Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Alex still had a million different thoughts swarming inside his mind as he made his way out of the stadium. So many questions that he wanted answers to, and none he would receive any time soon.

The noise from outside the stadium took him out of his thoughts as he walked out. Many people made their way in and out of the stadium, some simply walking by.

Alex looked around, trying to see where Windborn was but couldn’t find him. The Divinity in charge of following him, however, arrived there right as he got out.

Alex turned to the man. “Were you waiting outside this whole time, senior?”

“No, we have our own rooms to stay in while you are inside the stadium,” the man said. “I just leave when you are done with your task.”

“Ah! Then you got to see my interview. How did I do?” Alex asked with a light laugh.

“It was good. Despite not really being an interview, everything I saw was great,” the man said. “Well, almost everything. I couldn’t hear some of the things toward the end when things appeared to get serious for a second. All I saw was that some book was burned and then everything else was a haze.”

“Oh! So no one saw what happened afterward?” Alex asked curiously.

The man shook his head.

Alex realized that no one else but just the two gods and maybe a few other gods had realized that he had been given the artifact. If people knew he had it, it might have created a dangerous scenario in the future for him. He was quite thankful to the War God for that.

“So, are we going anywhere? Should we wait for your master and the rest first?” the man asked.

“They won’t be coming with me. I have somewhere else to be,” Alex said, looking around.

“Be where?” the man asked.

“I don’t know. Someone else is supposed to show me the way, but they aren’t here yet.”

The man looked around. “So we wait.”

“We wait.”

Alex stood around as people passed by him, staring at him from time to time. A few came forward to greet him, but perhaps because of the Divinity next to him, no one actually stayed for too long.

“Whoever they are, they are taking quite some time,” the man said.

Alex couldn’t help but agree. He worried that Windborn wasn’t going to come get him. What was he doing?

“Have you been around warriors a lot? Have much experience strategizing about wars?” the man asked.

“Not really. Why do you ask?”

“You did so well against the War God, it just seemed so obvious that you were used to it,” the man said.

Alex shook his head. “I have been in war, but never really focused on deciding how the men should fight,” he said.

“Then you do have the talent for it.”

Alex smiled. He thought back to the game he played and the conversations he had with the War God. The questions he had only just managed to suppress in his mind began resurfacing one after another.

“Senior, do you know anything about the Hell Emperor?” Alex asked.

The man turned toward Alex with a raised eyebrow. “Of course. He is a great historical figure. Anyone who has lived long enough would know about him,” he said.

Alex was surprised. “I must not have heard of him because of how young I am. Can you tell me more about him?” he asked.

The man thought for a moment and shook his head. “He died long before my time, so everything I know is hearsay. He’s a mythical figure who helped take over a lot of the different worlds during the war. Without the steps he took, our victory may not have been so overwhelming. We may not even be victors at all.”

Alex waited for more, but the man shrugged. “I don’t have much else to tell you. The records of the man outside of his disciples are not as extensive as one would hope, and I certainly haven’t read any of them. I don’t even know how he died.”

“Oh? Is his death a mystery?” Alex asked.

“I don’t believe so. I’m just not privy to it,” the man said.

“How long ago was he alive?”

“It was around the same time our monarch came to rise, so 300,000 years ago,” the man said. “Before that, I do not know. I only know that he was a man with no background. His rise to fame was his skills and the sole fact that he is the only one in all of recorded history to have ever escaped from Hell. He is said to have conquered Hell itself before leaving it, hence his name.”

Alex paused for a long moment, stunned by the new information. “Hell?” he asked. “It… exists?”

“Why wouldn’t it?” the man asked with a light chuckle.

“I always thought it was one of those things that don’t exist, but people talk about it still. Like the stars,” Alex said.

“Hell does exist,” the man said.

“What is it like? How does one go to it?” Alex asked.

“I wouldn’t know. We don’t have much information about Hell except for the fact that it is hellish, whatever that means. As for how to go there, I couldn’t tell you.”

Alex had more questions, but just then, someone called out to him. He turned around and saw Windborn in the distance, making his way to him.

“Brother Windborn! There you are,” Alex quickly said. “For a second, I feared you were going to forget about me.”

Windborn gave a sheepish smile. “My apologies. I got distracted for a moment and couldn’t leave the stadium in time. Did I make you wait for too long?” he asked.

“No, no,” Alex said. “It’s only been a few minutes.”

“I see. My apologies for making you wait. If you are ready, we can leave,” Windborn said.

“Where are we going?” the Divinity asked.

“To my place, senior,” Windborn said. “Has brother Dawnblade not told you what this is about?”

“It’s about the pin,” Alex explained. “He is the one with one of the unused immunity pins, so I’m going there to get vetted on whether I deserve the pin or not.”

“I see. But since it’s not an official event, I will have to sit with you throughout this entire thing. You do understand that, right? Anything you two talk about, I will be privy to it.”

Alex thought for a moment and nodded. “I don’t mind that. Do you, brother Windborn?” he asked.

“I’ve been through this a dozen different times already,” Windborn said. “It’s alright. The divinities protecting the other finalists have also been present in the other sessions, so I’m used to it.”

“Ah! That’s great then. Let us leave.”

Windborn nodded and turned. “My courtyard is a few minutes away from here. Please follow me.” He walked on ahead, leaving Alex and the Divinity to follow behind.

Alex followed, wondering the entire time how this next hour was going to go. This small talk would be all he would get to persuade Windborn into giving him the immunity pin.