I will be online on the alchemist Discord channel at 8th Nov 2020, 1am GMT 8+ (or 1pm -7th Nov- New York Time I think?) to celebrate the end of The Silly Alchemist. Come say hi! I love talking to you guys.

Finale chapter will be released at 12 am, which is one hour before the discord hangout session. See ya!

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, five years had passed!

The passing of time sure was as terrifying as a flying blade.

However, some people were happy for time to flow so quickly because they had suffered so, so much during this time

Many people suffered across the mainland. They wished for time to pass quickly because they were all sick and tired of the war.

Ever since Ye Lang and Zhao Yarou disappeared suddenly, the entire situation of the mainland changed. Tensions rose and in the end, war exploded. These empire-scale battles soon spread across the entire mainland.

Some people thought that the war started from the disappearances. They were the centre of the storm, the flashpoint of the fire.

In fact, this was true!

Zhao Yarous disappearance didnt actually cause a vacuum in Soaring Sky so there wasnt chaos. Her council would not change just because of anyones disappearance, including hers.

Her disappearance gave Soaring Sky a very good reason for war too. Because their empress was missing, this was enough for them to declare war against anyone the wanted, as well as mobilise troops empire-wide.

At that point, Soaring Sky announced that they wanted to look for Zhao Yarou in every single kingdom though they sent military troops to do this.

To send military troops just to look for one person was basically the same as invading and conquering another country. Which country would say yes to this? No one agreed unless they were severely overpowered.

The ones who could not fight naturally accepted the fate of being invaded and became war prisoners. Or they could be called new members of the Soaring Sky Empire.

Once this war ended, the war prisoners and new members of the empire would probably continue to live well. They just had to get used to it, their lives wouldve changed much. Their lives might even change for the better.

But the war never stopped. It dragged on for a long time, complicating the political situation of the mainland. The war prisoners became unwilling to assimilate into Soaring Sky, silently hoping to one day rebel against the empire.

Naturally, the relationship between these people and the empire worsened. Conflicts intensified. More innocents were hurt. The ones who just wanted peaceful lives suffered.

Without ending the war, people would continue to suffer. Dragging on would cause more chaos.

There was a saying that suffering grew exponentially during wartimes.

The changes during wartime were quite unexpected. Soaring Sky hadnt expected it to last this long either. They didnt know they would have to fight for such a long time. This war would become the most recorded war of all time.

Many people also participated in this war because of Ye Lang. That was why he could be said as the origin for this war.

This was the weird thing. Ye Lang was the reason why things that shouldnt have happened, happened.

No matter what, the reason for all of this wasnt important. The war was going to happen sooner or later.

Many people knew that Zhao Yarou had spent a long time preparing to conquer the world!

In was only a matter of time before Soaring Sky engulfed the whole world!

That was why Zhao Yarous disappearance wasnt really the origin of this. What differed wasnt the existence of war, but rather who was leading the war.

To the civilians, this war started quite abruptly, out of nowhere. They were quite surprised to see Soaring Sky with so many powerful alchemy weapons too.

Soaring Skys invasions were almost unstoppable. Usually, before the other party could defend themselves, the nation wouldve fallen already.

Alchemy was a peculiar thing!

The entire mainland looked at alchemy with fresh eyes. Every kingdom now fought over the best alchemy masters in the world.

The alchemists of Soaring Sky had known the reason for their intense recruitments of alchemists to manufacture alchemy weapons!

Although Soaring Sky had a lot of knowledge from the Tiangongyue tribe, they needed manpower to manufacture the weapons. They needed huge crowds of alchemy talents. They didnt even have to be masters, they just had to know the basics.

That was why alchemists who used to be shunned or werent that good were suddenly very useful people. They became very arrogant.

Many people started to enter the alchemy industry, regardless of whether they were good at it. As long as they had a little knowledge, they could get a very good job and good perks.

This was a good option for civilians.

Over this period of time, alchemists became some of the highest-paid jobs in the world. An industry where even normal people could get a stable life.

At the same time, the science of alchemy progressed greatly and was refined too. The world now had advanced alchemy at their disposal.

Refinement of technology was a normal thing for any industry after some time. Other nations did not stop recruiting their own alchemists either. They tried to steal talents from Soaring Sky to slow down their development, at the same time raise their own abilities to fight against Soaring Sky.

No one cared if these nations were ethical or not. Reality unfolded before their eyes. After several years, their dramatic superiority was gradually halted. At this point, half the mainland had already fallen into their hands.

That was the reason why the war reached a stalemate!

