Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Alex and his group were teleported onto a hill that overlooked the massive Sandsworn plains. From there, they could see the newly built city with its millions of houses that filled the plain, along with an enormous stadium in the center where the competition was going to be held.

On the hill were some staff members who handled the task of testing the participants and sending them in.

After a while, they received a personal assistant for the time being who would stay with them and take care of their needs should they have any. Because of the importance of each participant, they were guarded closely by these assistants.

Alex made his way down the hill, walking toward the city. A well-paved road led all the way from the hill to the city, giving them a proper path to walk on.

“This is a nice city,” Silvermist said as they walked past a bunch of newly made houses. Each house was new and thus looked great overall.

There were stores set up around these houses already, making this new city feel more like a real city now.

“When was this all done?” Silvermist asked.

“About 2 years ago, senior,” their assistant, a Divinity, answered.

“And when did this start?” Silvermist asked again.

“Oh, that… that must have been a hundred years ago, if not more,” the man said. “We’ve been preparing for the upcoming competition for a long time.”

“And yet you only completed it 2 years ago?” Grimsight asked. “What could this city really need that it had to go on for nearly the entire century?”

The assistant smiled instead of getting angry. “If you think we wasted time, senior, then you are wrong. There is a reason there are no walls to this city, only houses.” He pointed around, making everyone turn to look.

“We kept on building houses as much as we could. We continued to push the boundaries of the city right up until the end. So the reason it all ended 2 years ago is because we decided that it was not worth our time and effort to continue any longer.”

“I see. That does make sense,” Silvermist said in the end.

They were finally led to their place of stay, which was a small courtyard all for themselves. They quickly made themselves at home. After finding their own rooms, they gathered back outside in the courtyard, where they rested for the time being.

Alex asked the assistant a few questions, mostly about the guests and the number of them.

“We have a few Gods who have arrived, but I cannot tell you much about them,” the assistant said. “Aside from them, we have about 36 million people in the city right now, all of whom have come to watch the tournament.”

“36 million?” Alex asked, surprised. “That’s quite a lot. Will they all fit in the stadium?”

“Do not worry, dear participant. The stadium can handle up to 50 million people, so we have plenty of room. We are still accepting more audience as well, so there should be more tomorrow.”

Alex was quite surprised by the number. “How large is the stadium physically?” he asked. “I want to see it with my own eyes.”

“You’ll find out in a few days on your own,” the assistant said.

Alex didn’t have anything else to ask about, but he did have some simple questions he wanted answered.

“You are our assistant, right? You don’t stop us from doing anything else,” Alex asked.

“That I am,” the assistant said. “I would heavily advise against breaking any rules, especially the one against harming other participants, as that would lead to instant disqualification.”

Alex chuckled a little. “I have no intention of harming anyone,” he said. “I just wanted to learn what you would do if I chose to go hang around the city.”

“Then I will follow you wherever you go,” the man said.

“And leave my disciple and master alone?” Alex asked.

“I am your assistant, so that means I follow you no matter where you go. I only help your master and disciple if they need my help,” he said.

“So if I stayed at home and everyone else left, you would still stay with me, correct?” Alex asked.

The man nodded.

Alex sighed in the end. It seemed he wouldn’t get a solo visit around the city without the man following him. Still, he wanted to go around even if that meant having someone follow him all the time.

“Master, do you wish to go on a walk?” Alex asked.

“No, go if you want. We will stay here,” Silvermist answered.

“Then I’ll take Pearl and Momo with me,” Alex said and walked out of the courtyard. Pearl and Momo quickly followed him, wanting to see more of the city as well. The assistant followed immediately, not slacking a single second.

The inner area of the city was much denser with buildings and way more crowded with people. Alex had rarely ever sensed so many Divinities in one place. The amount of Divine realm cultivators that passed by was enough to make him wonder if they were the majority in this place.

Looking around at the new stores, Alex realized that he wanted to buy something. Memory had grown the most it could without becoming a Spirit. According to Grimsight, it simply needed a ‘trigger’ or ‘spark’ for the spirit inside of it to turn into a Cauldron spirit.

For that, Alex had decided to feed it some more items.

“Do you know of any good shops where I can buy used artifacts with a lot of aura in them?” he asked.

“A shop with used artifacts?” the assistant asked, looking surprised to be asked that. “Let me see…”

Alex wanted to explain that it didn’t necessarily have to be a place with artifacts and that it could be formations and talismans as well. However, before he could say anything, he felt a sudden pull deep in his feelings.

Alex felt the world go silent for a bit, with the only thing real in there being him and the feeling. He turned around, searching for the cause.

He saw two women who had just walked past him. One of them was a black-haired woman, slightly tall. The other one he couldn’t see due to a veil covering her from the back.

Alex frowned, wondering what this feeling was. It was weird that he suddenly felt that. ‘Who was that?’ he wondered. ‘Should I…’

“There should be a shop past that bend.” The assistant’s answer cut through Alex’s thought, bringing him back to the present.

“Hm? Oh!” Alex asked, understanding what he had been told. “Let us go then.”

The group started walking, but Alex lagged behind for a few seconds, looking back at the two who were now much further away. After a moment, he too turned back around and followed the assistant to the store.

The two women walked briefly before the one that was fully veiled turned around. Her face was unreadable due to the thick veil that hung before her. The only thing that could be seen were a few strands of white hair that peeked out of the veil.

She looked in Alex’s direction for a few long seconds before turning back around and continuing along in her path