CHAPTER 355: CHAPTER 355: PHILOSOPHER’S STONE (MYTHOLOGY LEVEL)_1

"How have your eyes been lately? Why do you keep blinking?" Ye Tian asked Wang Linchi, his curiosity piqued.

Wang Linchi had previously mentioned going to the Black Tooth Empire to leverage their influence and gather knowledge, but for some reason, he hadn’t gone. Instead, he had holed himself up locally, claiming he had research to do and had the Black Tooth Empire transcribe and send him a copy.

"I’m crafting the Philosopher’s Stone. I overused my eyes during the micro-carving. You know our current conditions; we don’t exactly have top-tier equipment for micro-carving," Wang Linchi grumbled. He had combined his Elemental Bloodline with Enchantment Techniques to create an entirely new Soul Phase Plugin, which he named the Philosopher’s Stone.

[Philosopher’s Stone (Mythology level)]

[Wisdom Enlightenment: Thinking Logic Ability +100%]

[Elemental Mastery: Can master various elements by controlling, synthesizing, arranging, and transforming Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind]

[Immortality: The Philosopher’s Stone will not break; one’s lifespan becomes unlimited, one ceases to age, and one is maintained at their peak condition]

[Art Secret: All elemental ability effects +100%]

[Source of Bloodline: Stores spiritual power up to 100% of the user’s own maximum, serving as a reserve energy source]

[Soul Split: Consumes reserve energy, can split off a new Philosopher’s Stone]

[All-Spirit Medicine: Taking the Philosopher’s Stone can grant effects such as recovery, purification, disease cure, and regeneration]

[Equivalent Exchange: Can use the Philosopher’s Stone to absorb damage, or consume a Philosopher’s Stone to substitute for death]

[Ether Crystal: Can transform the reserve energy inside the Philosopher’s Stone into any desired element]

[Immortal Spirit: Suppresses all energies of lower quality than the Philosopher’s Stone]

The Philosopher’s Stone was a thumb-sized red gemstone. Inside, it contained a special, integrated enchantment he had forged by combining all his Enchantment Techniques with the transformative properties of the four major elements—Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind—further augmented by the potent power solidified from the very blood flowing through a Sky God.

Of course, many of the Philosopher’s Stone’s functions were actually influenced by his own strength.

For instance, Soul Split allowed him to create a brand new Philosopher’s Stone. It could be very useful for curing illnesses, saving lives, or enhancing strength.

The effectiveness and duration of a crafted Philosopher’s Stone depended on the energy Wang Linchi invested. Once its internal energy was exhausted, the crafted Philosopher’s Stone would automatically be destroyed, and its maximum capabilities would never exceed those of the original stone he possessed.

However, there were other uses, such as creating, say, eight to ten thousand Philosopher’s Stones. These were practical tools, whether used for recovery, absorbing damage, substituting for death, or even as ammunition.

Elemental Mastery, combined with Ether Crystal, could be used to synthesize elements like deuterium and tritium through the arrangement, combination, and fission of the four major elements, facilitating their fusion.

That’s right—a miniature hydrogen bomb.

He didn’t know how powerful it would be, as he hadn’t actually synthesized one, but he was certain the effect would be extraordinary.

If such a miniature hydrogen bomb were detonated, combined with the suppression effect of the Immortal Spirit and the amplification from the Art Secret, it would undoubtedly create an energy null-zone—a so-called magic-free area.

"The Philosopher’s Stone? What’s that?" Ye Tian had never heard of it.

"Wait a moment, I’ll pull one out for you," Wang Linchi said, reaching his hand down his own throat.

He had already crafted three new Philosopher’s Stones, but unfortunately, their effects couldn’t be fully stacked; abilities like Wisdom Enlightenment and Elemental Mastery from multiple stones wouldn’t stack, and only one instance could be active.

"No way! Why are you pulling it out of your stomach?" Ye Tian exclaimed, completely grossed out.

Just as he finished speaking, Wang Linchi retrieved a ruby coated in gastric juice, wiped it clean, and handed it to Ye Tian.

"Here. I just ate it before I came. It hasn’t digested much yet. Don’t be shy," Wang Linchi said enthusiastically.

While the Philosopher’s Stone was digesting, his game character could gain additional AFK Experience. This was likely an interaction between the Elemental Mastery attribute and a Data Rule attribute, accelerating the absorption of Order and Chaos as supplementary energy.

AFK Experience for his game character was naturally very useful to Wang Linchi. It not only supplemented his character’s power, but the Experience Value gained could also be used to enhance his own abilities.

Even in a different world, it could speed up his game character’s adaptation to that world’s rules.

"Don’t... that’s disgusting!" Ye Tian immediately recoiled from Wang Linchi’s enthusiastic gesture.

