Anbaixiu was intrigued, so he tentatively probed Akilov for information regarding the tiefling kingdom.
Unfortunately, the barkeep proved true to his profession. To men in his trade, information was currency. No matter how Anbaixiu beat around the bush, he failed to glean much, walking away with only a single crumb.
The sage who had held the line for the kingdom seemed to have run into trouble.
Whether his time was up and his life could no longer be prolonged, or some illness had laid him low, or he had been quietly assassinated... The exact truth remained unknown. All anyone knew was that he had not shown his face in many years, and in the sage's absence, internal affairs in the kingdom had taken a sharp downward turn.
As for how precisely things had deteriorated, Anbaixiu could not pry out another word.
And for that solitary scrap of news alone, Anbaixiu spent nearly ten gold coins.
That tiefling was almost certainly the tavern's top salesperson.
Once the gossip was over, Anbaixiu refocused on his sales pitch. Thanks to the spectacle made by those two unlucky sods earlier, Anbaixiu's reputation as a purveyor of "peeping gear" had already made waves.
Before long, people began wandering over to inquire about this drone product of his.
This was precisely what Anbaixiu had been waiting for. Why make a scene in the first place if not for free publicity?
He gave a quick demonstration of the drone, leaving the adventurers marveling in awe.
They all assumed alchemy had achieved some miraculous breakthrough, shrinking a mana power reactor down to the size of a fingernail.
As for the dark magic radiating from the little contraption, Anbaixiu made sure to emphasize that it needed to be kept inside a specially crafted case when not in use. The drone was priced at ten gold coins, but reciting "Praise the God of Alchemy" earned a twenty-percent discount.
However, the special case cost one gold coin; otherwise, Anbaixiu would take no responsibility for clearing up dark magic contamination.
It was not a cheap price, and typical adventurers would certainly feel the pinch.
Yet the gadget was genuinely practical and easy to operate.
The remote control Anbaixiu designed actually emitted specific soundwaves when pressed. Once the soul bound within the drone detected these vibrations, it executed various maneuvers according to the commands, boasting remarkably smart automated pathfinding capabilities as well.
No matter how complex the environment, it could unerringly find the needed heading.
Consequently, quite a few adventurers found themselves thoroughly captivated by the little device.
After all, not every party had members suited for scouting, nor was every ranger eager to send their beast companion to trigger traps.
For a mere ten gold coins, one could obtain such an agile drone—far cheaper than paying out death benefits.
Several adventurers gritted their teeth and bought one, immediately turning around to find parties while brandishing their new purchase. Other adventurers, seeing the device, were more than happy to team up with such big spenders; at the very least, joining forces meant they would not have to scout ahead with their own lives on the line.
Such was the purpose of alchemical equipment. Much like potions of various effects, it dramatically increased an adventure's safety margin.
Anbaixiu sold seven drones and took orders from several adventuring parties, who asked him to build custom models with enhanced features.
There were plenty of clever folk around, and many had already recognized the drone's true potential. Its usefulness went far beyond simple scouting; if armed with weapons, it might serve specialized combat roles.
Anbaixiu had long known that requests for weaponized drones were inevitable. Though he had already drafted the blueprints, he merely claimed he needed to head back and look into it, keeping those adventuring groups on tenterhooks. Before departing, he told them to check in at any shop carrying the "God of Alchemy Selected" brand if they were interested.
Due to production constraints, selling drones was hardly lucrative, but Anbaixiu was after reputation, making the pricing remarkably reasonable. As long as adventurers were out there using the equipment, word of mouth would spread the brand's prestige far and wide.
And through that, the grand revival of alchemy could be achieved.
Anbaixiu had already sold a sizable stock of sunscreen and Vigor Potions. If all those customers had spoken the words "Praise the God of Alchemy," surely his teacher must have felt the resonance by now.
He wondered what the old man was busy with at the moment. Had he managed to extract Lolth the Spider Queen's godhead yet?
Anbaixiu silently prayed in his heart, *Teacher, you'd better not screw me over, or I won't be able to stay in the Elegy Poetry Society any longer.*
***
The intent behind those thoughts traveled across endless time and space, arriving at a bizarre, wondrous realm.
Boilers hummed and whirred, while mechanical contrivances roared without pause. It was a domain brimming with sci-fi marvels.
The God of Alchemy stood at the center of this mechanical realm, atop a high tower forged entirely of metal.
This was his divine realm. Here, the God of Alchemy could summon any alchemical material at will, capable of synthesizing every known alchemical product with a single thought.
The tens of thousands of golem puppets within the City of Alchemy could be mass-produced by him in just a few short minutes.
Such was the power of a deity.
Yet that was in the past. Having fallen from an intermediate deity to a lesser deity, the God of Alchemy had suffered a grievous blow.
Not only had his divine realm shrunk dramatically, but he himself had grown exceedingly feeble.
