the essence, not at all ferocious. But upon closer inspection, one would see mysterious runes flowing with an unfathomable luster that was hard to look at directly.
The spider lances, like her arms, moved flexibly and precisely, picking various potion test tubes from the shelves, and without precise measurement, she would casually drop a few drops, add a couple of spoonfuls of powder, a few solid pieces…
Just by watching her concoction skills, Su'en knew she was making a high-level potion.
In his current knowledge, a process that used eight materials to react simultaneously was something even the "master" alchemists of Old Lingdun couldn't achieve.
Su'en had been to this "Dawn City Central Prison" eight times before, but this was his first time entering this room.
However, the elegant lady with the eight spider lances was not a stranger to him.
She was naturally the target of Su'en's mission, the founder of the Puppeteer profession, Sir Isaac's wife, Pestoya's mother, Lady Sereya.
***
"Good day, Lady Sereya."
Su'en replied.
He was awake, but found that apart from his eyeballs, he couldn't move.
His body had lost all sensation.
His mind quickly recalled the previous battle, and he understood that most of his muscles and bodily tissues had disintegrated.
Glancing at the alchemical runes on the floor where he lay, the identification showed it was a sixth-order Life Alchemy Array.
Lady Sereya seemed to have timed it just right, as the last ingredient was added to the beaker, and a miraculous reaction occurred. The thick green liquid gradually became clear, turning into a qualified potion.
She walked over to where Su'en lay and poured the potion into the alchemy array.
Suddenly, a surge of green light flourished.
Su'en immediately felt a powerful vitality burrowing into his body.
Like a withered tree regaining life, the broken muscle fibers and failing organs were recovering at an exaggerated rate.
As Sereya poured the potion, she said, "Your brain development is not bad, about a 5% increase. That's quite remarkable."
After a pause, she added, "You have good talent. Indeed suitable for the 'Puppeteer' profession."
Hearing this, Su'en felt relieved and said, "All thanks to your teaching of the secret techniques, madam…"
This growth was within expectations.
The average person's brain development is between 2% and 8%. In Su'en's previous life, even top scientists mostly used only about 12%.
This figure could grow slightly through certain acquired exercises and learning, but generally, one's lifetime improvement would not exceed 2%.
Su'en was now about 16%. It might not seem much, but on some levels, it's the difference between scoring 59 and 60 on a test.
That knowledgeable Mr. Black, who specifically sought advanced materials, was only around 18%.
"Hmm. This secret technique does seem like my own work. After all, apart from me, no one else should know it…"
Sereya always had a gentle and wise look on her face.
Like looking at Mr. Black, it was the confidence of erudition, as if there were no secrets in the world she couldn't unravel.
She glanced at Su'en, "Now, you can tell me what that letter you gave me earlier was all about. And your intentions."
Su'en spoke directly, "Are you aware that the Central Prison has become a 'Cursed Space'? My name is Su'en, I came in a thousand years later…"
As he spoke, he succinctly explained his purpose.
Before entering the Cursed Space, he had taken a moment to hand the lady a letter he had written to "herself."
He had obtained it during a previous visit, after exchanging information and gaining trust.
The plan was to try the secret technique Lady Sereya had personally told him about, which could increase brain development.
He wouldn't dare try it anywhere else; without someone to control the limit, completely unleashing the suppressed emotions in his mind would undoubtedly lead to his death.
***
Lady Sereya was highly intelligent.
If it were any other Cursed Space, Su'en's words would have been selectively ignored by the NPCs.
It's like someone time-traveling to you, holding a note in your handwriting, telling you it's from a parallel universe you, and you should believe me.
For a normal person, it would be hard to accept.
But Lady Sereya's remnant was easily able to think it through and accept reality.
Just like the previous times.
She murmured to herself, "So I'm already dead…"
Hearing this, Su'en felt a strange sensation, as if the person before him was truly alive.
For an NPC to recognize that they are dead, and that they are a Cursed Space NPC, is simply impossible.
Su'en had thought she was a special existence like Pestoya.
But she said she wasn't.
She was still a remnant NPC of the Cursed Space.
As before, Su'en asked again, "Can you recognize that you're dead?"
