CH 114

June 12, 2022 by danmeiheaven

When Philipp Kiel stepped onto the stage, his gaze involuntarily moved to one place…then he looked away, the tip of his ears reddening. 

He cleared his throat and said, “Let-let me explain my alchemy research results…”

A person from the same alchemy school as Philipp Kiel frowned when he heard him start, and then whispered to the person beside him confusedly, “Is he nervous?”

“Why does he look like he’s seen a ghost? And did he just stutter?”

The man next to him also looked puzzled as they watched the man in question, then he shook his head, and replied, “He was fine before he came here… Maybe the nerves finally caught up to him when he went up the stage?”

The man thought about it and snorted in amusement.

—Because according to Philipp Kiel’s character, this should never happen.

Xia Zuoyi listened intently in his seat.

He was all ears as Philipp explained his theory on stage, that he believed that everything in the world is composed of four elements, namely air, water, fire, and earth.

That the human body has four basic characteristics, namely dryness, dampness, coldness, and heat.

Among them, each element is composed of two of these four characteristics. For example, fire is dry and hot, the air is wet and hot, and so on.

Everything is composed of these four elements, which means that matter can be transformed into each other.

—For example, ordinary metals can be turned into gold coins.

But it can’t be done at present because they still have not found and controlled the path and method for the conversion between substances.

The four elements are interrelated with the four characteristics of the human body.

—And the reason why people get sick is nothing more than the imbalance of these characteristics. When one essence decreases and another increase, it will cause different diseases. 

Metal is the thing that can reveal the elements and properties most.1

Therefore, studying the conversion and changes between metals can eventually not only turn a stone into gold but also hopefully develop a philosopher’s stone that treats all diseases—that is, using “conversion” to achieve the balance of the body’s characteristics.

Philipp Kiel continued his impassioned explanation on stage.

Xia Zuoyi interjected suddenly, “So, what are your findings? Have you developed a metal that can cure people’s diseases?”

Almost right after, an alchemist from the same school as Philipp whispered to himself, “Oh, Philipp would be angry…”

He was well aware of his bad temper.

In particular, he previously expressed his suspicion and rejection of Lord Desinia.

Philipp would definitely clash with Lord Desinia, the alchemist thought.

Who knew that when he raised his head to take a look at Philipp’s reaction, he heard him stammer his reply, “T-there’s no…result yet.”

“For now, it’s…it’s still difficult to achieve.”

“But my research has already produced preliminary results.”

Xia Zuoyi: “What is it?”

Philipp’s face became serious, and he said solemnly, “It’s mercury to measure temperature.”

Xia Zuoyi’s eyebrows flew up his face, slightly surprised.

For a while, except for the alchemists who studied metal, the rest began to discuss and talk with each other in a low voice.

Even Chebman Norton spoke to his apprentice, Beckham2.

Xia Zuoyi has no trouble following what they were discussing.

After all, this matter has something to do with him.

Mercury, also called quicksilver, is a naturally occurring element.

However, the distribution of mercury is very small. It is considered to be a rare metal, and most of it exists in the air, water, or soil. It is close to other metals and requires some refining to obtain complete mercury.

The most important thing is that in the real history of alchemy in the Middle Ages, mercury, sulfur, and salt are collectively called the three sacred elements of alchemy. This shows just how important mercury is.

Later, in the history of medieval Europe, it also played a major role in important medical treatment methods.

—For example, a large amount of mercury is added to medicines, without any thought of rationality whatsoever3, which leads to frequent diseases.

Or use calomel4 as a strong and effective laxative. After a person took it orally, they would immediately excrete…

This is actually the reaction of mercury poisoning.

There are countless such cases.

In the Middle Ages, it was believed that mercury could cure mental illness.

Doctors will make the patients take mercury medicine to directly “combat the frequent occurrence of mental illness”. After the end of the treatment, the patients would be only left with one breath.

—Patients could no longer open their mouths to speak because their teeth were falling out and have sores in their mouths. They have difficulty moving because they became weak…

These outcomes were considered by doctors to be a recovery from their mental illness… 

In particular, alchemists believe that mercury is the spirit of alchemy and the main element that makes up all metallicity5.

This has also led to the fact that mercury has been widely used as a pharmaceutical ingredient, and the source of the disease has not been found for a long time, or the cause of the disease is mercury poisoning.6

Even if mercury poisoning occurred at that time, it would be considered the result of drug side effects.

The toxicity of heavy metals is usually ignored.

On the Western Continent, the Alchemist Association also listed it as one of the most important metals to be studied, which was highly valued by alchemists in the early years.

However, when Xia Zuoyi was initially researching drugs, he suddenly found that they had a tendency to be put into potions by alchemists, so he specially wrote a letter for this purpose.

Then sent someone to the association.

In his letter, he directly stated that mercury contains highly toxic properties.

