The view before Alex was a cascade of mountains, each tall and broad, one after another. There were so many of them that he couldn’t see all of them.

There were 2 distinct mountains that had buildings on them, both of which stood side by side at the center. Surrounding them were the rest of the mountains that were nothing but filled with greenery.

Even from here, Alex could tell every single one of the rest of the mountains was an Alchemy garden.

The sweet aroma he smelled in the air came from these mountains. “Amazing,” Alex couldn’t help but say. “There are so many alchemy gardens.”

“Of course,” Snowleaf said. “We grow most of our own ingredients here. You’ll learn more with time. Come, let’s get you settled before others realize you are here.”

Alex nodded and walked along with Snowleaf, making his way down the current mountain to arrive at not either of the two mountains he had seen from his vantage point, but instead the mountain behind it.

From what Alex could see, he had assumed it was an Alchemy garden as well, but when he arrived, he noticed there were buildings at the bases, which let him know that it was more than just that.

“These mountains are for our alchemists, staffs, and disciples,” Snowleaf said, referring to the two mountains. One of them was for Alchemists and staff, while the other one was for the disciples.

“I stay there as well,” Snowleaf mentioned. “And this one is entirely just for senior brother and senior Grimsight.”

“Oh,” Alex said in surprise. “Only master lives here?”

“Yes,” Snowleaf said. “And I suppose you do too now.”

“What about senior Nurei? She seemed important,” Alex said.

“She is important. She is one of our greatest alchemists in the court. Not only that, she is also the main handler of all the tasks and alchemists. She pretty much runs the entire place. As good as your master is, you gotta understand, he’s… not very good when it comes to running a business.”

“I can see that,” Alex said.

“He used to run things by himself before,” Snowleaf said with a little giggle. “But he started talking back with the customers so much that Senior sister had to step in and mediate the situation every time. At some point, she just took over the task entirely.”

Alex could only give an awkward smile upon hearing that. His master truly was one of a kind. He remembered the way he threatened those 5 divine realm cultivators back when he had just won the duel. He didn’t give a damn about who was who. He only cared about himself.

In a way, Alex quite liked that about his new master. Being able to reach a point where you could afford to be rude to everyone else without fearing retribution was most likely satisfying.

Alex and Snowleaf made their way to a rather extravagant mansion that was built on the mountain. It was massive with many rooms and expanded by hundreds of meters on all sides.

It was no different than a palace to Alex’s eyes.

They entered and Snowleaf took Alex to the lounge area where they could wait for Silvermist to come back.

Alex looked around, unsure what he was supposed to think about the many paintings of his master around the room, each one striking a unique pose. His master had deliberately made painters paint this.

As he watched, he noticed one painting with 10 different people in it. His master was one of them, and upon closer notice, he saw a few people he was sure he recognized.

They all looked much younger than they were now, but one of the men there had to be Wineweed. And one of the women was no doubt Firestar who they had just left behind in Eclipsing Heaven.

He looked at the overall painting, confused. They all wore different robes in the painting, so they clearly weren’t in a group or something. It looked like a stage, so… this was an award ceremony?

He slowly stood up from the couch, moving toward the painting. “Senior, what is this?” he asked.

“That… is the painting of the 10 Stars of Alchemy.”

“The 10… what?” Alex looked back, confused.

“Long ago, long before even I was born, there was apparently an alchemy tournament that was held to find the greatest Alchemists of the generation. Every single person was allowed to join this competition, and in the end, after many competitions, only these 10 remained in the end.”

“If I’m not mistaken, that was the painting made before the final competition that would determine who won the overall competition,” Snowleaf said.

Alex got more curious now. “Who won?” he asked.

Snowleaf pointed at a painting of a man to the left. “This person did. Your master came second.”

Alex looked at the man who had won. He looked simple, as though an everyday man. “What’s his name?” he asked.

“Rin… something? I’m sure I’ve heard it before, but he died so long ago that you will have to ask your master,” Snowleaf said. “He was remembered by his title more than his name anyway.”

“His title? Which was…”

“The Alchemy God.”

Alex’s eyes widened, turning back to look at the painting. “The first alchemy god?” he asked.

“No. He was the third Alchemy god. At the time when that competition had taken place, the first Alchemy God was still alive, I believe. This person went on to become the next one not long after.”

Alex stopped to think for a moment. If the man had become an Alchemy god not long after, then the first Alchemy God had to have died around that time as well.

“Do you know when this competition took place?” Alex asked. “Less than 200 thousand years ago,” Snowleaf said, his eyes narrowed in thought to see if he could come up with a better answer. “I only know your master was one of the younger ones in the competition at around 40 thousand years old, so it was around that time.”

‘So the first Alchemy God died sometime after that?’ Alex thought, looking back at the man. “Godslayer must’ve killed this one.’

“This man is dead, right? Does that mean Master is now the best Alchemist? Not counting the current Alchemy god,” Alex asked.

Snowleaf chuckled. “Your master may have ended up in 2nd place, but he was not the only one,” Snowleaf said.

“Not the only one? There was ano— senior Wineweed?” Alex asked.

Snowleaf nodded. “There’s a reason why those two have such a deep-rooted rivalry. They both got the second place, leaving the third place empty. They both claim the other one deserves it, but since the tournament was so long ago, no one really remembers it anymore. Only those two remember.”

Alex nodded. “What about these other ones? Are they all still alive or…?”

“Senior Goldgrass is an Alchemist over at Pillheaven continent, Senior Pinkflower has a court in Medicine Continent. Senior Mo Duguan is over at Threeflower continent, and Reverend Lakelily is under the Alchemy God in God’s Domain. I do not know what is up with the last two. They are either dead or have left the Medicine World.”