Sky-cracking Rider-Chapter 1231 - 1200: The Second Experiment

The second death row inmate was sent to the mansion. Just like the previous wretch, it was entirely voluntary, and still, the inmates had to fight over this opportunity.

If they managed to survive the experiment, their death sentence would be commuted to a life sentence, and they'd be dispatched to a mine or quarry to happily dig or smash rocks for a lifetime, with food and lodging provided and medical care free, armed security to ensure safety, as long as they didn't try to escape. For those burdened with blood debts like these villains, dying a natural death without illness was considered a blessing.

Amnesty release was simply not an option. If a mistake was made, one had to pay the price, even a greater price, to make amends.

This time, the death row inmate had a stronger psyche than the previous one; he at least didn't shiver under the gaze of the juvenile female Metallic Dragon, sitting quietly cross-legged in a corner, awaiting his final fate.

Compared to the last alchemy experiment, this time the combination of alchemical devices was much more complex, resembling a cylindrical chamber with various lengths of arc-shaped alchemical devices embedded outside at the top. It had an internal diameter of about two meters and a height of three meters, enough to accommodate even the larger wisdom species like the Beastman Clan and Demon Tribe.

Before the death row inmate stepped in, alchemists had used several animals as test subjects to be thrown in. They couldn't be called intelligent species, only capable of detecting "spirit essence," but not verifying "soul." The final result was they foamed at the mouth and fell unconscious, not as gruesome as the previous death row inmate who bled from seven orifices, died tragically, but at least they survived. Whether they would awaken or not...that wasn't important. What mattered was whether to roast or to stew them.

Alchemists in the work mode did not treat human life as human life, but they were not cold-blooded butchers either. The Royal Family wouldn't approve bringing over hundreds of living people to gamble their luck on whether immediate death or a chance for life sentence commutation was possible. Suitable test inmates were rare, most being insane lunatics. If they went crazy and destroyed alchemical devices, they wouldn't be helping, but causing chaos, so strangulation or beheading was a more fitting end for their evil deeds.

"Start documenting, Delan City time, 10:11 a.m., who's that? Number 2, right? Are you ready? Do you need to visit the toilet first or anything?"

The alchemist's assistant responsible for documentation wrote by hand on a tablet, turning to look at the inmate waiting in the corner.

"No need. Is it time to start?"

The inmate moved his cracked lips, hoping to appear dignified in death and not be a bother to the distinguished officials, having emptied his bowel after not eating or drinking for 24 hours, with no trace of a need to urinate.

"Stand inside, stay quiet, don't move."

The assistant pointed at the alchemical device that had been operated several times, a prototype that didn't consider a streamlined design; its large size meant more room for magic runes and lines.

"Okay!"

Not eating or drinking for 24 hours, the inmate stood up shakily, feeling weak, even his voice was feeble.

Cautiously, he crawled into the cylindrical alchemical device, from inside it looked more like a cage, except the bars were larger, allowing side entry.

"Initiate countdown, three, two, one!"

The Heavenly Rank Alchemist, due to his experience, naturally led the activation of the alchemical device.

Having a Heavenly Rank lead in a project group signified formidable strength, with a team of more than forty alchemists and magicians divided into three sub-groups, comprising one Heavenly Rank Alchemist and one Heavenly Rank Mage, with most others being of Earth Order; those of high-level Human Rank were only fit to play assistant roles.

Initially ordered by the Silan Royal Family, the project, now quite intriguing, attracted many professional volunteers, warming up the atmosphere considerably. Amateurs like Chen Fei could occasionally interject a few comments, but saying too much risked disdain.

At the top, the arc-shaped alchemical devices automatically disassembled and began to hover around the chamber-like structured alchemical device, with runes on the surface faintly glowing, as elemental series energy in the air suddenly became nearly undetectable.

Suppressing elemental series energy allowed for easier detection of the presence of "spirit essence."

"Mmm!" The inmate inside suddenly let out a muffled groan, facial expressions slightly distorted, body twitching occasionally, yet persisted.

Surviving meant life; failing meant death, as agreed from the start, seeking life from within death.

"Hang in there! Just don't die!"

Outside, alchemists documenting the process encouraged the brave inmate.

No one had tried it themselves, but seeing his reaction, it was conceivable that it was an experience worse than death.

"Mmm!"

The inmate's eyes suddenly widened, teeth grinding audibly.

"'Spirit essence' concentration is increasing, it's the prefrontal cortex, it's the prefrontal cortex!"

The Heavenly Rank Alchemist, releasing spiritual power and closely linking it with the alchemical devices, suddenly cried out in ecstatic joy.

