After passing through the third red door, the question has changed again, and it is no longer about residual skills - what is behind the green and blue doors is a series of more complex questions. In Fang Yu's view, those specious questions seem to be discussing the soul - is it the soul school? he thinks.
But that's not the case.
Those crafts also include parts that he is familiar with, shaping the core of the dragon soul and mimicking the superego personality. Those are the crafts of the dragon knight. But not entirely. The exploration of the soul goes in two directions, one of which is lost to the public, while the other builds on the previous one.
Putting the soul of the beast into the body of the construct can make it move. Alchemists have long discovered that such a machine can understand some simple instructions and work for humans even if it relies only on instinct.
In those ancient castles, the puppets and golems of the Puppet School can even work for centuries without anyone maintaining them. They still faithfully walk and patrol the deserted, mossy corridors. , like a ghost in armor.
But a broken soul is always full of uncontrollable factors, just like the golem in the castle that occasionally breaks out and hurts people, causing tragic disasters. This problem has never been truly solved for hundreds of years, and most alchemists have now abandoned this path, but there are still many magicians who are skilled in this way.
So how to preserve the incomplete soul intact?
This is one of the two ultimate questions of the Soul School. It is related to whether the running golem is stable and controllable. But at this time, the Green Gate and the Blue Gate are not only asking questions, but also answering them.
The text above is changing - what is the discussion of the soul? The magicians are obsessed with how to extract a more perfect soul, but the essence of the soul is actually closely related to the starlight. Where we all came from, we will also go there. .
What exactly is our soul? Is it a bunch of signals that quietly disappear between synapses when we reach that end, or is it a collection of impulsive and perceptual emotions under the influence of endocrine glands and hormones?
But no matter what, Xinghui saves our memory in the form of a piece of information, which is the entire portrayal of our life. Our experiences, emotions and pictures of complicated and useless memories will return to the sea of light, where they will be re-precipitated, and then Once transformed into the essence of starlight.
Thus completing a reincarnation.
Can the new starlight be regarded as part of the old starlight? When the new life makes its first cry, can it be regarded as the reincarnation of a person from the old era?
I think it's impossible.
What really constitutes us, is it the stars? But everything that makes up this world is stars, stones, trees, elements, and the bottom layer at its core is not without this. We are neither rocks nor grass, we are ourselves.
Therefore, what the soul is is already very clear under this proposition.
Fang Yu looked at the words on it, as if a person was explaining the answer to himself. The writing style was neither like Hellinwell nor Jeldham. He recalled the dispute he had seen in the shadow, and gradually understood who was talking to him through these questions.
If he had not met the craftsman president at the third red door, he would probably have met the owner of this text, who was also Friston, just another Friston in history. The last of the three geniuses.
The other party turned out to be the founder of the Soul School.
He gradually understood this shocking information from that text. The Soul School has indeed been developed for hundreds of years. It also flourished, but was gradually abandoned by the alchemists and became an annihilated and withered technology. route.
After he pushed open three blue doors and walked to this place, those propositions gradually pointed to the core. Until now, it had pointed to the core question of the Soul School - but that question has not yet been solved to this day.
Otherwise, the Soul School would not end up like this.
The text above reads:
'Under this proposition, the essence of the soul is our emotions, memories and all experiences, and even instincts, but those are the same to the stars. When they precipitate into stars, they are just stars. , not us. '
'But what alchemy requires is actually just this futility, which is our real wisdom. The way we extracted souls in the past was actually a wrong and inefficient method. It destroyed the carrier of information, and what we got was only part of the information, which was impulsive and irritable instinct——'
'What we want to do is not to intercept the starlight, but to record information. '
A crystal appeared in front of Fang Plover, the blue changing like the sky and morning stars.
Fang Yu subconsciously stretched out his hand to catch the crystal and watched as a new alchemical formula emerged from it. The complex structure of the nested array was something he had never heard of in the past. It was a kind of alchemy that had never been recognized by alchemists. Alchemical formulas that appear in knowledge.
The text continued:
'There is a crystal in Taka Kokaba that can reflect people's emotions and record the emotions of a certain moment on it. The lizard people call it the Star Shard. We have a crystal processing technique that can input information into the crystal more accurately and accurately. '
'So the question here is to process this crystal and make it into a form that can easily record soul information. '
Fang Yu lowered his head and looked at the blue-purple crystal in his hands, and the shock in his heart could not be greater.
It was as if he saw a brand new road opened by flames among the thorns. With his knowledge of alchemy, he immediately realized what this road meant, which meant that it would lead to a new world behind it.
One of the questions of the Soul School has a solution. At least in this tower, a genius has come up with a solution to the question.
The way to deal with crystals is very simple, even more so for him - it is just the old profession of the crystal craftsman. He has traveled far enough on this path, and after mastering the alchemy formula, inscribing Crystal is just a basic skill.