Furthermore, the corpse of Lolth that Anbaixiu had handed over had brought him no advantages; instead, it was an outright burden. If even Shar could track Anbaixiu through her brand, how could Lolth the Spider Queen fail to sense the four divine portfolios she had lost?
The moment that body was delivered into the God of Alchemy's divine realm, the deity's very first priority had not been extracting the godhead, but fleeing for his life.
The God of Alchemy had exhausted every conceivable method to mask the body's aura while shifting his divine realm into the depths of the chaotic void, erecting hundreds of layers of maze-like wards to fend off Lolth's pursuit.
Though Lolth the Spider Queen had eventually tracked him down, he had successfully stalled for a considerable amount of time—long enough for him to feel his divine power beginning to stir and recover.
*Praise the God of Alchemy* was merely a simple sentence.
Yet any words uttered in reference to a deity carried supernatural weight.
Even when spoken purely to secure a discount, those words of praise elevated the status of alchemy within the speaker's heart.
The God of Alchemy was not a deity sustained by faith, but a conceptual deity. He did not require mortal worship; so long as alchemy gained recognition and began to flourish once more, his divine power would naturally replenish.
Anbaixiu was turning around the public perception of alchemy, while Gustavo Fring had rebuilt the Alchemists' Council and resumed research and production.
This two-pronged effort resulted in Lolth the Spider Queen suffering a bitter setback when she finally caught up with the God of Alchemy.
He had concocted a virulent poison potent enough to injure even gods, then laid a simple trap that snared the irrational Spider Queen.
The lethal toxin corroded her flesh, leaving behind an unsightly brand.
Though the wound was not fatal, it left her battered and disgraced.
And that was sufficient, because Lolth the Spider Queen was not alone—she was the head of a pantheon.
Several deities had fallen alongside her in the ancient past, and none of them were benevolent beings.
With her divine power now heavily depleted, Lolth had intended to reclaim her divine portfolios before her subordinates caught wind of her loss, which was why she had summoned no allies whatsoever.
Yet she walked straight into the God of Alchemy's ambush; she had never imagined that a weak, lesser deity could inflict such severe injuries upon her.
As long as that scar remained unhealed, she would not dare leave her divine realm again. The moment those treacherous deities discovered her condition, Lolth would be torn to shreds and devoured by them first.
Having secured temporary safety, the God of Alchemy finally set his worries aside and devoted himself entirely to stripping away the four divine portfolios.
The four divine portfolios embedded within this body were the Drow Race, Spiders, Corruption, and Darkness.
Among them, the Drow Race was the most crucial portfolio, as drow elves were Lolth's primary worshipers. Without it, she would no longer be able to harvest the power of faith from the drow.
The God of Alchemy muttered to himself, "Shar must have set her sights on this portfolio as well. Worshiper count is what she lacks most. Once in possession of this portfolio, she could impersonate Lolth the Spider Queen, turning the entire drow race into her believers, and her power would swell enormously. Quite a fine plan—a pity the fruits of victory were snatched away by my student."
For reasons lost to antiquity, the Goddess of Darkness had precious few followers—so few that she resorted to deceiving the worshipers of other gods into following her. In particular, Shar relished poaching from her sister, Selûne, resorting to everything from abductions to brainwashing, which showed just how starved for followers the goddess truly was.
It was precisely because of this that Shar ground her teeth in rage whenever Anbaixiu came to mind, wishing nothing more than to tear him apart on the spot.
The God of Alchemy shoved Lolth the Spider Queen's corpse into a colossal smelting furnace. The divine flesh was charred black by the blazing flames, stripped away layer by layer. This was pure divine power, which the God of Alchemy could savor like a midnight feast to restore a fraction of his strength.
As Lolth's body gradually dissolved, four divine portfolios emerged within the furnace. They were bizarre entities woven from countless intricate patterns, defying any clear description of size or form.
A mere glance from a mortal would allow them to intuitively sense the corresponding power.
If a drow elf cast so much as a single glance upon the "Drow Race divine portfolio," that drow would instantly master every racial ability inherent to their kind, transform into a female, and become a drow Matron Mother.
Such was the miraculous nature of a divine portfolio. Once merged into a mortal vessel, it could elevate them to godhood on the spot.
Even so, compatibility was paramount.
After separating the four divine portfolios, the God of Alchemy produced four strangely shaped boxes and sealed the portfolios inside.
Although he had told Anbaixiu that he would take one of the portfolios as payment, in reality, the God of Alchemy had no intention of keeping any of them.
"Consider it a little gift for my student."
The God of Alchemy smiled as he stowed the four boxes away, musing over how Anbaixiu intended to handle these four portfolios.
*That boy wouldn't be reckless enough to ascend directly to godhood, would he? In my current state, even I, his teacher, couldn't shield him.*
Chapter 280