"This is a lifesaver. You really don’t know a good thing when you see it." When Wang Linchi heard this, his expression darkened, and he casually stuffed the Philosopher’s Stone back into his stomach.

"Take it easy! We might be Erroneous Sins, but that doesn’t mean you can be so reckless with your own body. Aren’t you afraid of damaging your esophagus?" Ye Tian said, feeling a headache coming on at Wang Linchi’s rough actions.

"Relax, my esophagus is quite resilient," Wang Linchi reassured him. Thanks to his regenerative abilities, he had subjected himself to such things many times. After so much ’self-inflicted harm,’ the adaptive evolution of his Dragon Soul Saint Main had made his once-fragile parts incredibly tough.

Things like pulling out his own tendons, flaying his skin, carving his bones, or even being flayed alive were trivial matters to Wang Linchi now. If he wasn’t worried about the environment being too dangerous, he’d even consider taking his brain out for a walk.

No matter. If the next world is safe enough, I’ll try some even more outrageous experiments. After all, with so many passive abilities, dying isn’t exactly easy for me.

"Right, what did you come to find me for?" Wang Linchi asked.

After completing the Philosopher’s Stone, he had been continuously researching the World Nucleus Prototype. Currently, the prototype appeared to be extremely active. The only remaining step was to figure out how to integrate it into the Book of Records.

He definitely had some clues; that booklet he’d obtained was very comprehensive. The issue was his fear that his Book of Records might explode in the process.

Therefore, he needed to make thorough preparations beforehand, such as clearing out space. After all, his current Book of Records was already packed to the brim, without a single gap left.

"I have something to discuss. You should be free now, shouldn’t you?" Ye Tian asked.

Hearing this, Wang Linchi dropped his earlier teasing demeanor and asked gravely, "So, you’ve made your decision?"

"Yes, I’ve made my choice," Ye Tian said calmly.

The choice, naturally, was between abandoning the Underworld or rallying humans, NPCs, Elemental Giants, and Lizardmen for a desperate battle against the Game System. The former offered a chance of victory; the latter was almost hopeless.

"Are you planning to abandon the Underworld?" Wang Linchi pressed.

"Yes, there’s no other way." Ye Tian lowered his gaze, his voice tinged with reluctance. It was either the destruction of their world or abandoning the Underworld to increase their chances of victory.

Ultimately, Ye Tian leaned towards humanity. Of course, currently, NPCs and humans were considered part of the same faction. They were inseparable, unlike the Elemental Giants and Lizardmen, each of whom constituted a separate faction.

"How confident are you?" Wang Linchi now questioned him.

"Seventy percent!" Ye Tian declared, apparently holding some trump card that gave him the confidence to state such high odds.

"That high? It seems you made your decision long ago and have simply been preparing all this time." Wang Linchi instantly understood. This confidence likely stemmed from the support of the Fate Devil God.

"Then why have you come to me? In my current state, I can’t offer much help, can I?"

Wang Linchi was well aware of his own limitations in this matter; he truly couldn’t provide significant assistance.

"You can. I need your help to distract the Game System," Ye Tian said.

"Huh? Me?" Wang Linchi was baffled. He felt like he’d become Benbo’er Ba, while Ye Tian was now the Nine-Headed Demon, ordering him to take out Tang Sanzang and his disciples. If Benbo’er Ba actually had that kind of power, he’d have overthrown the Nine-Headed Demon and become the consort himself long ago; why would he still be a mere subordinate?

"You don’t need to confront the Game System head-on. Just disrupt Its instance dungeon plans and draw Its attention for a while."

"Regardless of whether I succeed or fail, you retreat within a month." Ye Tian wasn’t an unreasonable person; he wouldn’t ask Wang Linchi to draw Its attention indefinitely and thus provided a time limit.

"Well... that should be manageable." Wang Linchi mused for a moment. The difficulty isn’t too high. As long as I don’t have to fight the Game System directly, my life won’t be in danger. Plus, I can grab some Erroneous Sin to consume and quickly boost my strength. As for the research on the World Nucleus Prototype, I can continue that simultaneously; it won’t cause any delays. It just so happens I’ve been annoyed by my slow strength progression lately. Eating some ’nutritious supplements’ will help me level up faster. So much time has passed; the quality of the Erroneous Sin must have improved. Consuming it now will surely provide a much greater boost.

"If you have any requests, don’t hesitate to ask. As long as it’s within my power, I’ll provide it." Ye Tian naturally wouldn’t let Wang Linchi undertake this task empty-handed.

"Actually, I do have something!" Wang Linchi’s eyes lit up as an idea struck him. "I want some of your data—specifically, the data of Erroneous Sin: Savior." The quality itself doesn’t matter as much as the fact that he’s a Savior. That’s what’s truly important.