Alex and Pearl walked through the city, looking at what had been done to it. The people of this city still lived their day-to-day lives, albeit things had started to beco different enough thanks to the competition.
Citizens of Hardrock City were allowed free entry and exit as they wished, but everyone else was heavily checked before being let in. Only so many people would be allowed in.
Alex looked around at the many people who walked the street, unsure of how many of them were participants. Every single young person he saw, he thought a participant.
There was an age requirent to the whole thing, which was kept secret for the most part. They were trying to find talents, so there had to be so sort of requirent based on one's cultivation base.
Alex wondered how old one had to be to be accepted as a Saint. If soone was over 10 thousand years old, would they still be accepted?
If the Dragon Emperor had made his way to the Immortal realm, would he have been accepted in this competition? There was a likely chance that he would've not, given his age.
"So many Alchemists in one spot," Pearl said softly. "There should be more talent in Alchemy here than the rest of the world combined right now, right?"
Alex looked around. "Maybe," he said. "At least among the Immortal realm and lower. It might even be true among the Divine realm."
The best of the best were gathered here, either to participate, to watch their disciples participate, or to manage the entire tournant. One could not ask for a better group of Alchemists.
Alex shook his head. "Let's go see where the contests are taking place." The two walked through the street, searching for a large clearing where tens of thousands of people could practice Alchemy at once. However, no matter how much they searched for it, there was no such space at all.
Alex began wondering if it was actually taking place outside of the city and if they were only staying within the city. But he then saw the actual place where the tournant was most likely going to take place and all previous confusion was swept away.
A bit off-center in the city was a large open square with a park built at the center. It was a small part, no more than a hundred ters wide in all directions. But, inside that park at the mont were people seemingly working on sothing.
And even from afar, Alex could feel the slight fluctuation of space. His eyes glowed a deep purple and silver light surrounded a small area in the center of the park, making it apparent to him that a secret realm existed there.
So, he ca to the conclusion that the secret realm would be where the tournant would be taking place. Or at least, it would be a major venue for so of the contests.
His eyes glowed down back to regular purple and he saw a red-haired woman standing on the other side of the park, looking at the people working. She caught his eyes and smiled before waving at him.
Alex waved back.
Pinkflower's disciple, Shao Humin, had already arrived it seed. That ant the woman herself had to be in the city already too.
They didn't interact any further, the Shao girl leaving for another place. Alex and Pearl too decided to see the rest of the city.
They saw the rest of the city, but the city itself was no more exciting than the people he saw. Cultivation bases ranging from Saint realms all the way to the peak of Immortal realms could be seen walking around it.
Alex even saw a few mortals walking around. Young n and won, no older than 20 years old, walked throughout the city. There was sothing weird about the ones he t, but he could never tell what it was so weird.
Pearl noticed them too and he figured out what was so weird. None of the young mortals ever seed engaged in any conversation at all. Even though they were in groups, they walked through the streets, not a single one chatting with the others in the group.
They didn't even look away or greet a passerby. It was a truly weird experience.
'Why does this city have so many kids?' Alex wondered. Was there a school in the city or sothing? "There's nothing really to see," Pearl said after a while. "We should return and make preparations."
Alex nodded. "Yeah, we should return."
* * * * *
One after another, the many people who wanted to be participants in the tournant ca to Hardrock City. Many were not allowed to enter right at the front gate, mostly because their age and cultivation base weren't at a good ratio. Aside from that, people who tried to lie and cheat their way in were also barred from entry.
Even then, thousands upon thousands of people entered the city from each of the gates every day.
Many who also had nothing to do with Alchemy arrived at the city to witness the competition, and because of their status alone, they were allowed in. There was more than one god among those people, though no one recognized them.
The Formation Monarch, otherwise known as the Formation God, ruler of the realm of Formation Monarch's Realm, was an older man with short black hair with li-colored streaks of hair around his temple.
The Artifact God was a woman who seed young of age but was one of the older gods in truth. She wore her black hair in a low bun, held together with a jade hairpin stabbed through the middle.
She was of average height and looks, but even as ordinary as she appeared, there was an air about her that got people to think twice before coming to a conclusion about her.
They arrived at a more than fancy building within Hardrock city, where they made their way to a lounge area where the Alchemy God, Whitesong, had been waiting for them.
The thin man stood up upon seeing the other two and gave a warm smile. "Formation Monarch, lady Shen, welco to Hardrock City."
The Formation God nodded once and sat on the couch.
The Artifact God instead smiled. "I hope brother Whitesong has received ample help as he has asked," she said.
"Of course," the Alchemy God said. "I must thank the both of you for all the aid you have provided the past decade. I cannot think how much harder this would've been on if you two weren't here to help ."
"You do not have to thank us. We're not doing it for you," the Formation God said.
The Artifact God narrowed her eyes and glared at the Formation God before saying, "What brother Scarstone wants to say is that we understand the importance of this tournant. We understand how important it is for us to find all the talented Alchemists and train them in ti."
The Alchemy God nodded.
"I hope it doesn't get to that, but it seems more likely every day, doesn't it?" he asked.
The Artifact God grimaced. "A year from now. A decade, a century, a millennia. It is not possible to say when it will happen, but we can be certain it will," she said. "The war… is inevitable."
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