If there was anything that had managed to hold Anbaixiu's interest across all the years since his transmigration, alchemy unquestionably topped the list.
Though Anbaixiu was a mere dabbler, he still relished tinkering with all sorts of bottles and jars.
And conducting experiments inside the divine realm of the God of Alchemy was a dream come true for any alchemist.
All kinds of materials were readily available at his fingertips, and every manner of experimental apparatus could be used however he pleased, free from the slightest worry of danger or waste.
After several days of relentless bustling, hundreds of assorted potions and components were piled before Anbaixiu, along with an enormous mercury soul puppet.
This particular mercury soul puppet had quite a history—it was the very first of the mercury soul puppet race created by Anbaixiu.
It possessed the greatest seniority, the highest intelligence, and the most robust physique.
Proudly bestowed by Anbaixiu with the name "Evil Silver Shaded," it had once been only the size of a fist, but now it wobbled about as a mass taller than Anbaixiu himself.
Not only that, Evil Silver Shaded had even learned to speak. At that moment, it gazed perplexedly at Anbaixiu with a pair of blank white eyes and asked in a deep voice, "O Great Bone God, why have You bound me here?"
Evil Silver Shaded still remembered the moment of its birth; the first thing it had laid eyes upon was Anbaixiu's skeletal visage. From then on, it knew who its creator was, bearing absolute loyalty toward Anbaixiu.
Anbaixiu explained, "This is the divine realm of the God of Alchemy. I need you to make a sacrifice for me. Are you willing?"
"My life and soul were bestowed by my God. I am willing to sacrifice everything for my God."
Anbaixiu nodded in satisfaction. Perhaps this was the advantage of being a racial deity—truly possessing a host of servants ready to dedicate everything to him.
Anbaixiu patted Evil Silver Shaded on the head and consoled it, "Don't worry, your safety is guaranteed. It's just that it might be quite painful."
Evil Silver Shaded asked curiously, "Pain... like that Divine Smite?"
Shortly after being born, Evil Silver Shaded had been sent by Anbaixiu to duel Alan one-on-one. Back then, the little fellow had taken a Divine Smite head-on and let out a bloodcurdling shriek. That, however, was likely the only injury Evil Silver Shaded had ever suffered in its life. From that point on, its days had been a leisurely cycle of eating and drinking. And after it began breeding, Evil Silver Shaded had never needed to set foot on a battlefield again.
It was just that somewhere along the line, it had picked up this peculiar manner of speaking, making Anbaixiu sound like some ancient evil god.
Anbaixiu pondered for a moment, then said, "It might hurt a bit more than that."
Evil Silver Shaded declared resolutely, "No matter! My will is as unyielding as steel!"
"All right, then..." Anbaixiu nodded to the God of Alchemy. The test subject was emotionally stable; they could begin.
Dozens of mechanical arms lowered from midair, their blade-tips imbued with divine power piercing into Evil Silver Shaded's body to "slice open" its liquid-like form.
Yet the moment the blades merely grazed Evil Silver Shaded's body, the fellow opened its mouth in agitation.
"Aaaagh!"
An ultra-high-frequency scream tore out, so piercing it made even the God of Alchemy knit his brows, while the surface of the magic mirror Anbaixiu possessed actually cracked.
The God of Alchemy stared speechlessly at Anbaixiu, and Anbaixiu stared even more speechlessly at Evil Silver Shaded. What happened to a will unyielding as steel?
"Better use anesthesia," Anbaixiu said resignedly.
The God of Alchemy chuckled. "The habit of tossing out lies without a second thought is quite like you."
Anbaixiu retorted, "You're a deity, don't go spreading slander! People might actually believe it if word gets out. I have plenty of self-awareness—I've never boasted that my will is as unyielding as steel."
Anbaixiu had always admitted that when it came to willpower, he was merely a fragile mortal: afraid of death, greedy for wealth and lust, impatient, and utterly incapable of enduring hardship. Stumbling his way to this day had been far more a matter of luck and petty cleverness.
The God of Alchemy produced a potion and poured it down Evil Silver Shaded's throat. Though a mercury soul puppet ate nothing but metal, it was somehow able to absorb this concoction. In moments, it went completely limp, slumping like ordinary quicksilver.
Fortunately, master and disciple were well prepared and promptly caught Evil Silver Shaded in a container.
The operation commenced. Potions were poured into Evil Silver Shaded one after another—all specially formulated for the constitution of a mercury soul puppet. Before long, Evil Silver Shaded was dyed into an Evil Gold Shaded.
Next, the roaring infernal engine was roughly shoved into Evil Gold Shaded's body.
As they came into contact, the menacing engine seemed to melt, blending seamlessly into Evil Gold Shaded's form.
The two integrated flawlessly, ultimately returning the golden hue back to the luster of mercury, with no trace of any mechanical structure visible within.