He wanted to hear if he could get a different answer.
Lady Sereya didn't show any abnormal emotions upon realizing her own death, "It's not hard to understand. When you're alive and you foresee this inevitable death in your fate, many things become clear. Your arrival means that disaster has occurred."
Su'en listened and fell into contemplation.
The same words, he had heard three times now.
But he still couldn't quite understand.
Sereya easily believed Su'en and smiled, getting straight to the point, "You're here today for a reason, aren't you? Like, to give me a token? Need me to concoct something?"
"Yes, that's right."
As he spoke these few words, Su'en found that he could move his body again.
He opened his storage space and took out the golden card and the sealed casket.
Seeing this ability, Sereya raised an eyebrow, "Spatial ability? Indeed quite suitable for a Puppeteer. But your understanding of the laws is too shallow; against high-tier professionals, your space can easily be targeted by law-based methods."
"…"
Hearing this, Su'en looked slightly awkward.
He thought to himself that this wasn't Dawn City from a thousand years ago, where demigods existed.
Now, in Old Lingdun, the strongest professionals on the surface were only third-tier, at the level of a prison guard.
So far, Su'en hadn't encountered the "high-tier" she mentioned.
Sereya took out the golden card and seemed to read the contents using some special encryption method, her eyes becoming complex.
As if reminiscing, seeing the card brought a touch of tenderness and wistfulness to her gaze.
After pondering for a while, she murmured to herself, "So that's how it is…"
Saying this, Sereya formed a spell gesture and exclaimed, "Unseal!"
The runes inscribed on the casket suddenly lit up, and layers of golden sealing arrays shone. They wrapped around the casket tightly like chains. As the unsealing spell was activated, the layers began to dissipate.
***
Su'en had brought out this casket several times before.
But it had never been opened.
Sereya said that once it was opened, the Cursed Space would cease to exist.
With both families betrayed and murdered, and that "Coroner" Severus Gerald dead, Su'en's brain development was complete, and now it was time for the final step.
He had previously identified the runes on the casket as "superior," knowing they were at least sixth-order or above.
Now, seeing them in action, they certainly were.
But upon closer inspection, they were not quite the same.
The runes he knew were two-dimensional, while the runes that lit up on the casket were three-dimensional structures.
Seeing that Sereya was relaxed, he didn't hesitate to interrupt.
He asked directly, "Madam, what are these runes? They seem different from ordinary runes."
Sereya casually explained, "These are 'Runic' symbols, also known as Alchemical Runes. They're equivalent to the 'arcane' in spellcraft. Created by alchemists during the mythic era, they were perfected by countless alchemists into a vast body of knowledge. It's not just a system but a way of thinking. It abandons the rigid rune patterns, delving into the variations and extensions of runes. Extremely complex, the difficulty of study multiplies. But once mastered, the power is several times that of the same tier, and there are unexpected effects…"
Su'en understood.
The difference between advanced math and a regular textbook.
They're questions of the same grade, but the difficulty is incomparable.
The key isn't the runes themselves, but the direction of divergent thinking.
Su'en listened with a bit of envy, "Madam, are there any requirements to learn Runic symbols?"
Such powerful runes, and he had harvested so many fragments, yet he had never even heard of them.
If he truly mastered them, third-tier Runic symbols could potentially match the power of ordinary fourth-tier ones, which would be immensely useful!
Puppets, weapons, armor… third-tier with the effect of fourth-tier, wouldn't that power be sky-high?
This truly epitomized the meaning of "knowledge is power."
Sereya seemed to guess what he was thinking and smiled gently, "Normally, only highly talented professionals can access this advanced rune knowledge. On the third shelf, there are a few introductory volumes. If you're interested, you can take a look. With your high level of brain development, you'll understand that level of knowledge more easily than others."
Su'en's heart leaped with joy upon hearing this.
"Learning talent," in a sense, equated to brain development.
As they spoke, Sereya suddenly remembered something else, "Speaking of which, these runes are somewhat related to your 'All-Seeing Eye' talent."
Su'en paused, surprised: "Related to mine talent?"
Sereya asked, "Are you wondering why, after awakening the 'All-Seeing Eye,' you can understand items you didn't know before? Where does the necessary knowledge come from?"
