...
When Kyle Sichi returned home, it was already completely dark.
After dinner accompanied by his family, he returned to his study and wrote the raw material formula and material selection experience of crystal glass into his book "The Door to Alchemy", which recorded his journey from an apprentice to a chief alchemist. It also included all the alchemy formulas summarized by the Redwater City Alchemy Workshop over the years.
Kyle believed that with this book, he would be able to leave his name in history. Even after thousands of years, those alchemists would still deeply remember his name.
Kyle put down the quill pen and prepared to take off his clothes and sleep until the candle flame was close to the base.
Suddenly, he remembered that there was still a letter from the Prince that he hadn't opened. Glancing at the candle that was only as long as a fingernail, he decided to use the last bit of time to finish reading the letter. Tomorrow, he would verbally reply to the messenger. The small half of the candle tail was only enough for him to write a few dozen words, but it was enough to read a worthless letter.
He opened the envelope and found a total of three thin sheets of paper. The first page was a common greeting, introducing his title and territory. Kyle didn't even bother to read it and directly jumped to the second page.
The content of the second page slightly surprised him. It was neither recruitment nor reprimand, but five strange formulas. If he looked carefully, he would find that each formula was composed of three sentences.
Ah, a little interesting. He smiled. Regardless of the Prince's purpose, at least he was deliberately mystifying.
He glanced at the first line.
Nitric acid is produced by dry distillation of saltpeter.
Nitric acid … dry distillation … these are all alchemy terms. Wait, Kyle was suddenly startled. Isn't this one of the double stone acid production methods in the Alchemy Workshop?
The acid produced by dry distillation of saltpeter must be collected through a special container. It looks no different from ordinary water vapor and is very difficult to attract attention. But it is very corrosive. Not only can it burn skin, but it can even dissolve some metals.
This... is actually an alchemy formula? Is it possible that Border Town also has an alchemist?
He quickly moved his line of sight to the next line.
If the first sentence had shocked him, then the second sentence was inconceivable.
It was composed of a bunch of inexplicable symbols. The symbols were juxtaposed together to form two equations. Kyle frowned, he had never seen such a strange symbol before.
Further down, the third sentence seemed to be an explanation of the second sentence, including the names and meanings of the symbols. To be honest, he still couldn't figure it out after reading it. Those awkward words seemed to be some coined words. He needed to read it many times before he could associate the words with the symbols. Even so, the meaning of the whole sentence still baffled him.
Just then, the flame of the candle flickered and went out.
Damn it! Kyle cursed in his heart, and without the slightest hesitation, he took a candle from the drawer and lit it again.
…
When the second candle was halfway burned, the Chief Alchemist's hand that was holding the letter was trembling slightly.
The letter didn't seem to have any content, but it took several times more time than usual to read.
The five elements on the second page were actually all alchemy formulas!
It wouldn't have been a big deal if that was all. An outstanding Master Alchemist using his own power to summarize five formulas wasn't something unimaginable, but these five formulas, with the exception of the acid making method, all echoed with each other. Some coined words appeared over and over again, forming a seemingly balanced cycle.
Nitric acid reacts with silver to produce silver nitrate, water, and nitric oxide.
Silver nitrate reacts with iron to produce ferrous nitrate and silver.
Silver nitrate reacts with copper to produce copper nitrate and silver.
Copper nitrate reacts with iron to produce ferrous nitrate and copper.
He had also done the alchemical reaction of putting silver rods in acid. Some of the silver rods were clearly dissolved by the acid and disappeared. This was the characteristic of acid, which was to corrode everything. But Xin Shang swore that because silver nitrate was dissolved in water, it seemed to disappear on the surface, but in fact, the silver only existed in another form and wasn't annihilated.
How is this possible?
No … Kyle shook his head. Apparently, the other party had also guessed his thoughts. These formulas echoing with each other wasn't a coincidence. He realized that the other party was giving him an opportunity to verify. Whether it was silver, iron, or copper, they were all common minerals. If alchemy was carried out according to the following formulas, the silver could be replaced again to prove that it wasn't annihilated, but still existed in the acid.
Looking at the neatly arranged formulas on the paper, he felt that it was difficult to breathe. If these alchemy formulas were true, then his years of accumulated experience, the efforts of his peers, and the writing of "The Gate of Alchemy" would all be nothing but a joke!
"You sleep with the child first, I'm going to the alchemy workshop!"
Ignoring his wife's surprised gaze, Kyle put on his coat and rushed straight into the night.
When he arrived at the alchemy workshop, he immediately called three disciples on duty and told them that he was going to conduct an alchemy experiment. He asked them to light torches and candles, the more the better. The order was quickly executed, and his long table was illuminated by the fire. The disciples shuttled between the material room and the refining room, preparing the test materials for the chief alchemist.
There was still a lot of acid left from the dry distillation of saltpeter, so the verification could start directly from the second line of the formula.
He took out some acid and poured it into a glass, then put the silver rod in. As the reaction began, the rod gradually corroded, accompanied by bubbles.
While waiting anxiously, Kyle opened the third page of the letter.
There was only a short sentence on it: I just did a little bit of work, if you want to know more answers, come to Border Town.
Damn it, this sentence was the same as not writing! If he could really verify what was written on the letter, no matter what, he had to go see this unknown Master Alchemist. Otherwise, he would be unable to eat or sleep well in the future.
Until the bubbles stopped coming out, he took out the broken silver rod and put a small piece of copper into the glass.
Something incredible happened, the surface of the copper quickly became a little white, like the carapace of a ladybug. The white spots became bigger and bigger, slowly covering the whole copper, and the acid in the glass also changed from colorless to blue.
It was exactly the same as described in the letter!
The white precipitate was silver, and the newly formed substance, copper nitrate, was also soluble in water like silver nitrate, but its solution was blue.
Kyle Sichi stared blankly at the result in his cup.
…
The next morning, when Chavez arrived at the alchemy workshop, he was startled by the haggard Chief Alchemist who had dark circles under his eyes.
"Didn't you sleep last night?" He was greatly surprised, "For the second batch of crystal glass?"
Kyle shook his head, pulled Chavez to the long table, and asked tiredly: "You were my most proud disciple, I want to ask, what do you think about alchemy?"
"Uh … just like what you taught me," he noticed that there were some glasses on the table, several of which were filled with different colored solutions, one of which was sky blue, very eye-catching. Is this the reason why the Chief Alchemist didn't sleep last night? Although Chavez was full of confusion, he still honestly replied, "I also feel the same way, the essence of alchemy is to find the truth of the world in disorder and chaos …"
"No, no, no, Chavez, I was wrong," Kyle interrupted, "Everyone is wrong, alchemy is not like this."
Not like this …? Chavez felt that the other side was a bit strange. First, he was alchemy all night long, and now he was asking some inexplicable questions. But before he could ask further, the Chief Alchemist had already said: "Alchemy is more orderly than you and I can imagine, it can even be said to be rigid, just like one plus one equals two, no matter how it changes, the substance will not increase or disappear."
"Will not increase or disappear? What are you talking about? Isn't it common for alchemists to sift and combine some common raw materials to produce incredible new things!? "He was puzzled.
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