At this point of the war, the person everyone thought about most wasnt Zhao Yarou or the person leading Soaring Sky it was Ye Lang!

No matter what caused the war or the stalemate, everything was tied to Ye Lang.

The stalemate was due to Ye Lang although he wasnt even here.

First, allies that shouldnt have formed, formed because of him. This was why Soaring Sky still couldnt win and still couldnt end the war.

In the beginning, Soaring Sky swallowed Vermilion Bird whole. The two empires were nemeses, everyone knew this was going to happen.

At that point, Soaring Sky hadnt expected Ai La to act because Soaring Skys intentions to conquer the world wasnt apparent yet. It still was an unbelievable concept to many people.

Swallowing another empire whole was still something very drastic, an impossible task, to everyone.

No one expected Ai La to help Vermilion Bird.

After Soaring Sky had engulfed most of Vermilion Bird, Ai La swooped to the rescue, giving Vermilion Bird a chance to catch their breath, regroup their front lines and set up defences in what was left of their land. As a result, Vermilion Bird wasnt entirely invaded.

Still, their losses were tragic. They had lost three-quarters of their land!

It wasnt because Ai La acted too slowly but Soaring Sky was just too quick. Their soldiers and flying boats made them too efficient. Vermilion Bird could barely scramble to act.

Many people wondered why they did not conduct airstrikes with their flying boats. Why did they still have soldiers on the ground?

The answer was simple- Soaring Sky had just mastered the technology of flying vehicles but not much. Since the war had already begun, they merely used these flying ships to transport soldiers.

And who designed this vehicle? Ye Lang!

At this point, Princess Longji desperately wanted to beat Ye Lang up. She just didnt have the mood to think about it, plus Ye Lang wasnt going to be there.

Princess Longji had to give up on most of her territory. She led her soldiers to defend what was left.

Although Vermilion Bird lost land, some of there problems were solved. For example, the problem of the heir to the throne. No one really thought about this problem.

After several incidents, it was unanimous that Princess Longji would be the next empress. However, only time would tell how much this title was worth.

However, everyone knew that the power and influence this ruler had would be worse than before. Maybe that was why Princess Longji inherited the throne so easily.

Some of the other princes went over to Soaring Skys side, now ruling the Vermilion Bird territories that now belonged to Soaring Sky.

In a way, these princes were now more powerful than Princess Longji as the future empress since her land was now only a quarter of what used to be.

At the same time, Soaring Sky tended to give immense authority to whatever place they conquered, allowing the leaders to continue ruling. This was under the condition that they submit to Soaring Sky.

Many people thought the way Soaring Sky treated their new colonies was weird. They gave everyone too much freedom. And their policies even benefitted the new citizens.

This was actually arranged by Zhao Yarou. She did not want her new colonies to rebel against her. She wanted them to feel like the Soaring Sky administration treated them better than their previous rulers.

While many people suspected this was all a temporary act to please the people, at least they werent too upset because they truly were living better. After a while, they even felt that Soaring Skys leadership was better than what they had before.

In the end, some of the conquered lands accepted the fact that they now belonged to the Soaring Sky Empire.

This meant Soaring Sky had completely conquered these places!

One must admit that Zhao Yarou was a terrifying opponent, she could defeat her enemies completely!

When they invaded Vermilion Bird, just as Ai La sent help over, Soaring Sky did something surprising. Their military divided itself so one portion marched in another direction towards Ai La empire, clearing all obstacles between Ai La and Soaring Sky. Then, they directly invaded Ai La.

This was shocking. Everyone was surprised Soaring Sky still had enough military power to invade another empire. No one expected that Soaring Sky was powerful enough so they had an advantageous position at war.

At this point, everyone realised the importance of alchemy. Soaring Skys edge came from their alchemy technology.

Although everyone started to place focus on this problem, Soaring Sky had already conquered half the world outside of the beastmens lands.

Years later, although the momentum slowed down, Soaring Sky was still expanding slowly. It now controlled three-quarters of all these lands.

The remaining quarter was a piece of land jointly ruled by Ai LA and Vermilion Bird. At this critical moment, they must work very closely together to fight Soaring Sky.

Other than these two empires, other nations either joint this allyship or surrender to Soaring Sky. In general, only two powers were left in lands occupied by the human race.

After a few years, the Vermilion Bird-Ai La Alliance slowly developed enough alchemy weapons to defend themselves. Their territories had shrunk so their powers were very concentrated. It was very difficult for Soaring Sky to eliminate them.

