Super Righteous Player
Chapter 348 - 346 The Secret of Suifu_1

Chapter 348: Chapter 346 The Secret of Suifu_1

"The Hermes School?"

Hearing Annan’s inquiry, Bishop Daryl touched his bald head with a bit of distress, "Annan, you may not know, but I actually left the Royal Capital quite early. I’ve never heard of this thing you’re mentioning.

"Or rather... The ’Hermes School’ I know of may not be the one you’re asking about. It could just be a coincidence in names."

"What about Nicolas Flamel then?"

Annan continued his questioning.

Upon hearing this name, Daryl’s brow furrowed slightly.

His expression gradually became serious. He supported his belly with effort, struggling to sit up from the sofa and abandoned the comfortable posture of a happy homebody.

"Where did you hear this name?"

"It’s that Hermes School. Their leader and founder is a person who calls himself ’Nicolas Flamel.’"

"You also said..."

Daryl repeated, "’calls himself.’"

"Indeed, he is self-proclaimed. But this Nicolas has long white curly hair, deep green eyes, and is a Gold-rank Wizard of the Transmutation School."

Annan spoke slowly.

He watched Daryl’s eyes.

Thus, Annan quickly saw Daryl’s complexion turn rather unsightly after hearing his words.

"Hiss..."

Daryl’s eyebrows instantly knitted together.

He rubbed his smooth, shiny head vigorously and sighed.

The portly bishop stood up from the sofa, patting his stomach, and paced around the room.

After pondering for a long time, with a deep frown, he spoke softly to Annan,

"...If it really is him, you’d better be prepared."

"I can’t not go," Annan shrugged, pouring himself a cup of red tea, "The Silver Baron personally instructed me to go... This tea is not bad at all."

"That’s why I only suggested you be prepared, not that you shouldn’t go."

Daryl glanced at him and casually said, "I have two more cans of it, just take them when you leave. I rarely drink it myself...

"No, the key issue is Nicolas—what do you know about him?"

"Saul and I suspect he might be the Tower Master of the Jade Tower from the Kingdom of Dennisiowa over a hundred years ago."

Annan rubbed his brow, speaking with some distress, "I speculate that he might have developed the Hermes School’s Philosopher’s Stone. Then he used the Philosopher’s Stone to offset the consumption of his soul and thus obtained immortality."

"Impossible."

Daryl answered without hesitation, "Absolutely impossible."

"...Why?"

"He is indeed the excavator and improver of the ancient Philosopher’s Stone technology, and he can indeed create a Philosopher’s Stone by himself. But it wasn’t the final version of the Philosopher’s Stone... It’s a simplified version."

The obese bishop shook his head, "Do you know the Panacea? It follows the same principle as that kind of transmutation product. The complete version of the Panacea requires rare golden mistletoe fruit, and the cost is just too high. That’s why Transmutation Wizards strive to reduce costs, producing a lower-grade version of the Panacea.

"The ’improved’ Philosopher’s Stone he created follows the same idea."

...In other words, it’s a beggar’s version of the Philosopher’s Stone, isn’t it?

Annan suddenly realized.

No wonder Salvatore, a Bronze-rank Wizard of the Transmutation School, could also produce a workable semi-finished product...

It turns out that Nicholas Flamel had deliberately lowered the production cost and difficulty.

Annan couldn’t help but ask, "The Philosopher’s Stone he improved is called the Hermes School Philosopher’s Stone?"

Daryl nodded, "Correct. Because he has always prided himself as ’the second Hermes,’ he claimed that the Philosopher’s Stone he developed is called the Hermes School Philosopher’s Stone.

"He never shared the Philosopher’s Stone with anyone, so no one knows in what aspects his Philosopher’s Stone is flawed.

"But what he created is definitely not the True Philosopher’s Stone."

"Why are you so certain?"

"—Because even gods cannot artificially create the Philosopher’s Stone."

Daryl answered with an unquestionable tone, very sure of his reply.

"...Even the Silver Baron?"

"Not even the Mysterious Lady could. It isn’t a matter of difficulty, but an absolute impossibility."

"Why?"

Hearing such certainty in Daryl’s voice, Annan was somewhat puzzled.

With a brief hesitation and stopping in his tracks, Daryl said, "I can tell you... but you mustn’t speak of it to others."

"Is it related to the Silver Baron?"

"It’s related to the True Gods, and it might even concern this world itself."

Daryl answered solemnly, "Do you want to hear it?"

"... I do."

Annan hesitated for a moment, but still complied with his thirst for knowledge and responded.

Even considering safety, knowing more rather than less was better.

After all, his senior Salvatore was still researching the Philosopher’s Stone, and since Annan couldn’t assist directly, his only option was to help him gather some of the information he couldn’t access.

Secrets directly connected to True Gods were beyond even the Wizard’s Tower’s reach.

But then again...

Just what is Grandpa Daryl’s true identity...

"Given your special identity, I won’t make you swear to keep this a secret... Even though this secret is very important, it’s actually quite straightforward to explain."

Daryl took a deep breath and slowly began, "The Philosopher’s Stone is not a product of this world."

"...What?"

"It never was from the beginning. The Philosopher’s Stone can replace any perfect form of element... Do you think such a thing could really exist in nature? The reason why it cannot be replicated is simple... because its main ingredient does not exist in this world at all."

Daryl answered gravely, "Do you know of Prometheus, Prince Annan?"

"...The god of fire and creation?"

"That’s right. Prometheus is so called because he struck the flint before he became a god. But do you think, just by that achievement, he could become a True God?"

As Daryl spoke, Annan began to sense something.

"Are you saying..."

"You are not wrong. What Prometheus ignited was not simply the first flint of the world... but the first ’Philosopher’s Stone’."

Daryl spoke slowly, "And since then—this world has known ’Elemental Power’."

"You understand, right? That means, the act of trying to replicate the Philosopher’s Stone was not aimed at something simple like ’gaining immortality’ or ’reviving the dead’... What he wanted was to create a world. A world belonging solely to himself."

"In fact, Nicholas did not die ’naturally from overusing Elemental Power’ but was murdered. This was something that the world’s influential figures at the time more or less knew about. But it was a righteous murder... because Nicholas committed an absolutely forbidden taboo."

"...Artificial humans?"

Annan blurted out.

He felt increasingly familiar with the plot...

Surprised by his reaction, Daryl stared at him for a while before slowly nodding.

"...Yes.

"To be precise, it’s ’an artificial human created independently without relying on any paternal or maternal samples’, or to put it more accurately, ’not a copy of any person, nor the offspring of any person’. In other words... creating a person from nothing."

...Without using any human genetic samples at all?

Annan was momentarily stunned.

How did he accomplish that?

"So, did he ultimately fail? Did he create a monster?"

"—No, he succeeded."

Daryl paused for a moment, then answered in a grave tone.