Fang Yu picked up the carving knife and put the crystal into the instrument. He couldn't wait to sink his consciousness into it and unfolded the etheric network where the stars were shining. Because he suddenly realized something and wanted to see the answer behind it.
In just a few dozen seconds, he put down the crystal, raised his head, and the door opened.
Pushing open the next door, a familiar scene appeared.
It's still the same crystal.
Only the question has changed:
'Now that we've recorded the soul. '
'So can it be further shaped and sublimated to form a super personality? '
'A nearly perfect, mimetic dragon soul. '
Fang Plover's pupils trembled.
The style of this paragraph was completely different from the former one, but he no longer noticed this because problems were arising above the fifth blue door.
'The question is as follows——'
'If our soul is made up of emotions and experiences, is there a way to shape it? Mortal time is limited, but a perfect soul can be placed in eternity, and ultimately become close to a god. '
'Construct an alchemical formula that approximates that effect. '
Fang Yu closed his eyes and took a gentle breath.
Constructing an unprecedented alchemical formula is not easy. It is the domain of masters, and not every genius can do it. It was to build a city-state in the wilderness, to build a civilization in ignorance, and to carve out a road that no one had ever traveled before from the dense forest full of thorns.
That was groundbreaking work, and it belongs only to those names that are astonishing to the present.
It's just that he happened to know some of that ancient Shuojin's name...
He closed his eyes and seemed to have returned to that softly lit afternoon. The sun shone through the window lattice into the cabin, and the fragrance of the girl lingered on the pillow. It was the fragrance of cypress wood, lily mixed with sea salt. He saw a trace in that memory. An Ran's gaze.
Miss Tata, who was sitting on the bedside table, spoke softly and told the story of the past.
'The way to build a soul is...'
'The Tower of Silver only found the first half of it during research thousands of years ago, which can be used to preserve the integrity of the soul and recall memories from time, but how to sublimate it and form a dragon soul... The strange thing is, The second half is preserved in my memory...'
'That memory is specious, as if for whom it was written. I can't get the answer from it, and I can't see clearly what happened after the fire in El Paxin, but I seem to be able to see the magic in it. The origin...'
Fang Yu remembered that he was confused when he heard it, and couldn't help but ask: "Why are you telling me this, Miss Tata?" '
'For this is my birth, Sir Knight. Tata replied softly, "The memories that you once wanted to know but that I could not retrieve are now becoming clear again, although only part of them." '
'I know Mr. Knight's past, and I want Mr. Knight to know my past. '
Fang Yu was silent for a while, "So, can the path of Silver Tower be considered a branch of the Soul School?" '
'No,' Miss Goblin shook her head slightly, 'That is the second technical route, the path of the Goblin Dragon Knight. '
Fang Plover opened his eyes again.
His eyes had become clear, and when he looked at the question again, a possibility suddenly burst into his mind. The bachelors of the Silver Tower did not tell him what the third answer was, and Miss Tata had no way of knowing the answer.
But from the words of his Miss Dragon Soul, he already knew that the three spells actually had a common origin.
As for that source, the tower has revealed its answer.
He remembered the magic formula he saw behind the last blue door, and found the node described by Miss Tata from behind the nested magic formations. The alchemical formulas are connected with each other, and they are not Occultism.
Different techniques often originate from a common language.
And Xinghui will naturally tell them the answer.
The inspiration born from the sea of ether finally stopped here. The interconnected clues and his basic understanding of alchemy jointly pushed him towards the final result.
Fang Yu picked up the crystal and thought he might give it a try.
Carving the magic circle, changing the spell, the crystal was annihilated in his hand. The young man raised his head, but the title had not been extinguished. The words were shining as brightly as in the sea of light, and another crystal appeared in his hand.
Everything happened quietly, and there was no Mr. Anlosser to encourage him, but between those words was the wisdom of countless mentors who had stopped here, and they looked at him very tolerantly——
Because the path forward for alchemy is always based on countless failures and trials and errors.
It was like a shadow standing in front of him, looking at him with gentle eyes, gesturing for him to continue.
That was Miss Tata's gaze.
Failure, and trying again and again, lead to dead ends again and again.
Within the tower, a month passed by in a flash.
The fifteenth day outside the tower.
The door to the tower opened again, and this time only one person came out.
"It's Luo Fen," a whisper came from the crowd. "He stopped before the fourth red door. He tied his mentor's score."
"He is worthy of being a student of the Gray King. He has proven himself. At first, the outside world compared him with the Imperial Twins, but now it seems..."
Luo Fen stood silently outside the door, deliberately not listening to the buzzing voices.
He just lowered his head and looked at the communication crystal that lit up in his hand. Information was isolated in the tower. The crystal lit up so quickly, which meant that the teacher and the others were always paying attention to the game.
