Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Alex returned back to the city of Many Flowers a couple of days later just in time for his quad-annual pill-making week.

Since he had planned for this before he left, he was here in time for it.

Alex handed over the various pills list and what they did to the association so that they could start a marketing campaign for him where the people would know exactly what pills they were getting.

The people had been starving for his pills, so when they realized he was back, they hopped onto the opportunity to get some pills.

However, they realized that something weird was happening this time around as the association announced that they wouldn't be buying pills this time around.

The confusion only lifted after the association revealed that there were only 100 different pills that could be made, and thus 100 different spots would be auctioned off, which was the only way to get your pills.

As long as you bought the slot, you didn't have to worry about buying ingredients or paying for the pill itself. Of course, the slot itself was going to sell for quite a lot.

Alex spent his days in leisure while the association did all the work for him. Instead, he cultivated using the new pills he had made as he waited for everything to be finalized.

A week later, the auctions were done and all 100 slots were sold at a rather high price. The owners of those slots noted what pills they wanted to be made, so Alex got ready to make them for them.

Alex didn't work like an employee of the association, where he would go to the alchemy building and make pills.

Instead, he was handed over the ingredients directly and he would make pills in his own room in a relaxed state. He was given exactly a week to make all pills, which was easily possible for Alex.

Since there were obviously duplicate pills to make, he could reach above 90%, going as close as 98% with his Pill Splitting technique.

In a single day, he could do somewhere between 20 and 30 pills with half a day to spare to recharge, which meant he could make all the pills in just 4 days.

Of course, the latter pills were more singular, so he had to make one at a time, using up the rest of the days of the week.

When he was done, he handed the pills to the association. The association would need a few days to finalize the sales, and after it was done, Alex would get his share of the earnings.

3 days later, Alex was called to the main building of the Association where the Leader's office as well as the various committee members stayed during their time there.

He arrived in a room with all 10 of them and greeted them before sitting on an empty chair.

"Fantastic work, young brother. We have had nothing but praise from the customers for the pills that you made," one of the committee members said.

"Thank you," Alex said with a small smile.

"Here's your share of the profit," the leader said and handed him a storage bag. Alex opened the storage bag and was a little surprised to see how much he had made.

"That's… 2.3 Million spirit stones? It's quite a lot more than I was expecting it to be," Alex said. "Especially since there was so much spending on our end."

"Yes, there was a lot of spending done during the marketing, the auction, and even when we had to use our own ingredients, but even then we earned enough that you get to leave with that," the leader said. "The quad-annual event was a success, and we will have to do it once again in 3 months. I hope you're not too drained because of it."

"Oh, no no," Alex said while shaking his head. "I can make pills for years on end and not feel drained, as long as I can switch up what pills I make."

"Good, we will look forward to the next event in 3 months. For now, we have 2 things to discuss with you, I hope you won't mind," the leader said.

"Sure, I have nothing else to do anyway, so we can talk as long as we want," Alex said.

"So, the first order of topic is simple," the leader said. "We have a position in the committee opening up soon. Brother Ku over here will be retiring in a few months, so while we were going through candidates that would be good for the committee, your name was brought up quite a few times. So, what do you say?"

Alex was surprised that he was being offered something so big. "That's… quite a proposition you have dropped on me," he said as he considered the offer.

"Take your time, you can let us know your answer in a day or two if you would like to think it through," one of the committee members said. "Being a member of the committee comes with a certain level of influence and benefits that you would not want to miss at all."

"Yes, take your time," the leader said. "Let me speak of the next topic—"

"I'm sorry, but I will have to reject your offer," Alex said suddenly.

"Sorry? You don't want to join the committee?" the leader asked.

"No," Alex said. "I'm comfortable with where I am at in the association and don't want to go any further. Plus, I am someone that might leave at any time after I find the person I'm looking for, so it feels wrong to join a committee as well. That's why I must reject."

"You can take your time and think young man," one of the committee members said.

"No, I have thought of it, and I don't think I will be joining. Thank you for the opportunity, but I'm sure there are better prospects out there for this position," Alex said.

"If you say so," the leader said with a slightly disappointed face. "We won't make any decision for the next week or two, so if you do change your mind you can let me know. For now, let's move on to the second thing I wanted to discuss about."

The leader brought out a talisman and showed it to the people in the group there. "I had a message delivered to me by the Flowerhall sect today. Apparently, senior Qiu Jianhong has expressed his wish to employ alchemist Alex to make some pills for him and his colleagues," the leader said.

Alex's eyes narrowed a bit. "Qiu Jianhong… where do I know that name from?" he asked as he tried to go through his memory.

"That's the ancestor of the Flowerhall sect who is in the council of 10 in the Sunborn Sanctuary," one of them told him.

"OH! Right. I remember now," Alex said. "That senior is requesting for me to make some pills for him?"

"Yes," the leader. "Apparently, they tried to request you a few months ago, but you were unavailable at the time. And after you came, they missed the opportunity to buy the slots during the event. So they now request that you make some pills for them outside of the event."

"That sounds fair," Alex said. "Besides, they are too influential to just reject right? We should accept their request. Please message them to ask what pills they want and I can make it for them."

"Um, actually… they don't want you to make the pills here," the leader said. "They in fact want you to go to them where they can interact with you and have you make the pills for them as they need it."

Alex frowned a little when he heard that. "Um… I don't want to sound disrespectful, but is there a chance here that they are trying to force me to make pills for them forever? I have had it happen to me before, and I do not trust people as much after that," he said.

"Ah, the thing with the Huang family? No, that's not possible. These are the 10 of the strongest cultivators in all of the Southern continent and they are who keep this world at peace after the Phoenix went to sleep," the leader said. "Besides, they are a council, so they technically have rivals and oppositions in there who will definitely help you if you ever are trapped by someone else."

"I see," Alex said. He didn't feel much better, but his suspicion dropped a little.

"Besides, I don't think this is an opportunity you can just let go. Not everyone gets to go to the Sunborn Sanctuary like you are," the leader.

"Wait… the Sunborn Sanctuary?" Alex asked with a surprised look. "I thought it was a place you were not allowed to go."

"You can if you are invited by the council. After all, they make all the law."

"I see, I would love to go there if I have the chance," Alex said.

"Then, should I accept their offer?" the leader asked.

"Yes, please accept it," Alex said. "I will look forward to the day I get to go there."

"Great, I will let the Flowerhall sect know of our intentions and they will contact their ancestor to give them our answer. You should expect to leave within the week."

The leader kept away the talisman. "That should conclude our meeting today. You may return back to your task."

"Then I will take my leave." Alex stood up and left the room, slightly excited at the fact that he would be by the Phoenix's domain in just a couple of days.