For example, when it volatilizes into the air, it could enter people’s bodies by inhaling it, or even when it accidentally touches the skin… Mercury poisoning is seriously harmful and damages health.

In addition, he also elaborated on the phenomenon found when experimenting with animals, and suggested that alchemists in the association should stop using mercury to study the possibility of drug treatment.

This is life-threatening.

Xia Zuoyi also did some propaganda about mercury in his territory.

After this letter was sent, research on mercury plummeted to the bottom, as it was confirmed that it was indeed toxic.

When he sent the message, Xia Zuoyi didn’t pay too much attention to the effect.

After all, he has a lot of things to do every day in his territory.

At that time, he naturally did not know how much this letter hit the alchemists of the alchemist school who studied metals…

Because one of the consequences of this message was the destruction of various experiments with mercury in it and starting all over again. Some were even completely scrapped and abandoned. 

Many people have resentment toward Desinia.

What’s even more irritating is that Xia Zuoyi Desinia is not an alchemist who studies metal!

So, what was his intention?!

It was not difficult to explain why there was divided opinion on Xia Zuoyi in the Alchemist Association, with some secretly slandering and disliking him. 

The study of metals, particularly mercury, was abandoned for a period of time.

But who would have thought that there was another alchemy genius, Philipp Kiel, who stood on the stage and said that “mercury can be used to measure temperature”.

Almost the moment he finished speaking, Xia Zuoyi understood what his research results were.

Mercury thermometer or mercury medical thermometer.

Especially the latter.

Xia Zuoyi couldn’t help but pat his forehead. He had forgotten about such common medical supplies…

It was probably because he had never used a thermometer whenever he had a fever before. If he felt unwell or was ill, he would take medicine immediately.

So it had subconsciously slipped past his mind.

And Philipp Kiel’s research result was not so much the discovery of the role of mercury, but rather a manifestation of his theory.

—Metals can be changed by mass transfer.

Philipp Kiel had his research brought up.

—It was a two-finger-thick and slightly flat thermometer. It was made of glass, and there are some small numbers on the tube.

He presented his result to the crowd.

One could clearly see a small silver bead at the bottom of the glass tube. It was the mercury.

At this time, a cup of steaming water was placed on the table by the attendant.

Philipp put the end of the mercury sphere into the hot water. After a while, a small silver thread rose along the narrow passage in the glass tube.

After listening to the exclamations of the audience, he picked up the thermometer again. When it was suspended in the air, he waited for a while before the mercury-scribed line inside began to slide down slowly, and finally recovered into its spherical shape.

Philipp: “Mercury can clearly feel the ‘cold’ and ‘hot’ among the four characteristics I had mentioned. This research is a major breakthrough. In the future…”

The nobles, including the alchemists and doctors, listened carefully to him.

His explanation was passionate, making his face flushed. He couldn’t help but look at the alchemist area and found that the man he was looking for was talking to the butler standing behind him.

Xia Zuoyi said softly, “Udit, note this Philip Kiel in the list…”

“I heard that the president of the Ed Chamber of Commerce is very optimistic about him. You should pay attention to your actions. Don’t let them take the lead in taking him away.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Xia Zuoyi sat back down again with his arms folded.

He thought that this Philipp Kiel was indeed gifted. Although he deviated a little in his research direction, he could still be steered back on the right path if he was trained.

Isn’t this a ready-made researcher?

Xia Zuoyi gave Philipp Kiel a smile.

“Cough…cough, hick!”

Philipp suddenly choked on his own saliva up on the stage. He started thumping his chest suddenly and forcibly, his face flushed, and he continued hiccuping.

“What the hell is going on with him today?! This is so embarrassing…”

His fellow alchemists lowered their heads and covered their mouths using their hands. They were feeling a mixture of both embarrassment for him and wanting to laugh at him so their bodies looked a little contorted as they tried reigning in their emotions.

It’s very unlike Philipp to do this. It’s really embarrassing that the rope tied to his crotch is loosened at a critical moment7.

Xia Zuoyi looked strangely at the man as he walked off the stage while still hiccuping after he finished speaking, tilting his head in confusion.

He stopped paying attention to this man after that and started looking at Chebman Norton, wondering who would be up next between him and the master alchemist…

Translator’s Notes:

OMGGGGG HAAHAHAA PHILIPP IS SUCH A LOVESTRUCK FANBOY, HE EVEN BEAT THE ORIGINAL FANBOY JACOB XDDDDD SO CUTE~~~

Anyway, gosh, I’m back~~ Hope you missed me, guys~~ It felt like I’ve been gone for months and not only for a month (maybe?) and my brain felt like it was put in a blender because I’m so beat XD. I’ll just finish my two activities left for today and pass them on tomorrow and I’m already free of school works for two months YEY!!! Anyway, I’ll update Infrastructure Frenzy on Wednesday so stay tuned~~~