"Alchemy is a long and great science. It was pioneered thousands of years ago by our wise ancestors, and has flourished more than once along with ancient magic. Although this discipline is gradually forgotten by many people, I still want to tell you here that its charm will definitely shine again in the near future! ”

"In fact, we know that even though many of our friends today don't know much about alchemy, there is one person who must be well known. That's right, he is the last great alchemist in history to refine the Philosopher's Stone and enjoy his life for more than 600 years, Mr. Nicol Lemay! ”

On the east side of the wide arena, Mr. Hohenheim, who was sitting in the middle of the judges' bench, was standing there at the moment, giving an opening speech in high spirits as he entered the final stage.

For him, a researcher who has spent half his life as an alchemist, alchemy has become everything in his life. And Nicol Lemay has naturally become his academic idol since childhood.

Therefore, he has always been unsparing in his praise for alchemy and Nicol Lemay.

“…… And today, the 12 contestants who have worked hard in this arena and stood out with their excellent alchemy skills, the champion of the first international alchemy competition is already waving to you! ”

With that, Mr. Hohenheim swung his right arm forward, his voice amplified by the amplification spell full of excitement.

"Next, it's time to announce today's topic!" He said aloud, "Twelve, remember what I just mentioned? Mr. Nicol Lemay has refined the Philosopher's Stone, which can be called the pinnacle of alchemy! Yes, you must be familiar with the Philosopher's Stone, right? ”

At this moment, both the players on the field and the guests in the audience were stunned for the first time - what does it mean? Could it be that the subject of the final stage is the Philosopher's Stone?

Even if it's a joke, I'm sure no one would say such a thing. The difficulty of making the Philosopher's Stone is naturally unimaginably high, and even some viewers who don't understand what alchemy is at all can understand.

Fortunately, Hohenheim didn't pause for long, and he quickly continued.

"Today's topic is a research topic that has a lot to do with the refining of the Philosopher's Stone. The twelve contestants present all have exquisite alchemy skills, and I think this subject will make everyone show their skills, so next-"

At this time, Hohenheim finally said loudly with great excitement:

"Twelve contestants are invited to show us the activation and refining of material elements!"

In alchemical theory, matter is made up of a variety of elements. Those elements can be divided into four categories according to their nature and state, namely "air", "water", "earth", and "fire".

It is said that the Philosopher's Stone is a wonderful substance that was refined and synthesized by alchemists, and has four characteristics at the same time. Although it is generally referred to as "stone", the specific state can be ever-changing.

In order to refine the Philosopher's Stone, the ancient books mentioned the special refining step of "single element activation". Even the emerald slab called "Jade Record", excavated in the secret chamber of a pyramid in Egypt, mentions the pinnacle of alchemy and the conception of life.

Therefore, this topic has always been an important research direction in the field of alchemy. Although the Philosopher's Stone cannot be made, it can be said that the academic exploration of elemental activation has made some progress.

Right now, Maca is sitting in his seat. He looked at Hohenheim's face full of joy, but his heart was still a little still.

The title was decided by the jury, taking into account his suggestion, in order to finally announce the matter of Nicol Lemay's legacy. But now, it was clear that the players had already started to prepare, but he couldn't pay attention to the game in front of him.

“…… Is it because Ens Taon disappeared for some reason? While he was paying attention to the series of events in the arena, his mind was still distracted to wonder why he couldn't make up his mind, "Or is it because of that strange prediction in the bald head's memory?" ”

Today's final question should have been something he was also interested in, because he had always been curious about how the ancient summoning magic gave life to shapeshifting matter. The activation of this alchemy should give him a lot of inspiration.

However, he is not interested in this final stage at all.

As for Enns, personnel have already been arranged to search inside and outside the school, and even the Ministry of Magic has already sent a letter to inform them. And as one of the leaders of the event, he can't leave at least in the final stage, and it is impossible to help find someone for the time being.

Shaking her head slightly, Maca put aside her hesitation and focused as much attention as possible on the players on the field.

