Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Through several cheers and screams, Graham walked up the steps toward where Alex and the others were waiting for him. He didn’t hold any sort of sadness in his expression, perhaps just a hint of disappointment, but nothing more. Instead, what he felt more than anything was a feeling of incredulity toward his opponent.

”I thought I had it,” he said. ”But she’s just so much more talented.”

”Yeah, we saw,” the man in the golden robe said. ”You still did well. I mean, we could see you were the stronger one of the two of you. You simply need to train some more.”

”Yes,” Graham said, sighing lightly.

”You have enough time to get stronger. If I remember correctly, you said you were still young, right?” one of the others asked. ”How old are you again?”

Graham hesitated somewhat. ”I—”

Before he could answer, the people around him grew silent, looking behind him. When he turned, he found Halfspear standing there.

”Oh, it’s you,” Graham said. ”Congratulations on your victory. You fought well.”

Halfspear shrugged, showing not much excitement despite the victory. She simply walked past the group, heading toward the door. Before she got too far away, however, she stopped.

Slowly, she turned back toward Alex, staring at him with a narrowed look.

”Is there a reason why you’re staring at me like that?” she asked.

”I’m merely curious why you would come here, senior,” Alex answered.

The woman raised her eyebrows. ”You recognize me?”

”I saw the necklace,” Alex answered.

The woman let out a slight chuckle. ”Well, I suppose that makes sense,” she said, fully turning around. ”You know, I could say the same of you. I’m curious why you are here.”

Alex gestured toward Graham. ”This is my father. I was here to spend some time with him.”

The woman showed the slightest hint of surprise, staring at Graham before looking back at him. ”Was I mistaken about your origin being from a lower realm?” she asked.

”No, we are from a lower realm,” Alex answered. ”Both my father and I.”

That seemed to surprise the woman even more. ”In that case, I’m curious how someone from a lower realm managed to get himself this strong physically,” she said, turning toward Alex. ”Also, shouldn’t you be preparing for the duel? Surely you aren’t so carefree as to join tournaments.”

Alex shrugged. ”I didn’t see any reason not to enjoy my time.”

The woman laughed out loud. ”You are either mad enough not to care, or smart enough to realize you have no chance. Either way, it’s not a bad idea to use your time wisely.”

Alex held a small smile but said nothing.

”I’ll be leaving now. And don’t bother hiding my identity. I won’t be coming back here again,” she said, turning back around. ”After the meeting, I doubt I’m going to have any free time for a long time.”

She left.

The people who were still standing looked at Alex with strange expressions.

”Brother, who was that?” Long Huan asked.

”Have you met her before?” another one asked.

”Who is she?”

Alex sighed slightly, realizing he could not escape those questions.

”That is the Staff God, Kingpillar,” Alex answered.

The words shocked more than just the people he told them to. The surrounding people who had happened to hear reacted just the same as well.

”That was the Staff God?” the man in gold asked.

”Wait, Ironbrawn fought a God just now?”

The surprise was understandable. Who wouldn’t react that way upon finding out someone they thought was just another random cultivator was one of the 33 Gods of the human world?

31 now.

”She was the Staff God?” Graham asked Alex, who nodded in return.

”When did you find out, son?”

”The semifinals,” Alex said. ”I met her back in the Red Heaven Realm, and she was wearing the same illusion artifact as she did today.”

”What was the Staff God doing in the Red Heaven Realm?” the man in gold asked. ”Only Immortals get to go there.”

”Oh, she was a Sentinel for one of her family members who was targeted by the members of the Silent Night Hall,” Alex answered.

”Sentinel? What’s that?”

Alex paused for a moment, confused about why they wouldn’t know that. But when he thought about it, it made sense that these people wouldn’t know. After all, only a select few sects and families were allowed to have Sentinels in the first place.

”It’s like a guard you get to take in,” Alex said. ”It requires very specific reasons.”

”Oh. And you met her there?”

Alex nodded.

”But your conversation felt like much more than that,” the man said as his eyes narrowed. ”Is there something you’re not telling us?”

”A lot,” Alex said frankly before shrugging. ”Can’t go around revealing every secret now, can I?”

The man paused before laughing a bit. He turned toward Graham. ”Well, don’t you feel better now? You lost to a God. There’s no point in wallowing in any sadness or disappointment.”

Graham nodded as well.

”Shall we leave, then?” he asked.

The others agreed, and slowly they began leaving the arena. Some chose to leave for the other arenas to watch the rest of the battles, but Alex, Graham, and Long Huan saw no reason to stay any longer, so the three walked out.

As they left, Graham leaned toward Alex.

”During the fight, at the last moment, I had caught her in my grip,” he said. ”I’m certain I did. And yet, somehow, she managed to pull her arm free from my grip. Do you know how she did that?”

Alex looked surprised. ”She did? I didn’t see anything at all.”

”Yeah, and the formations caught nothing, so she definitely didn’t use any Qi, but I’m certain she did something to escape from my grip. I’m wondering what.”

Alex didn’t see any reason to doubt his father’s words, but there was a chance he was mistaken. Because if he wasn’t, it could only mean one thing.

The Staff God had cheated her way to victory.