Chapter 330: The Alchemy of Gods

"Oh... which Mother are we talking about here?" Akasha asked in a teasing tone, though in reality, he was far from interested.

He couldn’t fathom how she managed to keep track of so many Mothers, let alone form genuine connections with them.

"The woman who created Alchemy, of course," Akashi said with a chuckle, knowing exactly what Akasha had been thinking.

Akashi chuckled while she turned a flower stem between two fingers, her long white-gray hair sliding forward until the purple infinity under her left eye caught the white sun.

"Before the first Era of Pantheos," she said, "in the beginning phases, she made some absurd decrees and changed how it works."

Long ago, the Goddess of Alchemy completely redefined its essence.

At some point, one might have wondered how Alchemy, or any other subpath, could be useful if Divinity could create anything.

The simplest answer was that Alchemy, Blacksmithing, and countless other professions—even creating formations at deeper levels—were forms of pure creation themselves.

It wasn’t just about gathering materials and sitting behind a cauldron. In fact, cauldrons couldn’t even be used for that kind of work.

Those who operated in these realms, especially at the Multiversal level, manipulated the very fabric of existence—drawing on emotions, memories, herbs, and anything else their imagination could conjure.

What made Alchemy particularly important and respected was, first, the fact that there could only ever be nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine alchemists in existence.

Second, it could accomplish the same feats as Divinity, but at a much lower cost.

The significance of Divinity hardly needed stating, and if Gods and Constellations could spend Divine Stones to obtain the same creations, then Alchemy and its practitioners hardly needed further explanation.

"So, I’ve heard," Akasha said, nodding lightly so Sage wouldn’t be disturbed.

He looked at her properly then, gray-leaf eyes half-lidded, the broken infinity under his own left eye a quieter mark than hers.

"Hmmm... what sort of alchemical fire am I supposed to create?"

Akashi’s smile widened as if she’d been waiting for the question to arrive.

"And that’s where things get tricky," she said, snuggling closer against him.

"As I’ve mentioned before, those decrees set by my mother... while you might be able to ignore them, that future disciple of yours won’t have that luxury."

Essentially, Akasha was now even more of an anomaly than when he had first taken the elixir.

Before, he could issue any decree he wanted, along with a few other privileges. But now, he could completely ignore most of Pantheos’s core decrees.

The Land of Elsewhere was the ultimate challenge to existence itself, since everything Akasha made was his and his alone.

The limitation on Alchemists existed simply because Akashi’s mother had created only 9,999 flames specifically for its practice.

These flames granted one the ability to comprehend Alchemy and use it.

However, they had no inherent differences—no unique powers or special abilities.

The flames’ ranks indicated only their purity, the highest rank of items they could create, and the level of restriction they carried.

Lower-ranked flames might, for example, only be used to create emotions or perhaps memories, while higher-ranked flames could combine multiple elements instead of just one.

Yet, none of this particularly mattered to Akasha.

He already understood Alchemy and could easily create his own flame.

"Hmm, so basically... I need to make the flame usable for Tina as well," he muttered after hearing her explanation.

"Precisely... other than that, just make sure you can concoct anything."

Akasha smiled and got to his feet, and Akashi rose with him, the flower field giving under both of them while white-gray hair caught the same white sun.

They walked toward the distant doors, and even at a moderate pace the ground closed in faster than it should have, so the six colored doors rose from the horizon and were in front of them before the walk had any right to be finished.

As they moved, Akasha dreamed up his Alchemical Flame with a single thought.

[Elsewhere Flames — An alchemical flame not born of Pantheos. It is the purest flame imaginable and only becomes purer the more it is used. This flame can create anything, and only those you allow can use it.]

"My baby boy, that’s not bad..." Akashi said, glancing at him as they walked through one of the doors.

"Indeed," Akasha replied as the notification disappeared. "Now, I can finally complete the Realm of Beasts."

With peace at last, Akasha no longer had to worry about laying the foundations of his Pantheon or facing anyone trying to destroy it before it even existed.

He could now focus on finishing each realm he had specially crafted for his Members.

---

’Hmm,’ Akasha thought, seated with Melvin, Calyx, and Tina, who were all looking at him a bit oddly.

’Maybe I should speed up the time or something in the Land of Elsewhere.’

This was because after he talked about doing Alchemy, he had just sat there doing nothing.

"Are you going to make anything? Tina asked, watching him with narrowed eyes, her short black hair still against the light.

Akasha only chuckled and activated his flame.

[Elsewhere Flames]

FWOOOM!!!!!

In that moment, a bright gray flame wrapped around his hand, unlike any flame he’d ever seen.

There wasn’t even a hint of heat, just a purity so intense that the stall light on his fingers seemed grimy in comparison.

"Well," Tina said, nodding, finding herself impressed, "it looks like we’re finally getting somewhere."

"Right... now," Akasha said, shaking his head as he looked across the room. "What should I make?"

As his flames erupted, every eye gradually shifted toward him—and perhaps it wasn’t just those in this room who noticed.

Tina didn’t know much about the intricate details of alchemy and could only refer to things she had bought herself.

Still, from what she understood, one type of item always held value.

"From what I know, divinity items are pretty common and still useful," Tina said. "Why not start there?"