Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Alex and the other alchemists watched the competition with great intent. Every time a disciple failed to reach 80% in the competition, they could hear some alchemist around them groaning in frustration or even falling into despair.

The first three groups had the worst results so far, with over 40 of the disciples in those groups failing to reach 80%. As a result, all of those disciples had been disqualified from the competition, and their points had retroactively all been voided.

Alex wondered if those disciples were being told what they had done. What sort of emotions would they be feeling? Knowing their efforts hadn't resulted in the best rewards for their masters was one thing, but learning that it outright hadn't helped them at all would be devastating.

Alex hoped those disciples wouldn't feel guilty about their failures. In a way, their failures were their masters' failures, so they should be the ones feeling those emotions.

Alex looked around again and wondered if he was judging the masters harshly too. From the looks of it, they were pretty devastated too.

Everyone wanted to win in a tournament set by the Alchemy God, something that would likely not be held for thousands and thousands of years to come. A victory here meant the alchemist was going to have their future set for them, their names known all over the world. The amount of benefits this would bring was unforeseeable.

A lot hung on this tournament, so it was understandable how these alchemists would feel what they were feeling.

The competition continued with more alchemists taking their tests. A few failed in making the pill entirely, but the rest did quite decently. It seemed reaching 80% wasn't as much of a trouble for these batches around the middle section.

Most of these alchemists were good enough to pass the hidden barrier in this competition. The top ranker finally changed in the 6th batch, going to someone who managed to create a pill with 91% harmony.

After that, the disciples sailed smoothly through the competition. There were still a few misses here and there, but for the majority, everyone did well.

By the 15th group's turn, everyone was consistently making pills above 80%, with over half of them landing above 85% harmony.

Nearly 280 disciples were tested by now, and of them, over 220 had passed. The ones who had failed were during the start of the test, and now everyone was doing quite well.

The first rank was also being slowly pushed higher and higher. It was now at 93% with the 15th group. There had been one individual who ended up making a pill with 94% harmony, but the pill he made had been a True pill, so its value was deducted by 5 to match all the Saint pills that were ranked up there, thus ranking much lower while showing a high harmony.

The tests continued for a while, and even as the ranks improved, Alex became certain that Momo was in the final group, along with the rest of the individuals that had done the best in the competition so far.

Jai Heiyun's disciple was in the 17th group, where he only managed to make a pill with 84% harmony. She was saddened to see he couldn't do any better.

Alex was fascinated by the atmosphere that had been created with these tests. A person who had only been training for 50 years and had no idea about alchemy beforehand had managed to make a Saint pill with 84% harmony, and the reaction it garnered was disappointment.

This matter would be a subject of incredulity if others were to find out. Superior alchemists were no simple things, after all. And some of the ones here were even Supreme Alchemists.

'How twisted our view has gotten due to this tournament,' Alex thought. He was beginning to fail to understand what was normal for alchemy and what was not.

The 18th and the 19th groups came up, taking their tests. Finally, someone managed to make a Saint pill with 94%, taking over the first spot.

And now, the final group was called out.

Alex and the others could only hold their breath and watch as Momo and the rest took to the stage.

* * * * * *

Momo could hear her heart once again as she walked onto the stage. Millions and millions of eyes were now staring at her, making her feel quite nervous at the moment.

She sat down on a spot designated for her and brought out her cauldron, Red Dawn. Placing her cauldron before her, she began taking deep breaths to calm herself.

She ignored the gazes upon her and focused her mind on the pill she was going to make. The best one she realized she could make was an antidote by the name of Sorrow Devouring Pill.

It was a simple pill meant to treat many types of poisons and toxins. It also somewhat healed the person and did not require too much effort to make.

Momo had made this pill enough times that she was certain she could make it again without any issue.

"You will have 15 minutes total to make the pill," the Alchemy God said to them all. "You will only have this one chance to make your pills, so you better do your best. Your ingredients will be handed to you in a moment, and we will be keeping a strict eye on all of you, so do not try to cheat. Prepare yourself—we will begin in 2 minutes."

A storage bag fell to Momo's lap a few moments later, and she quickly looked inside to check for any issues with the ingredients. Her master had told her about the time he had been handed a bad pill, so as a result, she checked every ingredient she received now to the best of her abilities.

The 11 ingredients required in the Sorrow Devouring Pill were all of the greatest quality they could be. Momo had heard about how much it cost to improve each ingredient, so seeing how each ingredient was of the best quality, she could only imagine how much it must have cost them to run this whole tournament.

She couldn't imagine the cost the Alchemy God had to suffer for this.

'Focus! You don't have much time,' Momo told herself as her thoughts began drifting away. Her drifting thoughts had been part of the reason why she had only ranked 7th last round. Had she not been so distracted, she would've perhaps been faster.

She took a deep breath in and out, suppressing more of her nervousness. She began feeling calmer as time went on, as if everything were just right. Her Dantian was full, she was full of energy, and her mind was as clear as it could ever be.

She was ready for this test. She welcomed it, in fact.

She finally opened her eyes, the millions of faces no longer bothering her. Her focus was entirely on the pill she had to make, after all.

"You may begin!" the Alchemy God's voice cut through every other sound, starting the competition.

Momo did not let that sudden shout trouble her. Panic wasn't going to help her.

While keeping her calm, Momo pulled out the first ingredient from its box and began placing it into the cauldron to make the one and only pill.