Theoretically significant "spirit essence" was proven in reality.

The alchemy workshop erupted in cheers immediately.

"Record it first, take a break, then proceed to the next step."

The Heavenly Rank Alchemist needed time to calm his excitement, so he chose to temporarily suspend the operation.

The moving alchemical artifact slowly decelerated, each part returning to its place. The convict standing in the center was panting heavily, his body no longer convulsing, soon collapsing to the ground exhausted, clearly having suffered greatly. But it's not over yet.

"All things have spirits, it's actually true!"

Heseman Brown and Dang Wei Jun exchanged looks. This saying doesn't only exist on Cangqiong Star but also has similar versions on Blue Star, where humans are defined biologically, classified under the order Primates.

Primates, leaders among spirits.

The end of science is metaphysics; this feeling is becoming increasingly strong.

Chen Fei calmly said, "Hmm, next step is to prove the existence of the 'soul.'"

The frontal lobe is sometimes called the third eye, the Heavenly Eye, connected to the pineal gland through the Fibonacci sequence.

Daring assumptions, cautious verification; retracing the process from the answer, there isn't much surprise. If the real existence of 'spiritual quality' cannot be accurately proven, then all previous preparations and efforts would turn out to be disappointing futile work.

"What kind of state is a 'soul'? I don't feel anything myself. I'm really looking forward to the real answer."

Heseman Brown is certain he has a soul, yet no matter what, he doesn't know the true appearance of the soul.

Material existence of cells and DNA base pairs, non-material existence of 'spiritual quality' and 'soul,' if all these could be fully decoded,

then it wouldn't be much different from the giants like Qin who scatter life seeds across different plane worlds, humans might even have the chance to become new "creators."

Chen Fei suddenly said, "A whirlpool! Just like the Milky Way Galaxy!"

Raising his hand, a Star Yuan coin disintegrated into countless tiny particles, forming a slowly rotating galaxy whirlpool shape above the palm.

"I think it should be the Tai Chi shape, like quantum entanglement form, betting ten thousand Star Yuan."

Heseman Brown also had his own guess. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"A regular tetrahedron, ten thousand Star Yuan!"

Even Dang Wei Jun, rarely speaking up, joined the battle.

"Opening bets? I'll be the banker!"

The bored young female Metallic Dragon Yilan raised her head, wanting to join in too. She's not short on money, having plenty of pocket money.

She's the main reason for the severe lack of space in the Alchemy Workshop, her dragon body taking up a third of the area directly.

The Dragon's Tail swept a small blackboard, grabbing a chalk to write on it.

Whirlpool, regular tetrahedron, and Tai Chi, beneath are the names Chen Fei, Dang Wei Jun, and Heseman Brown with their bets, the amount numbered 1, in units of ten thousand Star Yuan.

No need for guidance or persuasion, others spontaneously joined the betting queue, most betting the same ten thousand Star Yuan as the three of them, with a few wealthy ones betting as much as thirty thousand Star Yuan.

Everyone was accounted for, alchemists and magicians were rare Ability Users, plus serving the Silan Royal Family, their pockets were quite full, having early achieved personal financial freedom, and small gambling was merely for amusement, harmless in small play.

After resting for about half an hour, the experiment continued once more.

During this period, the convict even received a magic potion that could enhance spiritual power, not only for refreshing purposes to avoid affecting the following experimental state but also for boosting spiritual power wave intensity, increasing the sensitivity of the alchemical artifact's detection.

Just like before, spiritual power combined with the alchemical artifact clearly captured faint tiny light spots swirling around the convict's forehead, occasionally diving into the skin, entering deep into the brain. They weren't elemental energy but something else, existing everywhere, not only suspended in the air but also moving in and out on various object surfaces like breathing, even being absorbed and released by the alchemical artifact, these previously undiscovered tiny light spots, countless in number.

The composite alchemical artifact not only sensitively perceived the presence of 'spiritual quality' but could also, like an X-ray, see through brain tissue organs.

The 'spiritual quality' light spots entering the convict's brain indeed followed a spiral trajectory, orbiting several times before actually entering the pineal gland tissue. Each light spot would make the entire pineal gland lightly glow.

When the Heavenly Rank Alchemist focused on the convict's pineal gland, he could feel this small tissue organ vibrating and contracting rhythmically according to some pattern, filled with countless 'spiritual quality' light spots, yet none scattered out again.

The not-so-big pineal gland suddenly contracted significantly, releasing countless light spots as if exploding.

Almost simultaneously, the convict let out a long breath, his whole body collapsed in the alchemical artifact chamber.