“Are you alone?” Aethersage asked, looking around the place.

“More or less,” Alex answered. “Are you searching for someone else?”

The young red-haired man chuckled a little. “Who would I be searching for? I don’t know anyone other than you at all.”

Alex gave an awkward smile. “You must’ve been in the same situation as me,” he said. “Unable to leave your master for the majority of the days. I wasn’t allowed to even roam my own court because my master was afraid people would do something about me.”

“No, my master was freer than that. He allowed me to go around the guild,” Aethersage said. “But… he forced me to learn every single day nonstop. I don’t think I got more than a single month free in all of the years since I’ve come to this world. Perhaps even before that.”

Alex couldn’t help but smile a little in return. It turned out he might not have suffered as much as he thought he had. At least he wasn’t in Aethersage’s position where he was forced to train all day, every day.

He felt the young man’s cultivation and it was deep in the Immortal Origin realm. He surprisingly couldn’t tell exactly what cultivation base it was though. There was some sort of concealment technique at work here. No doubt the young man was feeling something similar about his own cultivation base.

Alex used his concealment technique, not to hide his cultivation base, but to make it difficult to figure out too. The man did something similar as well.

The two of them talked for a while longer, watching the variety of participants fill the space. He couldn’t even count how many there were any more. He had stopped doing that once he reached a thousand people and there were still so many more.

This was bigger than when everyone was allowed in Sixghost’s secret realm. And almost anyone below a certain cultivation base was allowed there. At this point, Alex wouldn’t be surprised if the total number of participants reached over 50 thousand.

In fact, it seemed more and more like that was the case.

As Alex and Aethersage watched, participants continued to get added for nearly 3 more hours before finally being stopped. The last of all had come, so a woman came to ask all to arrange themselves for the tournament’s beginning.

The woman wore a deep auburn robe, fashioning her peach-colored hair in curls, with the insignia of the Alchemy God on her chest— a leaf etched on a scroll.

Alex recognized the woman from the picture in his master’s mansion. Mo Duguan. Just like his master, She was one of the 10 Stars of Alchemy as well. And she was currently the second in command after the Alchemy God.

Alex could only wonder how talented she was now. Was she better than his master, perhaps? He wondered if he would ever find out.

He moved along with Aethersage to stand in one of the many rows that were beginning to form. They stood close enough together, but also with enough space in between each other for people to walk through.

The woman above had demanded as such.

The woman flew for a while, watching everyone get into a formation. More people arrived in the sky, standing behind her to let her handle it all for now.

It took a few minutes, but they had done it in the end. The entire massive opening was now filled with properly lined-up Alchemists. The woman nodded to herself and moved back.

Then, someone walked up front, appearing as if out of nowhere. The man who appeared wore a green robe that appeared to be created from nature itself. He was a thin man with soft white hair blowing in the wind.

His cultivation base was one that no one could recognize, but the feeling he gave in his presence was not something any ordinary person could have given.

A few people spoke in murmur in the ground, seemingly recognizing who the man was. Alex didn’t recognize him at all, but seeing the reaction from not just the participants but also the Divinities in the sky, he could guess who the man was.

“Greetings, everyone,” the man spoke in a soft voice. “I am Whitesong, but you may also know of me as the Alchemy God.”

Those words alone were enough to cause the entire group of participants to erupt in chaos. Even if they failed the tournament the very next moment, being able to see the Alchemy God was enough reason for them to not consider it a waste.

The Alchemy God smiled softly and gestured for everyone to quiet down. He did not need to speak. He did not need to use his powers. A simple gesture was all he needed.

He was not just someone who was as good as Alchemy. He was the very best at it. The Peak of what current alchemists could do.

“I would like to welcome you all to the Grand Alchemy Convergence. With this tournament, I wish to uncover the greatest alchemists our world has to offer and help them reach the height they could otherwise not reach alone.”

“Shall you win this tournament, you shall be showered will all teaching, resources, and opportunities that you would need to reach your potential in Alchemy. And perhaps, even surpass me.”

The man smiled. “I would love to see if one of you could become the next Alchemy God. In fact, I look forward to it.”

The man’s words caused another wave of murmurs, but this time, it wasn’t one of shock or surprise, but of hope and expectations. Everyone wanted to win. Everyone needed to win.

The Alchemy God waited for a second, not stopping their moment of motivation and confidence. He simply smiled as he watched. It was only after a while that he waved for all to quiet down again.

“I know you are all excited for the tournament to start. Trust me, I am too. But before we begin, I have some very important thing to ask of you all,” the god said.

Something appeared in his hand suddenly, a thick tome with an intricate body, seemingly made from metal. He raised the tome up high, letting everyone take a good look at it.

Alex looked at it and immediately felt his spine grow cold at the sight of it. The tome was one with a picture half unfurled scroll on it. There were no words in addition to it. No word was needed anyway.

Alex recognized the book immediately from his memories. Or rather, the memory left behind in the Inheritance by the Alchemy God.

This was one of the 3 treasures of the first Alchemy God, the book that was said to have raised the man before him to his current status.

This was the Book of Endless Recipes. The Alchemy god continued.

“This is a treasure left behind by the first Alchemy God, Zhu Xiaohua. He had 3 of these treasures and he hid them throughout the world. I managed to come across this many years ago, and I have been searching for the other two books all my life.”

“If any one of you here has one of these treasures, please announce yourself. You will be doing yourself and humanity a service.”