Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Elder Lan was very happy in regards to Alex joining his team as an assistant Alchemist.

"Right, before we finalize this, I want to test your skills. I will be asking you to make a pill for me. Is that alright?" the Elder asked. "Worry not, I will be paying you for this pill as well."

"I can do that," Alex answered and looked around. "Right here?"

"Yes," the elder said. "Get comfortable. I'll gather and check what pill you should be making."

Alex nodded sat on one side and brought out his cauldron, placing it above the furnace. The two other people in the room looked toward Alex for a moment but said nothing and went back to making pills.

Alex didn't focus on them too much, but the fact that there were people in the same room making pills made him feel a little weird about the whole situation. Usually, an Alchemist would get a singular room and wouldn't have to share it with anyone else.

"Right, this one should do." Elder Han pulled out a few ingredients and handed it over to Alex.

Alex looked at the ingredients he was given and could instantly tell what it was that the Elder wanted from him. "You want me to make a Greenveil Recovery Pill?" he asked.

A Greenveil Recovery pill was a type of common Immortal healing pill. It was usually just called a healing pill and nothing else. It wasn't very unique in that it could be replaced with a dozen other healing pills and there would be no difference. But its ingredients were easier to find, so it was quite common to see people make this pill.

"Yes, I believe you made this pill already and sold it to me," the Elder said. "I just wish to see you make it again, to test you."

Alex agreed. "I can make this," he said and began checking the ingredients. These ingredients could be improved, but he wasn't going to do that in the middle of the other cultivators.

He at least made sure the that ingredients were quite decent and of proper weight before starting.

Flames burned underneath Memory and Alex instantly used his Dao to transfer heat throughout Memory, reaching a temperature that would've taken quite some time to reach on its own.

"Nice flame controls," Elder Lan said from the side. "I can see that you have a Fire Dao. That is very helpful."

Alex ignored the Elder's words and focused on making the pill. He couldn't teleport ingredients into the cauldron, so he had to do it the regular way, which was to pull aside the lid, place the ingredients inside, and close it.

He was certainly not trained to make pills this way in a very, very long time, so his moves were rusty and the Elder noticed it.

"You don't make pills this way?" the elder asked. "Are you used to having formations do the work for you? That's not a bad thing."

Alex followed the instructions for the Greenveil Recovery pill, quickly turning the ingredient into powder.

"That is quite great," the elder said. "Your controls tell me that you have been doing this for a long time. You are no ordinary alchemist, junior Dawnblade."

Alex pulled aside the lid and placed the second ingredient in.

One after another, Alex put in the ingredients, and each time he did anything, the elder commented on everything as though this was the first time he had seen a pill being made this way.

Alex did his best to ignore the Elder and completed his pill, doing his best to make enough mistakes that he didn't end up with a very good pill.

There was still plenty of energy inside of the cauldron, which Alex permitted Memory to devour. Unlike earlier today, Memory no longer seemed hesitant and calmly absorbed the remaining energy into the side walls.

Once everything was done, Alex finally opened the lid and pulled out the pill. Just by his senses, he could see that the pill had turned out to have a solid 78% Harmony.

Alex handed the pill over to the Elder, who immediately checked it.

"Incredible," the Elder said. "Only recently ascended, and you can make pills this good. If you have the time, you can certainly grow your skills to make pills with 90% Harmony or more. You will be one of the best Alchemists in this world."

Alex gave a wide smile. "Thank you for the praise, Elder Lan."

The Elder was about to say something when there was a knock on the door. He paused and walked up to the door, opening it.

"May I come in?" a female voice asked and the Elder opened the door wider.

The woman who came in was a younger Elder with a prominent nose, but otherwise pleasant-looking features. Her hair had a sheen of blue to it and she had grown it out to quite epic proportions, making her hair look unreal.

Alex had seen this elder before, but he neither knew her name, nor what she did exactly.

"Other elders haven't come here, right?" the woman asked.

Elder Lan nodded. "Is something the matter?"

Alex noticed that he seemed… concerned about something.

The female Elder shook her head. "Not what you're thinking," she said and looked around before sending a message directly to Elder Lan's mind.

"Oh… oh… that's not very good," Elder Lan said before confusion filled his face. "That also doesn't make any sense."

"Exactly!" the female Elder said. "I'm confused myself."

"This has to be a mistake, right?" Elder Lan asked.

"That is the only explanation I can think of," the female Elder said. She was about to continue when she noticed Alex looking in their direction.

"You have a disciple in this room?" she asked.

"Oh, this is disciple Dawnblade. He's an excellent Alchemist," Elder Lan said. "He learned Alchemy from the lower realm he came from alone, so I decided to employ him."

The woman looked surprised for a moment before clearly communicating with the Elder using her spiritual sense. The Elder repliedbackin the same fashion as well.

He finally turned left the female elder, who walked back out, and came back to Alex.

"Sorry about the disturbance," Elder Lan said. "Right, so where were we?"

"I completed the pill and you said I could become better," Alex said.

"Right, you can become better. That's it," the Elder said. "Anyway, you are hired. Do you wish to work daily, weekly, or monthly? You'll have to do work right in this room for ease, so make your choice."

Alex thought for a bit. "Monthly sounds alright. I wish to do my work early and leave the rest of the month for cultivation and whatnot."

"That works," the Elder said. "You can also take more tasks if you complete them early, so it's a win-win."

Alex nodded. "When do I start?" he asked.

"2 days later. Since you chose monthly, you will be staying here until you complete a month's work, and that will take some time," the Elder said. "You'll have to prepare yourself."

"I will," Alex said as he stood up and bowed slightly. "Thank you for the opportunity, Elder Lan."

"No problem, and here," the Elder handed something over to Alex.

It was 13 Immortal Spirit stones.