Su'en didn't think his dual talent could be hidden from her.
And indeed, this was something he wondered about.
This wasn't a game world, but a real one—where did the "database" come from?
Before he could ponder further, Sereya explained, "'Runic' in ancient Gnid language means secret or mystery, representing 'the secrets of the cosmos.' The 'All-Seeing Eye' had another name in the mythic era, 'Akashic Record.' You might find this term unfamiliar, but in the alchemical academic world, it's a well-known name, 'Prima Materia.' It's the substance that created everything in the universe at the beginning. It contains all the secrets of the world, past, present, future… and so on."
Su'en's brows furrowed as he listened.
He suddenly realized he might be hearing some high-end knowledge.
If it had been before, he would have thought he couldn't understand.
But now, after brain development, he felt as if he had touched upon something.
Sereya looked at Su'en and said, "Have you encountered something you can't understand? For example, the contents of this box?"
As she spoke, she took out the contents of the rune casket—a heart in a glass jar.
A black and gold heart that was still beating!
Su'en wasn't surprised to see this; after all, he had suspected it.
To extract "X Serum," it had to be a biological limb or some kind of organ.
Though he hadn't expected the heart to still be alive.
He identified it, and as expected, it read: Heart of *** from the Abyss.
He asked, "Why is that?"
Sereya said, "The 'All-Seeing Eye' can see through all the secrets of the world. You can't see it now because your talent awakening is still too superficial; some things you can't see, others you see but don't understand. Secondly… it's because it's protecting you."
She paused for a moment, then pointed to the heart in the glass jar, "Do you know whose heart this is?"
Su'en had a guess and ventured, "From a legendary 'god-tier' being?"
"Hmm."
Sereya nodded, confirming his guess, "This is the heart of a god-tier being. The information of a 'deity' is not just a few words but contains indescribable laws for humans. The laws of gods are not something lower beings can covet. Your All-Seeing Eye saw that level of law directly, but because your cognitive level is too low, it protected you. If it forcibly poured that high-level cognition into your brain, your mind would collapse immediately."
She revealed a wise smile and added, "If I say this heart belongs to a 'Fallen Angel,' take another look?"
Su'en looked again, and indeed, the identification now showed the words "Heart of a Fallen Angel."
Sereya's words "defined" that incomprehensible law, presenting it in a way he could understand.
At the same time, Su'en was shocked.
Angels?
Beings with wings from the myths?
No wonder "X Serum" injections made people more attractive; the genes came from angels.
Su'en thought of something and asked, "Madam, is the source of talent awakening bloodlines?"
"Yes, but not entirely. There's a legend circulating in the market that humans are descendants of the gods, and bloodline inheritance is the passing down of a part of the gods' law power, like the elemental talents of earth, wind, water, fire… But in reality, that's an inaccurate statement."
Sereya slightly arched her brow, correcting the notion, "Bloodlines are just one carrier. For example, your 'Reaper of Death' talent, its carrier is the soul. In fact, the essence of talent is the 'Prima Materia' of the universe, and even gods are just beneficiaries…"
"…"
Sure enough, she knew he had dual talents.
Since the topic had come up, Su'en simply asked all his questions, "What's the difference between S-tier talents and other talents?"
Sereya responded, "S-tier talents represent the supreme laws of the universe. Your 'Reaper of Death' represents the 'Law of Death,' your 'All-Seeing Eye' represents the 'Law of Wisdom'… Legend has it that for us alchemists to become gods, understanding these laws is a necessary path."
Her tone became very serious as she spoke, "The essence of alchemy is to understand and decipher the truth of this world. We alchemists are all on the journey to pursue this truth. From the structure of matter to the understanding of laws, from simple to complex. Only when you have mastered it can you truly create alchemy of equivalent exchange at will. Therefore, an alchemist must be erudite. You already have the qualifications to become a top alchemist, to peer into the ultimate secrets of this world…"
As she spoke, Sereya suddenly said, "Although I'm already dead, I would like to take you as my disciple."
Upon hearing this, Su'en, enduring the pain throughout his body, rose to his feet without any expression.
He bowed deeply in respect, And solemnly said, "Teacher."