The procedure could be considered exceptionally smooth. Aside from the infernal engine, various divine spells were bestowed, all administered while Evil Silver Shaded slumbered in dreams.
When Evil Silver Shaded woke, an uncanny radiance shone from its body.
Anbaixiu said in surprise, "Something isn't right! According to our designs, there wasn't supposed to be this light!"
The God of Alchemy frowned. "Went a bit too far. This fellow has surpassed the power permitted in the mortal realm—it already qualifies as a deity of lesser deity rank!"
No sooner had the God of Alchemy spoken than Evil Silver Shaded opened both eyes and let out a low roar.
Anbaixiu felt a tremendous pressure descend, threatening to shatter the magic mirror he inhabited completely.
Anbaixiu had seen plenty of deities; this was unequivocally divine pressure, something mortals could neither look upon directly nor withstand.
Fortunately, the God of Alchemy reacted swiftly. With a single strike of his hammer, he forged a metal cage and locked Evil Silver Shaded inside.
With the cage cutting off Evil Silver Shaded's divine pressure, Anbaixiu breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly asked, "How could it ascend directly to godhood? Is becoming a deity that simple? Doesn't it require Ao's permission?"
"That rule only applies to certain planes, established specifically to prevent deities from bullying mortals. But this fellow is inside my divine realm; as long as he isn't released outside, Ao generally won't interfere.
"Just like how Talos could casually turn a lich into a deity back then, only for Velsharoon to become His vassal thereafter, enslaved and confined within the Towers of Ruin. This fellow is essentially in a similar boat. I bestowed a bit too much divine power on him, causing him to break past the mortal threshold.
"Still, it doesn't matter. So long as he isn't let outside the divine realm, he won't pose any threat."
Anbaixiu was nowhere near as composed as the God of Alchemy and couldn't help asking, "What if he escapes outside?"
The God of Alchemy said, "Then things would be dire. Not only would he immediately face Ao's punishment, but I would be implicated as well. A bolt of lightning might even blast me back down into a mortal."
"This is your divine realm. He shouldn't be able to escape, right?" Anbaixiu asked.
Anbaixiu hadn't considered killing Evil Silver Shaded. After all, it was the very first complete living being he had created, so he harbored some sentiment for it. Beyond that, the God of Alchemy had consumed an exorbitant amount of resources and divine power for this experiment; destroying this test subject outright would be a catastrophic loss.
And it wasn't just an ordinary loss—it would cause the God of Alchemy's divine power to regress, requiring who knew how many years to amass enough strength to break through again.
"Rest assured, that's not an issue at all. Earlier, to avoid Lolth's retaliation, I renovated my divine realm. Without my consent, there is no chance whatsoever of his escape, unless he grows powerful enough to kill me."
Anbaixiu hastily said, "Bah, don't jinx it!"
"Haha, you talk about wanting to break free from the shackles of fate, yet you're superstitious about this. Relax, I'm not puppeted by the Goddess of Fate. If worse comes to worst, I'll just revoke my blessings and turn him back into a mortal creature."
Seeing the God of Alchemy's confident demeanor, Anbaixiu felt slightly reassured.
The reasoning was sound enough. Inside a divine realm, the deity held absolute dominion. Even someone as formidable as Talos wouldn't go causing trouble in another's divine realm, simply because winning was impossible.
Evil Silver Shaded was a "deity" born from the God of Alchemy's blessing; its power had merely reached divine rank without actually possessing a divine portfolio recognized by Ao. Such godhood could be revoked at any time.
"In that case, let's proceed with testing according to the original plan."
Evil Silver Shaded was essentially a "prototype." After testing, it would need to undergo a series of degradations before they could truly scale up production.
Since safety could be guaranteed, the experiment continued.
The God of Alchemy brought out a large stash of enchanted equipment for Evil Silver Shaded to devour. Although the fellow had basically cheated its way into godhood after a single nap, it still seemed as simple and clueless as before.
It remained exceptionally deferential toward Anbaixiu and boasted a tremendous appetite, greedily consuming any enchanted gear set before it.
Anbaixiu first had it swallow an elven spellbreaking piece of equipment. Sure enough, the moment digestion completed, spellbreaking runes unique to the elves surfaced on Evil Silver Shaded's body. Though they faded quickly, the runes would reappear whenever Evil Silver Shaded recalled them.
With a mere shift into a spike, that spike carried a spellbreaking effect far stronger than the original. After all, Evil Silver Shaded could now wield divine power, naturally outperforming mortal magical equipment.
Next came other magical gear. Whether offensive enchantments or various spell effects, Evil Silver Shaded mastered them rapidly once devoured.
However, its appetite was not bottomless. After gorging itself until its body doubled in size, the fellow could finally eat no more.
