Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Legend has it that in the distant sky, there is a city that can fly. There are gods in it, and it is a city of miracles! Lars, the great artist, had been looking for this city for more than ten years. Finally, at the end of the ocean, he spotted it. He marked the occasion by creating this great painting, the Capital of God!” In a temple in the Sean City-State Alliance, a well-dressed businessman was introducing the story behind the painting to the audience.
Lu Zhiyu, Eva, and two little girls huddled together, observing the painting like a family of four. This temple was originally the patron saint’s temple of Finnlit city. However, belief in the original patron saint was gradually declining, so in order to make ends meet, most of the temple space had been rented out.
The city of Finnlit had been devastated by the conflicts between the Tuten Dynasty and the Sean City-State Alliance during several civil wars. Then, Batkos came, gradually taking the northern part of the Tuten Dynasty and fighting against the Tutens’ southern kingdoms and the Sean City-State Alliance.
Just looking at Finnlit’s thin and broken walls easily revealed the aftermath of decades of war. Fortunately, after years of re-development, the Sean City-State Alliance was becoming more competitive and powerful.
This was greatly thanks to the many changes that had been brought by alchemists, who had created all kinds of guns and cannons for use in the battlefield. Also, a large number of national alchemy workshops produced swords, guns, alchemy artillery and alchemy weapons. At the same time, some alchemy apprentices were recruited to assist in the battlefield.
However, when facing Pusuote, a powerful kingdom of Batkos that had a large number of Blood Knights and various heavenly palace priests, the Sean City-State Alliance could barely resist such an enemy. As such, the Sean City-State Alliance’s army almost collapsed in the early stages of its existence.
However, later on, aided by the continuous participation of the alchemists, the war gradually dissipated. The power of the alchemy cannon was credited with being an integral weapon in the war.
Armed with such divine ammunition and methods, for the first time, the combat capability of alchemists had been fully demonstrated. As a result, Pusuote had fallen into the quagmire of war. There, under the city wall of Finnlit, Pusuote met its Waterloo, just like the Tutens.
Although Cetisius, who was the King of Pusuote, still wanted to fight, he was not certain that they could defeat the Sean City-State Alliance. In addition to this, years of consecutive wars had birthed great voices of opposition within the army.
This resulted in King Cetisius’ eventually abandoning his scheme of annexing the Sean City-State Alliance. Instead, he signed a peace treaty with them.
After the war, Finnlit began to rebuild and slowly, started to thrive again. A large number of artists and alchemists poured into this beautiful and historic city that was located along the Pegasus River.
Ten years ago, after the Sean City-State Alliance moved the political capital from Lamech to Finnlit, the city had grown in leaps and bounds. It had also been instantly infused with a great vitality.
A few years ago, there was an alchemist mentor who left Akkad Alchemy College and established his own alchemy college in Finnlit. He named it Wisteria Alchemy College, and a large number of scholars, workshop owners, businessmen and alchemists then came here to study.
They began to set up various workshops, which had a great impact on the people’s lives. Many people got rich overnight, which constantly inspired others to come and see what all of the hubbub was about.
“There are countless gold coins flowing in the Pegasus River!”
“Go ahead, go to Finnlitt, where there are countless opportunities! As long as you seize them, you can become somebody important!”
“In Finnlitt, farmers can become nobles and slaves can become rich!”
Many people were saying all kinds of things about Finnlitt. Its newfound fame caused many downcast artists to gather here, as where wealth gathered, art also came into being.
Some of these artists were appreciated by the nobles of Sean City-State Alliance, and various art vendors emerged. However, there were only a few such lucky ones, as most of the artists could only sell their work in the streets.
Even so, there was a strong artistic atmosphere in the capital of Sean City-State Alliance. This influence of the arts was reflected in the beautiful buildings, exquisite statues, and lovely paintings.
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Standing in front of The Capital of God painting, Lu Zhiyu felt a bit strange.
“Dad! Our house was discovered by other people!” one of the little girls said.
“Yes, that’s right. They even painted a picture of it!” Lu Zhiyu replied.
“It appears that our house is too small!” she commented.
“Yes, it’s time for an upgrade!” Lu Zhiyu agreed.
The two little girls huddled together, curiously observing every detail of the painting. As they perused every part of it, they couldn’t help but complain.
Lu Zhiyu looked at the picture in front of him, feeling that his floating castle needed to be upgraded. But, he didn’t want it to be a big change. Instead, he would simply transform a hidden cloud into a sea of clouds, then add a storm near the castle.
Looking at them, Lu Zhiyu softly patted the two girls’ faces. Verthandi and Delmedi were growing up fast. Lu Zhiyu had brought them to Sean-City Alliance, which was undergoing major changes, because he wanted them to have more contact with the world, so that they could better understand the world before they became gods.
Lu Zhiyu had stopped the floating castle above Sean-City Alliance and had taken Eva and the girls to walk around it together. As they walked, something very interesting had caught his eye, so they decided to stay for a while. This was how they had arrived at the Capital of God painting.
At this moment, several children who were standing beside Lu Zhiyu were looking at the painting as well, many of them commenting on it…
“Can alchemists do such a thing?”
“Alchemists can fly! They can even make something that sends people into the sky!”
“That is a hot-air balloon, silly! But, this is a city! Can an alchemist really fly a city?”
“Alchemists are omnipotent. They can even turn stones into gold! Hence, they must be able to make this happen!”
“Yes, alchemists are more powerful than gods!”
As the children squibbled with each other, Delmedi stood some distance away, clearly unhappy. She then said, “They are saying that alchemists are better than gods!”
Lu Zhiyu then turned to listen carefully to their arguments. One of the thin, brown haired boys suddenly said, “Alchemists understand the nature of substance, then transform the substance. Hence, knowledge is the essence of alchemy!”
One of the fat boys in the group was dissatisfied by that assertion, so he shot back a stinging retort, “You’re not an alchemist, so how would you know?”
The little boy with short brown hair immediately said, “I will definitely become an alchemist. When I grow up, I will enter the Wisteria Alchemy College! I will then make an alchemy tool that will enable human beings to conquer the sky.”
Lu Zhiyu suddenly opened his mouth and asked the little boy, “What’s your name?”
Only then did the boy realize that someone was watching and listening to him. He was stunned for a moment, then said, “Lars! My name is Lars Brown!”