Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy
chapter-2015

"Join… your guild?" Alex asked, confused. "I don't wish to join any guilds, guild master. I am happy with my own store."

"Oh no, don't get me wrong. I'm not asking you to work in our guild, just be a member of it," he said. "You don't have to do anything, just get a license from us. That's all."

"I… don't really see the point of that, senior. I already got my license from the Blackfrost guild," Alex said. "I don't need another one."

The old man didn't budge. "If you get ours, we can help you a ton," he said. "You are young right now and already so talented. Under the right guidance, you can easily become a Supreme Immortal Alchemist in the near future."

"Near future?" Alex asked. "How near are we talking?"

The man could see that Alex was interested at this point. "Within the next 100 years. Maybe even less."

Alex shook his head. "That's too late for me, senior. I need to become one within a decade or two."

The old man looked at Alex, trying to see if he was joking. He couldn't tell anything from his face. "You shouldn't joke about this matter. When I say we can make you a Supreme Immortal Alchemist in 100 years, I am being truthful."

Alex thought for a bit. "But how can you do that, senior?" he asked. "If I'm to join the Blue Silk sect, wouldn't I have no time to learn with you?"

"Uh… well that…" The old man had no response to that.

"I thank you for your good intentions regarding my store, senior, but as it stands, I should need anyone's help. I hope you will lend out a hand if I ever do need one," Alex said with a bow.

The man wanted to say more, but there was nothing else for him to say. He nodded once and smiled. "Well, I must get going. Feel free to come to my guild if you need anything. I will be happy to provide it for you."

"Absolutely, senior," Alex said.

He saw the man at the door and watched as he left down the road. He returned back to the store and saw the furious Yanwei seething in her anger.

"You shouldn't have been so respec—"

"Stop!" Alex said, cutting her off before she could complete her sentence. He looked around at the patients and smiled. "Next one, please come with me."

A patient stood and walked up front with Alex. As Alex left with them, he turned around to look at the angry Wang Yanwei and sent a message directly to her mind.

"Check for any techniques or formations he might have left behind. He could have left us a nasty gift. Do not say a word about this meeting until we know we are in the clear."

Wang Yanwei's eyes widened slightly and she quickly nodded. She got back to work right away.

Alex dealt with the customers that day until twilight faded and darkness covered the outside. All the patients had been dealt with, and there were no more customers to look after.

"I checked everything the best I could," Wang Yanwei said. "There's nothing in here that I could find. To be absolutely clear, you will have to ask a Divine cultivator for help."

Alex gave an awkward smile. Where the hell were they supposed to find one?

His eyes glowed purple and he looked around the area. Many bright and vibrant colors moved around the room, but none that seemed out of place. This was just how the store looked every day.

"We should be in the clear," Alex said and turned toward Wang Yanwei. "It must've been hard to confront him."

"If I could, I would've killed that bastard," she said while sucking in air through her gritting teeth. Fang Yuxie at the back only sat and listened to their conversation, adding nothing.

"He's still a guild master," Alex said.

"That bastard is the reason I don't have my store today, why I was forced to make such a nasty oath after the duel," Wang Yanwei said.

Alex nodded. "Was he the same with you?" he asked. "Did he come to ask you to join him? Or is that just for me?"

"Just for you," she said. "I never even got to see his face throughout the entire decades where he made moves against my store."

"I see," Alex said. "So he must have only come to me to ask me to join because he is aware that I have a high chance of joining the Blue Silk sect."

"You should have just told him that you had already joined," she said.

Alex smiled. "Well… yes, I could have," he said. "But… where's the fun in that?"

The woman's eyes narrowed slightly. "You want fun?" she asked.

Alex shrugged. "Sure, why not?" he said.

"You want to lose your store too?" she asked.

Alex smiled. "I can tell them that I joined the sect anytime I want. They won't make a move against me after that," he said. "We're safe here."

Wang Yanwei said nothing.

"Also, I want them to get a taste of their own medicine," Alex said. "Let's see how they feel when someone forces their shop to shut down."

Wang Yanwei's eyes widened slightly. "You are going to attack them back?" she asked. "Using your sect's resources?"

"What? No. I'm only going to fight back when they come knocking on my store. Until then, there's nothing more to do," Alex said.

Wang Yanwei fell into a deep thought, thinking about his words.

"Although, he wasn't incorrect about something," he said. "We do need more staff. At least two of us need to be looking after patients."

"You want to hire people?" Wang Yanwei asked.

"Sure," Alex said. "I think that's alright. We need one receptionist so sister Yuxie can leave her desk and go take pill commissions. And we need another alchemist to help her make Saint pills and lower. We two can't waste our time making those pills."

Wang Yanwei nodded. They couldn't waste their time, that much was true.

"I suppose I support that idea then," she said. "But no one from the Blurhorn guild. I won't work with one of them."

Alex nodded. "That's perfectly fine too," he said. Wang Yanwei finally nodded, her fury leaving her body slowly as she calmed down. "About what you said, do you think you can do it?" she asked.

"About beating them in a duel? Yes," Alex said.

"No, not that. However, I fail to see how you could do that too. I'm asking about getting the Supreme Alchemist rank. Do you think you can get it in 10 years?"

"I don't know," Alex said. "I am 99% sure I can, but without knowing the full requirement, I can never tell. I mean, I'm going to fail if one of the requirements is to be in the Immortal Spirit realm, right?"

"I don't believe it's that," Wang Yanwei said. "I've seen weaker Supreme Immortal Alchemists during a few visits to other cities."

"Well, then until the guild masters stop being so cryptic about it, I will never know if I can do it or not."