Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Chapter 2279  The Guild

With a bit of distance still to go before reaching the city, Alex stopped and turned to face the three people who had followed him. He hadn't minded when they followed him to the mountains, but now that they were trailing him to his place, where Momo and Pearl were, he couldn't help but feel angry.

He waited for the three to arrive, observing as they slowed down as well. There weren't many others in the area, but there were a few. With witnesses around, Alex wondered if these newcomers would still fight him. At the very least, they would have to be cautious not to get caught by the-- 'wait, those robes...' Alex thought.

In that moment, any thoughts he had about them being cautious faded when he saw the robes the newcomers wore.

Their robes were pink at the top, gradually fading into a cracked, petal-like design that appeared to fall into a white background—like rose petals in the wind.

These people belonged to the Falling Rose Guild, the ones who ruled this section of the Pillheaven Continent. If a fight was about to break out, Alex knew he might be in trouble, as these people held authority here.

Two of the newcomers were men, and the third was a woman. The woman stepped forward, her light brown hair tied into a bun and held in place by a pink hairpin. She was somewhat beautiful, but at that moment, Alex didn't care about her looks.

He simply looked at them and asked, "Can I help you?"

"We have a question to ask you," the woman said.

"What question?" Alex asked.

"How rude," the woman said softly. "The Hand of the God —How are you going in and out of the mists without getting lost?"

"Who says I'm not lost?" Alex asked. "I get lost every time I go there."

The woman stared intently for a moment before shaking her head. "Lying won't help you here, young man," she said. "Our seniors have asked us to find out how you're doing what you're doing. If you won't answer us, we'll have to take you to them."

Alex felt the woman's aura encroach upon him, a cultivation base high in the Immortal realm, enough to defeat him easily. He could flee if he wanted to, he had that much ability here. But, if her words were true, they would keep coming after him no matter where he ran. And with the power they held in this land, unless he left this place, he would never truly be safe from them.

He tried to feel his connection to Pearl to send him a warning, but the distance was too great. He couldn't send any messages through his bond at this range.

He could only hope that they wouldn't go after Momo and Pearl. Since they had only been following him, they likely wouldn't.

The aura wrapped around him tightly—firm enough to prevent escape, yet not enough to harm him. It seemed they weren't planning to hurt him for now.

"Don't struggle," the woman said and began pulling him toward her. He let her do so.

Seeing his compliance, the woman and the two men moved, leading him toward their guild headquarters, located at the edge of Rosefall City.

The Falling Rose Alchemy Guild was massive, almost as large as the Silvermist Alchemy Court. Its buildings were less fancy, however, as most structures Alex could see from the sky were flat with curved rooftops adorned with red tiles. There were many such buildings, either one or two stories tall. No more.

They landed outside the guild, where a large crowd of customers had gathered to buy pills or place commissions.

Alex knew a bit about the Falling Rose Guild. The last time he'd come to the Pillheaven Continent, his master had taken him inside and shown him around.

No one knew who they were at the time, and they hadn't bought anything, so the only thing he knew was a basic understanding of the layout. He also knew that the guild's leader went by the title of Morningbloom.

Alex walked along with the three, appearing less like a prisoner and more like a guest. His stride gave the impression that he was in charge rather than the three guild members.

The woman rushed to the front and began leading him, surprised at how forthright he was being after refusing to answer their questions moments before.

It confused her.

They arrived at one of the two-story buildings far in the back, clearly out of reach for customers. They entered, and the woman spoke to a man seated there.

The man needed only to glance at Alex and then at the woman before nodding, allowing them to proceed. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Alex climbed the stairs and was brought to a large hall with open windows on all sides. In the center was a seating arrangement, and a few people were already waiting for them.

The woman nudged Alex forward, prompting him to sit in the seat prepared for him.

Alex strode up to the seat, his gaze sweeping over the group. Of the five people seated there—three men and two women—each one was a Divinity.

'Strong,' he thought, but he didn't let it unsettle him.

He sat down, meeting their gaze without looking away.

"So young," one of the women remarked. "I would've expected someone older to be the one entering the holy site."

"Young man, how can you enter the holy site without getting lost?" asked the man in the middle, an older man with tightly bound, graying hair.

"The holy site?" Alex repeated, feigning confusion. He recalled a vague memory of his master mentioning something about the Hand of the God being revered by some who believed it to belong to a divinity. "Do you mean the Hand of the God?"

"What else could we mean?" the man asked.

"I'm not from around here, so I didn't know," Alex said. "As for how I can enter, I just can. Does one need a reason for that?"