Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Alex slowly nodded. He understood this was going to happen, so he wasn't disappointed at all. In fact, he was relieved since the matter was now finalized.

The Alchemy God brought out a medallion and sent a message through it before putting it away. "They were waiting on this verdict before compiling the final ranking."

He rose from his seat and looked toward the stage. "I must return now. But before I do, I must congratulate you on your achievement here, young lady. With a Dao like Detoxification, you will go far. Not to mention, with the pill clouds, you will soon be a Prime Immortal too. These are quite the accomplishments for something you learned in only 50 years."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. It is only thanks to my master that I managed to accomplish any of this," Momo replied.

"I doubt all of it was him, but surely he had a big hand in it too," the Alchemy God said. "It won't really matter that you failed here today. There are things bigger than this tournament. People will know about you through your actions today, and those will help pave a great future for you soon. If you wish, I won't mind taking you under my wing either."

It took Momo a second to realize what the Alchemy God had just said. "You wish to make me a disciple, Your Majesty?" Momo asked.

Alex's eyes narrowed at that moment.

The Alchemy God noticed the change in Alex's expression and chuckled. "No, no. Nothing so serious as a disciple. Just an underling. I will help you by teaching and finding resources for you to learn from, and you will pay me back by working as an underling. Young Dawnblade here will still remain your master."

Alex's expression mellowed considerably upon hearing that. He didn't want Momo to become the Alchemy God's disciple, as she was already his. But if she were to learn under the Alchemy God, it would likely help her immensely—especially since he wouldn't be there for her after the tournament was over.

Momo hesitated to answer. She wasn't sure if she even could. Was there a choice here? Wouldn't the Alchemy God take offense at her rejection if she didn't want to work under him?

The Alchemy God smiled at that moment. "It seems I have put you in a profound quandary. If you ever do accept my offer, you can inform me then. If you do not accept my offer, simply don't inform me. The offer will remain open until either of us dies or I find a reason to rescind it."

Momo felt slight relief finally. "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will put great thought into this."

"Of course, take your time," the Alchemy God said. "Do let me know if you choose something else entirely, though. I can't be found trying to poach another God's underling."

"Another God?" Alex asked.

The Alchemy God simply smiled, not answering. "I must leave now. I will be making the announcement soon. Alchemist Dawnblade, please return to your hall right away. Young Moyang will be taken to the other hall where her peers are gathered at this very moment."

"I will, Your Majesty," Alex said and stood to leave. He turned toward Momo and nodded slightly. "I'll see you later."

Momo nodded, and the two of them returned to where their respective peers were gathered.

As Momo walked back, she saw a large ranking list floating in the sky for everyone to see. This was the ranking for the test she had just failed.

If only she hadn't screwed up so badly, she would've likely been first on that list. Alas...

Her eyes moved to the top of the list to see who had beaten her. When she saw who won, she was surprised.

"Who is th—"

Her mind raced through the past tests and rankings, and only now did she realize she had missed a threat in the rankings. In the hundreds of different ways she had thought this test would go, she had never even considered that this person could win the final test at all.

* * * * *

Alex returned to his hall.

The alchemists, who had been kept apart throughout the competition, were now back together, chatting loudly about various matters. Combined with the large showcase battle being displayed for everyone in the hall to watch, the noise was overwhelming.

It was difficult to discern what anyone was talking about in particular, but one could guess.

Alex sensed the group's unease, the nervous energy that hadn't been present before during any of the other competition. They were all terrified about the upcoming results.

As Alex made his way to his group, he noticed something unusual. There were more people in the hall now than just a few minutes ago. He spotted individuals who hadn't been there for the past two weeks sitting nervously.

Curious, he sat down with his group.

"How's your disciple? Is she alright?" Jai Heiyun asked, looking concerned.

"She's fine," Alex said. "A little sad, but no physical wounds."

"That's good," Leafheart said. "She must be devastated about the result."

Alex shrugged. "It sucks when you try your best and still fail," he said, glancing at the new arrivals. "Did people come in after I left?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes. They were apparently sent here because the results are going to come out right after the disciples' results," Jai Heiyun said.

Aethersage grinned. "We'll know which 100 passed in just a few moments."

Alex hadn't expected that. He didn't know the results for both the disciples' test and for those that would be moving to the final round of competition would be announced back to back. No wonder the rest of the people were brought before announcing this.

Not everyone had returned though. The number of people in the room was around 470, so a few dozen were still missing. From the look of it, however, they wouldn't be coming. Alex doubt it really mattered if they came or not.

The cheerful battle on stage abruptly ended as the Alchemy God flew into the air and began addressing the crowd.

"Thank you all for staying with us until now. The competition for the disciples of our participants has finally come to an end. Before I show you all the results, however, I must mention something that neither the disciples nor the audience was made aware of."

The Alchemy God's mention of the 80% rule was met with mixed reactions. Some in the crowd were excited, others disappointed, and the rest neutral.
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"With that in mind, here is the final ranking."

The names unfurled in the sky, with the very top displaying the winner of the overall competition.

Shi Qushen, disciple of Dusklily.

Alex frowned when the name appeared. "That's the kid who won today's competition," he thought. For a moment, he wondered if the ranking had mistakenly shown the single test's results instead of the entire competition.

Shi Qushen had won the competition with a 97% Saint pill, which was what the current ranking could have been.

However, from the names that followed, Alex was certain this was the real list.

Which meant this Shi Qushen fellow was, in fact, the winner of the entire competition.