Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Helen walked out of the barrier with a happy look on her face, having received 500 stars as a reward for surprising the Divinity to the degree she did.

Meanwhile, the Divinity was left behind, trying to piece together his face full of shock, unable to hide it at all. The crystal continued to glow violet even after Helen had long since left, only going down to indigo after some time.

Battlesage was next, so he walked over to the barrier, waiting to enter, but the barrier didn’t open.

The old man scratched his head, waiting for the Divinity to turn to him so he could gesture for the barrier to open up.

The Divinity finally reacted after a while, once the color had faded to a deeper blue, still not fully going down. The man stood up, took off the headgear he wore, and flew out of the barrier.

”I am incapable of judging the next few participants,” the man told them. ”Wait around, and someone shall come over in a few minutes to take over the test in my stead. Good luck.”

The man looked toward Helen one last time before flying away.

”What was that about?” Liz asked, raising an eyebrow. ”What did you tell him?”

”About my talent score,” Helen said. ”He seemed to be aware of what it was, so it was easy when he realized what my score represented.”

”Well, that’s a bomb and a half to drop on someone,” Ronron said from the side. ”I might have to do something similar too. I’m lower than you, but hopefully the next one coming won’t know.”

Alex looked toward Battlesage, who wasn’t sure if he should stay by the barrier or come back to the group. The old man ended up sticking outside the place for a few minutes before a woman flew in.

The woman was a Divinity too, with bright red hair showing hints of gray in between. As she arrived, her eyes landed on Alex and remained there for quite some time.

Alex frowned slightly. ”She knows who I am.”

”I’m pretty sure I’ve seen her before too,” Ronron said from the side. ”She’s one of the Storm God’s people.”

”I see...”

Depending on how much the Storm God’s people had been told about him, surprising her would be slightly difficult without revealing things he did not wish to. It would be better to just give up instead of telling them things.

”Storm God’s people, huh?” Helen asked. ”The last one was from the Stone God’s cult. Is that weird?”

Alex and Liz turned toward Ronron.

”Not really,” Ronron said. ”During some of the Red Heaven Realm openings, the Sky God’s cult needs more people than usual, such as this one. During those years, you cannot exactly employ someone from the Sky God’s realm, as those people may be biased toward the participants. So we contact the other nearby realms and ask for their people.”

”If that is what is done, then at the moment, we could have people from the Sacred Lotus Realm, the Spring Water World, the Divine Thunderforge Realm, and the Spirit Blossom Realm,” Ronron answered.

”The Beast God and the Wine God are in the Sacred Lotus Dominion, and the Storm God is in the Divine Thunderforge Realm. What gods inhabit the other realms?” Alex asked her.

”Let’s see... the Spring Water World has the Saber God and Puppet God’s cults. The Divine Thunderforge Realm has the Poison God’s cult as well, and the Spirit Blossom Realm has the Forest God and Defense God’s cults,” Ronron answered. ”Beyond that, we sometimes ask the other gods too, but these are the main ones that we end up requesting from.”

”Well, considering the Stone God’s people are here, the request has gone past just those four realms,” Helen said. ”She is from the Divine Sanctuary Realm, isn’t she?”

Ronron nodded. ”Alongside the Weapons God and Movement God,” she answered.

”Alright, let’s forget about that for now,” Alex said, gesturing ahead with his chin. ”It’s senior’s turn.”

Inside the barrier, the old man sat on the chair, holding onto the rod he was handed. The woman reached for the hourglass to the side. ”You have two minutes to tell me something about yourself or do something that will surprise me. Your time starts now.”

She flipped the hourglass.

”Okay,” the old man said, sitting up straighter, having already planned everything he was going to say.

”I am over 800 thousand years old,” he said first of all.

The woman held a faint smile on her face that didn’t immediately falter. She blinked for a moment, the words taking a few seconds to register.

”What did you say?”

”I’m 800 thousand years old,” the old man repeated.

The woman narrowed her eyes for a moment, taking in the meaning of the words. To her side, the colors had begun changing, reaching somewhere between green and blue.

”Do you mean to say you’ve lived for 800 thousand years in total by being in locations where time moves at a different rate?” she asked.

The old man tilted his head in thought. ”I don’t think so. Hell didn’t have that sort of place since it is so lacking in Qi.”

The woman blinked. ”In where?”

”Hell,” the old man said. ”That was the second thing I was going to say. I am a resident of Hell. Or as you might also know it, the Immortal Prison Realm.”

The woman looked at the man, down at the rod, and then back at the man. The color on the crystal reached a deep blue.

”Is that not working?” she asked. ”Give me that.”

She snatched the rod before Battlesage could even hand it to her, making sure it worked. Once she confirmed it, she handed it back to the old man.

”You’re saying you’re 800 thousand years old and come from Hell?” she asked again.

”That is correct,” the old man said with a bright smile.

”And the 800 thousand years involve no time shenanigans? You didn’t spend all that time in a dream or some place where time moves at a different rate?” she asked. She had to confirm as much.

The old man gave a shrug. ”If I have spent my time in any such places, that does not change the fact that I am indeed 800 thousand years old. Irrespective of my own time, in real time, I was born over 800 thousand years ago, long before many of the gods themselves were born.”

The crystal had already crossed blue at this point, entering indigo. The woman had just come to replace the man before her, and she was already surprised to a point where she might need to be replaced now.

”Even if I believe that you are as old as you say you are, surely you didn’t leave Hell,” she said.

”I did,” the old man said. ”I have no reason to lie about that, do I?”

”But... how is that possible?” she asked. ”There has been only one recorded instance of someone leaving Hell. And that was the Hell Emperor.”

The old man’s face lit up with a bright grin.

”Speaking of the Hell Emperor...”