The beaker continued to make a fuss, seemingly oblivious to what Roy was saying.
Roy had no choice but to hold it down and forcibly dispel the Wizardry Energy he had infused into it.
Finally, the thing shut down like it had been forcibly powered off, and it fell silent.
Peace was restored at last.
"This is way too dangerous!
It's actually a sentient beaker!"
Although Roy understood that it was merely a simulation by low-level artificial intelligence, devoid of the emotions and feelings of a natural lifeform, he still wiped a cold sweat in secret.
The creations of these high-level Wizards were indeed a bit too dangerous.
But soon, Roy began to ponder again.
"Based on its earlier behavior, it should already be a Bronze Caste existence."
Soul Rank, which aligned with his Alchemy Talent, was categorized into Black Iron, Bronze, Silver, and Gold. These were the professional terms used by alchemists to judge the essence of a soul.
Its origins could be traced back to the process of Metal Transmutation in the Art of Alchemy, where metals were continuously refined into more precious forms, symbolizing the elevation of "essence."
Alchemists believed that all things in the world were born different, with distinctions in Soul Rank.
Ideas like "all men are created equal" were complete nonsense in the eyes of alchemists who could create life themselves.
When they crafted their creations, some were sloppy and half-hearted, while others were meticulously crafted with great effort…
How could they not understand that the same distinctions existed in all things in the world?
"Black Iron Caste—typical examples include insects, low-level demons, and the like, driven solely by instinct, with only the urges to destroy or reproduce.
That giant fleshy monster worm I encountered earlier, the Blood Pool…
Even the World's Will and the Abyss's Will are such existences."
Roy frowned as he pondered, realizing that Soul Rank and "strength" were not strictly correlated.
These were entirely different systems of evaluation.
"Bronze Caste is the rank of animals, Magical Beasts, robots, weak artificial intelligence, and the like. They begin to possess a certain level of sentience and intelligence, capable of experiencing or simulating emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, and are driven by them.
That beaker from earlier clearly belonged to this level.
However, these are still not true wisdom; they still lack a higher soul!
Silver Caste, equivalent to most human and demi-human intelligent lifeforms, is the crucial dividing line.
This signifies advanced lifeforms composed of weak instincts, moderate emotions, strong feelings, weak wisdom, and weak divinity—the true starting point of Homunculi.
As for Gold Caste, these are near-divine existences, possessing sacred souls, referred to as Sacred Souls!
Advanced Artificial Lifeforms, or a portion of high-quality humans who have completed the evolution of their Bloodline and mental intelligence, such as sages, prophets, and heroes, begin to exhibit traits of divine awakening at this stage.
The deities are keen on collecting high-quality souls and purifying their followers, essentially gathering and creating these Sacred Souls!
As for the Supreme Exalted, the perfect existence of ultimate goodness and beauty, the pinnacle of artificial creation, it naturally transcends Gold Caste—the Divine.
It often eliminates the influence of instincts and emotions, possessing certain feelings yet unburdened by them, somewhat akin to the concept of 'supreme detachment, yet not devoid of emotion,' while also possessing superior wisdom and divinity."
In fact, not to mention deities, even beings of the Gold Caste are extremely rare, a pursuit that alchemists tirelessly strive for.
However, even the most humble and lowly creatures have their precious aspects.
That is the Supreme Exalted element of "transcending gold," an aggregate of spirituality containing wisdom, emotion, and a portion of divinity, originating from the same source as deities.
Even the devils of hell regard it as a treasure, seeking every means to harvest it.
Why do souls exhibit different Soul Ranks in different individuals?
Perhaps it can be explained by "spiritual concentration."
The World's Will, a spiritual existence on a massive scale, has very low intelligence, only weak instincts and emotions, and cannot develop consciousness or wisdom.
This can simultaneously explain the existence of natural gods and personal gods, along with the mysteries of faith.
Roy simply compared and couldn't help but be amazed by the high-end tools he had seen before.
"What a pity, if only it were mute, how much better would that be?" He seriously considered whether to kill the beaker.
Sensing Roy's malice, the already lifeless beaker in his hand suddenly trembled, and the other alchemical tools also shivered.
"Dear apprentice, please do not harm us!"
"We are all honest alchemical tools!"
"Damaging Ms. Gumos's property is against laboratory regulations..."
Roy's gaze fell on the test tubes, brushes, crucibles, and tongs, satisfied to find that these tools were indeed more honest, unlike the beaker that had just been so confused.
"From now on, you serve a new master—that is, me, Lord Roy, understand?
The Wizardry Energy you use to move is now provided by me, feel it carefully!"
The tools quickly acknowledged.
Several other beakers of varying sizes, possibly related to the noisy beaker, dragged it aside with concern.
"Now I will begin the alchemical process, extracting Magic Stones from the miscellaneous items, you all understand, right?"
The advantage of intelligent tools is that some tedious low-level operations can be automated!
As mature alchemical tools, they clearly have already mastered many basic formulas and alchemical processes, and quickly got to work according to instructions.
Roy had just taken out a bottle of Mana Mud from his Spatial Ring when he noticed they had already completed much of the preparatory work.
He couldn't help but nod in satisfaction.
"Oh my, such high-concentration Mana substance!"
The alchemical tools also exclaimed in amazement, then joyfully gathered around.
Roy used a spoon to pour some mud into the crucible, activated the refining function of the Wizard Array, and then began adding quartz, crystal, cinnabar, diatomaceous earth, and other materials to another crucible.
After a while, a batch of white stone-like Magic Stones was produced.
"465 Magic Stones!
This is excellent, almost the limit for small-scale production. With a larger energy pool and boiler, perhaps we could break into the thousands...
Also, the [Mana Return] I had previously obtained is indeed starting to come in handy!
These are all improvements to the low-level production experience..."
Roy collected the finished products and began considering larger-scale production.
The several large barrels of Mana Mud he obtained this time were worth tens of thousands in total. If he were to refine it all by himself, it would take him half a year or even longer.
He could consider releasing a portion of it for others to complete, or adopt a more wasteful but faster method of large-scale refinement.
However, before he could even start this task, he overheard some news while out for a meal.
"Senior Apprentice Sophia, Senior Olen, and Senior Apprentice Balu have returned!
All three of them have been promoted to official Wizards!"
(End of Chapter)