Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Alex and the group arrived before a massive tower that seemed to appear out of nowhere in the distance when their group finally got close to it. However, it was pretty evident by the crowd that had gathered there from the start that this tower hadn’t appeared out of nowhere.

It was very clearly standing here from the start. It was just them that hadn’t seen it until they had come close.

In fact, even their spiritual senses couldn’t notice the tower previously, which had confused Alex at first. However, upon thinking about it, he quickly realized what was happening.

’These locations are completely hidden from our senses on purpose,’ he thought.

That was the only thing that made sense. He had a pretty good guess as to the feeling they all had upon entering the secret realm. This was likely the thing that was being suppressed from them.

As Alex and the group landed near the tower, the crowd stood before it in apprehension. Alex looked around him, noticing easily over a thousand people gathered already, with more arriving every second.

Then he looked at the tower itself. The tower was an alabaster white, which stood out against the red in the sky and the yellow of the sand. It had a pagoda-like style, with square architecture and curved roofs emerging from each of what looked to be about 10 different floors. There was a room at the very top with no walls and only four pillars.

Some people attempted flying in through the top, but a barrier stopped their approach, so they had to come down and stand alongside the rest of the crowd.

A subtle vibration caught Alex’s attention, and he looked at the star he held in his palm. For some reason, the star dimmed and brightened, as though something was happening to it.

He frowned slightly, unsure what was happening with the star. As far as he was aware, this was only supposed to be used as a compass. Did it have some other uses?

”What’s that number?” Ronron asked, noticing it before anyone else in their group. They all looked toward the tower and noticed a number plastered onto the side of its wall in black ink, but the ink kept shifting and the number kept increasing.

969. 1253. 1307. 1900.

It kept increasing in random amounts, making Alex wonder what it was about. It kept increasing all the way until it reached 3000, at which point Alex felt something from the star he held.

Looking down at his star, he found that it had gone completely dull.

At the same time, a feminine voice came from the tower before them.

”3000 participants have been selected. Selected participants may now enter the Mystical Tower.”

Alex looked behind at his family. ”Did your stars go dull too?” he asked.

Ronron nodded, lifting hers to show. Helen showed the same.

Liz, however, shook her head. ”What do you guys mean? It’s still glowing the same. Oh, no wait. The colors changed. The red part is now lighter,” she said.

”Same here,” Battlesage said, showing his star.

Liz looked at her star and then at Alex’s before frowning. ”Does that mean I didn’t get chosen?” she asked. ”If I was, it would not show me the way to the other locations, would it?”

”I would have to agree,” Alex said. He looked back at the tower. ”We will need to enter it. Will you guys wait around?”

”Hell no!” Liz said immediately. ”Who knows how long this will take? We’ll just head toward another location instead. Hopefully, we can find something there.”

Alex nodded. ”There seems to be something that way. You should go and check it out.”

Liz and Battlesage both agreed.

”Let’s go before that closes as well.”

Without any further delay, the two immediately flew away from the place, heading over to the next location like many of the others already were. Those that remained were the ones that were accepted by the tower and were now going to have to enter.

Alex gestured for his mother and daughter to move toward the tower.

”Is it safe?” Helen asked as she made her way toward it.

”Of course it’s safe,” Ronron said. ”My master and the rest helped prepare this. They wouldn’t place anything that could be a danger to Immortals.”

”I see. I guess I’m just being cautious for no reason,” Helen said.

”Being cautious is a good thing,” Alex said. ”Just make sure you’re not mistaking nervousness and cowardice for cautiousness.”

Helen made a slight frown but said nothing more.

They slowly waded through the crowd of 3000 participants, all of whom entered the tower at a slow pace.

The moment Alex entered, he found his entire surroundings change. He was no longer surrounded by people at all and was instead all alone, standing in the center of an empty room.

He frowned slightly, looking around at the place. ’An illusion?’ he thought. He hadn’t sensed any spatial manipulation, so he couldn’t have been teleported away. This could only be an illusion.

He pushed his senses out but found himself unable to extend past the confines of the empty room. It didn’t take him too long to realize he might be stuck within an illusion of some sort.

Alex could force his way out of the illusion if he were truly stuck in one, but for the sake of actually completing any trial he may have to face to pass it, he was willing to let it affect him.

”Greetings, participant!” the voice of the tower came from all around him. ”You are now inside the Mystical Tower. You will now face 10 different trials. To leave the tower, you may simply ask for it. Anyone who leaves the tower even once, however, will not get a chance to redo it.”

”Do you wish to continue?”

Alex hadn’t thought this secret realm could get him excited at all, but he found himself looking forward to whatever this was.

”Yes. I will take part in your trials.”