Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

The Puppet God, Beast God, and Artifact Gods were the only ones who held the interviews for the first chunk of the participants.

Then, the Winter God joined, arriving on stage in a flurry of snow. She only showed up for three interviews so far, but whenever she did, winter showed up along with her.

Those three interviews were quite memorable for the crowd, not because of the participants but because of the Winter God herself. Her presence there was no different from her announcing to the world that she was the God of Winter.

So whenever they saw winter next, they would think of her.

The Storm God came for a single interview for now, and when he did, he brought the storm along with him.

The sky roiled with dark clouds on that day, and the wind picked up. Lightning flashed in the sky with thunder so loud that it was deafening. A single thick white bolt of lightning struck the pedestal, and in the steam and smoke left behind by the strike, standing upon the burning surface was the man known as the Storm God.

He wore blue trousers that day, with a bare naked torso with lightning tattoos all over his body. He had long purple hair with streaks of white in it, and a handsome face that seemed to have been carved by master sculptors.

His presence was another one to be remembered, for in his presence, the storms never dissipated.

No new gods showed up after him as only those five gods seemed to have accepted this task.

Aethersage sat in the stands, watching the Puppet God hold another interview. He watched it with great intrigue and a bit of nervousness as, after this, it was his turn.

He took in a deep breath and looked down at something that only he could see and sighed. The next reward he could achieve required him to make an Immortal pill with all nine veins. For him, that still needed quite some time.

However, once he did do it, what he would receive should get him to the peak of Alchemy, at least for the Immortal him. It had been a bit over 200 years since he started learning Alchemy, so this was quite fast.

He wondered how much longer it would have taken him had he tried to do the entire thing on his own instead of being taught by his master, Wineweed.

It had taken him 800 years to learn Formations to its peak, so he wouldn’t be surprised if Alchemy took longer. There was no doubt it was much more difficult, after all.

‘Just a few more centuries,’ Aethersage thought. It shouldn’t take him that long, as cultivation base was all he lacked to get that reward.

Wineweed slapped him on his back. “Don’t be so nervous. You’ll do fine. They may be gods, but they are just people too. Talk to them like you do to anyone,” he said.

Aethersage smiled. “Of course, Master.”

A few minutes later, someone came to escort him to get ready for the interview, so he left.

Once the ongoing interview was over, he was called forth by the Alchemy God.

Given the cue, Aethersage walked out of the gate and flew onto the stage, where he climbed the massive pedestal to sit at the top. He could hear the millions of people cheering his name, louder than many people before him. All the time he had come to the stage before, he had never heard the crowd as they were always kept at bay for the sake of silence.

But today, no such barriers were put forth, and hence he could hear every single note of every single scream.

It was marvelous.

The Alchemy God announced the one who would be interviewing him. It was the Artifact God.

For a fleeting moment, Aethersage had thought that the Formation God would find a way to become his interviewer, but it seemed the monarch had no such intent.

The Artifact God was no jade beauty, but her presence still caused one to think twice before judging her for her looks.

“Greetings, Your Brightness.” Aethersage bowed.

The Artifact God nodded slightly. “I’m happy to say that you are one of the more anticipated interviews. You’ve made quite a name for yourself in this tournament, haven’t you?”

Aethersage gave a bright smile. “I like to believe I have.”

The woman nodded. “Tell us a bit about yourself. Who you are and what you do.”

“Well, I am Aethersage, and I… do just about anything I can bring myself to do. At the moment, I am focusing on my Alchemy skills.”

The Artifact God raised an eyebrow. “That’s right, you are good with formations too, aren’t you? How did you learn both Formations and Alchemy to become so good at both at such a young age?”

“I did them separately, Your Brightness. I learned Formations first, and then I learned Alchemy.”

The Artifact God pulled a small talisman. “According to this, you are only a little older than a millennia. Are you saying you managed to become great at both in just that time?”

Aethersage nodded. “I’m afraid that is the sole truth, Your Brightness. I tried my best, and I did it. Of course, hard work isn’t all I had going for me. I was lucky in some regards too.”

“Can you give us an example?” the God asked.

“Well, for example, my master is Wineweed, one of the Ten Stars of Alchemy. That goes a long way to becoming a great Alchemist.”

The Artifact God nodded a little. “Tell us about your name. Aethersage isn’t your real name, so how did you come up with it?”

Aethersage hesitated for a moment and looked all around. His face fell a little, but he breathed in and began answering. “When I was a child, I used to play a make-believe game with my friends where each of us would get a certain title based on how well we did in all the other games we played.”

“The Aether Sage was a title for the best of us, and it was one I could never achieve. Ever since then, the wish to become an Aether Sage was ingrained into me.”

“I could never do it in the end, but the wish still stuck with me until now. So when I had the chance to choose who I could be, I chose that.”

The Artifact God smiled a little. “You took a title from a childhood game and made it yours. Do you think if you gained that title even once, you wouldn’t have been named this?”

Aethersage smiled and nodded. “I think so,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s a story from a different life. I can’t change the past. I can simply use what I learn to forge my future.”

The Artifact God chuckled. “I love your use of that word.”

The interview lasted for a while longer, with the Artifact God asking simple questions, which Aethersage answered as simply and as clearly as he could. His answers were not just for this woman but also for the crowd.

“People here do not know about this, but the Formation Monarch approached you to become his heir, didn’t he?” the Artifact God asked.

The question alone sent a round of gasps through the people in the crowd. To become an heir to the Formation Monarch was no simple matter, after all.

Aethersage nodded. “He did. Your Brightness was there too, so you know the matter firsthand.”

“I did see it happen,” the Artifact God said. “Which was why I wanted to ask what you were going to do if you won this tournament. Would that change your mind at all?”

Aethersage paused for a moment and smiled. “Change my mind?” he asked before shaking his head. “Absolutely not. His Majesty has given me the greatest opportunity anyone could ask for. To be his heir is an honor. Even if I win the overall tournament, I will still follow His Majesty to become his heir.”

The Artifact God slowly nodded while the crowd listened to his words with great interest.

“So am I to assume that between Alchemy and Formations, you’ve chosen to go with Formations?” she asked.

Aethersage’s brows furrowed. “That makes it sound like I’ve given up on Alchemy. That is far from the truth. Even if I may be the Formation Monarch’s heir, I will still be an Alchemist.”

The Artifact God couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “So you won’t stop practicing Alchemy, huh? It’s commendable. But practicing both at once might be a little difficult. I used to practice Formations long ago by myself, so I know by experience.”

Aethersage smiled. “I don’t truly mind that. Besides, it is not as if I am going to stop practicing Alchemy.” He couldn’t help but giggle as he said so.

The Artifact God was slightly taken aback at his laugh. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“To me, Alchemy is just another step in my journey. A massive step, yes, but just another step. And I am going to continue taking more of them,” he said. “I’m going to continue learning more of everything.”

“Once I’m settled after this tournament, I intend to take my next step. I do not know what it will be yet. It could be Talismans. It could be music. It could be painting or cooking.”

He stared directly at the God before him and said, “It could even be artifacts. I will learn it all, and I will be the best in it all.”

“No one will again stop me from another title. I, Aethersage, will claim it all.”