Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Alex and Aethersage made their way to the group as the points were being tallied for the ones before them. Jai Heiyun, Thousandleaf, and Riveroak wished them the best of luck as they went away.

The 50 people had gathered, and they soon began handing over every other storage bag except the one that had their cauldrons inside of it. Because nothing else could go in that storage bag except for what was registered on the talisman, they were allowed to take that onto the stage.

Everyone’s medallion was checked once over before being handed a storage bag full of the ingredients they needed to make the pills. Alex sent his senses inside to give a cursory glance at whether everything was alright or not, and he sensed a rather strong aura from each ingredient.

‘Oh!’ he thought. He hadn’t thought about it until now, but he should have expected that all of the ingredients they received would be empowered by the various formations that were available to do so.

They were given the best or near-best ingredients so that if the pills did come out badly, the fault wouldn’t be on the tournament holders. Alex checked through the ingredients, seeing 10 of the same ingredients piled up inside wooden boxes. Everything seemed in order, so he began preparing himself to make the pill.

The points were collected for the people before him and even there, no one had gotten any more than 4000 points. Killersky’s 7520 points was an insurmountable obstacle for everyone. But Alex was sure he was going to break it. If everything went right, based on his calculations, he should receive a total of 8305 points.

That was what Alex was going for with this competition.

Aethersage turned to look at him and gave a small smile. “Good luck.”

Alex nodded back. “Good luck.”

* * * * * * * *

Silvermist looked forward to the next batch of competitions. Through some pulls he had made, he had managed to figure out what batch Alex was going to take part in, so he was more excited for this batch of competitors than any other.

“Are you sure this is the one?” Grimsight asked, sitting next to him in the crowd. “Yes, yes,” Silvermist said, feeling excited. “Look, he’s coming out.”

They watched Alex come out onto the stage, with the large name popping up on the screen.

Silvermist had a wide smile on his face as the words appeared there.

Dawnblade. Master – Silvermist. Myriad Spirit Realm.

“See, that’s my—”

The name flickered away, going to the next person who walked out, Aethersage.

Aethersage. Master – Wineweed. Three Jewel World.

Silvermist’s face immediately darkened as his smile faded away and he gritted his teeth. His eyes moved to another direction in the audience, where he saw Wineweed turn to look at him, similarly angry.

Grimsight couldn’t help but sigh thinking about the petty drama between the two.

“Why is my disciple coming right before his disciple?” Silvermist said with a frustrated voice.

“At least be happy your name came before his,” Grimsight said, trying to appease this nonsensical battle between these two grownups.

“The better ones are always saved for the last. It’s like saying that bastard is better than me,” Silvermist said.

“This isn’t about you,” Grimsight said. “This is about your disciple. Just focus on him for now.”

Silvermist wanted to say something, but he let go of it and sighed. He looked back at Alex, focusing on him now that he was about to start.

* * * * * “Look, it’s Master! He’s finally out,” Momo said as she pointed toward Alex who had come onto the stage. Pearl looked at the stage and nodded. “It’s finally his turn,” he said. “I think we will be leaving here soon.”

Momo nodded. “How do you think he will do?” she asked. “That woman who got the highest points, do you think he will do better than her?”

Pearl smiled. “I have no doubts.”

* * * * * *

The world became silent as the invisible walls went up around Alex, separating him from the outside world. As the sounds died, Alex took a deep breath as he prepared himself.

The dozens of other participants sat around him, giving him plenty of space. He looked down at the stage where major formations were installed for him to use, some of which he was sure he was going to need.

3 cauldrons flew out from his storage bag, landing neatly in a row before him with Midnight at the center.

He then brought out the ingredients he was going to use for the first batch and began preparing them. He didn’t do anything beyond that though, as he needed to wait for the command to start.

He looked around the place, the millions of people far around him watching him. This was the most anyone had ever been present in a competition he had been a part of.

And this wasn’t even the beginning of who was watching. Outside of this secret realm, outside of the city, even outside of God’s Domain. There would be people watching this very thing. Continents full of people, trillions of them, focused on the same competition.

The Alchemy God’s voice pierced through the barrier. “Prepare yourselves. You will start in a minute.”

Everyone nodded and waited. Alex prepared mentally, getting ready to make the first 3 pills. The three pills he was going to make were the Snow Shattering Pill, the Lustrous Aurora pill, and the Viridian Breath pill.

They each gave 15 points, 17 points, and 19 points respectively. He had decided upon these pills based on the average amount of difficulty he would likely face when making them.

The Snow Shattering pill took the least effort out of any, so pairing that with the Viridian Breath pill which took the most effort felt the most sane thing to do in this situation.

The ingredients were ready to be opened up and the cauldrons were ready to be heated. He looked toward the Alchemy God who floated in the sky and began announcing the start.

“You may begin!”