Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

The Qi Alex got from his Blood Aura couldn’t be used immediately. Not only was it weak and unrefined, it was also scattered throughout his body, and nothing was in his Dantian.

As a result, Alex needed to cultivate it and improve it first.

Cultivating at the moment felt quite strange to Alex. Because there was no Qi for his body to draw in from the surrounding, it could only keep cycling the same Qi that was in his body, while gathering the vagrant Qi that was scattered throughout.

A box arrived before him, needing him to make another pill, but Alex ignored it. He could let himself slack for a while longer since there was no immediate threat of failing.

He spent the next hour or so cultivating while 3 such boxes stacked up. By then, the number of people had dropped down to 35.

There were 2 hours left before the second day’s end when the fourth box arrived. And Alex knew he needed to get to making the pill again.

Alex could make all the pills at once, be done with all 3, but that would be idiotic. He would only be spending more energy than he could muster. The hour of cultivation had been a form of rest for him, and he couldn’t immediately ruin it.

Alex made one pill at a time, taking as long as was needed.

In the next 20 minutes, he completed making 2 pills when another box arrived, adding up to 3 stacks. Alex placed the pills into the empty box, pushed them away, and then began making pills from the rest.

In the next hour, he made 5 more pills, each of which pushed him closer and closer to his failure. It was around that time that Alex realized a major issue with him.

He had managed to gain the extra Qi, which he could use to last for another half a day if he wanted to. But sadly, the thing that would fail him instead turned out to be his spiritual energy.

Alex had begun to feel his head buzz slightly for a while now. He had found some respite after cultivating, but the buzzing had resumed with full force when he made those pills, and now it was greater than ever.

Alex could feel the weight of his own head, trying to drag him down. He felt as though the world was going to spin at any moment now, understanding that at any moment, he could pass out.

Still, Alex tried to last as long as he could. He made 2 bad pills in a row, not even trying to make anything good. That gave him 40 extra minutes of resting time. With that, he made another good pill and felt the world wobble around him.

He needed to make one more pill with 75% harmony, and then the next one after that would have to be 90%, or he would fail.

Alex let the ingredients stack until there were 4 of them. That was another hour and 20 minutes. Then, he made one pill out of those ingredients, making a pill that barely managed to go above 75%.

Alex had a bit of Qi still remaining, but his mind was hollow now. He couldn’t make any more. It was good that he stopped at the pill that needed to be 90%.

Alex didn’t do anything else and simply waited. One set of ingredients landed before him, making it 4. Then, 20 minutes later, the next one came.

And with that, he had 5 sets completely stacked.

The staff that was in charge of Alex and the other 3 was now only waiting for Alex. The others had already failed and moved away.

When Alex finally failed, the man walked up to Alex and pulled him onto his feet with his Qi.

“Here,” he said, handing over a pill.

Alex looked at the pill, even in his drowsy state, recognizing it for what it was. He ate it immediately.

A soothing feeling filled him at once, clearing his mind and instilling energy into his body. Alex became alert at once and sucked in a deep breath as the world grew vibrant around him once again, no longer looking to spin.

His headache —which he didn’t even know he had— disappeared along with everything else.

“You did well,” the man said. “Are you okay? Do you need some time?”

Alex shook his head. “Thank you for the pill, senior,” he said.

The man nodded and took the medallion from Alex’s chest to look through it. At the same time, Alex looked at the sky where the timer and remaining people were listed.

He had lasted for more than 2 days, and to his surprise, there were only 11 more people left.

Alex didn’t know if he should have been surprised or not to see that many people still remaining. He looked around and noticed who was still there.

A tuft of red hair was the first thing Alex’s eyes were gravitated toward, and he was taken aback to realize that Aethersage was still there, making a pill.

He couldn’t understand how long the man had lasted. Alex had to use up all he had, and Aethersage was still doing better than him?

‘What secrets does he hold?’ Alex wondered.

He looked around for the others but didn’t recognize anyone else. Or so he thought until he saw an old white-haired man in the distance. It took a moment for the name to come to him.

‘Windborn, right?’ he thought. This was the old man that had come third in the speed test, beating Leafheart.

Speaking of her, Alex didn’t see any orange-haired woman. In fact, the only woman among the 11 on the platform was an older woman sitting relatively close to Alex.

Based on her age, Alex could tell she had a high cultivation base. Still, she looked as though she was going to faint at any second.

Everyone did.

They were all holding on as best as they could, trying their best not to fail before they came first.

“You’re done,” the staff said, having checked Alex’s medallion. “You may leave.”