Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

"How many Saints? Hmm... that depends on how many elders we have. As of right now, I can't tell you, but it should be somewhere between 100 and 120," Gan Murong said.

"Sorry... 120 Saint realm cultivators?" Alex was ready for a preposterous number, but this was too much. Wasn't that the number of the entire Luminance empire?

Was a single Ancient sect really that much better than the entire Luminance empire?

Alex wondered just how great the Western continent would have been currently if the people from over 5 thousand years ago didn't steal from the continent.

'Speaking of which, the Frozen Elders were set up around the same time too right?' he thought. 'I wonder if there is any relation between those two events.'

"This way."

Gan Murong continued on, taking him through winding roads, through the same looking buildings until she came to an area of the city that was sparse and wide open.

At the center was a rather large house, and Alex could see smoke coming up from the chimney.

"This is where you will be staying. It is primarily a place where disciples can come to learn Alchemy, but we will make a room for you to stay in," she said.

"Sorry, learn alchemy? Do they learn on their own or...?" Alex asked.

"We have a teacher inside that teaches them alchemy," she said, and quickly followed it by, "yes, I know. We're hypocrites. You don't have to remind me that."

"I wasn't going to say that," Alex coughed a bit and turned aside.

"You didn't have to. That's what any normal person would think," Gan Murong said. "Now let's go inside."

Alex nodded and opened the door to walk in.

The fresh smell of herbs and flowers blew out with the hot air as the cold air from outside moved in.

The hallway was big and a few disciples moved across from room to room. They all turned curiously to look at the only male that was entering the room.

Alex nodded towards the girl who looked at him, but aside from that, he did nothing. After all, he had been ordered to not speak to any of the girls without them speaking to him first.

"Right, about that order to not speak to the disciples, who do I speak to if I'm in need of something?" Alex asked.

"This is an important location in the sect as this is the only place where pills are made for all of the 200 thousand disciples and the nearly 150 elders. As such, there will be quite a few elders that will constantly be on guard here. You can speak to them," Murong said.

"Oh, I see," Alex said. "Also, are there any Saint alchemists here?"

"There are 2," Murong said. "But they're mostly focused on making pills for the elders. For the disciples, we don't have nearly enough."

"Here, down the stairs," Murong showed him through the house and went to an underground location where he felt multiple Saint realm cultivation bases.

The saints were standing outside 2 different rooms, as if on guard.

"These are the rooms where you will be making pills. They are large enough that you can make the pills and live in there. This is only reserved for Saint alchemists, but you are given a special place here because you can stay far away from the other disciples here," she said.

Gan Murong opened one of the doors and let Alex inside. Alex looked inside curiously and saw a rather fancy-looking room with marbles laid down on the floor.

The room was massive, nearly twice the total area of the house he was staying in in the village.

As soon as you walked inside, you were confronted with elevated steps in the middle of the room that led to a well-established set of formations that were just an activation away from spewing out fire.

Directly over that was a chimney that led smoke out of the room.

To the right, in the corner was a bed and it too was in a place that was slightly elevated as well.

Given the distance between the two of them, it was pretty much good enough to be his room.

Alex looked around at the formations that were crafted directly onto the walls and nodded to himself.

"This is nice," he said. He released his spiritual sense to look at the other things and noticed something weird. He walked up to the bed and pulled it aside to reveal a formation under it.

"Why's there a teleportation formation here?" he asked with a surprised look.

"That's not for you to use," Murong said. "You can't use it without something to give you authority anyway."

"I see."

"Rest for today. Someone will come to give you your task tomorrow. Is there anything particular you can't do? If so, I will let them know not to send those your way," Murong said.

"Uhh... Please don't have me make Saint rank pills. I don't know if I'm capable of those just yet," Alex said.

Murong chuckled a bit. "Why would I make an alchemist that hasn't entered the Saint rank make Saint rank pills?" she asked and shook her head. "You will be making mostly True rank pills and maybe occasionally some common pills."

Alex nodded. That he could do.

"I was told that I would be under constant surveillance. Does that mean I won't get any privacy at all?" he asked.

"Not entirely, no," she said. "The elder outside will be watching you the entire time she is here and while you are making pills. You will have 15 hours a day to make pills, and the remaining 9 hours to rest and cultivate. Those 9 hours will be without surveillance."

"In addition, you will get a free day once a week where you will also not be under any surveillance."

"That's... annoying," Alex said. "An alchemist cannot make pills for 15 hours a day, you know?"

"Don't worry, you won't have to make pills every minute of those 15 hours. There will be a daily quota you have to fulfill to receive the rewards the elders promised you. After you are done with that, you are free to do whatever you want," She said.

"But, if you do wish to continue, then any extra pills you make that day will be counted towards your contribution points. You can use that contribution points to get yourself whatever you want from the sect," she said.

"Hmm, that sounds better. Doesn't feel outright like slavery," Alex said. "Oh right, outside I saw the open land. Is there some reason why it doesn't have any buildings on it yet?" he asked.

"Uhh... no? It was just to separate this place from the other houses I believe," Murong said.

"Ah, is it possible for me to turn it into a garden? I wish to grow some plants there," Alex requested.

"Um, I will ask the elders about it. I can't approve of it myself," Murong said.

"Thank you, and one last thing," Alex said. "Can you tell me when the Dao mountain opened the last time?"

"Dao Mountain? That was quite recent. 2 months ago I think," Murong said. "You really are interested in the mountain, huh? Well, break through to the Saint realm and you will get free entry."