Rise of the Alchemy God

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There is one week left until the start of the tournament, but the imperial capital,

despite its troubles, was already full of all kinds of people arriving from the three kingdoms of the empire.

To avoid any delays, people came a bit earlier.

Many did it for this reason;

others, for example, wanted to explore the capital a bit since they were new or visit some acquaintances and so on.

Every year was like this, and this was both considered a good and a bad thing by many.

For the merchants of the imperial capital, more people meant more opportunities to earn.

After all, many of those who arrived would be new and would at least try to explore the capital and make some purchases.

Many others considered it a bad thing because the incoming people wouldn't be easy to handle.

Many of the participants in the tournament were members of important families and sects;

when people of this level gathered, it was difficult for conflicts not to arise.

This time of year was therefore considered problematic for the city guards, who, although they reported directly to the imperial castle and could manage most of the disturbances, always found one or two individuals that were too significant for them to handle.

Essentially, during this time of year, the capital was always relatively lively.

However, this festive atmosphere was not shared by some at this moment.

In a luxurious restaurant in the commercial area of the capital, a group of seven individuals sat around a table adorned with various drinks and food.

Four females and three males.

They were none other than the group of participants from the Phoenix Sect.

At one end of the table sat two girls, one in her 20s and one in her 30s.

They were none other than Xiang Hua and Yan Mei.

At the opposite side sat two males and a female, also aged between their 20s and 30s.

Beside them was an elder from the medicine pavilion, tasked with bringing the group of participants to the competition and returning them safely.

She also looked like she was not much older than 30, but if her true identity was known, it would be clear that she was much older than her appearance suggested.

In the world of cultivation, women, in particular, paid great attention to their physical appearance, so they had no qualms about spending some of the Qi they refined in their Dantians to maintain a relatively youthful look.

Generally, all high-level cultivators appeared much younger than their actual age, but there were always methods to ensure they looked even younger.

And finally, at the opposite end from the woman, sat a young man who seemed to be just over 20 years old.

Despite the presence of such delicacies, many at the table wore grim expressions at that moment.

The only one among them who seemed to have a serene expression was the young man who looked just over twenty.

He was none other than Xun Wei, and at that moment, he had a particularly happy expression, as there was a good chance for him to take Ethan's place in the competition.

A few days ago, in the capital of the Phoenix Kingdom, all the participants from the city of the phoenix had gathered outside the medicinal pavilion in preparation for their departure to the capital for the tournament.

Among all the participants, one was missing, and he was none other than the masked boy.

They had waited for almost an hour, but he did not show up.

In the end, while they were deciding to leave, a letter was delivered to them.

It was a letter from the masked boy.

In shirt, it told the others to leave without him and that he would join them before the start of the competition.

This, of course, did not sit well with anyone present, especially the elder from the medicine pavilion, who, seeing this behavior, could not understand how such an individual could secure one of the three available spots.

She already had a bad impression of him due to what had happened during the last round of the competition for participant selection.

And now with this, she was particularly displeased.

They decided to leave since they knew nothing else about the masked boy, so they wouldn't even know where to look for him.

The elder decided to bring the fourth-placed individual as a backup plan, in case the masked boy didn't show up in time.

She had mentally decided that if the person did not show up within five days of the tournament's start, she would automatically eliminate him from the team.

Xun Wei, sensing that he had a chance to participate in the tournament, was happy and maintained that state of mind the whole time.

They had already been in the capital for a few days, and only one day remained until the deadline set by the elder.

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Usually, she would not tolerate such behavior, but since the person in question had already proven to be more than capable, crushing Xun Wei in their last match, she decided to wait.

After all, she had to save some face for the elder who presided over their competition.

And eliminating the masked boy, regardless of what he had said, would only unnecessarily complicate the situation between the two, and she had no desire to do that.

They were both high-ranking alchemists, and it was better to have more allies than enemies at their level;

not that this issue would make them enemies, but the situation would surely become tense.

With all these considerations, she waited.

God knows how much Xiang Hua had already blamed Ethan in her mind.

She was already angry because he had given up on their match, and now this.

She had decided that if she had the opportunity, she would teach him a lesson.

Yan Mei, on the other hand, didn't know what to think of this person.

Aside from the fact that she didn't like that he was better than her, and by a lot, she had no other impression of him.

She was more focused on figuring out how to improve her skills.

Since the competition where she had failed to secure one of the three spots with relative ease, she ended up almost not obtaining it at all, and this fact dealt a hard blow to her.

As soon as she returned, she immediately began training her skills with her grandfather, who, although he didn't know what had gotten into her, was pleased that her desire to learn was stronger than before.

And the improvements she made during this period of time were not few.

She was now at a level where refining level 2 pills of low-grade had become relatively simple, with a success rate exceeding 70%, which was extremely good,

especially considering how long it took her to achieve this result.

Of course, she was not the only one to improve;

even Xun Wei, who had been eliminated, trained and improved his skills more, and he had reached a level very similar to hers.

And so, while everyone was engaged in their thoughts, whether good or bad, they finally noticed someone approaching them.

Even the elder from the pavilion, seeing the person and noticing the black mask on his face, realized that he was probably the one in question.

'Finally he has arrived. Let's see how he justifies himself,' she thought, not intending to let him go so easily.

But then she noticed something strange, more like an invisible atmosphere surrounding him that gave a suppressive feeling to all those present.

'Hm? What is this feeling?'