"Oh, is that so?" the Saint Child asked, looking at the man being beaten and scolded. He said nothing more.
He did not quite understand this world, but from what he had seen so far, it did not seem like a very good place.
According to Dalos, people who shared the sa bloodline were of the sa clan, and those who shared the sa form were of the sa kind.
Since they were of the sa kind, why would soone beat and scold their own kind just for dirtying a horse that was already unclean to begin with?
Dalos realized belatedly that he seed to have misspoken.
However, seeing that the Saint Child said nothing more, Dalos relaxed slightly.
He decided that the next ti he faced such a question, he would use his brain and think it over rather than answering subconsciously.
As they entered the city, more of human society unfolded before the Saint Child's eyes.
There were all kinds of people living in different stations, placing themselves in different positions in life.
They were like various plants growing in different spots, desperately stretching their branches and extending their roots to secure more sunlight and nutrients.
That man riding in the carriage was like a great tree.
Those surrounding him were like the weeds or shrubs growing in the crevices nearby.
The woman leaning against him was like a clinging vine.
It was just that, relatively speaking, the entire situation was much more complex.
After all, plants were mostly stationary, whereas people could move.
"Once they move, things beco chaotic," the Saint Child realized.
"And I used to be a tree, but now I am moving too. So... who am I?" The Saint Child froze.
He had nad himself Nis, but Nis was rely a na.
As for who exactly stood behind that na, he was not entirely sure.
In the past, he had lived on the dorsal fin of the Floating Whale. He did not need to move or think too much, and he had cared nothing for such questions.
Yet now, as he began to move, he also began to think.
Who was he?
And what was he?!
That wealthy rchant was a tree, those commoners were weeds, and those clinging won were vines.
What about him?
Besides figuring out who he was, the Saint Child also wanted to understand his identity.
He was riding in a carriage; perhaps he was also a tree?
But that was incorrect.
If the person who was beaten and scolded earlier just for dirtying a horse was a lowly commoner, a weed...
Then the essence of his own life was far higher than that of the wealthy rchant who acted as a tree.
Even Dalos, this individual who claid to be family, was inferior to him in terms of life essence, despite possessing great strength.
This was a biological instinct buried within his bloodline.
'So, to , are they also lowborn weeds?' the Saint Child mused, recalling his earlier observations.
Later, upon entering the North District, the Saint Child saw people planting vegetables along the riverbank.
The farrs and serfs were clearing the weeds from their vegetable plots.
"What are they doing?" the Saint Child asked.
Hearing the Saint Child's inquiry, Dalos pondered for a mont and carefully weighed his words before replying, "Mankind needs to eat. The plants they are cultivating provide food that humans can consu. As for the weeds, they compete with the crops for nutrients, so they must be discarded."
"Is that so?" The Saint Child nodded thoughtfully.
"It just feels like everything about mankind is far too complicated," the Saint Child remarked a mont later.
"But then again, perhaps it isn't that complicated at all." Just as Dalos was preparing to respond and guide the Saint Child's sentints toward the family, he heard the youth speak again.
A long silence followed. After Nemus returned, he inquired with Opper and Becky about the developnt progress of the Saint Elixir.
Regardless of the Saint Child's situation, and whether he would beco an enemy or an ally in the future, the Saint Elixir—a concoction designed to fully unlock the Saint Child's potential—would absolutely be the key moving forward.
This was because whether it was Rhine, the Saint Child, or himself, they would all likely need this Saint Elixir.
The difference lay in the fact that Rhine had most likely obtained Guilliman's support.
They had raided the old pastor's laboratory back then and possessed his experintal data from twenty years ago. Replicating the results of those experints was probably only a matter of ti.
On the other hand, Nemus also had the relevant docunts in his hands, along with a living test subject who had been injected with the potion—Jacques.
By working together during this period, Opper and Becky had gradually developed a similar potion, though their previous iterations had been quite unstable.
"The current potion isn't too far off from the final Saint Elixir used by the old pastor. Through our research on Jacques, we've already overco the critical issues. All that remains are a few minor details," Becky declared with great confidence.
These past six months had been the most fulfilling ti of his life.
There had been an endless stream of research topics: the Whale Transformation Sickness, the Saint Elixir, souls, the Berserk Accessory, and various materials related to demons.
All these hidden secrets that ordinary people could scarcely ever encounter had been laid out right in front of him.
Becky was inherently greedy for knowledge; otherwise, as an Alchemist, he would never have chosen to join the Floating World Society just to covet their forbidden archives.
For the past half-year, he had been like a rat in a rice granary, frantically devouring knowledge.
Through this, he rapidly perfected his worldview.
This enriched perspective propelled the advancent of his Alchemy, to the point where restoring so simple alchemical formulas was no longer a difficult task for him.
The reason the restored Saint Elixir wasn't perfect was most likely because the potion the old pastor had originally used wasn't perfect to begin with.
"According to what you're saying, the old pastor was probably missing so key materials..." At Becky's words, Nemus imdiately understood.
Back then, one of the reasons the old pastor believed he possessed the Heaven's Mandate and enjoyed divine favor was because, despite being unable to purchase Whale Oil anywhere else, he had unexpectedly discovered Leah, a patient suffering from the Whale Transformation Sickness.
This proved that while Whale Oil could perhaps be substituted with other high-energy Whale Products, the absolute best material was still Whale Oil.
"It's just that right now, Whale Oil can't be found in any market," Nemus frowned.
Whale Oil was a strictly controlled resource.
Aside from a few specific regions that occasionally produced a limited amount, it was exceedingly rare.
The vast majority of Whale Oil ca from a single source—the death of a Floating Whale.
Whenever a Floating Whale died, various factions would frantically hollow it out as much as possible before it crashed down to the Great Earth.
This process would yield massive quantities of Whale Products.
An example of this was the Heart of the Whale currently held by the Dartnerly family.
If one called it precious, it was actually only moderately so; because a Floating Whale's heart was gargantuan, the resulting heart muscle ore left behind after its death ford a massive deposit.
Although this material contained a significant amount of energy, it was volatile and unstable. Under normal circumstances, it was incredibly difficult to utilize, so most of the ti, it was rely kept as a collector's item.
Whale Oil, however, was entirely different. It contained high-quality energy that even exceeded the power of a Golden rank to so degree, yet its nature was exceptionally gentle.
It was one of the most commonly used primary ingredients for refining the Golden Elixir.
Even when used on its own, it could be combined with other elents to increase the success rate of breaking through to the Golden rank.
Because of this, it had always been remarkably scarce.
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