As expected.
In only half a month, the entire Empire fell into chaos. Nobles across the land began carving out territories for themselves. Some sought safety in one corner. Others showed their ambition openly.
After that, the resistance army gathered all its combat strength and returned to the mainland.
At this point, the Empire’s upper nobles could barely protect themselves. Who still had the time to stop the resistance army?
And so, the landing was completed with unusual ease.
Among the vast force that came ashore, there were more than a hundred high level fighters alone.
More troops continued arriving behind them without end.
After years of lying low and growing in secret, the resistance army had already become an extremely powerful force. Even if it had to face the Empire’s five great Legions directly, it would not fear them.
Now that the Empire had lost so much of its top combat strength, this was the best chance for the resistance army to seize power completely and overthrow noble rule.
If some other nobles were allowed to rule the Empire again, nothing would truly change.
That was not the future the resistance army wanted.
What Tekular wanted to open was a completely new era.
An era where ordinary people could have dignity and hope.
The new era no longer needed a noble class.
As the one who had personally pushed the Empire into this situation, Caelum had no interest in joining the struggle between nobles and the resistance army.
He was only a spectator, watching this piece of history unfold.
As for the Empire’s final ending, he had no interest at all.
It had nothing to do with him.
A month passed.
Sito sent Caelum a letter.
In it, he said he had found clues to alchemy for Caelum, and that Caelum needed to meet someone named Dali.
This man was a scholar and archaeologist who specialized in the ancient kingdom.
Caelum was lucky.
Dali happened to have exactly what he needed.
Sito had already arranged the meeting. When the time came, the two of them only needed to see each other once.
That was the only condition Dali had raised.
"Dali?"
With some curiosity, Caelum soon met the man.
He was tall, wearing a long coat, and faintly carried a domineering presence.
Rather than a scholar, Caelum felt this man resembled a ruler.
Leaving strength aside, that presence alone was comparable to an Imperial Legion Commander.
Dali was also studying Caelum.
When he saw this outrageously young World’s Strongest Sword Master, surprise moved through his eyes.
At the first meeting, Dali sensed that Caelum’s strength was indeed absurdly powerful.
There was no need to fight.
That much could be felt from his aura alone.
More importantly, there was Caelum’s Observation Killing.
Dali’s Observation Haki could not foresee Caelum’s future at all.
This was the first time he had ever encountered such a thing.
Most powerful fighters, even if they were highly skilled in Observation Haki, rarely reached the level of seeing the future.
Even among top level experts, those who could foresee the future were extremely few.
Far rarer than those who possessed Conqueror Haki.
Dali was one of those experts with top level Observation Haki.
His strength stood above the Empire’s Legion Commanders.
He imagined what would happen if the two of them fought now.
With Observation Haki ineffective, he would not even know how to respond to Caelum’s attacks.
Relying only on reaction?
He would die very quickly.
"As expected of the World’s Strongest Sword Master. Your strength truly earns my admiration. This is the ancient alchemy you wanted. I will give it to you."
As he spoke, Dali tossed an old book to Caelum.
"To be honest, this thing is extremely difficult to learn. You should prepare yourself. Without several decades, I doubt you will make much progress."
After obtaining this book from an ancient ruin, Dali had also tried studying it.
Then he discovered it was an enormous pit.
He had decisively given up.
Caelum took the book and flipped through it roughly.
"Thank you."
Dali pulled a bottle of wine from his coat and began drinking. It was easy to see he was an old drunkard.
"No need to be so polite. Sito is my great patron. Without his sponsorship, my archaeology team would not have lasted until now."
"In any case, you helped me greatly."
Caelum closed the book.
After confirming what he needed, he said farewell to Dali.
Watching him walk farther away, several companions behind Dali came forward.
"So that is Owl?"
"Unexpectedly polite."
"If you only looked at his appearance, you really would not be able to tell he is a top level expert. People truly cannot be judged by their looks."
The wind passed.
A faint thread of conversation brushed past Caelum’s ears.
His figure vanished from Dali and the others’ sight.
From then on, he disappeared again.
Afterward, Caelum found a quiet place and settled there temporarily.
With no one around to disturb him, he began focusing all his energy on studying and researching alchemy.
As for Javier, Caelum confiscated his Azure Diamond, then threw him into a clinic in some unknown town and left him there.
With Javier’s physique, he certainly would not die.
Even without Azure Diamond, his body was still far stronger than that of ordinary experts. After all, he was at least someone who had mastered Conqueror Haki coating.
There was no need to imprison him.
When Caelum needed him, he could ask Sito to help look for him.
Caelum had no intention of keeping a grown man at his side.
Returning to alchemy, it was just as Dali had said.
This thing was extremely difficult to learn.
Not because the contents of the book were obscure.
On the contrary, the writing was very straightforward. Anyone who could read would be able to understand it.
The difficulty lay purely in how much time the process consumed.
So called alchemy was a secret art that could manifest fantasy and concepts into reality.
The closer the manifested thing came to the essence and limit of the world, the deeper the attainment required.
Caelum used a branch to draw a simple transmutation array on the ground.
The array was circular overall, with a six pointed star in the center.
Only with the aid of a transmutation array could alchemy be performed.
He pressed both hands onto the array and focused his mind according to the book’s instructions.
The transmutation array did not react for a long time.
Without question, this attempt failed.
Alchemy: Proficiency plus 1
This was the source of Caelum’s confidence.
For others, it might take decades.
But he had the proficiency template.
As long as he worked hard, every attempt would bring real returns.
And so, Caelum tried to use alchemy again and again.
Alchemy: Proficiency plus 1
Alchemy: Proficiency plus 1
Alchemy: Proficiency plus 1
...
At last, once his alchemy proficiency broke through 100, Caelum’s alchemy immediately reached the beginner level.
The transmutation array before him slowly began to glow.
The stone placed in the center of the array was reconstructed in an instant, changing into another shape.