Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

A year passed since the Realm of Trials had closed, and any event remotely as big as that wouldn't take place for another 2 years. 

The Endless Shadow Abyss opened every year, but no one truly considered it to be something to look forward to as one did the Golden Auction or the Realm of Trials.

The one taking place in 3 years was the Cave of Frost's opening to the public, but that was still undecided as even after a year and a half, the barrier around the Ivory Kingdom hadn't disappeared.

So, the next big thing to look forward to was the opening of the Transcendent Martial Ground, which was another 6 years later. Without the Cave of Frost, one would consider that there might be a lack of events to bring some excitement to everyone's heart, but something had come that had brought quite a bit of excitement. 

The players were returning home.

Alex stood in front of the giant Intercontinental Teleportation formation that was not far away from the Dragon Palace. He looked at the hundreds of thousands of people gathered, ready to return home.

He sought Hao Ya, who had been working night and day to make it happen. "We're ready?" he asked. "Did you succeed?"

"Yes," Hao Ya said. "We tried it last night and it worked perfectly."

"Great," Alex said excitedly.

Hao Ya looked at him curiously. "You're more excited about returning than I am, aren't you?" she asked. "Why haven't you told me why?"

"It's a secret," Alex said and turned toward the formation. At the same time, he looked inside his Soul Space at the two seeds that continued to grow, absorbing everything he threw at them. 

Every day, he worried that he would look inside and find it wilted. He wanted to get to the senior as soon as he could. 

"I do wish your aunt was here," Hao Ya said. "If little sister Liz was here, we could have completed it in just a month, if that." There wasn't much Hao Ya could do in terms of saving time except try it over and over.

"At least you did it," Alex said. "So we will get to return now."

Hao Ya nodded. "Let's get them all ready to go."

Alex left for a while, going to meet the Crown Prince. With such a massive number of people waiting to be sent back to their homes, he needed to be here to look after everyone.

On top of that, the Dragon Emperor had said that they be allowed to send their soldiers to the Central Continent to see how it was, and why it produced such strong individuals. 

Alex thought of not agreeing at first, but he needed people who would look after the central continent for the entire year when so many cultivators would be there.

He most definitely needed all the help he could get to create a peaceful time for the mortals who still lived in the Central continent. It had been 8 years since they had to deal with this, so they wouldn't be exactly ready either.

"Are we starting?" the Crown Prince asked.

After a bit of consideration, Alex nodded. "We can start," he said.

He stood by and watched as the ones in the military created a strict environment and let people make a file to bring everyone to the teleportation formation.

Alex watched them move excitedly and nervously as after over 50 years, they were finally going home. And yet, not a single one of them would ever know what it had cost him to make this happen.

It might have happened on its own in a few years, but no one could take just exactly how long that would take. To make this happen, Alex had to make a bit of sacrifices.

Although, he wasn't sure if he could call it a sacrifice exactly. After all, he was also benefitting from it quite a bit. He was going to go back as he wanted to.

Once everyone gathered, Hao Ya gave the usual lecture she gave to everyone who was about to go home. She explained how the situation back home would be and how they likely wouldn't have a place to stay as their friends and families would be long gone.

Still, the nearly million people gathered there were all looking forward to returning as soon as possible. So, without making them wait any further, Hao Ya let the teleportation begin.

About 20 thousand people disappeared at a time, with Hao Ya going along with them on the very first one to make sure everything on the other side was handled properly.

Alex looked at the many who were excited to be next. He recognized a few faces amongst the ones that were leaving.

Wu Shun, Talia, the golden fox girl he had gone on a date a month ago, and many other somewhat familiar faces were leaving for the Central continent. Alex hadn't been aware so many of them were players.

As the people left one by one, Alex turned to his elders. "You two should head on over to the Enlightenment Domain once I'm gone," he said. "Spend your time learning what you can to improve yourself. I will return in exactly a year," he said.

"As you say, Your Majesty," the two of them replied. Both of them had been ready to say goodbye to their King for some time now.

Alex turned to the Crown Prince. "I'll leave then, prince," he said. "Hopefully the problem with the Ivory Kingdom will have ended by the time I return. I truly don't want to miss the Cave of Frost's opening."

"Don't you have to return to complete the trade with my father?" the Crown Prince asked.

Alex chuckled a bit. "Yeah, that too," he said. "But you can see why I'm excited for one more than the other."

"I suppose," the Crown prince said. "Anyway, we'll see you in a year, Your Majesty."

Alex nodded. "See you then." And he walked away.

He arrived on the teleportation platform with one of the groups. The people there were surprised to see him in the mix and were more than curious about what he was doing there.

However, before anyone could muster up some confidence to speak with him, they felt the tug of something on their body, and at the next moment they teleported away.

Alex arrived in the familiar field that he had always come back to the last 3 times he had returned to the Central continent from various continents. 

While others were disoriented, he quickly flew over to Hao Ya, who was handling what she could for the people here. Alex sat by her and looked around at the city and buildings. It had only been 8 years since he had left this place and yet it seemed like many things had changed or upgraded already.

Mortals made such quick advancements that it felt unnatural to him. He waited for another 2 hours for the people to arrive. Once they were all there, Hao Ya gave them the final instruction they all needed.

Then, once that was done, she finally was free to do what she wanted to do. "Let's go meet up with my master."