Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Alex looked at the hand that grabbed the chalice, taking it away from his grasp before he could. He looked up and saw the person who had done it.

To his surprise, it was the woman from the Han family. She held a strange look on her face as she took the chalice away, her eyes looking directly at Alex.

Alex couldn’t begin to understand how she had just moved ahead so quickly. Wasn’t she further away just moments ago?

As soon as Alex crossed the 150-meter mark, the pressure vanished, and he stumbled out onto the center along with the young woman, who eyed him all over.

”What are you doing?” she asked him.

Alex was at a loss for words. He simply gestured at the chalice. ”I was trying to get that,” he said slowly, unsure how that wasn’t obvious enough.

”That’s not what I meant,” she said. ”I was asking why you—”

Her words were cut off as the Divine Soul appeared once again, bright laughter following him.

”Hahaha! Congratulations on getting your hands on the Dream-Seeking Chalice. May it serve you well,” the man said. ”And as for the rest of you, the fourth and final hour has now passed. All of you shall receive your rewards as per the progress you have made in this challenge. Well done.”

Twenty-four stars flashed before Alex, which he took away and placed into his Soul Space. He looked back at the woman again, but she had already walked away, meeting up with the Han family’s young man, who eyed Alex with clear anger on his face.

He had wanted that chalice, and because of Alex, it had all failed.

He turned with a snort and started walking away from the platform, the woman following closely behind him.

Alex could only watch in confusion as they quickly flew away, leaving the place for good.

Helen and the rest walked up to him.

”What happened, Father?” Ronron asked. ”Did you not get the chalice?”

Alex shook his head. ”That woman just got here before me.”

Ronron looked far away at the woman who disappeared past some mountain. ”The people from the Han family?” she asked.

Alex nodded. ”What did you say her name was again?”

”Han Yifei,” Ronron said.

”Han Yifei...” Alex spoke slowly. ”Something is strange about her. She was lagging behind the other two, and in the end, she somehow beat both of them at once.”

Liz shrugged. ”Maybe she used a technique at the end to get it. She must’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to get ahead and beat the two men.”

”Maybe,” Alex said, but he didn’t believe it at all. ”Is there anything more you can tell me about this Han Yifei?”

Ronron thought for a bit. ”I think the only other piece of relevant information I have on her is that she is supposed to be quite beautiful.”

”How beautiful are we talking?” Alex asked.

”I don’t know, but for her to have a reputation for being beautiful, she has to be better than average-looking, doesn’t she?” Ronron asked.

”Would you consider the woman earlier to be that pretty?” Alex asked her.

Ronron took a decent amount of time to think through her answer. ”Honestly, while I don’t think she is ugly or anything, I wouldn’t exactly call her notably beautiful.”

Alex felt the same way as well, and Ronron confirming it for him made him more certain of it.

”Is Han Yifei the only notable woman from the Han family?” Alex asked.

”Of the younger generation? Yes. All the other ones who’ve made names for themselves are in the Divine realm,” Ronron explained.

”Why are we even talking about her exactly?” Helen asked. ”Is it really that surprising that she won?”

Alex sighed and shook his head. ”I suppose not. I was just surprised that she chose to appear as though she was losing, that’s all,” he said. ”Anyway, we should be leaving now. Any idea where we are going next?”

”Not a red or yellow one, please,” Ronron said with a slightly annoyed look on her face. ”My head is killing me, and I am starting to run out of Qi as well. I think I need to cultivate soon.”

Liz liked that idea as well. ”It has been a while since we’ve had the chance to cultivate, so yeah. We should do that. Let’s go find a secure place and stay there for some time.”

Alex hadn’t really run out of Qi yet, but since everyone else had, he decided to follow their wishes.

”Senior, we’re going to go cultivate for some time now,” Alex told the old man, who was still standing some distance away, looking slightly disappointed in himself.

Battlesage turned toward them and nodded. ”Yeah, I may need to cultivate as well. I wonder if I could have done better had I been full of Qi and energy.”

Alex shrugged. ”Who could say, really?”

The man gave an understanding nod.

”How long do you guys think I should stick with you?” he asked.

Alex blinked in surprise. ”You’re planning on going at it alone?” he asked. ”We don’t mind having you with us at all.”

”No, no, that’s not it. I’m not worried about what you will think. I’m just worried I’m missing my chance to experience things all on my own. Being in a group is fine, but I also wanted to meet more people and make friends and enemies on my own. That sort of thing just doesn’t happen with a group, does it?”

Alex thought for a moment and nodded. ”I suppose you do want to be alone to do things to your heart’s desire. Especially when you don’t want to implicate others with your actions.”

”Yes, exactly,” the old man said. ”I want to do things without worrying that I might be troubling someone else.”

Alex tilted his head in thought. ”That’s not a bad idea, really. Hmm... how about you stay with us until the end of this month? Then, you can leave and do what you want for the rest of the year. We can meet again when the first year ends and decide whether you want to come back to the group or stay solo.”