This wasnt supposed to happen. If Zhao Yarou were here, she would never allow something like this to happen. At the same time, if this really happened, Zhao Yarou would not press on.

But she wouldnt let this happen in the first place.

When Soaring Sky attacked Vermilion Bird and Ai La, they also had to deal with powers coming from the beastmen, especially from the Tiger tribe.

Although news didnt reach them quickly, after so many years, they must know that Ye Lang had disappeared within Soaring Sky. If it wasnt for the fact that Zhao Yarou had disappeared along with him, the tribe wouldve attacked Soaring Sky already.

Ye Lang was a very important person in the tribe. They were willing to do impossible things for him, i.e. declare war against Soaring Sky.

In the beginning, they did not plan to fight but due to complications, war erupted!

Initially, Soaring Sky planned to conquer the entire northern beastmen territories. This was a solid plan. Soaring Sky had all the alchemy weapons while beastmen completely relied on martial arts to fight.

The beastmen were cornered. If it werent for the fact that Soaring Skys frontlines were too wide, they wouldve fallen already.

This was technically because of Ye Lang too!

Soaring Sky wasnt just dealing with two parties, there were another two points causing a hindrance. These two places were related to Ye Lang too.

One was Sheng City. Although it wasnt a direct declaration, it was apparent that Sheng City did not support Soaring Sky. The followers of the Light Religion made up a huge population, forming a force that couldnt be ignored.

The other point, also the most peculiar one, was Ye City!

Right now, Ye City was situated within Soaring Skys territory. It was completely engulfed by Soaring Skys powers but under such a situation, they maintained their neutrality was as not invaded.

Many people thought this was odd. Why hadnt it fall yet? It was like a tiny boat in the vast ocean. Although it was battered by storms and waves, and constantly looked like it was about to be swallowed by the ocean, it still floated along.

It wasnt because the ocean didnt want to swallow the boat, its because Soaring Sky couldnt!

Even when Soaring Sky focused a huge portion of their alchemy weapons on Ye City, they still couldnt defeat it. The royal alchemists of Soaring Sky were exasperated and gave up in the end.

Soaring Sky said, I still cant win. Its just a tiny little Ye City but to me, it feels like a huge mountain. A mountain that cannot be scaled!

And because she couldnt break through Ye Langs defenses, she started her research that lasted many years!

Although Ye City and Soaring Sky were at war, that was just in terms of defenses. If Soaring Sky wasnt attacking them, Ye City did not mind Soaring Sky entering their premises.

It was an odd place, also why they remained so independent and neutral!

The people of Ye City now understood why Ye Lang wanted them to remain neutral!

Of course, this was because they were capable of defending themselves. They still had to be flexible during crucial moments

Alchemy was very important. Ye Langs alchemy was the reason why Ye City hadnt been invaded yet.

Third Brother now also understood what Ye Lang said about topographical changes during activation of the defense alchemy formation.

When the alchemy formation was activated, the entire Ye City turned into countless pieces of jigsaw that could be pieced together in many ways, even forming new alchemy formations.

Ye City could be separated and pieced together, at the same time not affecting the lives of its citizens. The only change theyd feel was the change in surroundings.

Everyone in the world was astonished by such alchemy. If they hadnt witnessed it, they never wouldve believed it.

Hence, Ye City became an impenetrable fortress, remaining undefeated!

At the same time, Soaring Sky could not possibly focus all its military powers on Ye City because there were still many other people to fight. Since Ye City was impenetrable and it remained neutral, they decided to let it be.

Ye City became the most peculiar places int he world!

That was why Ye City became a slight hindrance to the growth of Soaring Sky. The main reason was its neutrality.

However, it still let people who were enemies of Soaring Sky in too.

Ye City became a safe haven!

This wasnt the worst part, for Soaring Sky could just ignore it. The headache for Soaring Sky was that the Ye Academy of Ye City became a hotspot for alchemy.

The alchemy faculty took in anyone who fulfilled their requirements as a student but their conditions did not discriminate against ones nationalities. They still recruited students who were enemies of Soaring Sky.

Ye Citys actions proved that they were the best at alchemy. Anyone who could learn alchemy at Ye City would be able to defend themselves against Soaring Sky effortlessly.

A huge crowd flooded into Ye Academy, therefore the school now replaced the now-destroyed Academy Number One. It was now the best school in the mainland.

In a few years, the students from the school started to prove themselves, causing the power balance across the mainland to complicate. Soaring Sky now knew that Ye City was a hindrance but it could do nothing.

[Countdown to finale chapter: T-10]