1159 Preparation

After his father left to let him rest, Alex spent the rest of the night cultivating. He finally felt the fatigue he had built up slowly fade away overnight as he gathered Qi through his cultivation.

He felt some of the Qi disappear from his body as it went to Whisker. Judging by the rate of his Qi being taken in, Whisker would have his body by the morning.

Alex switched to cultivating the Undying physique sometime before dawn and that helped Whisker's body form even faster.

Once Whisker was finally back, he moved on to cultivating his Demon Eyes. He knew that it would take him a long time to reach the next stage of the Demon Eyes, but he really wanted to reach there as fast as he could.

Once he was done cultivating, he left his room and went to go find his father. His father had woken up long ago and was sitting in his room, not knowing what to do the entire time.

At least in the tribes and even in the Sunless lands, there was always something to do. He could carry some water back for others, wash his clothes, or simply stay around the Scared flames to heal.

But in the palace, he could do no such thing. With a word, clean water and clothes would arrive on his doorstep in minutes. He was going to start cultivating soon, so there was no point in sitting by a Phoenix flame. There wasn't even any there, to begin with.

He lay in his bed, thinking about his future now that he was free, and all he could do was smile as he understood that he was now a free man with a future in front of him.

All the anger and grudge he had built up over the year had been somehow all expunged in a single day by none other than his own son.

He heard a knock on the door and got up quickly.

"Father, it's me," Alex spoke.

"Come in," Graham spoke from inside.

Alex walked in, wearing a rather dashing set of robes that did not look like it would be comfortable to be in.

"What are you wearing?" his father asked looking at the robes that had all the colors fo the sacred flames.

"They gave me this to wear," he said. "Apparently I have to dress nicely for the ceremonies. They asked me to give this to you too."

"For the Phoenix's crowning?" Graham asked.

"Yes," Alex said. "Everyone from the continent is going to be here, and given who I am, many will want to talk to me. So, the elders made me dress nicely."

"Well… I don't think I'm the best judge for that," Graham said as he shook his head. "I value comfort more than aesthetics after all."

"Me too," Alex said. "But these are surprisingly nice too. Too open around the sleeves for me to want to fight in, but walking around in them is not so bad."

"Alright, give me mine. I'll get dressed too."

Graham dressed up quickly and walked out into the hall with Alex. He looked around at the rushing people that zoomed past him and Alex.

"Everyone seems to be busy," he said. "They must really hold this event in high regard."

"The continent and its 20-something billion people are getting a new ruler in their eyes. I would assume such an event is taken in high regard," Alex said.

He walked through the hallways until he came out on the hall that led to the outside of the palace.

Massive formations were shining brightly outside that made all sorts of different barriers outside the palace.

There was a large, open space prepared with a stage in the center.

"I thought the event was going to happen inside the palace. Is it not?" Graham asked.

"It is," Alex said. "The outside is so Scarlet can address the people after she's been crowned. Many people will have come from everywhere, so not letting them see her wouldn't be the best choice for her."

"I see," Graham said.

Someone coughed behind the two of them, grabbing their attention. Alex turned around and met the eyes of an older man with a strong cultivation base.

"Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but… are you the Alchemist Alex?" the old man asked.

"That is me," Alex said as he looked at the man closely. "Is senior Ren Niechen"

"Oh? Alchemist Alex knows of me?" the old man acted surprised. "I am indeed Ren Niechen. I am surprised you knew about me."

"Who wouldn't know about the Ren family patriarch," Alex said. "How may I help you, senior?"

"I—" the man paused when he looked to the side and saw Graham. He puzzled for a bit before realizing it. "Ah! Is this not the person who you were looking for, Alchemist Alex? You found him?"

"Yes, senior," Alex said. "This is my father, Graham."

"Graham…" the man spoke the name softly and understood that he was a player too. "You have raised a fantastic child, brother Graham. You must be very proud."

"I sure am," Graham said. While that was the truth, he was still confused by the remark from the old man. 'Proud for what exactly?'

He wondered if Alex was being praised for the strength he showed the other day. Maybe he was considered a talented cultivator by all. He had surely made it sound that way.

"Oh right," the old man remembered. "Alchemist Alex, do you happen to know when you can start making pills? This old man has been waiting for you to sell your pills for years now. After using your pill, I just can't find myself using the other pills. They are all nothing but garbage in my eyes."

"Don't call other people's hard work garbage, you senile old fart," someone spoke from the side as they came towards the group.

"If I'm a senile old fart, then you are a living corpse," the old man retorted.

"Hehe, look at him going mad just because of a few words. It sure is easy to get into your skin," the man said.

This man was old as well, just about the same age as the Ren family patriarch, and had a similar cultivation base as well.

"Junior Alex greets senior Fang Chuangki," Alex bowed a little.

"I'm honored that you know my name, Alchemist Alex," the man said.

Alex sighed internally. These old people really liked acting like this whenever they were recognized. Being the sect leader of the Cloud Fire sect, it was obvious Alex would recognize him.

He had remembered most of the people from all the different big sects and families, especially the ones that had looked him up in the Insight Pavilion.

Alex knew this man was here to ask him for his pills too. But before he could answer, someone else joined in.

It was a middle-aged man with a thick beard and a relatively low cultivation base. He greeted the other two seniors first and then Alex.

"Huang Daisheng greets Alchemist Alex," the man said.

'Huang…' Alex thought. "Are you the new Huang family head?"

"That is indeed I," the man said. "I know what happened back then with the previous family head wasn't the best, and would like to request you to forgive our family for the actions of a stupid man."

Alex crossed his arms. "Even if I do forgive your family, my oath still remains. You will never get a pill from me," he said.

"That is a curse I am willing to bear so long as Alchemist Alex doesn't hold a grudge against us," the man said.

"I have none," he said. "Senior Huang took care of my grudge on my behalf. You can rest assured I will not come after you or your family."

"Thank you," the man said and stepped away.

The two old men watched him leave for a few seconds, before immediately going back to asking him about the pills.

"I plan on making them soon," he said. "I can neither guarantee the time, nor the amount I will be making, but I will do it within the next 3 months."

"Oh!" the two old men were very happy. "We will be looking forward to the next pill then, Alchemist Alex."

Alex smiled and watched as the two walked away, quarreling with themselves once again. It looked like they were used to it and neither took the other one's words as an offense."

Alex and Graham left the place to visit more of the area that was prepared for everyone to come into. He met with a lot more important people.

Most of them wanted to learn about when he would be making his next set of pills, but some were genuinely just happy to meet him.

Alex continued walking around and saw a group of people walk in through the barrier checkpoint on one side.

"Oh, leader," Alex said when he saw the Alchemy Association leader walk into the room. Along with him were Harry and a few other alchemists. A little further behind them was the Flowerhall sect's leader.

"Young man, congratulations on finding your father," the man said as soon as he saw Alex. The others greeted and congratulated him as well.

Alex thanked them and introduced his father to them as well.

"It's been so long since you were away," the leader said before getting closer to whisper. "Dark Phoenix isn't a problem anymore, right?"

"No, no," Alex said. "No problem."

"Great!" the leader said. "Does that mean you'll be returning to the association?"

"Uhh… yeah," Alex said. "I have some small tasks here at the palace, but once I'm done, I can return. We can even restart our quad-annual pill-selling events again."