Chapter 154 Alchemy (Part 2)

...

It was completely dark when Kyle Strire returned home.

After dinner with the company of his family, he returned to his study and wrote the raw material formula and material selection experience of crystal glass into his book "The Gate of Alchemy", which recorded his journey from apprentice to chief alchemist. At the same time, it also includes all the alchemy formulas summarized by the Alchemy Workshop in Chishui City over the years.

Kaimo believes that with this book, he will leave his name in history, and even after thousands of years, those alchemists will deeply remember his name.

Kaimo didn't put down the quill until the candle flame was close to the base, ready to undress and go to sleep.

Suddenly, he remembered that there was still an unopened letter from the prince. He glanced at the candle that was only the length of a fingernail. He decided to spend the last time reading the letter and reply to the messenger verbally tomorrow. Enough for him to write dozens of words, but enough to read a worthless letter.

Opening the envelope, there were three sheets of thin paper inside. The first page was a common courtesy, introducing his title and territory. Kaimo didn't even bother to read it, and jumped directly to the second page.

The content on the second page surprised him a little. It was neither a recruitment nor a reprimand, but a strange five-element formula. If you look carefully, each line of the formula consists of three sentences.

Heh, it's kind of interesting, he smiled, regardless of what the prince's purpose is, at least he can play tricks.

He scanned the first line of formulas.

"The dry distillation of saltpeter produces nitric acid."

Saltpeter...retort...acid, all alchemical terms. Wait, Kai Mo was startled suddenly, isn't this just one of the two-stone acid making methods in the alchemy workshop?

The acid liquid from the dry distillation of saltpeter must be collected in a special container, and it looks the same as ordinary water vapor, so it is difficult to attract attention. But its corrosiveness is very strong, not only can ablate the skin, but can even dissolve some metals.

This... is actually an alchemy formula? Could it be that there is also an alchemist in Border Town?

He quickly moved his gaze to the next row

If the first sentence surprised him, the second sentence was unbelievable.

It consists of a bunch of inexplicable symbols juxtaposed to create two equations. Kaimo frowned, he had never seen such a weird symbol.

Further down, the third sentence seems to be an explanation of the second sentence, including the names and meanings of those symbols. To be honest, he still couldn’t figure it out after reading it. He had to read it many times before he could connect the words with the symbols, but even so, the meaning of the whole sentence still eluded him.

At this moment, the flame of the candle flickered twice and went out.

hell! Kaimo cursed inwardly, took out a candle from the drawer without hesitation, and lit it again.

...

When the second candle was halfway burning, the hand of the chief alchemist holding the letter was trembling slightly.

The letter paper, which seems to have no content, took several times more time than normal reading in the past.

The five-element formulas on the second page of the letter paper are all alchemy formulas!

If it's just like this, that's all. It's not unimaginable for an outstanding alchemist to sum up five formulas by himself. However, these five formulas, except for the first method of making acid, all echo each other. Certain coinages recur, forming a seemingly balanced cycle.

"Nitric acid reacts with silver to form silver nitrate, water, and nitric oxide."

"Silver nitrate reacts with iron to form ferrous nitrate and silver."

"Silver nitrate reacts with copper to form copper nitrate and silver."

"Copper nitrate reacts with iron to form ferrous nitrate and copper."

He has also done the alchemy reaction of putting silver rods in acid, some of the silver rods were obviously dissolved by the acid and disappeared invisible. This is the characteristic of acid, which corrodes everything. It is credible to say that because silver nitrate is soluble in water, it seems to disappear on the surface. In fact, silver only exists in another form, not annihilated.

How can this be?

No... Kaimo shook his head. Obviously, the other party also expected his own thoughts. These formulas echoed each other not by chance. He realized that the other party was giving him a chance to verify whether it was silver, iron or copper, they were all common minerals. If the alchemy is carried out according to the following formula, the silver can be replaced again to prove that it is not annihilated, but still exists in the acid.

Seeing the formulas neatly arranged on the paper, he felt that it was difficult for him to breathe. If these alchemy formulas can be established, the experience he has accumulated over the years, the efforts of his colleagues, and the "Gate of Alchemy" that he is writing It's all just a joke!

"You and the child sleep first, I'll go to the alchemy workshop!"

Ignoring his wife's surprised gaze, Kaimo put on his *coat and rushed straight into the night.

When he arrived at the alchemy workshop, he immediately called three disciples who were on duty, and told him that he was going to conduct an alchemy experiment, and asked them to light torches and candles, as many as possible. The order was quickly executed, the long table belonging to him was illuminated by the fire, and the disciples shuttled between the material room warehouse and the refining room to prepare experimental materials for the chief alchemist.

There is still a lot of acid from saltpeter dry distillation, and the verification can start directly from the second line of formula.

He took some of the acid and poured it into a glass, followed by a silver rod. As the reaction begins, the rod body is gradually corroded, accompanied by air bubbles.

While waiting anxiously, Kaimo unfolded the third page of letter paper.

There is only a short sentence on it: "I just did a little work, if you want to know more answers, come to Border Town."

Damn it, writing this sentence is equivalent to not writing it! If he could really verify what was said on the letter, he would go to see this little-known master alchemist no matter what. Otherwise, I will have trouble sleeping and eating in the days to come.

It was not until the bubbles stopped coming out that he took out the broken silver rod and put a small piece of copper into the cup.

An incredible thing happened. White spots appeared on the surface of the copper sheet, like the carapace of a ladybug. The white spots expanded and gradually covered the entire copper sheet, and the acid in the cup also turned from colorless to blue. color.

Exactly as described in the letter!

"The white precipitate is silver, and the newly formed substance copper nitrate is as soluble in water as silver nitrate, but its solution is blue."

Kaymer Struer looked at the result in the cup and stood there dumbfounded.

...

Early the next morning, when Chames came to the alchemy workshop, he was shocked by the haggard chief alchemist with dark circles under his eyes.

"Didn't you sleep last night?" He was surprised. "For the second crystal glass?"

Kaimo shook his head, pulled Chames to the long table, and asked wearily: "You were my most proud disciple. I would like to ask, what do you think about alchemy?"

"Uh... just like what you taught me," he noticed some glasses on the table, several of which contained solutions of various colors, and one of them was sky blue, which was very eye-catching. Could this be the reason why the chief lord didn't sleep last night? Although Chames was full of confusion, he still replied honestly, "I also feel the same way. The essence of alchemy is to find the truth of the world in disorder and chaos..."

"No, no, Chames, I was wrong," Kaimo interrupted, "everyone is wrong, alchemy is not like that."

it's not true……? Chames felt that the other party was a bit strange. First, he was doing alchemy all night long, and now he asked some inexplicable questions. But before he could ask further, the chief lord said to himself: "Alchemy is more orderly than you and I imagined. , it can even be said to be rigid like one plus one equals two, no matter how it changes, matter will not increase or disappear.”

"Won't it increase or disappear? What are you talking about? Isn't this what alchemists often do by sieving and combining some common raw materials to create incredible new things!" He wondered.

"Yeah, I thought so too, until the lord of Border Town wrote me a letter..." Kaymer Strire patted him on the shoulder, but the words he said shocked Chammis. , "I'm leaving here soon, and I'm going to Border Town to find the answer. Would you... would you like me to go with you?" , is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please go to read.)