The young man was slightly moved. He pressed his thumb on the crystal and heard a very familiar voice coming from inside. That was the voice of Gray King FOX: "How?"
"Same as you, teacher," Luo Fen sighed, "The Fairy Dragon Knight is still a dead end. The spells in the crystal cannot pass the conception. The Silver Tower seems to be focusing on this path, but they are still Never succeeded."
"Naturally, if it were so easy, there would be no other way," FOX replied, "But since you can't prove its possibility, then we can only turn to the president."
"If not, I wouldn't agree to it in the tower," Luo Fen shook his head. "Juno and Georgifen have verified the possibility of the resonance device, as well as the increase of the simulated dragon soul on the Dragon Knight battleship. The next step is naturally We are.”
FOX murmured to himself in the crystal: "The second technical route."
Luo Fen waited silently for a moment before asking again: "Did you see the performance of the Fairy Dragon Knight in the space of the sea of trees, teacher?"
FOX came back to his senses and replied: "Of course, that was actually the original idea of the Silver Tower. It's a pity that the seven dragon souls only exist inside the tower. I heard that only the No. 7 dragon soul briefly existed outside the tower. In the end, Dragon Soul No. 3, which was close to success, was never even born."
"Why is it Dragon Soul No. 3 and not No. 1?"
"The seven dragon souls are in reverse order. Dragon Soul No. 7 was the first to be designed, and the serial number before Dragon Soul No. 3 is actually just an empty serial number."
The young man nodded silently. "Remember to be careful with your words and actions during the interview." FOX gave a final reminder.
The light on the crystal dimmed, and Luo Fen raised his head. He was not looking forward to the upcoming interview, nor was he disgusted with it, or rather, he was a little numb. For guilds like 'Gray Area', and for FOX students, that's not just a routine matter.
But what surprised him was that the expected "rain of bullets" did not come. The crowd looked in this direction as if they were possessed. Even the reporters who were about to rush forward stopped midway. steps.
Everyone looked at the tower.
"It turns out he was the second person to arrive."
"But why did the Red Gate records disappear after that...?"
Luo Fen's expression changed slightly and he subconsciously turned around.
…
In the tower space, time seems to have become a meaningless product.
Fang Yu had long forgotten the purpose of coming here and the game itself. He only followed those problems step by step and failed again and again, but the end of the failure always led to an open door.
He pushed open one door after another, pausing again and again, thinking over and over in his mind what Tata told him, the answer to the puzzle. He did not get the revelation personally, but at least he was inspired by it.
He figured out the form of the technique bit by bit, and used it to advance door by door. He was standing on the shoulders of his predecessors, but it was hard to say that the technique did not come from his own ideas. That was actually a rare experience for a young alchemist like him.
Very few people at this stage have the opportunity to explore their own theories. They either do not have this opportunity or do not have the ability.
Fang Plover has the ability, and the mystery hidden in Tata also provides him with that opportunity. Sometimes the riddle itself is a clue, it just lacks a hint, and now the tower has given that hint.
Then all that's left is for him to find out the answer by himself.
That process is certainly not easy.
He didn't know how many times he had failed during this period of time, and how many times he had tried again. Crystals emerged and shattered in his hands, and the problem came up again and again, but at the end of the day, he finally Find that glimmer of inspiration in the darkness.
He looked up.
The last blue door in front opened in his sight - he felt a slight sense of accomplishment, but in fact the process of completing the technique was the most addictive.
Finding ultimate success from failure, that overwhelming sense of satisfaction, is also one of the driving forces for alchemists to move forward.
Of course, he understood that the answer he found might not necessarily be correct, and some of it was indeed different from Miss Tata's description, but at least here, in the tower, it was enough for him to get the answer.
Behind that blue door are the last nine green doors.
Every question after the green door allowed him to further perfect the crystal in his hand, so that the crystal would eventually become extremely bright, just like the star dagger he once received from Miya's hand.
That's the answer.
Fang Yu gently put down the crystal in his hand, and the last green door opened in front of him, and the color behind the door finally changed. He was startled for a moment, then realized that he had reached the end.
That's a red door.
It is also the last door of the Winter Solstice Tower.
The Hall of Thousand Doors is said to have a thousand doors, but this is not always the case. There are far more than a thousand in the Summer Solstice Tower, but in the Winter Solstice Tower, there are actually only four known red doors in total.
Many people have arrived in this place in history. As far as he knows, they include the Gray King FOX and Ms. Hades.
But it is said that there is only one person in history known to mortals who has actually opened this door. As for the identity of the alchemist, it is still a mystery. People only know that after the other person opened the fourth door. Nothing more than that.
For thousands of years, no one has truly passed the test of the Winter Solstice Tower.
