Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

"I barely passed this time around. I'm worried if I will even pass the next one," Jai Heiyun said in passing as they all walked back outside.

Alex remembered her ranking. She had made it in the 1400s, which, for her, was sadly not high enough. As a disciple of one of the stars, not achieving a good result was a shame.

Alex understood her frustration, but he couldn't see how else she was supposed to do better. Her understanding of ingredients wasn't good just yet, as she had been an Immortal for less than a century. That was too little time to learn so much about the Immortal ingredients— even less considering she was forced to learn so many other things during this time.

It was a similar situation with Lakelily's disciple, the one who went by the name Skylight. With his young age and cultivation base, he had barely made it past the last round, and this time around hadn't done so well either. He had passed, but with unacceptable results.

Leafheart, on the other hand, had done quite exceptionally. She had ranked 12th overall, which, considering the talented alchemists that were put as obstacles, was quite something.

"Just have your disciple do well, and you'll be fine," Alex told Jai Heiyun after a moment.

"Enough to be in the top 100, though?" Jai Heiyun asked.

Alex shrugged. "I wouldn't know, but you have to trust him now," he told her.

"I suppose." Jai Heiyun sounded unsure of herself, but she would have to put that aside and do the best she could.

"I will see you all in a decade," Aethersage said as he separated from the group. "May you all prosper until then."

Once Aethersage left, Alex separated from the group as well, walking away on his own. He walked straight back to his place where Silvermist and the rest waited for him.

"Brother!" Whisker called out as soon as he walked in and jumped onto his shoulders. Stay updated through empire

"Haha, you're quite excited, Whisker. Did something good happen?" Alex asked.

"You passed," Whisker said confidently. "That's reason enough, isn't it?"

Alex shrugged. "I don't know if I've passed just yet," he said. "I'll find out soon."

"You've passed, alright," Silvermist said from the side. "With the stunt you pulled, even if you failed to complete the competition, they would've had to find a way to include you in the final competition."

"By stunt, Master, do you mean the Pill Clouds or the replacements?" Alex asked.

"The Pill Clouds, of course," Silvermist said. "Although, I am curious about the replacements too. His Majesty himself visited you for some reason, and then the number changed. What did you do?"

Alex explained exactly what he did to his master.

"I see," Silvermist said in the end. "I can see why they didn't immediately pass you. That is a difficult thing to judge."

"Yeah," Alex said sheepishly. "I think I put the Alchemy God in a weird situation, forcing him to make such a decision."

"He wouldn't have made the decision if he didn't think it was right, so you don't have to think much about it," Silvermist said. "Still, that's quite the way to replace the ingredients. Hah! I bet no one else thought of that."

"Or dared to do it even if they did," Grimsight added from the side.

"Right, they didn't have the guts," Silvermist said happily. "I would've loved it if you were quick to complete it too, but that monster of a disciple of Wineweed beat you to it. How did that kid get it done so quickly? It's almost like he cheated."

Alex frowned. "Could he have cheated?" he asked.

Silvermist thought for a moment and shook his head. "Anyone who could have received any information about this competition would be under oath. There is not a single chance that anyone could leak it. Even I knew about this competition beforehand, and I couldn't tell you anything about it at all."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "You knew this was what this competition was going to be?" he asked.

"Not… precisely. I only knew this very competition was one of the great contenders for what could be a competition," Silvermist said. "And with two days remaining, it was this or that other one."

Alex grew curious about what the other one was and had nearly asked about it when he remembered that his master couldn't tell him anything. The man was still under oath, so he would have to find out about the competition on his own.

"Anyway, let us talk about the next competition," Silvermist said and turned to look at Momo, who sat to the side, seemingly in a daze. "Young lady, you will have to do your best now."

Momo sat straighter after being called and nodded quickly. "I will do my best, Grandmaster," she answered.

Silvermist smiled like a gentle grandfather. "That is all I ask of you anyway. You don't have to win; just do your best."

Momo nodded again.

"Don't be too nervous," Alex said as he found himself an empty place to sit. "I will be focusing most of my time on teaching you this time around. I have to make the best out of you."

Momo looked toward Alex curiously. "You won't be cultivating this time around, Master?" she asked. "Or going to that mountain with Senior Rosemist?"

Alex scratched his cheek and said, "I most likely will, but only for the later years. I will first make sure that I have nothing else to teach you at all before doing anything else."

Momo seemed to grow happier hearing that.

Pearl and Whisker soon talked about the sort of buzz Alex had created around the stadium with his continuous Pill Clouds. The crowd now knew his name by heart from the sounds of it. Hopefully, they would spread his image too.

It wouldn't be long before his family knew about who he was and what he was doing. His mother, at the very least, would want to see the faces of the Alchemists who did well in the great Alchemy Convergence and would soon see him.

The next decade was equally important too now in Alex's eyes, and he wanted to do the best he could as well. He needed to plan what he was going to do for the next decade, and he made four simple plans for four people.

For Whisker, he would make the pill to help improve his cultivation base.

For Momo, he would teach her everything she had left to learn.

For Pearl, he would help him choose his Creations, as he too would soon have multiple Origins.

For himself, he would cultivate the best he could and learn as much about Time Dao as he could.

With these four seemingly simple tasks, Alex would have done everything he had to within the decade and be ready for the upcoming competition.

After a while, Silvermist decided that it was time for them to leave. So, the group of them departed, making their way back home.

They would come back to this continent once more in a decade's time, and after that, it would all be over. Neither Alex nor any of the rest would have any other reason to visit this place at all.