"So full... so tired... O Great Bone God, I want to sleep," Evil Silver Shaded pleaded.
Anbaixiu could only console it, "Sleep, then. Rest well."
Turning around with the experimental report, Anbaixiu conferred with the God of Alchemy. By now, they could essentially confirm that the creature had perfectly met expectations: its ability to devour magic was astonishingly potent, and its magical and physical resistances were shockingly high. If it continued devouring and stacking buffs, it might genuinely reach a point where even deities couldn't harm it.
At this point, the experiment was ready for the next phase: attempting to have Evil Silver Shaded breed to see if its offspring would exhibit a degradation in abilities.
If marked degradation was confirmed, after a few generations of breeding, they could try sending them back to the Prime Material Plane for widespread distribution.
Anbaixiu glanced toward Evil Silver Shaded trapped in the cage. After evolving, this fellow had even begun mumbling in its sleep. Could this creature truly help resolve the God of Alchemy's advancement? What if its offspring didn't degrade in power, but only in intelligence?
Anbaixiu's worry was not unfounded; the offspring of nearly all exceptionally powerful beings seemed to weaken at a rapid rate.
Dragons were the prime example. Pureblood dragons had tremendous difficulty reproducing. Hatching a dragon demanded untold time and painstaking effort, and raising one was harder still; dragons could be considered the most pampered among all races.
Otherwise, the overseas dragons wouldn't have degenerated to such a pitiful and feeble state.
Dragons also loved interbreeding with other races, and reproduction then wasn't difficult at all. Every race crossbred with dragon blood seemed pumped full of growth hormones—not only physically robust, but remarkably fast-growing.
Kobolds were the most famous dragon-blooded crossbreeds. They spawned batch after batch, their numbers rivaling goblins.
Yet a kobold's might couldn't compare to a true dragon's. What degraded was not just their physical and magical power, but most critically, their intellect.
A true dragon's average intellect surpassed both humans and elves. After all, dragons possessed inherited memory where everything could be crammed in; as long as they grew to adulthood, they were guaranteed to be qualified dragons who had received a "universal education."
Dragon-blooded crossbreeds, however, were an entirely different matter. Most possessed low intelligence, scraping by on whatever scraps of magic their bloodline provided.
Such was the rule: powerful individuals reproduced with difficulty, while prolific races were universally weak.
Some races settled for an average. Orcs, for instance, were prolific breeders with decent individual strength, but their ceiling could never match humans or elves; they could only guarantee a solid floor.
Humans were the most unique of all. Their floor could be abysmally low, with weak and foolish individuals everywhere, yet they produced prodigies with astonishing ease, yielding countless heroes of exceptional power and intellect.
For now, Anbaixiu only hoped Evil Silver Shaded's offspring would follow the path of orcs: a low ceiling didn't matter so long as they were controllable, which would allow them to be bred on a massive scale and propagate alchemy once more.
Yet Anbaixiu and the God of Alchemy had both overlooked one detail: Evil Silver Shaded was the very first individual of the mercury soul puppet race. And now, having acquired immense power, it had broken through mortal shackles and become a deity.
Even if this god possessed no divine portfolio and had received no sanction from Ao, by the natural rules of reality, Evil Silver Shaded had rightfully become the racial deity of the mercury soul puppets.
As it slept, countless voices echoed in its mind—the voices of all mercury soul puppets.
Most of these little creatures were naive and innocent, like four- or five-year-old children whose daily thoughts revolved around eating, drinking, playing, and sleeping. As special beings raised specifically by Anbaixiu, the mercury soul puppets had always lived comfortable lives, and most harbored no negative emotions to vent.
Yet that wasn't absolute. In its slumber, Evil Silver Shaded sensed negative emotions transmitted from a particular mercury soul puppet.
It was an overly clever brat that had slipped past the caretakers and sneaked out of the subterranean Mercury City.
There were already over ten thousand mercury soul puppets; missing one or two went entirely unnoticed.
This troublemaker had far greater curiosity than its peers, fleeing captivity to explore the subterranean world.
Yet it was still far too weak. At present, it had been captured by a band of svirfneblin and trapped inside a huge bottle.
Evil Silver Shaded felt the little creature's fear, rage, and despair.
It was praying to the Great Bone God, hoping its creator would come to save it.
Previously, there had been no response at all, and after going without devouring metal for so long, the little thing was on the verge of dying in despair.
This time, however, something in the distant darkness seemed to answer its prayers.
In its sleep, Evil Silver Shaded let out an irritated mutter: "Who's bullying my kid?! Die! All of you die!"
Instinct drove Evil Silver Shaded to answer the wandering brat.
In the depths of the Underdark, the bottle trapping the mercury soul puppet shattered with a loud pop, and a mercury soul puppet shimmering with runic light emerged in the darkness.
Chapter 583