Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

The Beast God had a slight curiosity that she wanted answered. “Your Majesty, I wonder if you could clear up a doubt of mine.”

The Alchemy God had just finished explaining another pill when he turned to look toward the woman. “Yes, how can I help you, Beast God?”

“I was wondering about something. You see, at first, I thought this was a great idea for a competition, to have Alchemists create not just pills but also the recipe as well. However, the more time passes, the more I realize that the competition is not that difficult at all.”

“The recipe creation aspect of it just feels like a gimmick at this point, with the main focus being back on who makes the better pill in the end,” the Beast God said.

A few other gods nodded along when they heard her. To them, it sounded just right. These alchemists showed no issue with making recipes and always lost because of the pill they made instead.

The Alchemy God smiled. “It’s not that simple, Beast God. Things are a lot different than what they seem.”

“Would you care to elaborate?”

The Alchemy God nodded. “I know what it looks like. These alchemists, they are making new pills without any delay, and so the competition ends up being about who makes the better pill. However, that is true only for the good ones.”

“You have seen a few fail to create pills in time. Even when they do, they cannot refine them in time. The reason why it looks as though the recipe creation aspect of the competition is easy is because you are only looking at the victors here.”

The Puppet God raised an eyebrow to the side. “You are saying we are biased because of the success we see and not the failure.”

“Exactly,” the Alchemy God said. “Before this, I had wanted to set the competition an entirely different way. Instead of having them go up against each other, I would’ve had them all try to do their best, making it a marathon in a way.”

“If that sort of competition was set to take place, you would see just how many would’ve failed by now, unable to create a recipe in time.”

The Beast God noted the information with a look of understanding. “But does that not mean what I say is still true? Because these ones are good, they will still make the recipe, so the only trouble they will have will be when they make the pill.”

“Not necessarily,” the Alchemy God said. “We may yet see people fail to make the recipe. If these alchemists have sat around and tried to make many new recipes before, they might be ready for it. But if they have not, they will be in some trouble.”

The War God leaned forward with curiosity. “Ready for what?” he asked.

“There is an ancient name for it. They call it creation fatigue. Everyone has it. I’m sure my fellow production gods can understand.”

The Artifact God sighed and nodded. The Puppet God shrugged and nodded too.

“My master called it Heaven’s Obstruction,” the Formation God said. “Although, Heaven is not really involved in this.”

The Alchemy God looked at the other gods and the many curious looks that came from the ones that sat in that room.

“Basically, a person cannot create new things one after another. The more he creates, the more he uses up his creativity. It becomes harder to make new things as time goes on.”

“It’s a natural thing?” the Weapons God asked.

“Very natural. The more one creates something, the more limits they feel upon themselves to create something new that is not similar to before.”

“The more one creates, the more they let go of their creativity and are fatigued by it. The harder it becomes to create something new right away.”

“Then what’s the solution?” the Beast God asked.

“The solution is that there is no solution,” the Alchemy God said. “You either force through it and do what you can, or you just move away from it. You cannot cure creation fatigue.”

“Is that the only solution?” the Beast God asked. “I do not believe you want these alchemists to move away from their station, do you?”

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“No, that is because I want them to fight through while at the cusp of creation fatigue,” the Alchemy God said. “I have gone through this myself, so I have set up just the right amount of recipes required for the best ones to not fail to creation fatigue.”

“They might, but I don’t believe they will.”

The Artifact God turned to him. “Did you consider their cultivation base when you came up with this idea?” he asked.

“Their cultivation base?” the Alchemy God asked. “No, why?”

“I hope you knew that creation fatigue is linked to the strength of one’s spiritual energy,” the woman said. “Meaning, the ones with the stronger cultivation base are at an advantage.”

The Alchemy God shook his head. “I did not consider it, but I don’t believe I have to. What you say is only one of the factors. There are a hundred different other factors too that it is linked to. I cannot consider them all. All I can do is trust in these alchemists of mine. We just have to keep watching.”

The Beast God turned toward the stage. “Well, I hope you are right, Alchemy God. I don’t want to imagine that the ending to your grand tournament will be decided by who failed to come up with a recipe first.”

The Alchemy God frowned a little, but he didn’t let it show.

“We will just have to wait and see then.”

* * * * *

Alex had never found a recipe for a pill that required it to be made two ingredients at a time, and here he was making the damn recipe himself.

The preparation of the recipe itself was twice as difficult as the other recipes. Because he needed to refine two ingredients at the same time, it had to happen at a similar temperature. And for that reason alone, the shapes of their powder were linked to the temperature they were made in.

Alex could make the pill by refining them in two separate spaces, but that was just him. No other alchemists could do that, and as a result, it wouldn’t be considered a proper recipe.

He had to make the recipe one that everyone could make.

Since the temperature had to remain constant, every time he needed to make a small change to one ingredient, he had to change the other one as well, which started a domino effect, needing every other ingredient to change.

Alex spent quite a lot of time doing just that, until finally, hours later, he stumbled upon the correct refinement methods. It all fit perfectly, with no changes needed.

He had perfected the recipe.

Alex sighed in relief after completing it and took a small break. Just this task alone had taken him nearly half a day. Now, there was just over a day remaining for the round to be over.

Alex took a small break to rest his mind, and then, he began making the pill.