But now, behind the last door of this ancient tower, there is finally a second visitor.
Fang Yu gently put his hand on the door handle, took a breath, and then turned it open. The door opened, but the scene inside made him slightly startled. Fortunately, he had previous experience, so he resisted the urge to go back and look at the door again.
Standing behind the door was Friston—yes, the president he had met before. Behind the opponent is a vast starry sky, and in the center of the sky, the green star shines. His virtual image was sitting slumped among a pile of wreckage of the Nightmare Furnace structure, raising his head and looking at Fang Plover:
"There you are, young man."
This title?
Fang Yu was slightly startled, "Are you...?"
"Am I?" A glimmer of understanding flashed in Friston's eyes, "I understand, you have met 'him'."
"he?"
Fang Plover was confused when he heard this.
"I'll tell you who I'm talking about. That guy is just a poor man doing some futile work." Friston smiled bitterly and shook his head. "I am not the same. I once thought I was close. Yu succeeded, but I didn’t expect that I was wrong——”
He raised his head and stared at the green star, "However, Helinwell and Jeldham may not be right. We have all failed. Everyone has stopped here. Have you seen this magnificent starry sky? , that’s the end of our world.”
Fang Yu also looked at the starry sky.
He still didn't realize what happened. But at least he already understood who the Friston in front of him was. It was the Friston in history - one of the three geniuses.
But the other person actually looks exactly like the president of the Craftsmen Association?
what's going on? Is it me or a descendant?
Even if they are descendants, is it too much of a coincidence that they look so similar?
This thought was running through his mind to the point that it diluted other thoughts.
Friston looked at him with a half-smile, "Are you confused? To put it simply, my plan is a complete failure. The path of the Soul School has come to an end here. Jeldm predicted my failure. It's as if I predicted his failure."
He spread his hands, "We have indeed crossed that dangerous boundary. The only good thing is that everything ends in imagination. The souls we extracted turned out to be the same as the shadow man. We defeated the enemy, but lost. Gave it to myself.”
He looked at the bright and charming starry sky again, but after the stars were extinguished, everything was only empty darkness. "We burned our world, what did we get in the end? But if we don't take this step , the final result is no different.”
"All this is doomed, young man," Friston said calmly, "but if you still have time, you might as well sit down with me and talk about the future of alchemy. I don't know where you came from that era, maybe outside The world is on the verge of collapse, or has been destroyed. Are you here to look for answers, but the answer is that there is no answer."
"Come talk to me, before the world is destroyed," Friston said. "Look at the starry sky, it is disappearing."
Fang Yu looked at the phantoms that filled the sky. They were the shadow people's floating ships and countless constructs.
In comparison, what he saw in the tree sea space was just a wave on the sea.
And here is the real endless void.
"So," he asked, "this tower was conceived to meet that end, but no one has ever passed this test in thousands of years."
Fang Yu asked: "Mr. Friston, you are the only person who has opened this door in seven centuries, and you have stopped here. I guess you gave up the Soul School after that, or gave up Another path to the Soul School."
"I saw in the tower that a line of the Soul School was lost to the public and disappeared in the long river of history," he said, "but in fact, someone later picked it up and established it. An organization called the Silver Tower."
“Then they went on that route,” he told the story. “It was not a success, but they achieved some results. Then something happened, and those things left us with a puzzle. .”
"But from that puzzle, we got the answer."
Friston looked at him with some surprise.
The other party said that it was about the history after he left the tower. He did not have those memories, but from the soul given by the tower, he could also infer the origin of the story that Fang Yu said.
That had something to do with him after all.
And he has those past memories.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"It was Jeldham and Helinwell," Fang Plover replied. "They picked up your research and opened up another path. That path later merged with the second technical route and opened up today's New world.”
"The Fairy Dragon Knight," Friston chuckled, "That's true, but that's impossible."
Fang Yu shook his head and raised his hand.
A huge shadow appeared behind him. It was a huge ship, as if its shape was constructed in the starlight. It was two minds intertwined together, depicting the path that the alchemists ultimately sought with the support of infinite computing power.
and the final destination.
That, the end point that Jeldham allowed him to reach.
Friston suddenly stood up and looked at this scene with some shock, "This, this is... this is impossible!?"
"But it's possible, Mr. President," Fang Plover said to him seriously. He walked forward and passed the genius from seven hundred years ago.
The young man looked between the stars, staring at the enemies in the sky, and said softly, "Please watch, Mr. President, with the support of infinite computing power, what can a mortal's alchemy achieve -"
Countless Kraken structures were appearing around him like stars.
He has found that answer.
But the process is still lacking.
Friston stood aside and did not refute the title he said.
…
I'll post it early today, I might have something to do tomorrow, so I'll ask for leave in advance.
(End of chapter)