So far, none of the 12 finalists have surprised him. There were three African delegations, three from the joint Mesopotamian delegation, and the remaining six from delegations from Egypt, Greece, and other countries with relatively outstanding alchemical histories.

In fact, the original and Indian wizarding circles should have the possibility of being able to get involved in the finals. Just because of the bald old man's relationship, the Indian delegation completely lost the right to participate in the competition before they arrived, and no one could comment on whether it was a pity for them.

However, he was the only scattered alchemist who made it all the way to the final stage, which obviously surprised many people.

"Mr. McLean, isn't that the guy you mentioned on day one?"

Beside Maca, the Minister of Magic, Scrimgeur, who also came to watch the final, also found the handsome wizard in a Muggle tuxedo, "It is worthy of Mr. McLean, not only is his strength strong, but even his vision is extraordinary." ”

Scrimgeour has hardly complimented anyone for most of his life, as he used to do when he was the head of the Auror Office, and now that he is a minister, he has no chance to say such things. So, to speak of these words of praise at the moment, it is simply clumsy.

"Don't say that, I just guessed casually at that time, how could I have thought that now he would really break into the final in one fell swoop?"

As she spoke, Maca also looked at the middle-aged wizard in the room. From him, it could be clearly seen that the other party seemed to be carefully depicting a refining array on the stone slab on the ground.

At first, the players were almost all the same, and for a while there was nothing surprising about it.

This is the reason why modern alchemy is gradually lonely, even if it is deliberately selected to be more interesting, it is always a little boring at first. If it's ancient alchemy, it seems that there are wonderful scenes like magic duels! ”

Maca thought about it and waited patiently.

Fortunately, these players in the field are already high-level alchemists, and the efficiency of depicting alchemy arrays is very high. It didn't take long for the unique style of each alchemist to be revealed.

For example, a Mesopotamian contestant has erected six stone pillars around the alchemy array he had drawn, with different alchemical symbols and patterns on the pillars. As he straightened the stone pillars one by one, the symbols and patterns lit up with a faint light in turn.

For another example, the player of the Egyptian delegation placed a suspicious gold-inlaid coffin on the refining formation, and he came with this coffin on his back before the start of the tournament, which made many wizards stay away with taboos.

For example, the old witch in Africa actually got a huge crucible out of nowhere, stirring the liquid inside vigorously next to the strange refining array that had been completed, and emitting large clouds of dark purple smoke.

These three players can be said to be strong contenders for the championship of today's final.

Maca's nose moved slightly on the sidelines, sniffing the slightly diffused purple mist in the air, and soon couldn't help frowning.

"The backbone of a fiery dragon, the stems and leaves of black roots, the slurry of the Thorns of Death, the living Sahara Fumboo, the blood of a large number of mountain trolls...... And the powder of mandrakes? He roughly counted the materials he had smelled, and then wondered, "What's the use of these things sitting together?" ”

Since Sarah is still pretending to recuperate in the ward of the school hospital today, his question is destined to be answered only when the results come out.

Then, the changes in the arena continued, and gradually became more noticeable.

First of all, on the Mesopotamian side, the contestant who erected the stone pillars had already lit them all. Immediately, with a burst of retraction in the space in the middle of the refining array, a silver substance that I don't know what it was slowly formed.

In today's bright sunshine, the silver reflects a metallic hue, and it looks wonderful.

He was followed by the "coffin porter" in Egypt.

The feeling on his side is not so good, because many viewers can clearly see that the coffin in his refining array will vibrate every few moments, as if something will open the coffin board and jump out directly at any time, which is indeed a little scary.

In addition to the two of them, most of the other contestants also had some strange movements. Only the old witch in Africa, and the tuxedo-clad alchemist, one was still slowly stirring the vat, and the other was simply drawing a formation formation, making it impossible to guess what they were going to come up with.

"Huh?"

It was at this moment that Maca raised her eyebrows slightly, as if sensing something near the two men.