Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

"And here are your winners."

"On the third place, with 187 points, is Xue Meirong from the Falling Lotus sect," the host announced and the people cheered.

"On the second place, with 189 points, is Zhou Ren from the Zhou Family," the host announced again and the people cheered once more.

"Finally, in what can only be called an unexpected event, with 194 points, is Yu Ming. Give him a standing ovation everybody," the host shouted and everyone stood up to clap, including the staff and other contestants.

Alex took the medal he was given and thanked everyone. After that, the event ended.

"Alright, we will see you guys tomorrow at noon, great job today," the host said and left.

"Congratulations, brother Yu. That was amazing. How did you even make a 92% pill?" Zhanrou came to ask.

"Well, I've been making this pill for over 4 years now with my refined recipe, so I kind of know exactly what to do with it. Plus, the guild provided really good ingredients," Alex said.

"Is that so? I should learn from you more," Zhanrou said.

Zhou Ren walked over to him with a dark face. "You have bested me. Congratulations," he said.

"Thank you, brother Ren. You were quite close yourself," Alex said. Zhou Ren felt a sense of shame when he was told they were close.

"Congrats," Xue Meirong said just that one word and left.

The other contestants came and congratulated him. After they left the stage, even more people came to congratulate him.

It was so crowded around him that his own mother didn't get to congratulate him for nearly 15 minutes.

Even after half an hour, the group of people continued coming up to him and congratulating him while constantly telling him who they were and how he was invited to their place.

Alex smiled and nodded as most of their words entered one of his ears and exited through another.

"Brother Yu," Shurin came to him once again. "The princess wants to see you."

"Oh, okay. Let's go," Alex said and ignored the crowd to go to the princess. The crowd was a little angry but there was nothing they could do as they had heard who called Alex.

Alex was taken to a different location this time, a much larger room. When he entered, he was surprised to see that there were more than just the princess and a few servants.

Alex saw many new figures he had never seen before.

A man wore a golden robe with a criss-cross pattern all over it. A woman wore a green robe with multiple shades of green layered on it.

Another woman wore blue robes that looked like waves of water. The man with the crimson robe was one of the eldest in the room.

The bloody-robed man had a thin and short face but somehow looked fearsome. Han Hongqi stood upright in his brown robes next to an older person that seemed to share some features with him.

Zhou Tianqiu stood next to another Zhou family member with a younger-looking, amicable face.

Shangguan Quan stood next to an old woman in black and red robes that had spear Qi flicker around her even as she stood there doing nothing.

Xue Mufan sat with his arms crossed with an awkward expression.

Other than him, there were also figures from the Broken Ravine sect and the Glory's edge sect that Alex recognized from their robes alone.

At the center of it all sat the Emperor, next to whom sat the princess that had called him.

Seeing such a group of high-ranking figures that could easily determine the fate of the empire, Alex felt a little bit scared.

"Greetings, seniors, your highness," Alex bowed a little to greet them all.

"Sit," the Emperor spoke while everyone else remained silent.

Alex sat down on an empty chair in the center of the room.

"First of all, congratulations on your victory in today's competition," the Emperor said. "You have done something today that most of us wouldn't have dreamed of seeing in our lifetime."

"Thank you, your majesty," Alex said.

"No, thank you. You have done a great service to us, young brother. All of us here stand before you to grant you anything you want, so long as it is in our power," the Emperor said.

"Anything?" Alex asked and looked around the crowd while thinking to himself what he wanted. There was really just a single thing he could ever want.

"There is one thing I want," he said as his eyes fell on Xue Mufan.

"Oh, you want to become my disciple?" Mufan asked with a surprised look on his face.

"No, senior," Alex said, restraining his chuckle. "I require some assistance in refining a Saint rank ingredient."

"As I am unable to do it until I enter the saint rank, I will be requiring your help," Alex said.

"Refining a saint rank ingredient huh? Are you going to make some pill?" Mufan asked.

"No, senior. I only need to refine the ingredient alone," Alex said.

"Okay, I can help you with that," Mufan said.

"Is that all you want?" the Emperor asked, clearly surprised that Alex wasn't requesting something better given the opportunity.

"I have nothing I require more than what I have asked for," Alex said.

The Emperor nodded and ignored the many messages he was getting directly.

"By the way, young man, where did you acquire those recipes of yours?" the Emperor asked.

Alex felt a little suspicious that he was about to ask him for his recipes. "I refined them myself, your highness," Alex said.

"Oh? How did you learn to do that?" the Emperor asked.

"Brother Shen Jing gave me a book that taught me how," Alex lied.

"Is that so? Thank you for answering my questions. You may leave now. Xumei, take our little brother out," he said.

"Yes, father," the princess stood up and left her seat. She then took Alex and walked out.

As soon as the door was shut, everyone in the room suddenly turned to the emperor with a confused face.

"Your highness, what was that?" Zhou Tianqiu asked.

"Weren't we going to ask him how he improved those recipes?" Xue Mufan asked.

The various other people also chimed in and asked the emperor the same thing.

"Enough," the Emperor said. "I know what I'm doing. You heard what he said. The technique is not his, but it belongs to someone else."

"So?" the others asked.

"It belongs to someone we cannot offend in the least," the Emperor said.

"We cannot offend?" the people got confused.

"Do you know why I had to find a royal alchemist these last 2 years?" The Emperor asked.

"Uhh… there are rumors, your highness," someone said.

"What rumors?" the Emperor asked.

"The rumors say that the princess has either lost the healing crystal, had it stolen, or it just doesn't work anymore," the woman in blue said.

"None of that is true," the Emperor said. "The person in question came to the palace, took the crystal from us, and I thanked him for it. That is how much we cannot offend him."

"What?" the group was surprised beyond belief.

The Emperor didn't explain any longer and only said, "That is why I didn't force him to reveal his secrets. While the young man might be weak, he has a backing that our entire empire cannot offend."

"Not to mention, do you really want to offend a 25-year-old True Immortal alchemist that is already in the True King realm?" the Emperor asked.

The group unanimously shook their head, despite feeling angry at having to do so.

* * * * *

"You did better in today's competition than I could've ever hoped to. Were you hiding your skills when you made pills for us? The best I saw from those were at 80%," the princess said.

"Of course not, princess," Alex said. "I was just not in the right state to make pills at the time."

"Your condition that requires Yin treasure?" the princess asked.

"Yes," Alex said. "While it wasn't that bad early on as I continued finding Yin treasures, over the year I found myself developing an immunity to the Yin in most treasures. So I kept needing something better."

"Were it not for you bringing that yin water, I would've never been able to show the result I did today. In a way, you are responsible for my result today. Thank you for that," Alex said.

The princess smiled. "So, what are your plans now that you have won the competition? Do you still plan to go to the Icy Hell?" she asked.

"I do, but not just yet," Alex said. "There's a reason I took part in the competition. Now that I've won, I get to make a pill I've been waiting for a long time to make."

"Oh, what pill is it?" the princess asked.

Alex smiled. "You will know after I make it," he said.

"So what about your deal with senior Mufan? Where are you going to have him help?" she asked.

"I… don't know actually. I will think about it after we get our rewards tomorrow," Alex said.

"Why don't you come to stay in the palace?" the princess asked. "That way, you can stay away from the crowd too."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Alex said. "Would it be okay if I bring along my mother? She's here with me and I don't want to send her back alone."

"Of course, I don't mind," the princess said. "Besides, I would love to see just what sort of women can raise a genius like you."