Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Alex walked into the hall meant for the participants and found Jai Heiyun sitting alongside a few other people, talking among themselves. Discover more stories at empire

"Oh, hey. You're already here." Alex walked up to her, and the others cleared up a space for him. He had established himself as one to look out for in the tournament, so people were wary and courteous to him now.

Jai Heiyun greeted back, smiling, and gave a small introduction of the friends she had made just then. Alex talked to them, waiting for more to come.

There wasn't much time before the tournament, so it didn't take long for the rest to arrive.

Leafheart arrived next and greeted everyone before going to sit in her own corner. Aethersage came in next, walking up to them to sit with them.

Many others came afterward, and then there were no more. The time for people to participate was over. Anyone who came afterward would be considered disqualified.

Divinities came to the room one by one and asked everyone to stay further apart from each other, none staying in groups anymore. Alex moved away, but he remained close to Jai Heiyun and Aethersage. To his surprise, Leafheart chose to come close as well, sitting at an acceptable distance.

Alex looked around the room for the time being, frowning.

"Not 500," Alex said softly.

"Not even 400," Aethersage replied, his voice barely reaching a few people around him.

"I count 378 only. Did more people miss the competition again? Perhaps they were attacked?" Jai Heiyun questioned.

"No, that's not it," Alex whispered, looking around. "Too many have failed for it to not be an issue for the tournament holders. It's more likely that they came but couldn't take part in the competition."

Leafheart turned to look at him from the side. "Are you guys thinking the other disciples died?" she asked. "That would be too many dead."

"Not dead, necessarily," Aethersage answered. "Qi Deviation. There are rules, after all. Or maybe the disciple broke an oath and was forced to leave the tournament."

"We can only speculate," Alex said, looking around. As he did, he noticed a lack of someone. "No Windborn."

Aethersage quickly turned around, frowning. "You're right," he said.

"But… why?" Jai Heiyun asked. "I thought he was okay."

"You saw him?" Alex asked.

"He greeted me when I arrived in the city. He looked fine. Whatever his problem was didn't seem to be affecting him at all," Jai Heiyun said. "He would be allowed entry here, wouldn't he? He has the pin."

"He does have the pin," Alex said, confused himself. "So why is he not here?"

"He doesn't need to use it now," Leafheart said, as if this were the most obvious answer. "He can directly use it for the final competition. This one is optional after all."

"I don't think that's how it works," Alex said. "The pin doesn't allow you entry into the next contest. It only qualifies you for it."

"Okay… is that not the same thing?" Leafheart asked.

"It would be if you were allowed entry to the final tournament by simply being qualified for it, but you're not. Not only do you need to qualify for entry, but you also need enough points to be in the top 100."

"That's right," Aethersage said. "He should have immediately used his pin upon failing and joined this test with his disciple. Without it, he'll have gained no points in 2 competitions in a row, and his record isn't good enough to freely enter the final competition."

No one knew how well Windborn had done in the first competition, but in the third one, he had done a mediocre job. He had done far better in the fourth one and ended up ranking first in the fifth one. That would have improved his points by a lot, but then he had now missed the sixth contest, and by the looks of it, he was going to miss the second —the Disciples' test— as well.

"Well, who's to say why he's not here," Jai Heiyun said in the end. "As you said, we can only speculate."

"And there is no point in speculating when you don't have any answers," a voice said suddenly, surprising everyone who recognized the voice.

The Alchemy God's arrival caught everyone off guard. He arrived like a silent ghost, making absolutely no noise whatsoever.

Everyone greeted the man when they recognized his presence and bowed. The Alchemy God smiled, waving his hands for everyone to be at ease.

"I have just come here after talking to your disciples," he announced to the crowd. "I have explained to them the competitions they will be taking part in and how they will be graded on it. As with you, we will rank them as well, and the one who wins the top rank there will win their master an Immunity pin."

The man pulled out the golden pin, showing it for everyone to see.

"Speaking of pins, let me award this one to the winner of our previous contest, Aethersage!"

Aethersage grinned happily as he accepted the award from the Alchemy God. He held the golden pin, staring at it for a good while before thanking the Alchemy God.

"Don't thank me, young man. You won it fairly," the Alchemy God said and sent Aethersage back to his seat.

"Now, I don't believe I will have to explain much to any of you since it is your disciples that will be taking part in the upcoming competitions. Yes, plural. We have a few ones prepared for them, ones that are a copy of what you all have already gone through."

"We will have an Ingredients Gathering test, a Speed test, an Endurance test, and an Ingredient Replacement test. We also have one final test where they will have to make the best pill they can."

Alex and the others heard the competitions their disciples would have to go through and were concerned. Would their disciples have to go through the same insanity they did?

Thankfully, the Alchemy God seemed to have other plans.

"The competitions themselves won't be as serious as what I had you all do. If you have ever taken part in a sect contest, or even an alchemy contest at the scope of a continent, you should know what sort of tests these will be."

"Our task here is not to check how good your disciple is, but rather if they are a capable alchemist or not. The ranking itself is just a bonus. Should they pass the tests without any hiccups, they should award you a decent amount of points."

Everyone seemed happy to hear the Alchemy God say that.

"This time around, there are no important rules for you except one. During the period of the contest, which should take about a week or so, you will not be allowed to contact anyone outside of this room. You will watch the competition from here so that you do not influence your disciples' choices."

"If you all understand, then I shall leave you to it," the Alchemy God said, preparing to leave. "This is the penultimate competition for the tournament, so I will wish everyone here the best of luck. I will see you all again very soon."