Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

The barrier lifted, allowing everyone to walk in. Alex looked beside him at everyone’s stars and noticed that they had all registered as well. Looking around, it was clear that there was no requirement to enter at all. One just needed to get registered.

He was curious why he had to wait this long to get registered though. Could it be that the platform was waiting for an exact number of people to start?

”Father!” Ronron grabbed his arm with a strange look on her face. ”Is that person... real?”

”Real?” Alex asked, turning back to look at the illusory figure.

For a moment, he was about to say that he was indeed a real spirit, but his eyes widened slowly as he realized that the man was not a spirit or a creation of some formation at all.

This was a soul.

In fact, this was a Divine soul.

It had been a while since Alex had seen souls without a body. This was his first time seeing one with a Divine soul.

”Let’s go.”

They walked onto the platform as bright golden light sprung out from the edges, creating small circles. The Divine Soul guided them to step onto the platform upon those lights. Everyone stepped onto one of them, one after another, until the outer edge of the three-hundred-meter-wide platform was filled with about a thousand different cultivators.

Something bright appeared at the center of the platform, hovering a handspan above it. It was a golden chalice with gems encrusted on the outside. A great artifact, no doubt.

”Since you are all ready,” the Divinity started speaking, ”I shall relay the simple rules of this test.”

”From where you stand to the center of the platform where the chalice lies, there is exactly 150 meters of distance. You will receive one star for every ten meters you walk for the first 100 meters, two stars for every ten meters for the next thirty, and then four stars for every ten meters for the last twenty, for a chance to gain 24 stars in total. If you are the first to reach the center, you may also take the chalice with you.”

”You may start whenever you can. There is no rush.”

People rushed out of their spots immediately, heading toward the center of the platform. But the moment they walked more than twenty meters in, they were immediately hit with the reality of the situation.

The platform was not as simple as they might have thought it would be.

Alex took a casual step forward, already preparing for a suppression that would come down upon him. As for what sort of suppression it was, he was curious.

There were many ways to slow down a person’s speed moving forward. They could use the Dao of Stagnation to thicken the air around them. They could use the Dao of Gravity or the Dao of Heaviness to make movement harder for them. They could also use pure aura to make it impossible to move up to the center.

As Alex walked a few steps, he had no idea as to exactly what it was. Even when people seemed affected already, he hadn’t sensed anything at all.

”Urgh!” Ronron let out a faint groan as she moved onward to Alex’s right.

He turned around. ”What’s wrong?” he asked.

”What do you mean what’s wrong? Can’t you feel it?” Ronron asked.

Alex shook his head. ”I don’t know what is happening yet. I don’t sense anything in particular.”

Ronron stared at him as if she were looking at a monster. ”You don’t feel the prickling in your mind yet?” she asked. ”It’s trying to suppress our minds.”

Alex paused for a moment, taking the time to sense the thing around him. He raised an eyebrow before slowly nodding.

”I see. I do sense something of the sort. Huh. So this is a mental suppression test then.”

Ronron shook her head with a sigh. ”I’m assuming you aren’t affected by it yet then, huh?” she asked.

Alex shrugged. ”I’ve gone through much worse pain while cultivating, so I’ve come to be able to handle mental pain quite well,” he said. ”You guys should do well too though, especially since you’ve been cultivating with the technique I gave you.”

”We are,” Liz said from the side. ”That doesn’t mean it’s any easier. Although, your mother might be different from us.”

Helen turned around with a faint smile. ”I do feel something, but it’s not affecting me yet. I’m sure it will start in a short distance.”

Alex wanted to see how Battlesage was doing, but the old man had long since walked forward, fully intent on getting the chalice all by himself. He was somewhat affected by the suppression, but he continued on regardless.

Around twenty meters in, it became easier for Alex to notice that something was indeed trying to tickle his mind, but as of yet, it was barely anything at all. He looked around, and the same was true of everyone else as well, in a way.

They felt it much more strongly than him, but at twenty meters in, if they couldn’t handle it, they might as well quit right now.

Alex took his time, walking with his family. He was not in a hurry to get to the chalice since he didn’t even know what it did in the first place. It could be a great artifact surely, but to be given in a contest of Immortals, it was a Divine artifact at best, and Alex didn’t really need those just yet.

He couldn’t use any Divine artifact to begin with, and when he did reach the Divine realm to use such artifacts, he would likely have many more to choose from.

Still, he wouldn’t mind if he could get his hands on it. But for now, he stuck with his family, walking slowly beside them.

Everyone else took their steps carefully as well, walking one step at a time, as no one wanted to immediately feel a strong mental pain.

With some stagger to their speed, the thousand participants made their way to the center.