Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Graham and Long Huan had found a few friends during the many years they had taken part in the tournament. Some of them were Immortals, some Divinities. Alex greeted the group.

”So this is your son, huh?” one of them in a golden robe asked. ”The way you kept saying that he was too busy to come over, I thought you were lying.”

A few others laughed.

”He was genuinely busy,” Graham said. ”He’s still busy, but he made time for his father.”

”Not bad. Are you like your father too? A Body Cultivator?” another person asked.

”I—”

”Obviously not. He’s got a better cultivation base than his father,” a third person added. ”You must’ve participated in the normal tournament.”

”I didn’t,” Alex said, shaking his head. ”I participated in the weapons tournament.”

”Weapons?” The men grew curious.

”My son is a swordsman,” Graham said. ”He’s quite a strong one too. Though I’m guessing there are going to be very strong weapon users this time around with the Gods and their people coming over.”

”Swordsman, huh?” the man in the golden robe said. ”I’m a swordsman myself. I could look after you, but we will likely end up in different groups.”

Alex gave a faint smile and a nod. He stayed out of the conversation for the most part, simply listening to the people around him talk. Apparently, despite his father’s weak cultivation base, the people there knew about his physical strength and were more than excited to see how much he had grown since becoming an Immortal.

”I’m hoping you got stronger, Ironbrawn,” one of them said. ”You lost in the finals last time, but this time, you have to win.”

Graham smiled.

”Uncle will try, I’m sure, but there’s no guarantee that he can win. There were people absent the last time around, and I’m guessing they will show up this time,” Long Huan said.

”Well, yeah. That is an issue.”

The group chatted for some time before an announcement was made, claiming that the registrations had ended and the groups would be decided soon.

”Finally,” Graham said and turned toward the board in the distance where the groups would be displayed.

Not long after the announcement came, the board came alive with various numbers and groups, going from 1 to 50.

Alex looked for the number given to him during registration and found it under 38.

”Oh, number 6. I thought I would be higher, but it makes sense that there would be many stronger cultivators this time around,” Long Huan said.

”I’m 38,” Alex said. ”Does the number itself hold much meaning?”

”38?” Long Huan raised an eyebrow. ”That’s quite high. Groups 31 through 40 are for weapon fighters, so considering you’re in 38, that means there are 2 more groups with people who are categorically stronger than you. At the same time, there are 7 other groups that are weaker than you.”

”I see,” Alex said, slowly nodding.

”You’re 38 too?” the man in the golden robe asked with no small amount of surprise. ”How?”

Alex turned toward the man. ”Are you in the same group as me, senior?”

”Yes. How did you get there?”

Alex shrugged. ”Our weapon strengths must be similar.”

Graham turned. ”I told you my son is strong. You all just didn’t bother believing me.”

”What group are you in, Father?” Alex asked.

”50,” Graham answered.

Alex paused. ”50?”

”41 to 50 are for Body Cultivators,” Long Huan explained. ”Looks like there aren’t that many people who joined it. And among those who did, your father is there.”

”Does that mean he’s among the strongest Body Cultivators in the entire tournament?” Alex asked. He had truly not expected such a result.

”Not necessarily,” Long Huan added. ”It could be that there weren’t enough strong Body Cultivators to place into a similar group, so everyone above a certain threshold was placed there. It’s not easy to have body cultivation, after all.”

Alex nodded. The person at registration had said about as much too. The groupings weren’t always fair. He wondered what the situation was like with his father, but it was possible he wasn’t going to get any answers at all until the battles took place.

The battles were spread across 12 arenas, each one assigned a different group.

For now, none of Alex’s group or his father’s friends needed to participate, so they could relax and watch the tournament. They could go out to the arenas themselves and watch, which many chose to do, or remain in the hall and view all 12 battles at once through a series of projections placed around the hall.

Graham and his friends seemed to have wordlessly decided that this was what they were going to do, so Alex did the same as well. They brought out seats and sat around, watching the matches.

The matches went by quickly. Some ended in a few exchanges, while others went on for a few minutes. But none of the early matches lasted for more than 5 minutes. With 12 different arenas active, most of it was going to end soon.

Alex saw how the arenas were separated.

4 of the 12 arenas were set for regular battles, as that was what most of the fighters had participated in. 3 other arenas were set for Qi battles, which had the second-highest number of participants. Dao and Weapons had about equal numbers, lower than the previous two, so they were given 2 arenas each. Meanwhile, with how few body cultivation participants there were, a single arena was assigned to them.

They went through the lower groups for each one first, so Alex and the rest understood that they would have to wait around for a while.

Days passed, and the various group battles eventually came to an end, moving on to the higher groups.

Long Huan looked at the projection for some time before letting out a small sigh. ”I should get prepared now. It’s my turn soon.”

Alex and the rest looked toward him and gave him firm nods.

”Good luck.”