Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

The audience was curious about what the Alchemy God talked about with both of the finalists. Once the god walked out, they waited for him to explain.

“Our two finalists, Alchemist Aethersage and Alchemist Dawnblade, have come to an agreement on how we will be deciding who the winner will be. They have decided that the victor will be chosen based on the number of pill veins they can create in an hour.”

“After an hour, we will count all the pill veins—not pills with pill veins—and decide the winner.”

“Pill veins are just as important as the pill’s harmony itself, perhaps even more so, so the fact that it will be the deciding factor for who will win the tournament sounds fair, does it not?”

Hearing how the winner was to be selected excited everyone. Watching two alchemists make one pill at a time, with both managing to form pill clouds, was only so fun because one immediately knew they had tied.

However, with this change, the more pill clouds that appeared, the more excited they would become.

The barrier around the two contestants disappeared, with most of the formations shutting down. One of those formations was the one that slowed down time for them.

Considering that both of the alchemists had it, removing it disadvantaged neither of them.

Alex was surprised to find the dimensions of the small space around him expand as it merged with Aethersage’s space and turned clear. He could now see the red-haired young man through the transparent barrier.

Aethersage seemed surprised to notice him too but quickly put on a smile. Considering their masters’ rivalry, they had been going up against each other from the start. Even so, they had managed to create a friendship, and now the two friends were up against each other.

No matter who won, neither of them would be unhappy at this point.

“The hour will start very soon. Make sure you two are fully prepared,” the Alchemy God’s voice came from outside the barrier.

After giving a simple nod to Aethersage, Alex looked down at his own ingredients and began preparing. By the time the few minutes he was given to prepare were up, he was ready to start.

The Alchemy God’s voice came through the barrier once more, counting down the seconds.

Alex took a deep breath, waiting for the second to hit zero. When it did, he started.

With a single command, Memory turned into six different cauldrons. Looking through the cauldrons, it was difficult to realize which were the fake ones, but Alex could tell through his bond.

The fake Memory cauldrons were still a facsimile of the real one, the only difference being that if they took too much damage, they would be destroyed.

Memory mentioned that the destruction would only be temporary but wasn’t sure how long that temporary period was. It could be an hour, a day, or a whole year. It was difficult to tell with Memory unsure of her own powers.

Regardless of the downsides of the fakes, Alex didn’t think he needed to worry about it that much. He wasn’t going to let them get so beat up that they were destroyed.

Since all six cauldrons were out, Alex threw in the ingredients with a wave of his hand, beginning to make the pills.

* * * * * *

“Wow! Master’s cauldron just duplicated. I didn’t know it could do that,” Momo shouted out in surprise.

“That’s… Memory couldn’t do that before,” Whisker added.

“It must be a new ability of the cauldron,” Silvermist said with a look of astonishment. “The cauldron had that barrier ability too. It appears that his cauldron has gained more than a single ability after going through that tribulation earlier.”

Pearl nodded. “Considering the Artifact God herself came to watch what was happening, it must be something rare.”

Silvermist nodded. “Regardless, my disciple is going to show everyone just how good he is now,” he said proudly. “Look at that. He’s going to make six cauldrons full of pills right now. He will call six pill clouds together.”

Silvermist’s words were certainly a boast, and anywhere else, he would have been called a madman. However, at that very moment, everyone who heard him speak couldn’t help but get curious.

Was Alex really going to call six pill clouds at the same time?

They had all seen him make close to two dozen pills now, and not a single time had he failed to call a pill cloud. Every time he made a pill, he called the pill cloud. No one knew what secret he had that he used to make that happen, but whatever it was, he was no doubt going to use it.

Aethersage was no less than Alex either, but however many pills he was making, he was making them all in his own cauldron. Considering that very cauldron was the inheritance of one of the Alchemy Gods, no one dared criticize him for using only that.

Just like Alex, he could very well be making six pills in each of the cauldrons at the same time as well, and no one would know.

Aethersage’s pills were made first, and thick dark clouds gathered in the sky above him, rumbling with a deep sound and flashing with purple lightning bolts.

A thick purple bolt fell from the heavens, within which one could count seven individual pill lightnings. The moment people saw that, their faces fell wide in a gape.

People were so excited upon seeing Alex make pills in six cauldrons that when the seven lightning bolts fell upon Aethersage’s cauldron, they were flabbergasted.

Somehow, Aethersage had managed to make more pills than Alex at a single time.

People immediately began wondering if they had assumed wrong. They wondered, was Aethersage going to be the one who won this in the end?

Only Aethersage knew just how difficult it had been to create seven pills with 100% harmony. He had used enough ingredients to make 15 pills, so he had wasted a lot.

Still, all that waste was worth it if he could beat Alex. He knew he could use all the help he could get.