Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

The Alchemy God arrived in the hall some time later.

The participants were still not over their results when he arrived. Those that passed were clearly happy, a complete opposite to the majority who failed.

"Can I have everyone be quiet for a moment, please?" the Alchemy God asked, his voice cutting through the many hushed conversations. A little shuffling later, the entire room was silent.

"I thank you all for participating in this tournament. I want to give my deepest congratulations to the ones who passed. To the ones that failed, I am sorry."

"I have some things to say to both groups, but first of all, Alchemist Dusklily, would you please come up to the front?" he asked.

The old woman stood up from her spot and walked over to the Alchemy God in her flowing white robes. She arrived before the man and bowed ever so slightly before giving an expectant look.

The Alchemy God pulled out a golden pin and handed it to her. "As the one who ranked first in the Disciples’ Test, I hereby award you this Immunity Pin. Since the upcoming competition is the final one, you can use it in that competition to gain an advantage against your peers."

The woman beamed upon hearing that. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"You may return."

"The 100 of you who passed, along with a few other Alchemists who managed to gain a good amount of points in the Replacement tests, will be taking part in the final competition."

"Before the competition, we are holding interviews to get to know the 100 of you on a deeper level. For the next two weeks, you will be called to the stadium to talk about your life and your experiences. Please make yourself available. This matter cannot be refused."

The 100 alchemists who had made it to the final competition were surprised to hear that they would have to give an interview. One would’ve expected something like this to take place after the tournament was over, with the smaller group of winners. But considering how talented these final 100 participants were, it was understandable that the Alchemy God would want to let them share their views with the world.

Alex thought for a moment to see if he liked the idea or not. His first instinct told him that this interview was likely going to be seen by many, which was why he shouldn’t be doing this. But he needed the fame—no, he wanted the fame.

So, he would be up for this interview despite his inner concerns.

"We will let you know when your interview will be held very early on, so prepare for it. It will be a good way to get the audience on your side. By the time the competition comes around, we will have done a popularity contest by then. Some winners of the popularity contest will also receive certain advantages in the competition, so try and do your best."

If the interview itself wasn’t enticing enough for the people to want to do it, this simple statement certainly caught everyone’s attention. People began wondering what these advantages were.

The Alchemy God waited a moment for everyone to get out their thoughts and spoke again. "Before I let you 100 go, I have one more thing I need to take care of. Would you all step forward?" he said.

The 100 who passed looked confused but did as they were asked. Alex and the rest stepped forward, getting closer to the Alchemy God.

The Alchemy God looked through them all and smiled. "This is a matter regarding your final test. We have yet to decide how it will be held, so we figured the better idea would be to let you all decide."

"There are two ways the final competition can be held. It can be a competition where anyone can do what they want, and the one who does it the best is the winner. This is how many of your previous competitions were held."

"Or, we could do it in the form of a regular tournament, where you will be facing one opponent each time, with eliminations as you rise through the ranks to reach the top."

"Please think for a moment about what you wish the next tournament to be. After you have decided, I will take a vote."

The Alchemy God let the alchemists talk among themselves, trying to see which one they preferred. The alchemists weren’t certain themselves and had to talk through the advantages and disadvantages of either method of competition.

It was difficult to think of what the method should be when they had no idea what the competition was. When they tried to get some hints from the Alchemy God, the man simply smiled, saying nothing.

He did explain a bit more to help them understand the method of the competition.

From what Alex understood, they would either be competing all at once to see who did their best or competing against one person at a time, randomly chosen for them from the many brackets that would be set up. He thought for a long moment on which was more preferable and decided that he wanted the tournament battles to get more… personal.

A one-on-one competition was something that had been missing from the tournament all this time, so he believed it would be a great addition.

He didn’t share his thoughts with the group, but it seemed he didn’t have to. People argued for it on their own, and by the end, that group was the majority.

"If you are done conversing, can we take the vote?" the Alchemy God asked. "All in favor of an all-out competition, raise your hands."

About two dozen hands raised in favor of this.

"And all in favor of a bracket-style competition, raise your hands."

The sound of nearly 80 hands being raised, like a hundred bird flying away at once, was enough to show that these people were the majority.

"Since the majority rules, the next competition will be held in brackets," the Alchemy God announced.

Excitement ran through the passed participants as they couldn’t wait for both the interview and the final competition.

"Once again, I congratulate you all on your achievements today," the Alchemy God continued. "I have nothing more to say to you, except good luck in the upcoming days. See you all then. You are dismissed."

Alex and the rest of the 100 participants who passed turned to leave. Alex looked back at Jai Heiyun, who sat to the side, somewhat dejected, but she put on a smile when she saw him leave.

She gave a small nod, so Alex returned one to her as well.

He then turned toward the Alchemy God, who watched them all leave. Once again, he wondered what he talked about to these participants who had failed. Some said he offered them work and training. He wondered if that was true at all.

If it was, would Jai Heiyun take it?

Once Alex walked out of the hall, he could not see or sense anything behind, so all he could do regarding those thoughts for now was to forget them.

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